Letter from America: The Clinton Years (1997-2000)
Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Episodes
Dot Dot Dash Dash, Over and Out
05 Feb 1999
Contributed by Lukas
To commemorate the last wireless telegraph, Alistair Cooke reflects on the creation of Morse code and its most famous uses.
The Moral Pillar and the Moral Contortionist
29 Jan 1999
Contributed by Lukas
Alistair Cooke reflects on the ethical dilemmas that arise when the Pope visits the United States of America.
Striving for a More Perfect Union
22 Jan 1999
Contributed by Lukas
Alistair Cooke reflects on Clinton's State of the Union address and asks why the only national holiday named after a human being is Rev. Martin Luther...
The US Senate trial of Bill Clinton, 1999
15 Jan 1999
Contributed by Lukas
Alistair Cooke reports on the US Senate trial of President Bill Clinton, and reflects on some of the most interesting trials that he covered as a repo...
Illuminating Events with Unpredictable Results
08 Jan 1999
Contributed by Lukas
In the light of the impeachment trial of President Clinton, Alistair Cooke remembers the only other presidential impeachment that occurred 130 years a...
America, 1998
01 Jan 1999
Contributed by Lukas
Alistair Cooke reflects on some of the more memorable moments of 1998.
Decline in US personal savings
25 Dec 1998
Contributed by Lukas
American personal saving rates drop below zero and Alistair Cooke considers the economists who see this as good news, those who see it as bad and a cu...
Operation Desert Fox begins
18 Dec 1998
Contributed by Lukas
The Operation Desert Fox bombing campaign begins in Iraq after the UN is refused access to weapons sites and Congress ponders whether Clinton should f...
Clinton impeachment hearing
11 Dec 1998
Contributed by Lukas
The House Judiciary Committee meets to decide on adoption of impeachment proceedings against Clinton Alistair Cooke considers this tortuous process an...
Thanksgiving 1998
04 Dec 1998
Contributed by Lukas
From New York to Sarajevo, Alistair Cooke considers the history and traditions of Thanksgiving celebrations, recent opposition and Churchill's first m...
Saddam's nuclear arsenal
27 Nov 1998
Contributed by Lukas
How can America deal with Saddam Hussein's suspected nuclear and biological weapons in Iraq and does a resurgence in US financial markets conceal an u...
Some memorable letters from America
20 Nov 1998
Contributed by Lukas
Aaron Burgett's Alcatraz escape, a stolen premature baby and the decline of the summer bachelor; Alistair Cooke recalls his most popular and memorable...
Hurricane Mitch devastates Honduras and Nicaragua
13 Nov 1998
Contributed by Lukas
The aid effort begins after hurricane Mitch wreaks devastation in Honduras and Nicaragua and Alistair Cooke considers how relatively trivial news can ...
Democrat victory 1998 midterms
06 Nov 1998
Contributed by Lukas
Clinton's Democrats gain seats in the 1998 midterm election, a first for a US ruling party since Roosevelt and 1934, California goes Democrat and Clin...
Congressional midterms 1998
30 Oct 1998
Contributed by Lukas
The Republican use of the Lewinsky scandal against Clinton during Congressional elections seems to backfire. Considering the parallel of Grover Clevel...
John Glenn returns to Space
23 Oct 1998
Contributed by Lukas
As John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth prepares to return to space at the age of 77, Cooke remembers the extraordinary TV broadcast and ...
Separated by Language
16 Oct 1998
Contributed by Lukas
Remembering New York writer Jerome Weidman, Pulitzer prize winner and America's first 'street-smart novelist', Alistair Cooke considers the peculiarit...
Presidential infidelities impeachment
09 Oct 1998
Contributed by Lukas
Misconceptions over the frequency of Presidential infidelities, recalling a time when the press never discussed a statesman's private life, and the im...
The President's economic problems
02 Oct 1998
Contributed by Lukas
The Asian economic crisis expands into Brazil and Alistair Cooke considers that though there's little a President can do about economic problems, they...
