World War II

White House Chief Of Staff Ron Klain A True Star!

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The position of White House Chief of Staff, the person closest to the President on a daily basis, has existed since the Truman Presidency after World War II.

Some have lasted very short times in that position; some have proved to be disasters; and a small number have turned out to be exceptional in their dedication to progress under their Presidents.

The true disasters include:

Sherman Adams under Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1958)
H. R. Haldeman under Richard Nixon (1969-1973)
Donald Rumsfeld under Gerald Ford (1974-1975)
Dick Cheney under Gerald Ford (1975-1977)
Hamilton Jordan under Jimmy Carter (1979-1980)
Donald Regan under Ronald Reagan (1985-1987)
Reince Priebus under Donald Trump (six months in 2017)
Mark Meadows under Donald Trump (2020-2021)

The success stories include:

Kenneth O’Donnell under John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)
James Baker under Ronald Reagan (1981-1985)
Howard Baker under Ronald Reagan (1987-1988)
John Sununu under George H. W. Bush (1989-1991)
Leon Panetta under Bill Clinton (1994-1997)
Erskine Bowles under Bill Clinton (1997-1998)
John Podesta under Bill Clinton (1998-2001)
Andrew Card under George W. Bush (2001-2005)
Denis McDonough under Barack Obama (2013-2017)
John F. Kelly under Donald Trump ((2017-2019)
Ron Klain under Joe Biden (2021- )

When one looks at these lists, it is clear that Ron Klain stands out as one of the top few White House Chiefs of Staff of all time, with Kenneth O’Donnell, James Baker, Leon Panetta, Andrew Card, and Denis McDonough also on the list of the best!

Happy 80th Birthday, President Biden, A True Treasure To American Democracy!

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Happy 80th Birthday to President Biden, who has been a true treasure to American democracy!

When history is written of these times, the years after Fascist authoritarian Donald Trump attempted to destroy American democracy, the Constitution, and the rule of law, it will be recorded that Joe Biden came along as the savior of our heritage of freedom, joining with Abraham Lincoln in the Civil War in the early 1860s, and Franklin D. Roosevelt in the World War II era in the early 1940s!

Now, another 80 years after 1860 and 1940, Joe Biden committed himself to defy the dictatorial nature of Donald Trump, and restore faith in America and its heritage of freedom and democracy!

Like Lincoln and FDR, Biden has been subjected to relentless character assassination and ridicule, but like Lincoln and FDR, he has stood tall and proud and brave, and has committed his later years to his country!

Do not forget that Biden is finishing 50 years of public service, since he was elected to the US Senate a few weeks short of the minimum age of 30 in 1972!

And he has been a public servant in office for all of that half century, except for the four years after leaving the Vice Presidency, having chosen not to try to run for the Presidency in 2016, due to his deep mourning for his son Beau, who died in 2015!

Just as Biden suffered through the loss of his first wife and young daughter in a traffic accident weeks after his Senate election and before he took the oath, so he suffered again in 2015 with the loss of his older son!

But he rose from a low moment to serve his nation and the world, and save it from not just foreign terrorism, but the ever greater threat of domestic terrorism!

His record in office has been superb for his first two years, and was good enough to promote the least loss of power and influence in the past 90 years in a first term midterm election!

His decision whether to run or retire should be respected, and while reaching the age of 80 is a daunting number to have so much responsibility for the nation and the world, Joe Biden, despite some shortcomings at times, runs rings around Donald Trump in knowledge, ability, intelligence, and most importantly, compassion, empathy, and common decency!

May God bless him to a long life, and commitment to his nation and the world, as history records the greatness of this man!

Most Dangerous Times Since Cuban Missile Crisis 60 Years Ago This Week!

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Sixty years ago this week, America and the world faced the potential of nuclear war, during the Cuban Missile Crisis in the time of the Presidency of John F. Kennedy and Soviet Union Premier Nikita Khrushchev.

