Military Snaps to Attention for Reagan

Feb. 27, 1981: Military officers are back in uniform around Washington after an informal switch to civilian clothes, apparently prompted by a remark in 1955 by President Eisenhower that “the place looked like an armed camp.” The change was due to another presidential quip, this time from Ronald Reagan, who supposedly asked: “How do I know you’re a general if you don’t wear a uniform?”   Keeping reading for Charles Champlin’s review of Georges Simenon's "The Little Doctor" and musings on murder mysteries.