Carl Sferrazza Anthony

March is not only Women's History Month but marks the centennial year of first lady Pat Nixon, whose story is as fascinating as it is largely unknown offering a dramatic example of triumph over struggle that genuinely exemplified the idealized "American Dream."

Ever since the 1960 presidential election of John F. Kennedy, the American people glimpsed his joys and tragedies and those of his siblings, their spouses and children by focusing on the white-clapboard New England summer home owned by their parents, former U.S. Ambassador to England Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose...

If former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney proves to be the 2012 Republican presidential candidate, one element of his potential candidacy might prove a relief of at least one issue the Obama re-election campaign may find itself having to dispose of again. Religion.

...

The East Room is a wonderland, the roast beef is perhaps the best in the country and while there is only one president among the many portraits of his predecessors, the reigning king of the night is grand Christmas cake, slathered in old-school fondant...

In eight profound months, beginning in October of 2010, my perceptions of time, communication, dignity, and the power of intention were forever altered by the paradoxical process of helping my ninety-pound, 16 year old Weimaraner companion named Yeager live well as a very...

By 2005, Dorothy Rodham didn't need to walk to the national zoo alone. After all, her son-in-law had been president and her daughter was then a United States senator -- an aide or companion could easily have been hired. The mother of Secretary of...

In an attention-addled age of pop-up ads, when a natural disaster, unstable economy or even authentic Hollywood talent are lucky to get thirty seconds of media and even less from the public, the focus anticipating the September 13 release of "The Jackie Tapes" --...

On July 11, the Washington Post reported that First Lady Michelle Obama slipped the security-confined 18th century mansion she calls home to enjoy a heartily caloric (1,700) meal at a new restaurant, "Shake Shack," consisting of a "ShackBurger," milk shake, and soda, accessorized by a specialty she's admitted...

With news of former First Lady Betty Ford's death at age 93, it is easy to simply recall her as the leader of the national movement for substance abuse recovery because of the famous southern California treatment center which bears her name. In fact, that was but one in a...

Fifty years ago, from May 31 to June 16, 1961, a world leader's wife found herself transformed into a world Icon in her own right. Many attributed the...

President Barack Obama's European visit this week marks the second time he will meet with Queen Elizabeth of England. Although the British monarch's constitutional power is not equal to that of the American president's, they meet equally as heads of state, powerful symbols that affect the cultural and political climate...

This week's footage of a beaming Michelle Obama making a slicking-hair move as she danced the "Dougie" to Beyonce's "Move Your Body" shows a First Lady having more fun than usual. She was at Washington's Deal Middle School not to demonstrate her moves but lead students in an enjoyable form...

With the mini-series The Kennedys in the midst of its consecutive episodes this week, the controversy it has engendered begs for a reminder of what it is -- and isn't. Good history does not always make good drama, and good drama rarely makes good history. A film or TV movie...

It was a gray dress. Enough said.

More vital to the long-term interests of the nation than the clothes she wore one particular day this past December is the historic milestone Michelle Obama reached. That day, she joined President Barack...

In repossessing his previously successful persona, Charlie Sheen is now tweaking it into a narrative only Hollywood's long-gone "Rogue" Archetype can play out. Whether search efforts for chards of the original Person have been abandoned only he knows; others only speculate.

Even before Monday's CBS announcement he was fired...

As the media breathlessly covered last night's Academy Awards by heralding the talents at the heart of the commercial film industry, it's odd how the earlier career of President Ronald Reagan was either belittled or ignored during the recent coverage of...

Far too many readers assume history is a quaintly irrelevant retelling of wars or migrations or depressions, and far too many such books bear that out by forgetting that it is ultimately individual human beings who direct society's fate.

Among the annual crop of presidential biography and history, it's been...

Frankly, I was shocked when I heard that Eunice Kennedy Shriver really died today. Sure she was 88 years old and had suffered a series of strokes this year. But I am hard pressed to name a public figure who seemed to so effectively use every waking moment of their...

If, as the West Wing correctly contends, the first 100 days of a new Administration is not an accurate gauge by which to judge a new president's abilities and success, it is a grossly unfair way to assess a First Lady. That said, only the most rigid of traditionalists or...

As far as her wearing a sleeveless dress, Michelle Obama revives a bit of a retro in posing for her first official White House photo portrait. The only other First Lady to be photographed in sleeveless clothing for their official picture was the self-defined hostess, housekeeper and wife of a...