Latest news with #Nixon

Wall Street Journal
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
The Butler, Pa., Debacle Was No Surprise
I can't agree that the 'The Secret Service Failure a Year Later' (Review & Outlook, July 16) 'boggles the mind.' Rot from poor leadership and DEI mandates promoting incompetence and discouraging merit leads to imperceptible cracks in performance at first but overtime it destroys an organization. If employees don't respect the boss or process, they slowly stop caring. I served in the Army under four presidents from 1973 to 1987 and the change in morale and productivity from Nixon to Reagan was palpable and inspiring. We suddenly felt we were on the right side of history. That military recruitment is up shows confidence and pride in our new leadership and suggests we are on the right track. Let's hope so or else we'll have another entirely predictable disaster.


Hamilton Spectator
16 hours ago
- General
- Hamilton Spectator
Award-winning AP photographer Bob Daugherty captured history with speed and persistence
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Robert A. Daugherty, whose four-decade career with The Associated Press captured history including President Lyndon B. Johnson writing the speech in which he declined reelection, Richard Nixon flashing 'V for Victory' signs before leaving the White House in disgrace and Jimmy Carter clasping hands with Middle East leaders after cementing a peace treaty, has died after a lengthy illness. He was 86. Daugherty, the son of sharecroppers who shined shoes for spare change in his youth, died Monday in Noblesville, Indiana, his wife Stephanie said. He was born Jan. 16, 1939 in a three-room wooden house in rural Kentucky. In a 43-year career, he covered nine presidents, 22 political conventions, the Watergate hearings, the Paris Peace Talks over the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and presidential trips overseas. He also covered dozens of high-stakes sporting events including the Olympic Games, Masters Tournaments, and Kentucky Derby races. J. David Ake, who retired as AP's director of photography, said Daugherty — who went by Bob — also became a 'tack-sharp leader' focused on helping AP photojournalists do their best work. 'His goal was to make everyone who worked with him or for him better,' Ake said. 'Because he understood what it took to make a good frame and get it on the wire, no matter what, he was always there to lend a hand, make a suggestion, or just run interference. And it didn't hurt; he was the kindest man you will ever meet.' Daugherty learned the power of photography early as he distributed a community newspaper to local farmers. He later recalled one of the recipients telling him, 'You know I can't read, but I sure like the pictures.' After the family moved to Marion, Indiana, Daugherty shot pictures for his high school yearbook, which led to a job with the local Marion Chronicle-Tribune. He next worked at the Indianapolis Star, where he met Stephanie Hoppes, a staff writer. They were married on Dec. 7, 1963. With no money to pay for college, Daugherty later said, 'I earned my junior college degree at the Marion Chronicle, bachelor's degree at the Star and master's with The Associated Press.' Although the couple traveled extensively in retirement, Stephanie Daugherty said she never accompanied her husband on his overseas work trips, such as Nixon's groundbreaking visit to China in 1972. 'He was very dedicated to doing his best and he didn't want me as a distraction,' she said. Persistence, timing and speed were keys to Daugherty's success in Washington with the AP. Hearing that Johnson was writing a speech on a Saturday in the spring of 1968, Daugherty badgered a press aide until he was let in to shoot a haggard, open-collared LBJ writing the speech declining his party's nomination. Daugherty positioned himself for a straight-on view of Nixon flashing 'V for victory' hand signs at the door to a helicopter on the White House lawn, minutes after becoming the first president to resign in 1974. When Carter grasped the handshake of Israel's Menachem Begin and Egypt's Anwar Sadat after the signing of a 1979 peace treaty between the two countries, Daugherty captured the moment in nearly identical color and black-and-white images. At the time, this required him to use two separate cameras. When Carter visited Kentucky in July 1979, other photographers ditched what was expected to be a routine motorcade to an event at a school. But Daugherty stayed, catching the normally staid Carter seated on top of the presidential limousine to greet well-wishers. He later said that photo was a favorite among all the images he made of U.S. presidents. 'You must stay alert when you're with the president,' Daugherty said. 'You must be prepared.' 'Bob was a legend,' said Pablo Martínez Monsiváis, assistant photo chief for AP's Washington bureau. Asked about an iconic photograph, Daugherty would describe all the planning that went into the shot or simply say, 'I got lucky.' 'If anyone was lucky, it was me who got to work with him,' Monsiváis recalled. Among other awards, Daugherty won the Oliver S. Gramling Award, AP's highest journalism honor, in 1999. In 2009, the White House News Photographers Association presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2015 he was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame by the Indiana Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He was also a soccer coach and swim-meet official for his son John, said his wife, and in retirement never missed a chance to watch the sun set over the Morse Reservoir, where the couple lived. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Business Times
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Business Times
Eighty years after Hiroshima, is the world any safer from nuclear war?
