#or

A man writing a letter is a man in the act of thinking, and it was an exercise Reagan obviously enjoyed. After his first meeting with Gorbachev, for example, he sent a 'Dear Murph' letter about it to his old friend George Murphy, a former senator and actor who had once played Reagan's father in a film. ↗

— Russell Baker

#act #actor #after #dear #enjoyed

A skillful playwright might have a good time with the story of the assassination of President William McKinley, and especially with the three most flamboyant political figures involved: Mark Hanna, Theodore Roosevelt, and Emma Goldman. ↗

— Russell Baker

#emma #especially #figures #flamboyant #good

American foreign policy had still not recovered from its victory over communism when George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice took over at the White House in 2001. ↗

— Russell Baker

#american foreign policy #bush #communism #condoleezza #condoleezza rice

The worst thing about being a tourist is having other tourists recognize you as a tourist. ↗

— Russell Baker

#being #having #other #recognize #thing

Gerald Boyd was a classic specimen of the self-made man. Born poor, he worked and studied his way up out of poverty under the guidance of his widowed grandmother. ↗

— Russell Baker

#classic #grandmother #guidance #his #his way

It is fitting that yesteryear's swashbuckling newspaper reporter has turned into today's solemn young sobersides nursing a glass of watered white wine after a day of toiling over computer databases in a smoke-free, noise-free newsroom. ↗

— Russell Baker

#computer #databases #day #fitting #glass

It's always seemed odd to me that after a group of terrorists commits a vile and odious deed they rush messages to the public to claim credit for it. ↗

— Russell Baker

#always #claim #commits #credit #deed

Journalism was being whittled away by a Wall Street theory that profits can be maximized by minimizing the product. ↗

— Russell Baker

#being #journalism #product #profits #street

Letter writing was clearly important to Reagan. Even as president he kept dashing off letters to friends, pen pals, media people, statesmen, critics, and the kind of people who write to presidents never expecting a reply. ↗

— Russell Baker

#critics #even #expecting #friends #important

Like all young reporters - brilliant or hopelessly incompetent - I dreamed of the glamorous life of the foreign correspondent: prowling Vienna in a Burberry trench coat, speaking a dozen languages to dangerous women, narrowly escaping Sardinian bandits - the usual stuff that newspaper dreams are made of. ↗

— Russell Baker

#brilliant #coat #correspondent #dangerous #dozen