MIKE GRACIA

Monica Lewinsky                       President Bill Clinton

Walter Botts (1900-72)  posing as Uncle Sam in front of the
iconic poster, ca. 1970.

Artist James Montgomery Flagg referred to his own mirror image
for the portrait of “Uncle Sam” he created for the cover of the July
6, 1916 issue of Leslie’s Weekly. The figure in the long-tailed coat,
stove pipe hat and sideburns was captioned “What Are You Doing
for Preparedness?”
When asked to update the highly effective image for use in World
War 2, Flagg hired a Hoosier-born veteran who’d posed for Norman Rockwell. According to his widow’s memoir, Walter Botts was
chosen over other models for Flagg’s Army poster “because he
had the longest arms, the longest nose, and the bushiest
eyebrows.”

Botts reportedly suggested the pointing gesture when the artist
asked “Walt, what are you going to do with your long arms,
sitting there?”

James Montgomery Flagg
(June 18, 1877 – May 27, 1960)

SANDY KOZEL

Hattie Ophelia Wyatt Caraway
(February 1, 1878 – December 21, 1950)

Caraway became the first woman elected to serve a full term as
a United States Senator. Caraway represented Arkansas. She was
the first woman to preside over the Senate. She won re- election to a
full term in 1932 with the active support of fellow Senator  Huey Long
of neighboring Louisiana, She was the first woman to win an election
for the United States Senate.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The USS Abraham Lincoln deployed this
week from San Diego under the command of Capt. Amy
Bauernschmidt, the first woman to lead a nuclear carrier in
U.S. Navy history.

Bauernschmidt, who previously served as the Abraham
Lincoln’s executive officer from 2016 to 2019, took over
command from Capt. Walt Slaughter during a ceremony
last August.

USS Abraham Lincoln in San Diego Bay. (US Navy)

Comedian Bob Hope gave what he says is his last Christmas show
to U.S. servicemen in Saigon. Hope was a star of stage, radio, TV
and over 50 feature films.
 

Hope was one of many Hollywood stars who followed the tradition
of traveling overseas to entertain American troops stationed abroad.

The 1972 show marked Hope’s ninth consecutive Christmas Vietnam appearance. Although some antiwar protesters criticized Hope for supporting government policies in Vietnam, the comedian said he believed it was his responsibility to lift spirits by entertaining the
troops.

The USO Christmas Show at Tan Son Nhut Air Base.