BORIS YELTSIN WOULD HAVE BEEN EIGHTY-THREE TODAY

BORIS YELTSIN 

February 1, 1931-April 23, 2007 

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT 

BORIS NIKOLAYEVICH YELTSIN 

In Harbin, China 

November 11, 1997 

ONE HUNDRED AND ONE YEARS SINCE RICHARD NIXON WAS BORN

RICHARD M. NIXON 

January 9, 1913- April 22, 1994 

Speaker of the House of Representatives 

CARL ALBERT (left) and 

President RICHARD NIXON (right) 

in the White House 

XI JINPING'S NEW YEAR WISHES

THE PRESIDENT 

OF CHINA WISHES 

HAPPY NEW YEAR 

TO CHINESE 

AND FRIENDS 

ALL OVER THE WORLD 

XI JINPING 

AT THE APEC SUMMIT 

Bali, October 2013 

The video is here (with the Chinese text) 

The text of the speech is in English here 

An audio only version is here, with English voiceover 

A report on the speech is here 

More Xi Jinping here 

THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS ARE DEVASTATED BY TYPHOON HAIYUAN; PRESIDENT AQUINO IS TEMPTED "TO DESPAIR"

THE TOLL KEEPS RISING 

PHILIPPINES PRESIDENT 

BENIGNO S. AQUINO III 

bows his head as leaders and their spouses gather for a group photograph at the APEC Summit on Bali, Indonesia, October 2013  

Today it is reported that nearly four thousand people were killed when Typhoon Haiyan hit the central Philippines, and that the estimate of people "displaced by the catastrophe" was now up to  four million. 

LECH WAŁĘSA TURNS SEVENTY

LECH WAŁĘSA 

b. September 9, 1943 

THE FUTURE PRESIDENT 

OF POLAND (1990-1995) 

AS LEADER OF SOLIDARITY 

Plotting Strategy 

Warsaw, Summer 1981 

Imprisoned under Martial Law, December 1981 

1983 Nobel Peace Prize winner 

Now the subject of a new film by Andrzej Wajda, "Wałęsa: Man of Hope," meant to re-burnish Walesa's name and to introduce him to a new, younger audience (see here and here).  

GERALD R. FORD PARDONS RICHARD M. NIXON, THIRTY-NINE YEARS AGO TODAY; IS NOT ELECTED PRESIDENT

THE PARDON THAT KEPT 

RICHARD M. NIXON 

OUT OF PRISON 

AND 

GERALD R. FORD 

OUT OF AN ELECTED 

PRESIDENCY 

September 8, 1974 

Hear it here  

SEPTEMBER 2nd HAS BEEN A MEMORABLE DAY FOR GEORGE BUSH

SEVERAL SEPTEMBER 

SECONDS IN THE 

CALENDAR OF 

GEORGE BUSH'S LIFE 

Vice-President George Bush Photographed in 

His Old Executive Office Building Office 

Being Tough on Deregulation 

Published in the March 9, 1981, issue of BUSINESS WEEK (p. 64)   

"As one of his first official acts, President Reagan created a Presidential task force on regulatory relief and named Vice-President George Bush to head it." Key quote from the Vice-President: "We must get this country back to work." 

A few memorable September 2nd events in the life of George Bush, two from World War II, and one from the Cold War: 

September 2, 1944:  "Navy pilot George H.W. Bush was shot down by Japanese forces as he completed a bombing run over the Bonin Islands." (New York Times) 

September 2, 1945:  "On Sept. 2, 1945, Japan formally surrendered in ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri, ending World War II."  (New York Times) 

September 2, 1991: "The Bush administration officially recognized the three Baltic states [which had been part of the Soviet Union: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania] on September 2, 1991." (George Bush Library) [p.1] 

And then of course there is this September 2 in the life of the other George Bush: 

September 2, 2005: "President George W. Bush told Michael Brown, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 'Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job" during a tour of Hurricane Katrina damage in Alabama.'" (New York Times) 

TWENTY-TWO YEARS AFTER THE FIRST DAY OF THE AUGUST COUP IN THE USSR

DAY ONE 

GORBACHEV 

IN FOROS 

August 18, 1991 

BORIS YELTSIN (l.) and  

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV (r.) 

