09/02/2026 20:09

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On Shelton’s office wall were pictures of two great Confederate Civil War generals, Robert E. I knew that if the American people saw the election as a choice between building a bridge to the past and building a bridge to the future, we would win. I was moved by McNamara’s letter, and by similar ones I received from Vietnam veterans. And he recommended that when I returned to Washington, I should stay off the campaign trail and remain “presidential,” saying and doing things that would reinforce my higher ratings.

Thank goodness, Nancy Hernreich and Betty Currie were staying. Though I kept working hard and continued to love my job, my normally sunny disposition and innate optimism would be put to one severe test after another. The next day the NATO leaders approved my Partnership for Peace proposal to increase our security cooperation with Europe’s new democracies until we could achieve the expansion of NATO itself. He had also been wounded by questions raised about his competence and integrity in severalWall Street Journal editorials.