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Guest Essayist: Tony Williams

 

A Thousand Points of Light: George H.W. Bush and the 1988 Election

George H.W. Bush had three significant obstacles to overcome if he wanted to be elected president in 1988.  The first was that Bush’s election seemed to be a referendum on eight years of the Reagan presidency.  Americans were split over that legacy with conservatives wanting to build on his economic and foreign policy achievements in the Cold War, while liberals wanted to stop a third consecutive term by a conservative Republican.  The recent Iran-Contra hearings had damaged the Reagan presidency and fed the partisanship.

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Guest Essayist: Tony Williams

Morning in America: Ronald Reagan & the 1984 Election

In his 1984 State of the Union Address, President Ronald Reagan laid out his principles and vision that had guided his first term and provided the foundation for his re-election campaign. He reminded voters that the economy was growing rapidly and was back on track after the horrific stagflation of the Carter administration. The “crisis of confidence” of the 1970s was conquered by a renewed American spirit.  Reagan was proud to report that, “There is renewed energy and optimism throughout the land.”  Indeed, he touted, “America is back, standing tall.”

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Guest Essayist: Juliette Turner

 

Richard M. Nixon: Thirty-Seventh President of the United States

Nickname: Red Hunter

Terms in Office: 1969-1973; 1973-1974

Fast Stats

  • Born January 9, 1913, in Yorba Linda, California
  • Parents: Francis Antony and Hannah Milhous Nixon
  • Died April 22, 1994, in New York, New York; age 81
  • Age upon Start of First Term: 56; Age upon Conclusion of First Term: 60
  • Age upon Start of Second Term: 60; Age upon Conclusion of Second Term: 61
  • Religious Affiliation: Quaker
  • Political Party: Republican
  • Height: 5 feet 11.5 inches
  • Vice President: Spiro T. Agnew (1969-1973) and Gerald R. Ford (1973-1974)

Bottom Line:

Most of Nixon’s successes came from international policy: his treaty with the Soviet Union, his negotiation to open trade with the People’s Republic of China, and his attempts to conclude the Vietnam War. In 174, a year into his second term, Nixon resigned to avoid the humiliation of impeachment after the infamous Watergate Scandal.

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Guest Essayist: Tony Williams

 

JFK, Catholicism, and the 1960 Election

The American Founding ushered in a “new order for the ages” that included the unprecedented and remarkable natural right of liberty of conscience.  The First Amendment protected this universal right of all humans and banned Congress from establishing an official religion.  The Constitution also banned all religious tests for national office.

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Guest Essayist: James Legee

 

The election of 1956 saw Adlai Stevenson again tasked with the unenviable duty of an electoral contest against Dwight D. Eisenhower, which, it will come as no surprise, did not end in Stevenson’s favor.  Eisenhower is well known to students of history and government, Stevenson, a one-term governor of Illinois, barely garners a mention in most books on the Cold War.  Despite his loss, Stevenson was an important bridge between the New Deal policies of the Roosevelt administration and the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson.  He articulated a progressive platform that would guide the Democratic Party for the coming decades in regards to domestic policy.  Electoral defeat is quite common for ideologues and intellectuals on both ends of the ideological spectrum, but part and parcel with his intellectual bend came a truly unique rhetoric for the role of government in society.

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Guest Essayist: Horace Cooper

 

Communism and Civil Liberties: The Election of 1952

The election of 1952 brought about the first GOP presidential victory in more than 20 years.  It came about at a time while many in America were weary from World War II, and they were very apprehensive about the potential for subversion by the Soviet Union and its radical Marxist ideology.

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Guest Essayist: Juliette Turner

 

Harry S. Truman: Thirty-Third President of the United States

Nickname: The High-Tax Harry

Terms in Office: 1945-1949; 1949-1953

Fast Stats

  • Born May 8, 1884, in Lamar, Missouri
  • Parents: John Anderson and Martha Ellen Young Truman
  • Died December 26, 1972, in Kansas City, Missouri; age 88
  • Age upon Start of First Term: 60; Age upon Conclusion of First Term: 64
  • Age upon Start of Second Term: 64; Age upon Conclusion of Second Term: 68
  • Religious Affiliation: Baptist
  • Political Party: Democrat
  • Height: 5 feet 9 inches
  • Vice President: none (1945-1949) and Alben W. Barkley (1949-1953)

Bottom Line:

Harry Truman assumed the presidency in 1945 after the death of Franklin Roosevelt. As president, he oversaw the conclusion of both the European and the Pacific front in World War II. Truman won a surprise second term, during which time he worked to stabilize the American economy to prevent a second depression and organized the American invasion of Korea during the Korean War.

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Guest Essayist: Tony Williams

 

Global War and Peace: The 1944 Election

In his 1944 State of the Union address, President Franklin D. Roosevelt offered a “Second Bill of Rights” that redefined the rights of the founding bill of rights. This radical pronouncement promised economic security and “positive rights” guaranteed by the federal government.

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Guest Essayist: Scot Faulkner

 

How Urbanism Forever Changed America

The 1928 Presidential Election remains the zenith of Republican political power.  Republican Herbert Hoover crushed Democrat Al Smith, winning 58 percent of the popular vote and 83 percent of the electoral vote. [1] The landslide was fueled by years of prosperity, affection for outgoing President Calvin Coolidge, and deep seated concerns over Smith’s Catholicism. Republicans also amassed majorities in the House and Senate not seen again until 2014.

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