Shake Hands at Yeltsin's First Inauguration 

as Russia's First President 

July 10, 1991 

Some background to the coup that helped precipitate the breakup of the Soviet Union: 

As of June 12, 1991, Russia had a popularly elected president, for the first time in its history.  As the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, though, Russia was one part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which had its own president, Mikhail Gorbachev, who, however, had not sought, and did not have, a popular mandate.  Gorbachev did attend, and speak at, Yeltsin's inauguration on July 10 (above). 

After the election, Yeltsin set about building up his Moscow as a power base and Russia as a sovereign entity, claiming resources the "Center" had hitherto controlled.  In August he made a tour of Tyumen', a major oil and gas province of Russia.  The day the coup began, Sunday, August 18, he was back in the Moscow region.  Gorbachev was vacationing in Foros.  It was there that the State Committee for the State of Emergency, or coup plotters, did or did not arrest the head of the Soviet state and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.  In any event, they announced that Mikhail Sergeyevich (Gorbachev) was ill. 

Day One. 

IT'S HIS HEART: GEORGE W. BUSH HAS SURGERY

BLOCKED ARTERY FOUND 

A STENT IS PLACED 

PRESIDENT 

GEORGE W. BUSH 

at the G-8 Summit 

St. Petersburg, Russia, July 2006 

Today in Dallas, Texas, at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, former president George W. Bush underwent a procedure to open a blockage in an artery discovered during his annual physical.  He is scheduled to go home tomorrow.  Details and explanations here and here and here. 

TODAY IS THE CENTENARY OF GERALD R. FORD., JR, 38TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

GERALD RUDOLPH FORD, JR. 

July 14, 1913-December 26, 2006 

PRESIDENT AND MRS. FORD 

ATTENDING A MARDI GRAS PARTY 

IN WASHINGTON, D.C.  

flanked on camera left by 

SENATOR RUSSELL B. LONG (D-LA) 

and on camera right by 

SENATOR J. BENNETT JOHNSTON, JR. (D-LA) 

More on GERALD FORD, here 

More on BETTY FORD, here 

FIVE YEARS SINCE BARACK OBAMA BROKE THE CAMPAIGN FINANCING SYSTEM -- AND WON THE ELECTION

BARACK OBAMA 

ANNOUNCES 

HE WILL NOT 

TAKE MONEY 

FROM THE 

PUBLIC FINANCING 

SYSTEM 

June 19, 2008 

"UNITE FOR CHANGE"

LOTS & LOTS & LOTS 

OF "CHANGE" 

Millions and Millions of Dollars of  
"Change" 

Yes, the campaign was against "unilateral disarmament" on the financial front; it could argue that it got lots of small contributions -- but already right away, five years ago, the stark fact was that "Obama is the first U.S. presidential candidate to bypass the public financing system since it was created after the Watergate scandal in the mid-1970s" (Reuters, June 21, 2008, here). 

BORIS YELTSIN WOULD HAVE BEEN EIGHTY-TWO TODAY; MIKHAIL GORBACHEV WILL BE IN ANOTHER MONTH

BORIS YELTSIN 

February 1, 1931-April 23, 2007 

BORIS NIKOLAYEVICH  YELTSIN 

At the Victory Gala in Moscow 

Celebrating His June 1991 

Election as the First Russian President 

CANDY CROWLEY TAKES A FIRM HAND

CANDY CROWLEY 

CALLS 'EM 

"HERE THE PEOPLE WANT IT." 

-- from the second 2012 presidential debate --  
as broadcast by C-SPAN 

BILL CLINTON: WHEN AN EX-PRESIDENT GIVES LAME ADVICE -- OR LAME SURROGACY

BILL CLINTON

"I'm a little

rusty at politics"

PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON BEING DELIVERED BY 

A FINNAIR CATERING TRUCK FROM AIR FORCE ONE 

TO THE MARCH 1997 HELSINKI SUMMIT 

WITH BORIS YELTSIN 

So now in June 2012 we have ex-President Bill Clinton raising money for current President Barack Obama on the one hand, while on the other caroming around like a loose cannon -- first on Mitt Romney and Bain Capital, and then on the merit and timing of extending the Bush tax cuts. 