George Gershwin (1898-1937)
25 Sep 1998
Contributed by Lukas
Composer George Gershwin's life and music is remembered for the centenary of his birth and a consideration of the history and post-Soviet boom in Russ...
George Wallace
18 Sep 1998
Contributed by Lukas
The life of George Wallace, reformed racial segregationist and Governor of Alabama is remembered and Alistair Cooke considers his anger and the humble...
Impeachment for Clinton?
11 Sep 1998
Contributed by Lukas
The Lewinsky report is published, the House of Representatives begins to consider evidence and impeachment and President Clinton asks for forgiveness.
Son of Black Monday
04 Sep 1998
Contributed by Lukas
The financial crash of August 1998, its causes and effects are compared with Alistair Cooke's memories of the first Black Monday in 1987 and the Black...
US cruise missile strikes
28 Aug 1998
Contributed by Lukas
A subdued Clinton family holiday turns to political action as America launches cruise missile attacks on Sudan and Afghanistan and Clinton makes a rev...
The President will address the nation
21 Aug 1998
Contributed by Lukas
President Clinton makes a televised confession of his affair with Monica Lewinsky: Alistair Cooke considers its inadequacy and the betrayal of those w...
The threat of Y2K
14 Aug 1998
Contributed by Lukas
Senator Robert Bennett prepares the US to face millennial computer failure and Alistair Cooke considers the origin and potentially disastrous conseque...
Proposition 227, immigration and English
07 Aug 1998
Contributed by Lukas
Proposition 227, to teach immigrant's children purely in English, passes in California and Alistair Cooke considers the infamous English of Polish Hol...
The evolution of the grand jury
31 Jul 1998
Contributed by Lukas
President Clinton is subpoenaed to appear before Mr Starr's grand jury, the English origins of the US grand jury system and the flaws that led to it b...
Clinton's high aproval rating and Monica Lewinsky
24 Jul 1998
Contributed by Lukas
Examining allegations that President Clinton persuaded Monica Lewinsky to give false testimony, Clinton's high approval rating and has Alan Greenspan ...
Texas heatwave and investigating Clinton
17 Jul 1998
Contributed by Lukas
The emergency caused by the 1998 Texas heatwave and should Clinton's Secret Service men be asked to testify in the Starr investigation into an alleged...
Roy Rogers and cinema cowboys
10 Jul 1998
Contributed by Lukas
On the death of Roy Rogers (1911 -1998), the singing cowboy, Cooke considers the great film cowboys, Bruce Wayne, William S. Hart, Gary Cooper and the...
Bad behaviour in tennis and chivalry in golf
03 Jul 1998
Contributed by Lukas
The rise and fall of tennis brats from the riot of McEnroe v Nastase, NYC 1979 to McEnroe's forfiet at the 1990 Australian Open and golf as the last r...
Clinton in China, June 1998
26 Jun 1998
Contributed by Lukas
President Clinton visits China and Alistair Cooke considers US - China relations, their economic balance, disagreement over Taiwan and the changes sin...
Japan's economy, Louise Woodward and homosexuality
19 Jun 1998
Contributed by Lukas
US intervention in Japan's economy, Louise Woodward returns to the UK after her life sentence is reduced and Republican Trent Lott calls homosexuality...
El Niño making Congress restless
12 Jun 1998
Contributed by Lukas
Considering religious freedom, anti-Catholic feeling, same-sex marriage, El Niño and renaming schools named after slave owners as Congress tidies aro...
Barry Goldwater (1909-1998)
05 Jun 1998
Contributed by Lukas
Remembering Barry Goldwater, Alistair Cooke considers a most memorable defeated presidential candidate - the cowboy from Phoenix, Arizona who changed...
Immigrants to America and assimilation
29 May 1998
Contributed by Lukas
What happens if immigrants to America don't want to become Americans? Alistair Cooke considers assimilation, patriotism, Memorial Day and proposition ...
The Microsoft monopoly actions
22 May 1998
Contributed by Lukas
Bill Gates' Microsoft faces a barrage of legal actions claiming that the Explorer web browser is a monopoly and Alistair Cooke considers the history o...
