Summary:
The American republic rests upon the foundation of “E Pluribus Unum” — out of many, one. Although the Founders knew from their own experience that a vast diversity in outlooks and opinions would be present among the country’s citizens, they understood that such diversity must rest upon principles and practices we hold in common. It is up to each generation to make sure that this foundational unity remains intact. This project on American Civics seeks to contribute to that worthy cause.
To go deeper into the subjects covered by this online library, please visit the following subportals: Equality, Liberty, Race & Slavery, U.S. Constitution, Engaging the 1619 Project, Student Resources, 1776 Series, Making Citizens Series, and About RealClear's American Civics Portal.
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Essential Reading
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Nathan Harden, RealClearEducationIf a tree falls in the wilderness and there’s no one there to hear it, does it make a sound? That could be the start of an interesting...
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The 1776 Commission, RealClearPublicAffairsSept. 17th is a day of celebration and pride.Two hundred and thirty-four years ago on this date, 39 delegates from throughout...
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Mary Grabar, RealClearPublicAffairsWithin the context of the events taking place during his lifetime, Thomas Jefferson comes off as the prudent voice of reason and...
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Wilfred M. McClay, National AffairsIn the run-up to the tenth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks, one could predict with ease two things about...
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Matthew J. Franck, RealClearPublicAffairsThis spring, President Biden appointed a 35-member Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States, charged...
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Thomas G. West, Wilfred McClay, Joshua Mitchell, et al., Law & LibertyThe essays in this symposium are based on longer papers that were prepared for the third conference in the Ryan Foundation’s American...
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1776 UnitesThe 1776 Unites curriculum offers authentic, inspiring stories from American history that show what is best in our national character...
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In the News
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Nathan Harden, RealClearEducation
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The 1776 Commission, RealClearPublicAffairs
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Mary Grabar, RealClearPublicAffairs
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Wilfred M. McClay, National Affairs
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Matthew J. Franck, RealClearPublicAffairs
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Thomas G. West, Wilfred McClay, Joshua Mitchell, et al., Law & Liberty
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1776 Unites
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Carl Cannon's Great American Stories
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It was on this date in 1832, at a meeting of the New England Anti-Slavery Society, that a 29-year-old black ...
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"One hundred years ago today, the Helena Independent, a newspaper in Montana's capital city, ran a foreboding article. An influenza ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, Sept. 17, 2021, the day of the week I pass along quotations intended to be inspirational ...
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Six years ago today, a large field of Republican presidential contenders met in Southern California for a debate. It was ...
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On this date in 1949, former Professional Golf Association tournament director Fred Corcoran announced that the newly sanctioned U.S. Women's ...
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Willie Nelson is on my mind this morning. Emmylou Harris, too. Along with Toby Keith and Alan Jackson. Just so ...
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Forty-seven years ago today, President Gerald R. Ford shocked the country, while simultaneously compromising his own 1976 election chances, by ...
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Today is the recognized birthday of Uncle Sam. Although the iconic bearded visage, usually pictured in a top hat, gained ...
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Twenty-six years ago today, Baltimore Orioles star Cal Ripken played in his 2,131st consecutive major league game, surpassing a record set ...
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Good morning, it’s Friday, Sept. 3, 2021, the day of the week when I reprise quotations intended to be uplifting ...
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Twenty-six years ago today, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame opened its doors in Cleveland. On this date in ...
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Fifty years ago today, the Pittsburgh Pirates quietly made racial history. That night, without fanfare, manager Danny Murtaugh sent onto ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, Aug. 27, 2021, the day of the week when I reprise quotations intended to be uplifting ...
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As the National Hurricane Center tracks another storm system gathering strength in the Caribbean Sea, I'll again invoke the memory of a ...
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On this date in 1875, a band of Apache Indians battled a unit of Texas Rangers near the Concho River. ...
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On this date in 1869, a handful of soldiers and officers who'd fought on the storied fields at Gettysburg returned ...
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Good morning, it's Aug. 20, 2021, a Friday -- the day of the week when I reprise quotations intended to ...
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On the 19th day of August in 1814, British warships docked at the Maryland town of Benedict, on the shores of ...
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On this date in 1947, two friends who met as Stanford University undergrads filed articles of incorporation for a new ...
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Today, the world continues to absorb the stunning scenes in Kabul after the U.S. military pullout in Afghanistan. After days ...
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Over the weekend, Americans were subjected to images they hadn't seen since April 1975: U.S. soldiers frantically trying to evacuate ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, Aug. 13, 2021, the day of the week when I reprise quotations intended to be uplifting ...
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Today, we tend to think about "climate" change when we contemplate extreme weather, but whatever you call it, this is ...
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At the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, a Hawaiian swimmer with a memorable name set the world record in the ...
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Yesterday, I mentioned a letter George H.W. Bush, the retired 41st U.S. president, sent me 20 years earlier to the day. ...
