A variety of colorful figures have served as Secretaries of State. Many of them may not be household names here in the 21st Century but they would definitely stand out on any staff. Here is an examination of twenty such figures in chronological order.
1. TIMOTHY PICKERING (1795-1800)
Served under: Presidents George Washington and John Adams
Noted for: Conspiring with Alexander Hamilton to undermine some of the policies of the Washington and Adams administrations. When Adams discovered this he ordered Pickering to resign, but Pickering refused, forcing Adams to fire him. Pickering remains the only Secretary of State to officially be fired by the President.
2. HENRY CLAY (1825-1829)
Served under: President John Quincy Adams
Noted for: Fighting a duel with Continue reading
ASTONISHING TALES Vol 1 #9 (Dec 1971) 
ROB ROY: THE HIGHLAND ROGUE (1953) – Accurate history has no place in this Disney film in which Richard Todd stars as Scottish Clan leader and legendary outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor. The film begins in 1715 as Clan MacGregor is among the Scottish forces fighting against King George the First of England in the Jacobite Uprising. 
Montrose pardons all the Jacobite Clans except the MacGregors, who are forbidden to even use their surname, hence their leader being renowned as simply Rob Roy. Our hero is imprisoned by Montrose but escapes and leads his kinsmen and loyalists in rustling Montrose’s cattle and looting his estates. 
SATEENA, THE DEVIL’S DAUGHTER hosted horror and sci-fi movies on Shock Show, which aired on Atlanta’s WSB-TV from January 2nd to December 18th, 1958. This devilishly mischievous hostess was played by Joanne Good aka Joanne Goode aka Joanne Gould. Unlike the usual Movie Hostesses whose characters were vampires or witches, Sateena was the impish daughter of Satan himself. 
Previously Balladeer’s Blog examined Cypria, the neglected Greek epic myth that dealt with the events leading up to the Trojan War all the way up to Achilles leading the Greek forces in establishing a beachhead at Troy. The Trojan forces were then forced to retreat inside the walls of Troy itself, leaving the outside settlements to be sacked by the Greek forces. This led right into the whole Briseis/Chryseis conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon that opened up The Iliad. 
U.S. President: Calvin Coolidge Vice President: Charles G. Dawes Speaker of the House: Nicholas Longworth Chief Justice: Former President William Howard Taft 
1st – The ROSE BOWL GAME was broadcast on radio for the first time. This game pitted the undefeated UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE, then from the Southern Conference, against the undefeated UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON HUSKIES, then from the Pacific Coast Conference. The Huskies led 12-0 at Halftime, but the Crimson Tide came from behind to win the game 20-19 in what has been called “the football game that changed the South.” 
THE FANTASTIC JOURNEY – This was a very promising hour-long science fiction tv series that somehow just never gelled well enough to last even for a full 13-episode tryout. The premise involved a 1976 nautical expedition into the Bermuda Triangle by a group of scientists and a few of their family members. 
VARIAN, played by Jared Martin. Varian was an Earthling from the 23rd Century. He is cultured, refined and highly intelligent. Like many scholars from his time period, Varian is capable of focusing his mental energies through his crystal rod/ tuning fork called a Sonic Energizer. The device responds only to his mind and lets him diagnose and heal others, as well as manipulate matter in various destructive and constructive ways depending on the needs of each episode’s story. 
FRED WALTERS, MD, played by Carl Franklin. Fred is fresh out of medical school and is co-leader of the group along with Varian. 
