9 October 2009
by andrew
2 Comments
From the “News Notes” section of the October 1952 edition of The American Archivist: Messages addressed to the Senate by Presidents Washington, John Adams, Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, Van Buren, and Polk are among documents sent to the National Archives … Continue reading
18 August 2009
by andrew
Comments Off on putting the president on the line
I just finished watching Cronkite Remembers, a sort of video memoir Walter Cronkite did back in the late 90s as an eight-part television series. It’s definitely worth checking out, particularly if you’re like me and were too young to remember … Continue reading
22 February 2009
by andrew
3 Comments
I visited the FDR memorial not too long ago and came away thinking it would have been much cooler had it been designed in the 1930s – except for the problem of monumentalizing a sitting president; I don’t think that … Continue reading
5 February 2009
by andrew
Comments Off on arduous days ahead
While reading FDR’s first inaugural recently, I was struck by just how forceful it is. Most of the time when I see quotes from FDR’s speeches they’re statements about specific events: “date that will live in infamy”; universal statements: “only … Continue reading
10 January 2009
by andrew
Comments Off on you win
Obama has youtube, FDR had the radio, but Calvin Coolidge, whose conversational skills were legendary, was the first president on sound film. [vodpod id=ExternalVideo.769336&w=425&h=350&fv=]
10 December 2008
by andrew
Comments Off on analogy watch
How long until the Truman:Pendergast::Obama:Blagojevich analogy shows up in the major media? Never mind if the person making the analogy does a good job with differences and historical specifics. I’d just be amazed if it’s not made at all.
12 November 2008
by andrew
Comments Off on premonition
Cornelius Cole was not nearly the diarist his wife was – I was more interested in his correspondence – but that doesn’t mean my research did not turn up something incidentally interesting. Again from my old notes, again something not … Continue reading
11 November 2008
by andrew
1 Comment
I don’t have anything to say about Grant’s status as an intellectual, never having read his memoirs, but this discussion reminds me that I have in some old research notes an impression of Grant set down shortly after his first … Continue reading
4 November 2008
by andrew
Comments Off on civilian leadership
Timothy Noah wonders why, since 1964, presidential candidates who were war heroes have been so unsuccessful: With the sole exception of George H.W. Bush in 1988—who won by waging the dirtiest presidential campaign of the modern era and then served … Continue reading