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Switching gears, 20 years ago today, George H.W. Bush, the retired 41st president of the United States, sent a poignant email ...
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It's Friday, Aug. 6, 2021, the day of the week when I reprise quotations intended to be uplifting or educational. ...
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Today is the 160th anniversary of the first federal income tax in the United States. It's not a date that gets ...
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It seems like only yesterday that a youthful and slender Barack Obama strode onto the national political stage. Yet the ...
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Ninety-eight years ago today, Calvin Coolidge took the oath of office upon the death of Warren G. Harding. It was ...
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Presidents are often accused of employing "empty rhetoric," a charge directed at Republican presidents as well as Democrats, including the current occupant of the ...
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It's Friday, the day of the week when I reprise quotations intended to be uplifting or educational. Today's, which is ...
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Seventy-six years ago today, the USS Indianapolis, a 610-foot-long heavy cruiser, was leaving the Marianas on a course for Leyte Gulf in ...
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In a surreal coronavirus-era sports environment, one force of nature asserted itself again yesterday -- or, I should say, asserted ...
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This morning, as Americans absorb news reports that star U.S. gymnast Simone Biles has withdrawn from the team competition in ...
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On this day in 1948, President Harry Truman issued a simple, 405-word executive order ending segregation in the U.S. armed ...
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On this date 10 years ago in the pre-dawn darkness, the space shuttle Atlantis touched down safely on a Florida ...
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Although it seems longer ago, on this date in 2016 Sen. Ted Cruz delivered a controversial speech at the Republican ...
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On this date in 1984, Geraldine Ferraro, whom I wrote about last week, accepted the vice presidential nomination at the ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, July 16, 2021, the day of the week when I reprise quotations intended to be uplifting ...
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Despite the gruesomely hot and humid weather, this is tourist season in Washington and today the nation's capital welcomes some ...
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Major League Baseball holds its All-Star Game tonight, an event that usually distracts Americans from their partisan bickering. Not this ...
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On this date in 1984, I was on the floor of the Moscone Center in my hometown of San Francisco ...
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On this date in 1776, a one-ton copper bell rang from the Pennsylvania state capitol, signaling the formulation -- if ...
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On this date in 1958, a bill designating Alaska as the 49th state in the Union was signed into law. Hawaii ...
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This would have been Nancy Reagan's 100th birthday. Although she will always be associated in our minds with California, the future ...
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In the turbulence and violence of the 1960s, Tennessee's then-largest city would become the infamous site of the racially motivated ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, July 2, 2021, the day of the week when I reprise quotations intended to be uplifting ...
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Nine years ago today, in a 5-4 decision that surprised many observers, Chief Justice John Roberts joined the four members ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, June 25, 2021, the day of the week when I reprise quotations intended to be uplifting ...
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Good morning, it's Thursday, June 24, 2021, another lovely weather day on the East Coast. On this date 179 years ...
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Good morning, it's Wednesday, June 23, 2021, a lovely day on the East Coast and the 73rd birthday of Clarence Thomas. In ...
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Today is a brand-new federal holiday, although Juneteenth is hardly a new idea in the collective consciousness of black America. ...
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Congress has made June 19 a national holiday. "Juneteenth," which President Biden will officially sign into law later today, pays ...
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It was on this date 163 years ago that Abraham Lincoln delivered one of the most memorable, and important, speeches ...
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Yesterday was Flag Day, although what that symbol means in America at this moment is hard to gauge. It certainly ...
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It's the day of the week when I reprise quotations intended to be uplifting or educational. Today's is a succinct ...
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You all know what that means: It's quote of the week day. Today's comes from a suffragette who, like her ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, May 28, 2021, the day of the week when I reprise quotations intended to be uplifting ...
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Today is the 110th birthday of Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. Although he was a famed Minnesota Democrat, HHH was born and ...
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On this date in 1864, in the brief and fraught respite between the gruesome battles at Spotsylvania Courthouse and Cold ...
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On this date in 1787, 55 delegates met in Philadelphia to draft a Constitution to replace the unwieldy Articles of ...
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On this date in 1844, Samuel Morse sent the first public message via telegraph. It went over the newly installed wire on Capitol ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, May 21, 2021, the day of the week when I reprise quotations intended to be uplifting ...
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Forty-eight years ago today, racetrack announcer Chic Anderson had a very good day. So did the star of his television ...
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Thirty-five years ago today, a commencement speaker at the UC-Berkeley school of business enthralled the graduating class by giving them ...
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Forty-eight years ago today, the American people were riveted by a spectacle that would result in the end of a ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, May 14, 2021, the day of the week when I reprise quotations intended to be uplifting ...
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On this date in 1883, Mark Twain's publisher released "Life on the Mississippi," a biographical account of his boyhood. Many ...
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On this date in 1858, Minnesota was admitted to the Union as the 32nd state. With the possible exception of Massachusetts, ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, May 7, 2021, the day of the week when I reprise quotations intended to be uplifting ...
