Topic: Franklin D. Roosevelt

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Playing the IRS card: Six presidents who used the IRS to bash political foes

Since the advent of the federal income tax about a century ago, several presidents – or their zealous underlings – have directed the IRS to use its formidable police powers to harass or punish enemies, political rivals, and administration critics. Here are six infamous episodes.

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Flag manners: 8 ways to show the American flag some respect

The last word on flag etiquette is President Franklin Roosevelt's US Flag code. Its key point: The American flag 'represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing.' No flags as tablecloths, please.
Editor's Blog Feeling for freedom's limits

Free speech and freedom of religion are widely recognized as inalienable human rights. But there are other freedoms as well -- from want and fear, for instance. Determining the extent and limits of these freedoms is a never-ending job in a democracy.
City of Ambition

Mason B. Williams looks back at the unique Depression-era collaboration between FDR and New York mayor Fiorello La Guardia.
Opinion Is Washington too 'broken' to handle big problems such as immigration reform?

Many Americans worry that Washington cannot handle big problems such as immigration reform and the debt. But the country has been here before, and overcome a supposedly 'broken' political system. Government is divided because 'we the people' are divided on the issues.
Playing the IRS card: Six presidents who used the IRS to bash political foes

Since the advent of the federal income tax about a century ago, several presidents – or their zealous underlings – have directed the IRS to use its formidable police powers to harass or punish enemies, political rivals, and administration critics. Here are six infamous episodes.
Chapter & Verse FDR vs. Lindbergh: Lynne Olson discusses America's debate over WWII

'Those Angry Days' examines the battle over whether America should enter the international conflict.
Top 5 bull markets since 1929

The bull market that started in 2009 is currently the fifth most spectacular rise in stock prices since at least 1929. Can you guess which bull markets have been even more impressive?
Can a 4,000-mile wall of trees stop Sahara Desert's drift?

The pan-African Great Green Wall project aims to build a literal wall of trees to stop the Sahara Desert's southward creep. But is the idea too good to be true?
Aldo Leopold: A Sand County Almanac & Other Writings on Conservation and Ecology

The collected writings of American naturalist Aldo Leopold appear in a beautiful new edition from the Library of America.
Rand Paul: GOP faces long odds in connecting with black voters

Rand Paul, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, said in a speech at Howard University that the Republican party was rooted in the presidency of Abraham Lincoln and efforts to rid the South of oppressive Jim Crow laws.
Caroline Kennedy to be US ambassador to Japan? Why it makes sense now.

Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late President Kennedy, may soon be on her way to Tokyo as President Obama's envoy. The new secretary of State likely played a role.
Fear Itself

Ira Katznelson has produced an exceptionally engaging and thoughtful account of the New Deal era.
'Cal' Whipple helped get WWII photo published, changed photo journalism

A.B.C. 'Cal' Whipple was a Pentagon correspondent for Life magazine who tried to convince the military to allow the photo by George Strock of three dead soldiers on a landing beach during World War II to be published.
Robert Reich Deficits are not the real economic problem

The biggest economic problems we face are unemployment, stagnant wages, slow growth, and widening inequality, Reich writes, not deficits.
What is International Women’s Day? (+video)

Google celebrates International Women’s Day with a doodle of women from around the world. Many will honor advancements for women’s rights Friday, but how familiar are people with its history?
The Monitor's View In Syria, US mission creep with moral creep

President Obama is leaning toward providing nonlethal military equipment to certain rebels in Syria. Doing so runs moral risks. But doing nothing to stop the violence is also a moral risk. Can the US walk this fine line?
"The Double V" and "The Slaves' Gamble"

Two recent releases chronicle the contentious history of blacks in the US military.
Presidents' Day 2013: Actually, there’s no such thing

We don't care what that newspaper ad says, there's no official 'Presidents' Day' holiday. By law, it's 'George Washington’s Birthday' honoring the Father of Our Country, and only him.
The Monitor's View A rightful airing of Obama drone policy

In the latest concern over war tactics against terrorists, President Obama had to release his guidelines for the use of drones in targeted killings. To help ensure constancy and consistency in civic values during wartime, Congress must openly debate this policy.
In Gear Obama's 'beast': The high-tech presidential limousine

President Obama's limousine, also known as "The Beast," is heavily armored, Ireson writes, with 8-inch thick doors and a superstructure made of titanium, ceramic, steel, and aluminum.
Presidential libraries: from Boston to Honolulu ... or maybe Chicago

Presidential libraries can be found coast to coast, and may even go beyond that once a site is selected for President Obama's future repository of documents and artifacts. To quickly hopscotch around to the 13 official presidential libraries and museums overseen by the National Archives, plus that of Abraham Lincoln, check out this library list.
Inauguration Day Bibles: how presidents choose, and what that reveals (+ video)

President Obama will have two highly symbolic Bibles at his Inauguration Day swearing-in ceremony: one used by Abraham Lincoln and another from the family of Martin Luther King Jr.
Inauguration 2013: 10 highlights from previous second-term addresses

Barack Obama will be the 17th American president to deliver two inaugural addresses. Here are 10 highlights from such speeches by previous two-term presidents, including the shortest one ever.
Seven questions and answers about the inauguration

Why is the inauguration always January 20? What happens when it falls on a Sunday? How many inaugural balls are there? The US presidential inauguration is full of history and tradition. Here's a look at President Obama's big day in question and answer form.
Why so much secrecy around Chávez's health? Venezuela's not alone.

Venezuelan officials characterized Chávez's health as 'severe' for the first time last night. From dictators to leaders of Western democracies, secrecy around health concerns is often the norm.