Vue lecture

Usha Vance’s New Life in Trump’s Washington

Old friends are bewildered by the turn taken by the second lady, a onetime Democrat and former litigator for a San Francisco firm. Others say she’s happy in the role.

© Doug Mills/The New York Times

Usha Vance, who clerked for Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and was a top editor on The Yale Law Journal, referred to herself as a “former lawyer” in a recent appearance.

Trump, Iran and the Specter of Iraq: ‘We Bought All the Happy Talk’

President Trump is pondering swift military action in Iran. There were similar expectations that the war in Iraq would be quick and triumphant.

© Doug Mills/The New York Times

President George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, in the Oval Office in March 2003.
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