What an embarrassment for the United States of America. Watch: Some American evangelicals are responding: Did God answer Franklin Graham’s prayer?:
presidential history
Trump and the “spoils system”
Over at CNN, Zachary Wolf interviews Andrew Jackson scholar Daniel Feller on comparisons on the “spoils system.” Here is a taste: WOLF: You’ve written extensively about the spoils system. How would you describe it to Americans today? FELLER: It is a system […]
Oaths matter
On Monday, Donald Trump will put his hand on the Bible and say: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability preserve, […]
Why Jimmy Carter chose “Imagine”: two views
During his state funeral last week, Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks sung the John Lennon song “Imagine.” Why would Carter pick a song that begins: Imagine there’s no heavenIt’s easy if you tryNo hell below usAbove us, only sky Imagine […]
Jimmy Carter’s Farewell Address: Nuclear disarmament, environmental stewardship, and human rights
January 14, 1981: Read it here.
Jimmy Carter’s “life was a testament to the goodness of God”
Here is Jimmy Carter’s grandson Jason Carter today at the former president’s memorial service: I was struck by three things during the service There was a different kind of “power” on display here. Watch the recessional here: Until the very […]
Jimmy Carter at Washington D.C.’s First Baptist Church
Over the weekend I watched a 2023 C-SPAN piece on Jimmy Carter’s relationship with the First Baptist Church in Washington D.C. The Carters arrived at First Baptist on the Sunday after his inauguration and immediately applied for membership. The C-SPAN […]
Evangelicals respond to the death of Jimmy Carter
He was the first “born again” president and he was elected during Newsweek magazine’s “Year of the Evangelical.” So what are evangelicals saying about the recent death of Jimmy Carter? Christianity Today is running an obituary by historian David Swartz. […]
Kai Bird: “Mr. Carter remains the most misunderstood president of the last century.”
We included this article/post in our recent Jimmy Carter/The Way of Improvement Leads Home roundup, but I reread it this morning and thought it was worth reposting. Here is Carter biographer Kai Bird’s February 2023 New York Times piece: Mr. […]
Eric Miller on Christopher Lasch and the Carter “malaise” speech
Yesterday, upon hearing of the death of Jimmy Carter, I posted his July 15, 1979 “Crisis of Confidence” speech (also known as the “malaise” speech). In his award winning book Hope in a Scattering Time: A Life of Christopher Lasch, […]
Jimmy Carter at The Way of Improvement Leads Home
We’ve spent considerable time covering Jimmy Carter over the years here at The Way of Improvement Leads Home blog: Albert Mohler “hopes and prays” that Jimmy Carter is saved (December 19, 2024) Happy 100th anniversary Jimmy Carter! (October 1, 2024) […]
Jimmy Carter: “…owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning”
In his famous July 15, 1979 “Crisis of Confidence” speech (often referred to as the “malaise speech”), Jimmy Carter said: In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, close-knit communities, and our faith in God, too many […]
On Joe Biden’s pardon of Hunter
Jonathan Chait puts it well: It would be tempting, but unfair, to draw a simple equation between Joe Biden’s situational ethics and that of his successor. A willingness to evade the rule of law is the foundation of Donald Trump’s […]
Kamala Harris could be the first woman president as early as today
What if Joe Biden resigned today? Here is Carrie Friedman at The Washington Post: We owe a debt of gratitude to President Joe Biden for his lifetime of service — and for his patriotism in stepping aside in July. Still, […]
Heather Richardson: “William McKinley is having a moment”
From “Letters from an American“: William McKinley is having a moment (which I confess is a sentence I never expected to write). Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is elevating McKinley, representative from Ohio from 1877 to 1891 and president from […]
The Author’s Corner with Andrew E. Busch
Andrew E. Busch is Associate Director of the Institute of American Civics at the Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs at the University of Tennessee. This interview is based on his new book, Ronald Reagan and the Firing […]
Twenty years after his breakout speech, Obama is back tonight
Barack Obama is speaking at tonight’s Democratic National Convention. Twenty years ago, as a candidate for U.S. Senate, Obama delivered his breakout speech at the DNC in Boston. About three weeks before the 2004 convention, Obama was driving between Springfield […]
Historic video of the day:
What are evangelicals saying about Trump’s speech last night?
The GOP convention is over. Trump made his case last night in a long, rambling, and undisciplined speech. Check out our live-blogging of the night here. So what are evangelicals saying after the Trump speech? It seems like many MAGA […]
Do assassinations “alter the course of history?”
Historian Steven Mintz offers some context: Do assassins’ bullets hit their marks? Do these acts of violence redirect historical trajectories? In today’s volatile political climate, questions like these are not merely of academic interest. Let’s take a look at the […]