by Mark Silva

"Please excuse me if I'm a little sleepy,'' President Bush said last night. "It's that 3 a.m. phone.... It's a damn weighty thing.''

And so began the president's nostalgic swan song at the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents Association -- Listen to Stars and Stripes.ram for the appropriate musical accompaniment to this posting -- a black tie soiree attended by the likes of Martha Stewart, Perez Hilton, Pamela Anderson and Mitt Romney. Anderson and Romney in the same room, Bush noted: "Isn't that the definition of the Apocalypse?''

Maybe not the Apocalypse, but certainly the end of an eight-year run for a comedian-in-chief who always has approached these dinners with a certain careless abandon. At the rostrum for his act of the evening, the retiring president noted that neither of the Democratic candidates for president had joined the star-studded crowd.

"Sen. Clinton couldn't get in the building because of sniper fire,'' Bush said, "and Sen. Obama is in church.''

The president who arrived here with his own contested election noted that his opponent had won the Nobel Prize. What'll Bush get? The Publisher's Clearinghouse.

President Bush today introduced "Frank Buckles, 107-years-young... the last living Doughboy from World War I.'' White House photo by Eric Draper

by Aamer Madhani

He fought the Kaiser with the U.S. Army during World War I. As a civilian working in the Philippines shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he was taken prisoner of war and ate out of the same tin cup for his more than three-year-long imprisonment.

Today, the 107-year-old Frank Buckles—the last known U.S. military veteran to serve during World War I— was honored with a White House visit and was made the guest of honor at a ceremony at the Pentagon where portraits of Buckles and eight other World War I veterans were unveiled.

“Mr. Buckles' mind is sharp, his memory is crisp, and he's been sharing with me some interesting anecdotes,” President Bush said during Buckles' Oval Office visit. “I asked him where he lived, and he said, that reminds me of what General Pershing asked me. And he told the General that he was raised on a farm in Missouri. And the General said, ‘Well, you know, as the crow flies, it's 40 miles from where I was raised.’”

The dog's life: Chewbacca celebrates Leap Day

by Mark Silva

It's Leap Day.

For all who wait four years for a proper birthday party, Happy Birthday!

This is the first Leap Day here in the Swamp, born on Jan. 3, 2006.

One more day in what promises to be a runaway new record month of traffic here in these pages. Without the Leap Year, we already were on target for more than 2 million page-views this month (Thank You!).

One more day for that presidential campaign to unfold in Ohio and Texas -- is that added day of particular benefit to Barack Obama? He has gained momentum in both states heading into the March 4 primaries and an added day on the calendar can only offer more room.

One more day for a record campaign fundraising month -- with word of a $50 million month coming from the Obama campaign, $35 million over at camp Clinton (think they've held back $5 million of that to repay the candidate's loan? Or have they put it all on the table?)

One more day for the Bush administration, with the president heading to Texas today for a weekend respite and visit by the Danish prime minister, Rasmussen. It's a reciprocal visit -- Bush visited Rasmussen at his summer home outside of Copenhagen a couple of years back.

One more day for a war in Iraq approaching its fifth anniversary.

One more day for Mike Huckabee's "miracle'' to arrive.

One more day for that debate over Barack Obama's middle name, and one more day for speculation about the "passive-aggressive'' campaign that Bill waged for Hillary Clinton.

One more day to wait for Tuesday, to see if it is all over in Ohio and Texas.

Or, just another Friday.

The Potomac, just below Great Falls. Photo by Mark Silva

by Mark Silva

They say a Potomac primary will play out here Tuesday. Well, you should have seen the Potomac today.

Up on the eastern end of the Billy Goat trail west of Washington, the section not too rocky for a dog, the wind was whipping the river into a fine, sunlit mist swirling up the rock cliffs on the Virginia side, and the wind was snapping great branches from the tops of leaflees trees atop the bluffs here on the Maryland side. The trees groaned and threw trunk-thick debris crashing to the ground.

