Washington Whispers
More Than Dad, Less Than Bubba
President Bush has kept Air Force One pretty busy in his six years, but Washington's pre-eminent expert on presidential travel says that at his current foreign travel rate, Bush won't best his predecessor. "He's creeping up on Clinton's record," says CBS Radio's White House correspondent Mark Knoller, whose records on presidential travel even the White House refers to as the authoritative source. So far, Bush has done 36 overseas trips to 58 countries, an average of six a year. Clinton completed 55 to 72 countries. W did beat his dad: In four years he made just 23 trips to 36 nations.
Truth or Fiction? It's Hard to Tell
Here's the scene: A conservative president, say President Bush, is getting ready to be replaced by a liberal, say Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, after a crisis like something worse than 9/11. The nation's national security team is worried that the nation is going to pot. So much so that the heads of a 400-person "supermilitia" created to overthrow governments on behalf of Washington move in to dump Bush, stop Clinton's ascension, and rebuild the nation. Crazy? No, it's just the premise of America's Last Days, a new political thriller out next month and already being looked at by Hollywood. Author Douglas MacKinnon, a former Pentagon, Reagan, and Bush aide, says it rings true. His scenarios were so real-"many of the people are at least partially based on real D.C. individuals who we all know"-he felt compelled to show intelligence officials, and they nixed some as too lifelike. And the part about getting rid of a president? MacKinnon recalls boozy talk during his Pentagon days about sidelining President Clinton. Despite his pedigree, the book takes on both political camps, which may explain the bipartisan lineup of those crowing about it, like former Sen.Bob Dole and James Carville.
Off to Auction: Limousine One
Talk about a belated Christmas present with a wow factor. If you can wait a few weeks and have up to$1 million to burn, the first armored presidential limo-built for FDR-is going up for auction to the highest bidder. The 1942 Lincoln, which also lugged Harry S. Truman around, has been in private hands for 44 years and rarely seen. But RM Auctions tells us it'll be rolled out at its annual sale at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix on January 19. This car is a beaut: black with chrome and fitted with bulletproof glass and steel plating. It was the first armored car built just for the White House, a requirement after Pearl Harbor. RM Auctions is the same group that auctioned FDR's borrowed limo, Al Capone's Caddy. That went for $621,000.
With Dan Gilgoff
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