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On this date in 1931, a black Alabama steelworker named after William Howard Taft and a young woman named Anna ...
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Cinco de Mayo is typically assumed by Anglos (and many Hispanics) to be a Mexican version of July 4. That's not ...
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Fifty-one years ago today, cornered and panicked National Guardsmen sent to quell unrest at Kent State University opened fire without ...
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On this day 1986, race rider Bill Shoemaker steered a rangy cold named Ferdinand to victory in the Kentucky Derby. ...
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Good morning, it's Friday April 30, 2021, the day of the week I pass along quotations intended to be inspirational ...
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Joseph R. Biden delivered his first State of the Union address (although it's not officially called that) last night and ...
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Joseph R. Biden delivers his first State of the Union address tonight, although in a president's first year in office these ...
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Ulysses Grant was born 199 years ago today. It is a measure of his presidency that even the official White House ...
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On this date in 1785, John James Audubon was born. I wrote about him once before, but the particulars of ...
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Good morning. It's April 23, 2021, a Friday -- and you know what that means. This is Tom Kavanagh again, ...
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Good morning. It's Thursday, April 22, 2021 -- the 51st Earth Day. As was true for last year's golden anniversary ...
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Today's quote comes from Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller, who threw the only Opening Day no-hitter in major league ...
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Good morning, it's Tuesday, April 13, 2021. Seventy-four years ago today, the Brooklyn Dodgers finished the preseason by completing a ...
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By the time you read this, Hideki Matsuyama will have returned the green jacket he won at August National Golf ...
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Today's date is a reminder that the progress this nation has made on race did not come without a struggle ...
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In the face of a new spate of mass shootings, President Biden is unveiling a series of executive actions today ...
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On this date 104 years ago, a U.S. president broke a solemn election-year promise and committed Americans to fight and ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, April 2, 2021, Good Friday on the Christian calendar and the day of the week when ...
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Good morning, it's Wednesday, March 31, 2021. On this date in American history, Cesar Chavez was born (1927), President Lyndon ...
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Good morning, it's Tuesday, March 30, 2021. Today is the second day of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin's murder ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, March 26, 2021, the day of the week when I reprise a quotation meant to be ...
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As I noted in this space a few years ago, the events that led to Maryland Day took place over ...
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Thirty-two years ago today, in a speech to the National Association of Manufacturers, President George H.W. Bush reprised an old ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, March 19, 2021, the day of the week when I reprise a quotation meant to be ...
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On this date in 2004, Americans got a sneak preview of an ego that would shape the national zeitgeist a ...
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Fifty-eight years ago today, two young men shook hands at the end of a basketball game, their last as collegiate ...
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Good morning, it’s Friday, March 12, 2021, the day of the week when I reprise a quotation meant to be ...
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One year ago today, as part of a Women’s History Month series curated by Dana Rubin, RCP readers were treated to ...
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Good morning, it’s Wednesday, March 10, 2021. Seventy years ago today, J. Edgar Hoover revealed that he had taken himself ...
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Good morning, it’s Tuesday, March 9, 2021. Twenty years ago today, when I was covering the White House, George W. ...
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Good morning, it’s Monday, March 8, 2021. Two U.S. presidents and Joe DiMaggio passed away on this date in American ...
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Good morning, it’s Friday, March 5, 2021, the day of the week when I reprise a quotation meant to be ...
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One year ago today, after receiving a morning briefing from the top health officials in the Trump administration, the U.S. ...
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On this date in 1965, a funeral was held in Alabama that helped bring the civil rights movement into focus. ...
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Today is the 117th birthday of Dr. Seuss, real name Theodor Geisel, who made a career out of making children laugh ...
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On this date in 1872, Ulysses S. Grant signed legislation preserving the splendors of Yellowstone. In the process, President Grant ...
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One year ago today, the first U.S. military serviceman was diagnosed with COVID-19. He was 23-year-old Army soldier stationed in ...
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The grim COVID milestone we've been awaiting with trepidation arrived Monday, as predicted: 500,000 American lives lost. President Biden gave ...
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Good morning, it's Feb. 19, 2021 -- a Friday, the day of the week when I reprise a quotation meant ...
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"Fat Tuesday," if you're fortunate enough to live in Louisiana -- or wherever Mardi Gras is celebrated. Today, I'm thinking ...
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The second impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump ended up the same as the first -- with an acquittal -- ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, Feb. 12, 2021, the day of the week I pass along quotations intended to be inspirational ...
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Donald J. Trump's second impeachment trial proceeds apace today, while the weather on the East Coast is challenging. But there's ...
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The second impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump survived its procedural test yesterday, with six Republicans joining all 50 Senate ...
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As the U.S. Senate prepares to hear its second impeachment case against Donald J. Trump, COVID-19 has claimed a member ...
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Another Super Bowl, the 55th such championship, is in the books. The National Football League thinks so much of its annual ...
