Washington’s “Confession”

I hope we all know that the cherry tree story is a legend, made up by a pseudobiographer but chiseled into American folklore.
But there is a true story about a young George Washington that most of us never hear. It is the story of his first actual military experience and his signing of a “murder confession.” It is not only more interesting than the cherry tree story but a lot more revealing.

Don’t Know Much About George Washington

A Presidential Library

The recent success of such award-winning and bestselling presidential biographies as American Lion by Jon Meacham, John Adams by David McCullough as well as Doris Kearns Goodwin’s portrait of Lincoln’s Cabinet, Team of Rivals, are all excellent reminders of our fascination with the Presidency. And a tribute to the value of great historians.
With Presidents [...]

“Tea Bagging” through History

A news report that a “Tea Party” convention planned for February shows signs of unraveling reminds me of another group of “tea baggers” from American History. They had also unraveled in late January. But the year was 1778. It began as a populist uprising against –surprise, surprise—the bankers and lawyers who were making the rules back then.

Don’t Know Much About Benedict Arnold

Why is there a statue of Benedict Arnold’s boot?
Years ago, I was asked that question on a radio call-in show and honestly did not know the answer. Nor was I even aware at the time there was such a statue. But there it is — part of the Saratoga National Park in Saratoga, New York. [...]

A Very Dignified Slave Owner

Writing on the op-ed pages of the New York Times on July 7, 2009, David Brooks clearly touched a nerve. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/opinion/07brooks.html
His column, entitled “In Search of Dignity,” topped the Times list of most emailed articles and drew hundreds on online comments, many of them laudatory. Brooks used the column to celebrate the good manners, civility [...]