presidents

New C-SPAN series puts limelight on first ladies

Ian Pickus — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 14:35:00 +0000

The holiday might be called Presidents’ Day, but as historians and contemporary White House watchers well know, First Ladies often play a major role in any administration aside from their ceremonial duties. Some, like Eleanor Roosevelt and Hillary Clinton, were outsize political forces in their own rights, while the influence of others, like Edith Wilson, is only revealed years later.

"Iffy" coined by FDR and more "Words from the White House"

Joe Donahue — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 15:12:00 +0000

The founding fathers felt that coining words and creating new uses for old ones was part of their role in creating a new American culture and language, distinct from the prescriptive King's English.

Ever since, American presidents have enriched our vocabulary with words, phrases, and concepts that we have since put to general use. Acclaimed lexicographer Paul Dickson has compiled the first collection of new words and lexical curiosities originating on Pennsylvania Avenue.

His new book is Words from the White House: Words and Phrases Coined or Popularized by America's Presidents.

Presidential homes, from Hope to Hawaii, Monticello to Montpelier

Ian Pickus — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 16:35:00 +0000

WAMC's Ian Pickus speaks with Hugh Howard, whose new book is Houses of the Presidents: Childhood Homes, Family Dwellings, Private Escapes, and Grand Estates.

From Monteplier to Monticello, Sagamore Hill to Simi Valley, presidential homes and museums offer an often fascinating insight into the private lives of the public men and women whose turns as the nation’s First Family immortalized them in our nation’s history.

Time editor on the crucial, high-stakes Presidents Club

Ian Pickus — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 16:35:00 +0000

On this day when Americans select their next president, WAMC's Ian Pickus speaks with Time Magazine editor and Washington Bureau Chief Michael Duffy, co-author of The Presidents Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity, about the relationships between the country's past chief executives.