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Top political defections

Bill Sullivan — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 21:57:11 +0000

When Pennsylvania senator Arlen Specter announced that he would switch from the Republican to the Democratic Party, it send shock waves through Congress.

It probably shouldn’t have.

Specter was growing increasingly at odds with the Republican power structure and stood a good chance of failing in his bid for re-election. Moving across the aisle may have reflected a closer alliance with current Democratic ideology, but it was also a matter of political survival.

In honor of the event, Time looked back on some of the top defections in U.S. political history. Here’s what they came up with:

Arlen Specter, 2009: Republican to Democrat

Theodore Roosevelt, 1912: Republican to Bull Moose

Wendell Willkie, 1939: Democrat to Republican

Hillary Clinton, 1960s: Republican to Democrat

Ronald Reagan, 1962: Democrat to Republican

Strom Thurmond, 1964: Democrat to Republican

Condoleezza Rice, 1982: Democrat to Republican

Richard Shelby, 1994: Democrat to Republican

Michael Bloomberg, 2001: Democrat to Republican

Jim Jeffords, 2001: Republican to Independent

To read more about the reasoning behind these decisions, visit Time.

Best U.S. presidents

Bill Sullivan — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:46:51 +0000

In honor of Presidents Day 2009, C-SPAN released results of its second Historians Survey of Presidential Leadership. A cross-section of 65 presidential historians ranked the 42 former occupants of the White House on ten attributes of leadership.

Who were the Top 10?

1. Abraham Lincoln
2. George Washington
3. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
4. Theodore Roosevelt
5. Harry S. Truman
6. John F. Kennedy
7. Thomas Jefferson
8. Dwight D. Eisenhower
9. Woodrow Wilson
10. Ronald Reagan

To see the rest of the rankings, and to read about the methodology behind them, visit C-SPAN.

Elections that changed America

Bill Sullivan — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 17:17:21 +0000

While Barack Obama’s election as President of the United States already has made history, his impact as chief executive and would-be leader of the free world has yet to be determined. Will his tenure produce important and enduring change, or will he be just an interesting footnote in the process?

It will be a while before we get those sorts of answers, but Time has weighed in on other elections that changed the country.

Here’s the list:

1792: Washington runs unopposed and is elected to a second term.

1800: Jefferson defeats Adams.

1828: Andrew Jackson over John Quincy Adams.

1860: Lincoln wins with just 40 percent of the vote.

1896: William McKinley defeats William Jennings Bryan in battle over economic philosophies.

1912: Woodrow Wilson wins three-way fight with William Howard Taft and Teddy Roosevelt.

1932: F.D.R. defeats Hoover and ushers in a New Deal.

1964: L.B.J. and The Great Society win over Barry Goldwater.

1980: Reagan’s rout of Carter moves country to the right.

2000: The Supreme Court declares George W. Bush the winner.

To read more about these historic campaigns, and to see a slideshow, visit Time.

Secret Service code names

Bill Sullivan — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:26:18 +0000

The Secret Service likes to have a little fun with the people it protects. When a new president comes into office, he and his family are given nicknames that make it easier for the guys in the black suits to know who they are talking about.

President-elect Barack Obama was offered a list of possible monikers beginning with “R.” He chose “Renegade.” In turn, wife Michelle became “Renaisssance,” while daughters Malia and Sasha are “Radiance” and “Rosebud,” respectively.

What are some of the other nicknames the Service has used for presidents and other people they are charged with keeping out of harm’s way?

Here’s a list, courtesy of Time magazine:

John F. Kennedy: “Lancer”

Richard M. Nixon: “Searchlight”

Jimmy Carter: “Deacon”

Edward M. Kennedy: “Sunburn”

Ronald Reagan: “Rawhide”

Pope John Paul II: “Halo”

Karenna Gore (daughter of VP Al Gore): “Smurfette”

Dick Cheney: “Angler”

Cindy McCain: “Parasol”

To read more about these choices, and to see a slideshow, visit Time.

Related lists:

Presidential disapproval ratings

Bill Sullivan — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 20:25:13 +0000

In the wake of the 2008 elections, President George W. Bush’s approval rating with the American public sank to just 24 percent, meaning that 76 percent of those who responded to a poll taken by CNN and Opinion Research Corporation did not believe the president was doing a good job.

How does that compare to other presidents? In August of 1974, the month he resigned in the face of the Watergate scandal, President Richard Nixon’s disapproval rating stood at just 66 percent.