It was a very terrifying time, which this author and blogger, a college freshman at the time, remembers very well, but thankfully, the issue of possible nuclear confrontation was resolved peacefully.

Now, however, the threat of the Russian Federation under Vladimir Putin, in its eight month war against Ukraine, using nuclear weapons, presents a challenge as great as sixty years ago.

Now we have President Joe Biden leading the challenge to Russia, with the support of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), but the Republican opposition, led by potential House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, is indicating that it will not insure continued military and financial support to Ukraine.

This is exactly the wrong message to give to Putin, and encourages him to continue his aggression, which presents a real threat to all NATO nations!

So we could be facing World War III, a horrifying concept, and Joe Biden will have to fight in the way that Franklin D. Roosevelt fought eighty years ago in World War II, to refuse to reward aggression, which will only make the world more dangerous!

International Relations Becoming More Dominated By Authoritarian Leaders

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The world in 2022 is becoming more dominated by authoritarian leaders than any time since World War II, a sign of major challenges for President Joe Biden.

Already, the Russian Federation, China, North Korea, and Iran are constantly challenging America and its democracy.

But now, Saudi Arabia, under Mohamed bin Salman, in cooperation with Vladimir Putin, is cutting oil production, and creating an economic nightmare of higher oil prices, just as the Midterm Elections of 2022 come upon us in one month.

The Democrats already have problems with inflation and higher mortgage rates and this despicable action by Saudia Arabia, in lead with Putin, could very well undermine the push to protect American democracy in the upcoming elections, and prevent protection of abortion rights.

This will be a very difficult month, with growing sense that MAGA Republicans and Donald Trump could end up in control of government, and undermine, in league with an extremist right wing Supreme Court, many of the progressive
advancements in government and civil rights that have occurred in the years since the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson!

Constitution Day: 235 Years And Counting, But Question About Its Survival In Future!

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Today is Constitution Day, the day in 1787 when the Founding Fathers signed the Constitution.

No one in their right mind would think that those who signed the Constitution believed there should be no changes ever made, or that what was in the Constitution was cement that could not be altered.

And yet, today, we have a majority Supreme Court which thinks we should go back to 1787, what is called “Originalism”.

This is pure insanity, and undermines the ability of government to adapt to changing times.

Most of what is considered “normal” today in constitutional terms is far from just the original document, and reflects the changing times.

And we are faced with a threat, greater than the Civil War or the Great Depression and World War II, to our ability to maintain a constitutional government based on the rule of law, as Donald Trump and his minions are a dire threat to America’s democratic future!

Joe Biden Makes Clear In Philadelphia Speech The Dangers Presented By “MAGA” Republicans!

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President Joe Biden delivered a blistering attack last night in Philadelphia, the “Cradle of Liberty” against former President Donald Trump and the threat of “MAGA” Republicans to American democracy and the rule of law!

Biden pulled no punches, abandoning the idea of bipartisanship, which he had promoted for so many years in the US Senate, as the vast majority of the Republican Party has become, as Biden calls it, “Semi Fascist”.

The speech reminded this author of similar speeches by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in defending his “New Deal” in the time of the Great Depression, and FDR’s strong rebuttals of “isolationists”, who opposed his foreign policy in the lead up to World War II!

It also reminded this author of Harry Truman challenging the Republican Party in 1948, the famous “Give Them Hell Harry” campaign for reelection, which seemed hopeless, but with the result of a stunning election victory against all public opinion polls at the time!

78th Anniversary Of D Day Normandy Invasion In World War II!

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Today is the 78th Anniversary of the D Day Normandy Invasion of France in World War II, a turning point in the struggle against Nazi Germany!

The number of veterans who live on after this momentous event is very small, as one would have to be in the mid 90s or higher to have been part of that battle and still survive today!

We must never forget the sacrifices of the veterans who survived, but even more of those who gave their last effort for the American nation and the civilized world!

