Andrew Young was at Martin Luther King's side throughout often violent struggle for civil rights
Andrew Young, one of the last surviving members of Martin Luther King Jr.'s inner circle, recalls the journey to the signing of the Voting Rights Act as an arduous one, often marked by violence and bloodshed.
Sterling Lord, uniquely enduring literary agent, dies at 102
The uniquely enduring literary agent who worked for years to find a publisher for Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” and over the following decades arranged deals for everyone from true crime writer Joe McGinniss to the creators of the Berenstain Bears has died.
Schumer: 'We made progress' on voting bill, filibuster rules
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says Democrats "made progress” toward changing the Senate’s filibuster rules to advance voting legislation, despite the dramatic collapse of the package that his party says is central to protecting democracy.
Congressional leaders urge FCC to perform equity audit
Congressional leaders and a media advocacy organization are urging the Federal Communications Commission to investigate how policy decisions have disparately harmed Black Americans and other communities of color, according to a letter sent Tuesday to the acting FCC chair.
Biden says 'very gracious' queen 'reminded me of my mother'
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden visited Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle on Sunday, and afterward the president told reporters traveling with him that the 95-year-old monarch was “very gracious” and reminded him of his mother.
At Camp David retreat, Biden hangs out, shows he's got game
FILE - In this July 1981 file photo released by The White House, U.S. President Ronald Reagan, left, and Vice President George Bush go horseback riding at Camp David, Md. He capped it off by beating one of his granddaughters at Mario Kart during his first presidential visit to Camp David, the historic retreat for U.S. leaders. That’s what Camp David has traditionally offered presidents: a respite from Washington where they can shed their ties and relax with family. AdBill Clinton tried to replicate that diplomatic alchemy when he invited Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to Camp David for Mideast peace talks in 2000. He said when foreign leaders descend on Camp David, it can be like an “adult sleepover.”Ad“Going to camp in the cabins creates an atmosphere where leaders are very close together.
Biden's dilemma in virus aid fight: Go big or go bipartisan
FILE - In this Feb. 5, 2021, file photo President Joe Biden speaks about the economy in the State Dinning Room of the White House in Washington. One featured a public show of trying to reach across the political aisle, with bipartisan rhetoric and a White House invitation for Republican senators. But it's more likely that the White House will need to choose between the two extremes. “President Biden’s got some pretty big tests in front of him when it comes to domestic policy. AdThe process of securing the $787 billion package — aid broadly credited for helping boost an economy in free fall — left a bad taste for the Obama-Biden White House.
At 78 and the oldest president, Biden sees a world changed
WASHINGTON – When Joe Biden took the oath of office as the 46th president, he became not only the oldest newly inaugurated U.S. chief executive in history but also the oldest sitting president ever. That’s 78 days older than President Ronald Reagan was when he left office in 1989. A look at how the country Biden now leads has changed over his lifetime and how his presidency might reflect that. The world population in Biden’s lifetime has grown from about 2.3 billion to 7.8 billion. The month Biden was born, a dozen eggs averaged about 60 cents in U.S. cities -- two hours of minimum wage work.
Trump shuns 'ex-presidents club' — and the feeling is mutual
Now that he's left office, it's hard to see him embracing the stately, exclusive club of living former presidents. “He kind of laughed at the very notion that he would be accepted in the presidents club,” said Kate Andersen Brower, who interviewed Trump in 2019 for her book “Team of Five: The Presidents’ Club in the Age of Trump." Obama, Bush and Clinton recorded their video after accompanying Biden to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider following the inauguration. When Hurricane Katrina blasted the Gulf Coast, Bush, father of the then-current president George W. Bush, called on Clinton to boost Katrina fundraising relief efforts. Obama tapped Clinton and the younger President Bush to boost fundraising efforts for Haiti after its devastating 2010 earthquake.
'Rooting hard for you': Will departure notes end with Trump?
