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Pope Benedict XVI (C) poses with US President Barack Obama (L) and US First Lady Michelle Obama during an audience on July 10, 2009 at The Vatican. Obama was meeting Pope Benedict XVI for the first time, with their talks expected to cover both areas of agreement such as foreign policy and those that divide them, notably abortion.
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US First Lady Michelle Obama, in black dress at center, between her daughters Malia, at right in yellow top, and Sasha, in green dress, walk past towering stone columns as they arrive for a visit of Rome's ancient Pantheon, Thursday, July 9, 2009.
After her return to Rome from L'Aquila, central Italy, Michelle Obama and her daughters, took a private, 30-minute tour of the Pantheon, the well-preserved ancient Roman monument with massive concrete dome in the heart of Rome. Obama and other first spouses toured the center of L'Aquila earlier Thursday to see the destruction wrought by an earthquake in the Italian city hosting world leaders this week for the Group of Eight summit.
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FROM VOGUE.COM
Presidential Gifts
As the Obamas try to master the art of gift-giving, we take a look back at the best--and worst--state gifts to come through the White House. By Andrea Cooper
The Obamas have been under scrutiny for their recent gifts to world leaders: an iPod for the queen of England; a set of American movies to British prime minister Gordon Brown; and toy models of Marine One, the White House helicopter, for his kids. Not very inspired choices, some have observed. The next big gift-giving opportunity is this week, during the president’s trip to Moscow, Italy, and Ghana.
But the Obamas are hardly the first First Couple to have trouble with state gifts. Many foreign dignitaries thought horses would be the ideal present for Ronald Reagan during his presidency. But Reagan didn’t want any more horses, and at one point a gifts officer had to figure out a gracious way to decline Arabian steeds from the king of Morocco. “Oh, my gosh, it’s so nice of His Majesty to bring these horses,” the officer blurted to her Moroccan counterpart, “but we have a policy that anything over $160 has to be turned over to the government. . . . The only way we can keep them is to shoot them and stuff them and put them in the library.” The monarch decided to give something else.
The latest uproar over state gifts provokes the question of why gift-giving by the president and First Lady even matters. Gifts, says etiquette expert Letitia Baldrige, who worked as social secretary for First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, serve a diplomatic purpose far beyond good manners. Diplomacy, after all, is ultimately about relationships, and carefully selected gifts can help build close bonds between leaders and the nations they represent. “When you have a thing that’s been beautifully researched and has meaning to the very hearts of the people of that country, it’s going to resonate for centuries,” Baldrige adds. One example: The Kennedys gave French president Charles de Gaulle a historic letter, written by George Washington, that offered thanks for French help during the American Revolution. “It was incredible what [the gift] meant to the French people.”
Sally Quinn, the journalist and Washington social observer, calls gift-giving among heads of state a “language all its own—it says, ‘We don’t want war, we want peace.’ ” And she underscores the importance of the ritual by stressing its ancient beginnings. “Really, you can go back to Jesus’ birth. ‘They come from afar giving gifts.’ It is a sign of respect and a sign of honoring somebody.” During state visits, she adds, we offer gifts to leaders who aren’t necessarily friends. “You’re not giving it to the person—you’re giving it to the people of the country.”
The annual budget for state gifts is a touchy subject—the State Department’s Protocol Office declined to provide a figure when contacted for this story—but gifts officers do have to work within a budget. (The exception may have been the Kennedys, who were known to send bills for especially pricey state gifts to Joseph Kennedy, the president’s wealthy father.) In the Reagan White House, Chief of Protocol Selwa Roosevelt found it challenging to choose inventive gifts on a budget. “We tried to deal with purveyors who were discreet, who would not discuss the gifts before they were given or their cost,” she writes in her memoir, Keeper of the Gate. (The purveyors included Tiffany, Lenox, Steuben, Williamburg craftsmen, and American artists such as Wheatley Allen of California and Walter Matia of Maryland. The Reagans also gave crafts, including Appalachian quilts.)
The First Couple offer gifts not just when they travel abroad but also when heads of state and other foreign dignitaries visit the White House. And the giving sometimes gets fairly bountiful. If the queen of England comes calling, her entourage of butlers, maids, chefs, and others who make the trip typically receives small gifts, too. In some families, these become cherished mementos passed down through the generations. In others, they’re auctioned off. (Among the items recently on eBay was a piece of the Oval Office cork floor from 1934–1969, encased in Lucite opposite a drawing of the White House. The gift, which included an inscription from Ronald Reagan, was being offered for $2,250.)
