Recent stories by Tom DeFrank
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Why Trump’s 250th is unlikely to match Ford’s Bicentennial
The 38th president agonized over the events, their themes, and his remarks as the nation looked to heal after Watergate. The 47th president is more inclined toward 'reality-show spectacle.'
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A gunman’s attempt to harm the president evokes past assassination attempts I've witnessed
National Journal reporter Tom DeFrank, who was at Saturday’s White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, recounts two failed attempts against President Gerald Ford.
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ANALYSIS
How Trump's Iran actions violate the 'Powell Doctrine'
Ret. Col. William Smullen, Colin Powell's former spokesman and chief of staff, said the general would give the current administration an 'F' for planning.
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He was no 'baby kisser,' but Dick Cheney may have been the most powerful vice president in history
Cheney thought Trump was dangerous, yet his cheerleading for a muscular expansion of presidential authority might be considered a blueprint for Trump’s playbook.
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OPINION
'A genuine sense of personal loss': Remembering 60 years at the Pentagon
With his press access now restricted, an Army officer-turned-longtime defense correspondent recalls his brushes with generals, the secrets he kept, and how the building's current leadership compares.
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OUTLOOK: Making coal great again
PLUS: Democratic report finds drug prices have risen this year; Trump clears way for allies to buy TikTok; GAO says administration wrongly withheld FEMA funds; and Gerald Ford’s would-be assassin provided valuable correspondence.
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'Bully-boy style': Europeans find little to celebrate in Trump
Tariffs, rhetoric, threatened land grabs have increased distaste of the president across the pond.
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SPOTLIGHT
The decision that soured Souter on the Supreme Court
Bush v. Gore left the late justice permanently embittered.
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ANALYSIS
Forty years before Yemen, reporters were tipped off about Grenada
A source informed Newsweek that an invasion was only about three days away. The magazine sat on the details. Now, our correspondent tells the story.
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In second speech, Trump drops the filter
A brief drop-by turned into a half-hour of unscripted, score-settling commentary.
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Stuart Spencer, bare-knuckle strategist who advised Ford and Reagan, dies at 97
"You’re a f—--- up campaigner," he infamously told Ford.
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A tale of three funerals: How Carter and Ford 'learned to love each other'
Traveling home from Anwar Sadat's funeral in 1981, the two men finally put to rest the bitter feelings of the 1976 race. Ford later requested that Carter speak at his own memorial.
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OUTLOOK: Biden aides say Trump transition team’s focus on DEI ‘borders on obsessive’
PLUS: Puerto Rico to send sole representative to Congress next term, and Trump’s play to delay TikTok ban sends broader signals.
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Jimmy Carter had a prickly side, too
For all the grace and compassion the 39th president was known for, he could also be preachy and stern.
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Passage of time was kind to Carter's legacy
The 39th president's so-called "malaise" speech aged poorly. But his passion for human rights, arms control, and energy conservation seem more prescient in hindsight.
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OUTLOOK: A conciliatory, uniting Trump probably not in the cards
PLUS: GOP considering reconciliation bill next year to address immigration; Vance’s vacant Ohio Senate seat must be filled; and new batch of Dem docs head to Congress.
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OUTLOOK: Bush takes himself out of the game
PLUS: ACA open enrollment launches before election that may determine the program’s future.
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WATERGATE AT 50 - FIVE DAYS IN AUGUST
DAY 5: 'Our long national nightmare is over'
As Nixon departs for California, Gerald Ford becomes nation's 38th president.
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DAY 4: Giving up the fight, Nixon tells a fractured nation he's finished
The president announces his resignation in prime-time address from the Oval Office.
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WATERGATE AT 50 - FIVE DAYS IN AUGUST
DAY 3: Ford prepares to be president
With Nixon's fate practically sealed, his vice president reluctantly readies for the role as leader of the free world.