History

Hillary’s health and history: She’s not the first candidate to face major medical questions

Sep 16, 2016 | Democrats, Elections, Elections - Presidential (2016), History, mic, Political Parties, Republicans

Published: Salon (September 16, 2016) After Hillary Clinton nearly collapsed at a 9/11 ceremony earlier this week, allegedly due to pneumonia and overheating, the American public is naturally concerned. On the one hand, people wonder whether Clinton is healthy enough to assume the presidency. On the other, they face the fact that ruling Clinton out for health reasons may lead to the election of...

The Age of Tangents

Aug 30, 2016 | History, mic

Published: The Good Men Project (August 30, 2016) When I wrote this article on my personal blog almost six years ago, I had no idea that it would remain so prescient today. There is very little that I would change from that post, so I’m publishing it unchanged here. John Kenneth Galbraith, an influential liberal economist who served under four Democratic presidents, once made this observation...

The biggest danger of a Trump victory in November is not a Trump presidency; it’s what comes next

Aug 5, 2016 | Elections, Elections - Presidential (2016), History, mic

Published: Fusion (August 5, 2016) When Rep. Richard Hanna became the first sitting Republican congressman to endorse Hillary Clinton instead of Donald Trump, he observed that his party had “largely alienated women, Hispanics, the LGBT community, young voters and many others in general.” While this comment wasn’t the focus of his editorial, it spoke to a larger truth about the significance of...

Avoiding the mistakes of conventions past: Can the parties steer clear of these historical pitfalls?

Jul 16, 2016 | Democrats, Elections, Elections - Presidential (2016), History, mic, Political Parties, Republicans

Published: Salon (July 16, 2016) In anticipation of the upcoming Democratic and Republican conventions later this month, it seems appropriate to brace ourselves for something historic. After all, Hillary Clinton is the first woman ever to be nominated by a major party, as well as a traditionally polarizing figure who only recently managed to win the endorsement of her chief rival, Bernie...

America has had a tyrant like Trump before: We fought a revolution to get rid of him

Jul 4, 2016 | Civil Liberties, Elections, Elections - Presidential (2016), History, Immigration, Military-Industrial Complex/Security State

Published: Salon (July 4, 2016) As America celebrates its 240th anniversary, the Donald Trump campaign confronts us with the vivid possibility that our democracy could look vastly different if he’s elected. No, I’m not implying that Trump is another Adolf Hitler. You don’t need to be a latter-day Fuehrer to hold positions antithetical to the spirit of the Declaration of Independence. That said,...

Grover Cleveland and the Current Political Climate

Jul 2, 2016 | History, mic

Published: The Good Men Project (July 2, 2016) The context was the election of 1892. Cleveland had served a single term as president from 1885 to 1889, but had been defeated in his first re-election bid by former Senator Benjamin Harrison of Indiana. Normally that would have marked the end of Cleveland's presidential career, as it had for the previous three presidents who had sought a second...

Why Hillary should tap into ’90s nostalgia

Jun 11, 2016 | Democrats, Economic Policy, Elections, Elections - Presidential (2016), History, mic, Political Parties

Published: Salon (June 11, 2016) Now that Hillary Clinton is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, I have a congratulatory observation for her. When I talk to strangers about politics these days, the subject inevitably turns to the 2016 presidential election. Most of them have strong feelings one way or the other about Donald Trump, but unless they’re a partisan Democrat or simply...

Lessons from “All the Way”: 3 big take-aways from LBJ’s victories that progressives can’t afford to ignore

May 26, 2016 | Arts and Entertainment, Elections, Elections - Presidential (2016), History, mic, Race and Racism

Published: Salon (May 23, 2016) When HBO announced in 2014 that it was going to release a cinematic adaptation of “All the Way,” Robert Schenkkan’s Tony Award-winning play about President Lyndon Johnson’s successful mission to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it’s unlikely they knew how prescient their film would be. The politics of the 1964 election are uncannily similar to those of 2016:...

When America Was Almost Vespucia

May 7, 2016 | History, mic, Satirical Essays

Published: The Good Men Project (May 7, 2016) Did you know that America was almost called Vespucia? I'm not referring to the United States, by the way. More than five hundred years, the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci determined that the continent "discovered" by Christopher Columbus in 1492 was not, in fact, Asia. This simple realization was apparently enough to warrant naming two continents...

Why Andrew Jackson never should have been on the $20 to begin with

Apr 21, 2016 | Foreign Policy, History, mic, Race and Racism

Published: Salon (April 21, 2016) It’s official: Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew has announced that abolitionist Harriet Tubman will replace President Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill. And, while Jackson will still reportedly remain on the reverse side of the bill, the move is nonetheless a momentous one. Naturally there are many people who will complain about this decision, but since Tubman’s...

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