On this day in 2005, at a White House ceremony, President George W. Bush congratulates the 2005 World Champion Boston Red Sox baseball team for winning their first World Series since 1918. Massachusetts Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry, and former Red Sox players were among those on hand for the event. Before saluting the […]
Category Archives: Presidential
Bush Appoints Rice As Secretary Of State
On this day in 2005, President George W. Bush appoints Condoleezza Rice to the post of secretary of state, making her the highest ranking African-American woman ever to serve in a presidential cabinet. A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. Rice’s credentials included advanced degrees in political science and international relations from prestigious schools, followed by […]
George W. Bush Recovers From Bicycle Accident
On this day in 2004, as reported in the Washington Post, President George Bush recovers from a bicycle accident he’d had the day before. Bush had taken up mountain biking for exercise at the suggestion of physicians. Reporter Dana Milbank recounted how Bush fell from his mountain bike while completing a 17-mile course on his […]
Bush Addresses The Nation After Space Huttle Columbia Explodes
On this day in 2003, after ordering the nation’s flags to fly at half-staff, President George W. Bush solemnly addresses the public via live television in the wake of the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia. Hours earlier, television crews had captured Columbia‘s tragic disintegration upon reentering the earth’s atmosphere. All aboard were killed. This […]
Bush Unveils Strategy For Homeland Security
On this day in 2002, President George W. Bush announces his plan for strengthening homeland security in the wake of the shocking September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., in which nearly 3,000 people had been killed. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, in an attempt to prevent further bloodshed […]
George W. Bush Forms Commission On Social Security
On this day in 2001, President George W. Bush appoints a commission to investigate potential changes to the nation’s Social Security system. The commission was charged with examining the feasibility of unprecedented and controversial changes Bush had proposed for a Social Security system that had been largely unchanged since it was created by Franklin D. […]
Garfield’s Spine On Display At Museum
On this day in 2000, the bones of President James Garfield’s spine are on display for a final day as part of the Out of the Blue Closets exhibit at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, D.C. The exhibit featured medical oddities from the museum’s archives. The British medical journal The Lancet […]
Clinton Apologizes To Chinese Leader For Embassy Bombing
On this day in 1999, President Bill Clinton apologizes directly to Chinese President Jiang Zemin on the phone for the accidental NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, that had taken place six days earlier. Clinton promised an official investigation into the incident. Clinton called the bombing an isolated and tragic event and […]