<p><span class="deck"> <span class="typestyle"> The ex-Presidency now carries perquisites and powers that would have amazed all but the last few who have held that office</span> </span></p>
<p><span class="deck">Despite his feeling that “we are beginning to lose the memory of what a restrained and civil society can be like,” Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the senior senator from New York, and a lifelong student of history, remains an optimist about our system of government and our resilience as a people.</span></p>
<p><span class="deck">The “loser decade” that at first seemed nothing more than a breathing space between the high drama of the 1960s and whatever was coming next is beginning to reveal itself as a richer time than we thought.</span></p>
<p><span class="deck"><lead_in> A VETERAN JOURNALIST</lead_in> reflects on how public discourse has been tarnished by the press’s relentless war against presidents, including his own biggest offense.</span></p>
<p><span class="deck">In their surprisingly short history, presidential debates have never lived up to our expectations. Yet they’ve always proved invaluable.</span></p>
<p>Nixon, Ford, and Carter developed a friendship of sorts on a memorable flight to Cairo to honor the recently slain Egyptian president, Anwar Sadat.</p>
<p>Though he defended his decision as being in the nation's best interest, Ford's pardon of his predecessor may have contributed to his short-lived presidency.</p>
