My History Can Beat Up Your Politics

We almost had no Harry S. Truman as President, except that he was able to beat a tough opponent in a primary, with his typical outworking handshaking and self-driving campaign.

Head to https://www.homeaglow.com/MYHIST to get your first 3 hours of cleaning for only $19. Thanks so much to Homeaglow for sponsoring this episode!

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"It shouldn't be that hard" says our guest. Americans first recognized Indians as tribes and as nations, at least at a national level. North America's indigenous peoples had government and effective government before european arrival.

Returning to that model of self government should therefore be an answer to today's challenges. American Indian history is the topic of discussion in this interview with Professor Adam Crepelle at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. He is the author of "Becoming Nations Again."

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We discuss the Gateway Arch Memorial in St. Louis, and its improbable story, in a special Patreon episode.

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Until mid-September we will be updating this program Only on the Patreon. So consider joining (as little as $5 a month).

Join at www.myhistorycanbeatupyourpolitics.com episodes include

Clinton 1993 First Year (2 Part Series)

5-Part Chester Arthur Series (early preview)

1864 Lincoln Reelection - 4 part series, plus a bonus episode

Isolationism, FDR and Other Thoughts

North Carolina Ratifying Convention of 1787

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Stalemate breaks in a surprise operation. An apathetic America gets involved on both sides. The fighting stops, but nothing is the same after 1988.

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This terrible war, fought in the 1980's, changed everything. Both in the Middle East, and America. We tell the story in two parts.

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Ed Koch is a pretty popular guy in the 1980's. He's come to personify New York. But after 3 terms and two easy victories, he's in the fight of his political life. We talk about it, and why people are comparing it to today's events.

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A look at everything that happens after the war that leads to independence.

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We think about the American Revolution beginning in 1776. Our textbooks tell us that was the signing of the Declaration, thus the beginning, right? Not really. The events of 1774 are very important to understanding. Before we discuss the Congress that assigned Jefferson to write a Declaration and officially broke off relations with Britain, we should study the first congress that Jefferson was unable to get into.

We do that in this episode, and look at a few decisions the Congress made and didn't make which determined the history afterwards. We also look at a seemingly minor decision of...

Some Q&A from listeners.

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The 1969 occupation of the former federal prison by Native American activists was the beginning of a movement and a shift in perception that lives on today. http://www.myhistorycanbeatupyourpolitics.com/alcatraz.mp3 We discuss: Why Alcatraz? The 1973 Standoff at Wounded Knee, South Dakota Vine Deloria and “Custer Died for Your Sins” and Other Items.

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A classic government showdown battle, really the first actual two-sided and extended one finds an unpopular President gain a bit of popularity.

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Bunch of topics - we get into eos, how McKinley really felt about tariffs, versus the campaign platforms, and about all the Biden talk.

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Of course political capital was what George W. Bush was talking about, and spend it he did pushing a social security plan that failed by all accounts. However, it's failure doesn't mean that there aren't advocates who think it would have been right to do, with a better messenger. We get into it.

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That's right we have five Episodes of our Chester Arthur Series for Patrons right now - join at www.patreon.com/mhcbuyp

or www.myhistorycanbeatupyourpolitics.com

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They called them "Carter Quarters." but quarters they were not. To recognize a champion of woman's rights, the U.S. made a decision in 1979 to mint a new coin. The results - mixed at best. A few liked it, many didn't, and later it got more usage, right at the point the Feds had given up. We talk about this coin, and about a lost speech Lincoln made, and how he may have jumped out a window to avoid a vote.

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Thoughts about a few current topics.

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With Tom McMillan, we take a look at some of the assumptions of 1776 in the history books. First of all, why July 4th and Not July 2nd? And what about May 15th, when Adams got delegates to move and issued his own Declaration-like preamble? And a second look at Jefferson's authorship of the Declaration: writer or draftsman?

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From 2017, there's not much reason to edit this cast on the Emoluments Clause from that time. With a look at George Washington. And generally why, on most matters there's already rules on accepting gifts, which outside of trinkets, require a vote of Congress. But in the process, we learn a lot about George Washington who was a businessman as well as President, and how he handled the matter.

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In this episode, we talk about everything that happens after that moment when four students were killed at a protest at a college (only two were participating in the protest). Opinion wasn't universally with the slain students, the school had little interest in memorializing and the criminal justice system focused not at those who killed students but at the students themselves. We talk to Howard Ruffner, author of "Moments of Truth" and an eyewitness to the events.

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In 1985, a new Treasury Secretary had a shocking idea. Get the financial leaders of the world large economies in one gilded hotel room and don't tell the press, or the markets, until the deal is done. The Plaza Accords, as they were dubbed, has come up again in today's tariff discussions. At least one administration official would say it's what's needed today. We get into it, and why it didn't have a long term effect. But it's also true to say this - nothing worked like Plaza before or since.

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A look at pre-war America, 1941, the passage of Lend-Lease, and the sinking of four ships in the Atlantic. Robin Moor, Greer, Kearny and Ruben James, each inflicting a body blow but not yet producing war. As Americans waited for war in one ocean, it came in another.

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You know about the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the shot heard around the world, the minutemen and their trifold hats and muskets. But how much do you really know about the day's events? This episode we look at the day of fighting at Concord, when a British raiding party turned into a display of American resistance and a trial run for American independence. We look at the stories from that day, and deal with some misconceptions and discuss the impact of the American origin story.  

