Today, three days before Joe Biden takes office, is a good time to take a moment to reflect on one of the more shameful episodes in American foreign policy-the overthrow of the sovereign government of Hawaii on January 17, 1893. To mark that anniversary, the #stampoftheday is a 3-cent stamp, issued in October 1937, that […]
Overthrowing the Queen of Hawaii Read More »
As the United States lurches towards the end of the Trump Administration, I’m looking forward to a time when our leaders again think about working with the leaders of other countries, particularly other democracies, to advance shared goals. Today’s #stampoftheday – a 2-cent “Nations United for Victory” stamp issued on January 14, 1943 – highlights
Nations United for Victory Read More »
Of necessity, we distill our stories to the simplest facts. But when we do so we sometimes remove all the things that not only make them worth telling but also obscure the lessons that might be embedded within them. Consider, for example, Joshua Humphreys (who I’m writing about because he died on January 12, 1838).
Learning from Joshua Humphrey, Who Designed the USS Constitution Read More »
If you’re going to wrestle with the weight of American history, Sam Houston is a good place to start. The namesake of the nation’s fourth most populous city, Houston – who is pictured on today’s #stampoftheday, a 5-cent stamp issued on January 10, 1964 – was a key leaders in the decades before the Civil
Sam Houston: A Texas-Sized Hero with Texas-Sized Flaws Read More »
It is sobering to realize that when he gave the nation’s first-ever State of the Union address on January 8, 1790, George Washington offered 1,089 words, about as many as I used yesterday to discuss Millard Fillmore, the remarkably undistinguished 13th president of the United States. To honor his brevity and wisdom, today’s #stampoftheday is
The Succinct Eloquence of George Washington Read More »
Today’s #stampoftheday tells the story of an ambitious, xenophobic New Yorker connected with popular conspiracy theories who unexpectedly became president and then turns out to be one of the worst presidents in US history. The president in question is Millard Fillmore, who was born on January 7, 1800 and is pictured on a 13-cent stamp
Millard Fillmore and the Race to Be America’s Worst President Read More »
Today, when violent right-wing fascists have attacked the US Capital, I find it heartening to see that on January 6, 1941, at a time when the Nazis and other fascists controlled most of Europe, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, used his State of the Union address to make a full-throated defense of democracy and freedom. Given
This is What a President Sounds Like: Franklin Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms Speech Read More »
In the fall of 2015 and spring of 2016, when I regularly showered Harvard’s Hemenway Gymnasium after biking to work, I thought surprisingly often about Senator Ted Cruz, who graduated from Harvard Law School, which surrounds three side of the gym. For some reason, I was obsessed by the thought that Cruz, a particularly distasteful
Alaska Became a State and Lisa Murkowski Became a Statewoman Read More »
My family moved to Summit, New Jersey in the summer of 1963. Six years later, Summit, celebrated the 100th anniversary of its incorporation as a separate township. Today’s #stampoftheday, which isn’t a stamp, marks that celebration with a special envelope that was cancelled by the post office in Summit on January 1, 1969. While the
Summit, NJ Was the Tops Except Sometimes It Wasn’t Read More »
“I need not tell you that the world situation is very serious,” George C. Marshall said at the start of a short remarks, given at Harvard’s commencement in 1947. After laying out the dire situation in Europe, Marshall, a former general then serving as US Secretary of State, discussed the broad outlines of a massive
Mr. We Could Use a Man Like Geoge Marshall Again Read More »