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Good morning, it's Feb. 5, 2021, a Friday -- the day of the week I pass along quotations intended to ...
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Iconic American illustrator Norman Rockwell was born on this date in 1894. Throughout his career, Rockwell’s paintings were dismissed by ...
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Good morning, it's Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. Today is Groundhog Day, a more fitting anniversary this year than any of ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, Jan. 29, 2021, the day of the week when I reprise a quotation meant to be ...
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Seventy-six years ago today, U.S. Army Gen. Omar Bradley rode in his armored caravan out of Bastogne, Belgium. Although the ...
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Hello, it's Monday, Jan. 25, 2021. Globally, the number of COVID-19 infections is closing in on 100 million documented cases. ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, January 22, 2021, the day of the week when I reprise a quotation meant to be ...
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Good morning, it's Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, and we have a new president. Some of my readers, Republicans mainly, miss ...
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Inauguration Day is here at last. Four years ago today, Barack and Michelle Obama hosted Donald and Melania Trump at ...
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Good morning, it's Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, that last full day of the chaotic, problematic presidency of Donald John Trump. ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, the day of the week when I reprise a quote meant to be ...
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President Trump got himself impeached again, and in record time: one week between the commission of offense, indictment, and a ...
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House Democrats are proceeding apace to impeach President Trump again. This strikes many Republicans as vengeful and pointless: He's leaving ...
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In January 1838, 28-year-old Abraham Lincoln delivered an address in Springfield, Ill., condemning a series of vigilante attacks that had ...
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The sun is up in the nation's capital as I write these words, but the dark fallout continues from the ...
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Good morning, it's Jan. 8, 2021, a Friday -- the day of the week when I pass along a quotation ...
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Joe Biden's presidency has already begun, at least unofficially. Yesterday, Donald Trump chose to play the role of political rabble-rouser ...
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Today marks the feast of the Epiphany on the Christian calendar. The date is celebrated as Three Kings Day in ...
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Good morning, it's Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021 -- Election Day 2.0 in Georgia. Jan. 5 is also an eventful date ...
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Good morning, it's Jan. 4, 2021, the first Monday in a year most of us hope will be better and ...
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Good morning, it's Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020, the last day in a difficult and dangerous year. Tonight, we raise our ...
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The most distressing political news this morning is that Luke Letlow, recently elected to the House from Louisiana's 5th Congressional District, ...
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Today's news is that the House of Representatives overrode a presidential veto yesterday, which sends the measure -- a $741 billion ...
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Today is the 174th anniversary of Iowa statehood. In all that time, oddly, the Hawkeye State hasn't learned how to ...
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Good morning, it's Thursday, Dec. 24, 2020. On this date in 1843, a (fictional) money lender watched his poorly paid ...
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Good morning, it's Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020, and 197 years ago today, Orville L. Holley, the publisher of a newspaper ...
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Thirty-six years ago today, in a meeting at Camp David, Margaret Thatcher shared her insights with Ronald Reagan about a rising ...
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Eighteen years ago today, as White House physicians looked on, George W. Bush pulled up the sleeve of his shirt ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, Dec. 18, 2020, the day of the week I pass along quotations intended to be inspirational ...
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Fifty-one years ago today, the federal government closed the books on a long-running search for space aliens -- or, to ...
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Six years ago today, members of the 113th Congress awoke to the news that their year-end job approval rating in a ...
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A new vaccine is being disseminated across the United States, spreading faster than the deadly virus did in February and ...
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Sometime today, according to John Hopkins University (the source I've been using during the coronavirus pandemic), the United States will ...
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As most readers who have small children in their lives are acutely aware, we're precisely two weeks away from Christmas ...
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This is the first night of Hanukkah, in a year when wishing a friend "Happy Hanukkah" seems fraught. For starters, as ...
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On this date in 1972, a timely tune reached No. 1 on the pop music charts. Its vocalist, Helen Reddy, ...
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At age 97, Chuck Yeager has "escaped the surly bonds of Earth" -- again. A clever Twitter user, who bills himself ...
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Good morning, it's Monday, Dec. 7, 2020. On this day in 1941, Americans were going about their normal Sunday routines. ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, Dec. 4, 2020, the day of the week I pass along quotations intended to be inspirational ...
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Seven years ago this week, after revealing that President Obama planned to enroll for medical coverage under the Affordable Care ...
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On this date 257 years ago the Touro Synagogue was dedicated in Newport, R.I. Touro is the second-oldest Jewish congregation in North ...
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On this date in 1941, Americans awoke with the expectation that they had a reasonable chance of escaping the war ...
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On this date 185 years ago, as Halley's comet induced Americans to look skyward in awe, Mark Twain was born ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, Nov. 27, 2020, the day of the week I relate a quote meant to be inspirational ...
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On a cold, gray autumn Monday afternoon 57 years ago today, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. ...
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Six years ago today, President Obama conferred the Presidential Medal of Freedom on 19 Americans, six of them posthumously. Such ...
