We remember President Nixon (1913-94)

We remember President Richard M. Nixon, who was born on this day in 1913 and died in 1994.  Our family was on the way to a baseball game when we heard the news of his death on the radio.  You may remember that Mr. Nixon suffered a stroke earlier in the week, and Mrs. Nixon died the year before.  He was never the same after she died, or so I hear from those around him.

Cuba, the Castro brothers and Nixon will always be a part of my childhood, from leaving Cuba to growing up in the U.S. In 1959, then VP Nixon met the recently appointed Prime Minister Fidel Castro in Washington, DC.  It did not take VP Nixon long to figure out the Cuban visitor.

This is an account of the visit from Andrew Glass:

During his stay, Castro placed a wreath on George Washington’s grave, toured the Bronx Zoo, ate hot dogs and hamburgers at Yankee Stadium and generally made a big media splash. Wherever he went, the 33-year-old bearded Cuban leader invariably wore his trademark rumpled green fatigues.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower snubbed him, although the Cuban leader did meet with Vice President Richard Nixon and acting Secretary of State Christian Herter. Nixon later said he came away from the meeting with the conclusion that Castro was “either incredibly naive about communism or under communist discipline — my guess is the former.” On the other hand, after meeting with Castro, former Secretary of State Dean Acheson called him “the first democrat of Latin America.”

With all due respect to late Secretary Acheson, it was VP Nixon who got it right that day.

In 1968, Mr. Nixon was elected president and then re-elected in 1972.  As we know, he resigned in 1974 over the Watergate scandal. On the subject of Cuba, Nixon was right.  I think that The Bay of Pigs would have turned out differently with Mr. Nixon in The Oval Office.  

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January 1965: "I feel fine" was # 1 this week

The Beatles started 1965 with the # 1 song on Billboard.   

"I feel fine", and the B-side of "She's a woman" sat on top of the charts for a few weeks years ago.   

Both songs were included in the "Beatles 65" LP released in the US.    They were not included in a British LP until a "greatest hits" album was released years later.

The song started with an unusual feedback.  

According to Songfacts:

"The first note of this song was the first time feedback was used on a record.   It was created when Paul McCartney pushed his bass up against an amplifier."

It was another of their many # 1 songs on the radio.

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1913: We remember that President Nixon was born on this day

We remember President Richard M. Nixon who was born in California on this day in 1913.  He died in 1994 and I heard about his death on the way to a baseball game.

Nixon was one of the most consequential presidents of our youth, from his election in 1968, massive reelection in 1972 and then his resignation in 1974.     The word "Nixon" is all over our lives, from footnotes to speeches to front page stories.

After leaving the presidency, President Nixon wrote some rather good books.   His memoirs were very good and the ones about foreign policy were brilliant.    He became a national security statesman, a role that he was uniquely qualified for and that he enjoyed.    My guess is that he always wanted to be a foreign policy president and he was.

We remember # 37 today.     Let me recommend his book "Leaders".

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We remember President Richard Nixon (1913-94)

We remember President Richard Nixon (1913-94)

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2013 post: President Nixon (1913-1994)

A post from 2013:

President Nixon was born in California 100 years ago today.  He continues to be the most controversial president of the last 50 years.  He is admired and hated, loved and despised.

President Nixon was really the first politician that I followed.  I recall the '68 and '72 campaigns as a student.  Who will ever forget his trip to China?  or the resignation speech?  or the farewell speech the day that he left and Pres Ford came in?

Time has actually been kind to President Nixon.  He is now remembered as a great foreign policy strategist who managed the US out of Vietnam and opened the door to China.   His post presidency books are great, from "Leaders" to his incredible memoirs titled "RN".

Of course, Watergate will always be on the resume, too.

President Nixon also had a very nice family.  Mrs Nixon was a wonderful First Lady.  His two daughters are great.

It does not seem possible but Pres Nixon would have turned 100 today.  I guess that it also means that I am getting older too.

Happy birthday Pres Nixon!

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Zsa Zsa Gabor and the “Queen of Outer Space”

On Saturday morning, I was flipping channels and caught a bit of “Queen of Outer Space”, another one of those science fiction movies from the 1950s.    

It was not really science fiction.   The good news is that I got to see a young Zsa Zsa Gabor.   I had never seen too much of her before “Green Acres”.

