In 1967, when Gamal Abdel Nasser closed the straits, president Lyndon Johnson begged off, forcing Israel to stand alone.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Washington won't let Israel win

After spending months (and a few hundred grand in accounting fees) poring over 30 of the firm's contracts, Castle begged off.

FORBES: The LBO Method

Again, Robbins begged off, but he offered to do a trick instead.

NEWYORKER: A Pickpocket��s Tale

Norquist, a first seemed ready to respond, then begged off saying he had a "revolution to run" and no time for such matters.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Khan Job

Laurence Tisch, and Wall Street great John Whitehead, who begged him to turn off the spigot of easy money and rock-bottom interest rates.

FORBES: The Financial Crisis Could Not Have Been Prevented

Then it begged the U.S. for funds to pay off speculators who had bought high-interest- paying Mexican debt on the assumption that the peso would stay steady against the greenback.

FORBES: Fact and Comment