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Monday, November 19, 2007

Big day for Dolley Madison

By Ken Herman | Monday, November 19, 2007, 11:21 AM

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First Lady Laura Bush hosted a White House event this morning marking the release of a new Dolley Madison gold coin.

Mrs. Bush said nice things about Mrs. Madison’s contributions to the White House and to James Madison’s political career.

She also offered this: “Dolley’s sparkling personality was the perfect balance to her shy husband’s public manner. On a visit to the executive residence, Washington Irving wrote that Mrs. Madison is ‘a fine, portly, buxom dame who has a smile and a pleasant word for everybody.’”

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“Mr. President, you are such a man”

By Ken Herman | Monday, November 19, 2007, 10:58 AM

Here’s Fran Townsend’s resignation letter (see below). Highlight is on second page:

“In 1937, the playwright Maxwell Anderson wrote of President George Washington: There are some men who lift the age they inhabit, til all men walk on higher ground in their lifetime.”

“Mr. President, you are such a man.”

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Click for full 3 page letter in larger resolution (PDF)

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Top White House homeland security adviser leaving

By Ken Herman | Monday, November 19, 2007, 08:30 AM

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Next to join the exodus from the White House: Fran Townsend, whose formal title is assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism.

It’s a title that made her President Bush’s top adviser on the topic.

Formal announcement of her resignation is due this morning.

See her official bio here http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/townsend-bio.html

And here’s Bush’s statement on the resignation:

“Over the past four and a half years, Fran Townsend has served my administration with distinction as assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism. Fran has always provided wise counsel on how to best protect the American people from the threat of terrorism. She has been a steady leader in the effort to prevent and disrupt attacks and to better respond to natural disasters.

“Fran’s remarkable career as a public servant has spanned more than two decades. She has prosecuted violent crimes, narcotics offenses, mafia cases and white collar fraud as an Assistant District Attorney in Brooklyn and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Manhattan. During her career, Fran worked to protect the American people as the Counsel to the Attorney General for Intelligence Policy, the Assistant Commandant for Intelligence at the U.S. Coast Guard and as the Deputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism at the National Security Council.

“With her extensive experience, intellect and candor, Fran has ably guided the Homeland Security Council. She has played an integral role in the formation of the key strategies and policies my Administration has used to combat terror and protect Americans. She has traveled the world to meet with allies in the Global War on Terror and has partnered extensively with first responders at the state and local level to enhance our preparedness. We are safer today because of her leadership.

“Laura and I wish Fran, her husband John, and their two sons, James and Patrick, all the best.”

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