What did government look like 50 years ago?
You might call that a rhetorical question. But it's one I've been mulling quite a bit. What I can say is that on March 3, 1965, when Federal Times published its very first issue, the Post Office was hiring more than 20,000 workers. The Johnson administration decided to trim a program providing soldiers housing. Legislators introduced two bills that would allow feds to play an active role in partisan politics, much to the chagrin of Hatch Act supporters. And the Government Accountability Office was sounding off about "inept spending" by agencies.
I guess not everything has changed.
Why my nostalgia now? It's true, we've been pretty quiet about our 50th anniversary, aside from slapping a tagline onto our papers. But it's been a busy year. We redesigned the publication. We made a decisive shift to digital first. And, well, a new editor came on board in June.
But with the start of the last quarter of the calendar year, it's high time to honor our heritage. And what better way than to showcase the evolution of the one market we've covered for five decades?
So, starting now, federaltimes.com will spotlight through stories, videos and galleries those moments, trends and people of the last 50 years that helped shape how government operates. I hope you will play a role, contributing to the conversation through social media, and voting via our online poll for your picks of historic events that shaped government.
Come December, we'll reveal our top 10 list of the most impactful historic events, as selected by an advisory board of government thought leaders. Perhaps on the list will be the air traffic controller strike, for its impact on how unions operate; or maybe 9/11, for spurring the creation of the Homeland Security Department; or the invention of the World Wide Web for transforming how government manages and exchanges information.
Or maybe none of those will make the list. We haven’t decided just yet.
Jill Aitoro is editor of Defense News. She is also executive editor of Sightline Media's Business-to-Government group, including Defense News, C4ISRNET, Federal Times and Fifth Domain. She brings over 15 years’ experience in editing and reporting on defense and federal programs, policy, procurement, and technology.
