December 30, 2002

This double issue addressed the aftermath of Trent Lott's resignation as Senate Republican leader following controversial remarks about Strom Thurmond's 1948 presidential campaign. Fred Barnes, Stephen F. Hayes, and the editors examined the leadership vacuum and implications for the GOP. The issue also featured Andrew Ferguson's historical essay on Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, the Maryland physician who treated John Wilkes Booth after Lincoln's assassination and spent 137 years in his family's efforts to restore the doctor's reputation.