And what an assortment of gifts have been given through the years. Jack Kennedy commissioned replicas of George Washington’s battle sword for several world leaders, says James Wagner of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. Jacqueline Kennedy matched her husband for creativity. She invited New York jeweler David Webb to develop a series of paperweights made of minerals and gems mined from different parts of the United States.
Lady Bird and Lyndon Johnson liked to give historic volumes, including sets of American literature, poetry, and history. They traveled with a planeload of silver gifts and an engraver who could personalize them, writes Roosevelt. But the Johnsons also took advantage of the latest technology. At a time when satellites were new, they gave framed photos of a visiting leader’s country taken from space.
President Nixon liked another form of technology—he gave a Lincoln Continental with black velour upholstery to Russian leader Leonid Brezhnev. Brezhnev, who loved luxury autos, had asked for this gift prior to a meeting at Camp David. Nixon halted the talks so he could surprise Brezhnev with the car, which staffers had hidden. The Russian leader was so thrilled he insisted on taking Nixon for a joyride then and there. “Without warning, he waved Nixon into the front seat, took the wheel, and roared off as Secret Service men looked on aghast,” read Brezhnev’s obituary in Time. “He and Nixon hurtled down a narrow, twisting Catoctin Mountain road at high speed, ran a stop sign at the bottom of the hill, and careened out onto a highway, Brezhnev looking neither right nor left.”
How much the First Ladies have been involved in choosing gifts has likely varied, though Baldrige claims Jackie Kennedy was the first who took an active role, compared with previous First Ladies, who were often merely told what the gifts would be. Officially, the Office of the Chief of Protocol is responsible for proposing and purchasing gifts to give foreign leaders on behalf of the president, First Lady, vice president, secretary of State, and spouses. At different times the chief of protocol and other State Department officials have been involved in gift selection, with discreet inquiries to the country’s embassy about what the recipients would enjoy.
“It was the pressure of Christmas Eve, like finding something for your older aunt you didn’t know very well, and that was all year long,” says Bunny Murdock, a gifts officer in the Reagan administration. But Murdock didn’t work alone. “Sometimes Mrs. Reagan was involved. She liked to know what was going on and had some very good ideas.”
Of course, presidents and First Ladies receive state gifts as frequently as they give them, ranging from exquisite to outlandish. In 2008 the protocol office recorded more than 70 entries listing gifts to President Bush, including a “navy suede robe with gold rope trim and mink lining,” the “King Abd Al-Aziz Medal of Honor gold necklace,” and other items collectively valued at $32,000, from Abdullah bin Abd Al-Aziz Al Saud, “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.” One column lists the reason these and other gifts were accepted: “Non-acceptance would cause embarrassment to donor and U.S. government.”
Today, the president, the First Lady, and by extension their children can keep only items valued under $335 from a foreign government or an international organization. They can use the gifts while in office, but after that, Obama’s stash will go to his presidential library (if he creates one) or the national archives. It’s possible the president may not even open his own gift. Reagan, for instance, preferred for the chiefs of protocols to exchange and open gifts on behalf of their leaders, Selwa Roosevelt says, to avoid any awkwardness of not being able to get the gift unwrapped with television cameras present.
It’s State department and administration policy not to discuss plans for gift-giving, according to Katie McCormick Lelyveld, press secretary to Michelle Obama—a decision that suggests gifts are still a delicate area of diplomacy.
So does a recent misstep in March. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave the Russian foreign minister a red button with the word “RESET” written in Russian and English. The button was supposed to symbolize a fresh start in U.S.–Russian relations. But the word was misspelled in Russian; it was actually “OVERLOAD”. During Obama’s visit the button was on display in Pushkin Square, between cardboard cutouts of the U.S. president and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. (The state newspaper borrowed the button from the Foreign Ministry museum, where it will presumably return once tourists and children have had fun pressing it.)
In spite of the early criticism, though, at least First Lady Michelle Obama may not have much to worry about as a gift-giver. Some say she made up for any gaffes in Britain with her present of an American Gibson guitar to Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the singer/songwriter married to French president Nikolas Sarkozy. Mrs. Obama also gave a leather-bound journal and pen on Inauguration Day to Laura Bush, as they had talked about Mrs. Bush’s plans to write her memoirs. The journal included a quote from writer Louis L’Amour: “There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. Yet that will be the beginning.” It was the first time an American First Lady had given a gift to an outgoing First Lady.
