Milestones

Ten years ago: Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden withdrew from the Democratic presidential race following questions about his use of borrowed quotations and the portrayal of his academic record.

Five years ago: Plans for a presidential debate fell apart, with President Bush continuing to object to a single-moderator format proposed by a bipartisan commission; it was the second such cancellation.

One year ago: Space shuttle Atlantis left Russia’s orbiting Mir station with astronaut Shannon Lucid. Ross Perot sued the bipartisan commission that voted to keep him out of the presidential debates, arguing that excluding him would deepen public cynicism and cause his campaign “incalculable damage.”