The (Ab)Uses of History
As we enter the presidential campaign season, pity the Founding Fathers. Among the recent incantations of the Founding Fathers by Republican hopefuls, we find: Mitt Romney, with characteristic vagueness, launched…
Read MoreFive Amendments That Would Surprise the Framers
Yesterday, after I delivered a talk on the Constitutional Convention of 1787, a gentleman in the book-signing line asked an interesting question: “Which of the constitutional amendments would be most…
Read MoreBlagojevich and the Founders
It’s open season on the Founders. Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN), who is looking at a run for president as an Extreme Right-wing choice, has already revealed that she became a…
Read MoreMessing Around With Your Votes, Part II
“Voter identification” has become a major Republican Party initiative. Complaining loudly that there must be blatant voter fraud out there — though there is little evidence of it — Republican…
Read MoreMessing Around With Your Votes, Part I
Two recent developments illustrate how the democracy we enjoy here in the Citadel of Liberty is both flawed and fragile. First, a movement is gathering force for a back-door change…
Read MoreTruth Through Fiction
I am working on a project involving late 19th-century America, so wanted to get a better feel for the thinking and diction of the period. I remembered a claim by…
Read MoreJudging a Book By Its Title: Forgetting The Forgotten Founder
In my experience, choosing a book title is an agonizing process. The title must perform several functions at once: It must give the reader some idea what is inside the…
Read MoreKilling bin Laden
Why am I not elated by the killing of Osama bin Laden, when so many of my neighbors and friends are? I can do the realpolitik calculation. He initiated/inspired/caused several…
Read MoreHollywood History
I was both pleased and disappointed with the new Robert Redford-directed movie about the conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln, The Conspirator. I need to lower my expectations about such treatments,…
Read MoreStill Looking for Alexander
I applaud those who try to bring history to life and share it with the largest possible audiences. But it’s not an automatic pass. You still need to tell the…
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