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Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
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U.S. first lady Michelle Obama (L) and her daughter Malia joke as they visit the Colosseum in Rome July 8, 2009.
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U.S. first lady Michelle Obama smiles as she poses for a group picture with the wives of G8 and G5 leaders during their visit at the Capitolini Museum in Rome July 8, 2009. Leaders of G8 and G5 countries are attending a summit in the city of L'Aquila from July 8-10.
First lady Mrs. O visited Palazzo del Governo in L'Aquila, Italy this morning with other G8 spouses. The medieval city was hit by a powerful earthquake in April 2009. As Mrs. O surveyed the damage, she said, ''I'm very moved. I and my husband have been very struck by what we're seeing and we'll try to do everything possible to support you."
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Barack versus Michelle: The popularity contest
Obamas represent an almost irresistible package for the celeb-obsessed -President Barack Obama and wife Michelle are an irresistible package.
updated 6:34 a.m. CT, Tues., July 7, 2009
WASHINGTON - He's more powerful; she's more popular.
He sells millions of books he's written; she sells millions of magazines she's posed for.
He gets more Internet clicks — except when she does.
There are plenty of ways to score a theoretical Barack vs. Michelle celebrity smackdown.
But if one is to engage in this just-for-fun dissection of the phenomobama, it must be stipulated that Barack is the president, which does give him certain advantages.
Then again, Michelle has the fashion factor working for her. And motherhood. And those sculpted arms. And, she doesn't have to tackle sticky issues like cutting the federal budget.
Taken together, the Obamas represent an almost irresistible package for celebrity-fixated Americans.
"This is in some ways like medicine coated with candy," says Jake Halpern, author of "Fame Junkies: The Hidden Truth Behind America's Favorite Addiction." "It allows people to get their celebrity fix and still feel like they're engaging and learning something about civic life."
So how do Barack and Michelle measure up against one another?
You like me!
This round goes to Michelle — for now, at least.
Her favorability ratings trailed his in public opinion polls throughout 2008, but lately she's had the lead.
In a trio of recent polls, Michelle's favorability ratings beat Barack's 73-69, 67-54 and 76-72.
But Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center, which conducted one of the surveys, cautions: "Don't make too much of the popularity gap at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue."
He says it's not unusual for a first lady to be more popular than the president, since the spouses often can more easily steer clear of controversy.
Still, Michelle's steady rise in the polls over the past year represents a nice recovery for the first lady, who had a rocky time of it after critics seized on her remark in February 2008, during the thick of the presidential primaries, that she was proud of her country "for the first time in my adult life."
Money versus beauty
The president's two best-selling books brought in about $2.5 million in royalties last year.
That helped propel him to No. 49 on the Forbes Celebrity 100 Power List, right between George Clooney and rapper 50 Cent. (Angelina Jolie ranked first.)
Obama is the first sitting president to make the list, which is based on celebrities' earnings and mentions in the media.
Michelle didn't make the cut.
Then again, she made People magazine's "100 most beautiful people" list. He didn't.
They both turned up on Time's 100 "most influential people" list.
Cover girl
Michelle Obama sells magazines: She's been splashed across the cover of Vogue, People, O magazine, Time and more.
"She's a solid seller," says Larry Hackett, People's managing editor.
A February issue of People with Michelle on the cover sold 1.36 million copies. January's "inauguration special," whose front had the Obamas dancing together at an inaugural ball, sold 1.6 million.
Hackett says there's big interest in the Obamas — but maybe not as big as the hype might suggest.
The Obamas "are relatively more fascinating and interesting, but it's not by some crazy factor," Hackett says.
Barack has had his own cover spreads — he was on the front of Men's Vogue in 2006 and 2008, and fronted Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Esquire and GQ last year, too.
And it's Barack — not Michelle — who's had a swimsuit edition: Washingtonian splashed a photo of a shirtless Obama in his swimsuit on the cover of its May issue.
The headline declared: "Our new neighbor is hot."
Final sales numbers aren't in yet, but "so far, it's selling really well," said Beth Sara Widger, circulation manager for Washingtonian.
