Historians/History

Legislation Introduced to Investigate the Internment of Japanese Latin Americans

by John Elrick

On January 24, 2007, nearly sixty-five years after Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the internment of 120,000 US citizens of Japanese, German and Italian ancestry, Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) reintroduced legislation to investigate a less widely known aspect of the history of World War II: the forced relocation and detainment of over two thousand Latin Americans of Japanese descent. “This is a story about the US government’s arm reaching across international borders, into a p

Was Churchill a Friend of the Jews and Zionism?

by Daniel Mandel

When I recently published a piece debunking the recent crop of revisionism (including his attitude to Jews) surrounding Winston Churchill in the American Spectator, a number of familiar and important questions came in from readers expressing doubt as to Churchill's partiality for Zionism and Jews. Their objections can be split into three:   1. Since Churchill in 1922 excised Transjordan from Palestin

How Ronald Reagan Reinvented Religion

by John Patrick Diggins

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISM made its move into twentieth century American politics at just about the same time as Ronald Reagan left the governorship of California in 1975. The Reverend Jerry Falwell, warning the country that"Satan had mobilized his forces to destroy America," mobilized older conservatives called the Moral Majority to rescue the country from spiritual jeopardy. In 1988, the Reverend Pat Robertson set up the Christian Coalition. The followers of these groups all worked strenuously t

The Kennedy Brothers and Civil Rights

by Sheldon M. Stern

In The Bystander: John F. Kennedy and the Struggle for Black Equality, Basic Books, 2006, Nick Bryant concludes that JFK was too cautious and hesitant on civil rights.

A Funeral Oration for American Heritage

by Bernard A. Weisberger

Allow me to shed a sentimental senior tear or two for the dear, departed print version of American Heritage,  executed by Forbes, Inc., for the crime of attracting only one third of a million (350,000 to be exact) regular readers.  Whether the online edition is granted a full pardon or merely a reprieve seems unclear at this moment.  It's all rather personal with me.  I'm one of the earliest cont

Rediscovering American Conservatism Again

by Leo P. Ribuffo

Last fall my friend Leila Zenderland from Cal State Fullerton asked if I was participating in the 2007 AHA convention. Yes, I replied, I had organized a session called “The Rediscovery of American Conservation.” “Don’t you do that every year?” Leila responded. No, I answered, the AHA only lets me do it every other year. That session prompted HNN’s request for this op ed, along with the assurance that I could repeat what I have written.

Captain John Smith: Historian or Liar?

by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler

They’re still taking shots at Captain John Smith, 400 years after that sturdy English yeoman’s son arrived at Chesapeake Bay while facing a death sentence. When Christopher Newport, the commander of the 1607 expedition that would found Jamestown, announced that Smith’s name was on a sealed list of seven council members appointed to govern the colony, Smith escaped the gallows--neither the first nor the last time he would do so. The latest attack on Smith comes from a y

Why Another Book on Hiroshima?

by Robert James Maddox

The use of atomic bombs against Japan in August 1945 has remained one of the most controversial issues in American history.  The conventional view is that these weapons were used to end a bloody war that would have become far bloodier if the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands had proven necessary.  Individuals who have become known as “Hiroshima Revisionists” have dismissed this explanation as a post-war myth concoc

Hitler's Carmaker: From War Profiteering to Undermining Mass Transit (Part 3)

by Edwin Black

Click here for Part 1. And click here for Part 2. And here for Part 3. And here for Part 4.During the late 1930s, Hitler’s persecution of Jews was building to a frenzy even as fears of a war escalated. Nevertheless, General Motors’ German automotive subsidiary, Ope

Hitler's Carmaker: As the Nazis Amassed Power, What Did GM Know and When? (Part 2)

by Edwin Black

Click here for Part 1. And click here for Part 2. And here for Part 3. And here for Part 4.By the spring of 1933, the world was beginning to learn about the lawlessness and savagery of the Nazi regime, and the Reich’s determination to crush its Jewish community and threa

