Filling in the Blanks

Your December 17 article "Like Father, Like Candidate" discussed presidential candidates' ideals and ambitions shaped by their dads.

I would have been interested in stories about Bill Richardson and Dennis Kucinich. What about Mike Huckabee? I am sure he had a father. I think it is early in the process to eliminate candidates.

Alfred L. Salas
Corrales, N.M.

I suggest that everyone eligible to vote in the next presidential election read David Gergen's book Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership. It gives firsthand insight into the personal characteristics and qualities that have helped and hindered four recent presidents in managing their office and leading the country. History is still the best teacher.

Howard Schusterman
Massapequa Park, N.Y.

How can absent and otherwise occupied, busy fathers be as important in the development of character and worldview as the candidates' mothers, who were the ones doing the child rearing? A wise old saying proclaimed, "The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world." What can you tell us about the candidates' moms?

Janis Stone
Corpus Christi, Texas