The Oval Office Felt Square to Some
Richard Nixon said it stifled creativity. Gerald Ford says it was too "grand and luxurious for some of the mundane work" he did, or the to-go lunches brought up from the White House mess. Jimmy Carter preferred one near his bedroom. And Ronald Reagan felt it was too formal to be relaxing. In what might be one of the biggest ironies of the modern presidency, many of those who spent their lives trying to get into the Oval Office actually hated working there. "I never used the Oval Office for creative work," Nixon revealed to legendary Time White House correspondent Hugh Sidey before the president died. Nixon, reports Sidey in a new collection of presidential memories about the White House, chose instead to work in the Lincoln Sitting Room. "I got my best ideas," Nixon told Sidey, "in the Lincoln Sitting Room or at Camp David."
The book is called The White House Remembered and is one of the last things Sidey did for the White House Historical Association before his death last week. While short--just 95 pages--the copy provided to Whispers reveals how presidents avoided the Oval for all but ceremonial duties. "I had a little cubbyhole office where I did much of my work," says Ford. "I did my private work in the office adjacent to where Rosalynn and I slept," fesses Carter. Reagan preferred a study in the private quarters and a "hideaway" near the Oval where he often lunched.
Born to Run--but for Public Office?
On the 30th anniversary of the release of Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run, Sens. Jon Corzine and Frank Lautenberg, both New Jersey Democrats, proposed a resolution congratulating The Boss on his contribution to American culture. It's the sort of thing that normally sails through Congress. But the resolution was shot down by Senate Republicans, presumably for the support Springsteen lent John Kerry last year. Now, as Corzine mulls over possible replacements for his Senate seat (he was elected governor of New Jersey earlier this month), there is a push among his constituents for him to name--who else?--The Boss. Anthony Coley, Corzine's press secretary, says it's not a bad idea--"especially," he adds, "if you're a Springsteen fan."
From Algebra Class to the City Council
As the new mayor of Hillsdale, Mich., 18-year-old Michael Sessions will face some unique challenges--like suggestions from high school classmates that he might consider, say, lowering the legal drinking age. "You have to disregard it," he told Whispers. He also has to give up some extracurriculars: He used to run track and play football, but no more. "I've got bigger things to do now," says the high school senior.
A Panda Promise Tough to Keep?
Panda cubs are the latest bicoastal craze--the San Diego Zoo has 3-month-old Su Lin (her name means "a little bit of something very cute"). And at the Washington National Zoo, 13,000 free tickets to see the 4-month-old Tai Shan (or Peaceful Mountain) were snapped up in two hours. Nicole Kidman even stopped by for a visit. It all sounds great, but National Zoo spokesman Matt Olear says the cub might be a little too cute--cute enough to incite an international incident in two years, when the zoo is slated to give him to China. "He is so cute that it's a possibility," Olear jokes. Chinese Embassy spokesman Chu Maoming reminds us that the U.S. government "has an agreement to honor." But he remains optimistic that there will be "new ways to further exchange."
Ask the CIA: the Public's Top 10 List
So what, exactly, do people think the CIA has been up to? Apparently not much good. On its website, the CIA posts documents from the past half-century that have been released to the public (most through Freedom of Information Act requests). The top 10 most popular search terms in October were:
10. Iran
9. Guatemala
8. Afghanistan
7. Bay of Pigs
6. Iraq
5. mind control
4. China
3. Area 51
2. Vietnam
And No. 1? That would be UFO.
Seven Years and a Lot of Legal Pads
It took Sen. Barbara Boxer seven years of cross-country flights and countless legal pads to make her literary debut, A Time to Run, a novel about a California Democrat and her effort to defeat a conservative Supreme Court nominee. Sound familiar? The plot, says Boxer, stems from her efforts to block an appeals court nominee. Lukewarm reviews aside, "if liberals read the book and it makes them happy," she says, "then I consider it a success."
Trans-Atlantic Partnerships
European officials hope the Israeli political shake-up won't interfere with what they see as stronger--and more effective--activism by the Rice State Department in the Mideast. A senior European official praised Rice's recent all-night negotiating session in Jerusalem for a Gaza access deal. "What Condi has done in these past days is great. We're exactly on the same line here," says the official, who enthuses about an "almost friction-free trans-Atlantic environment" of late in handling the Israeli-Palestinian issue.
Learning How the Other Half Lives
There's at least one liberal who wants to know how the other half lives. Seattle public-radio-show host John Moe spent a month immersed in conservative culture--forgoing the New York Times, resetting his radio from NPR to Rush Limbaugh, and making pilgrimages to the Reagan and Nixon libraries. He chronicles the ideological adventure in Conservatize Me, to be published by William Morrow next year. The hardest part? Listening to patriotic country and western songs. "Liberals have better music," he insists. But Moe also found conservatives to be funnier. "To be funny you have to have confidence," he says. "And you develop confidence when you rule the world."
With Kevin Whitelaw, Alex Kingsbury, Thomas Omestad and Richard J. Newman
This story appears in the December 5, 2005 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.