Ron.”Thus was born the tradition of departing presidents leaving a handwritten note in the Oval Office for their successors. President Donald Trump has refused to accept the results of November’s election and vowed not to attend Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday. I know you will feel that, too,” Bush wrote in the note, adding, "I wish you great happiness here. Updegrove said even if the note tradition stops with Trump, it could easily start again when Biden leaves office. He has already been vice president and spent 36 years in the Senate, where tradition and bipartisan congeniality are strong.
Biden's long political evolution leads to his biggest test
Now Biden’s central political identity faces the ultimate trial. Biden's answer follows two tracks: defending the fabric of society and institutions of government that Trump’s tenure has stressed and calling for sweeping legislative action. The outcome will determine the reach of Biden’s presidency and further test the lifetime politician’s ability to evolve and meet events. Biden’s longtime friend, California Rep. Nancy Pelosi, is the House speaker, but presides over a diminished Democratic majority and slim margin for error. “They believe in his compassion and they believe in, quite frankly, his leadership skills.”Anzalone loosely compared Biden's appeal to Ronald Reagan's.
Deceptions in the time of the 'alternative facts' president
It meant buying into “alternative facts” — a phrase that spurred sales of George Orwell’s dystopian book “1984” when it was coined by a Trump aide. “I’m shocked to hear that,” Trump told his crowd. “And we now have the greatest, most modern military in the history of our country,” Trump told his Georgia crowd. But the systematic deceptions of the “alternative facts” president were unlike anything before. Attempting to explain her phrase, Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway said there are alternative ways of arriving at the truth.
'MLK/FBI' probes when bureau bugged Martin Luther King Jr.
Yet only two days later, on Aug. 28, 1963, the FBI’s head of domestic intelligence, William C. Sullivan, sounded an internal alarm on King. Absolutely not.’ In some ways, you could even say we were a little bit complicit.”On one hand, “MLK/FBI” enhances the legacy of King. Not just King’s indiscretions but an explosive and controversial allegation discovered by Garrow in FBI records that King watched while a woman was sexually assaulted. “A big part of my thinking two years ago is that everyone needs to be prepared for what will be in the full transcripts and the surviving tapes," Garrow said. The FBI’s recordings of King are under court seal at the National Archives until Jan. 31, 2027.
Biden faces challenge in guiding America past Trump era
When Biden takes office later this month, his biggest challenge may be navigating a deeply divided country past the turmoil of the Trump era. Biden essentially framed his presidential campaign as a response to Trump, pledging to “restore the soul” of America. He has said he decided to seek the White House after watching Trump say there were “very fine people on both sides” of a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. “Biden has to be very conscious of dealing with President Trump," Updegrove continued. But the senator said the inauguration itself may offer the most important opportunity for Biden to set a forward-looking tone.
Trump's legacy: He changed the presidency, but will it last?
“For all four years, this is someone who at every opportunity tried to stretch presidential power beyond the limits of the law,” said presidential historian Michael Beschloss. I think he’s done tremendous damage in the last several weeks.”Jeopardizing the peaceful transfer of power was hardly Trump's first assault on the traditions of the presidency. He rage tweeted at members of his own party and used government property for political purposes, including the White House as the backdrop for his renomination acceptance speech. Trump used National Guard troops to clear a largely peaceful protest across from the White House for a photo-op. He held superspreader events at the White House and contracted the virus himself.
'Something very historical': Push for diverse Biden Cabinet
African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans and other people of color played a crucial role in helping Biden defeat President Donald Trump. "It's nice to know that a Native American is under consideration," said Haaland, who says she is concentrating on her congressional work. A record six Native American or Native Hawaiian lawmakers were elected to Congress. Tribal officials concur there has never been a Native American as head of interior. The department's websites cite six Native American heads of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which was transferred to the Interior Department from the War Department in 1849.
