It’s common for me to write an article this month titled “Beware the Ides of August.” It’s based on Shakespeare warning Julius Caesar to “Beware the Ides of March.” The middle of March spells doom for Caesar. And over the years, I’ve found that the month of August – often the midpoint – is one of the most dramatic, historic, and often volatile periods in politics and government.
Richard Nixon resigned as president in August 1974. The US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech in August 1963. There was a riot in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017. There was even an earthquake. Washington DC in August 2011. And it wasn’t of the political variety.
Will the situation improve in August 2024?
Reporter’s Notebook: A Portrait of Middletown, Ohio, Home of J.D. Vance
July of 2024 will be like, “August, hold my beer.”
The month of August is yet to come. But July has earned a special place in the list of extraordinary political months. former president trump Extraordinary news events followed President Biden’s decision to drop out of the 2024 campaign. And then there was the political storm that rocked the news cycle for nearly three weeks following President Biden’s appalling debate performance in late June. We haven’t even mentioned the Republican convention in Milwaukee and Mr. Trump’s selection of Senator J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, as his running mate. Those tectonic shifts were significant enough. But they paled in comparison to the magnitude of the former president’s assassination attempt and Mr. Biden’s dropping out.
A surprising case of the intensity of the July news cycle occurred on July 24th. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Netanyahu was set to deliver a controversial speech to a joint meeting of Congress. Bipartisan congressional leaders — but mainly Republicans — invited Netanyahu to speak to Congress for a record fourth time. But Netanyahu’s address temporarily lagged behind some other events.
Former President Donald Trump suffered an ear injury in an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. US President Joe Biden addresses the nation on Wednesday, July 24, 2024, after the historic decision to end his re-election campaign. (Getty Images)
Notice how the story changed throughout the day on July 24.
At any other time, Netanyahu would have made news headlines that morning. But FBI Director Christopher Wray’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee that morning briefly eclipsed Netanyahu. Wray was scheduled to appear before the panel even before Trump’s shooting. But the failed assassination of the former president now occupied much of the country’s news coverage. Especially when Wray appeared before the House committee to discuss the FBI’s investigation into the shooting.
Netanyahu was not allowed to speak to a joint meeting of Congress until noon. But Netanyahu’s address inflamed leftists and many pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel protesters. They took to the streets of Washington and clashed with police. They burned American flags and hoisted Palestinian flags in front of Union Station, just a few blocks from the Capitol. The dramatic video and audacity of the demonstrations occupied the news cycle for some time before Netanyahu’s speech.
Anti-Israel protesters attack Capitol Hill building on eve of Netanyahu’s address
After this came Netanyahu’s turn. Presentation before CongressThe news here wasn’t just what the Israeli prime minister said. But several sub-angles highlighted the controversy surrounding Netanyahu’s speech. Many Democrats boycotted the joint meeting. There was also the fact that Vice President Harris — who serves as president of the Senate — did not preside because she was speaking to a black women’s group in Indiana. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. — the highest-ranking Jewish member in Congress history — refused to shake Netanyahu’s hand on the floor. Netanyahu also made scathing remarks against protesters near the Capitol and called them “useful idiots” for Iran. Democrats who attended the speech lamented that Netanyahu failed to offer any plan to repatriate the hostages or call for a ceasefire.
But by nightfall, Netanyahu was old news.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress in the House of Representatives chamber at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on July 24, 2024. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
President Biden He is now much better after battling Covid. He plans to tell the nation about his historic decision not to seek a second term. Yes. The President formally told the nation via X on Sunday that he is stepping down. But a nationwide address to the country is of a different level.
Never mind that all of this was hidden from view was the fact that Harris quickly did everything she could to garner support from Democratic delegates and Democratic lawmakers for Mr. Biden. The country was figuring out who Harris was and determining how well she matched up against former President Trump. There was also intense discussion about Vance, his policy positions and his explorations of his 2016 book Hillbilly Elegy.
Democratic concerns about Biden have cooled for a few days
There was a lot going on there.
So August, be careful. You have a lot to do.
It’s not that those of us involved in politics or the media are asking for another hellish news cycle.
Sure. There will be the Democratic National Convention in Chicago at the end of August. Harris recently chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) as her running mate. There’s a lot to consider. But these events don’t seem as dynamic as the ones we saw in July.
Democratic presidential nominee, US Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Governor Tim Walz appear onstage together during a campaign event at Girard College on August 6, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
That doesn’t mean there won’t be other major things happening this month. The Middle East is very hot. There is serious concern that a conflagration could erupt that could engulf the entire region. There can always be concerns about the potential for hostilities between China and Taiwan. Another major political story could emerge about former President Trump, Harris, Vance or Walz. Mr. Biden is still president and there are many questions about the final months of his term. And then there is the unknown. August has a way of surprising people with historic events and episodes that appear out of nowhere, changing the course of history.
Iraq invaded Kuwait in early August 1990, starting the first Gulf War just months later. In late August 1983, the Soviets shot down a Korean jetliner, killing a U.S. congressman and hundreds of others. Walz was big political news. But the decision by 2008 Republican presidential nominee and the late Senator John McCain, R-Arizona, to choose former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) as his running mate was a shock. Choosing Walz paled in comparison to the selection of Palin. Never mind that a hurricane cut the GOP convention short that year. That’s because in 2006, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, forever altering the path of former President George W. Bush.
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So, be careful with the month of August – just because it is August.
But last month, it was “Beware the Ides of July.”
