Recently Published

The IRS: The Most Secretive Institution in the Federal Government

by Shelley Davis Bishop

For nearly eight years, I worked for the IRS. I did not process tax returns. In fact, I rarely saw tax returns. My job was unique for the tax collector. I was one of nearly 10,000 employees at the headquarters of the IRS in Washington D.C. , but I was the only one with the job title of historian. I turned out to be not only the first, but also the last, official IRS historian! In the 1990s, my revelations of massive document destruction at the IRS, essentially the wholesale loss of the

Why Brown Had Such an Impact

by Michael J. Klarman

Brown v. Board of Education is often identified as the most important Supreme Court decision of the twentieth century, but the precise way in which it mattered is not widely appreciated. Brown helped ensure that when sit-ins, freedom rides, and other civil rights demonstrations came to the South in the 1960s, they would be met with violence. And that fact proved an incomparable boon to the civil rights movement. In the wake of Brown, politicians in Southern

Did You Know the U.S. Was Once Considered a Rogue Nation?

by Robert E. May

Because we forget that the United States was once considered a rogue nation exporting terrorism, the nation's senior officials risk making serious policy mistakes today. The United States a rogue nation? Though it may be hard to believe, before the Civil War, people in Latin America, Western Europe, and even the faraway Hawaiian kingdom were convinced that the United States had become a base for terrorists.No one then actually used the term "terrorism" for unautho

Why The Doctrine of Nuclear Deterrence Is Morally Offensive

by Chris Pettit

A recent New York Times article entitled "Addressing the Inevitable" addressed the United States government's revival of "fallout analysis," that is, the forensic science of determining the materials used in a nuclear weapon and where those materials were manufactured, all after detonation of the weapon has already occurred. While the thought of a nuclear weapon being detonated anywhere on Earth is horrifying, and determining its origin and deton

Why the History Channel Had to Apologize for the Documentary that Blamed LBJ for JFK's Murder

by Stanley I. Kutler

LBJ's family and friends heatedly protested the program.

Column: Revisiting Hiroshima (Letters from Japan, Part 4)

by William Thompson

This spring Mr. Thompson is a visiting professor at Osaka University of Commerce. This is the fourth of his"Letters from Japan." I tell people here that all Americans should visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Not to feel overwhelming guilt or overwhelming remorse, but simply to kick the jag of "We're number one." And also to get off this "Bosnia Game" of pretending that war can be easy, and that we can have wars without people being hurt…and, that i

Column: Letters from Japan (Part 3)

by William Thompson

This spring Mr. Thompson is a visiting professor at Osaka University of Commerce. This is the second of his three letters. Click here to read his first letter. Click here to read his second. Last week I had two invitations. I was invited to be the guest speaker in an English language class, and I was invited for a weekend car tour of Nara and Kyoto. The English class was held at Osak

Column: Letters from Japan (Part 2)

by William Thompson

Mr. Thompson is traveling in Japan this spring. This is the second of his two letters. Click here to read his first letter.Religion has been a part of Japanese life from the earliest folk eras thousands of years ago. Folk practices then blended with later religions. Buddhism came to Japan in the sixth century and established a dominant hold on the people. However, Shinto religion soon emerged and incorporated a blend of Buddhist ideas as

Column: Letters from Japan (Part 1)

by William Thompson

 This Spring I have been granted a sabbatical leave from the University of Nevada,Las Vegas. I have chosen to study a broad topic--gambling in Asia and gambling by Asian people. My central question is: do Asians gamble more, and if so, why? The question has led me to a consideration of Eastern religions. Also as I am starting my sabbatical travels in Japan, I am seeking to observe matters Japanese and of historical relevance re Japan and the U.S. and perhaps even relevant

Column: Why Do We Have to Keep Dredging Up Old Stuff About Hiroshima?

by William Thompson

MY TRUTHS ABOUT THE BOMB1. What did they expect: IT'S CALLED WAR! It ain't beanbag!2. THEY started it.3. They deserved PAYBACK for their"sneaky" little attack onPearl Harbor.4. You better believe it. THEY WOULD HAVE DONE IT TO US if they had had the chance.5. What's their beef. MORE DIED IN the fire bombings of DRESDEN and TOKYO. Why do they think Hiroshima and Nagasaki are so special?6. The JAPANESE ATROC

The British JFK Producer Who Brought Shame on the History Channel

by Max Holland

The first allegation in print that Lyndon Johnson was not merely a bystander or witness in Dealey Plaza, but a perpetrator and the chief beneficiary of President Kennedy’s assassination, dates back to 1966.On January 31st of that year, a well-known New York dealer in autographs named Charles Hamilton put on sale a letter allegedly written by Jack Ruby.The sales catalog described the letter this way:

Historians Vs. Reality

by Ronald Radosh

Gathered in Boston last weekend for the annual conference of the Organization of American Historians (OAH), my profession just proved itself to be out of touch with reality. The OAH Executive Board approved a resolution calling for a committee of historians to investigate supposed repression against historians who have been victimized because of their anti-war and anti-Bush views. The motion came from a group of left-wing activists who call

Just Like in the Bad Old Days, the Government Is Cracking Down on Dissent

by Murray Polner

Are we returning to the bad old days of spying on peaceful Americans? In February, the most ominous challenge to political freedom from the administration of George W. Bush occurred in Des Moines, Iowa, when federal prosecutors issued grand jury subpoenas to Drake University, a private institution; the student chapter of the National Lawyers Guild; and four members of pacifist groups who had attended on university grounds a National Lawyers Guild meeting, "Stop the Occu

Benny Morris's Lies About My Book

by Ilan Pappe

In March the New Republic published Benny Morris's harsh review of Illan Pappe's new book, A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples. Mr. Pappe wrote a response and asked TNR to publish it. TNR declined. His response appears below. Benny Morris tells his readers in the

Why Americans May Grow Impatient with the War in Iraq

by H.W. Brands

The March issue of Presidential Studies Quarterly includes a series of articles placing presidential decisions for war in historical context. Following is the essay Mr. Brands wrote to introduce the series.How do presidents decide for war? In the March issue of Presidential Studies Quarterly, editor George Edwards and I adopted a historical approach, asking experts on various past wars to analyze the decision-m

Gunboat Diplomacy Worked in Japan 150 Years Ago ... But Today?

by Joseph M. Henning

The president of the United States dispatches a heavily armed military force to a despotic country, described by the State Department as “the common enemy of mankind.” With advanced technology and weaponry, the expedition plans to shock and awe its adversary into submission, and, in doing so, to expand American access to important energy resources. Does this sound familiar? It should if you're thinking of the year 1853. With nine ships, including three steam frigates, 1,50

Do War Presidents Do Better at the Polls?

by David Greenberg

Though major combat is over in Iraq and Afghanistan, George W. Bush likes to describe himself as a"war president." No doubt that's partly because he and his campaign team think that such an image will help him get re-elected. When we recall Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War or Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II, we impart to them a heroic aura, imagining Americans muting political rivalries and rallying behind the president and the war at hand. Few citizens, we suppose, could have opp

My Response to Steers & Chaconas and McPherson

by Ray Neff

My Response to Steers & Chaconas and McPherson

by Ray Neff

My Response to Steers & Chaconas and McPherson

by Ray Neff