9.26.60

Forty-nine years ago tonight —on Monday  26 September 1960— the first televised debate ever held between presidential candidates was broadcast coast-to-coast.   Vice President Richard M. Nixon and Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy faced off in the...

A Career That Just Keeps Rollin’ Along

Three months ago I wrote a post about a Philadelphia newspaper’s profile of Jennie Eisenhower, President Nixon’s granddaughter whose stage career has taken her to theaters around the country. Starting on Wednesday, and continuing until November 1, she can...

A Community Organizer Takes On The World

President Barack Obama’s visit to the United Nations this past week, complete with a major address and some quality time with a gavel, was yet another step in the process of seizing a much sought after role. For decades, U.S. presidents have routinely been referred to...

The Blast From The Past

Ben Smith recycled Alexander Burns’ reporting, but Wonkette said it best: So Barack Obama wanted to get rid of Joe Biden for the day and settled on sending him to Georgia, to say “hi” to the flood victims down there. Immediately after arriving, Joe Biden...

9.25.69

Forty years ago today, on 25 September 1969, RN welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir to the White House. It was the beginning of what became a warm and close relationship.  A relationship that would be tested, refined, and perfected during the Yom Kippur War in...

What’s Wrong With This Picture?

A face in the crowd: the “above the fold” photo from the UN Security Council meeting on The New York Times’ website this morning. First and foremost, there can be no prestige without mystery, for familiarity breeds contempt.  All religions have their...