• Politics is a Blood Sport

    Politics is a Blood Sport

    After his heroic service as the youngest Naval combat pilot in the Second World War, George Herbert Walker Bush left the aristocracy of the Northeastern United States for Texas to make his mark on his own. His father, Prescott Bush had served as a United States senator from Connecticut. He tried his luck in the…

  • Courage

    Courage

    In 1956 Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy published a Pulitzer Prize-winning book called Profiles in Courage. Speechwriter Ted Sorenson was with his aide, collaborator, ghostwriter, or all of the above. The book increased Kennedy’s name recognition ahead of his 1960 run for the presidency. In 1984, former Vice President Walter Mondale was the Democratic nominee…

  • I’m Paying for This Microphone Mr. Green!

    I’m Paying for This Microphone Mr. Green!

    For decades, ‘Likeability:” has been a big factor in the electability of political candidates, particularly at the highest levels. In 2008, the usually articulate Barack Obama commented to one of his opponents “You’re likable enough Hillary” which may have cost him the New Hampshire primary.             Ronald Reagan was certainly a likable, amiable man. After…

  • Jimmy Who?

    Jimmy Who?

    Congratulations to former President Jimmy Carter, our longest-lived chief Executive, who turns one hundred on October 1, 2024. When he was nominated and elected in 1976, he was the unlikeliest public official to be chosen in the 20th century, perhaps ever.  In the Nineteenth century, unknown political, particularly presidential, candidates were deemed a ‘Dark Horse.’…

  • Ronald Reagan and the Eleventh Commandment

    Ronald Reagan and the Eleventh Commandment

                California Governor Ronald Reagan was fond of invoking the Republican ‘Eleventh Commandment’ which was “Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican.” This epistle was credited to California Republican State Chairman Gaylord Parkinson during the 1960’s. In 1976, Reagan broke that commandment to advance his own political career.             Reagan grew up in central…

  • Why Watergate?

    Why Watergate?

    Ah, Richard Milhous Nixon. The man who appeared on every presidential ballot from 1952-1972 except 1964. A complex man who was at the center of American politics for much of the Cold War era. Congressman, Senator, Vice-President, and the only President of the United States to resign. Why? Richard Nixon was born in 1913 in…

  • Hubert and Kamala???

    Hubert and Kamala???

                Since Joe Biden left the 2024 presidential race on July 21st, Donald Trump has frequently mentioned his name and noted that Vice President (and Democratic nominee) Kamala Harris shouldn’t have the party’s nomination because she received no votes. One could argue that she did as the presumptive running mate (no sitting VP has been…

  • The Devastating ‘Daisy’ Ad

    The Devastating ‘Daisy’ Ad

    In 2024, the presidential campaigns of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are expected to spend as much as $16 BILLION on advertising, an obscene amount. On September 7, 1964, the most infamous presidential campaign television ad ran, and only one time.  The origins of the ad was born during the Kennedy…

  • Mind Games

    Mind Games

    The second presidential debate of 2024 is coming up on Tuesday, September 10th, also very early. Presidential debates have become a big part of America’s selection process for the last six decades. Many iconic or ‘viral’ moments have both helped and hurt nominees. President Biden’s June 27th performance ultimately drove him from the race.            …

  • Abe Almost Lost???

    Abe Almost Lost???

    About forty years ago, one of my professors at Indiana University at South Bend, who was either in history or political science (the ones I paid attention to), introduced me to presidential greatness polls. Historian Arthur Schlesinger Sr. wrote an article in Life Magazine in 1948. I found it fascinating and still do. In nearly…