It’s a story of US astronauts who end up in a planet run by women.   Yes, all of the women were beautiful and wore short skirts.

It was silly but a lot of fun to watch.    Here is the trailer.

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January 1970: "Winter world of love"

As I recall, it was a typical Wisconsin winter......cold and very cold.    

On the radio, we had a great song from Englebert Humperdinck........

it made it to # 16..............

"Winter world of love".......

"My love, the days are colder, so, let me take your hand

And lead you through a snow white land, oh, oh, oh, oh

My love, the year is older, so, let me hold you tight

And while away there is winter night, oh, oh

I see the firelight in your eyes, come kiss me now before it dies

We'll find a winter world of love, 'cause love is warmer in December

My darlin', stay here in my arms till summer comes along

And in our winter world of love, you see we always will remember

That as the snow lay on the ground, we found our winter world of love

Because the nights are longer, we'll have the time to say

Such tender things before each day, oh, oh, oh, oh

And then, when love is stronger, perhaps, you give your heart

And promise me you'll never part, oh, no

And at the end of every year, I'll be so glad to have you near

We'll find a winter world of love, 'cause love is warmer in December

My darlin', stay here in my arms till summer comes along

And in our winter world of love, you'll see we always will remember

That as the snow lay on the ground, we found our winter world of love...."

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We remember Bart Starr (1934-2019)

We remember Bart Starr who was born in Montgomery, Alabama, on this day in 1934.  We learned of his death in 2019.

Our family landed in "Packer crazy" Wisconsin in the fall of 1964.

My brother and I had never seen a football game. We were raised playing and thinking baseball 24/7.

However, it didn't take us long to fall in love with the Packers and the game of football.

My first football hero was Bart Starr, the legendary Packers' QB.     He won the NFL title five times:  1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, and 1967.   He led GB to the first two Super Bowl championships and was named MVP twice.  In 1966, he earned the NFL MVP.  

In fact, I loved Starr so much that I always wore # 15 on every sports jersey. It's still my favorite number today!

Greatest game? Probably the so called "Ice Bowl".

With all due respect to Unitas, Namath, Staubach, Bradshaw, Montana, Aikman, Young, Brady and even Favre, I will always pick Starr to start my big game.

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January 1965: "Beatles' 65" was released in the US

Getting old or big Beatles' fan? I guess that a little bit both!

In January '65, The Beatles released their 5th US album:  Beatles '65.   By the way, many of the songs in this LP were in the UK LP "Beatles for sale".

It included some wonderful Lennon-McCartney songs, such as:

"I'll be back", John lead with Paul;
"I'll follow the sun", Paul lead, and;
"No reply", John lead with Paul.

It also included the single:   "I feel fine", a # 1 song, and the strong B-side, "She's a woman".

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A movie about Mary Surratt and the assassination of President Lincoln

As always, history is a bit more complicated than "The conspirator", a 2-hour movie about the story of the first woman executed in the US.

Nevertheless, I think that it was unfair to "hang" Mary Surratt over the assassination of President Lincoln.

Mary Surratt was John Surratt's mother.  She was probably guilty of defending her son but it's hard to see how she had anything directly with the assassination.

Nevertheless, it was a very good movie and another reminder of how divisive and complicated The Civil War was.    

Here is the trailer and the movie!

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January 1964: "I want to hold your hand" charted in the US

Let's file this one in two sections:

1) "time really flies", and

2) "very favorite songs" category.

Years ago, The Beatles were very popular in the UK and some of Europe.

They had recorded big UK hits like "She loves you" and "Please please me". The Beatles even had a best selling album.

However, The Beatles had struck out in the US. None of their songs had charted over here.

Everything changed with "I want to hold your hand", the first song released in the US on Capitol Records.

It was so popular that it was even recorded in German!

In early February, The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, the most popular Sunday night show of its time.   They toured the US before sold out crowds. They dominated the charts for months.

It started many years ago in January 1964:   "I want to hold your hand" now available in a digital format!  

By the way, the B-side in the US was "I saw her standing her there".    In the UK, it was "This boy".

And let's not forget "Meet The Beatles", the LP that we grew up listening to.

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We remember President Nixon (1913-1994)

We remember President Nixon, the 37th president of the US.....born on this day in 1913 in California.....one of my favorite books about this very complex man was "The Memoirs of Richard Nixon by Richard Milhous Nixon".

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