I was there. I must say I was disappointed. I thought the speech was more than a little plodding. And, with just a little effort, one could interpret the talk as anti-Bush. I wouldn’t mind an anti-Bush speech if it was a serious one. But instead we got some mildly interesting stories about George Washington and some less than interesting insights about FDR and Lincoln. I did learn that Eisenhower detested FDR, which is the kind of tidbit I enjoy. Anyway, it’s too bad because Fischer is supposed to be such a compelling and engaging historian (I haven’t read his books, but a half-dozen people I respect told me to last night). But at the end of his talk I was fairly flummoxed as to what he was trying to do (hence my anti-Bush theory).

Beyond that, the prom was the usual good time, though limited babysitting options prevented me from closing down the place as is tradition.