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Jonathan Alter

Jonathan Alter Biography

Journalist

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“Every patient reacts a little differently, both biologically and psychologically. The only constant in cancer is inconstancy; the only certainty is a future of uncertainty, a truism for all of modern life but one made vivid by life-threatening illness.”

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Book:Between the Lines: A View Inside American Politics, People, and Culture
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“By laying the groundwork for a system centered on home ownership rather than the public housing popular in Europe, the New Deal made possible the great postwar housing boom that populated the Sun Belt and boosted millions of Americans into the middle class, where, ironically, they often became Republicans.”

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Book:The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope
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“Almost no one under 60 remembers what fundraising was like before Watergate. Until the 1970s, campaign money was collected by "bagmen," familiar characters from the world of organized crime. As fans of Boardwalk Empire know, a bagman is a political fixer who walked around with stacks of $100 and $1,000 bills. At lower levels, he used brown paper bags. In presidential campaigns, the cash was more likely to be in briefcases. Classier that way.”

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Author:Jonathan Alter
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“Millions of Americans would still despair in the eight long years of the Depression that lay ahead and many of their individual dreams would be dashed on the rocks of economic hardship. But collectively, the country was in a new place, with a new confidence that the federal government would actively try to solve problems rather than fiddle or cater to the rich. Hope was no longer for Pollyannas; the cynics about the American system were in retreat.”

TryingYearsLongStillsCountryProblemDreamGovernmentWould BeIndividualMillionsRichEconomicRocksDespairLaysEightSolveHardshipFederal GovernmentRetreatNew PlacesFiddlePollyanna
Book:The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope
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“They say that 'history is an argument without end.' In Thompson's skillful hands, this momentous argument between two old friends on the most critical issue of the last century is thus history at its best. Thompson's judicious and delicious depiction of Nitze and Kennan will fascinate anyone who cares about the Cold War or the ways that human beings shape the future.”

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Author:Jonathan Alter
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“In the press grandstand where I watched Discovery rise against the cloudless sky, the media hit the abort button on cynicism. The Earth shook to the sounds of man, three miles away. The candle lit. . . only someone stripped of awe can leave a launch untouched.”

MenEarthThreeSoundSkyMediaDiscoveryPressesMilesFlightAweAviationCandleCynicismButtonsLitStar GazingMiles AwayRise Against
Book:Between the Lines: A View Inside American Politics, People, and Culture
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