A sole kayaker paddled up the rapids, and the leading engine of the Arctic Express blew frigid air down the rock canyon of the river that descends toward Washington through several rapids and falls, mainly the Great Falls upriver from us, at the start of the goat-grade stretch of the Billy Goat trail.

The river is high today, swamping the low rocks which afford the closest eye-level views of the rapids, and, as I sit on the sand of the path half-sunken my dog Bree has settled in behind me, guarded from the sharp wind and warming my back.

Barack 0bama was stirring up his own storm at a rally at an Alexandria high school, Hillary Clinton was whipping up some cheers at a rally out in Manassas and Mike Huckabee was stumping down in Lynchburg at the pulpit of the home church of the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, the one whom John McCain once denounced as an agent of intolerance. They are all here now, bidding for the voters of the Potomac and Chesapeake watersheds, the Tidewater crowd and the southwest mountain folks.

And out here on the wind-swept Potomac, a lone kayaker struggled against the glare of the sun-splashed rapids.

by Mark Silva

PANACEA, Fla. -- At this time of year, the sun rises at the mouth of the Ochlockonee River and casts a long reflection out where the wide river meets the Gulf of Mexico. At dawn, thousands of black and white Scaup fly downstream, coasting about a foot above the glassine river surface, and out to Ochlockonee Bay. Dolphins swim along with them.

This is the Florida which the rest of the world has overlooked, the Florida beyond the Interstates. And we are thankful for that.

This is where we've come to rest for a spell.

And here, with a few snapshots from the real swamp, we'd like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a peaceful celebration of every other holiday at this tumultuous year's end.

This is either May or Flower, we're not sure which, but it's one of the two turkeys that Vice President Dick Cheney wanted to name Lunch or Dinner but President Bush pardoned this week at the White House -- see the reassuring first hand on the bird -- meaning that neither will serve as the oven roasted turkey on today's menu at Camp David. Photo by Mark Silva.

by Mark Silva

It's been a quiet week at Camp David.

That's because the president didn't get there until Tuesday.

And today, President Bush is celebrating Thanksgiving with his family in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland, where the presidential retreat of Camp David is perched atop a low range, some 1,600-feet high and somewhat cooler than its surroundings. The peak of autumn colors hit these parts about one week ago today, so you know the faded leaves are falling.

And today, all the president's menus are on the table and all the president's chefs are serving: Oven roasted turkey. Surprise.

Plus cast iron skillet cornbread dressing, jellied cranberry molds, sautéed green beans, zucchini gratin, whipped sweet potato soufflé, buttered mashed potatoes, giblet gravy, Morelia style gazpacho, fresh clover rolls with honey butter, pumpkin pie with whipped topping, apple pie, apple crisp and pumpkin mousse trifle.

So, it's a happy Thanksgiving.

At Camp David. And from the Swamp, to you.

by Gabrielle Russon

Presidential candidate Bill Richardson has watched as he’s lagged in the polls behind the other Democratic contenders. And last month, he saw Al Gore walk away with the heralded Nobel Peace Prize.

Now, Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) is making a third attempt at supporting Richardson for the award. He has nominated the New Mexico governor for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work in Sudan and South Korea.

On Wednesday, Gordon sent his letter along with four other letters of support to the Nobel Committee in Norway. Eleven other congressmen co-signed Gordon’s nominating letter.

"We live in a volatile world, but people like Bill Richardson are reaching out through diplomatic efforts to reduce those tensions," Gordon said in a statement.

by Mark Silva

Retired Rep. Henry Hyde of Illinois will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom today. It is the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Hyde, who is 82 and served for 32 years in Congress, is recuperating from heart bypass surgery at a rehabilitation center and expected home soon. In the mean time, his son Bob has arrived at the White House for the presidential ceremony in the East Room at 10 am EDT.

“I wish he was here,’’ son Bob Hyde said this morning, speaking of the meaning of this award for his father, one of the stalwarts of the Republican Party, experienced in the Judiciary and International Relations Committees but perhaps best known for his advocacy of restrictions on abortion. “It’s gratification,’’ his son says of the award. “I think it affirms the importance and the value of his stance on many things, like right to life.’’

