Word: traites
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...attempt to avoid the trappings and pitfalls of the imperial presidency, Carter has been too reluctant to assert himself, to lean on people, to operate, in a sense, with the ruffles and flourishes that this one job of all in the U.S. may demand. As admirable a trait as this may be in many callings, it clearly can be a serious liability for a President who sometimes has no weapon but sheer intimidation to reconcile conflicting interests or to overcome congressional and bureaucratic opposition. It is partly this that has prompted Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill...
...area does this odd trait show itself as starkly as in the legislatures' ceaseless squabbling over the designation of "official" animals, birds, fishes, minerals, poems, songs and flowers. Last year, after interminable conflict among advocates of barbecue, gumbo and chili, Texas legislators finally designated the last as State Dish. This year a skirmish shaped up in the New York legislature over the selection of a State Insect (praying mantis vs. Karner blue butterfly), and in New Jersey over a State Fish (bluefish leading); a struggle over the wild turkey left Alabama still, alas, without a State Game Bird...
...have soul. Quinn is discovered brooding sadly over his wife's beauty. Why does it make him gloomy? Because, he says, all beautiful things must eventually fade. That is in the nature of things. He is full of such slack epigrams, otherwise known as folk wisdom. Though this trait is more laughable than memorable, it serves the function of making him human, despite his wealth, his international wheeling and dealing, his lusty eye for wenches. Indeed, since everyone who has been in reach of a newspaper over the past 15 years knows in broad outline the later-life stories...
Just so, 150 years ago, Tocqueville described a unique feature of the American system. It is the spontaneous working of a creative public spirit. Out of this fundamental national trait have come such vitally important institutions as libraries, museums, civic organizations, great universities, the United Way, the Little Leagues, the Salvation Army, symphony orchestras, garden clubs, historical societies, adoption services, hospitals, religious organizations, Alcoholics Anonymous, the 4-H clubs. Indeed, this American spirit reaches into almost every field of human interest. Tied to another powerful American tradition -that of private giving for public purposes-the volunteer spirit has released incredible...
...dogsled ride in Canada: "That just sleighed me.") He loves to deflate Establishment airs, and once showed up to address a banquet of the Master Tailors' Benevolent Association in a shabby tweed jacket over his proper white tie. "I am often asked if it is because of some generic trait that I stand with my hands behind my back like my father," he told them. "The answer is that we both have the same tailor. He makes the sleeves so tight that we can't get our hands in front...