India's first nuclear tests
15 May 1998
Contributed by Lukas
India's 1998 nuclear tests take the US government by surprise and Alistair Cooke considers the vast changes in the daily burdens of the presidency sin...
Medicine, inventions and the quick-fix
08 May 1998
Contributed by Lukas
The desire for a 'quick-fix', the false dawns of the daily medical miracle, the instant imitation of new inventions and excitement over a 'so-called' ...
California's progressive social legislation
01 May 1998
Contributed by Lukas
The homogenisation of US life and media, California's lead in social legislation and two new Californian propositions on English for immigrants and la...
US anti-smoking legislation
24 Apr 1998
Contributed by Lukas
A history of US anti-smoking legislation, teenage smoking, the attempts of pro-tobacco lobbyists to cut a favourable deal and a draft bill which could...
US financial regulation
17 Apr 1998
Contributed by Lukas
The uncertain future of the investment bubble, US financial regulation, the lack of open reporting of financial figures in Asian countries and the eff...
Consequences of the Disability Act
10 Apr 1998
Contributed by Lukas
The consequences Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the influence of the civil courts on pro-golf and a 9 year old girl's debunking of Therapeut...
Clinton sexual assault case thrown out
03 Apr 1998
Contributed by Lukas
Judge Wright throws out Paula Jones' civil prosecution of President Clinton for an alleged sexual assault in 1991. How will it affect the investigatio...
Constitutional rights
27 Mar 1998
Contributed by Lukas
The complexities and historical shifts of the interpretation of constitutional rights, freedom of speech and how to fly the American flag.
St Patrick's Day controversies
20 Mar 1998
Contributed by Lukas
The controversies behind New York's St Patrick's Day Parade, US misconceptions about the status of Northern Ireland and American Irish historical memo...
US power and responsibility abroad
13 Mar 1998
Contributed by Lukas
Kosovo, Iraq, Haiti and Nicaragua: US rhetoric and responsibility for life and liberty abroad is compared to past problems of power and responsibility...
Bill Gates and the Senate Judiciary Committee
06 Mar 1998
Contributed by Lukas
Bill Gates comes before the Senate Judiciary Committee accused of creating an internet browser monopoly and Alistair Cooke considers previous appearan...
Jerome Murray, inventor (1912-1998)
27 Feb 1998
Contributed by Lukas
Jerome Murray inventor of myriad conveniences, from the high speed dentist's drill to covered aeroplane boarding ramps, and the UN weapons inspection ...
Investigating President Clinton
20 Feb 1998
Contributed by Lukas
The investigative process which has led to the Clinton - Lewinsky allegations, the role of special prosecutor Starr, the grand jury and examining Pres...
The problems of military action in Iraq
13 Feb 1998
Contributed by Lukas
The UN refuses to take united action against Saddam Hussein and Alistair Cooke considers America's movement towards and the potential problems of mili...
Clinton's contadictory polls
06 Feb 1998
Contributed by Lukas
The contradiction of Clinton's high approval rating and belief that he's lying, shifting taboos on reporting private life and the culture of social ar...
The Monica Lewinsky scandal emerges
30 Jan 1998
Contributed by Lukas
Tapes emerge alledging that Monica Lewinsky was asked to lie on oath about an affair with the President and Clinton delivers a dazzling state of the U...
Cuba after the fall of the USSR
23 Jan 1998
Contributed by Lukas
Considering Cuba's remarkable economic survival after the loss of Soviet support, the history of US-Cuban relations, and a visit to the island by Pope...
New York society
16 Jan 1998
Contributed by Lukas
Class mobility and social change in New York are illustrated by Alistair Cooke with the stories of the Astors, the Metropolitan Opera House, JP Morgan...
Failing to predict the future
09 Jan 1998
Contributed by Lukas
Considering failures by expert meteorologists, economists and Kremlinologists to predict the future, why do mere newspaper columnists ever attempt it?
Helping the homeless
02 Jan 1998
Contributed by Lukas
Increased awareness of homelessness and poverty and the failure of ideologies to address the variety of the homeless population are considered by Alis...
