The Oval Office on this day in 2014. ───────────── Subscribe for daily snapshots from the Obama presidency: everythingbriefing.substack.com/subscribe

President Harry Truman, the only president in the 20th century to not hold a college degree, was a voracious reader, once saying, “Not all readers become leaders, but all leaders must be readers.” ────────── Subscribe for free for daily historical snapshots: everythingbriefing.substack.com/subscribe

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” — Nelson Mandela ────────────── Subscribe for daily historical quotes: everythingbriefing.substack.com/subscribe

The Oval Office on this day in 2012. ───────────── Subscribe for snapshots from the Obama presidency: everythingbriefing.substack.com/subscribe

On July 17, 2009, Walter Cronkite died at the age of 92. Known as the “most trusted man in America,” Cronkite served as anchorman of the CBS Evening News for 19 years. Subscribe for daily historical snapshots: everythingbriefing.substack.com/subscribe

On July 16, 2013, President Barack Obama met with Make-A-Wish child Suhail Zaveri, 14, in the Oval Office. Subscribe for more daily history: everythingbriefing.substack.com/subscribe

On July 13, 1973, White House aide Alexander Butterfield informed the Senate Watergate Committee that he was aware of a recording device in the Oval Office, a remark that would ultimately lead to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

In a new interview, Mitt Romney said he would not be a candidate for president again, adding, “I basically think people who are 80 and above really should not be running the world.”

“A republic, if you can keep it.” Benjamin Franklin reportedly said these now-famous words when a woman asked him, as he emerged from the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787, whether the Framers had given the new country a monarchy or a republic.

On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law, banning discrimination and segregation in public accommodations. In remarks at the White House that day, Johnson said, “Let us lay aside irrelevant differences and make our nation whole.”

🗃️ Today, Mel Brooks turns 100. In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded the legendary filmmaker and comedian the National Medal of Arts, where Brooks pretended to pull down the President’s pants. ───────────── Subscribe for daily presidential history: everythingbriefing.substack.com/subscribe

The Oval Office on this day in 2012. ────────────── Subscribe for more snapshots from the Obama presidency: everythingbriefing.substack.com/subscribe

In June 2015, the White House was illuminated in rainbow colors to celebrate the Supreme Court’s landmark Obergefell v. Hodges ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. ───────────── Subscribe for more daily history: everythingbriefing.substack.com/subscribe

The Oval Office on this day in 2012. ────────────── Subscribe for more snapshots from the Obama presidency: everythingbriefing.substack.com/subscribe

On the eve of the 1960 presidential election, Senator John F. Kennedy said, “I want the United States to have the best educated citizens in the world. That's the way we maintain democracy; that's the way we keep our freedom.” ─── Subscribe for daily history: everythingbriefing.substack.com/subscribe

“In the end, that’s what being a parent is all about – those precious moments with our children that fill us with pride and excitement for their future.” — President Barack Obama ────────────── Subscribe for daily presidential history: everythingbriefing.substack.com/subscribe

In June 2021, President Biden signed a bill into law establishing Juneteenth as a national holiday, saying, “Great nations don't ignore their most painful moments.” ───────────── Subscribe for daily presidential history: everythingbriefing.substack.com/subscribe

Former Presidents Biden, Bush, and Clinton are in attendance at the dedication ceremony of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago today. ───────────── Subscribe for daily presidential history: everythingbriefing.substack.com/subscribe

On June 16, 2016, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden visited Orlando, Florida, to console the families of the 49 victims killed at the Pulse nightclub just days after the deadly shooting there. At the time, it was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

The Obama Presidential Center, which opens this week, has unveiled the first commissioned portrait of Barack and Michelle Obama. ────────────── Subscribe for daily presidential history: everythingbriefing.substack.com/subscribe

Speaking on the importance of journalism, Walter Cronkite once said, “Our job is only to hold up the mirror, to tell and show the public what has happened.” ───────────── Subscribe for daily historical snapshots: everythingbriefing.substack.com/subscribe

In June 2008, Tim Russert, the longtime host of NBC’s Meet the Press, died at the age of 58 after suffering a heart attack while preparing for a broadcast.

At the groundbreaking ceremony for the Kennedy Center in 1964, President Lyndon Johnson said, “This center will brighten the life of Washington, but it is not, as I have said, just a Washington project. It is a national project and a national possession.”

On June 13, 1967, President Lyndon Johnson nominated Thurgood Marshall to serve as an associate justice of the Supreme Court. Two months later, the Senate confirmed the nomination in a 69 to 11 vote, making Marshall the first African American to serve on the high court.

On June 11, 2012, President Barack Obama hosted actress Betty White in the Oval Office. Months before, Obama had filmed a video for White’s 90th birthday, joking that he did not believe how old she was and that she would have to show her birth certificate to prove it.

“Our problems are man-made; therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings.” — President John F. Kennedy, American University, June 10, 1963

On June 8, 2011, White House photographer Pete Souza captured a photo of President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in the Oval Office before their weekly lunch.

On June 6, 1944, Allied forces launched the largest-ever seaborne invasion on the beaches of Normandy, France, as part of their effort to liberate Western Europe from Nazi occupation.

“Freedom of the press is not just important to democracy, it is democracy.” — Walter Cronkite ────────────── Subscribe for free for more daily history: everythingbriefing.substack.com/subscribe

During his last days in office, President Barack Obama said that the sight of his children playing on the swing set just outside of the Oval Office “made the presidency a little bit sweeter.” ─────────────── Subscribe for free for more daily history: everythingbriefing.substack.com/subscribe