by Peggy Noonan
Dana Perino, former press secretary to president George W. Bush, is so beautiful and funny people are sometimes startled at how wise she is, how piercing her intelligence. She helped shepherd this book along with Bob Barnett, a peerless guide and advisor who doesn’t necessarily mean to become your good friend and does. He cares about how the project goes and sticks with it beginning to end.
I have for 25 years been thanking the same group of friends for their encouragement, affection and generosity. They’re still here. I thank them again.
About the Author
Peggy Noonan is the bestselling author of eight books and a weekly columnist for the Wall Street Journal. She lives in New York City.
Also by Peggy Noonan
What I Saw at the Revolution: A Political Life in the Reagan Era
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
Simply Speaking: How to Communicate Your Ideas with Style, Substance, and Clarity
The Case against Hillary Clinton
When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan
A Heart, a Cross and a Flag
John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father
Patriotic Grace: What It Is and Why We Need It Now
TWELVE was established in August 2005 with the objective of publishing no more than twelve books each year. We strive to publish the singular book, by authors who have a unique perspective and compelling authority. Works that explain our culture; that illuminate, inspire, provoke, and entertain. We seek to establish communities of conversation surrounding our books. Talented authors deserve attention not only from publishers, but from readers as well. To sell the book is only the beginning of our mission. To build avid audiences of readers who are enriched by these works—that is our ultimate purpose.
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Contents
Cover
Title Page
Welcome
Dedication
Introduction
1. A Lecture
2. People I Miss
A Life’s Lesson
Joan Rivers: The Entertainer
America’s First Lady
“Tennessee Williams Died a Week Ago Today”
Britain Remembers a Great Briton
Thanks from a Grateful Country
3. As I Was Telling Kate…
Those Who Make Us Say “Oh!”
A Day at the Beach
How to Find Grace after Disgrace
“Oh Wow!”
The Royal Wedding
4. America, America
“Is That Allowed?” “It Is Here.”
On Letting Go
“To Old Times”
A Cold Man’s Warm Words
America Is at Risk of Boiling Over
What the World Sees in America
5. Having Fun
American Diversity and the Wild West
Next Year Stay Home, America
Snow Day
Nobody’s Perfect, but They Were Good
Scenes from a Confirmation
Old Jersey Real
6. Making Trouble
“Dutch” Is Shocking Because It Is Simply Awful
American Caligula
Way Too Much God
Further Thoughts on the Passions of the Inaugural
Time for an Intervention
The View from Gate 14
The Trigger-Happy Generation
The Wisdom of “Mr. Republican”
7. What I Told the Bishops
What I Told the Bishops
How to Save the Catholic Church
“Go and Repair My House”
Cardinal, Please Spare This Church
8. Uneasy Pieces
You’d Cry Too If It Happened to You
There Is No Time, There Will Be Time
9. I Just Called to Say I Love You
His Delicious, Mansard-Roofed World
Miracle on Fulton Street
Courage under Fire
Welcome Back, Duke
Time to Put the Emotions Aside
The Nightmare and the Dreams
I Just Called to Say I Love You
Eleven/9/11
A Masterpiece of a Museum
10. War
What the Intrepid Said
A Time for Grace
The World the Great War Swept Away
A New Kind of “Credibility” Gap
On Setting an Example
Can the Republican Party Recover from Iraq?
What America Thinks about Iraq
11. What I Saw at the Evacuation
Russia, the Big Picture
Why We Talk about Reagan
What I Saw at the Evacuation
12. My Beautiful Election
Sex and the Presidency
Over the Top
Pity Party
Sex and the Sissy
McCain Represents the Way We Were, Obama What We Are Becoming
The End of Placeness
Obama and the Runaway Train
13. The Loneliest President since Nixon
The Special Assistant for Reality
The Loneliest President since Nixon
Lafayette, We Are Not Here
What a Disaster Looks Like
14. A Republic, If We Can Keep It
We Live in an Age of Great Wealth—and Lousy Manners
The Rise of the White-Collar Big-Money Psychopath
We All Know Too Much about One Another
What We Lose if We Give Up Privacy
The MSM Is Suffering from Freedom Envy
Campaigns Have Always Been Negative but They Haven’t Always Been Ubiquitous
What Does It Mean That Your First Act on Entering a Country Is Breaking Its Law?
Slow Down and Absorb
We Need to Talk
15. State of the Union
A Time to Get Serious
George H. W. Bush’s Defeat
The Risk of Catastrophic Victory
Meanwhile, Back in America…
A Separate Peace
Politics in the Modest Age
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by Peggy Noonan
Newsletters
Copyright
Copyright
Copyright © 2015 by Peggy Noonan
Cover design by Catherine Casalino
Cover photography by Melanie Dunea
Cover copyright © 2015 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
“What the Intrepid Said” (August 6, 1982); “The Royal Wedding” (July 28, 1981); and “Tennessee Williams Died a Week Ago Today” (March 4, 1983) reprinted with permission of CBS NEWS.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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First ebook edition: November 2015
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