Monday, September 07, 2009
Today in History
I was perusing the LOC’s “Today in History” and today is the Panama Canal. In includes tidbits on both Carter and Roosevelt. Roosevelt was the man who started the project and secured the land from Panama. Carter signed the treaty that would eventually hand back control to Panama. The piece is full of links to lots of great LOC information and pages.
Friday, September 04, 2009
Watergate via the Cover of Time
This is a photo essay that uses the covers of Time Magazine to chronicle Watergate. It is interesting and fun to page through and see the crisis unfold over time.
Thursday, September 03, 2009
The Legacy of Florence Harding
Katherine Sibley’s article at HNN looks at the legacy of Florence Harding as First Lady, comparing her to Michelle Obama:
But Mrs. Obama was not the first First Lady to welcome Americans back to the People’s House after a period of little or no access. In 1921, Florence Kling Harding also opened the Mansion and its grounds following several years of closure. Her predecessor, Edith Wilson, had restricted the lawns to a flock of sheep as a wartime “morale boosting” measure (to show the White House was doing its part!). The wool piled up, as did the droppings, and visitors were shooed away. Florence, however, banished the beasts; she planted numerous flowers on the grounds and in the greenhouses, and shook hands with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of visiting crowds on many days of the week. She and her husband were well-loved for this during their scant two and a half years in office; the Hardings became celebrities, regularly appearing in newsreels. They exploited these media opportunities as they hobnobbed with Hollywood personalities like singer, comedian and actor Al Jolson and actress Lillian Gish, just like the Obamas do today, with the likes of George Clooney and Reese Witherspoon.
Sibley talks about Florence’s activism and her role in Harding’s career:
In her activism, Florence turned her highly traditional post in a new direction. As the first future president’s wife to vote for her husband, too, she was thrilled with women’s new political prominence, and did not hold back from engaging with and addressing partisan gatherings of these new voters. Her own creative energies and skillful political strategizing, indeed, had enabled Warren G. Harding to take up the challenge of running for president; she had nurtured and cultivated this genial fellow’s ambitions since his days as a small-town Ohio newspaper publisher.
This author defends her portrayal of Florence Harding as many historians have ranked her as a poor First Lady:
Florence Harding’s reputation was soon colored by a special kind of denigration related to her gender and her age that continues to plague her place in history, where she remains near the bottom of First Ladies in the Siena College Poll. One Harding biographer has impugned her as “sexless, with the brittle quality of an autumn leaf,” and another dismisses her as “a domineering woman.” Francis Russell, the author of 1968’s The Shadow of Blooming Grove—the first book which used the long-closed Harding papers --went so far as to call Florence a “hermaphrodite” in a private letter. Such portrayals have made it difficult to recognize this immensely popular, and effective, first lady. They do confirm, though, that her activism and influence were seen as an unacceptable transgression of gender roles. Apparently, they still are for some, including the pseudonymous “Doctor Watson,” who was quick to write an error-laden review of my book on Amazon, unable to grant Florence her humanity eighty-five years after her death.
But Mrs. Obama was not the first First Lady to welcome Americans back to the People’s House after a period of little or no access. In 1921, Florence Kling Harding also opened the Mansion and its grounds following several years of closure. Her predecessor, Edith Wilson, had restricted the lawns to a flock of sheep as a wartime “morale boosting” measure (to show the White House was doing its part!). The wool piled up, as did the droppings, and visitors were shooed away. Florence, however, banished the beasts; she planted numerous flowers on the grounds and in the greenhouses, and shook hands with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of visiting crowds on many days of the week. She and her husband were well-loved for this during their scant two and a half years in office; the Hardings became celebrities, regularly appearing in newsreels. They exploited these media opportunities as they hobnobbed with Hollywood personalities like singer, comedian and actor Al Jolson and actress Lillian Gish, just like the Obamas do today, with the likes of George Clooney and Reese Witherspoon.
Sibley talks about Florence’s activism and her role in Harding’s career:
In her activism, Florence turned her highly traditional post in a new direction. As the first future president’s wife to vote for her husband, too, she was thrilled with women’s new political prominence, and did not hold back from engaging with and addressing partisan gatherings of these new voters. Her own creative energies and skillful political strategizing, indeed, had enabled Warren G. Harding to take up the challenge of running for president; she had nurtured and cultivated this genial fellow’s ambitions since his days as a small-town Ohio newspaper publisher.
This author defends her portrayal of Florence Harding as many historians have ranked her as a poor First Lady:
Florence Harding’s reputation was soon colored by a special kind of denigration related to her gender and her age that continues to plague her place in history, where she remains near the bottom of First Ladies in the Siena College Poll. One Harding biographer has impugned her as “sexless, with the brittle quality of an autumn leaf,” and another dismisses her as “a domineering woman.” Francis Russell, the author of 1968’s The Shadow of Blooming Grove—the first book which used the long-closed Harding papers --went so far as to call Florence a “hermaphrodite” in a private letter. Such portrayals have made it difficult to recognize this immensely popular, and effective, first lady. They do confirm, though, that her activism and influence were seen as an unacceptable transgression of gender roles. Apparently, they still are for some, including the pseudonymous “Doctor Watson,” who was quick to write an error-laden review of my book on Amazon, unable to grant Florence her humanity eighty-five years after her death.
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
POTUS Tracker
The Washington Post has created an interactive database showing how Presdient Barack Obama is spending each day, including which issues are being addressed. It can be found at POTUS Tracker. There is also a daily schedule via RSS.
From the site:
Every day President Obama meets with key members of his administration, Congress, foreign dignitaries, interest groups and regular citizens. Use our interactive database to track how Obama is spending his time, what issues are getting the most attention and who is influencing the debate.
From the site:
Every day President Obama meets with key members of his administration, Congress, foreign dignitaries, interest groups and regular citizens. Use our interactive database to track how Obama is spending his time, what issues are getting the most attention and who is influencing the debate.
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Julia Grant’s Roman Punch
I was looking over a list of First Ladies’ Favorite Beverages and I noticed that Julia Grant favored Roman Punch, so I decided to find the recipe to publish here as something fun.
Roman Punch
Source: The First Ladies Cookbook [I think there are several newer versions (this only goes to Nixon), but this is the one I happen to own.]
1 qt lemon sherbet
1 cup choice rum
1 split of champagne, iced
In a chilled bowl, turn out the lemon sherbet. Slowly mix the rum into it. Now quickly add the champagne, which has already been chilled, and serve in sherbet glasses.
This amount serves 10. It should be a mushy texture, to be drunk, not spooned.
Roman Punch
Source: The First Ladies Cookbook [I think there are several newer versions (this only goes to Nixon), but this is the one I happen to own.]
1 qt lemon sherbet
1 cup choice rum
1 split of champagne, iced
In a chilled bowl, turn out the lemon sherbet. Slowly mix the rum into it. Now quickly add the champagne, which has already been chilled, and serve in sherbet glasses.
This amount serves 10. It should be a mushy texture, to be drunk, not spooned.
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