The Shocking Death of Princess Diana

If you live for any length of time at all, there will be things that will shock you.In my case, some of these things were private matters. At this point in my life, I have known several people who have died — some were old, some were young, a few were sick and their deaths were anticipated, but most came out of the blue.I was shocked when my mother died in a flash flood in 1995. I was shocked a couple of years ago when an old friend and schoolmate...

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No False Notes

I guess one of the things that attracted me to the study of history was its little (and not so little) ironies.Sometimes the ironies are poignant. Sometimes they are humorous. Sometimes they are, well, ironic (I just can't seem to think of an appropriate synonym).Four years ago, it was ironic that Barack Obama delivered his acceptance speech at his party's convention 45 years to the day since Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.I don't think anyone believed Obama would be a failure if he did not surpass...

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Man on the Moon

"He was the best, and I will miss him terribly."Michael CollinsApollo 11 command module pilotThere may be no more vivid memory from my childhood than that of Neil Armstrong taking his first step on the moon in July 1969 and declaring it "[o]ne small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."Before his historic moon walk, I don't recall hearing Armstrong's name. I think he flew in space once before — one of the Gemini missions in the mid–'60s, I believe...

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Nixon's Convention

"It was neither to the audience of the faithful delegates at the convention, nor to the press, that Richard Nixon was talking. He was talking, as he had for months, and as he had designed his convention, to the people Out There."Theodore H. White"The Making of the President 1972"In modern times, with political conventions as meticulously scripted as they are, the proceedings are wrapped up in four days. Just like clockwork.Before television began...

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The Best and the Worst in One Night

Twenty years ago tonight, the Republican Party put on public display both its best side and its worst.Now, for quite some time, I have observed the evolution of the absorption of an incendiary term like hate in our national political discourse.In my experience, political campaigns have always been contentious. I grew up in Arkansas, about a mile from a prominent political family. The patriarch was a well–known segregationist who was not above using fiery rhetoric in his speeches, and he sought statewide office a couple of times when I was a child.But,...

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Does Ryan Put Wisconsin in Play?

Politically, Wisconsin is a fascinating place.(I'm sure it is fascinating in other ways, too. I have never lived there, but, in the interest of full disclosure, I have been a Green Bay Packers fan all my life.)It is mostly regarded as a progressive "blue" state, having produced Robert La Follette, 1924 presidential nominee of the Progressive Party. La Follette got nearly 17% of the national vote that year, the best showing for a third–party candidate between 1912 and 1992.La Follette began his political life as a Republican. Joe McCarthy, a controversial...

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Random Thoughts About Paul Ryan

The first thought I had this morning when I saw Paul Ryan being introduced as Mitt Romney's running mate was of Dan Quayle, vice president under George H.W. Bush.Nearly 24 years ago to the day, Bush presented Quayle as his presumptive running mate at the Republican National Convention in New Orleans. Bush, of course, had been Ronald Reagan's vice president for eight years and was running more or less as the Gipper's substitute.And, consequently,...

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The Arc of History

History really is a funny thing, isn't it?I've been studying history all my life, but I have only recently (well, comparatively speaking) come to realize certain things about it.I always realized those things, I guess, but in a compartmentalized sort of way. It is only recently that I have seen how subtly intricate is the link that binds them.And I can say that it does help to connect the dots. It puts things in context.See, I have always believed that history really does repeat itself. It doesn't do so precisely — well, not usually — but, at least...

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Job One

When I was growing up, I remember my father telling me he believed the best thing about America was that the right person always came along to provide the leadership the nation needed at the time it needed it.Dad isn't a classic historian. He taught religion and philosophy at one of the local colleges (there were three) in my rather small hometown so, certainly, biblical history was part of his courses. And he did study history in general to a certain extent — and on certain sub–topics that were of interest to him — but he has never been the go–to...

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Farewell, Eleanor

I was looking at the obituary section of my hometown newspaper's website, and I saw that an old friend of the family passed away this week.Her name was Eleanor Opitz, and she was one of my mother's closest friends. They were community activists together in the central Arkansas town where I grew up. They frequently supported the same political candidates and volunteered in the local campaign headquarters, giving out pamphlets and bumper stickers and...

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