Happy Birthday, Tom

At the White House press briefing on March 15, 1977, Jody Powell, then the press secretary for President Carter, had some important business to cover. The President was about to give his first major speech on foreign policy, an address to the U.N. General Assembly, and Powell would offer a preview. There were twists and turns to discuss in the development of Carter's National Energy Policy, which he had introduced in a "fireside chat" in February and which he would lay out in detail in a major address in April. The Administration proposed to liberalize the rules for Americans who wanted to travel to Cuba, North Korea, Cambodia, or Vietnam. And so on.

But before getting into the murk of policy, Powell announced a bit of in-house news. The first child born to a member of the new administration's staff had made his appearance. Very early that morning, Thomas Mackenzie Fallows had been born at George Washington University Hospital; he and his mother, Deborah, were both doing well.

Thirty years to the day later, both are still doing very well. To Jody Powell, thank you for this consideration. To our son Tom: Happy Birthday today!