Barack has been a best-selling subject for a number of newsmagazines. But his image doesn't guarantee huge sales.
In May, the first issue of the redesigned Newsweek, with a close-up of Obama on the cover, was no barn burner, according to preliminary, unaudited figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
At times, magazine editors' enthusiasm for all things Obama seems to run away with itself.
The teaser headline on the cover of the June/July issue of the Conde Nast men's magazine Details: "Can President Obama Make You Better in Bed?"
No comparable headline for Michelle. Yet.
Brains versus class
"Intelligent" is the single word that most often comes to mind when people think of Barack Obama, according to a Pew survey conducted in April. That was followed by "good" and "socialist."
For Michelle, the words most often volunteered were "classy" and "nice."
"Intelligent" was not far behind, though.
Click magnet
Barack is the click magnet — one online measurement company says he's been the subject of about twice as many Internet searches as his wife so far this year.
But Michelle dominates the click picture from time to time.
In each of the past four months, there were some weeks when she generated more searches than he did, according to Hitwise, an online measurement company.
Among the top search terms paired with Michelle Obama: fashion, garden, style, "in the news," sneakers, bio and "touching the queen" (after her touchy-feely encounter with Queen Elizabeth in April).
Among the top search terms paired with Barack Obama: biography, Israel, news, jokes, stimulus package, birth certificate (related to those persistent but unfounded rumors that Obama is not a natural-born citizen and thus ineligible to be president).
To put things in perspective, though, both Obamas were far overshadowed in recent weeks by searches related to Oprah Winfrey, Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears, according to Hitwise, which analyzes Web sites visited by 10 million people who use certain Internet service providers.
While selling the Obamas is easier than selling other politicians, says People's Hackett, "they're still in politics, and that comes with some baggage."
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US First Lady Michelle Obama waves while attending the graduation ceremony of the New Economic School in Moscow on July 7, 2009. The United States wants a strong, peaceful and prosperous Russia, US President Barack Obama said in a keynote speech urging the development of democracy and curbing of corruption in the country.
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Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (R), his wife Svetlana (2nd R), U.S. President Barack Obama (L) and first lady Michelle Obama pose for a picture at the presidential residence Gorki outside Moscow July 6, 2009. Visiting U.S. President Obama and Kremlin leader Medvedev agreed a target for cuts in nuclear arms and a deal to let U.S. troops fly across Russia at the start of a trip intended to mend strained ties.
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US First Lady Michelle Obama (R) and Russian First Lady Svetlana Medvedeva (L) look at Russian Orthodox icons at the Kremlin in Moscow on July 6, 2009. The United States and Russia agreed to revive a joint commission that investigates the fate of prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action, the White House said.
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The New York Post runs some tidbits today from the new book Bobby and Jackie: A Love Story, which purportedly reveals some steamy, sad secrets of a long-hidden affair between Jackie Kennedy and her brother-in-law, Robert Kennedy.
The pair supposedly came together after JFK's assassination, first as a means to express their grief, then as a means to express their passion. Camelot insiders, including Bobby's wife Ethel, knew the affair was going on, but everyone knew that it would never go anywhere—because it was the 1960s, because they were Catholic and divorce was what it was, because Bobby couldn't risk a marital scandal if he hoped to take office someday. So the pair continued in secrecy until Bobby's assassination in 1968.
Some factoids from the book, which includes witness accounts from Jack Newfield, Gore Vidal, and Truman Capote:
Six months after JFK's death, during a May 1964 dinner cruise on the presidential yacht the USS Sequoia, Bobby and Jackie "exchanged poignant glances" before disappearing below deck, leaving Ethel upstairs. "When they returned, they looked as chummy and relaxed as a pair of Cheshire cats,"
At the Kennedys' Palm Beach estate during Christmas 1964, socialite Mary Harrington saw Jackie sunbathing topless, with Bobby kneeling at her side. "As they began to kiss, he placed one hand on her breast and the other inside of her bikini bottom," Harrington recalled.
According to Gore Vidal, "The one person Jackie ever loved . . . was Robert Kennedy."
Shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis — RFK's rival for Jackie's attention — once threatened to "bring down" Bobby by going public with details of the affair. "I could bury that sucker," Onassis said, "although I'd lose Jackie in the process."
On June 4, minutes after winning the California primary, Bobby was fatally shot by Sirhan Sirhan at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
Jackie flew to his bedside — and Ethel allowed her time alone with the dying RFK, according to the book.
