Everybody has something trite to say about our 35th President, John F. Kennedy. My trite thing to say about JFK is that an unexpected death can do wonders for one’s image. I told you it was trite. JFK, though, was a master of image. He understood the power of a good story, the power of
…read more
Category: baking
The Five Star
Dwight D. Eisenhower was the last army general to become President of the United States. Like Andrew Jackson and Ulysses S. Grant before him, his military performance begat his political popularity. His military history, after all, was a long one. He served in the army from 1915-1953. He didn’t see combat in the first World
…read more
The Old Fashioned
Harry Truman helped me through some difficult times. Yes, I know; that’s weird. In a period that was stressful for a number of reasons that are happily in the past, I tackled David McCullough’s Truman. It took forever to read this 1120 page book. After all, those more difficult moments usually aren’t the ones that
…read more
The Fireside
Franklin D. Roosevelt is one of the first presidents that I remember learning about in school. Well, the Roosevelts were more of a unit to me at the time. Now I can’t imagine being unable to distinguish between my Roosevelts. Many people know Roosevelt for saying, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.” In
…read more
The Humanitarian
I have a soft spot for Herbert Hoover. My first Herbert Hoover memory (I understand that it’s not normal to begin a sentence like that) comes from a book about the presidents that occupied a number of my childhood hours. His entry listed his full name Herbert Clark Hoover. The owner of an associative mind,
…read more
The Silent
If people know that you’re into presidents, that it is your thing, you get to hear a lot of people tell you their favorite presidential anecdotes. One of the stories I hear most often is the one about a woman betting that she could get Calvin Coolidge to say more than two words to her.
…read more
In an open letter to the bicyclist who rode down the street with a swath of exposed buttocks,
“I suppose that this is no one’s fault, specifically, but I have been unable to stop thinking about cinnamon rolls since I saw you pedaling the other day. You see, the soft-looking flesh that I saw reminded me of this particular morning treat. It was like the second dough rising when the smooth buns rise […]
The Teapot
I cringe a little bit every time I think about Warren G. Harding. You see, in the summer of 1994 there was a song called Regulate that played on the radio all of the time This song was by Nate Dogg and Warren G. Knowing that there were scandals in Warren G. Harding’s presidency and
…read more
The Professor
One of the memories that I have of high school history from the year before I started to hate it (some teachers will do that to you), was a discussion of World War 1. It’s not the discussion that I remember so well, but one student’s ardent desire for peace and hope for what could
…read more
In an open letter to cornbread,
“You have filled me with a longing desire. In addition to greasing you with a bit of bacon grease, and spicing you with some hot pepper, there is something else. I want to sing Prince songs to you. This is how deep this yearning pulls….”