The striving for democracy, which was fought in 1944, continues today as we face the threat of Fascism and Donald Trump, and the future of American politics in the Midterm Elections of 2022 and the Presidential Election of 2024!

Joe Biden Arguably Has Faced The Worst Set Of Crises Other Than Lincoln And FDR!

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Abraham Lincoln faced the breakup of the Union and the Civil War in his Presidency from 1861-1865.

Franklin D. Roosevelt faced the Great Depression, the growing threat of Fascism and Nazism, and World War II, from 1933-1945.

Other than Lincoln and FDR, the question arises which other Presidents faced crises on a level as dangerous and challenging as those two Presidents.

One could say George Washington facing the challenge of making the Constitution work, and the nation able to survive as a republic from 1789-1797.

One could say Harry Truman, facing the challenge of sudden elevation to the Presidency in a time when World War II was not yet resolved, and having to deal with the threat of the Soviet Union during the Cold War years from 1945-1953.

One could say John F. Kennedy, facing the threat of the Soviet Union, including the Berlin Crisis and the Cuban Missile Crisis, which dominated his time in the Presidency, from 1961-1963.

One could say George W. Bush, facing the challenge of the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, and the dual wars fought during his Presidency in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the Great Recession which developed in his last year in office, from 2001-2009.

One could also say Barack Obama, facing the challenge of the Great Recession, the worst economic downturn since the 1930s, and the constant domestic resistance from the right wing Tea Party Movement, and the growing extremism of the Republican Party, from 2009-2017.

But one could also argue that Joe Biden, facing the COVID 19 Pandemic; the growing epidemic of mass murders by firearms by domestic terrorists and mentally disturbed people; and the threat of nuclear war in the midst of the greatest foreign policy crisis (The Russia-Ukraine War) since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, is the greatest challenge and crisis other than Lincoln and FDR!

May 8, 1945—VE Day And Harry Truman Birthday In White House

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Today is the 77th Anniversary of VE Day, Victory in Europe over Nazi Germany in World War II, and also the birthday of President Harry Truman, who has ascended to the Presidency less than a month earlier, on April 12, 1945, upon the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Truman would go on to serve seven years and nine months, and take us through the end of the war against Japan, and the early days of the Cold War against the Soviet Union, and the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), all relevent to today when the Russian Federation is at war against Ukraine, and has committed horrendous war crimes.

The US and its NATO partners are doing everything possible to combat the Russian military action in Ukraine, and World War III could be coming soon, if Russia invades any NATO nation!

America’s Relation With World Conflict Began On This Day In 1917, And Now Facing New World Conflict!

Ronald 3 Comments

On this day, April 6, 1917, 105 years ago, America left its isolationist heritage, and began its relation with world conflict, as Congress voted American entrance into World War I.

Woodrow Wilson had wished to keep America at peace, but war was forced upon him by the actions of Imperial Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm II.

After World War I, America went back into isolationism, but the rise of Nazism and Fascism forced America and its President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, into World War II in 1941, against Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan.

Isolationism would never fully revive again, as America entered the challenges of the Cold War against the Soviet Union from 1945-1991.

Once the Soviet Union collapsed, it was thought America was free of foreign conflict, but international terrorism woke us up in 2001.

And now, the Russian Federation and Vladimir Putin has begun waging war against Ukraine, including war crimes, massacre, and genocide.

It places the United Nations organization, the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the United States as a world leader to have to consider going into what might become World War III, a horrifying thought.

But it seems clearly, to this blogger and author, that ultimately, Vladimir Putin will not stop at Ukraine, but will very likely attack NATO nations, including the Baltic States (Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania) and Poland at some point, and the US and NATO will need to respond to attacks on their allies.

Nuclear war is a possibility, horrendous thought, but in the end, a bully must be stopped, or he becomes a worst, more dangerous bully!

So it seems highly likely that Joe Biden will have to do what Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt did, take America into a world war!