Outside the Beltway

The Vietnam War hero and one-term Georgia Senator has died at 79.

Mark Esper has been confirmed and sworn in as the next Secretary of Defense, ending a period of nearly 100 days during which the Pentagon was headed by a succession of Acting Secretaries.

Just days after being named the next Acting Secretary of Defense, the President is appointing Mark Esper to be full Secretary of Defense.

Patrick Shanahan is out as nominee to be Secretary of Defense after questions were raised during his background investigation.

Math rules.

Regardless of who wins control of the Senate in November, the person who will stand third in the line of succession will either be over, or very close to, eighty years old. That doesn’t make sense.

Once again, the threat of the “nuclear option” appears to have had less megatonnage than some expected and others hoped.

The Judicial Confirmation process needs to be fixed.

Ahead of his big foreign policy speech, Mitt Romney has unveiled his “Foreign Policy and National Security Advisory Team” which “will assist Governor Romney as he presents his vision for restoring American leadership in the world and securing our enduring interests and ideals abroad.”

Steve Clemons highlights former first lady Laura Bush’s continuing work in promoting education and international engagement.

Will Joe Biden be on the podium with Barack Obama at the 2012 Democratic convention, or will there be a new running mate?

George W. Bush’s new memoir reveals that he briefly considered replaced Dick Cheney as Vice-President before the 2004 elections. His decision not to do so reveals much about the relationship between Presidents and Vice-Presidents in modern American politics.