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Eighty-four years ago today, a shiny and sophisticated pictorial publication hit the newsstands. The brainchild of Henry Luce and Briton ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, Nov. 20, 2020, the day the week when I reprise an instructive or inspirational quotation. Today's ...
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Sometime overnight, this country passed a grim milestone: More than 250,000 Americans have now died from COVID-19. Although this is nowhere near the ...
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On this date in American history, Abraham Lincoln boarded a train in Washington, D.C., heading for a small town just ...
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It's been two weeks since Election Day, and although the man in the Oval Office won't admit it and a significant ...
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Thirty-four years ago today, a group of peace demonstrators, some of whom had walked across the entire country before arriving ...
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Good morning, it's Nov. 13. Yes, Friday the 13th -- an unlucky day in the minds of the superstitious, but, really, ...
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On this date 159 years ago, a well-to-do Harvard graduate named John Worthington Ames explained in a letter to his ...
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Good morning, it’s Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020 -- Veterans Day. A hundred years ago today, Great Britain buried an unnamed ...
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Election Day was a week ago, but it seems like a month, doesn’t it? In yesterday’s newsletter, I wrote about ...
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Joseph R. Biden Jr., who will turn 78 this month, is in line to become the 46th president of the United ...
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Good morning, it's Nov. 6 -- Day 4 of the maddeningly slow voting-counting process in the 2020 elections. Today is ...
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Good morning, it's Thursday, Nov. 5, Day Three of Election 2020. As of this writing, Donald Trump is making up ...
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Good morning. It's Wednesday, Nov. 4 -- Day Two of Election Day 2020. Six different candidates were elected president of ...
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Good morning, it's Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. Election Day. Six presidential elections have been held on this date since the ...
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Today is the birthday of two previous U.S. presidents: James K. Polk (1795) and Warren G. Harding (1865). As is ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, Oct. 30, 2020, the day the week when I reprise an instructive or inspirational quotation. Today's ...
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"The sun has risen bright and clear," a German immigrant named Carl Schurz wrote to his wife, Margarethe, on this date in ...
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Nine years ago this morning, baseball fans woke up bleary-eyed from watching one of the most dramatic World Series games in history. ...
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The United States now has a ninth justice on the Supreme Court, making a full complement -- at least for ...
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On this date in 1967, a third-generation U.S. Navy officer climbed into the cockpit of his A-4 Skyhawk and headed ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, Oct. 23, 2020, the day the week when I reprise an instructive or inspirational quotation. Today's ...
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Good morning, it's Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020, the date of the second and final debate between Donald Trump and Joe ...
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Seven years ago today, with a government shutdown settled (for the time being), President Obama turned his attention back to ...
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It was a weird baseball season -- like everything else in 2020 -- but the World Series is upon us. ...
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Four years ago tonight, Nevada hosted a faceoff that some locals dubbed the biggest prize fight in the history of ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, Oct. 16, 2020, the day the week when I reprise an instructive or inspirational quotation. Today's ...
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On this date in 1775, British troops billeted in Boston steeled themselves for an attack by a rebel force ringing ...
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Seven years ago this week, during one of Washington's periodic partial government shutdowns -- one that devolved into a game ...
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Election Day is three weeks from today, although whether definitive results will be known that night is an open question. ...
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Good morning, it's a rainy Monday in the nation's capital. A federal holiday, too, although I'm not sure what to ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, the day the week when I reprise an instructive or inspirational quotation. Today's ...
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The subject of West Coast wildfires arose in last night's vice presidential debate, with both Kamala Harris and Mike Pence ...
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On this date 152 years ago, Cornell University first opened its doors to students on the bucolic campus overlooking the ...
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On this date 59 years ago, state civil defense directors were assembled in Washington, D.C., for a conference on national ...
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Today is the birthday of Chester A. Arthur, one of six U.S. presidents born in October. I had intended to ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, Oct. 2, 2020, the day the week when I reprise an instructive or inspirational quotation. Given ...
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On this date in 1891, Stanford University opened its doors. On the first day of school, the incoming class of ...
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I'm not someone who customarily says, "I told you so," but I prepared you yesterday for the likelihood that last ...
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The first televised debate of the 2020 general election takes place tonight, a quadrennial ritual started 60 years ago by ...
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Major League Baseball's strange, shortened, and fan-less 2020 regular season has come to an end. Every team with a winning ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, Sept. 25, 2020, the day the week when I reprise an instructive or inspirational quotation. Choosing ...
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On this date in 1896, in the upper Mississippi River state capital of St. Paul, an upper-middle-class couple with Irish ...
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On this the date in 1806, the Lewis and Clark expedition returned to St. Louis after three years in the ...
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On this date 158 years ago, a wartime president changed the course of American history. Using the carnage on the ...
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Good morning. It's Monday, Sept. 21, 2020, the last day of a very difficult summer in American history. In case ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, the day of the week when I reprise an instructive or inspirational quotation. ...
