If you missed my interview yesterday with Larry Whitler on WOCA (AM 1370 / FM 96.3) in Ocala, Florida, about my new book, Assassinations, Threats and the American Presidency, you can listen to it here.
Month: August 2015
Tuesday, August 18 Radio Interviews for Assassinations Book
I had a great time today on radio stations in Atlanta, Knoxville TN, Gainesville FL and Boston, promoting my new book, Assassinations, Threats and the American Presidency, and I look forward to three more interviews tomorrow. I’ll be on air live tomorrow at these stations and times:
– 11:30am ET –  The Frankie Boyer Show on Lifestyle Talk Radio, syndicated nationally at (http://biztalkradio.com/listen-to-lifestyle-talk-radio)
– 4:15pm ET – Prime Time Drive with Steve Bowers, WNWS-FM 101.5 in Memphis, TN (http://point5digital.com/tn/)
I’ll also be recording an interview with Chris Oaks of Good Mornings on AM 1330 WFIN-AM in Toledo, OH, and will publish when that interview will be aired when this information is available.
I hope you’ll tune in, and of course, if you would like to buy my book, it is available on the Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Books-a-Million websites, as well as at my publisher, Rowman & Littlefield.
Radio Interviews for Assassinations Book on Monday, August 17
On Monday, August 17, I will be interviewed live on the following radio stations, discussing the release of my new book: Assassinations, Threats and the American Presidency. If you live in these cities, feel free to tune in on your radio, or listen via the web from anywhere.
– 6:40am ET – The Morning Show with Bill & Joel, WDUN-AM/FM (550AM & 102.9FM) in Atlanta GA (http://www.wdun.com/listen/)
– 8:30am ET – Amis in the Morning, WCXZ-AM in Knoxville TN (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/wcxz-am740)
– 11:05am ET – Larry Whitler, WOCA-AM/FM (1370AM & 96.3FM) in Gainesville FL (http://thesource1370.com/)
Also, if you live in the Boston area, I will be recording an interview with Deb Lawler on WBZ News Radio 1030AM (http://player.radio.com/listen/station/wbz-newsradio-1030/) which will air during her 5-10am morning show.
A 1912 Election In 2016: A Third Party Campaign Ending Up Second, And Republican Candidate Third?
In the crazy world of American politics, the concept has grown that we could be witnessing an election in 2016 that might emulate the Presidential Election of 1912, where Woodrow Wilson, the Democrat defeated Theodore Roosevelt, the Progressive (Bull Moose) Party nominee, and Republican President William Howard Taft.
We could, in theory, have businessman Donald Trump, who is, right now, riding high in the polls, being treated in a way that he feels is unjust. He has already said that he would not pledge to support the Republican nominee for President, if if is not him, and if he feels he has been treated unfairly.
So, were that scenario to happen, Trump could, very well, run on a third party or independent ticket, copying the route of billionaire Ross Perot, who ran as an independent in 1992, helping to elect Bill Clinton over President George H. W. Bush.
We could have Hillary Clinton, or even Joe Biden, if he chooses to run, or even Bernie Sanders, benefit from a Republican party split. And imagine if Jeb Bush was the losing Republican candidate to another Clinton.
But also, Trump has shown strength in a poll in a three way races, with him gaining 20 percent of the vote, similar to Ross Perot’s 19 percent in 1992.
But what if Trump’s popularity were to continue to grow, and Trump could match third party nominee Theodore Roosevelt’s 27.5 percent of the vote in 1912, leading TR to end up second, rather than third, the only time a third party has ended up second instead of third?
Imagine the shock if Clinton or Biden or even Sanders won 42-43 percent of the vote and won the Electoral College, with Bush or some other Republican ending up third behind Trump, just as President William Howard Taft did in 1912, when he only won 23 percent of the vote!
If Trump were to end up with mid 20s percentage of the vote, it would be likely that he would win some states in the Electoral College, with the Republican winning very few states, as with Taft only winning two states in 1912.
That scenario, were it to happen, would be the true demise of the Republican Party as we know it, but maybe, just maybe, it would lead to a “purging” of the party, and a return to moderate centrist conservative government, and an ultimate revival resembling the party of the Eisenhower to Ford years!
Three Quirks Of Presidential Election History: 1872, 1912, 1940
We are now fully in Presidential election season, with constant focus on the candidates and the issues.
