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Tom Daschle’s Cloth Coat
From 1986:
2.2.68
In 1968, February 2nd was a Friday --- the day, forty-one years ago, on which RN officially declared his candidacy for POTUS. In RN, he wrote: "I began my second campaign for the presidency with a press conference on the afternoon of February 2, 1968, in the Holiday...
“Abuse Of Power” Questioned
The New York Times site has just posted a very thought-provoking article (to appear in tomorrow's edition) about recent charges by several historians that Abuse Of Power, the 1997 volume of transcripts of White House tape conversations transcribed and edited by...
President Langella: Alone In The Dressing Room
The most recent issue of Newsweek featured its annual Oscar Roundtable, moderated by the magazine's David Ansen and Ramin Setoodeh. The participants this year included Anne Hathaway, Sally Hawkins, Robert Downey Jr., Brad Pitt, Mickey Rourke, and Frank Langella, the...
Taking the Heat
During the 1973 energy crisis, RN took criticism for his habit of running the fireplace and the air conditioning at the same time. And so it is worth noting this item from today's New York Times: The capital flew into a bit of a tizzy when, on his first full day in...
One Man’s Humor Is Another Man’s Humidor
The former presidents traveling road show of George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton pulled into New Orleans yesterday for a gig with the National Automobile Dealers Association. Everybody knows that you're supposed to open a speech with a joke, but who knew that Mr. Bush...
The Rise & Fall Of The White House Intellectual
Ben Alpers of Oklahoma University put up a quite interesting blogpost this week tracing the roughly fifteen-year heyday of the "White House intellectual." President Kennedy began the tradition by bringing in acclaimed historian (and walking definition of savoir-faire)...
Caroline Kennedy — You Can’t Fire Me Because I Quit
Caroline Kennedy's maladroit Senate bid has finally ground to a halt with the anticipated noontime appointment of Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand to Secretary Clinton's coveted seat. The choice added insult to injury for the Camolites: not only isn't it Caroline, it's almost...
A Victory For Future Historians
President Obama’s executive order regarding presidential records is a victory for future historians. (See here) Truly it is a new day for GWBs future historians. Before January 20, 2009, the future biographers of GWB faced a difficult road in the true telling of their...
Frost/Nixon: Five Oscar Nominations
The nominations for this year's Academy Awards were announced this morning, and the list may not be one to bring a wide Opie-style grin to the face of Ron Howard. The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button led the nominations with thirteen -- many of them in predictable...