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Sep 26, 2020 5 tweets 2 min read Read on X
The biggest - and deadliest - military operation in American history began this day in 1918: Meuse-Argonne. Over a million U.S. troops participated; 26,000+ were killed and there were 120,000+ casualties. @realDonaldTrump has reportedly called those killed "suckers" and "losers" Image
The event that changed the presidency forever - this day in 1960 - when VP Richard M. Nixon and Sen. John F. Kennedy met for the first of four TV debates (more) Image
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People hearing the Chicago debate on the radio thought Nixon, the incumbent VP, won. But on TV Nixon, who had been ill, was sweating and looked bad. Meantime, Kennedy, who had flown in from Calif., had a healthy tan and was perceived by viewers as being healthy and attractive Image
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The debates helped establish television as the most important medium - a reputation cemented by the November 1963 coverage of Kennedy's assassination. The next presidential debate would not be until 1976, when Jimmy Carter benefited from a terrible blunder by President Ford
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The primacy of television also raised questions among historians as to whether other presidents would have been elected, given their physical attributes. For example, how would voters have regarded an unsightly Abraham Lincoln or a wheelchair-bound Franklin Roosevelt?

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More from @WestWingReport

Oct 15, 2022
One of our greatest presidents: Dwight D. (“Ike”) Eisenhower - born this day in 1890. The 34th president, he served 1953-61 (more)
2/
Eisenhower was a Republican when that meant putting country first. The GOP platform when he won re-election in 1956:
1. Provide aid to low-income communities
2. expand social security
3. asylum for refugees
4. make it easier for workers to join a union
5. raise minimum wage
3/
A 2021 survey of historians by CSPAN (I was honored to participate) ranked Eisenhower the 5th greatest president. His greatest qualities: "Moral Authority" and "Administrative Skills" (both 4th) worst: "Vision/Setting an Agenda" (16th)
Read 5 tweets
Oct 14, 2022
Construction began on the White House this day in 1792 - with the laying of its cornerstone. The oldest federal building in Washington, it was first known as the “Presidential Palace,” and later the “Executive Mansion,” until Theodore Roosevelt changed it to “White House” in 1901 Image
/2
The White House was the first public building to be erected in Washington. In 1790, Commissioners of the District of Columbia offered a $500 prize for the best design. Hundreds of proposals were submitted, including one from Thomas Jefferson, who submitted his anonymously Image
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But the Commissioners chose instead the blueprint of a young Irish immigrant, James Hoban. Hoban modeled it after one of the grandest buildings in Dublin, the Leinster House - you can still see it today Image
Read 6 tweets
Aug 13, 2022
A short thread on the #EspionageAct, now linked to the court-approved search warrant of former President Trump's Florida home:
2/
The espionage act goes back more than a century to World War One — it’s a sweeping, very broad statute that’s aimed at individuals who, the government claims, undermine the government by disclosing secrets that could harm national security
3/
The list of those who have been charged with violating the Espionage Act is long. Examples include Julius and Ethel Rosenberg — executed in the 1950s for being atomic spies
Read 9 tweets
Jun 5, 2022
Mini-Thread: Were it not for two events that are marking major anniversaries this weekend, our world, our place in it, and much that we take for granted, might be quite different:
2/
It's the 80th anniversary of one of the most momentous naval battles in history - certainly in U.S. history - one that turned the tide of the Pacific War: Midway. In one day, the United States got swift revenge for Pearl Harbor, sinking four Japanese aircraft carriers (more)
3/
Luckily for the U.S., its aircraft carriers were not at Pearl Harbor six months earlier, when Japan's sneak attack pushed America into the war. They got revenge at Midway. Here: "Famous Four Minutes" by R.G. Smith, showing the U.S. attack on the carriers Akagi and Kaga
Read 7 tweets
Mar 8, 2022
Min-Thread:
There is always confusion about energy prices, so if you'll indulge WWR for a moment, he (Paul) will try and clear up a few common (and understandable) misconceptions:
1) The United States does not import and export energy. Private sector companies do, with prices set by the free market. Producers (drillers and frackers) sell to the highest bidder - and often the highest bidder is overseas (more)
2) but U.S. refiners also import oil, which sometimes is cheaper - the market bounces up and down, as it does for any commodity. Futures prices (what a company will pay at a future date) are one way to lock in price, but futures have been rising for weeks in anticipation...
Read 7 tweets
Feb 24, 2022
Thread
Putin has called the fall of the Soviet Union the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century. Not World War II, when tens of millions of Soviets citizens were killed. Not the horrors of Soviet totalitarianism (thanks to his hero Stalin) that killed millions more
2/
Not the Holocaust, which began in force on Soviet territory itself. No, Putin said, the greatest catastrophe was the peaceful dissolution of the Soviet empire, which gave tens of millions their first exposure to true freedom That, he thinks, is the real tragedy
3/
The mindset of this lifelong KGB man is that the Soviet empire must somehow be restored. Prior to invading Ukraine, he sent, just weeks ago, troops into another former Soviet republic — Kazakhstan — to help thwart “outside interference.” And Georgia in 2008 and Crimea in 2014
Read 17 tweets

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