The New York Times has a reporter based in Houston named Manny Fernandez. He's pretty good. He often writes stories that make me say to myself, "I wish I had that."

Here's the lead from his latest piece that falls into that category:

Houston -- They still talk about the Saturday night here 27 years ago when Donald J. Trump partied with former President Richard M. Nixon.

Who wouldn't read that?

Of course, they ate at Tony's.

Trump had come at the invitation of John B. Connally, the former Texas governor and close friend of the former president. The gala event was "A Night for Nellie," honoring Connally's wife, who was celebrating her birthday and coping with the most unwelcome news that she had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. Trump, then 42, whom the Connally's had met months earlier at a wedding in New York, served as the event's honorary chairman.

"Mr. Connally decided late in the evening to keep the party going for some V.I.P.s at Tony's," Fernandez writes, and goes on of Trump and Nixon:

...[T]he time they spent together that weekend most likely fed Mr. Trump's fascination with and admiration of Nixon. During the campaign, Mr. Trump borrowed phrases from him, used his speech at the 1968 Republican convention as a template for his own convention address, and spoke glowingly of Nixon in interviews.

Who knew? Or as Trump might say, Manny Fernandez -- fantastic!