Is the West History?

This is the engaging question at the heart of Niall Ferguson's question in his new series 'Civilisation'. Episode 3 was aired on Sunday night and asked why it was that North America succeeded and South America lagged behind in the dominant civilisation stakes. It concentrates on property and links North America's success to the American Revolution and its basing their political system on a property-owning democracy. Year 12 History students would find this link interesting in the context of their studies. Watch it on Channel 4OD and tell us what you think.

Assessments of Bill Clinton (in verse)

The Year 13 Government & Politics group were set a task to read various assessments of Bill Clinton as President and sum up their own conclusions on his presidency in verse. Below are some of our favourites:

There was a fellow called Bill
Who lived near Capitol Hill
He had an affair,
the Dems did despair, nearly losing him his seal.

Renowned for missed opportunities,
Congress was known for disunity,
a disappointment for some.
Having too much fun,
He had lost touch with community.

An era of fiscal prosperity,
Two terms of energy and clarity,
Crime figures were low,
Employment was a go,
Free trade was a popularity.
CW

There was a young gov'ner named Bill,
With undeterrable political will,
Despite tales of scandals,
And Congressional mishandles,
He remains ever popular still.
KM

Bill Clinton had lots of charm
It didn't do his presidency harm
Although he had flair
He failed with healthcare
And he and Republicans didn't get on.

By the end there was a budget surplus
But Congress had turned into a circus
He gave the Middle East support
Then avoided going to court
In the end all was forgiven.
AT

Was Bill Clinton a superficial president?
His lack of moral authority was evident
White Water, Lewinsky, impeachment, the lot
Clintonian scandals will not be forgot
His obstruction of justice was reprehensible
But the Republican attack was hardly defensible.

In domestic affairs the guy showed ability
An era of economic prosperity and social stability
Yes relations with Congress were at a strain
And healthcare reform went down the drain
But surplus was up and crime was down
The role of government re-asserted, even Newt didn’t frown.

In foreign affairs he didn’t do as well
The Test Ban Treaty was hard to sell
Yet global trade was encouraged at least
Peace established in the Balkans, Northern Ireland and Middle East.

So to conclude our judgement of his presidency
In the art of persuasion he clearly lacked competency
He did leave the country in robust good health
Welfare reform and economic wealth
But we can’t help but feeling a sense of talent wasted
His hopes of a fairer society only briefly tasted.
AH

Boardwalk Empire

Paul Lay, editor of History Today, has written in praise of some of the latest US dramas to be found on Sky's new "Atlantic" channel. These include Boardwalk Empire, set in the casinos of Atlantic City during the Prohibition, and Mad Men, set in the world of advertising in 1960s New York. Both pay excellent attention to period detail, and through their scope and ambition give a very real sense of what it might be like to live through that period, in the same way that "The Wire" recently portrayed the political, judicial and criminal worlds of Baltimore. Have you been watching any of these? If so, please let us know what you think, and whether they have lived up to their billing.

PS: We should point out that these shows contain adult themes and language and should only be watched by those aged appropriately to appreciate them...

Happy Groundhog Day

Today is Groundhog Day, when a furry marmot (or groundhog) in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania decides whether there will be six more weeks of winter based on whether he can see his shadow or not. The ceremony has been taking place since 1887, and became particularly famous after the 1993 "Groundhog Day" film was made there. You can find out more about it at the official website and watch a live webcast here. He should make his prediction just after middday at about 12.20 GMT.

PS: More about the history of Groundhog Day here.

UPDATE: Good news. The Groundhog DID NOT see his shadow yesterday, which means that spring will come early!

Mubarak and Egypt

Here is a brief and interesting comment comparing events in Egypt this week with the assassination of Anwar Sadat in 1981 that led to Hosni Mubarak becoming President of Egypt. Mubarak has always been a staunch ally of the United States, giving President Obama very little room to manoeuvre when reacting to the very considerable demands for greater political freedom. We will see how things develop.

JFK's Inaugural Speech

President John F Kennedy delivered his famous inaugurual speech 50 years ago today. It includes the famous line "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country" and many other impressive pieces of rhetoric. Kennedy ordered his aide to analyse all the previous inaugural speeches, plus other famous speeches such as Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, to try to understand the key to what made a particular phrase memorable and successful. As this interesting article from the BBC shows, the speech is full of contrasts, as shown in the example above, 3 part lists, and alliteration, such as "Let us go forth to lead the land we love". The research paid off, and JFK, despite his comparative youth, was able to establish himself and set his agenda both with his domestic audience and the rest of the world. You can see video of the speech, and annotations of its highlights, here.

FDR Tops Presidents' Poll

British historians have been polled about who they think was the greatest US President, and Franklin D Roosevelt has come out on top. They were asked to rate every President from 1789 to 2009 (ie not including Barack Obama, and also not William Henry Harrison and James Garfield, who died shortly after taking office) in 5 categories:

• vision/agenda-setting
• domestic leadership
• foreign policy leadership
• moral authority
• positive historical significance of their legacy

The Top 5 were:

1. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933-45)
2. Abraham Lincoln (1861-65)
3. George Washington (1789-97)
4. Thomas Jefferson (1801-09)
5. Theodore Roosevelt (1901-09)

George W Bush came 31st, Bill Clinton was 19th, George Bush (Senior) was 22nd, and Ronald Reagan 8th.

US polls tend to put Abraham Lincoln first because of his achievements in ending the Civil War and abolishing slavery, but it is possible that the recent economic climate has given people new respect for FDR's achievement in establishing his New Deal. What are your opinions and where do you think Obama should come in the list?

