NR’s February 21 reception in Washington was an historic gas. Never has it happened, say Washington cave-dwellers still dazed by the event, that a sitting President would stand on a platform (flanked by WFB et al.) at a reception (where five-minute stop-bys are the presidential rule) and engage in the semi-impromptu vaudeville with as much high spirit as any of the performers. The occasion for this largely imported party (a planeload of NR editors, friends, and the Yale Whiffenpoofs flew down from NYC) was the belated installation of John McLaughlin as NR’s Washington executive editor.
Emcee Bill Rusher introduced the Whiff’s, who sang with their customary flawless a capella precision; then Rick Brookhiser spoke for two minutes and, in domino fashion, introduced Joe Sobran, who introduced Jeff Hart, who introduced Priscilla Buckley, who introduced WFB, who introduced—in customized, hilarious Latin (“Non salutamus Tipus O’Neill. Non salutamus non-presidentabilis Fritz Mondale. Non salutamus SALT II”)—John McLaughlin, who introduced the President. Whereupon Mr. Reagan, a charter subscriber, pronounced NR to be “splendidly written” and “brilliantly edited,” adding, “I honestly believe that even if I were to suffer mental illness or convert to liberalism for some other reason, NR would still be my favorite magazine.” More on this extravaganza in NR’s next issue.
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