Murray Chotiner (1909–1974) was an American political strategist, attorney, government official, and close associate and friend of President Richard Nixon during much of Nixon's political career. He served as campaign manager for the future president's run for the United States Senate in 1950 and for his vice presidential bid in 1952, and managed the campaigns of other California Republicans. He was active in each of Nixon's two successful runs for the White House in low-profile positions. After Congress investigated Chotiner in 1956, suspecting the attorney was using his connections to Nixon for influence peddling to benefit his private clients, the Vice President and his former campaign manager temporarily parted ways. Nixon recalled him to work on his 1962 gubernatorial campaign and again for his successful 1968 presidential bid. After Nixon was inaugurated in 1969, Chotiner received a political appointment to a government position and, in 1970, became a member of the White House staff. He returned to private practice a year later, but was involved in Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign. He remained an informal adviser to Nixon until he died in Washington D.C. following an auto accident in January 1974, and Nixon mourned the loss of a man he described as a counselor and friend.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_Chotiner

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1830:

A provisional government in Brussels declared the creation of the independent and neutral state of Belgium, in revolt against the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_Revolution

1910:

Manuel II, the last King of Portugal, fled to Gibraltar when a revolution erupted in Lisbon and his palace was shelled. The Portuguese First Republic was proclaimed the next day. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_II_of_Portugal

1957:

Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 1 , the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth, was launched by an R-7 rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome near Tyuratam, Kazakh SSR. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1

1985:

Software developer Richard Stallman founded the Free Software Foundation to support the free software movement. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Software_Foundation

2003:

A suicide bomber killed 21 people and injured over 50 others inside the Maxim restaurant in Haifa, Israel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxim_restaurant_suicide_bombing

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

proscenium (n): 1. (in a modern theater) The stage area between the curtain and the orchestra. 2. (in an ancient theater) The stage area immediately in front of the scene building http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/proscenium

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The quicker humanity advances, the more important it is to be the one who deals the first blow. --Ernst Kaltenbrunner http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ernst_Kaltenbrunner