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Sixty years ago today, the Democratic Party's presidential nominee went to the eastern part of North Carolina. Although this sounds ...
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One hundred years ago today, The New York City sky was the same "unbelievable blue," to use Bruce Springsteen's phrase, ...
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Good morning, it's Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, the birthday of William Howard Taft. The big man was born on this ...
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Good morning, it's Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. On this date in 1901, President William McKinley died after being shot by ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, Sept. 11, 2020. Nineteen years ago today, a coordinated terrorist attack against our country took the ...
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Good morning, it's Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020, the anniversary of one of the most memorable events in U.S. naval history. ...
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On this day in American history, a group of enslaved people in South Carolina's low country congregated at a bridge ...
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Fifty-four years ago today, a "starship" named the USS Enterprise fulfilled its creator's mission of boldly going where no network series had ...
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Good morning, it's Friday, Sept. 4, 2020, the day the week when I reprise an instructive or inspirational quotation. Today's ...
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Thirty-eight years ago today, an enterprising California computer wizard set out to reproduce the magic of the '60s -- at ...
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Good morning, it's Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020, the 75th anniversary of V-J Day. Today is when the United States celebrates its ...
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Good morning, it's Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020. Yesterday, Joe Biden spoke in Pittsburgh about the social unrest testing this country. ...
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On this date in 1935, in the Texas port city of Beaumont, Frank Robinson and Ruth Shaw welcomed their 10th child ...
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Hello, it's Friday, Aug. 28, 2020, the morning after the GOP wrapped up the second online presidential nominating convention in ...
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Fifty-seven years ago today, Washington, D.C., began filling up with Americans from every part of this country, especially the South. ...
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As I write these words, Hurricane Laura is barreling toward the Louisiana and Texas coasts. Hopefully, those in its path ...
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Last night, the Donald Trump-led Republican Party launched its own version of an online political convention. For the evening's "Land ...
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Eight years ago this week, Republicans watched the weather report uneasily while preparing to gather in Tampa. GOP leaders weren't ...
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Hello, it's Friday, Aug. 21, 2020, the morning after the first online presidential nominating convention in U.S. history. This is ...
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We now officially have a vice presidential nominee, a native Californian raised in Oakland and Berkeley. Kamala Devi Harris is ...
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Good morning, it's Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020. At 74 (his birthday is today), Bill Clinton is not the "Comeback Kid" ...
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Last night's prime-time lineup for opening night in the Democrats' 2020 virtual convention began with a female senator from Minnesota ...
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The Democratic National Convention begins today, and what a strange exercise it will be during our pandemic-induced lockdown. Twenty years ...
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It's Friday, Aug. 14, 2020, the day of the week when I reprise an instructive or inspirational quotation. Today's comes ...
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On this date in 1898, the U.S. flag was raised over Manila, ending the Philippines theater of the Spanish-American War. ...
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Our divided country has a new vice presidential candidate, one who breaks the mold of previous nominees in several ways, ...
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On this date in 1911, an unknown 19-year-old Hawaiian swimmer named Duke Kahanamoku shattered the world record in the 100-yard ...
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It's Friday, Aug. 7, 2020, the day of the week when I reprise instructive or inspirational quotations. Today's concerns Joseph ...
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On this date in 1945, the United States Army dropped an ordnance of unprecedented destructive power on the bustling Japanese ...
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On this date seven years ago, in a private White House ceremony, President Obama hosted a reception for Negro League ...
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On this date 115 years ago, while on a road trip to Boston, the shorthanded Cleveland Indians signed a local ...
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On this date in U.S. history, the presidency passed in the middle of the night to Calvin Coolidge as he slept ...
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It's Friday, July 31, 2020, the day of the week when I reprise instructive or inspirational quotations. Today's comes from ...
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COVID-19 has now officially claimed 668,000 lives worldwide, although the actual number is probably significantly higher. That's two-thirds of 1 ...
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It's Wednesday, July 29, a milestone date in the history of technological advancement in the United States. On this day ...
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On this date 88 years ago, an American president superseded local authorities and unleashed the U.S. Army on protesters who'd ...
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Twenty-four years ago today, an anonymous 911 call was received by an emergency operator in Atlanta during the Summer Olympics. ...
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It's Friday, July 24, 2020, the day of the week when I reprise an instructive or inspirational quotation. Today's concerns ...
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On this date in American history, Ulysses S. Grant died at age 63, Detroit was consumed by a 1967 race ...
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The weather forecaster on the local NBC affiliate in Washington, D.C., did not mince words this morning. High of 96, ...
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Yesterday, the Washington Nationals announced that Dr. Anthony Fauci will throw out the ceremonial first pitch when Major League Baseball belatedly begins ...
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This summer, criminal justice issues have risen to the forefront of America's national political conversation. It's not the first time, ...
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It's Friday, July 17, 2020, the day of the week when I reprise an instructive or inspirational quotation. Today's concerns ...
