The World's Most Exclusive Club By David Durairaj

Only five people are currently eligible to check in to this club. And one more will be added after the next Presidential election. That’s right, I’m talking about the President’s Club. Started during Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration, it was just an idea then as both Herbert Hoover and Harriet Truman were still alive. In those days, when presidents consulted former presidents, they maybe shared stories, but not more than that. There were limits to what former presidents could do. But now, with presidents living longer, they continue to have influence even after they retire.

The idea of a former president mentoring and advising the current president was barely a concept from the beginning of the institution. More often than not, a layer of distrust or even bitterness in some cases existed between the man leaving the most powerful position on earth, and the one gaining it. However, this changed with the Truman administration. Just weeks after inauguration, Truman contacted Hoover and gave him the job of convincing America and the world to send food and aid to the ravaged parts of Europe after WW2. Just to be clear, the seasoned Republican didn’t think much of the fledgling Democrat, but over the course of many interactions, they formed a lasting relationship that continued long after Truman’s term in office.  

Lets be honest: only people who have sat at the big desk know what it’s like to be president. That’s probably the reason why current presidents are now consulting current presidents more often. The morning John Kennedy was going to call quarantine on Cuba that could start a nuclear war, he called Eisenhower. Clinton called Nixon multiple times late at night to talk about Russia, China, and how to run the Oval office. The night Bin-Laden was killed, Obama placed his first two calls to George W. Bush and Clinton.

The President’s Club has its rules: stay in touch. Don’t talk about club business to the press. It also has its own feasts and rituals. It even has a clubhouse across the street from the White House. To make reservations for the clubhouse, you have to call the White House. This clubhouse/hotel may not be the best staying place in terms of service, but it does have dedicated accommodations for a full secret service detail.

In 2009, when Obama was going to become president, Bush tried to make the transition as smooth as possible for him. None of the four living former presidents were necessarily “excited” about Obama, but as Obama said, “They were all incredibly gracious.” Obama decided to invite all four former presidents to a luncheon in early January of 2009, and asked Bush the son to host it. The White House was nervous to invite Carter because he had criticized everything they had done for the past eight years. But everybody came: Bush, Carter, Clinton and Bush the elder. “We spent an hour talking about how we dealt with the White House staff and what living accommodations were and what to do about putting our kids in school in Washington…and how much of an intrusion it was on our private affairs to have security,” Carter said when interviewed.

In 2008, Obama came to Texas A&M collage station to meet with H.W. Bush. Bush went out of his way to welcome Obama, and Obama did the same. “He’s a citizen whose life has embodied that ethic… He could easily have chosen a life of comfort and privilege, and instead, time and again, when offered a chance to serve, he seized it,” said Obama.

This club will only become more important as the years go by, and it is likely that its members will continue to see a growth in their influence over the current president even as the executive branch grows stronger. And no doubt the president will increasingly rely on the former presidents for support and advice even as the United States is at a critical juncture in its history. Who knows what the 2016 presidential election will bring to the Presidents Club? Oh, and another duty that comes with being a member of the club is that when the president summons you, you go.

A Book That Stole My Heart by Cara Haley

      For me, I will always admire a good book with a strong storyline, dynamic characters that has a meaningful relationship amongst each other, and of course, a logical adventure that thrives towards significance. So when I read The Book Thief  by Markus Zusak, I was easily able to grasp unto the storyline with attentiveness. It starts off in the gloomy time period of World War II in Germany where the Nazis reigned in terror and the end was everywhere. Hope was robbed and many starved for some actual salvation. Life was hard, but not nearly as hard as some had to endure. Death itself was the narrator during this colorless rubble. So many predictions, so many dead, and yet, somehow everything was good for a moment, but was hindered in awfulness for the next. However, one young girl after her miserable loss, found a new beginning.
   She was innocent, yet was slaved in suffering, growing Liesel Meminger was fostered in the home of the Hubermann's after she witnessed her brother's death and mother's carelessness. Her foster father, who served more like a true father, Hans Hubermann, was a man of guidance and morals. He appreciated fairness and that was what separated him from the others who followed heedlessly around him. His reminder of a savior stayed with him and influenced his foster daughter's future forever. Actions can lead stronger than flat empty words could ever. But wise words are as powerful as war itself. With that influential, but deadly material, a learning mind sought out for more expertise. This was the beginning of a leading story.
    Liesel Meminger was a girl with a mountain to climb. When she discovered, actually more like resurrected, her love for books, she sought out to learn these confusing unknown words. With her desire for meaning and escape, she allowed some simple penned letters to fulfill her world. And that world grew in wonder with the tremendous help of her father. Never greedy when she was seeking this knowledge that books gave her, Liesel shared her stolen words with others when only crowded isolation blinded everyone together. But oh, she did steal several things from the destructive flames of deception. Passionately driven, her zest could not simply be tamed. Her love for books is what brought even more understanding between her and the earnest reader. She held unto the world that saved her from drowning in those nightmarish memories and she was unable to let it go. Why abandon your salvation that not only holds you, but your memories as well? With bravery, she fought for what she loved and what she loved was more than she was herself.
    This story captures a youthful desirous heart that is led throughout heaps of difficulties. And while everything was bound to fall, she held on. She learns to love what she loses and was left behind with only the memories of unsaid faded goodbyes. This tale is an enjoyment and will bring a questioning fate upon you. The demand for the "lovely ugly words" gave power to those  who knew how to speak persuasively. It showed the historical swelling of the world in selfishness and the blame it brought on the rest of us. And how it all ended with rumbles where even death was overwhelmed with the scattered emptiness. Left alone, death didn't do the only stealing...We weren't born with the immediate desire to take, but we do have a deep intimate passion that burns inside of us. And that can and will drive a person to extent. What are we willing to give up to keep a secret? What will we leave behind in order to obtain that little piece of happiness? "Can a person steal happiness? Or is it just another internal, infernal human trick?" But it is wonderful truly when you open a book and a new adventure sprouts out all around you. It takes a certain degree of sacrifice to leave behind those things that you preciously love. The whole world saw the realization of an innocent child with a passion  and that left wondering in many of our hearts. What would you do to help another? Would you listen to those deception of lies raised above you or will you risk everything for a burning ending?