Cokie Roberts
Cokie Roberts was one of the 'Founding Mothers' of NPR who helped make that network one of the premier sources of news and information in this country. She served as a congressional correspondent at NPR for more than 10 years and later appeared as a commentator on Morning Edition. In addition to her work for NPR, Roberts was a political commentator for ABC News, providing analysis for all network news programming.
From 1996-2002, she and Sam Donaldson co-anchored the weekly ABC interview program This Week. In her more than forty years in broadcasting, she has won countless awards, including three Emmys. She was inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame, and was cited by the American Women in Radio and Television as one of the fifty greatest women in the history of broadcasting. In 2020, she was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in the Longstanding Network/Syndication (20 years or more) category.
In addition to her appearances on the airwaves, Roberts, along with her husband, Steven V. Roberts, wrote a weekly column syndicated in newspapers around the country by Universal Uclick. The Robertses also wrote From This Day Forward, an account of their more than 40-year marriage and other marriages in American history. The book immediately went onto The New York Times bestseller list, following Roberts' number one bestseller, We Are Our Mothers' Daughters, an account of women's roles and relationships throughout American history. Roberts's histories of women in America's founding era — Founding Mothers, published in 2004 and Ladies of Liberty in 2008 — also became instant bestsellers. Her most recent book, Capital Dames: The Civil War and the Women of Washington, 1848-1868, was published in 2015. In total, she wrote six national bestsellers that honored and elevated the role of women in American history.
Cokie Roberts held more than thirty honorary degrees. She served on the boards of several non-profit institutions and on the President's Commission on Service and Civic Participation. The Library of Congress named her a "Living Legend." Roberts was the mother of two and grandmother of six. She died on September 17, 2019, at age 75.
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Colin Powell, a Republican and retired general who was President Bush's first secretary of state, broke with the party Sunday and endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president. Powell called Obama a "transformational figure" while criticizing the tone of John McCain's campaign.
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Louisiana Rep. Bobby Jindal, a Republican, is now the state's governor-elect. He becomes the first Indian-American to head a state government, and at 36, he will be the youngest governor. He promises the endemic corruption that is longstanding in the state won't be tolerated.
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The Bush administration picks Michael Mukasey to replace Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in hopes of minimizing controversy. The new nominee must be acceptable to both liberals and conservatives.
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Pockets of New Orleans have recovered, but other parishes still have shuttered stores, boarded up businesses, closed schools and hospitals. The city has become a symbol of failure for the government at all levels. The biggest responsibility of government is strong, safe levees.
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Karl Rove, credited for the rise of President Bush, steps down. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney wins the Iowa Straw Poll. Former Gov. Tommy Thompson is dropping out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination after finishing sixth in the poll.
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The Bush administration this week plans to offer several Arab states in the Persian Gulf region an arms deal totaling $20 billion. Some Democrats in Congress are already trying to stop it.
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About 2,000 mourners gather at a church in the Texas Hill Country to remember Lady Bird Johnson. Earlier, a family spokeswoman says nearly 10,000 visitors streamed past the casket as it lay in repose at the LBJ Library and Museum in Austin, Texas.
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"Lady Bird" Johnson, the wife of former President Lyndon B. Johnson, died at 94. Though she rose to prominence as first lady, in the 34 years since her husband's death, Mrs. Johnson earned renown in her own right as a champion of beautifying the outdoors. She lived in Austin, Texas.
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The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold hearings into charges that Marines massacred up to 24 Iraqi civilians last November while hunting for a roadside bomber, Chairman John Warner (R-VA) said Sunday. The U.S. military is already investigating the allegations.
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NPR News Analyst Cokie Roberts talks about President Bush's nomination of Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden to head the CIA. Porter Goss resigned from the position on Friday.