Jane Hampton Cook's Blog, page 8

On this day, March 17, 1776, the British

On this day, March 17, 1776, the British military evacuates Boston after an 11-month siege. “The town, although it has suffered greatly, is not in so bad a state as I expected to find it,” General George Washington observes, assuring Continental Congress President John Hancock that Hancock’s house isn’t severely damaged. #TBT #ThrowbackThursday http://ow.ly/i/el5y6

“I feel still more for my bleeding coun

“I feel still more for my bleeding country men who are hazarding their lives and their limbs. — A most terrible and incessant cannonade . . . this morning.” Abigail Adams writes John Adams on this day, March 10, in 1776. Though intimidated by the Continental Army’s artillery now overlooking Boston Harbor, the British hadn’t left Boston–not yet. http://ow.ly/i/el2CR

Abigail Adams on this day, March 7, 1776

Abigail Adams on this day, March 7, 1776, isn’t sure that all is yet well in British-controlled Boston, even though Washington’s men intimidated the British by posting artillery on Dorchester Heights. “This day our militia are all returning, without effecting anything more than taking possession of Dorchester Hill. I hope it is wise and just, but from all the muster and stir, I hoped and expected more important and decisive scenes; I would not have suffered all I have for two such hills. Ever since the taking of that we have had a perfect calm, nor can I learn yet what effect it has had in town Boston,” Abigail to John Adams revolution240.com http://ow.ly/i/el44y

Remembering the Nancy Reagan Loved by Reagan

Nancy Reagan has passed away. Here are some excerpts that I wrote about her in my book, The Faith of America’s First Ladies. God Bless you Nancy for your service to our country.

Handling Criticism with Grace

If anyone experienced criticism during her years in the White House, it was Nancy Reagan. Nothing was off limits: her wardrobe, her personality, her taste, her love for her husband, and her spending habits.

When you buy a new outfit, you may press a friend for a comment. When the first lady buys a new outfit, she sometimes hopes the press doesn’t comment. Nancy Reagan wrote about this problem in her memoirs:

I appreciate good clothes, but they certainly don’t rule my life. And I think it’s unfair to assume that when a woman dresses well, it means she’s not doing much else. I really did have other interests—although in 1981 that wasn’t yet clear to the press and to most of the public. During my first six months in Washington, Sheila Tate, my press secretary, told me something like 90 percent of the inquiries she received had to do with fashion. And they say I’m obsessed with clothes!

In her first few weeks as first lady, Nancy discovered that so many pieces of White House china had broken over the years that she could not host a White House dinner without mixing and matching china patterns. When she accepted a 220-piece china set, valued at two hundred thousand dollars, from a private foundation, she was shocked at the criticism she received. Nancy took more heat for that private gift than any White House oven could ever produce.

Yet, Nancy helped herself and her husband by diffusing the criticism with humor. She rinsed off some mud thrown at her by laughing at herself. At the annual national press dinner called the Gridiron, Nancy dressed in secondhand clothes and rags and sang the 1920s Fanny Brice song, “Secondhand Rose.” The song was a hit for its reworked lines, such as “I’m wearing secondhand clothes, secondhand clothes. They’re quite the style in the spring fashion shows” and “even though they tell me I’m no longer queen, did Ronnie have to buy me that new sewing machine?”

“That song, together with my willingness to sing it, served as a signal to opinion-makers that maybe I wasn’t the terrible, humorless woman they thought I was—regal, distant, disdainful. From that night on, my image began to change in Washington,” Nancy wrote.

Nancy’s life of service and Just Say No

Many hospitals are named for Nancy Reagan because of her work to prevent drug and alcohol abuse among youth, called Just Say No, and her efforts to extend her hand to the elderly and emotionally disabled children. Her work and support for Alzheimer’s research in memory of her husband also continues through the Ronald and Nancy Reagan Research Center of the Alzheimer’s Association.

Ronald Reagan Deeply Loved Nancy

Perhaps the most touching praise Nancy ever received came in the form of letters from her husband. On Christmas Day in 1981, the first Christmas after the assassination attempt on his life, Reagan wrote a Proverbs 31-like letter to his wife.

“There are several much beloved women in my life and on Christmas I should be giving them gold, precious stones, perfume, furs, and lace. I know that even the best of these would still fall far short of expressing how much these several women mean to me and how empty my life would be without them,” Ronald Reagan wrote.

Among Reagan’s “much beloved women” was the first lady who brought grace and charm to whatever she did, making stuffy events fun. She was also the woman who reached out to “touch an elderly invalid with tenderness and compassion just as she fills my life with warmth and love.” The other women were the gal who was a nest builder and the one who went to the ranch with him and the sentimental lady “whose eyes fill up so easily.” Another was the woman who loved to laugh, even at his stale jokes.

“Fortunately all these women in my life are you—fortunately for me that is, for there could be no life for me without you. Browning asked; ‘How do I love thee—let me count the ways?’ For me there is no way to count. I love the whole gang of you—Mommie, first lady, the sentimental you, the fun you and the peewee power house you,” Reagan concluded, signing his love note with, “Lucky me.”

Lucky us, too. We will miss you, Nancy.

March 4-5, 1776. George Washington trump

March 4-5, 1776. George Washington trumps the British siege of Boston when 2,000 men haul large artillery pieces onto Dorchester Heights, preventing the British from safely navigating Boston Harbor. An overnight force of 800 soldiers post more than twelve cannons, brought from New York’s Fort Tincoderoga in January. To cover the overnight mission, American cannons noisily fire from another location. revolution240.com http://ow.ly/i/el74M

On this day, March 2, 1776, Abigail Adam

On this day, March 2, 1776, Abigail Adams writes John Adams: “I am charmed with the sentiments of ‘Common Sense,’ and wonder how an honest heart, one who wishes the welfare of his country and the happiness of posterity, can hesitate one moment at adopting them. I want to know how those sentiments are received in [the Continental] Congress? I dare say there would be no difficulty in procuring a vote and instructions from all the assemblies in New England for independency.” http://www.revolution240.com http://ow.ly/i/eiqTC

“The sun never shined on a cause of gre

“The sun never shined on a cause of greater worth [independence]” Common Sense, 1776 #TBT revolution240.com http://ow.ly/i/ekCx5

On this day, Feb. 14, 1776, the immigran

On this day, Feb. 14, 1776, the immigrant author of Common Sense reprints this bestseller anonymously. He conceals his identity once again because he knows he doesn’t have freedom of speech in the American colonies. He writes: “Who the author of this production is, is wholly unnecessary to the public, as the object for attention is the doctrine itself, not the man. Yet it may not be unnecessary to say, That he is unconnected with any party, and under no sort of Influence public or private, but the influence of reason and principle.” Who was he? http://www.revolution240.com http://ow.ly/i/ejm3o

Love in War, 1776. “I want to see you v

Love in War, 1776. “I want to see you very much. I think you told me that you intended to see me once a month,” Sarah Hodgkins wrote to her husband Joseph, who was part of the Continental Army in Cambridge with George Washington in 1776. “It is generally thought that there will be something done among you very soon, but what will be the event of it, God only knows.” Sarah had heard rumors that Washington would end the British siege of Boston but she didn’t know how or when. revolution240.com http://ow.ly/i/ekGOC

“Though we have been wise enough to shut

“Though we have been wise enough to shut and lock a door against absolute monarchy, we at the same time have been foolish enough to put the crown in possession of the key,” Common Sense, 1776, #ThrowbackThursday http://www.revolution240.com http://ow.ly/i/ekB05