Douglas Brinkley

Doug Wead, Jonathan Turley, Alan Dershowitz–Three Rare Academics Who Support Donald Trump

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As the impeachment of Donald Trump moves forward, there are those academics who support Donald Trump, but very few indeed.

Historian Doug Wead, who has no actual college degree, attending a Bible College, and gaining an honorary degree from Oral Roberts University, became noted for his books on Presidential children and on Presidential parents. He has become the official biographer of the Trump Presidency, and is just out with a new book on Trump. But he has been repudiated and denounced by many conservatives, and even some evangelicals, and was criticized for lack of ethics by the Bush family, and denounced when he ran for a Congressional seat in Arizona, by former Senator Barry Goldwater in 1992.

Law professor Jonathan Turley of George Washington University testified recently as the only law professor of four, who felt the impeachment against Donald Trump was faulty. At the same time, he had supported the impeachment of Bill Clinton a generation ago. He is called by many a liberal on many issues, but many conservatives have embraced him, and he has been totally contradictory on just about every imaginable issue in the past thirty years.

Law Professor Alan Dershowitz of Harvard Law School has been highly controversial with his constant support of Donald Trump, and his own scandalous words and actions on many legal matters, including his past defense of O J Simpson, and his support of Donald Trump in the impeachment crisis the President now faces. There are rumors he might be added to the defense team for the upcoming impeachment trial.

Meanwhile, over 500 law professors around the nation have called for Donald Trump’s impeachment and removal from office, and a list of hundreds of historians is also in the works on this, including this author and blogger.

Among the famous historians advocating impeachment and removal from office are:

Doris Kearns Goodwin

David McCullough

Douglas Brinkley

Jon Meacham

Michael Beschloss

Later today, the House Judiciary Committee will formally impeach the President, becoming the fourth time in American history that this has happened.

New Revelation About Richard Nixon, Watergate, And Resignation!

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The historian Douglas Brinkley has just published a new book, “The Nixon Tapes, 1973”, which reveal the details of the Watergate White House tapes, now all released after 40 years.

The point that is most noticeable is that Richard Nixon considered resigning, and said so to his White House Chief of Staff, Alexander Haig, on May 25, 1973, almost 15 months before he actually resigned on August 9, 1974.

Had he done that, Vice President Spiro Agnew would have become President, just months before the revelation that he had engaged in illegal activities, including accepting cash bribes as Vice President.  That revelation in October 1973 led to his resignation, and his replacement by Gerald Ford, under the 25th Amendment, a very lucky break for the nation!

So history would have been transformed, with Nixon quitting, and possibly revelation of President Agnew as deserving of removal from office as well!

So Gerald Ford was a blessing, and Nixon’s thoughts of resigning but not doing so, transformed American history!

40th Anniversary Of Richard Nixon Resignation, Due To Watergate Scandal

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It is hard to believe, but it is now 40 years since Richard Nixon was forced out of the Presidency, due to the Watergate Scandal.

It was stunning that a President, who had won 49 of the 50 states, and all but 17 electoral votes, would be the only President to resign after only one year and almost seven months of his second term.

It was also amazing that Nixon was the only President facing impeachment, and resigning after the House Judiciary Committee, in a bipartisan vote, adopted three articles of impeachment, who truly deserved impeachment.

Andrew Johnson was wrongfully impeached and found not guilty in 1868, and Bill Clinton was to face the same circumstances and results in 1998-1999. And now, there is a threat of Barack Obama facing the same scenario next year, but with the same results assured.

The point was that Richard Nixon had actually been abusive of his powers as President, and had led a lawless administration unmatched before or since.

It is also a tragic story as, in reality, Richard Nixon had many accomplishments in foreign and domestic policy, many of which remain part of American life 40 years later, particularly so in domestic affairs, including the Environmental Protection Agency, Consumer Product Safety Commission, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration, among others.

The evaluation and interpretation of Richard Nixon will continue to be controversial, and a new HBO special, “Nixon on Nixon,” has been unveiled this week, demonstrating the man’s illegalities and prejudices and biases, straight from the Watergate tapes themselves. Additionally, a new book has been published with the revelation of these tapes, authored by historian Douglas Brinkley of Rice University, with the assistance of Professor Luke Nichter of Texas A & M University.

So Nixon will be written about for generations, both for the good he did, as well as the bad!

Chief Justice John Roberts Compared To Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes

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Chief Justice John Roberts has been compared to Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes by presidential historian Douglas Brinkley.