CNN offered a chart covering Bush and previous presidents, the rate of disapproval, and the date of the poll representing the lowest point:

George W. Bush: 76% – Nov. 2008

Bill Clinton: 54% – Sept. 1994

G.H.W. Bush: 60% – July 1992

Ronald Reagan: 56% – Jan. 1983

Jimmy Carter: 59% – June 1979

Gerald Ford: 46% – April, Nov., Dec. 1975

Richard Nixon: 66% – Aug. 1974

Lyndon Johnson: 52% – March, Aug. 1968

John F. Kennedy: 30% – Nov. 1963

Harry Truman: 67% – Jan. 1952

Sources: CNN and Politico

Related lists:

Presidential Libraries

Bill Sullivan — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:37:22 +0000

What’s an ex-president without his own library?

Herbert Hoover has one. Richard Nixon has two. Even Gerald Ford (who, whatever his fine qualities, was never actually elected to the office) has seen his legacy spread over two different facilities.

Who else has one, and where are they all located?

Here’s the list:

Herbert Hoover: West Branch, Iowa

Franklin D. Roosevelt: Hyde Park, New York

Harry S. Truman: Independence, Missouri

Dwight D. Eisenhower: Abilene, Kansas

John F. Kennedy: Boston, Massachusetts

Lyndon B. Johnson: Austin, Texas

Richard M. Nixon: College Park, Maryland

Richard M. Nixon: Yorba Linda, California

Gerald R. Ford: Ann Arbor, Michigan

Gerald R. Ford: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Jimmy Carter: Atlanta, Georgia

Ronald Reagan: Simi Valley, California

George H.W. Bush: College Station, Texas

William J. Clinton: Little Rock, Arkansas

Source: National Archives

Republican Nominees

Bill Sullivan — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 12:55:50 +0000

John McCain may have his work cut out if he is to become the next U.S. President, but don’t be too quick to rule out the Republicans when it comes to closing the deal on election day.

Democrats ruled the middle of the 20th century, holding the White House for 20 years (1932-52). Lately, though, the roles have reversed, as Republicans have won the presidency in seven of the last 10 general elections.

Here’s a list of Republican nominees over that period, with the result in parentheses:

2004 — George W. Bush (W)

2000 — George W. Bush (W)

1996 — Robert Dole (L)

1992 — George H.W. Bush (L)

1988 — George H.W. Bush (W)

1984 — Ronald Reagan (W)

1980 — Ronald Reagan (W)

1976 — Gerald Ford (L)

1972 — Richard Nixon (W)

1968 — Richard Nixon (W)

Top TV Political Convention Moments

Ed Bark — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:08:03 +0000

From unclebarky.com.

Representatives of the donkey and elephant parties will be stampeding into Denver and St. Paul during the next two weeks to hold their quadrennial national conventions.

The Democrats go first, staring April 25th, with the Republicans right on their heels (Sept. 1-4). Here’s a top 10 countdown of televised moments to remember from previous conventions. Some are odd, others eventful. All made their marks.

10. Matthews vs. Miller — Two blowhards had a head-on collision after former Democratic senator Zell Miller of Georgia ripped into his old party as the keynote speaker at the 2004 Republican convention. MSNBC Hardball host Chris Matthews then questioned Miller’s insinuation that Democratic nominee John Kerry intended to defend the nation with “spitballs” after voting against various defense systems. During a live exchange, an increasingly angry Miller finally told his antagonist, “I wish we lived in the day where you could challenge a person to a duel.” Matthews milked their confrontation for weeks and of course Saturday Night Live parodied it.

9. Read their lips — Three seconds seemed like an eternity when nominee Al Gore and wife Tipper locked themselves in an amorous embrace on the final night of the 2000 Democratic convention. “The Kiss” was twitted, dissected and viewed by many as a calculated effort to soften Big Al’s robotic, wooden image.

8. And furthermore . . . — Bill Clinton had his national coming out party on opening night of the 1988 Democratic convention. Instead he threw a slumber party with a widely ridiculed and interminable 32-minute speech in which he put Michael Dukakis’ name in nomination. Clinton proved resilient, though, turning his disaster into a triumphant appearance on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show, where he played “Summertime” on his saxophone after the host first made fun of him.

7. Mondale’s Waterloo — The Democrats’ 1984 nominee, Walter Mondale, already was seen as a decided underdog to incumbent Ronald Reagan. He then dug his own grave at the 1984 convention with a memorably inept acceptance speech. The former vice president chopped himself off at the knees by telling America, “Mr. Reagan will raise taxes, and so will I. He won’t tell you. I just did.” Mondale later lost in a landslide.

6. The big brush-off — Sen. Ted Kennedy feverishly contested President Carter for the Democratic Party’s 1980 nomination, but came up shorter than Hillary Clinton’s bid to outlast Barack Obama. At the 1980 convention, though, Kennedy remained combative to the end. As Carter and running mate Mondale raised their hands in victory to the tune of “Happy Days Are Here Again,” Teddy turned his back on the incumbent president and refused to join him in any visible way. The lack of a conciliatory photo spoke volumes, with Carter eventually denied a second term by Reagan.