AS THE 80th anniversary of the nuclear strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki rolls around next month, it is worth asking how safe is the world from another nuclear war. The aftermath of the US strike on Iran's putative nuclear weapons facilities in June seems to have engendered a belief that the world has somehow stepped back from the brink. Indeed, some even expect that Washington will now summon up its courage and decisively act against North Korea, never mind that Pyongyang has defence treaties with both China and Russia. The thinking seems to be that an Iran-like bombing raid would leave the world's nuclear arsenals in safe hands, however that notion of safety is construed. So perhaps this is a good moment to recount the times the world has come to the brink of all-out nuclear war – with all that it means for life on Earth. Everyone remembers the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Moscow had placed nuclear missiles in Cuba. The Kennedy administration wanted the missiles withdrawn and ordered a naval blockade. As manoeuvres began, Soviet officers misinterpreted non-lethal depth charges from American surface ships as the onset of war. The Soviet submarine commander was about to fire a nuclear-tipped torpedo at an American aircraft carrier. But he needed the permission of a political officer, Captain Vasily Arkhipov, who judged the situation correctly and refused to give that permission. He thus saved both the US and the then Soviet Union from total devastation. On another occasion, a lieutenant colonel in the Soviet Air Defence Forces, Stanislav Petrov, was on duty on Sep 26, 1983, when the early-warning satellite system he was monitoring detected what appeared to be five approaching US nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles. He thought about it and reasoned that if the US really wanted all-out nuclear war, Washington would deploy more than just five missiles. He treated it as a false alarm, and the critical moment passed without incident. More pertinent to the North Korea situation was when President Richard Nixon ordered a nuclear strike against Pyongyang. In 1969, a few months into the first Nixon administration, North Korean leader Kim Il Sung's forces shot down an EC-121 spy plane over the Sea of Japan. Nixon had been drinking that evening and, as a book by Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan notes, he was drunk when he heard the news. He ordered nuclear retaliation. Fortunately, his faithful sidekick Henry Kissinger was at hand and persuaded the military commanders to wait until Nixon sobered up before executing his order. Again, the moment passed without incident. The situation in North Korea now is vastly different from that in the Nixon era. The Kim dynasty has a nuclear arsenal of its own, with missiles that can strike the US mainland directly. Of course, Washington can flatten North Korea. But the US stands to lose Yokosuka, Okinawa, Guam and Honolulu, if not Anchorage, Seattle and Los Angeles. This prospect is likely to concentrate a few minds in the Trump administration. If anything, the recent US strikes against Iran have fundamentally changed how the Kims are likely to deal with Washington: nuclear weapons are not a bargaining chip to be traded away in return for some US assurance. And anyone who thinks Pyongyang's treaty allies, China and Russia, will both sit on their hands while the Trump administration drops bunker busters without consequence, is surely indulging in heroic assumptions.


Washington Post
16 hours ago
- General
- Washington Post
Award-winning AP photographer Bob Daugherty captured history with speed and persistence
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Robert A. Daugherty, whose four-decade career with The Associated Press captured history including President Lyndon B. Johnson writing the speech in which he declined reelection, Richard Nixon flashing 'V for Victory' signs before leaving the White House in disgrace and Jimmy Carter clasping hands with Middle East leaders after cementing a peace treaty, has died after a lengthy illness. He was 86. Daugherty, the son of sharecroppers who shined shoes for spare change in his youth, died Monday in Noblesville, Indiana, his wife Stephanie said. He was born Jan. 16, 1939 in a three-room wooden house in rural Kentucky. In a 43-year career, he covered nine presidents, 22 political conventions, the Watergate hearings, the Paris Peace Talks over the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and presidential trips overseas. He also covered dozens of high-stakes sporting events including the Olympic Games, Masters Tournaments, and Kentucky Derby races. J. David Ake, who retired as AP's director of photography, said Daugherty — who went by Bob — also became a 'tack-sharp leader' focused on helping AP photojournalists do their best work. 'His goal was to make everyone who worked with him or for him better,' Ake said. 'Because he understood what it took to make a good frame and get it on the wire, no matter what, he was always there to lend a hand, make a suggestion, or just run interference. And it didn't hurt; he was the kindest man you will ever meet.' Daugherty learned the power of photography early as he distributed a community newspaper to local farmers. He later recalled one of the recipients telling him, 'You know I can't read, but I sure like the pictures.' After the family moved to Marion, Indiana, Daugherty shot pictures for his high school yearbook, which led to a job with the local Marion Chronicle-Tribune. He next worked at the Indianapolis Star, where he met Stephanie Hoppes, a staff writer. They were married on Dec. 7, 1963. With no money to pay for college, Daugherty later said, 'I earned my junior college degree at the Marion Chronicle, bachelor's degree at the Star and master's with The Associated Press.' Although the couple traveled extensively in retirement, Stephanie Daugherty said she never accompanied her husband on his overseas work trips, such as Nixon's groundbreaking visit to China in 1972. 'He was very dedicated to doing his best and he didn't want me as a distraction,' she said. Persistence, timing and speed were keys to Daugherty's success in Washington with the AP. Hearing that Johnson was writing a speech on a Saturday in the spring of 1968, Daugherty badgered a press aide until he was let in to shoot a haggard, open-collared LBJ writing the speech declining his party's nomination. Daugherty positioned himself for a straight-on view of Nixon flashing 'V for victory' hand signs at the door to a helicopter on the White House lawn, minutes after becoming the first president to resign in 1974. When Carter grasped the handshake of Israel's Menachem Begin and Egypt's Anwar Sadat after the signing of a 1979 peace treaty between the two countries, Daugherty captured the moment in nearly identical color and black-and-white images. At the time, this required him to use two separate cameras. When Carter visited Kentucky in July 1979, other photographers ditched what was expected to be a routine motorcade to an event at a school. But Daugherty stayed, catching the normally staid Carter seated on top of the presidential limousine to greet well-wishers. He later said that photo was a favorite among all the images he made of U.S. presidents. 'You must stay alert when you're with the president,' Daugherty said. 'You must be prepared.' 'Bob was a legend,' said Pablo Martínez Monsiváis, assistant photo chief for AP's Washington bureau. Asked about an iconic photograph, Daugherty would describe all the planning that went into the shot or simply say, 'I got lucky.' 'If anyone was lucky, it was me who got to work with him,' Monsiváis recalled. Among other awards, Daugherty won the Oliver S. Gramling Award, AP's highest journalism honor, in 1999. In 2009, the White House News Photographers Association presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2015 he was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame by the Indiana Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He was also a soccer coach and swim-meet official for his son John, said his wife, and in retirement never missed a chance to watch the sun set over the Morse Reservoir, where the couple lived.

