Tag Archives: history

Republic or Empire? The True Flag

Posted on August 7, 2026 by smellincoffee

I’ve been wanting to read this title for years now after having found Stephen Kinzer’s various books on DC’s overseas adventures, while at the same time stumbling upon Mark Twain’s anti-war writings collected in Weapons of Satire. Coming of age … Continue reading →

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The Age of Eisenhower

Posted on August 4, 2026 by smellincoffee

Apologies if you are on the list and received a blank email earlier: WordPress ate my words. Fortunately I always draft off-platform. Many presidents have a defining moment – a call to arms in a speech, a decisive action,  a … Continue reading →

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The Lincoln Obsession

Posted on July 22, 2026 by smellincoffee

James L. Swanson is something of a Lincoln obsessive. How obsessive? Well, he’s considered an authority for evaluating Lincoln-related artifacts and relics, and he has quite a collection himself — including a lock of Lincoln’s hair. (He can also name-drop … Continue reading →

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The Promise and the Dream

Posted on July 9, 2026 by smellincoffee

The Promise and the Dream is inherently interesting in being a joint biography of two men who were very active public figures in the 1960s – at first as near-antagonists, then as allies in spirit, and then brother-martyrs in death.  … Continue reading →

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Warren G. Harding

Posted on July 7, 2026 by smellincoffee

What do I know about Warren Gamaliel Harding? Mm….he’s the “return to normalcy” president, he pardoned Eugene Debs whom Wilson had put in jail for daring to criticize him, there was a huge scandal in his administration, and he died … Continue reading →

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John F. Kennedy

Posted on June 27, 2026 by smellincoffee

Despite only serving most of two years, JFK has loomed large in the memories of Americans, and his brutal assassination has much to do with that. His presidency was potential cut short; hope, aborted. In John F. Kennedy, Brinkley writes: … Continue reading →

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Thirteen Days

Posted on June 26, 2026 by smellincoffee

The Cuban Missile Crisis is the closest time the Cold War came to turning into a hot war, and (presumably) a global holocaust. RFK served the President most immediately not as his attorney general, but his confidant and advisor. Thirteen … Continue reading →

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The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert F. Kennedy

Posted on June 25, 2026 by smellincoffee

David Halberstam was already a seasoned reporter when he began covering RFK’s fatal 1968 bid for the presidency. The bid itself was almost dead on arrival; RFK dragged his feet on deciding, and continually probed those around him as to … Continue reading →

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Bad Blood

Posted on June 24, 2026 by smellincoffee

When LBJ mentioned that Joe Kennedy’s son Robert would be excellent at leading something like NASA, RFK recorded this in his diary. The master of the Senate thought he had potential! Only a few years later, however, RFK and LBJ … Continue reading →

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1960: The Election that Forged Three Presidencies

Posted on June 22, 2026 by smellincoffee

As the Eisenhower administration began drawing to a close and a new decade loomed, America had a choice: stay the course, or shake things up? Although JFK would claim in his 1961 inaugural that the torch had been passed to … Continue reading →

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