Steven R. Weisman

This was featured in live coverage.

Under Jimmy Carter, he was the first V.P. to serve as a genuine partner of a president. His own run for the top position ended in a crushing defeat.

The answer lies in the 19th century, when Judaism became a distinctively American religion.

In an interview aboard Air Force One in 1981, Mrs. Reagan was eager to make it clear that she helped President Ronald Reagan renovate their ranch in California, including wrestling with dead trees.

Patient readers will find in Jimmy Carter’s diary entries a sense of what it is like to be president.

The Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., preached against “excessive regulation.” But he now finds himself leading an expansive government intervention.

Concerns about an economic slowdown pushed oil down yet again, prompting a 2.5 percent jump in the Dow, amid new evidence of rising prices.

Congressional Republicans met with the Treasury secretary on Wednesday about his plan for a possible government rescue of the nation’s two largest mortgage finance companies.

A sense of gloom gripped Washington as the Federal Reserve chairman warned of the risks of a slowdown.

The Fed chief warned of the risks of a long slowdown and higher inflation as the president, speaking nearby, said the country’s economic pillars remained sound.

The Federal Reserve has adopted rules to give home buyers more protection from the types of lending practices that have contributed to the housing crisis.

The trade agreement remains a long shot, because of opposition by American labor unions, Democratic leaders in Congress and Senator Barack Obama.

Under the plan, shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be worth little or nothing, and any losses on mortgages they own or guarantee would be paid by taxpayers.

The president of the World Bank is calling on leaders meeting in the Group of 8 economic summit next week to make new aid commitments to dozens of countries.

The decision to halt a stream of rate cuts signaled concern that rising oil prices will push up the costs of goods and services.

An agreement in which the U.S. would not export to South Korea beef from cattle more than 30 months old was sought to defuse South Korean furor over beef exports.