President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Lend Lease bill to send aid to allied nations in March 1941, prior to US involvement in WWII.
Drawing parallels between President Biden’s provision of cluster bombs to Ukraine and the Lend Lease program conceived by President Delano Roosevelt (FDR) reveals historical patterns of aiding allies during times of conflict. Lend Lease, supplying the UK, France, the Soviet Union, and other allied nations with oil, food and war materials including ships, started prior to U.S. involvement in World War II. It faced opposition from isolationists, such as the America First Committee, due to concerns about foreign entanglement and resource drain. Similarly, Biden’s decision to provide arms to Ukraine has generated ethical concerns and opposition. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles both said their countries would not support sending cluster munitions to Ukraine because they might cause civilian casualties and escalate the war, which recently passed the 500-day mark. Examining these parallels highlights recurring themes in global politics and the challenges of balancing support for allies with potential consequences.
Upon her death on Nov. 19, 2023 at age 96, former First Lady Rosalyn Carter was the second-longest-lived first lady after Bess Truman, and was the longest-married first lady. (Photo by Jimmy Carter Library)
Former first lady Rosalynn Carter recently passed away at age 96. Mrs. Carter was a devout Christian and a strong supporter of her husband, Jimmy Carter, who served as the 39th president of the United States. The couple was married for more than 77 years. In 1976, during President Carter’s first presidential election campaign, he said in an interview published by Playboy magazine that he admitted to having “committed adultery in my heart many times.” The statement caused a lot of controversy and backlash from the public, especially from conservative Christians, who were a significant voting bloc at the time. In response to her husband’s statement, Mrs. Carter said, “Jimmy talks too much, but at least people know he’s honest and doesn’t mind answering questions” She added that she was not worried about her husband’s fidelity. The interview nearly derailed Carter’s presidential campaign, but he managed to win the election against incumbent President Gerald Ford despite the controversy. The incident is still remembered as one of the most significant moments in American political history.
Kissinger was secretary of state when he and President Ford met with General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union at the Vladivostok Summit in 1974. (Photo by David Hume Kennerly – Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library)
Henry Kissinger, the former U.S. Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, turned 100 years old on May 27, 2023. Kissinger is one of the most consequential foreign policy figures of the 20th century. He played a key role in the Vietnam War, the opening to China, and the negotiation of the SALT I arms control agreement. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973. Kissinger’s legacy is complex and controversial, but there is no doubt that he was a towering figure in American foreign policy. He played a key role in shaping the world order of the late 20th century, and his legacy will continue to be debated for years to come.
In 1893, Esther Cleveland was the first baby born to a president in the White House. Her mother, Frances Cleveland, was the nation’s youngest first lady.
On this date 125 years ago, Esther Cleveland, the second child of President and Mrs. Grover Cleveland, was born. While the current First Daughter is serving on her father’s staff, and there have been other famous and successful daughters to the president, even Cleveland’s eldest daughter, Ruth, was allegedly the inspiration for the Baby Ruth candy bar, Esther was the first child born to a chief executive while living in the White House. Seven years earlier, in 1886, Cleveland was the first president married at the White House when he wed Frances Folsom, who was nearly three decades younger than him. He was also the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms. He left office for the last time in 1897 and died 11 years later after a steady decline in health. Mrs. Cleveland, who remarried, lived until 1947. She holds the record as the youngest wife of a sitting president. As for Esther, she married a British army captain at Westminster Abbey in London in 1918 at age 25. Their daughter, Philippa Foot, was a philosopher known for her work in ethics.
Secret Service agents accompany Former President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter to their two-bedroom home in Plains, Ga., after dinner with neighbors. (Matt McClain, The Washington Post)
After he was trounced by Ronald Reagan in the 1980 presidential election, Jimmy Carter was 56 and returned home to Plains, Georgia, The town is a speck of cotton and peanut farmland some 150 miles south of Atlanta. It has a population of 700 and a 40 percent poverty rate. It’s also a living museum to Carter, the longest former president in history. In a story by The Washington Post, President Carter says Plains formed him, seeding his beliefs about racial equality, and making him unpretentious and frugal while growing up in a farmhouse during the Great Depression.
