200 Notable days "Senate stories 1787 to 2002"

The United States Senate has inspiredthousands of colorful stories. From the first discussionsat the Constitutional Convention in 1787down to our own times, the "World's GreatestDeliberative Body" has actively engaged storytellers.Many of those storytellers have been amongthe nearly 1,900 Americans who have representedthe nation's 50 states in the Senate. Rarely havesenators been without a rich supply of anecdotesto enlighten family, friends, and constituents. Theflood of Senate stories broadens to include thoseof journalists, gathering them to season theirreporting, and of scholars, mining old documentsto enliven accounts of bygone times.Over the past 30 years, drawing from theseand other sources, Senate Historian Richard A.Baker has prepared historical narratives to informsenators, staff, constituents, and others who arecurious about the traditions, personalities, andlegislative landmarks of the Senate. For this book,he has reshaped 200 of those stories into briefsketches to accommodate those who have a stronginterest in the subject but lack the time to exploreextended historical essays.There are stories reflecting all areas ofSenate activity, from its important constitutionalprerogatives - such as confirmation of presidentialnominations - to historical milestones of decidedlyless importance. An example of the latteroccurred in 1930 as senators confronted the choiceof continuing with traditional operator-assistedtelephones or accepting a daunting new product ofcommunications technology - the dial phone.From the well-known and notorious, tothe unusual and even whimsical, these storiesare presented to enlighten, inspire, amuse, andinform. Each story amplifies the narratives thatprecede and follow it. Read collectively, theyprovide clear impressions about the forces, events,and personalities that have shaped the Senate ofthe 21st century.