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signing statement

(Encyclopedia)signing statement, written comment issued by the executive of a government when signing a bill into law. In the United States, such statements have traditionally been comparatively neutral declaration...

Ames, Ezra

(Encyclopedia)Ames, Ezra, 1768–1836, American painter, b. Framingham, Mass. Early in his life he worked as a carriage painter, miniaturist, engraver, and decorator, first in Worcester, Mass., and later in Albany,...

Sterling Heights

(Encyclopedia)Sterling Heights, city (1990 pop. 117,810), Macomb co., SE Mich., on the Clinton River; platted 1835 as Jefferson Township, renamed 1838, inc. 1968. Largely rural until the mid-20th cent., the city gr...

Battery, the

(Encyclopedia)Battery, the, park, 21 acres (8.5 hectares), southern tip of Manhattan island, New York City; site of former Dutch and English fortifications. Castle Clinton, a fort built in 1808 for the defense of N...

Federalist party

(Encyclopedia)Federalist party, in U.S. history, the political faction that favored a strong federal government. Opposition to war brought the Federalists the support of Clinton and many others, and the party mad...

Plattsburgh

(Encyclopedia)Plattsburgh, city (1990 pop. 21,255), seat of Clinton co., NE N.Y., on Lake Champlain; settled 1767, inc. 1902. It is a trade and distribution point, with plants making transportation equipment, paper...

Russell, Lillian

(Encyclopedia)Russell, Lillian, 1861–1922, American singer and actress, b. Clinton, Iowa. Her original name was Helen Louise Leonard. She first appeared in light opera in 1879. In the early 1880s her introduction...

Franklin, John Hope

(Encyclopedia)Franklin, John Hope, 1915–2009, the dean of 20th-century African-American historians, b. Rentiesville, Okla., grad. Fisk Univ. (A.B., 1935), Harvard (M.A., 1936; Ph.D., 1941). Franklin served on the...

Gephardt, Dick

(Encyclopedia)Gephardt, Dick (Richard Andrew Gephardt) gĕpˈhärt [key], 1941–, U.S. congressman (1977–2005), b. St. Louis. A lawyer, he was first elected to the House of Representatives as a Democrat from Mis...

Brannan, Charles Franklin

(Encyclopedia)Brannan, Charles Franklin, 1903–92, U.S. government official, b. Denver, LL.B. Univ. of Denver, 1929. He became a specialist in agriculture and mining law. In the Dept. of Agriculture after 1935, Br...