THE PRESIDENCY by HUGH SIDEY: To See the Stars Again

Jimmy Carter and his closest advisers gathered last Wednesday morning to take a look at the nation two months into spring. The man-made disaster in Miami was first on the agenda, a human tragedy that already had claimed much of the President's energy. Then they turned to nature's outburst on Mount St. Helens and realized, as Science Adviser Frank Press had said, "it was a scientific event of historic proportions." Something stirred inside Carter. He decided to fly west to show his concern for the people of Washington State, their cities and farms. He also was drawn by...

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