Biden shores up fragile 'blue wall' in industrial north
“It’s a mistake to ever have thought Wisconsin was a safely blue state,” said state Democratic Chairman Ben Wikler. To reverse Clinton's losses in the “blue wall” states, Biden benefited from both strong suburban turnout and in the urban centers of Philadelphia, Detroit and Milwaukee. Even in losing Republican-heavy Waukesha County, Wisconsin, Biden's suburban gains were part of his winning Wisconsin formula. Trump also lost Saginaw County, Michigan, a struggling former General Motors supply manufacturing county Obama carried before the president flipped. But we're still a manufacturing economy and nearly stagnant in our growth,” Erie County Democratic Party Chairman Jim Wertz said.
It’s here: What to watch on Election Day in America
Election Day is finally here. Or at least what we still call Election Day, since nearly 100 million Americans had already cast ballots by Tuesday. Here's what to watch as the final votes for President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden are cast:WHAT DO AMERICANS WANT FROM A PRESIDENT? So it’s an open question how aggressive those official poll watchers will be in monitoring voters or even challenging eligibility. Trump is likely to counter with a lead among Election Day voters.
6 key questions heading into the presidential election
Here are some key questions we are considering as the final votes are cast and counted:WHAT DO AMERICANS WANT FROM A PRESIDENT? Democrats can point to their early voting success, including from notable slices of new voters. Biden’s expected to lead comfortably among early voters, for example. Trump is likely to counter with a lead among Election Day voters. ___AP’s Advance Voting guide brings you the facts about voting early, by mail or absentee from each state: https://interactives.ap.org/advance-voting-2020/.
Correction: Diversity Initiatives-Scrutiny story
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)NEW YORK – In a story October 29, 2020, about a lawsuit over President Donald Trump’s executive order on diversity training, The Associated Press erroneously identified the CEO of Awaken. Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
White evangelicals hope to keep changing Texas red for Trump
During a break between morning church services, Beverly Sides, right, with the Prestonwood Cultural Impact Team shows Suzie Brewer election voter guides for various north Texas counties at Prestonwood Baptist Church Sunday, Oct. 11, 2020, in Plano, Texas. He spoke in the parking lot of a pizza place in McKinney, Texas, the county seat. Jeffress, the leader of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, also sees the changes underway in his state. Despite the United States’ troubles with the pandemic and economic crash, white evangelicals remain among the president’s most loyal supporters. Texas evangelicals expect Barrett, whose confirmation hearings are underway in the U.S. Senate this week, to uphold more limits to abortion.
Trump administration targets diversity hiring by contractors
Trump’s Labor Department is using a 55-year-old presidential order spurred by the Civil Rights Movement to scrutinize companies like Microsoft and Wells Fargo over their public commitments to diversity. The agency has oversight over the hiring practices of thousands of federal contractors that employ roughly a quarter of all American workers. But he said it’s more likely the Trump administration is using the move as a political tactic ahead of the presidential election. “It’s a chicken-and-egg problem.”The latest actions affecting contractors align with a broader Trump administration trend on matters of race. At least one university, the University of Iowa, suspended its diversity efforts in response the order.
Of presidents and health, history replete with secrecy, lies
(AP Photo, File)WASHINGTON – Throughout American history, an uncomfortable truth has been evident: Presidents have lied about their health. But with an election coming on, Roosevelt and the White House staff issued a statement saying the problem was far less serious. The first known instance of a so-called pool reporter inside the White House was in 1881 when James A. Garfield was shot. As he lay in bed, Associated Press reporter Franklin Trusdell sat outside the president's sick room, listening to him breathe and sharing updates with other correspondents. “I listen for every sound,” Trusdell wrote to his wife in a note about his overnight Garfield watch at the White House.
Who's a hypocrite? GOP, Dems debate past comments on court
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., departs the chamber after speaking about the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Sept. 21, 2020. Democrats accuse the Kentucky Republican of blatant hypocrisy after McConnell refused to consider President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, eight months before the 2016 election. “The American people,'' McConnell said then, "should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice.'' So we stuck with the historical norm," McConnell said Monday as he recounted past fights over the Supreme Court. “All the rights enshrined in our Constitution that are supposed to be protected by the Supreme Court of the United States” are at stake.