Politics
The Laying on of Hands
In the middle ages, and continuing well into modern times, the kings of France and England touched for scrofula, a disease which doctors today call tubercular adenitis. It was endemic in certain regions of Europe, and the kings claimed that a simple touch of their hands could cure it. So the disease was called mal de roi in France, and "the King's Evil" in England. READ MORE >>
Profit Without Honor
Football Morals
This article was originally published on November 26, 1930. READ MORE >>
Press Against Politics
From The Editors: This week, our historical piece is “Press Against Politics,” Henry Fairlie’s 1976 call to arms for more passion and more conviction from the listless class of political journalists covering the Carter-Ford election. (He was clearly upset: “The fact is that James Reston writes now like a sports columnist on the slope of Olympus. READ MORE >>
Ford At The Wire
What the Voters Want
If you adhere to the conventional wisdom of the press—that all presidential campaigns are decided by issues or personality—you will have a devil of a time understanding the voter's frame of mind in 1976. READ MORE >>
China Without Mao
Both China and the USA during 1976 look to their own body politic, and not much at broad world vistas. Yet from different starting-points. We focus on who the next President will be and now the list is pruned to two. But the election issues are as hard to sight as corks on a choppy sea. In China it is the personnel stakes that are elusive. The issues being debated under the orange tiles of Peking's palaces are, on the other hand, clearer than usual. And the "what" may be as momentous for China's future as the "who." READ MORE >>
The New Anti-Semitism
In those distant days, when General de Gaulle drank a toast to "the state of Israel, our friend and ally," a right wing antisemitic weekly in Paris, which fiercely upheld the idea of "Algerie Franfaise," published a long article under the title "Is it possible to be a friend of Israel and an anti-Semite at the same time?" The author thought that it was. READ MORE >>
Being Presidential
Carter’s Problems
The networks tried to convey an understanding of what they were broadcasting. ABC called it a social occasion: "You get no sense of a political gathering here," cracked Harry Reasoner. Over at CBS, Walter Cronkite remarked: "The convention is in complete control of the Carter and Democratic National Committee forces and no fights are being permitted." The prevailing theme was persistent unrelieved harmony, the image of an absolutely unified gathering. READ MORE >>
