What year is it?

The formerly enormously popular Republican president is seeing a drastic decline in his popularity one year into his second term. He is being attacked for neglecting to stem, or even promoting, a bloated, historically large budget. In response to congressional attacks from Democrats, and even a few Republicans, he says, "It is a very great satisfaction to me to find out there are so many economy-minded people in Washington. They didn't use to be here." He has recently been accosted for his wealth and free spending of tax payer dollars.

Concerns have arisen about the latest Supreme Court Chief Justice's conservativism.

The press reports several bombings and a spate of bomb hoaxes which has nearly paralyzed New York City's police.

In the Middle East an anti-Western Arab leader foments anti-American public sentiments against pro-Western leaders. An Imam leads rebel Muslims against a pro-Western Arab leader, threatening a Moslem holy war. Crushed by the Western troops, the religious leader and his rebels escape into the hills to nurse their wounds and plot future attacks.

Muslim terrorists bomb a public place in the Middle East killing ten and injuring 80. In this one year in one city terrorists killed 50 civilians and wounded 257 others. Western army colonel admits, "Every time we get one rebel, he is immediately replaced by another."

A formerly booming economy in the U.S. has stagnated. Reasons cited are the pro-business climate had encouraged borrowing and spending among citizens and businesses, as well as unconstrained spending and conspicuous consumption. Warnings of a recession loom.

African Americans are very popular in stage, screen and music industries. A black woman, six feet tall and described as having the power of a man in her serves and volleys, has taken the tennis world by storm, winning at Wimbledon.

All of these events occurred in 1957! Eerie isn't it?

The president was Eisenhower and his bloated budget proposed for 1958 was a scandalous $71.8 billion! The attacks on his wealth included the account that he was worth $1 million. He countered that he'd take someone up on that sale pronto. To this challenge, a Southern entrepreneur raised the million but the White House was silent about the offer.

The justice was Earl Warren and he angered conservatives with his ability to guide his fellow justices to some decidedly liberal decisions. A decision against DuPont acquiring and holding large amounts of GM stock was considered anti-big business. Civil rights decisions restored the job of a communist at the State Department, John Stewart Service, denied the government the right to withhold evidence contained in FBI files to a defendant, and reversed the conviction of five communists for violating the Smith Act in Los Angeles.

The bombings were committed by the "Mad Bomber", George Metesky in NYC. He was caught that year after 16 years of bombings.

In the Middle East, the anti-Western agitator was Russian-backed Egyptian leader Nasser, while the pro-Western leader was Jordan's King Hussein. The religious leader causing trouble was Sheik Ghalib bin Ali stirring up trouble against the Sultan of Oman. It was British troops that crushed the rebels.

The Moslem terrorists and the bombings were in Algeria. The cited casualties referred to the Algiers slum, the Casbah, and the colonel quoted was a French colonel in that city.

The entertainers referred to in the citation of prominent African-Americans included, Dorothy Dandridge, Harry Belafonte, Eartha Kitt and Lena Horne. The black woman tennis player is Venus Williams's predecessor, Althea Gibson.

Stay tuned for a further citation of some of the most significant issues of the year, 1957...