Associated Press
16 hours ago
- General
- Associated Press
Award-winning AP photographer Bob Daugherty captured history with speed and persistence
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Robert A. Daugherty, whose four-decade career with The Associated Press captured history including President Lyndon B. Johnson writing the speech in which he declined reelection, Richard Nixon flashing 'V for Victory' signs before leaving the White House in disgrace and Jimmy Carter clasping hands with Middle East leaders after cementing a peace treaty, has died after a lengthy illness. He was 86. Daugherty, the son of sharecroppers who shined shoes for spare change in his youth, died Monday in Noblesville, Indiana, his wife Stephanie said. He was born Jan. 16, 1939 in a three-room wooden house in rural Kentucky. In a 43-year career, he covered nine presidents, 22 political conventions, the Watergate hearings, the Paris Peace Talks over the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and presidential trips overseas. He also covered dozens of high-stakes sporting events including the Olympic Games, Masters Tournaments, and Kentucky Derby races. J. David Ake, who retired as AP's director of photography, said Daugherty — who went by Bob — also became a 'tack-sharp leader' focused on helping AP photojournalists do their best work. 'His goal was to make everyone who worked with him or for him better,' Ake said. 'Because he understood what it took to make a good frame and get it on the wire, no matter what, he was always there to lend a hand, make a suggestion, or just run interference. And it didn't hurt; he was the kindest man you will ever meet.' Daugherty learned the power of photography early as he distributed a community newspaper to local farmers. He later recalled one of the recipients telling him, 'You know I can't read, but I sure like the pictures.' After the family moved to Marion, Indiana, Daugherty shot pictures for his high school yearbook, which led to a job with the local Marion Chronicle-Tribune. He next worked at the Indianapolis Star, where he met Stephanie Hoppes, a staff writer. They were married on Dec. 7, 1963. With no money to pay for college, Daugherty later said, 'I earned my junior college degree at the Marion Chronicle, bachelor's degree at the Star and master's with The Associated Press.' Although the couple traveled extensively in retirement, Stephanie Daugherty said she never accompanied her husband on his overseas work trips, such as Nixon's groundbreaking visit to China in 1972. 'He was very dedicated to doing his best and he didn't want me as a distraction,' she said. Persistence, timing and speed were keys to Daugherty's success in Washington with the AP. Hearing that Johnson was writing a speech on a Saturday in the spring of 1968, Daugherty badgered a press aide until he was let in to shoot a haggard, open-collared LBJ writing the speech declining his party's nomination. Daugherty positioned himself for a straight-on view of Nixon flashing 'V for victory' hand signs at the door to a helicopter on the White House lawn, minutes after becoming the first president to resign in 1974. When Carter grasped the handshake of Israel's Menachem Begin and Egypt's Anwar Sadat after the signing of a 1979 peace treaty between the two countries, Daugherty captured the moment in nearly identical color and black-and-white images. At the time, this required him to use two separate cameras. When Carter visited Kentucky in July 1979, other photographers ditched what was expected to be a routine motorcade to an event at a school. But Daugherty stayed, catching the normally staid Carter seated on top of the presidential limousine to greet well-wishers. He later said that photo was a favorite among all the images he made of U.S. presidents. 'You must stay alert when you're with the president,' Daugherty said. 'You must be prepared.' 'Bob was a legend,' said Pablo Martínez Monsiváis, assistant photo chief for AP's Washington bureau. Asked about an iconic photograph, Daugherty would describe all the planning that went into the shot or simply say, 'I got lucky.' 'If anyone was lucky, it was me who got to work with him,' Monsiváis recalled. Among other awards, Daugherty won the Oliver S. Gramling Award, AP's highest journalism honor, in 1999. In 2009, the White House News Photographers Association presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2015 he was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame by the Indiana Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He was also a soccer coach and swim-meet official for his son John, said his wife, and in retirement never missed a chance to watch the sun set over the Morse Reservoir, where the couple lived.