Forgettable
Tonight’s speech from the Oval Office reached neither the rhetorical heights nor the strategic breadth we’ve come to expect from the president who is so verbally gifted (and whom some ...
The Slouch, the Stare, the Stutter
I only spoke with William F. Buckley Jr. on four occasions, but each encounter left a lasting impression. Moreover, he was always gracious to answer my letters. For three decades ...
It’s Washington’s Birthday, Not Presidents’ Day
People ask why a few of us presidential junkies would like to see Presidents’ Day changed back to Washington’s Birthday. The technical explanation has to do with a misguided law ...
Model Ford
On Sunday Gerald R. Ford became the oldest former president in U.S. history. At 93 years and 4 months, he overtook Ronald Reagan, who previously held this distinction. Within the ...
A Veterans Day Surprise
With the results of Election 2006 in, our nation crossed two historic thresholds this week. For the first time in U.S. history, a second-term president watched both the House and ...
Supreme Numbers
Forty-two men have served as president of the United States; 39 of them have had the opportunity to nominate an individual to the U.S. Supreme Court. Even James Garfield, succumbing ...
43rd’s Tribute to The 40th
February is the month Americans have set aside to remember U.S. presidents. So which presidents does George W. Bush like to remember? He recently gave an interview to the Washington ...
Connected Destinies
These are crowded weeks. During the past fortnight, historic elections in Iraq were framed by two important speeches by President George W. Bush–the second inaugural address and 2005 State of ...
The Company He Keeps
Of the 55 inaugurations of U.S. presidents, only 16 have been second inaugurations; only six of these have occurred during wartime. So George Walker Bush joins an elite club–alongside Thomas ...
What We Learned Last Week
With the burial of Ronald Reagan last Friday, a remarkable week in our nation’s recent history drew to a close. The past days were in turn mournful, celebratory, and reflective.
They ...