Notes on a September morning: Up in the dark out in the Maryland suburbs. Air crisp, sliver of a moon still high. Roar of the Potomac River's great falls from over the hill. George Washington used to tarry there. Headed down the valley to breakfast with Jimmy Carter, 189 years after George, but land still beautiful in first light Mist rising over water. Sun burnishing the East. Past Teddy Roosevelt's hiking island, Lyndon Johnson's memorial pine thicket, John Kennedy's flame. Glorious city ahead in sparkling dawn. Everything looks, feels better with President acting like one.
Across Lafayette Park on foot. Joggers,...