Virginia spawned four of the first five US presidents. Between Reconstruction and the roaring twenties, Ohio’s executive fecundity earned it the sobriquet “Cradle of Presidents.” But the next time fate, or providence, guides you to western New York, the friendly folks at the Buffalo Presidential Center will set you straight on the most president-haunted city this side of Washington, DC.
Secretary of defense Lloyd Austin underwent an elective surgical procedure, still unspecified, at the end of December. Because complications, also unspecified, developed, he was hospitalized on Monday and spent three days in intensive care. He is still in the hospital as of Monday, January 8. What is remarkable about this episode is that the public was not informed that the man who is in charge of national defense and sixth in the line to the presidency was seriously ill. But neither was the White House itself. President Biden did not learn that his defense secretary was, well, hors de combat, until Thursday, and the public did not learn of it until Friday. Austen’s deputy apparently didn’t know either as she was on vacation in Puerto Rico.
