As Washington heralded a changing of the guard at the White House last week, ^ so did TIME. Our inauguration, however, was a far more modest affair: we installed Michael Duffy and Dan Goodgame as our new White House correspondents, then sent them across town to front-row seats at the swearing- in of the country's 41st President. The White House beat is not always so glamorous. Or so easy. It requires unusual quantities of persistence, curiosity and humor, qualities that both correspondents demonstrated before they reached the Oval Office watch.
A native of Columbus, Duffy, 30, graduated from Oberlin College in...