Hughes, who had been the 1916 Republican Presidential nominee against Woodrow Wilson, and fought against aspects of the Franklin D. Roosevelt New Deal in the 1930s, nevertheless backed the constitutionality of the Social Security Act in the mid 1930s.

John Roberts, who was opposed as Chief Justice by Senator Barack Obama in 2005, and who has taken a conservative stand on many issues, nevertheless backed the Obama Health Care law yesterday, siding with the progressive wing of the Court.

Hughes is regarded as one of the great Chief Justices, and after yesterday’s decision, Roberts will look much better in history, and could be Time Magazine’s MAN OF THE YEAR for 2012!

Newt Gingrich: The $1.6 Million Historian!

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This author, being an historian, finds it astounding that Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House, and a Republican candidate for President, and also a Ph. D. in History, has managed to be paid approximately $1.6 million for “historical advice” to Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac, both of which organizations he now condemns!

It is one thing if an historian makes lots of money publishing best selling books. It is true that Gingrich has published 24 books, but many of them are NOT history, and many not “reliably” accurate, which are history!

The point is that Newt Gingrich, no matter how much he brags about himself, toots his own horn, is NOT a David McCullough, Michael Beschloss, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Douglas Brinkley, or other highly reputable historians and authors.

What Gingrich has spent his life doing is promoting lobbying, which he condemns, while earning millions of dollars due to his connections.

Newt Gingrich has no ethics, morals, or scruples, whether in private life or public life! He will say or do anything without any guilt in the fact that he lies and deceives! He can have a straight face while causing division and turmoil.

Newt Gingrich is an opportunist of the worst kind, and he should not be a serious candidate for President, but in this crazy election cycle, he can lie through his teeth and yet, seemingly, advance!

The Republican Assault On The Environment!

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The Republican Party has a heritage of Presidents who promoted the environment, but now it is being totally abandoned by the GOP House of Representatives and the Republican Presidential candidates, in their mad dash to support the oil and coal industries and others which pollute the environment and undermine Americans’ health and well being!

Theodore Roosevelt, while President from 1901-1909, became the supreme conservationist and environmentalist, promoting a quadrupling of national parks, calling conservation conferences at the White House, and working to cut industrial damage to the environment. The historian Douglas Brinkley has written a massive work hailing the environmental commitment of this second greatest Republican President, only ranking behind Abraham Lincoln in historical reputation!

Sixty years after Theodore Roosevelt left office, President Richard Nixon (1969-1974) became a major advocate of the environment, through the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, and his appointment of former Alaska Governor Walter Hickel as his Secretary of the Interior.

Twenty years after Nixon entered office, President George H. W. Bush (1989-1993) was able to get through the Clean Air Act of 1990, recognizing the great problem that had been created by industry and needing more federal intervention.

And now twenty years after Bush I became President, the party they led is backing away from any concern with the environment. It is not just Rick Perry or Michele Bachmann, but even Mitt Romney, who had earlier backed environmental protection as Governor of Massachusetts, has given up his principles in the pursuit to win the GOP Presidential nomination and appeal to Tea Party looniness! Legislation has been proposed to allow uranium mining in the Grand Canyon, a most reckless action, which thankfully can be prevented by the Democratic controlled Senate and a Democratic President using his veto.

This is a tragedy of massive proportions, and TR and Nixon must be turning over in their graves, and Bush I certainly must be very disturbed privately at the abandonment of the most important heritage America can offer to the future–clean air, clean water, clean soil!

Sarah Palin: Ignorance Of American History Reaffirmed!

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Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who has just finished a so called Heritage Tour of historic sites, and in the process stole the thunder of Mitt Romney on the day of his Presidential candidacy announcement in New Hampshire, has proved once again what a fool and idiot she is, and how poorly educated she really is!

Having already made many statements in the past that are totally false, including that the Russians won the space race for the moon in the 1960s, now Palin has claimed that Paul Revere conducted his famous ride in April 1775 to warn the British of the patriots being ready to fight for their freedom!

What a preposterous statement, totally untrue, and verified by historians, including Douglas Brinkley, and yet she continues to insist that she is correct, and knows her American history!

One has to wonder how such an individual, who comes across as a moron, has any possibility of winning the GOP nomination, when even if one disagrees with Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, and Jon Huntsman, the serious candidates in the race, at least one can respect their views and knowledge, even if one cannot see supporting them for President. At least one can imagine any of the above three as potential Presidents, which cannot be said for Palin, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, and Rick Santorum, all of whom have made preposterous, loony, crazy statements that are, factually, totally incorrect!

If Sarah Palin claims to understand American history, then it might be a statement on how history is taught in Alaska!