Category: The Historical Muse

Thoughts on history and the historical profession. Clio is the muse of history–this category title is a play on that concept.

Our Historical Memory . . . or Lack Thereof

  

It was 243 years ago today that the Continental Congress approved the wording of the Declaration of Independence. Although Thomas Jefferson drafted the document, there was a committee that was responsible for sending it to the floor of the Congress. Two of those committee members were John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. Jefferson later said that he didn’t write anything original, that he was merely putting into words the consensus of the era concerning rights that come from God and the… Read more »

Is This the Reagan Approach?

  

I’m all for presidents trying to reach out and talk with leaders of other countries, even when they’re not our friends. After all, that was a real factor in the fall of the Soviet Union. Ronald Reagan tried to communicate with, in order—Brehznev, Andropov, and Chernenko—but they all rebuffed him. Then they died. He finally found someone he could talk to and arranged a time when they could sit down together. Reagan developed a genuine relationship with Gorbachev, but it… Read more »

D-Day, Rangers, & Reagan

  

June 6–the 75th anniversary of Operation Overlord, better known as D-Day–the beginning of the liberation of Europe from the Nazis. I do my best in my American history survey course to impress on the students the sacrifices made that day. The current generation has so little sense of history and the impact it still makes on us now. My duty as a professor is to help them see that connection. They have freedom, but it has been bought at a… Read more »

American Wars: A Retrospective

  

I could have just relaxed today, put up a photo of Memorial Day, and said nothing more. But I thought instead this might be a good opportunity to provide some ponderings on the various wars in which America got involved. Perhaps this is the best way to remember those who sacrificed the most for us all. From the American Revolution to the various manifestations of the War on Terror, here is an abbreviated attempt to offer some thoughts on the… Read more »

This Is the Most Important Issue

  

Most who have read any C. S. Lewis at all are familiar with his oft-quoted Liar-Lunatic-God “trilemma” in Mere Christianity. It exposes the false notion that Jesus can be a great moral teacher while at the same claiming to be God. In a short essay entitled “What Are We to Make of Jesus Christ,” found in God in the Dock, Lewis addresses that subject again, but from a different angle. He begins by showing that Jesus does offer “clear, definite… Read more »

When Rule of Law Prevails

  

The release of the Mueller Report has had the predicted result: very few partisans have been convinced to set aside their preconceived notions about either the guilt or innocence of Donald Trump with respect to contacts with Russians during the presidential campaign or his actions to obstruct justice in the investigation. What is most dismaying to me, though, is that partisans for Trump have rarely looked at key sections of the Mueller Report. Some won’t because they consider Mueller to… Read more »

Radio Days: A Retrospective (Part 2)

  

Yesterday, I talked about some lessons I learned while working as a radio announcer right after college. One lesson I left for today. It has to do with dealing with people. Although I didn’t have a call-in program, there were some individuals who had the phone number for the radio station because they had been calling announcers there for a number of years to request certain songs be played. I inherited that tradition. The problem was that I was introducing… Read more »