Henry Hyde, who retired when his final term ended in 2006, has undergone a quadruple heart bypass. “He is 82 with a million miles on his chassis,’’ says son Bob, the second of four Hyde children. He and his wife Mindy have come to the White House ceremony with Tom Mooney, who was chief of staff for the senior Hyde on the Judiciary and International Relations Committees and who runs a restaurant in Alexandria, Va., now.

Thirty-two years in Congress is a long time, the congressman’s son say, recalling his father’s start there – Rep. Hyde had served on the Iran Contra committee. “It was a much different place than it is now.’’

That's Honeyboy, a year ago last night, second from right. Photo by Silva

by Mark Silva

It was a year ago today, a Sunday on the past year's calendar, that a certain Swampster logged in here to record his night with a legendary bluesman, David "Honeyboy'' Edwards, born June 28, 1915, in Mississippi.

Honeyboy had played the night before for only a handful of afficionadoes of the blues on the autumn-cool campus of the University of Chicago.

That makes Honeyboy 92 today.

And it makes "Sweet Home Chicago," the posting in his honor, one year old.

And for those who are counting, the comments logged in at Sweet Home Chicago passed 1,200 over the weekend. That is far and away more than any other number logged on any other posting. And that is somewhat more than one in 100 of the nearly 110,000 comments that have been posted on the Swamp in its nearly two years of existence.

As for the title of today's posting, it belongs to Robert Johnson, and it was immortalized on the guitar by Elmore James. It was a hit in 1952. It still is, in this old boy's book.

Now, it's a relatively small community that has found a home at Sweet Home Chicago. But that's OK. Folks, you're basically one in a million in this guy's eyes. It's been a great year. Rock on.

by Naftali Bendavid

The recent death of Lady Bird Johnson raises compelling questions about how reputations change.

In her days as first lady, Johnson was an object of ridicule among many educated liberals--she was seen as a classic mousy 1950s wife, caught up in a trivial beautification campaign and dominated by a husband who was hated in many quarters for his prosecution of the Vietnam war. To some, she represented everything feminism was rebelling against.

A joke from the period, unfortunately not unusual, went something like this: "The best thing Lady Bird Johnson can do for highway beautification is to prevent her daughters from driving with the top down." That scornful gibe provides a flavor of some of the attitudes toward her.

But in Robert Caro's majestic biography of President Lyndon Johnson, Lady Bird comes off as almost heroic. In Caro's depiction, Lady Bird was abused by her husband, to be sure--but she bore it with a stoicism and dignity that was impressive and graceful, and created a noble contrast to the president's own bullying and sulking. Biographers are often drawn to revisionism for its own sake, but nonetheless Caro's portrait of the former first lady is persuasive.

(Credit: LBJ Library photo byYoichi Okamato)

Posted by Aamer Madhani at 8:05 am CDT

Frank Buckles knew many of the soldiers who fell at war.

World War I.

Buckles, 106, is one of the few last known living American veterans of The Great War. In Charles Town, West Virginia, Buckles keeps a china cabinet of military patches and mementoes from his deployments in England, France and Germany.

And, of course, Buckles has a few stories to tell. Read about his story, and his stories, on this Memorial Day, in today's Tribune:

Frank Buckles, 106, is one of three known living American veterans of World War I. Tribune staff photo by Pete Souza.

Posted by Mark Silva at 11:40 am CST

The first lady will pay honors for Chicago’s John G. Shedd Aquarium Monday at a White House awards ceremony for six institutions receiving the 2006 National Awards for Museum and Library Service.

The awards by the Institute of Museum and Library Services recognize “long-term commitment to public service through innovative programs and community partnerships’’ and carry $10,000 in prize money.

Posted by Frank James at 7:36 am CST

President Ford makes a point during a May 1975 National Security Council meeting. Credit: White House Photograph Courtesy Gerald R. Ford Library. Photographer: David Hume Kennerly

The death of former President Gerald Ford certainly brings sadness but it is not a tragedy, for the death of anyone who lives to be 93 can't typically said to be tragic.

