Monthly Archives: October 2014
America Needs Another Jonas Salk–Happy 100th Birthday Dr. Salk
Today, October 28, is the 100th birthday of Dr. Jonas Salk, whose 1955 polio vaccine eventually eradicated this crippling disease in the United States. Google is saying thank you to Dr. Salk today through their search engine doodle. Between 13,000 and 20,000 polio cases occurred … Continue reading
Midterms and the Sixth Year Itch: 1938, FDR
Midterm elections often fall into a pattern where the president’s party loses seats in the U.S. House and Senate. Sometimes the American people have a six-year itch, showing their objections to the president’s policies by voting against his party in the … Continue reading
An Ebola-like Disease that Evacuated the Nation’s Capital and Changed the Presidency
Oct. 24, 1793, Philadelphia “The managers report that they have received six men and buried four men in the last twenty-four hours,” recorded the secretary for the committee combating yellow fever in Philadelphia. Yellow fever, an Ebola-like epidemic, struck Philadelphia, … Continue reading
First Lady Fashion Designer Oscar de la Renta Dies
Starting with Jackie Kennedy, you can’t study first lady fashions without coming across Oscar de la Renta’s name and his legendary work. He passed away this week. Here are statements from Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton on his passing: STATEMENT BY … Continue reading
Is Ebola the Modern-Day Yellow Fever? Medical Similarities and Differences
As of today, 4,493 people have died from Ebola, according to the World Health Organization. Two Dallas-area nurses, who treated a now-deceased infected patient who came to Texas from Liberia in West Africa, are hospitalized with the disease. A similar number of … Continue reading
Atypical midterms in the 1970s and 1960s: Carter, Nixon-Ford, Kennedy-Johnson
With the November 2014 midterm elections less than a month away, it’s useful to view political events in historical context. Will the president’s party lose seats, as is typical in a midterm election in a second term? Sometimes circumstances and … Continue reading
My C-SPAN Book Talk on American Phoenix
Wanted to share with you my talk on my Pulitzer-nominated book, American Phoenix, which C-SPAN recently aired. I’m also working with a film producer to bring this story to film.
Midterms in Historical Context: Reagan in 1986
Up next in putting midterms into historical context is Ronald Reagan. He was the first president since Eisenhower to serve all eight years of two terms. 1986 Midterms, President Ronald Reagan, Republican The year 1986 was a moderate change of power … Continue reading
iPhone 6–John Quincy Adams needed one 200 years ago today
Among the many attractive features of the new iPhone 6 is its speed. Some have touted it as “insanely faster” than the iPhone 5. Two hundred years ago today, on Oct. 7, 1814, John Quincy Adams could have used an iPhone … Continue reading
Jane Hampton Cook 