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On this date in U.S. history, a Depression-era photographer working for the Farm Security Administration was loaned by the government ...
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Four years ago today, Donald J. Trump chose Mike Pence as his running mate. It was hardly a seamless process, ...
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Around the world, this date is known as Bastille Day, and the French ambassador to the United States has a ...
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Sixty-nine years ago today, Harry Truman signed legislation granting guest workers legal status in this country. The rationale wasn't humanitarian; it was ...
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It's Friday, July 10, 2020, the day of the week when I reprise a quotation intended to be instructive or ...
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Yesterday, I wrote about Warren G. Harding, one of eight U.S. presidents to die in office. Harding was one of ...
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I've been thinking about first ladies this week. Monday was Nancy Reagan's 99th birthday and in yesterday's note I mentioned how ...
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Thirty-nine years ago today, President Reagan chose Sandra Day O'Connor to be the Supreme Court's first female justice. Although those in the ...
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On this date in 1945, a 21-year-old Jewish refugee named Gerda Weissmann wrote a letter to an American officer she had met two ...
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Good morning. It’s July 3, 2020 -- a federal holiday -- but also a Friday, the day of the week ...
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On this date in 1976, Gerald R. Ford went to the National Archives and paid homage to the Constitution and ...
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On this date in 1898, Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt led the "Rough Riders," a mounted amalgamation of Western cowboys and ...
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On this date in 1918, a small British passenger ship that had been converted to a wartime cargo vessel was ...
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Fifteen years ago today, George W. Bush uncorked one of his frequent malapropisms. Discussing his upcoming trip to Denmark, the ...
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It's Friday, June 26, 2020, the day of the week when I reprise a quotation intended to be instructive or ...
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Seventy years ago today, Harry Truman's hopes for a relaxing weekend at his home in Independence, Mo., were dashed by ...
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One hundred and fifty-six years ago today, Union troops under the overall command of Ulysses S. Grant engaged Robert E. ...
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It's Tuesday, June 23, 2020, the third day of summer -- the summer of national discontent. John Steinbeck, a native ...
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I hope you had a good Father's Day weekend. If you're unfamiliar with the origins of the observance, you might ...
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It's Friday, June 19, 2020, the day of the week when I reprise a quotation intended to be instructive or ...
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On this date in 1983, Sally K. Ride, the astronaut with the dime novel name, made history aboard the space ...
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Forty-eight years ago today, five shadowy operators, one of whom told police he once worked for the CIA, were arrested ...
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On this date in 1858, a former one-term congressman from Illinois delivered one of the most momentous political orations in ...
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Yesterday was Flag Day, an annual remembrance that fell this year at a time when Old Glory is sorely stressed. ...
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It's Friday, June 12, 2020, the day of the week when I reprise quotes intended to be instructive or inspirational. ...
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Didn't HBO pick an odd day to go all Taliban on us by removing "Gone With the Wind" from its ...
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On this day in 1928, Sadie and Philip Sendak, Polish émigrés living in Brooklyn, welcomed their third child into the world. ...
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If this year reminds you of 1968, you are not alone. Yesterday, a friend of mine who was just a little kid ...
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Over the weekend five years ago, a vice president's son was laid to rest in the cemetery of his home ...
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Good morning. It's Friday, June 5, 2020, the day of the week when I reprise a quotation intended to be ...
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On this date in 1863 Abraham Lincoln wrote a letter to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton regarding the thorny ...
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Eighty-seven years ago today, Jack and Irene Cannon welcomed their first son into the world. They lived in New York ...
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Yesterday evening, Donald Trump pronounced himself "your president of law and order," which apparently means he wants to be a ...
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Good morning, it's June 1, 2020, a Monday morning perhaps like no other in the history of our republic. A ...
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It's Friday, May 29, 2020, the day of the week when I reprise a quotation intended to be instructive or ...
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Yesterday I wrote about the lovely letters written 76 years ago this week by U.S. Army Cpl. Frank Elliott to ...
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Seventy-six years ago today, a 24-year-old U.S. soldier far from home wrote a letter to his wife, Pauline, who was ...
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On this date in 1864, the U.S. president who described America as the "last, best hope of Earth," took a ...
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On a day America mourns her war dead -- and honors the military service of those who answered their country's ...
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His name was John S. Carroll and he was old school all the way. I mean that in the best ...
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On this date in 1901, the state of Connecticut passed the first speed limits for motor vehicles. This was an ...
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On this date 158 years ago, a wartime U.S. president signed legislation that was of interest to the men under ...
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Forty-seven years ago today, the Preakness Stakes record was broken at Pimlico by a colt known affectionately by his handlers ...
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This year, graduation rituals at most colleges have been cancelled, postponed, or relegated to online ceremonies. It's a loss. Commencement ...
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Except maybe at Kentucky Derby time, which was postponed this year, thoroughbred horse racing is passé among most Americans these days. This ...
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When the United States entered the First World War, a young New Yorker named Henry Johnson was one of those ...
