Abraham Lincoln
Getting Lost with Hand Drawn Maps
I like to collect old road maps, and when the need arises for me to draw a map for a visiting friend or relative, I’ll admit I fancy myself a pretty good cartographer. But sometimes I find myself the artist of a bizarrely scaled and oddly detailed map which names all the trees, statues, and […]
Congress, The President and War: A History
The War Powers Clause, Article One, Section Eight of the Constitution, grants Congress the power to declare war: “The Congress shall have power to…declare war; To raise and support armies…To provide and maintain a navy; To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces; To provide for calling forth the […]
Second inaugural addressess typically shorter, rarely well-remembered
Every four years, a president is sworn in to office in the United States. Traditionally, that person, delivers an address to the nation, laying out priorities for his term. But typically, when that president is doing so for the second time, it’s a shorter address.
American veteran of Spanish Civil War remembers life under suspicion of communism
98-year-old James Benet left the United States in his 20s to fight on the Republican side of the Spanish Civil War. The Republicans were backed not only by foreigners, like Benet, but also by Mexico and the Soviet Union. After his side lost, Benet came back to a United States where he was immediately viewed as a communist.
