America
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Emancipation Proclamation
Juneteenth Emancipation Order June 19, 1865 commemorates the day General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas leading the union occupation force and bringing with them the news of the Emancipation Proclamation. Read more about the holiday of Juneteenth: “Emancipation wasn’t a gift bestowed on the slaves; it was something they took for themselves, …” New York Times Opinion Piece Washington Post Article on George Floyd Protest
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American Presidential Impeachments
Donald John Trump was impeached for the second time on January 13, 2021. Below is a summary of presidential impeachments in ascending order. In 1868 Andrew Johnson became the first U.S. president to be charged for impeachable acts by the House of Representatives. The 11 articles of impeachment outlined these acts: 1) violation of the Tenure of Office act by attempting to fire Edwin M. Stanton, the secretary of war, 2) influencing a general of the army to violate an act of congress, 3) contempt of congress. Though President Andrew Johnson was impeached, he escaped conviction and removal when the Senate acquitted him by only one vote. Source Richard Nixon,…
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The New Deal
When Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his 1932 acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination for the presidency, he said, “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people.” His plan and pledge (The New Deal) was his promise for relief programs in the wake of the horrific devastation of the Great Depression; devastation made worse by President Herbert Hoover’s lack of an effective response. Source: https://www.britannica.com/event/New-Deal Roosevelt’s domestic programs brought immediate economic relief and dramatically expanded the scope of the Federal government’s power and involvement in the domestic sphere.
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NIXON’S RESIGNATION
On August 8, 1974, President Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994), the 37th President of the United States, spoke at 9: 01 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White House. His address to the American people was heard live over radio and television as he announced his resignation as President of the United States. Nixon’s Resignation Speech Good evening. This is the 37th time I have spoken to you from this office, where so many decisions have been made that shaped the history of this Nation. Each time I have done so to discuss with you some matter that I believe affected the national interest.…
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The Rosenbergs
The trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg began on March 6, 1951 in the New York Southern District federal court overseen by Judge Irving R. Kaufman. Roy Cohn, the lawyer known for his infamous association with Senator Joseph McCarthy , and more recently with Donald Trump, was part of the prosecution that succeeded in exacting a conviction. The Rosenberg’s crime was legally termed “Conspiracy to Commit Espionage” for purportedly selling nuclear secrets to the Russians. However, the Rosenbergs were not charged with treason, as some may suppose, and could not be, because the United States was not at war with the Soviet Union. As stated: By Section 110 of Article…
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First President Gives a Warning
There is a warning contained in George Washington’s Farewell Address. In an op-ed piece in the New York Times by Thomas R. Pickering and James Stoutenberg, Feb. 18, 2018, they point out Washington’s “uncanny foresight” regarding forces that can threaten our democracy. In a quote from Washington’s address this first leader of America reveals weaknesses in our system of government that can be exploited: “A free country should inspire caution in those entrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department to encroach upon another,” he declared. Such encroachment, he said, would lead to the consolidation of…
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The Martha Mitchell Effect
Martha Beall was born on September 2, 1918 and later became Martha Beall Mitchell the wife of President Richard Nixon’s 1968 appointed Attorney General, John Mitchell. Nixon, notoriously known as a man who shifted blame away from himself and onto others, shamelessly placed the Watergate scandal onto Martha’s shoulders. In an interview with popular talk show host David Frost (September 1977 on Frost on America) Nixon said, “If it hadn‘t been for Martha Mitchell, there‘d have been no Watergate.” Martha’s claims of White House wrong doing were thought at first as unbelievable, but were eventually proven correct. On January 1, 1975, her husband John Mitchell was convicted of conspiracy, obstruction…
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History of Fact Checking in Journalism
A focus on fact-checking in American journalism was spurred on by yellow journalism and muckraking practices of the late 19th century and early years of the 20th century. The Bureau of Accuracy and Fair Play that was founded in 1913 had the assignment to “correct carelessness and to stamp out fakes and fakers”. It served to find and apologize for already in print errors rather than preventing such errors from entering into print in the first place. Time magazine was one of the earliest to use the actual term “fact checking” back in 1935 in an issue of Colliers that referred to the addition of “its researchers and fact-checkers from…
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Give Me Your John Hancock
The name John Hancock is synonymous with one’s signature. He was the first person to sign the Declaration of Independence and legend has it that he purposely made his signature large and legible, so that King George III would be sure to read it clearly. Born on January 23, 1737 in Braintree (now Quincy), Province of Massachusetts Bay he was one of the wealthiest men in the Thirteen Colonies; thanks to an inheritance from his successful mercantile uncle. Before his death on October 8, 1793, he was the 1st and 3rd Governor of Massachusetts.
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Founding Father Samuel Adams
One of the signers of The Declaration of Independence and an organizer of the Boston Tea Party, it is clear that Samuel Adams was a staunch opponent of Great Britain. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts on September 27, 1722 and President John Adams was his second cousin. He was a graduate of Harvard and went on to become a U.S. Governor, Statesman before his death on October 2, 1803.
