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Roger Mudd, longtime network TV newsman, dies at 93

FILE - In this Aug. 6, 2001, file photo, veteran journalist Roger Mudd tapes a segment for the History Channel at CBS studios in New York. Mudd, the longtime political correspondent and anchor for NBC and CBS who once stumped Sen. Edward Kennedy by simply asking why he wanted to be president, died Tuesday, March 9, 2021. CBS News says Mudd died Tuesday of complications of kidney failure at his home in McLean, Virginia. Besides work at CBS and NBC, he did stints on PBS’s “MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour” and the History Channel. It was then that Mudd jumped to NBC as its chief Washington correspondent.

Obama speechwriter's memoir 'Grace' to come out in 2022

FILE - President Barack Obama speaks at a service honoring the life of Rev. Clementa Pinckney, one of nine people killed in the shooting at Emanuel AME Church, in Charleston, S.C. on June 26, 2015. Cody Keenan, the White House speechwriter who helped Obama work on his response to the Charleston church massacre, has a book deal. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)NEW YORK – The White House speechwriter who helped President Barack Obama work on his response to the Charleston church massacre in June 2015 has a book deal. “Grace: A President, His Speechwriter, and Ten Days in the Battle for America” will be published in Fall 2022, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books & Media announced Tuesday.

Pets are back: Biden's 2 dogs settle in at White House

The dogs moved into the White House on Sunday, following Biden's inauguration last week. Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, a self-described germaphobe, does not own any pets and had none with him at the White House. “Pets have played an important role in the White House throughout the decades, not only by providing companionship to the presidents and their families, but also by humanizing and softening their political images,” said Jennifer Pickens, author of a book about pets at the White House. Among the stranger White House pets was Calvin Coolidge and first lady Grace Coolidge’s raccoon Rebecca. But instead she got an embroidered collar with the title “White House Raccoon” and entertained children at the White House Easter Egg Roll.

It's Major: Pets poised for a return to the White House

In a few weeks, Major, fellow German shepherd Champ and the TBD feline are expected to make the move to the White House. The arrival of the Biden pets will also mark the next chapter in a long history of pets residing at the White House after a four-year hiatus during the Trump administration. “Pets have always played an important role in the White House throughout the decades,” said Jennifer Pickens, an author who studies White House traditions. Among the stranger White House pets was Calvin Coolidge and first lady Grace Coolidge’s raccoon named Rebecca. But instead she got an embroidered collar with the title “White House Raccoon” and entertained children at the White House Easter Egg Roll.

Biden's push for unity faces test with Supreme Court fight

That central thesis of the Democratic presidential nominee's campaign is being severely tested by the battle over the future of the Supreme Court. Now some want Biden to add the warning that a Democratic majority and President Biden would expand the Supreme Court at their first opportunity. He was Senate Judiciary Chairman in 1987 when Democrats jettisoned a controversial Supreme Court nominee from President Ronald Reagan. Now, even as Senate Republicans seemed poised to fast-track a court confirmation, Congress remains unable to agree on another economic stabilization bill amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “I’m going to be America’s president,” Biden insisted, “not a Democratic president.”

Jean Kennedy Smith, last surviving sibling of JFK, dies

NEW YORK Jean Kennedy Smith, the last surviving sibling of President John F. Kennedy and a former ambassador to Ireland, died Wednesday, her nephew confirmed. Smith died at her home in Manhattan, her daughter Kym told The New York Times. Sen. Edward Kennedy, the youngest of the Kennedy siblings, died of brain cancer in August 2009, the same month their sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver died. Smith, who married Kennedy family financial adviser and future White House chief of staff Stephen Edward Smith in 1956, was viewed for much of her life as a quiet sister who shunned the spotlight. Her son, Dr. William Kennedy Smith, made headlines in 1991, when he was charged with rape at the Kennedy estate in Palm Beach, Florida.