G.I. Generation
Court Packing: How Franklin D. Roosevelt Reshaped the U.S. Supreme Court
TweetShareShareIn 1937 nobody was more popular than Franklin D. Roosevelt. His “New Deal”–hinged to Social Security and unemployment benefits–catapulted FDR to a 523-8 electoral landslide (60.8% of the popular vote) to a second term in 1936. Only Ronald Reagan would come close to that margin of victory in 1984 with 525-13 electoral votes (58.8% popular…
Read MoreThe Day Television Lost Control: “The Heidi Game”
TweetShareShareIt was the football game that changed the rules of broadcasting. It was the game that showed how the democratic, decentralized people’s voice could overrule the authoritative, centralized control of network brass. It was the game where a little girl in the Swiss Alps and superstar athletes toppled how we would watch live sports forever.…
Read More“Back to God”: The Spiritual Message and Power of Dwight D. Eisenhower
TweetShareShare In 1940 church attendance in America hovered at 49%. Not bad but not great either. Meanwhile our nation was gripped in a battle against communist aggression–both at home and abroad. The Soviets had fired the first shot in the “space race” and America was behind the eight-ball. On February 7, 1954, President Dwight D.…
Read MoreThe Day Teddy Made America a New Global Nation
TweetShareShare In our global culture and shrinking world–thanks to cyber communications–it’s hard to believe there was a time (120 years ago) when few people ventured more than a day’s walk (20 miles) from home. That was the significance of this day in 1906. It was the first time a U.S. President visited another country…not…
Read MoreFirst World Series: How Baseball Opened the American Century
TweetShareShareNo sport framed 20th century American culture more than baseball. In fact, America’s story–how we worked, what we believed, the battles we fought and the glory we shared–is found in the game. From the rise of a new industrialized economy to racism (against Jew, Italian, blacks) to celebrity culture, baseball was there. And every time…
Read MoreSix Months That Changed The World
TweetShareShare You could call it the Great Cultural Earthquake. Within a brief span of six months, three separate historical events happened that completely reshaped America. If you are over 62 years of age, you might remember them: 1. Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech (8/28/1963) 2. The assassination of John F. Kennedy (11/22/1963)…
Read MoreThe Model T Defined an Era
TweetShareShareThe Model T was not Henry Ford’s first car, but it might’ve been his best. Also known as the “Tin Lizzie” or “Leaping Lena” or “Jitney” or “Flivver,” the Model T was the first truly affordable automobile. In 1999, it was honored as the “most influential car of the 20th century.” Manufactured between 1908 and…
Read MoreThe Race of the First Kentucky Derby
TweetShareShareToday is the 146th anniversary of America’s most storied horse race: the Kentucky Derby. The winning jockey was Oliver Lewis aboard a horse name Aristides. We have forgotten how black Americans, in the beginning, not only ran these thoroughbreds but also cared for them. In this first running of the Kentucky Derby, thirteen out of…
Read MoreAmerica Embraces Debt
TweetShareShare“Put it on my card!” It’s the American way. We buy now, pay later. The history for card purchases is nothing new. In fact, it was first described in an Edward Bellamy utopian work titled Looking Backward (1887). Bellamy employed the term “credit card” in his work as a way for a person to spend…
Read MoreThe Hindenburg Disaster
TweetShareShare Nobody knew it at the time, but the Hindenberg disaster was the beginning of the end for air travel by blimp. For decades, the rich used blimps to travel to new locales, still somewhat faster than the automobile of that day. But as the airplane–a new air tech–found its wings, old-school blimps no longer…
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