7 columns by Cokie Roberts that showcase her wit and wisdom
Many people are dubbed "living legends," but only a few can say that they officially earned the title.
Cokie Roberts, the award-winning journalist, author and political commentator, made a name for herself through her thoughtful analysis during her decades-long career. Her family confirmed that Roberts passed away at the age of 75 on Tuesday, and she is survived by her husband, two children and six grandchildren.
Roberts leaves behind an extensive body of work, including a number of columns weighing in on the political dramas of the day and giving the news much-needed historical context.
Below is a selection of seven of her recent columns:
'Work for the women in white'
Feb. 6, 2019
In this column, after President Donald Trump's State of the Union address, Roberts looked at, and celebrated, the group of congresswomen who wore white as an homage to the suffragette movement.
"After that giddy moment the women in white – like the valiant suffragists they dressed to honor—have some work to do. Now that they actually hold office they can no longer simply denounce the president and rally disheartened women to their sides.
Now they need to do something for those women.
My suggestion: take Trump up on the parts of the State of the Union where he proposed policies that could be quite meaningful to women and ignore the rest."
George H.W. Bush was a symbol of decency, even if you didn't like his politics
Dec. 1, 2018
Roberts remembers former President George H. W. Bush after his passing late last year.
"Decency -- that's the first word that comes to mind when thinking of George H.W. Bush. He was a decent, self-effacing, funny, nice man. And he brought those traits to the presidency.
In a long interview I conducted with him as part of a series on former presidents reflecting on the Constitution, he said something like "I don't want to namedrop" at several points, when telling a story about visiting his own son in the White House. When recounting an anecdote about the fall of the Soviet Union, which he helped engineer, he would say, "I don't want to brag.""
Kavanaugh supporters ignore women's voices at their own peril: COLUMN
Sept. 28, 2018
Roberts reflected on the outpouring of women who were inspired by professor Christine Blasey Ford's testimony and took that moment to come forward with their own harrowing experiences of sexual assault and harassment.
For these women it's not about Democrats and Republicans, it's not about Ford and Kavanaugh, it's about them -- their pain that's never been recognized. Though it's not fair for Kavanaugh to bear the weight of their grievances, it would also be perilous for his supporters in the Senate to ignore their newly raised voices.
Titles that mattered most to McCain: American, Citizen: ANALYSIS
Sept. 1, 2018
Roberts reflected on the passing of Sen. John McCain.
He constantly reminded us that there is more that unites us than divides us. He hammered home the most important thing about us — that we are Americans, and that we have the rights and therefore the responsibilities as citizens. That we have a duty to go into the arena and participate.
The class act in the White House: ANALYSIS
May 7, 2018
Roberts wrote extensively about the role of women in American history, particularly focusing on the first ladies who shaped the country. In this column, she reacted to the launch of first lady Melania Trump's "Be Best" campaign.
When opponents of Donald Trump circulated trashy photos of Melania Trump during the campaign, who knew that she would end up as the class act in the White House? But that's exactly what's happened.
ANALYSIS: A moment enshrined in history
Aug. 16, 2017
In the wake of the violent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, Roberts took a moment to reflect on another pivotal moment in American history.
Would Ruby Bridges have been able to go to school safely if Donald Trump were president?
It's in our history books now -- that picture of a brave little black girl, book bag in hand, escorted by four federal marshals into an all-white school in New Orleans. Norman Rockwell's version of that iconic moment even hung in the Obama White House.
It's history now, but history I lived through in New Orleans in 1960 where the federal judge who ordered the schools to comply with the law of the land was one of the key players in promoting racial integration throughout the 1950s and 1960s. J. Skelly Wright was one of the heroes of the civil rights movement.
But his heroism came with a price. Those people we saw over the weekend shouting their hateful slogans in Charlottesville were out in force in the South in that era. That beautiful first-grade girl had to walk through screaming haters, haters just like the ones we saw in Virginia, as she made her way to school. She spent her first year in a classroom of one, with no white child willing, or allowed, to join her.
OPINION: Comey's firing like déjà vu all over again with Nixon era
May 10, 2017
Roberts drew upon her front-row seat to recent political history to give former FBI Director James Comey's testimony greater context.
It feels like déjà vu all over again for those of us who lived through the Nixon administration. An investigator gets too close to the occupant of the Oval Office for comfort and gets the boot. The rule of law is threatened. Now what?
We know how Watergate turned out -- the combination of a relentless special prosecutor (even after one had been fired), high pressure committees on Capitol Hill, a persistent judge and a probing press forced Richard Nixon to resign.
