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NO. 1 AUTHORITY.(The Talk of the Town)(Professor Paul Light is the top expert on the American Vice-Presidency)
In the early nineteen-eighties, Paul Light, who was then an assistant professor of political science at the University of Virginia, was advised by his faculty mentor to examine the changing nature of the American Vice-Presidency. "You know, it was kind of an interesting period," Light recalled the other day. "Mondale had just left office, and there was an obvious and significant change in the way the office was operating--it seemed to be some kind of turning point."
Light followed through on the recommendation, and in 1984 he published the book "Vice Presidential Power: Advice and Influence in the White House." The title was more or less a joke, a play on Richard Neustadt's famous "Presidential Power." Throughout most of American history, after all, from John Adams's declaring the Vice-Presidency "the most insignificant office" to the fictional Veep Alexander Throttlebottom's haplessness in the musical "Of Thee I Sing," the office has been regarded as a figurehead's position, a laughingstock. "I later came to believe that my mentor got me into the Vice-Presidency because he might have hoped that I would disappear with the topic," Light said.
If only it were so. Light, who is now a professor at N.Y.U.'s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, has written seventeen books since 1984, none of them having to do with the office of vpotus, and yet, perhaps because the topic has a way of reappearing every four years during Convention season, Light's visibility seems only to increase. Apparently, there isn't much competition in the realm of Vice-Presidential scholarship. "It cleared the field," Light said of his book, which is out of print. "I don't know anybody else who looks at the office systematically."
"I think there's a general agreement that, yeah, it's not Hubert Humphrey's Vice-Presidency anymore," Light went on. But there seems to be no one available to dispute his claim that it was Nelson Rockefeller who began transforming the office. ("He created a Vice-Presidential seal, believe it or not," Light said. "He paid for it himself, and he also refused to fly in the windowless air transport that Agnew was confined to. So basically the Vice-Presidency evolved in part because of Rockefeller's deep pockets.")
A glance at Light's old press clips turns up his thoughts on more recent Vice-Presidential candidates past:
On Dan Quayle: "You feel badly for the guy, you really do."
On Al Gore: "Gore's greatest value is as a second set of eyes on every decision."
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...s on-speed approach light was burned out. The approach light comes on independent of the exterior-lights master switch and would...combined with no position lights, meant the aircraft did not have a single light source. Second, without...
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...only about 1%, the light beer segment remains...brewers and retailers. Light beer volume grew more...year, with domestic lights growing to more than 1.2 billion cases. Light beers also continue to...Busch. Light beer's lighter taste profile and lower...
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...and its power source. The Light On-camera lights are usually very small hard lights that throw an intense harsh light towards the subject you are...line with the traditional key light you see with standard lights. Another consideration when...
- Light your video.(HOW TO)
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...daylight or normal room lights. While available light is good for a large majority...temperature fluorescent light via a diffuser panel. TWO LIGHTS ARE BETTER THAN ONE If possible, try to use a 2-light setup. This consists of...
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- Magazine article from: Parks & Recreation ROGERS, JEFF August 1, 1999 700+ words
...from poorly directed light. For areas near airports...determines whether lights are permitted at all. Spill light is the light that escapes...Measurable spill light is often insignificant...field and seeing bright lights -- and the resulting...
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...mushrooms! UNDERWATER LIGHT SHOW If you think there...lots of natural night-lights on land, just wait...more living things that light up the seas. In certain...bioluminescent sea creatures light up to scare off an enemy...Different ones use their lights for different reasons...
