Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin is on a media tour for her new book, An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s. Her husband Richard was a speechwriter for the Kennedys, Lyndon Johnson and Al Gore. She was a presidential scholar who became a confidante of President Johnson. NPR interview. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIJ6PDUMX3k NYT: She wasn't … Continue reading Doris Kearns Goodwin’s New Memoir of the 1960s
LBJ
Mitch McConnell, Longest Serving Senate Republican Leader, to Retire
If Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell in 2016 hadn't kept open Antonin Scalia’s Supreme Court seat for nearly a year, depriving President Barack Obama of the right to appoint Scalia's successor, Donald Trump probably wouldn't have won the presidency that year, the Wall Street Journal editorial board surmises. The prospect of Trump changing the nation's … Continue reading Mitch McConnell, Longest Serving Senate Republican Leader, to Retire
Life and Times of Lyndon B. Johnson: What a Legacy
This month marks the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson's death in 1973 at age 64. CBS Sunday Morning's Rita Braver "looks at the legacy of the 36th President, who came into office through the tragic death of his predecessor, and whose own presidency would become one of the most consequential, yet unappreciated in … Continue reading Life and Times of Lyndon B. Johnson: What a Legacy
How the ‘Solid South’ Shifted from Reliably Democrat to Reliably Republican
Understanding 20th century Southern political history is essential to comprehending the potential for changes in voting patterns or a realignment of states in presidential and congressional elections in the 2020s. The so-called “Solid South” of White segregationists’ block voting for Democrats existed between the end of Reconstruction in 1877 to the passage of the Civil Rights Act … Continue reading How the ‘Solid South’ Shifted from Reliably Democrat to Reliably Republican
JFK Assassination Conspiracy Theorists Should Listen to This Tape
President Lyndon Johnson, following President John F. Kennedy, recorded many conversations. This tape from just six days after JFK's assassination revealed a discussion between LBJ and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover discussing what the FBI had learned about Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwmwSEZmgPg Click to Youtube page for context and comments.
Greatest Recorded Speeches in Modern American History
From 1933 when radio became a mass medium through the early 1960s when television became a mass medium through 2008 when the Internet became a mass medium, powerful speeches have transformed American politics, or have lifted the county's imagination. They do tend to contribute to the "great man theory" of history -- just because a … Continue reading Greatest Recorded Speeches in Modern American History
How the Voting Rights Act Passed in 1965, Finally Granting Full Citizenship to African Americans
After more than a century of being deprived of their voting rights, African Americans in 1965 won the right to vote when Congress passed and President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the landmark Voting Rights Act. LBJ spoke of the "harsh judgment of history" from the failure to act, the refusal to overcome "the crippling legacy … Continue reading How the Voting Rights Act Passed in 1965, Finally Granting Full Citizenship to African Americans
Historians’ Surprising Rankings of Best and Worst Presidents
Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama rank among the top 10 presidents in U.S. history, according to a CSPAN survey, as reported by The Washington Post. Donald Trump ranks among the worst. Do Reagan, Kennedy and Obama really deserve to be ranked in the top 10? Reagan "won the Cold War," a friend … Continue reading Historians’ Surprising Rankings of Best and Worst Presidents
Lady Bird Johnson, ‘Most Under-estimated First Lady of the 20th Century’
Claudia "Lady Bird" Taylor, who became the wife of Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th president of the United States, was a meticulous diarist and notetaker, which serves her reputation well in history. A 2021 biography by Julia Sweig is "a model for how we should understand the influence of First Ladies," observed historian and presidential biographer … Continue reading Lady Bird Johnson, ‘Most Under-estimated First Lady of the 20th Century’
Time Traveling Back to the 1940s, ’50s, ’60s, ’70s Now Possible
Time travel is now possible. Or at least watching home movies, news coverage, and television shows from the past is at your fingertips. I recently realized this while visiting my five-year-old grandson. His father has purchased a 70" TV. Theo easily navigates between video-conferencing with his teachers to tutorials on Youtube to home movies on … Continue reading Time Traveling Back to the 1940s, ’50s, ’60s, ’70s Now Possible
Teaching History's Slender Threads, Including 'What Ifs', Almosts, Alternatives and Turning Points 