For a story about how Bill Clinton hurts while helping, see here; for Clinton's attempt at clarification, see here; for an argument that Clinton is "Not *That* Off-Message," see here. 

For some background on the photograph above and the review of Bill Clinton's Russia policy that it illustrates, see here. 

JOHN F. KENNEDY WOULD HAVE BEEN NINETY-FIVE TODAY

JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY

May 29, 1917-November 22, 1963

35th U.S. PRESIDENT

January 20-1961-November 22, 1963

JFK DEBATING RICHARD NIXON ON TV (1960)

The link to the Kennedy Library and Museum website is here; the New York Times obituary, in five parts, starts here; JFK the icon discovered being used for commerical purposes on the Ginza, in Tokyo, is here; and a thought about Kennedy and Khrushchev and the Cuban Missile Crisis, here.

BETTY FORD, WHO DIED LAST YEAR, WOULD HAVE BEEN NINETY-FOUR TODAY

ELIZABETH BOOMER FORD

April 8, 1918-July 8, 2011

MILLIE O'NEILL (l), BETTY FORD (c),

& ROSALYNN CARTER (r)

at the U.S. CAPITOL

INAUGURATION DAY, January 20, 1977

Betty Ford was the outgoing First Lady of the United States, chatting above with the incoming First Lady, Rosalynn Carter, whose husband, Jimmy Carter, had defeated Gerald Ford in the 1976 election, and with Mildred (Millie) O'Neill. Millie O'Neill was the nearest thing to a First Lady of the U.S. House of Representatives; her husband, Thomas P. (Tip) O'Neill, was the incoming Speaker of the House. Gerald Ford had been Minority Leader, Tip O'Neill's Republican counterpart, when President Richard M. Nixon picked him to replace Spiro Agnew as Vice-President.

When Betty Ford suddenly had the spotlight as First Lady, she became famous for her candor, and for her battles with cancer and addiction, out of which was founded the Betty Ford Center. Two particularly notable obituaries are to be found here and here.

Two points involving the Fords and the Carters: It is reported that Gerald Ford's voice "failed him the morning after he was defeated by Jimmy Carter," and that it was Betty Ford "who read the official concession statement with smiling grace." And in 1993, "feeling that they would have more impact together than as individuals, Mrs. Ford and her former campaign rival Rosalynn Carter joined forces to urge the White House and Congress to include in any health-care reform legislation being written coverage for mental health and substance abuse."

WHEN WILL THEY EVER LEARN? Obama to Medvedev to "Vladimir," Twelve Years to the Day Putin was First Elected President

"I understand.

I will transmit

this information

to Vladimir."

VLADIMIR PUTIN 

Moscow, March 26, 2000 

the day he was first elected President of Russia 

On March 26, 2012, in Seoul, Korea, for a nuclear security summit, U.S. President Barack Obama leaned over to Russia President Dmitry Medvedev to ask for patience on the contentious missile defense issue. Obama pointed out that "This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility." Medvedev, who has only forty-two more days left as president, replied, in English, "I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir." 

Whether Vladimir Putin was listening to a direct transmission or not, both American and Russian correspondents were listening to it on a live microphone. (You can listen to it here.) 

Republicans immediately pounced on Obama's gaffe (e.g., here). 

But this is hardly a first. There is George W. Bush's July 2006 "Yo, Blair," exchange with the British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the G-8 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia (transcript here). And, still inexplicably, there was Ronald Reagan's declaration that the bombs would fly to that outlaw nation, Russia (still the Soviet Union then, in August 1984), in five minutes -- this by the old radio announcer warming up for his Saturday radio address (more here). 

And as to business of explaining to the leader from Moscow that the American politics may require patience and/or understanding, there is the lesson from Bush the father: 

"During their meeting in Washington in the back of Gorbachev's Zil limousine in December 1987, the American vice-president had told him not to mind the cannons of rhetoric that he, George Bush, would be obliged to fire in his upcoming presidential campaign." (RUSSIA REDUX, Chapter Three)