A New York Christmas story
26 Dec 1997
Contributed by Lukas
The story of Zebby Adams, the real Santa Claus, and how his joyride got him into trouble – and his Christmas spirit got him out of it
Financial crisis in Asia
12 Dec 1997
Contributed by Lukas
How the whole world catches a cold from one financial sneeze in Asia – the danger of epidemics in a global economy
American tourists
05 Dec 1997
Contributed by Lukas
Tony Blair's vision of a nodern Britain, alistair Cooke's suggestions for a tour of the US, and Roosevelt's post-war plea for Americans to holiday in ...
US national Holidays
28 Nov 1997
Contributed by Lukas
National holidays in America, dangerous cholesterol levels at Thanksgiving, and how Alistair Cooke convinced the state of Idaho to celebrate the birth...
Sir Isaiah Berlin
21 Nov 1997
Contributed by Lukas
The continuing search for Saddam's deadly toxic secrets and the loss of a friend, the brilliant, witty and wise Sir Isaiah Berlin
Judge Zobel and the Louise Woodward verdict
14 Nov 1997
Contributed by Lukas
The verdict in the Louise Woodward trial, the ability of Judge Zobel to reduce the severity of the conviction, and the difference between state and fe...
The Wall Street crash
31 Oct 1997
Contributed by Lukas
Highs and lows of the stock market – and a reminder the events leading up to the 1929 Wall Street crash.
The Kennedy Missile Tapes of 1962
24 Oct 1997
Contributed by Lukas
The taping discussions in the White House, what the Kennedy tapes reveal about the discovery of missile bases in Cuba, and how the president reacted t...
El Niño
17 Oct 1997
Contributed by Lukas
What exactly is El Niño, and why is this phenomenon named the 'Christ Child' causing trouble for more than just the Queen's visit to California?
Clinton's veto
10 Oct 1997
Contributed by Lukas
How President Clinton's veto will stop local politicians stuffing themselves with pork barrel amendments; and how it's now OK to eat up all of your e...
Dr George Gallup (1901 - 1984)
03 Oct 1997
Contributed by Lukas
So you think you know how most people feel? Meet Dr George Gallup, the man who transformed our views on what really constitutes public opinion.
American stereotypes on film
26 Sep 1997
Contributed by Lukas
An examination of the stereotypes of American life as portrayed in Hollywood movies, and seen by a global audience.
Rudolph Valentino
19 Sep 1997
Contributed by Lukas
In the aftermath of the death of Princess Diana, remembering Rudolph Valentino, the first superstar creation lost in the dazzle of the spotlight.
Megan's Law
12 Sep 1997
Contributed by Lukas
Megan's Law, the Miranda law and others named after people, and Elisha Dov Hack's protest about moral standards in Yale university dormitories.
Princess Diana of Wales (1961-1997)
05 Sep 1997
Contributed by Lukas
The impact of the death of Princess Diana of Wales in the US, and the moral regulation required for freedom of speech and a free press.
The 1997 United Parcel Service strike
22 Aug 1997
Contributed by Lukas
The United Parcel Service (UPS) employees strike reminds Alistair Cooke of previous union demonstrations of power, including the disastrous 1981 Air T...
Bottled water
15 Aug 1997
Contributed by Lukas
The curious rise in the demand for bottled water, and the speculation all down to status symbol mania taking over plain common sense.
Integration in San Francisco schools
08 Aug 1997
Contributed by Lukas
A discussion on the success of Asian immigrants, and a grand jury condemns the failure of integration in San Francisco schools.
Clinton: Prosperity and popularity
01 Aug 1997
Contributed by Lukas
How the public perception of Bill Clinton as a prosperous president is keeping him at the top of the popularity polls.
The end of civilisation
25 Jul 1997
Contributed by Lukas
The closure of the remaining Woolworth department stores in the US signals the loss of a retail institution for the older generation.
James Stewart
18 Jul 1997
Contributed by Lukas
A recollection of the life and work of American actor James Stewart (1908-1997).
