Mona Charen is a syndicated columnist and Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Institute.
Ms. Charen began her career at National Review magazine where she served as editorial assistant. In 1984, Ms. Charen joined the White House staff, serving first as Nancy Reagan’s speechwriter and later as Associate Director of the Office of Public Liaison. Later in her White House career, she worked in the Public Affairs office helping to craft the President’s communications strategy.
Ms. Charen launched her syndicated column in 1987. She spent 6 years as a regular commentator on CNN’s Capital Gang and Capital Gang Sunday, and has served as a judge of the Pulitzer Prizes. She has served as a fellow at the Hudson Institute and the Jewish Policy Center and is the author of two bestsellers: Useful Idiots: How Liberals Got it Wrong in the Cold War and Still Blame America First (2003); and Do-Gooders: How Liberals Harm Those They Claim to Help – and the Rest of Us (2005). In 2010, she received the Eric Breindel Award for Excellence in Opinion Journalism. Ms. Charen is the co-host, with Jay Nordlinger, of the weekly podcast Need to Know, and is a frequent guest on television and radio public affairs programs.
The bride, Edda, was 20, glamorous and well connected. The groom came from a prominent family. Their wedding was Italy’s social event of the year in 1930. If the occasion was marred in any way, it was through the inability…