Bobby was brain-dead, but a distraught Ethel refused to pull the plug, and brother Ted Kennedy was in no shape to make the call, Heymann writes.
At 1:20 a.m. June 6, 1968, Jackie Kennedy ordered the respirator shut down and signed the consent form, the book reveals.
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U.S. President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and their daughters Sasha and Malia (L) board Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, July 5, 2009.
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Vietnam War-era official passed away at his home at age 93, wife says. McNamara confers with President John F. Kennedy, far right, prior to their visit to South Vietnam in Sept, 1963.
McNamara once recalled a dramatic encounter in which Jackie Kennedy literally beat his chest and demanded that he "do something to stop the slaughter (Vietnam)."
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U.S. President Barack Obama kisses his daughter Malia as first lady Michelle Obama and their younger daughter Sasha look on during a Fourth of July celebration with military families on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington July 4, 2009.
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U.S. President Barack Obama walks with first lady Michelle Obama upon their landing in Fort McNair in Washington July 4, 2009. Obama returned to Washington from Camp David to celebrate July 4th at the White House.
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Obama team struggles to juggle work, family
07/04/2009
WASHINGTON — When President Barack Obama talks up the family-friendly vibe at the White House — the nightly family dinners, the flexibility to attend school presentations and join impromptu plunges in the pool with his girls — his chief of staff sets him straight. "Family friendly to your family," counters Rahm Emanuel, his top aide.
The schedule of Christina Romer, the president's chief economist, is so packed, for example, that her first visit to her son's school this year came at 10 p.m. on a Friday. "I felt wretched, just wretched," she said of the evening that her 12-year-old boy pointed out his classroom in the dark.
Peter Orszag, the White House budget chief who is a divorced father of two, works so many weekends that he often imports his parents to help care for his 9-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son. "We're still sort of groping here," he said.
As for Emanuel, he recently squeezed in a swim with his two daughters, 9 and 11, at 5 a.m. "No matter how much the president tries — and he and Michelle try, they do — the White House is brutal on family life," said Emanuel.
The Obamas have vowed to create an accommodating workplace for their employees, but for many, the work-family balance that the Obamas enjoy remains agonizingly elusive.
White House advisers often work 60 to 70 hours a week and bear the scars of missed birthdays and bedtimes, canceled dinners and play dates, strained marriages and disgruntled children, all for prestigious posts that offer both a chance to make an impact and unparalleled access to the president. At a time when the nation is in recession and at war, the public expects no less, many argue.
Still, the Obamas, who also have young children, remain committed to making life more manageable for their aides who are parents, officials say.
Those aides include Robert Gibbs, the press secretary, who has a 5-year-old son; Mona Sutphen, the deputy chief of staff, who has a 4-year-old daughter and a 2-year-old son; Nancy-Ann DeParle, the chief health adviser, who has two sons, 8 and 9; and Cynthia Hogan, who is leading the administration's efforts to get Judge Sonia Sotomayor confirmed to the Supreme Court, as she raises her 12-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son.
To support working parents, the Obamas distributed laptops to aides with families — before those without children — so they could work from home. They invited children to a White House screening of the film "Madagascar" and a Take Your Kids to Work Day hosted by the first lady. They have created some flexible work schedules and encourage their aides to take their children to work when child care arrangements fall through, as well as to swim in the White House pool or play outside.
"Part of the reason that we built the swing set out there was to say, you know, on weekends or after school, bring the kids here, set them loose, because, you know, we want to make sure that you're staying in contact with your family," Obama said. "That, ultimately, I think, makes people work better."
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Where a Reviled President Retreated
By James F. Lee
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
What finally got me to visit Wheatland, President James Buchanan's home in Lancaster, Pa., were the lists. These are the lists ranking U.S. presidents, and consistently on the bottom is Buchanan, who served on the eve of the Civil War. In fact, Buchanan's time in office was so bad that he is reported to have said to Abraham Lincoln at the latter's inauguration, "If you are as happy in entering the White House as I shall feel on returning to Wheatland, you are a happy man indeed."
I arrived on a sunny spring morning and looked up the slight rise on which Wheatland sits and understood Buchanan's affection for the place. It is a lovely, 18-room brick Federal Revival mansion with a square main building and two extended wings. But while this is a stately home, it is not Mount Vernon or Monticello. Wheatland reflects the conservative, religious lawyer and politician: comfortable but not pretentious.