We'll no doubt have more throughout the day on Ford's death and the meaning of his presidency. I'm hoping I can get my colleague Bill Neikirk, who knew Ford as president and interviewed him (he has the picture to prove it) to blog on him.

Bill has a lengthy news obituary in today's Chicago Tribune which I recommend. With famous people, it's the practice of newspapers to have an obit "in the can," so to speak, ready to be published when the person dies. Needless to say, Ford's obit had been in the can for a very long time.

(By the way, I highly recommend the web site of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum. It has great photos from the Ford presidency as well as a statement from former first lady Betty Ford and a link to funeral arrangements. Also recommended: the New York Times' multimedia Ford retrospective narrated by Adam Clymer, a former Times staffer.)

(Ed Bradley. AP Photo/John P. Filo,CBS)

Posted by William Neikirk at 3 p.m. CST

I met Ed Bradley during the Carter administration when he and I were covering the White House together, and I was immediately impressed with his intelligence and knowledge of world affairs.

He had a curious and penetrating mind that sought to understand complex topics. Since he knew that I had covered economics, he would on occasion ask me to explain some economic development. He would cut to the chase quickly, starting with the basics in order to get a clear picture. He was a good companion on the road, and he knew about fine things, such as French China.

Posted by Mark Silva at 9:15 am CST

Every bluesman and wannabe-a-bluesman who picks up a guitar takes a crack at Sweet Home Chicago, but David "Honeyboy'' Edwards has earned the right to play it. In his time, he has played with Robert Johnson, author of the homage to this great northern city, terminus of an epochal migration from Mississippi that carried the music of the Delta with it.

Honeyboy is 91. So you know we weren't the only ones happy to hear the song at the close of his set on the south side of Chicago last night. Every time he rolls it out - "Baby, don't you wanna go?'' - the old bluesman born on June 28, 1915, in Shaw, Miss., has made it through another night.

"Honeyboy'' Edwards, second from right, at the University of Chicago last night. Photo by Mark Silva

Posted by Frank James at 9:41 am CDT

Ann Richards, the former Texas governor who died of cancer yesterday, will long be known as the woman with the updated, frosted beehive hairdo who landed one of the most devastating rhetorical punches in modern American political history.

“Poor George Bush. He can’t help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth,” she said at the 1988 Democratic National Convention of then-Vice President George H. W. Bush who was prone to mangle the English language.

Posted by Mark Silva at 8:25 am CDT

Imagine my surprise when I awoke this morning to learn that the "Group Finance Director'' of Lloyds Bank in London, a certain Ms. Wood, had written me by email to inform me that she had discovered a dormant account in her office, and that it would be in her interest to transfer this fund of some $20 million (USD) into an account offshore.

And she said she had chosen me as a collaborator for an arrangement so secret that even her husband is unaware of it. On Labor Day no less. Who said there's no free $20 million? Well, "Ms. Wood,'' I wasn't born yesterday. You won't be getting my checking account number. But I will give you this:

Posted by Mark Silva at 9:15 am CDT

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – From the many waterways that weave through St. Petersburg, the views of this grand city are soaring.

Elvis Presley's "Love Me Tender,'' was playing on the small open motor-launch that we boarded this morning, followed by Beatles classics – though it then occurred to me that the 1960s probably were not prime time for this city laid out by a czar. Occasional signs of Soviet architecture – the unmistakable box and windows – appear among the countless ornamental structures of old along the canals.

Posted by William Neikirk at 4:29 p.m. CST

She married Superman but saw him shrivel away and die from terrible injuries he suffered in 1995 when he was thrown from a horse. She never smoked but she contracted lung cancer, amid speculation it might have been caused by the second-hand smoke she inhaled during her singing and dancer career.

And so Dana Reeve died on Tuesday at age 44, only a year and a half after her husband, Christopher Reeve, passed away. She had been an activist in supporting his causes at the Christopher Reeve Foundation, and that included research into treatments for paralysis, including stem-cell research opposed by the Bush administration.