News
Nixon, Kennedy, and Cancer
From reading press accounts of Senator Kennedy's legislative career, one might think that RN's 1971 launch of the War on Cancer was simply a response to Kennedy's initiatives. Indeed, their political rivalry did play a role. In politics, as in the marketplace,...
The Lion And The Bear
When then President Bill Clinton spoke at former President Richard Nixon’s funeral, he suggested that the “day of judging President Nixon on anything less than his entire life and career come to a close.” The speaker had no clue at the time how much he would need that...
George McGovern Speaks At The Nixon Library
On Wednesday night, a crowd of over 700 gathered in Yorba Linda to see former Senator George McGovern talk about his new book, a short biography of Abraham Lincoln. The event, co-sponsored by the Richard Nixon Library and Museum and the Richard Nixon Foundation (and...
Leonard Bernstein’s 1972 Counter-Inaugural
I recently posted a piece about Alex Ross' three New Yorker articles based on the material released as a result of his Freedom of Information Act requests regarding the government's interest in Leonard Bernstein. The bulk loyalty investigations were earlier...
Pat Nixon’s Influence: An Historical Reflection
PN - pictured at the Miami Beach Convention Center in August 1972 - was the first Republican First lady to have a keynote speech at the Republican National Convention. (Photo Credit: Life Magazine) In 1984, First Lady Nancy Reagan addressed the Republican National...
More On Ted Kennedy, Nixon, And Health Care
The story of how President Nixon's plan for comprehensive health care for all Americans fell by the wayside in 1974 because Sen. Ted Kennedy thought it possible to get a plan more to his liking enacted after a Democratic President entered the Oval Office has been the...
The Way It Is — And Almost The Way It Was
Robert Nedelkoff has noted ---here and here--- the remarkable revelation ---first by Senator George McGovern in a 2008 New York Times op-ed, and, more recently elucidated, by Frank Mankiewicz in the Washington Post--- that candidate McGovern had considered offering...
One Of The Stories He Told
60 Minutes devoted its entire hour on Sunday to its progenitor and long-time executive producer Don Hewitt, who died a week ago today. In typical 60 Minutes style, the program was informative, provocative, and entertaining. Hewitt always said that his editorial...
Nixon, Cancer, and Serious Medicine
President Nixon launched the War on Cancer, which he considered a key initiative of his presidency. When Frank Gannon asked him if he had enjoyed more victories than defeats, he said: "That will depend on what happens. If, for example, there's a breakthrough in...
Change We Can Believe In
From a profile of uber lobbyist Heather Podesta ("the Insider's Insider") by Manuel Roig-Franzia in today's WaPo: In a glum economy, the lobbying business feels kind of bubbly. Every new Obama proposal comes with acres of fine print for corporate powers, interests...