A docent, Arlene Zerr, greeted our tour group of about a dozen at the back door of the house. We were an eclectic bunch: history fans, Civil War buffs, presidential home aficionados.
Zerr explained that Buchanan, though born of modest means, was perhaps the most experienced man ever to serve in the White House: By the time he became president he had served in the Pennsylvania legislature, in the U.S. House and Senate, as secretary of state and as ambassador to Russia and Great Britain. After two failed bids for the presidency, Buchanan shopped around for a place to retire. He purchased Wheatland and the surrounding 22 acres of woodland and fields in 1848, in what was then the countryside outside Lancaster. He planned to go back to practicing law. If only that had happened, how differently he would be remembered by history.
Wheatland today has been reduced to about four acres with a majestic tree-filled front lawn, side gardens and a vegetable garden in the rear. No longer in the country, the estate is in one of Lancaster's best neighborhoods of tree-lined streets and large, elegant homes.
There is much speculation about why he remained the country's only bachelor president, but it is known that the love of his life, his fiancee Ann Coleman, died quite young and unexpectedly. Supposedly, he vowed never to marry after her death. But he raised several orphaned nieces and nephews.
One niece, Harriet Lane, became the mistress of Wheatland by the time she was 19, and I could sense her influence in the comfortable green and white parlor, dominated by her grand piano, a gift from her uncle, and her writing desk of intricately carved black walnut, poplar and rosewood. The bachelor's space is evident in the dark wood tones and contrasting white walls of the study, with glass-fronted bookshelves and a worktable in the center of the room. Buchanan, in fact, was devoted to work, even having a small morning/evening office just off his bedroom upstairs.
Buchanan was called from retirement in 1853 by President Franklin Pierce to become ambassador to Great Britain. Harriet accompanied her uncle to London, where her charm captivated British society, including Queen Victoria. Autographed engravings of Victoria and her husband, Albert, gifts from the queen and prince, hang in the parlor of Wheatland. After returning from Britain, Buchanan surprised everyone, including probably himself, by winning the Democratic nomination for president. He campaigned from Wheatland. Every day dozens of visitors crowded into the formal dining and sitting room, where they could ask the candidate questions, make deals and generally politic. He finally achieved his goal of winning the presidency in 1856, when he was 65 years old.
Harriet accompanied her uncle to the White House, where she was popular as the president's hostess. One social highlight of her uncle's presidency was the visit of the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII, whose gala dinner was served on china Buchanan had brought to the White House from Wheatland. That china is on display today in Wheatland's informal dining room. This was the first official visit by a British royal to the United States.
I asked Patrick Clarke, director of James Buchanan's Wheatland, what he thought of Buchanan's being on the worst-president list. Clarke said that nobody elected in 1856 could have averted the war. "The country was a mess. Too many years of compromise after compromise." Clarke takes a realistic view. "He was not a great president. But I wouldn't put him at the bottom of the barrel," he said.
When he left office in 1861, Buchanan was generally reviled, by North and South, Democrat and Republican. His attempts to achieve middle ground in the slavery debate had been disastrous; before his term was out, seven states had seceded. He would spend his remaining years at Wheatland, writing a book in which he absolved himself from all blame for events leading to the Civil War.
One of Buchanan's favorite spots at Wheatland was the frog pond. In a Zenlike moment that belied his sober Presbyterian temperament, Buchanan said that he hoped he could come back in another life as a frog in that pond. In gaining the presidency Buchanan got something he had longed for, and perhaps lived to regret. It's nice to think that maybe he got his second wish: to be at Wheatland forever.
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Jackie at the Vatican, March 1962
First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia, along with her mother, Marian Robinson, will join President Obama when he travels to Russia, Italy and Ghana next week. The First Couple will meet with Pope Benedict XVI on July 10 at the Vatican.
The White House announced in May that Mrs. Obama would visit Ghana -- and only recently confirmed that she will be with the president for the entire swing. The president will deliver two major speeches during the trip -- in Moscow, on U.S.-Russia relations, and in Accra, before the Ghanaian parliament.
Not all details about Mrs. Obama's activities on this trip are out yet, but a Wednesday briefing at the White House revealed some of her plans.