PS: If you would like more data, here is a direct link to the survey, from the "United States Presidency Centre".

Slavery Map

The New York Times have published an interactive map of slavery in the southern United States in 1860, based on the census taken in that year. It is fascinating to see where the densest areas of slavery (over 80% of the population in that area) were; Abraham Lincoln regularly referred to it regularly and the map can even be seen in a portrait of his cabinet in 1864, when he read the emancipation proclamation. The map forms part of a timeline project the paper will be doing, marking the 150th anniversary the war. Blog posts will be published regularly on the anniversary of particular events, using material from the papers archives and comments from historians. You can follow the timeline here.

JFK and the Art of Politics

Andrew Marr has written an article and will be presenting a programme on Sunday to mark the 50th anniversary of John F Kennedy's successful presidential campaign. Kennedy has become iconic because of his youth, great speeches and tragic early death. Marr argues that if you study his campaign closely, the truth is rather more murky. Kennedy's political team (which included Ted Sorensen, who died recently) pulled every trick they could in order to secure victory. "It is a tale of soaring and risk-taking rhetoric..." writes Marr, "but also big money, smears, bribes, wire-pulling and bottomless cynicism." Marr believes this set the template for the modern political campaign, linked very clearly to the rapidly- developing world of advertising and PR as seen in "Mad Men". The most well known aspect of the campaign was the television debates (which we have blogged about before). One interesting fact was that Kennedy asked for a "comfort break" with a minute to go before transmission, and only reappeared with seconds to go. This clearly unsettled his opponent, Richard Nixon, who went on to deliver a rather flustered and unsteady performance. Let us know what you think of the programme.

Theresa Lewis Execution

The Nonsuch Amnesty Society considered the case of Theresa Lewis on Thursday. Lewis was was executed by the state of Virginia 12 hours later as no clemency was granted by her last remaining hope, Governor Bob McDonnell. Lewis' crime was the planning of the murder of her husband and stepson with the crimes carried out by her 22 year old boyfriend and his friend. Both killers received life sentences whilst Lewis received the death penalty. She was the first women executed by Virginia since 1912.

For an interesting take on the execution see the state's largest newspaper's reporting of the story here and compare it with the British perspective here.

Mad Men and the 60s

Here is a BBC article about how "Mad Men" - the drama about the staff of an advertising company during the 60s - covers the decade. Each season covers a different year, so season 4 is about 1964. Key events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and Kennedy assassination are referred to, and affect the storyline but unlike in Forrest Gump, where our hero is right at the forefront of these events, their position is more oblique. The programme is more interested in the steady changes in culture and society and how these affect the roles of the characters, particularly the women.

Have you been watching the programme? Does it do its History well? Let us know your thoughts as the series progresses.

Vote John Gray (for US Senate)

A long lost cousin across the pond is standing as a Green Candidate for the US Senate 2010.

He is currently an elected mayor.  The seat is currently held by a Democratic.

Unfortunately for John he has only a 2% poll rating at the moment. He is also facing another "independent"  challenger who is a former Ranger Commando that has the "support" of local "Tea Party" activists.

I wonder who my other US blogging cousin would support? :)

British woman on death row

Here is the Guardian's interview of Linda Carty, the British woman who is on death row in Texas, which was mentioned in today's Politics class. There are all sorts of problems with her case, the key one being that her lawyer has already had 20 clients end up on death row, a record in the USA.
What do you think?

The Russian Spy Ring

While Presidents Obama and Medvedev ate hamburgers in Virginia, the net was closing in on a ring of 11 Russian spies who had operated in America for over 10 years. They have been accused of taking false identities and acting as "sleeper agents", pretending to be American citizens whilst passing back information to Russia. The revelations have led to huge media coverage, particularly over 28 year old Anna Chapman (see picture below), who had a lively Facebook account with photographs of herself in glamourous locations. Although they often used the internet to pass on information, the agents seem to have used remarkably traditional methods as well, such as secret drop off points and codewords, just like in Cold War espionage stories.


There are some interesting comments on the affair, such as this article from the creator of Spooks suggesting fact is often stranger than fiction, and this analysis that the spy ring, despite the huge effort the Russian security service must have put into it, has actually yielded very little of value. Perhaps the inadequacy of their efforts is the reason why both the US and Russia are optimistic that the affair will cause little damage to their relationship in the long-term, once the media have stopped showing pictures of Anna Chapman...

PS: Some more good stuff here from the BBC, including the history of deep-cover spies, like British agent Kim Philby, who spied for the KGB for 20 years, and a profile of the SVR, formally known as the KGB (Committee for State Security), which can trace its roots back to the Russian Civil War in 1920.

Brian Landers

Here is the video of Brian Landers' fascinating talk to the HP Society today. It was a wide ranging discussion of the nature of American and Russian imperialism, which covered everything from the Pilgrim Fathers to John McCain and Barack Obama. Nonsuch HP was fascinated to learn that 400 American marines were dispatched to the Arctic Circle to hunt down Bolsheviks in the "Polar Bear expedition" and also that parts of California were claimed by the Tsar of Russia, which directly influenced the "Monroe Doctrine ".

PS: Many thanks to Mr Berry for his technical help with this post.

Author's Christmas Visit

On Tuesday 8 December at 1.20pm in Room 103, Nonsuch HP Society is lucky enough to have the author Brian Landers in to give a talk. He has written a book called 'Empires Apart' analysing the parallel development of Russian and American Empires over the course of 400 years. It has some great reviews and promises to spark some debate about the role of Russia and America in the world today.
Everyone is invited but it will obviously be particularly useful to GCSE students and above. See his website here for more information about the book and the author.