The Blaisdell Blog

  Presidents Day is celebrated on the 3 rd Monday in February.   Traditionally it was celebrated on February 22, the date of President George Washington’s actual birthday.   But specific dates on the calendar have a pesky habit of falling on every day of the week.   If what you want is not just to commemorate our first President, but to create a three-day holiday for the nation’s workers, you have to set not a date, but a day.   So, in 1971 the Uniform Monday Holiday Act was passed, and Washington’s Birthday became, “President’s Day.” Decades ago I read my first Presidential biography.   It was the life of Woodrow Wilson, and I have been hooked ever since.   I’ve covered 23 of our 44 Presidents so far.   I don’t read them in any particular order.   Travel, current events or a whisper on the wind will dictate which biography I start next.   Sometimes one biography leads to another.   After reading the spectacular book, Truman , ...

  In truth, I had forgotten about this anniversary until I saw the story in the paper.   In that instant my coffee cup was suspended before my lips, my eyes looked without seeing and I realized that, had I had my way, I would be looking at the anniversary of my death.              On January 28, 1986 the Challenger space shuttle lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 11:38 a.m.   Seventy-three seconds later it blew up in a starburst of destruction, killing all the crew members on board.   They did not die instantly, and were probably alive during the ever accelerating plunge toward the ocean.   It is the impact with the water that killed them—that would have killed me. On board was a crew as diverse as American itself.   Included in the group were America’s first teacher in space, Christa McAuliffe, a 37-year-old teacher.   As far as I was concerned, she had taken my place.   I had ...

  Every President, including George Washington, has been sworn to office in a public venue and before the people whom that President serves.                   In traditional (blessedly boring) times the inauguration of a new President has acquired a set of traditions that are all typically American.   We want ceremony but we don’t want majesty.   We like tradition but eschew pomp.   We want a little dignity but nothing stuffy.   We admire evidence of good sportsmanship, which means being a gracious loser and a generous winner.   We also seem to like a good party.                  This is what we see in a normal inauguration:                The day begins with a morning prayer service.   The incoming President is then welcome...