The Clinton re-election campaign
11 Jul 1997
Contributed by Lukas
Senator Fred Thompson, the mystery of the millions illegally contributed to Clinton's re-election campaign, and the loss of sporting good manners.
The sovereignty of Hong Kong.
04 Jul 1997
Contributed by Lukas
The US take on the handover of Hong Kong to the Chinese in July 1997, the ceremony accompanying the transfer of power, and the Chinese hopes for a pe...
Roswell UFO incident
27 Jun 1997
Contributed by Lukas
The reported sightings of a UFO in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947, a review of the military explanations after the incident, and the refusal of some to b...
Watergate - 25 years on
20 Jun 1997
Contributed by Lukas
A look back at the break-in at the Watergate office complex in 1972, the details of the FBI investigation in to the incident and the eventual resignat...
Health scares
13 Jun 1997
Contributed by Lukas
The healthy nature of the economy during the Clinton presidency, the need for a scare story in the news media, and the threat of salmonella, cholester...
William Clayton (1880-1966)
06 Jun 1997
Contributed by Lukas
A look at the life and work of William Clayton, the official who assessed the state of post-war Europe, and returned to the US to play a major role in...
The Kelly Flinn case
30 May 1997
Contributed by Lukas
The cases of Kelly Flinn and Paula Jones, two women at the heart of sex scandals that could change US military law, or even the Constitution.
Spending the nation's money
23 May 1997
Contributed by Lukas
Alistair Cooke reflects on the differences between the American and British methods of presenting and debating a budget.
Sir Lionel Sackville-West (1827 - 1908)
16 May 1997
Contributed by Lukas
The 1997 UK general election, viewed from across the Atlantic, and the story of Sir Lionel Sackville-West, the man whose fatuity lost the Democrats th...
Franklin D Roosevelt monument
09 May 1997
Contributed by Lukas
The unveiling of a Franklin D Roosevelt monument in Washington DC reminds Alistair Cooke of the problems that arise when erecting statues of notable f...
Tiger Woods' ethnicity
02 May 1997
Contributed by Lukas
Tiger Woods, the golfing wonder whose ethnicity proves hard to pigeonhole – and, as fellow golf champion Fuzzy Zoeller discovers, can't be joked abo...
Nicotine addiction
25 Apr 1997
Contributed by Lukas
How television has become a valuable historical archive, and how film can be replayed to haunt those taped, not least the tobacco industry bosses who ...
Jackie Robinson (1919 – 1972)
18 Apr 1997
Contributed by Lukas
A tribute to Jackie Robinson (1919 – 1972) the first black Major League baseball player who ended racial segregation when he debuted with the Brookl...
The Augusta National Golf Club
11 Apr 1997
Contributed by Lukas
How the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia became the home of golf in America. Alistair Cooke explores the history of his beloved golf course.
Al Gore's Chinese aeroplane deal
04 Apr 1997
Contributed by Lukas
Vice President Al Gore oversees the Boeing 777 jetliners deal with China. Plus, should presidential candidates get free television publicity?
Alan Greenspan
28 Mar 1997
Contributed by Lukas
A profile of Alan Greenspan, economist and former Chairman of the Federal Reserve. The most powerful man in the world who no one is ever likely to rec...
Internet pornography
21 Mar 1997
Contributed by Lukas
How does the US restrict children accessing pornography on the internet – without tripping over the Constitution? Does the 1st amendment cover the i...
Clinton's campaign money scandal
14 Mar 1997
Contributed by Lukas
President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore have been caught soliciting money from inside the White House for use in the presidential campaign. How w...
Protecting the freedom of speech
07 Mar 1997
Contributed by Lukas
The House of Representatives vote in favour of the Ten Commandments. The legal contest between the American Civil Liberties Union's and Judge Moore ov...
Astronaut John Glenn
28 Feb 1997
Contributed by Lukas
John Glenn, the first American astronaut to orbit Earth, retires after a lifetime in the public eye.
American Airlines pilots' strike
21 Feb 1997
Contributed by Lukas
President Clinton forgets about upsetting organised labour and chooses instead to keep American business flying by forcing a stop to the airline pilot...