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If you like My History Can Beat Up Your Politics, you’ll enjoy the new season of Fiasco, a podcast from Slow Burn creator Leon Neyfakh. Leon transports listeners into the day-to-day reality of the United States’ most pivotal historical events, bringing to life the forgotten twists and turns of the past while shedding light on the present. In his new season, Iran-Contra, Leon looks at a secret war, a secret deal, and a scandal that threatened to destroy Ronald Reagan’s presidency—until it didn’t. In this preview, hear how a crew of amateur spies from Long Island hel...

Lincoln owned land in Iowa, but didn't get a chance to see it. It did remain in the family for a while. We talk about it, what happened to it, and the area around Tama county where one of his lots was. It's part of the bonus content on the Patreon. Subscribe to the Patreon for as little as $5 dollars a month and get ad-free episodes, and bonus episodes: For instance - we talk about Lincoln's land he owned in Iowa while he was President, and What happened to it, plus a half-dozen other Lincoln stories. This and our 5...

The 22nd and 24th President staked his first re-election bid opposing tariffs. There were reasons. He felt they increased prices on all goods, including non-imports, he thought they were limited in benefit to working people, and he had a third warning that is not as prominent in debates today. We discuss his 1887 Tariff Message.

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You may know his tariff, but not him. A look at the man behind the Smoot-Hawley Tariff. Reed Smoot, Senator from Utah. His history, his politics, his views on tariffs. His battles for a mix of conservative issues and progressive stands. And his battle to keep his own seat from religious intolerance.  Plus a discussion on tariffs in history and the variety of different historical figures who have positive and negative views of tariffs.  

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That's right - sign up for Patreon for our most recent episode about the 21st President, Chester Alan Arthur. In this episode, the establishment takes on the establishment, but just a little.

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Federal judges and Presidents have clashed in the past. It's rarely been cheery. As executive power exists only within the frame of law, this should be expected. There are freak events where Presidents have ignored judicial orders, but it is not the routine. We get into it, including a case of a man on a horse following U.S. soldiers, a tribe's removal, a prosecutor prosecuted, a case where the Supreme Court confirmed you must listen to the Supreme Court, and a man who kept showing up to work after he was fired.

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Samuel Tilden won the popular vote but lost the Presidency to Rutherford B. Hayes in the disputed electoral college. That is is his footnote in history. He's also known for taking down Boss Tweed. Though his actual role is disputed by people at the time. What's less known about him is the source of the family money. His family sold patent medicines. Frankly it was cannabis, and at a strength of about 10 times todays routine variety. We link politics, corruption, reform and strong medicine all together in our next episode. CANNABIS AND SAMUEL J. TILDEN coming up soon.

A bit from TR on making peace, why we should drop the Mary Todd and other stories. Ad Free for Airwave History subscribers.

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Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren's policy of Indian population removal, which lead to the Trail of Tears and thousands of deaths, was not uncontested or passively allowed at the time. Nearly half of Congress opposed it, as did petition writers all over the nation. So did one of the President's former friends and of course, most of the elected representatives of the Cherokee people. These debates happened not in modern times but then. One of Jackson's friends voted against so he would not be Ashamed in the Day of Judgment and sought the Presidency in his stead.

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What does it mean to be a Stalwart? In history, it's just a name for political machine pros seeking jobs and being corrupt. But it was more. While telling how Chester Arthur became the nation's most famous fired civil servant, we explain politics in the 19th century. The real battles then were inside the party. On our Patreon now, [www.patreon.com/mhcbuyp] as part of a 4 part series, we discuss.

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It was clunky, and a little Office Space-like. And it cut federal jobs. But then-Vice President Al Gore's "REGO" program was different in many ways from "DOGE" -The 1993 program was bipartisan, considered [cuts were identified, then made, in that order. And it was slow, and generated little protest. It did generate tension in the Clinton White House, which we get into.

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A bit about what we've got cooking at Patreon, including the first of three parts of our series on the 21st President.

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Bruce is on a tear being told that given the norm-breaking going on there is no place for history. Nothing can be farther from the truth. He outlines why, instead of history not being useful, it's actually quick history (comparing say Trump to Obama) that is still interesting, but maybe won't lock down the kind of results you want. But in the long swath of American political history, current events compare and contrast well to all sorts of things.

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From the man who answered T.R.'s phone and maybe saved his life, to the secret "Sphinx" around Woodrow Wilson, to Coolidge's surprise enforcer. We look at all sorts of Presidential assistants and aides, both official ones and non-official ones.

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This episode is all about voting in the federal capital we now call the District of Columbia. We talk about a movement to get voting rights that succeeded for a group of (then) D.C. residents 180 years ago, And about the petitions, committees, tea parties, bus trips and statements by Presidents over the years, and the reactions of Congress to them. Why Lincoln and Jefferson Davis found common ground on one issue about D.C. and neither got their wish. And about the rioting soldiers that may have spurred the whole idea of a federal city on a hill...

Now on the Patreon: Franklin Roosevelt Takes on Jimmy Walker In the sweltering summer of 1932, Franklin Delano Roosevelt found himself ensnared in a political web spun by the most notorious machine in New York politics—Tammany Hall. As governor of New York, Roosevelt was well aware of the rampant corruption within the city’s government, but his position as the Democratic nominee for president made any decisive action perilous. Removing New York City’s charismatic, scandal-plagued mayor, Jimmy Walker, would mean war with the political bosses whose support he needed. Yet ignoring Walker’s misdeeds would undermine Roosevelt’s image as a...