The Write Stuff

Reading yet another glowing review of Robert Schlesinger’s new book about presidential speechwriters —White House Ghosts— in today’s Washington Post reminded me that I meant to post a link to an earlier review (in the Washington Times) written...

Rick Perlstein’s “Nixonland” (continued)

I have now read two-thirds of Rick Perlstein’s Nixonland (that is, up to the point where the book describes the Kent State shootings and aftermath) and can confirm that this historian’s narrative skills continue to be stronger than his primary research,...

Romney: Atheists Need Religion Too

Mitt Romney spoke about the relationship between religion and politics again last week, continuing and clarifying the argument he made in December while still a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. The occasion for his recent remarks was his receipt...

Fifty Years On

What with all the 40th anniversary blathering about the “Spring of ‘68” and the international youth uprising that it is now fondly remembered as having represented (especially by the no-longer-youths who were there then and are now writing the cultural criticism), it...

Sending the Right Signal

And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal.                                                                                                            George W. Bush   Just perhaps, President Bush can send the ‘right signal’ by “supporting the...

Today In History: 12 May 1970

An earlier post today dealt with some of the information that has started to flow from the papers and materials that Georgetown Law Professor Sam Dash’s estate deeded to the Library of Congress after his death in 2004 and which have just been opened to the public....

Kristol: Nixon One of the Great Defenders of Israel

Expressing his affection and admiration for the Israeli people, Richard Nixon stated: Americans admire a people who can scratch a desert and produce a garden. The Israelis have shown qualities that Americans identify with: guts, patriotism, idealism, a passion for...

Rick Perlstein’s Nixonland – First Impressions

Tomorrow marks the publication of Rick Perlstein’s nearly 800-page history Nixonland: The Rise Of A President And The Fracturing Of America. Over the weekend the book was reviewed by Newsweek’s Evan Thomas, by George Will in the New York Times Book Review,...

Once Is Not Enough

Over at The New York Times last week the Editors of the Sunday Book Review must have been faced with a terrible dilemma. Having chosen (a suitable and interesting choice) George W. Will to review Rick Perlstein’s new anti-Nixon book Nixonland, which focuses on...

The Tunnel Time Forgot

While attending a recent symposium at Georgetown University in Washington on the life and career of the late Richard Helms (CIA Director – 1966-1973), I observed a panel of Cold Warriors answering audience questions. Panelists included: Dr. Henry Kissinger,...