But when one looks back to Presidential election history, one discovers so called “quirks” in the 1872, 1912, and particularly the 1940 presidential election cycles.
In 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant, seeking a second term, faced Democratic and “Liberal Republican” Presidential nominee Horace Greeley, the editor of the famous New York Tribune newspaper, which had had such a dramatic effect on the issue of slavery and the evolution of the Republican Party. Greeley had also promoted Abraham Lincoln’s nomination in 1860.
Greeley, who was quirky in his personal life, seen by many as an “oddball”, became the candidate of so called “Liberal Republicans” who did not like the policies and actions of the Grant Presidency.
Of course, Grant defeated him, but only 24 days later, before the Electoral College could meet and cast its official votes, Greeley died, marking the only time that a Presidential candidate died during or after an election campaign, but before the inauguration. To top off the tragedy, Greeley’s wife had died a week before the election, and therefore, Greeley died only 30 days after his wife had passed away. Imagine if Greeley had won over Grant, which would have necessitated his Vice Presidential running mate, Benjamin Gratz Brown, to become the President-elect!
In 1912, President William Howard Taft was in a three way race with former President Theodore Roosevelt on the Progressive (Bull Moose) Party line, and with Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson, who would win the three way contest.
But six days before the election, Vice President James Sherman died in office, so when the Electoral College met, it was agreed that Columbia University President Nicholas Murray Butler would be substituted on the Electoral College ballot to receive the 8 electoral votes for Vice President that Taft received for President. This is the only time a sitting Vice President or even Vice Presidential candidate died during the election campaign or before the inauguration.
And in 1940, Businessman Wendell Willkie was nominated for President by the Republican Party to run against Franklin D. Roosevelt, seeking a third term in the White House. Senator Charles McNary of Oregon was chosen as Willkie’s running mate for Vice President.
FDR went on to win, but meanwhile, in an oddity, it turned out that McNary died in February 1944, and Willkie died in October 1944, therefore marking the only time that an entire Presidential ticket, luckily the losing one, failed to survive the term that they were competing to serve in. Luckily so for the nation, as that would have required the Secretary of State for Willkie to have taken over just before the 1944 election, and at a crucial time in World War II!
80 Years Of Social Security And Counting: The Most Successful “Safety Net” Program In American History!
On August 14, 1935 the Social Security Act became law during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, with Senator Robert F. Wagner of New York and Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins key figures in promoting its passage.
For the first time, there was the pledge of providing senior citizens with some financial support in their later years.
Additionally, widows and orphans, and the disabled would be covered under the law.
The US was behind Germany, Great Britain, and France, industrialized nations which had enacted such legislation decades earlier.
There was bipartisan support from progressive Republicans and from Democrats, but more conservative Republicans set as their goal to destroy Social Security, as early as the Presidential Election of 1936.
But Social Security has survived eight decades, and has done so much good for the nation, and its most vulnerable citizens.
Even now, there are proposals to change Social Security, as was done in 1983, by a deal between President Ronald Reagan and House Speaker Thomas “Tip” O’Neill, raising the retirement to age 66 and 67 for full benefits, depending on year of birth.
Now there is the call to raise the retirement age further, and cut benefits over the long haul, bitterly opposed by progressives and Democrats. Also, George W. Bush tried to privatize part of Social Security, which failed of enactment in 2005, but again is being promoted by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan.
The tax base has been raised, but even now, only the first $118,500 is taxed, and many feel there should be no limit on the tax base, as that allows those who make much higher incomes to avoid further taxation, and putting the burden on the average American who does not earn more than $118,500.
The point is that by raising the tax base to unlimited income would insure the long term survival of Social Security.
It is essential to insure that the most successful “Safety Net” program in American history continued to survive and prosper!
Jimmy Carter “Mania” Will Begin Upon His Passing, As With Harry Truman After His Death In 1972!
The news that former President Jimmy Carter has been diagnosed with cancer, and that it is spreading, brings historians and all decent Americans to react with shock, and recognition that the 39th President has been regularly trashed in news media and by politicians.
There was a past President who faced 20 years of ridicule and dismissive attitudes until his death. Then, all of a sudden, there was recognition that he had been mistreated, and that his historic significance was unappreciated in his lifetime.