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Eighty years ago today, in her darkest hour, Great Britain turned to Winston Churchill as her leader. Hitler's invasion of Poland eight ...
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On this date in 1883, Boston publishing house James R. Osgood and Co. issued a new work, "Life on the ...
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Good morning, it's Monday, May 11, 2020. Yesterday was a glorious day on the East Coast, and Americans who've been ...
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It's Friday, May 8, 2020, the day of the week when I reprise a quotation intended to be educational or ...
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Sixteen years ago this week, NBC aired the final episode of "Friends" to a national audience estimated at 52.5 million. ...
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This is Willie Mays' birthday. Yes, the "Say Hey" Kid turns 89 today. During the current lockdown, everybody has things ...
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Today is Cinco de Mayo, one of the holidays I cherish most, albeit an unlikely cause for celebration in the United ...
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Fifty years ago today, the number of Americans killed in Vietnam had surpassed 50,000. Most of those who gave their last full ...
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It's Friday, May 1, 2020, the day of the week when I reprise a quotation intended to be educational or ...
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It was April 30 in 1789 when George Washington took the inaugural oath as the first president of this -- ...
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No American is alive today who attended the St. Louis World's Fair, which opened this month in 1904, but those ...
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The United States is closing in on 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases. As I write these words, the death toll ...
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Today is the birthday of Ulysses S. Grant, born 198 years ago on this date in Point Pleasant, Ohio. His ...
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At his daily White House coronavirus briefing/2020 campaign rally earlier this week, President Trump induced much merriment among the assembled ...
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April is National Poetry Month. Perhaps you already knew that, but it might surprise you to learn how many U.S. ...
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Good morning, it's Wednesday, April 22, 2020, the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Even ardent environmentalists couldn't have foreseen how we're ...
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On this date in 1861, 27-year-old Asa Melvin, a Concord farmer, was just getting to know his new comrades in ...
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On this date in 1875, centennial festivities in New England had concluded, President Grant had returned to Washington, and residents ...
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After the Bay of Pigs fiasco in April 1961, John F. Kennedy's third month in office, the president reluctantly accepted ...
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Yesterday, while writing about the doomed ship Titanic, I mentioned the White Star Line's early-20th-century competition with Cunard Line. Competition ...
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Americans didn't always have to pay income taxes, you know. It took a constitutional amendment to even make it legal. ...
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Today, Ford's Theatre is quiet -- as are the famous stages on Broadway and elsewhere in the country. The place ...
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President Franklin D. Roosevelt had planned to deliver a radio address on April 13, 1945, from his curative getaway in ...
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At Episcopal High School in Bellaire, Texas, Mark Hamilton lettered in soccer as well as in baseball. Baseball America magazine ...
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More than 3,800 Americans have died in the last two days from the coronavirus that has shut down America. That's ...
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Today the RealClear family of sites welcomes a new member, one focused on a topic receiving scant attention in our ...
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Long before "Hamilton," there was "South Pacific," which opened on Broadway 71 years ago today. I've written about this musical ...
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In an alternative universe, which is to say, the normal reality that we've enjoyed for the past 80 years, the ...
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Mason Temple in Memphis was packed with listeners on this date in 1968. They had come to hear Martin Luther ...
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On this date in history, Albert Einstein came to the United States for the first time. The famed scientist has ...
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Today's history lesson is about coping with loss, although it was loss on a human scale, which is to say ...
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On this date in 1938, Ernest Hemingway returned to Barcelona for the third time during the bloody civil war between ...
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On Friday, I wrote about heroism. I’ll continue in that vein this morning by highlighting the actions of an American ...
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In wartime, and that's what this feels like, sentient citizens find themselves contemplating the true meaning of courage and its ...
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On March 26, 1953, Dr. Jonas E. Salk announced on CBS radio that he had developed a vaccine for the ...
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One would be foolish to minimize the threat of this pandemic. And still, an event that took place 63 years ...
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Yesterday, I wrote at length about the life and times of reporter and author Randy Shilts during the earliest days ...
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Thirty-seven years ago today, the San Francisco Chronicle ran a bracing story based on a study done by two local ...
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Yesterday, a friend and I were commiserating (digitally, of course) about the uncertainty -- and, in some places, misery -- ...
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On this date in 1993, two months after Bill and Hillary Clinton moved into the White House, Hillary’s father suffered ...
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It seems so long ago, but a large and unruly roster of candidates assembled themselves at the outset of this ...
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The big St. Patrick’s Day parades were canceled in Europe as well as the United States. Ireland’s prime minister cut ...
Archive
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Ian Rowe, Janice Rogers Brown, Glenn Loury, & Wilfred Reilly, AEI
Jeffrey Rosen, William R. Hite, Louise Dubé, & Sal Khan, National Constitution Center
Hadley Arkes, Mark Graber, David Tubbs, & Vincent Phillip Munoz, National Association of Schoalrs
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