Historians/History

Selling Gandhi

by Joseph Kip Kosek

A New York auction house ignited international outrage recently when it announced plans to sell sandals, eyeglasses, and other personal effects

It's Time to Remember the Role of Indians in the Mexican-American War

by Brian DeLay

A hot and humid summer day in St. Louis, 1847. Church bells pealing, flags lolling in the heavy summer air, the city had assembled to toast the arrival of Capt. Alexander Doniphan and his band of Missouri volunteers

Why Do the Courts Let Presidents Get Away with War?

by Alfred W. Blumrosen and Steven M. Blumrosen

Federal Courts have never considered the June 1, 1787 understanding at the Constitutional  Convention  that  gave Congress—not the president-- authority over war. In disregarding the events of that date, the courts have distorted the meaning of the Constitution, undermined the War Powers Resolution of 1973, and upheld unconstitutional wars in Iraq and Vietnam. This same error carried forward to the proposal in 2008 by former Secretaries of State  James Baker and Warren

The Pastness of the Past

by Gordon S. Wood

In 1969 the distinguished English historian J. H. Plumb wrote a book titled The Death of the Past, which has recently been reissued in a new edition. By &qu

Ranking Presidents

Polls and surveys: What experts are saying.

Hawaii and the Lincoln Bicentennial: Remembering a Special Relationship

by James Oliver Horton

With the opening of the new year of 2009, the United States embarks on the commemoration of the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, the nation’s 16th president. Born February 12, 1809 in Hodgenville, Kentucky, Lincoln remains one of the best known and most esteemed presidents in American history. Even in Hawaii, which was an independent kingdom during his time, Lincoln was greatly respected during his presidency and remembered well into the 20th century. As part of the celebr

Hillary and the State Department Historian’s Office: A Way Forward

by Douglas Selvage

The struggle over the future of the State Department Historian’s Office (HO), my former employer, has entered a new and decisive phase.  Nothing less is at stake than the survival and timely publication of the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) documentary series, a living monument to U.S. government openness and transparency established by Abraham Lincoln in 1861. Since my previous posting on the alleged misma

HNN's Response to Harris Salomon's Complaints

by Rick Shenkman

An early version of this article was published by HNN late in the evening of Monday February 23. In the wee hours of the morning we heard from film producer Harris Salomon by both email and voicemail. He objected to certain claims made in the article about him and indicated if they weren't dropped he would take legal action against both the author and HNN. In response we decided to pull the article pending a thorough review. (The article had remained live on the website just seven hours befor

Holocaust Story Faker is No Angel

by Ken Waltzer

HNN's Response to Harris Salomon's ComplaintsHerman Rosenblat went on ABC's "Good Morning America" Wednesday February 18 and told America that he didn’t lie when he invented a story about a young girl throwing him apples at the fence of a German concentration camp during World War II.  He believed it in his mind, and he would

George Washington: Realistic Visionary

by Peter R. Henriques

President Barack Obama is clearly fascinated with President Abraham Lincoln and his leadership during perhaps the greatest crisis in American history. The President has stressed that he has done a great deal

About the C-SPAN Ratings

by Phillip Payne

C- Span just released a new presidential ranking that, for the most part, confirmed most previous rankings of presidents. There was some movement but for the most part the good presidents stayed good and the bad presidents stayed bad. Announcements of presidential rankings always attract attention, especially when they are issued at the end of one presidency and the beginning of a new one. C-Span deserves credit for creating ten categories beyond the “great, near great,” and so fo

History on the Radio (or at Least on Your Lap Top)

by Nate DiMeo

I’m a collector of moments.  There’s the one when Truman is handed the letter that tells him he has The Bomb.There’s the one when Stephen Kearny tells the people of Las Vegas, New Mexico that they now live in the United States.When the women realize the other door on the ninth floor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory is locked.  When Lewis and Clark reach the source of the Missouri, realize there’s no Northwest Passage, but call an audibl

Presidential Ratings ... A Parlor Game?

by Rick Shenkman

You often hear that rating presidents is a parlor game.  I want to take issue with that.  In a parlor game there are rules.  In cards you can count the joker or you can't.  In Charades you cannot speak a word without incurring a penalty.  In checkers and chess you must move the pieces in certain ways and not in others.Rating presidents is an altogether different type of game.  There are no rules.  Should we count what a president does in his priva

The C-SPAN Poll: An Empirical Challenge to the Participants

by Leo P. Ribuffo

I have never liked the practice of rating presidents as if they were rock records on the old American Bandstand TV show. I declined to participate when last asked—for a previous CSPAN poll in 2000. So did several other historians, most notably Alonzo Hamby, whose well reasoned critique of these surveys deserves to be read if he still has it on file and wants to make it available. Such rankings might have some merit if they were less value-laden. To its credit, CSPAN gives a list rather

Top Young Historian: Jason Opel

by Bonnie Goodman

"Really great lectures... good guy too... I'd take another class!"

Darwin’s Great Work Was ...

by Larry DeWitt

History is often made through inadvertence—or at least not quite in the linear way historians imply when they recreate that history in their narratives. The stuff of history in real time is sometimes less grand than it seems in our historical reflections—or at least, than was appreciated at the time. On the day of the occasion of Darwin’s joint bicentenary with Abraham Lincoln, I found myself reflecting not so much on Darwin’s contribution to the theory of evolution, as t

Reflections on Rude Behavior at Memorial Museums

by Bonnie J. Morris

     The first time I visited the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., I was excited to see a series of guest-book journals set out for visitors’ comments. A journal-keeper myself since age twelve, I applaud every opportunity of contributing to the public record. Most tourist sites, restaurants and inns keep a guestbook well-displayed to solicit favorable reviews about food and service. But within the pages of the Holoc

The Relevance of Benjamin Harrison's Presidency

by Charles W. Calhoun

The launching of a new administration inevitably invites attention to past presidents, not only for their impact on the country but also for

Lincoln's Mistaken Neglect of General George H. Thomas

by Benson Bobrick

Lincoln's deep humanity, innate wisdom, and determined leadership during our nation's most trying time, ensure his marmoreal greatness against all detractors, wh

The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln: An interview with John Stauffer

by David Liebers

John Stauffer is Chair of the History of American Civilization at Harvard University.  He is a leading scholar of slavery, protest and interracial relations.  Among his seven books (authored and edited)