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October 28, 2012 It was to be her fifth State of the Union address. Under other circumstances, her history of past oratorical success would have calmed her nerves. The speech was well-written, quite possibly her best ever. But her delivery would cross a new frontier.

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October 27, 2012 He had hoped that getting close to it would steady his heart. It had been rolling like a drum all day, a relentless build with no release. Padding blindly forward, the density of the thick turf caused him to stumble slightly, but he caught himself and kept going. As if it hadn't happened.

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October 27, 2012 Their first night in the White House, and he's still flossing his teeth in the bedroom. What is it with this man? She frowns to remind him. He looks straight at her, fingers in his mouth, and shrugs. Turning his back to her, he stands at the window.

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October 27, 2012 The president ducked sharply to avoid being smacked in the face by the microphone boom. The Oval Office was not designed for the president, his aides and advisers to do business alongside a camera crew, and space was tight.

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October 21, 2012 "Mr. President, can you tell me who was your roommate in college your junior year?" This is the 845th question that I've been asked in today's session.

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October 20, 2012 Yesterday I passed a watermelon-red Olds 88 just like the one my grandfather drove in 1960. He was tall, white-haired and certain about things, the image of ancient to a 5-year-old.

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October 20, 2012 At 2:30 a.m., the black sedan pulled up to the gate on Pennsylvania Avenue. Martin marveled how short a distance it was from the street to the threshold of world power. As he stepped from the car into the damp autumn night, he sensed a foreboding, underscored by the increased security presence.

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October 20, 2012 It wasn't easy for the donors to find the space — close to the White House there wasn't much available. But they eventually found a building that was just big enough for a track.

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October 20, 2012 Diane Branson was attempting to apply lipstick despite her shaking hand. How is it, she thought, that a word of only three letters could grow into such a continent of deceit?

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October 19, 2012 It was an unimaginative cliche, and in this case, untrue. "He ties his shoes just like everyone else," someone in the diner said after the president and his entourage departed.

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October 18, 2012 Light seeped out from under the door again. Marta rested her chin on the roll of paper towels that sat on top of her cart. For two years she had cleaned these rooms, late at night when everyone else was gone, and often that light was on.

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