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Nixonland Nitpick 3

Rick Perlstein writes (p. 137): Richard Nixon broke with his reluctance to dwell upon law and order only once, in 1966, in that U.S. News essay -- and had seemed to be apologetic to be raising the matter at all, concluding, "The polls still place the war in Vietnam...

Shakeup At The Post

As noted by John Taylor below, Marcus Brauchli, a 25-year veteran of the Wall Street Journal, who was its managing editor from April 18, 2007, until resigning just over a year later following Rupert Murdoch's takeover, has been named the executive editor of the...

Nelson Rockefeller at 100

Today is the 100th anniversary of Nelson A. Rockefeller's birth. The world was ---and remains--- a better place for the life-enhancing presence of that particular polymath politician, philanthropist, connoisseur, collector --- and RN nemesis. The former Governor and...

Nixonland Nitpick 2

Describing the 1962 California GOP gubernatorial primary between Richard Nixon and Joe Shell, Rick Perlstein writes (p. 60): Nixon's primary victory over Shell was humiliatingly close. Shell did hurt Nixon by undermining his conservative support and forcing him to...

Some True Words Spoken In Jest

For those of us who grew up memorizing every word ---indeed, every inflection--- on Tom Lehrer's LPs, the name and accomplishments of the late doctor Samuel Gall are as familiar (and as funny) today as they were the first time we heard them on An Evening (Wasted) with...

The Canard That Will Not Die

RN's "secret plan" to end the Vietnam war is the Dracula of canards. No matter how many wooden stakes are nailed through its nasty heart, it's up again at first light, brushing off the dirt and walking the land ready to be cited in yet another book or article. Two...

Nixonland Nitpick 1

Whatever its virtues, Rick Perlstein's Nixonland contains a number of factual errors. In the weeks ahead, I shall note some of them. The first deals with the 1950 Democratic senatorial primary in Florida (p. 34): George Smathers beat Florida senator Claude Pepper by...

A New Addition to the Ranks of Nixon Books

In today's Washington Post Book World, NPR host Scott Simon writes a glowing review of Stephen L. Carter's new novel of political and family intrigues in the 1960s, Palace Council. Mr. Carter, a professor at the Yale Law School and a bestselling and critically admired...

In Search Of The Cherry Tree

In December 1799, George Washington, the foremost of America's founding fathers, died of laryngitis and pseumonia at age 67, universally mourned by his countrymen.  The next year Mason Locke Weems, popularly known as "Parson" Weems (he was a part-time minister at a...

First Words

At 9.40 PM EST tonight C-SPAN will broadcast "Writing the Inaugural Address" --- a forum held last month at the University of Virginia's Miller Center. Among the participants are Ray Price, who worked on both of RN's Inaugural Addresses, Patrick Anderson (Jimmy...