VIDEO: The Preamble Defines Our Mission
Schoolchildren are made to recite the Preamble. They may not fully understand what they’re saying, but the founders wanted us to comprehend what they bled for on the battlefield, and then debated at the conference table, for a decade and a half. The Constitution’s Preamble sets America’s national purpose. It’s our mission, handed down from our forefathers,….Read more
VIDEO: Are Confederate Monuments Preserving History or Condoning Oppression?
Elected officials have recently had to make some hard choices about Confederate monuments in their cities, such as the enormous Robert E. Lee statue in New Orleans. Protesters say it’s whitewashing history and political correctness run amok. Robert E. Lee was a brilliant general and more of a loyalist to his state of Virginia than a defender of slavery….Read more
America First, America Alone?
What does “America first” mean for America’s allies and for our not so friendly relationships around the world? America has typically tried to keep its friends close, and its enemies –well, somewhat close. The U.S. needs to protect its interests around the world. And America strives to use its military might and economic power wisely to help those in need.….Read more
Impeachment is Not Guilt: Here’s What It Does Mean
America has impeached exactly two presidents, and removed neither from office. Wait a second. Doesn’t impeachment mean that the president lost his (eventually her) job? When the founders designed the Constitution in 1787, they wanted a government strong enough to keep order. But not so strong that it could abuse its citizenry. Call it Madison’s Dilemma, because….Read more
Five Lessons Learned Since the Korean War (VIDEO)
Daniel Boorstin, former librarian of Congress, observed that making decisions today without a knowledge of a problem’s history is like trying to plant cut flowers. It just doesn’t work. The North Korean leader has repeatedly experimented with nuclear weapons and missile systems and has threatened the US. Must we destroy North Korean nukes in a….Read more
Could Andrew Jackson Have Prevented The Civil War?
Could President Andrew Jackson have prevented the Civil War? President Trump made this claim in an interview last week. Trump himself has been compared to Jackson in this space and elsewhere. Both were fighting an entrenched Washington, DC elite. Here are the president’s words: “I mean had Andrew Jackson been a little later you wouldn’t have had the Civil War.….Read more
What’s the Road to True Freedom? (VIDEO)
Imagine yourself a high school counselor. One of your advisees approaches you and says, “Ms. C, I want to drop out of school. Why do I have to read Shakespeare sonnets anyway, or do geometry problems? They’re useless to me. I fix carburetors, and I want to start my own auto repair shop. Will you sign my withdrawal form?”….Read more
Who Owns The Schools?
Think of something as simple as a day at the beach. Drive along the Jersey Shore and you’ll see two kinds of beaches, public and private. You’ll see two extremes at each end. Private beaches, meaning members only, are well-maintained and uncrowded; they are exclusive to a few. On the other hand, the public beaches can have problems….Read more
VIDEO: 5 Defining Doctrines in Presidential History
It all started with the Monroe Doctrine in 1823, when the new American nation began to throw its weight around and flex some muscle in the world. The History Dr looks at five enormously influential foreign policy doctrines by five different presidents, to see how they have shaped world history. A doctrine is simply a statement of goals that America….Read more
Special Prosecutor or Independent Counsel?
Should Congress revive the Office of the Independent Counsel, that special cop who investigates executive branch wrongdoing? With allegations of collusion between Trump’s team and Kremlin election tampering, the debate has gotten a lot of ink (or pixels). But the History Doctor won’t speculate on the current situation. Let’s leave it to others to establish the facts. The….Read more