That man was Harry Truman, the 33rd President.
Also, when thinking back, similar ridicule and condemnation was visited upon Abraham Lincoln until his tragic assassination.
No one is trying to say that Jimmy Carter will ever rank with Harry Truman and Abraham Lincoln, far from it!
But Jimmy Carter has suffered in reputation for so long, because of the mythology that has been built up around Ronald Reagan, and during an era where politicians have distorted the record and accomplishments of Reagan, at the expense of Carter.
There will be plenty of time to reassess Jimmy Carter, and his historical image will improve dramatically as a result.
One can expect over the next five to ten years, there will be “Carter Mania”, just as there was “Truman Mania” for five to ten years after his death in 1972.
Meanwhile, let us hope for a miraculous recovery for Jimmy Carter, and if that is not to be, that he not suffer with great pain as he leaves us, after the longest retirement of any President of the United States.
Left Handed Presidents On “Left Handers Day”!
Today, August 13, is “Left Handers Day”!
About 10-15 percent of the population, supposedly, is left handed, and it is certainly much more common now than in the past, due to children being forced to learn to be right handed in the past, because of belief that it was a sin to be left handed.
So as far as we know, left handed Presidents have occurred only in the past century, although there are those who think Thomas Jefferson may have been left handed or ambidextrous; and that James A. Garfield was the same, due to the statements that he could write in Latin and Greek with both hands at the same time!
Other than possibly Jefferson, and the case of Garfield, the list of left handed modern Presidents includes:
Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)
Harry Truman (1945-1953)
Gerald Ford (1974-1977)
Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
George H. W. Bush (1989-1993)
Bill Clinton (1993-2001)
Barack Obama (2009-Present)
This means that for 29 of the past 41 years (since 1974), we have had left handed Presidents, all but Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush!
It also means that 7 of the last 14 Presidents (from Hoover to Obama) have been left handed! This is 41 of the past 86 years!
It is also a fact that in 1992, all three Presidential candidates (Bush Senior, Clinton, Ross Perot) were lefties, and the same with 1996 (Clinton, Bob Dole, Perot)! And in 2008, the two major party Presidential candidates, Obama and John McCain, were also “southpaws”!
“Assassinations, Threats, and the American Presidency: From Andrew Jackson To Barack Obama” (Rowman Littlefield) Now Available!
I am proud to announce that my new book–“Assassinations, Threats, and the American Presidency: From Andrew Jackson To Barack Obama”–(Rowman Littlefield) is now available!
Democratic Party Rejection Of Thomas Jefferson And Andrew Jackson A Denial Of Party History, And Wrong!
The Democratic Party of 2015 is pursuing a dangerous trend, that of denying history.
Many Democratic state groups have decided to change the name of their annual dinners, which have been called the “Jefferson-Jackson Day” dinners.
This is political correctness to the extreme, and totally wrong.
The point that is made is that Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson both were slave owners, which is certainly true.
Somehow, Arthur Schlesinger Jr, who wrote the acclaimed “Age of Jackson” in 1945, and who passed away in 2007, must be turning over in his grave at the denial of the importance of Jackson, and the political correctness, better known as ignorance, that is being promoted. And many who have published on Jefferson, while realizing his many shortcomings, must feel that trying to wipe out his memory is inappropriate.
Both Jefferson and Jackson have faults and shortcomings, and this author and blogger is the first to admit that.
But to wipe out memory on their founding of the Democratic Party simply because of their stand on race 200-250 years ago is totally wrong.
Both Jefferson and Jackson were crucial to the development of the concept of democracy, even if it had terrible limits in their era.
Both had major contributions to make, which cannot be wiped out, and should not be written out of the history of the Democratic Party.
One can criticize the negative legacy of anyone, but also, one must acknowledge the positive legacy of these two significant Presidents, and early founders of the Democratic Party, which has made great strides since their lifetimes!
This is the same narrow mindedness that leads to many saying all Confederate statues and memorials should be removed, when it is part of our history.
We are not the old Soviet Union, or other dictatorships, past and present, which try to rewrite our history, and sanitize it, when we need to have understanding of what our past was, and destruction of memorials and statues is not the answer, anymore than taking Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, both slave owners, off of Mount Rushmore!
This is the promotion of ignorance and denial of the truth of history!