What did George W. Bush’s evangelical base look like in 2004? Episode 10: “Karl Rove’s Christian Right” dropped last night. Subscribers to Current at the Longshore level and above receive this narrative history podcast. Here is a teaser: Listen to Episodes 0, 1, […]
George W. Bush
Episode 7: September 11th and the End of Compassionate Conservatism
What would evangelical politics be like today if the attacks on 9-11-01 never happened? Episode 7: “September 11th and the End of Compassionate Conservatism” dropped last night. Subscribers to Current at the Longshore level and above receive this narrative history podcast. Here is […]
Episode 6: “Jesus is My Favorite Philosopher”
In 2000, the Christian Right turned to George W. Bush Episode 6: “The Christian Right” dropped last night. Subscribers to Current at the Longshore level and above receive this brand new narrative history podcast. Here is a teaser: Listen to Episodes 0, 1, […]
Dean of the Washington National Cathedral apologizes for inviting Max Lucado to preach. Lucado responds.
Yesterday I wrote about Dean Randolph Hollerith’s decision to invite evangelical writer and speaker Max Lucado to preach “at” the Washington National Cathedral. LGBTQ Episcopalians were not happy about the invitation because Lucado holds traditional views on marriage and said […]
What does Donald Trump really think about the court evangelicals?
Earlier this month we did a post about Trump allegedly calling evangelical beliefs “bulls–t.” Many court evangelicals rejected this story because it came from former Trump fixer Michael Cohen, a convicted criminal. But now, thanks to the reporting of McKay […]
Photo of the Day
May 31, 2012: United States President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama host a lunch for members of the Bush family in the Red Room of the White House on 31 May 2012. Seated clockwise from the President are: former First Lady Barbara Bush, Bucky […]
George W. Bush on the Coronavirus Pandemic
Watch: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6lxKOfn8_E&w=560&h=315] And our current president responds: .@PeteHegseth “Oh bye the way, I appreciate the message from former President Bush, but where was he during Impeachment calling for putting partisanship aside.” @foxandfriends He was nowhere to be found in […]
How a History Book May Have Saved Some Lives in This Pandemic
This post is not a defense of Donald Trump’s handling of our current pandemic. But thanks to George W. Bush and his love of history, we at least had SOMETHING in place. I have not read John Barry‘s 2004 book […]
Conservative Website to George Bush and Barack Obama: HELP US!
A.B. Stoddard is an Associate Editor at Real Clear Politics. She is also a regular commentator on Fox News. Real Clear Politics, according to its Wikipedia page, is a “conservative news site and polling data aggregator.” Here is a taste […]
Court Evangelical Tony Perkins: “Donald Trump is the best president Christians have ever had.”
Of all the court evangelicals, Tony Perkins talks the most about the contractual relationship between Donald Trump and conservative evangelical Christians. Perkins supported Ted Cruz in the 2016 GOP primaries, but now he is all-in for Trump. But Perkins has […]
The George W. Bush–Michelle Obama Mint Hand-Off
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7P7AB7dEFY&w=560&h=315] Context Here is the original: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxi7VNauIRE&w=560&h=315]
How Liberals Treated John McCain
During John McCain’s funeral service, Barack Obama and George W. Bush made veiled attacks on Donald Trump for the current president’s failure to promote civil discourse across political parties. But University of Pennsylvania historian Jonathan Zimmerman argues that liberals are also to […]
Remembering John McCain
Here are some things I remember about John McCain (1936-2018). The “Straight Talk Express” was a breath of fresh-air in 2000. McCain was strongly critical of the Christian Right approach to politics. He blasted George W. Bush for visiting Bob Jones University […]
Trump Will Create a New Faith-Based Initiative
George W. Bush instituted the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Barack Obama continued the initiative with the Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Now Donald Trump is getting into the act. According to Adelle Banks’s reporting at Religion News […]
Who Do Evangelicals Trust on Politics?
A recent poll has found that almost fifty percent of evangelicals say a Donald Trump recommendation would make them more likely to vote for a candidate. Meanwhile, fifty-four percent of evangelicals said a Hillary Clinton endorsement would make them less […]
Linker: Evangelicals are “Dreaming Small”
American evangelicals, according to Damon Linker at The Week, are on the defensive. Here is a taste of his piece “The Dwindling Ambition of the Religious Right“: The conservative evangelical Protestants who have long been the foot soldiers of the religious right […]
Court Evangelical: An “Axis of Evil” is Destroying the Trump Presidency
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlTDPq8t62E&w=560&h=315] As many of you know, President George W. Bush used the phrase “axis of evil” in his 2002 State of the Union Address to describe foreign governments sponsoring terrorism and seeking to build nuclear arsenals. Bush applied the […]
Michael Kazin on the Fate of Presidents Who Didn’t Win a Majority of the Popular Vote
I have said it many times here at The Way of Improvement Leads Home: historians cannot predict the future. But they can provide much needed context. That is what Michael Kazin of Georgetown University does in his recent Washington Post op-ed “No […]
Image of the Day
W: “Bono is the real deal”
U2 singer Bono stopped by Crawford, Texas to see George W. Bush. ABC News reports: Lead U2 singer Bono made a pit stop Friday at former President George W. Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, a few hours before his band’s […]