John Constance and Herb Angel, Deputy Archivist of the United States, August, 1971 I recently received a note from a young lady who...

(Movie Poster, National Treasure , Walt Disney Pictures) I couldn’t be prouder of my old ship, the National Archives. Events in recent...

(Capitol Reflections, photo by John Constance) Congress is broken. Politics is a vicious blood sport. There is no such thing as a...

Among the first words I ever heard uttered by Congressman Tom Lantos of California were, “Mr. Constance, if you dare to take this action,...

Some figures in the world of entertainment only need one name, not two like mere mortals. Prince, Bono, Ringo, Madonna, Sting, and...

John Houseman, Frank Capra, Pare Lorenz I often associate my intersection with famous people as limited to my days as Director of Public...

If the idea is good, sometimes plans effortlessly fall into place. Such was the case one magical night in the rotunda of the National...

One Friday afternoon early in the tenure of Governor John Carlin as Archivist of the United States, I heard a voice in the outer office...

There were two reasons that John Carlin, Archivist of the United States, and I were travelling to the FDR Library and Museum in Hyde...

Senator Charles (Mac) Mathias (R-MD) Governor Theodore R. McKeldin (R-MD) Ok folks, the topics today are political patronage and...

During my tenure at the National Archives, I got into the habit of attending St. John’s Lafayette Square each year on Good Friday. As an...

I think the first time that I met Congressman John Lewis was at the opening of the Eyewitness exhibit at the National Archives in June...

Karl Christian Rove, or “Turd Blossom” as he was christened by George W. Bush, is probably the most well-known Republican political...

As I emerge from my writing hiatus, I am channeling my dad who was an early riser and read two newspapers before my mom had opened her...

It is xiào in Mandarin, haau in Cantonese, hiêu in Vietnamese, and Kō in Romanized Japanese. It traces its roots to ancestor worship back...

We lost another political giant this week. Robert Joseph “Bob” Dole. 98 years old. He was a son of Russell, Kansas, war hero, longtime...

As a long-time employee of the National Archives in Washington, DC, I had learned to never utter the words, “well, now I’ve seen it all”....

They say that it’s dangerous to meet your heroes in person lest your image of them be dashed on the rocks of reality. Not so with John...

When you are in the congressional affairs biz in a place like the National Archives, you are also in the tour biz. Your daily goal is to...

So, it was 35 years after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and I was the Director of Congressional Affairs at the National...