Sample Clips
The Washington Post | “In 1919, Driving Cross-Country Was A Crazy Idea. An Army Convoy Set Out To Show It Could Be Done”
A long line of nearly 100 vehicles stretched out along the White House Ellipse on the morning of July 7, 1919, replete with heavy troop carriers, light trucks, sidecar motorcycles, reconnaissance cars, field kitchens, blacksmith shops and one Renault light tank. The automobiles were a cross section of the vast motor pool acquired by the federal government during World War I. Though an armistice had brought peace to Europe the previous year, the military had given itself a new mission: driving a convoy across the country. Flush with surplus Army vehicles, the War Department intended to send a first-of-its-kind motorized expedition from the District to San Francisco… Read More
POLITICO Magazine | “When The Washington Easter Egg Roll Was Chaos”
The White House Easter Egg Roll is upon us again, with its usual lighthearted fanfare and wholesome tradition. While the modern tradition is closely associated with the presidency, Easter egg rolling in Washington started on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, beneath the shiny white shell of the Capitol dome. But the activity was once so scandalous and spun so far out of control that an angry Congress outlawed it on its turf. On Monday, if lawmakers look across the National Mall with envy of the president’s annual worry-free photo op, they have nobody to blame but their own predecessors… Read More
Slate | “Keeping the Nazi Gold: George Patton’s Trumpian plan to fund the military after World War II”
The notion that the U.S. military should resort to old-fashioned plunder, seizing assets in countries it invades, is shocking in the modern political context, but there’s precedent for it. Few remember how seven decades before Trump ever dreamed up his “take the oil” scheme, Gen. George S. Patton had a strikingly similar proposal to “take the gold.” When Patton’s 3rd Army overran Nazi Germany during the Second World War, they captured vast bank holdings with an inflation adjusted 2018 value nearing $1 trillion. The brash commander suggested keeping this treasure—and actually concealing it from Congress—to create a rainy day fund for the Pentagon… Read More
Atlas Obscura | “What Do You Do When The President Gets Trapped In An Elevator? LBJ, The Pentagon’s Only Passenger Lift, And Concern That A Military Coup Was Afoot”
It was about two minutes before noon on February 29, 1968, when the motorcade turned quickly out of the freezing rain and into the parking garage beneath the Pentagon’s riverside parade ground. The presidential stretch limousine pulled to a stop in front of the elevator leading to the office of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. It was, in fact, the famously large building’s only passenger elevator, since when the building was constructed in the 1940s, architects eschewed elevators for concrete ramps to conserve steel for the war effort… Read More
Atlas Obscura | “Found: A Miniature Working Model Of The National Archives Vault”
Then-Vice President Richard Nixon stopped by the National Archives building on June 29, 1954, to pay his respects at the unveiling of the shrine to the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence. Joining him was the president of the Mosler Safe Company, the storied metalworks that built the gold vaults at Fort Knox, the blast doors for the Manhattan Project, and the Navy’s first ironclad warship… Read More
Washingtonian | “Russia Spied On D.C. For Decades Using This Inaccurate Map”
This year will be remembered for giving Washington many anxieties, but perhaps none was as much of a throwback as the lurking specter of Russia. Moscow’s meddling goes back decades, but who ever knew the Kremlin’s interest in DC was once so intense as to keep track of cemetery footpaths, water depths, and golf-course layouts? … Read More
Additional Clips
Washingtonian | “The Night The Prostitutes Left Town”
Slate | “The Final Triumph: The Last Time Washington Hosted A Military Parade, It Was A Huge Mess”
DCist |”This Massive Pool In Bethesda Is Made For Model Ships”
Fox 5 | “Soviet Maps of Washington, D.C. Discovered” [Video]
Vice / Motherboard | “Poo Sank This Nazi Submarine”
Gizmodo | “There’s A Hidden Conveyor Belt Under The Capitol That Was Just For Moving Books”
Real Clear Defense | “The Next Front in the Syrian Civil War: Tunnel Wars”