In the December issue of Vanity Fair, David Friend writes that this Oct. 31, 1974 photo of President Gerald Ford and then-Gov. Ronald Reagan — a few months after Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace, six months before the loss of Saigon and more than a year before they opposed each other for president — "conveys a touch of Rat Pack swagger, an architectural elegance, and a hint of the California glamour that Reagan would eventually import to Washington." David Hume Kennerly shot the image at the Century Plaza Hotel, and it's included in his new book from his years as Ford's White House photographer, Extraordinary Circumstances. Kennedy is now a Santa Monica photographer. There's a slide show of Kennerly pics at the Vanity Fair site, including a photo of Dick Cheney behind the wheel of a bumper car.
Also in VF: The magazine says "Hollywood is transfixed by one of the nastiest breakups ever," between Sumner Redstone and David Geffen (who has something to say in the piece.) Dominick Dunne concludes his coverage of the Phil Spector trial, Michelle Phillips talks about her Hollywood loves and connection to the Black Dahlia story (via the Hodel family), Christopher Hitchens undergoes self-improvement, and the eye candy includes Julia Roberts, Padma Lakshmi, Javier Bardem and (on the website, from the November issue) Bond girl Eva Green.