Hitler's Carmaker: The Inside Story of How General Motors Helped Mobilize the Third Reich (Part 1)

by Edwin Black

Click here for Part 2. And here for Part 3. And here for Part 4.James D. Mooney thrust his arm diagonally, watching its reflection in his hotel suite mirror. Not quite right. He tried once again. Still not right. Was it too stiff? Too slanted? Should his palm stretch perpendicular to the ceiling; should his arm bend at a

Hitler's Carmaker: How Will Posterity Remember General Motors' Conduct? (Part 4)

by Edwin Black

Click here for Part 1. And click here for Part 2. And here for Part 3.The epilogue of the tumultuous saga of General Motors during the New Deal and Nazi era is still being written. In 1974, a generation after World War II, the company’s controversial history was resurrected by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committ

Survivors Outraged at Holocaust Museum over Bad Arolsen

by Edwin Black

Holocaust survivors from coast to coast have exploded with unprecedented public vitriol against the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum generally, as well and its plans to prohibit immediate offsite electronic access to the secret records of the International Tracing Service at Bad Arolsen. Many in the Holocaust and second generation community have long harbored quiet seething resentment against the Museum’s aggressive fund-raising tactics, denial of Sephardic victimization, refu

The Two Historians Who Are Playing a Key Role in "The Surge"

by John Elrick

It has been nearly four months since the Bush administration announced its latest strategy for the war in Iraq. The centerpiece of the "new way forward" is a strengthened US ground presence. Two historians, Frederick Kagan and H.R. McMaster, have emerged as important supporters of the troop surge. Kagan wrote the blueprint for  “the surge”  and McMaster is serving as a top military advisor in Iraq.  Both men are central figures in the success of the

The Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy and the Girl in the Polka Dot Dress

by Mel Ayton

For the past forty years the issue of conspiracy in the Robert Kennedy assassination has continued to haunt America.

Yale's Hidden, then Disappearing Portrait

by Alfred L. Brophy

Close on the heels of Brown University's comprehensive report on its connections to slavery and the Virginia House of Delegate's apology for its role in slavery, Yale University announced in February that it will take down a portrait of Elihu Yale. The portrait depicts a young slave (or perhaps it is a young Indian servant) wearing a metal collar, waiting on the great

Tulsa Still Hasn't Faced the Truth About the Race Riot of 1921

by John Hope Franklin

Following is the testimony Mr. Franklin gave on April 24, 2007 before the House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, which is considering the Tulsa Greenwood Riot Accountability Act of 2007. The Act would extend the statute of limitations to allow the victims of the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 to sue for damages.I am an historian currently serving as the James B. Duke Professor of His

Who's Distorting History? Me or David Horowitz? You Decide.

by James W. Loewen

Editor's Note: A response by David Horowitz appears below.Having been left off David Horowitz's academic prom card of The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America, I felt jilted, until I read his "Breaking the Law at Penn State" (later retitled "Breaking the Rules at Penn State") at his e-magazine, FrontPageMag.com, 1/22/2007.  Earlier Horowitz had prodded the Pennsylvania House to set up a “co

What’s Wrong with the New Conservative History?

by Donald T. Critchlow

In the decade since Alan Brinkley and Leo Ribuffo issued their call for scholars to examine the history of conservatism,  a plethora of monographs have appeared exploring the history of the Right in America.  

Perfect Spy: The Incredible Double Life of Pham Xuan

by Larry Berman

Why did one of the great spies of our century allow me to be his American biographer?  During the Vietnam War, Pham Xuan An was a highly respected Time Magazine reporter who turned out to be a spy for the North Vietnamese. He was a trusted source for the era’s best known reporters; his circle extended well beyond journalism to include the CIA’s Lou Conein, Edward Lansdale and William Colby. He was friends with the most notable South Vietnamese politicians and