This is Mrs. Obama's second overseas trip in less than a month; she, her mom and daughters flew to Paris and London in June, marking Sasha's eighth birthday in London. Malia turns 11 on July 4. The next day, the Obama family flies to Russia aboard Air Force One, landing in Moscow on Monday.
Unlike the Paris and London trip -- basically a vacation for Mrs. Obama, with the exception of a side visit to Normandy to mark the anniversary of D-Day -- this travel is official business.
Once in Moscow, the president will meet with Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev, said Denis McDonough, deputy national security advisor for strategic communications.
"He will hold a press conference that afternoon in Moscow. After the meeting with President Medvedev, then he and the first lady will have dinner Monday evening with President and Mrs. Medvedev.
"They'll overnight in Moscow and the next morning will have breakfast with Prime Minister [Vladimir] Putin; will have a meeting with former President [Mikhail] Gorbachev. The president will give a major speech at the New Economic School that afternoon on U.S.-Russia relations. And then the president will hold meetings with a variety of Russian political, business leaders during the course of that afternoon."
On Wednesday morning, it's on to Rome and then to L'Aquila, Italy, for G8 meetings. It's not known yet what schedule, if any, Mrs. Obama will have in connection with the G8 spouses before returning to Rome on Friday for the meeting with the pope. The president will also meet with the Vatican secretary of state.
Next up, McDonough said, is Accra, Ghana, where the presidential party will arrive late Friday evening. On Saturday, the president will attend a series of meetings as well as make a major address in the Ghanaian parliament on development and democracy. After the speech, he and the first lady will tour the Cape Coast Castle, and then leave for Washington.
Michelle Gavin, the White House senior director for African Affairs, said the Ghana stop is an acknowledgement of the nation's stability and that Obama "certainly looks forward to traveling more widely in Africa in the future."
She noted that said the president wanted to emphasize "the importance of governance for stability. And Ghana is a truly admirable example of a place where governance is getting stronger, a thriving democracy. They just had an extraordinarily close election at the end of last year, decided ultimately by about 40,000 votes, that remained peaceful, power was transferred peacefully, and they continue to pursue a development agenda and bolster the rule of law.
"And this is worth pointing out, because far too often discussions of Africa are focused on crisis. Ghana is not in crisis, and it's an example for the region and more broadly."
Mrs. Obama was last in Africa in 2006 when, with her daughters and some of her friends, she flew to Nairobi to join then-Sen. Obama in Kenya, the homeland of his father.
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White House Fourth of July Barbecue Honors Military Families; Foo Fighters Will Perform
Obama daughter Malia will share her 11th birthday tomorrow with more than 1,200 guests for the big Independence Day bash at the White House, hosted by President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. The event will honor military service people and their families, and include White House staff and their families, too.
Perhaps Malia will get all hipster now that she's a tween, because the Foo Fighters will be playing, thanks to intense lobbying by staffers who really are hipsters (Foos, in pic). The Marine Band will also perform, and the event will culminate with fireworks. The South Lawn provides the best view in DC of the fireworks display that takes place each year over the Washington Monument.
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Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
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The Jefferson Awards was one of the few organization's Jackie lent her name to.
http://www.jeffersonawards.org/pastwinners/national
Jefferson Award recipients honored in Washington, D.C.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Twelve individuals from around the country, including U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, were honored last night (June 17) in Washington, D.C., for their extraordinary volunteerism as recipients of the 2009 Jefferson Awards for Public Service.
Although Nancy Heil of the North Hills, one of the local Jefferson Award winners, was nominated for a national award, she was not among the "unsung heroes" selected.
Mrs. Heil organizes volunteers to help feed and clothe homeless people Downtown, working out of her own home with no office or fundraising. She considers her calling a ministry -- which has no name and accepts only in-kind donations -- and so do the recipients who depend on blankets and other necessities she and hundreds of her troops provide.
The Jefferson Awards were started in 1972 by the American Institute for Public Service and are administered locally by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette with sponsorship of Highmark, The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments.
In 2008, three Shaler Area High School seniors recognized for a 2007 Jefferson Award -- Erin Drischle, Jackie Betz and Megan Neuf -- went on to win the annual Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for public service. They had created M-Powerment, a program to educate teen girls about the dangers of sexual violence.
At last night's ceremony, Mr. Kennedy won the U.S. Sen. John Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Official.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09168/977838-54.stm?cmpid=news.xml#ixzz0K3WFyeJp&D
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