It wasn’t just about Confederates reenactors. Watch:...
Jon Meacham
Is November 2022 the most important election since 1850?
As I type this, I am watching presidential historian Jon Meacham on CNN. He is saying that the 2022 midterm elections are the most important elections since the 1850s. Why? Because the rule of law is on the ballot. Michael...
Bill Maher defends AHA president James Sweet and it is hilarious
“Being woke is like a magic moral time machine where you judge everybody against what you would have done in 1066 and you always win.”–Bill Maher Yes, of course the past informs the present. But that is only part of...
As promised, Jon Meacham will lecture at Samford University
Back in November, I wrote a piece at Current titled “Canceling Jon Meacham.” Here is a taste of that piece: …I thought about Meacham’s visit to Messiah, a Christian university with strong ties to American evangelicalism, when I learned that...
When Barack Obama came to Messiah College
Obama and his Democratic primary challenger Hillary Clinton came to Messiah College (now Messiah University) in 2008 for The Compassion Forum, an event sponsored by CNN, Faith in Public Life, and Messiah. The forum took place about a week before...
Joe Biden meets with American historians at the White House
The court historians? Those in attendance included Jon Meacham, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Michael Beschloss, Michael Eric Dyson, Joanne Freeman, Eddie Glaude Jr, Annette Gordon Reed, and Walter Isaacson. Mike Allen at Axios reports that everyone wore masks. The topics discussed...
Historian Jon Meacham joins the National Cathedral
Meacham will serve as the cathedral’s “canon historian” and is the first appointment in the church’s College of Faith & Culture. Here is Jack Jenkins at Religion News Service: Jon Meacham, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and adviser to President Joe...
Joe Biden is the 46th President of the United States
It’s official. The Trump presidency is over. The Biden presidency is here. Here are a few thoughts, with the help of my Twitter feed, on today’s inauguration ceremony: I began the day with a reminder. It’s been a long four...
Is historian Jon Meacham “the most politically relevant American writer of 2020?”
Check out Ben Smith’s New York Times article on the close relationship between Joe Biden and “old-line newspaper columnists.” The essay focuses, in part, on the role popular historian Jon Meacham played in the Biden campaign. Will Meacham be to...
Historian Jon Meacham helped write Biden’s acceptance speech and then commented on it on MSNBC
Back in April 2019 I asked, “Is Joe Biden the Jon Meacham candidate?” The Biden campaign’s appeal to the “Soul of America” came from Meacham’s book The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels. Today The New York...
We deserved last night’s debate. We didn’t deserve last night’s debate.
Last night the nation got the debate it deserved. Last night a nation suffering through coronavirus deserved better. I think both of these things can be true at the same time. The first 2020 presidential debate was a disaster. It...
Night four at the 2020 DNC convention
It was a great night for the Democratic Party. I don’t think they could have done this convention any better. Frankly, it may have been more effective than a traditional arena convention. The GOP has a tough act to follow....
Jon Meacham on Why We Need Religion in Times Like These
Historian Jon Meacham‘s latest book is titled The Hope of Glory: Reflections on the Last Words of Jesus from the Cross. In his recent op-ed at The New York Times he argues that “religion is the best hope against Trump.” Here is...
Meacham: Trump is Now Tied With Andrew Johnson as Most Racist President in U.S. History
Here is presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winner Jon Meacham on MSNBC: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPECWcLN9rg&w=560&h=315] I’m not sure how you measure this, but Trump would certainly be high on the list. Johnson was pretty racist. So was Andrew Jackson. (Meacham’s biography of...
David French Elaborates on Evangelical Fear
We covered this last week after several folks e-mailed me to ask if I sent David French a copy of Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump. Read that post here. David French and Jon Meacham were on “Morning...
Jimmy Carter Tells It Like It Is
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHB3xRj47bY&w=560&h=315]...
Is Joe Biden the Jon Meacham Candidate?
Here is the Biden announcement video: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbOU2fTg6cI&w=560&h=315] Biden appeals to the “Soul of America.” Historian Jon Meacham recently published “The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels.” (Biden and Meacham appeared together earlier this year). Biden focused...
Meacham: At least Trump didn’t sign the Bibles in red ink
Watch presidential historian Jon Meacham talking to Joe Scarborough about Trump signing Bibles and evangelical supporters of Trump. Here. I agree with Meacham, but I am disappointed in him. Last year I sat next to him at dinner before his speaking...
Just Catching Up On Some Light Reading
Nothing to see here. Just perusing some of the new books on my shelf:...
Jon Meacham Offers Some Advice for Surviving the Trump Era
Meacham is on tour for his new book The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels. In a recent piece at USA Today he shares some advice on how to survive the age of Trump. A taste: ►Enter the arena....