Hello, it’s  June 19, 2019. On this date in 1980, Washington Post readers were offered a counterintuitive story in their morning paper. Ronald Reagan, having clinched the Republican presidential nomination, met with a group of Post editors and writers for lunch the day before, where he made news. Hosted by esteemed Post publisher Katharine Graham, the session lasted about two […]

Good morning. It’s June 15, 2019. Two Years ago, the baseball gods were on duty at the annual Congressional Baseball Game played at Nationals Park. Although President Trump declined an invitation (he had an excuse: It was his 72nd birthday), Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana was there, along with four other victims of last year’s shooting by a political zealot […]

Good morning, it’s June 15, 2019. On this date in 1775, the Continental Congress unanimously tapped George Washington to command the yet-to-be-created armed forces of the restive 13 colonies. Washington accepted the commission to lead the Continental Army the following day. In subsequent letters to their wives, both GW and John Adams revealed how fully they comprehended the historic import […]

Donald John Trump is not considered an eloquent man. Nor is he known for trying to forge bonds of friendship between Americans and people of other nations. If you said that the 45th U.S. president has put the “bully” back in the “bully pulpit,” you’d get little argument from me. Yet eight days ago, while speaking on the picturesque French […]

Good morning. It’s June 14, 2019. On this date in 1777, the Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as our national emblem. For the past century, U.S. presidents have sought to associate themselves closely with that badge of honor — and that date. Woodrow Wilson first proclaimed June 14 to be “Flag Day” in 1916. In 1949, Harry Truman […]

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, June 5, a frequently momentous date in the life of our country. On June 5, 1944, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the order of the day to paratroopers prepared to begin the invasion of Normandy, along with a dauntless exhortation: “Full victory — nothing else,” Ike said. It was also on a fifth of June that […]

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, May 30, 2018, and on this date 212 years ago, a future U.S. president shot another man to death in a duel prompted by an insult published in a newspaper. So, no, the thin-skinned nature of U.S. politicians is not a new phenomenon. Politicians, as I noted here a few years ago when writing about this […]

Good morning, it’s Monday, May 21, 2018. On this date in 1935, the world lost a humanitarian, author, educator, philosopher, social worker, champion of children’s and women’s rights, and peace advocate extraordinaire. That list only begins to describe Jane Addams, whose dedication to bettering society prompted high praise from all corners. In its obituary that appeared 83 years ago tomorrow, […]

Good morning, it’s Wednesday, May 16, 2018. As a girl growing up in Missouri, Harry and Bess Truman’s only child sang as a soloist at Trinity Episcopal Church in Independence. Impressed, although perhaps not unbiased, the choir director there encouraged the young lady, Margaret Truman, to get formal voice lessons. She followed this advice both before and after attending George […]

Good morning, it’s Monday, May 14, 2018. On this date 114 years ago, the Olympic Games opened in St. Louis. This was the third Olympiad of the modern era, the concept having been revived in Athens in 1896. The first time the United States hosted, however, was not a success. Few foreign athletes bothered to make the trek to the […]

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, May 14, 2019. On this date in 1987, the National Park Service formally announced its support for an idea that had been quietly incubating in the park service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service bureaucracy for years — a plan to reintroduce wolves to Yellowstone National Park. “Of all the species that were once here, it’s […]

Good morning, it’s Friday, May 11, 2018. On this date in 138 years ago, an angry group of American farmers protesting inequity and injustice gathered at the California railroad village of Hanford in the Central Valley. You could say the men were part of “the Resistance” (and, interestingly, that they were protesting an obscene presence in their lives that would […]

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, April 23, 2019. Today’s date is a reminder that we do not necessarily follow the crowd and that history occasionally rewards those who do their own thinking. The example I have in mind this morning came in 1956 when Elvis Presley played his first engagement in Las Vegas. Things didn’t go as planned: Young Mr. Presley’s act left an […]

Good morning, it’s Thursday, April 19, 2018. In yesterday’s newsletter I wrote about a famous chapter in America’s founding — the midnight ride of Paul Revere — and today, in a passage reprised from my recent book, I’ll continue the story of “the shots heard ’round the world.” Alarmed about the militancy blossoming in Boston and surrounding towns, British Gen. […]

Trump’s Sanctuary Threat Could Answer Immigrants’ Prayers. Susan Crabtree reports on the potential backfiring of the president’s idea of releasing asylum seekers in Democratic-governed cities, many of which have said they would welcome the newcomers. What Newsom’s First 100 Days Portend for His Future. Bill Whalen weighs in on the California governor’s ambitions and the risky steps he’s taking to […]

On Trump’s ICC Win, Dems and Republicans See Eye to Eye. Susan Crabtree reports on the International Criminal Court’s decision not to prosecute the U.S. for alleged crimes in the Afghanistan War. Mueller Report Is Litmus Test for a Divided Society. Frank Miele writes that one’s expectations for the report, and ultimate reaction to it, reveals how much, or how […]

Good morning, it’s Friday, April 12, 2019, the day I furnish an inspiring or instructive quote of the week. I concede, as a few devoted readers have conveyed to me, that I have trouble keeping this format to a single quote. Well, friends, today is no exception: This morning I am invoking the words of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who died […]

Good morning, it’s Monday, April 9, 2018. On this date in 1959, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration introduced this country’s first astronauts to the media. Selected from 32 immensely qualified finalists, these seven brave Americans were chosen because leaders of the new agency believed they combined the mental makeup of Jackie Robinson and the flying ability of Chuck Yeager. […]

Good morning, it’s Saturday, April 6, 2019. At the end of each week, I provide a historical quote (or two or three) and today’s come courtesy of Booker T. Washington, born on this date in 1856 and an educator who founded Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, now Tuskegee University. Many years before the civil rights movement gained traction in post-World […]

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, April 2, 2019. On this date in 1865, U.S. Army forces under the command of Ulysses S. Grant ended a 10-month siege by overrunning rebel lines at Petersburg, Va. “I think it is absolutely necessary that we should abandon our position tonight,” Robert E. Lee stated matter-of-factly in a telegram to Jefferson Davis. Both men knew […]