News

David Greenberg, author of Nixon's Shadow and history professor at Rutgers, has an essay up at the Wall Street Journal's site comparing the expectations generated by President Obama's first hundred days (or the first 60 or so that have gone by so far) and what's been...

On August 2, 1927, President Calvin Coolidge had breakfast in the White House residence with his wife, Grace, and remarked to her “I have been president four years today.” It was one of those quick, concise, directly-to-the-point sentences she had been used to hearing...

The President made his ground-breaking appearance on last night's Tonight Show --- the first sitting President ever to grace this particular gig. He looked great; he sounded great; he was thoughtful; he was clever; he was convincing; and, with the exception of one...

A few minutes ago word reached the major news media outlets that actress Natasha Richardson had died at the age of 45, a few days after suffering head injuries in a skiing accident. Though her movie appearances were generally in out-of-the-way, little-seen films - The...

Claude Brinegar, the second of RN's two Secretaries of Transportation, died yesterday in a nursing home in Palo Alto, California. He was 82. The LA Times published a comprehensive obituary: Claude Brinegar, who as U.S. transportation secretary led an overhaul of the...

Ron Silver died in his sleep on Sunday at his home in Manhattan.  He was 62. When I was named editor of Saturday Review in 1984, one of my first tasks was to liven up that distinguished by moribund institution.  In my search for interesting and unusual reviewers and...

Jon Stewart got a lot of attention last week because of his memorable face off with Jim Cramer.  But he also took an amusing look at some of the gee whiz aspects of the President's schedule (and there do seem to be a lot of them).

("L'Amerique Septentrionale Divisee En Ses Principales Parties ..."  This map of North America, from Pierre Mortier's Atlas Nouveau, was printed in either Amsterdam or Paris in 1692.  It depicts California as an island and and represents six, rather than five, Great...

  Both the Republican Poker Party “Grand Ol’ Gang” and Democratic Poker Party “True Blues” are reproductions from paintings by Andy Thomas.  Mr. Thomas does Civil War, Oil Well and Western Prints.  There is a local art gallery in town, “The Galloping Goose” that has...