Michael Beschloss
Michael Beschloss
Michael Richard Beschlossis an American historian. A specialist in the United States presidency, he is the author of nine books...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionHistorian
Date of Birth30 November 1955
CountryUnited States of America
admire coming left plan understand vacuum
In retrospect, I emotionally understand where Morgenthau is coming from, and I admire him for it. At the same time, Morgenthau's plan was too vindictive. In retrospect, if it had been instituted ... it would have left a vacuum for the Soviets.
best bill civil might moments rights
...We might never have had a civil rights bill in 1964. That was one of the most important and best moments of American history,
kids remember tabloid
To kids of the 90's -- they probably remember him more of something of a tabloid celebrity,
adjusted adulthood almost bad given graceful nice reach
Given the experiences he had, for him to reach adulthood and be pretty well adjusted and be thought of almost universally as a pretty nice and graceful guy, that is not a bad accomplishment,
nominating
From the beginning of the presidential nominating conventions in the 1830's really through the 1950's, you had conventions that actually did real business.
bill bit clear clinton cut difficult invasion job middle objectives president turn
This is not as clear as saying, 'We are going to turn back the invasion of Kuwait.' The objectives here are a little bit more complex, a little bit more difficult for a president to explain, especially in the middle of a campaign. Bill Clinton really has his job cut out for him.
aware change hear life snap
This a person who can change the life of all of us, really, in the snap of a finger, by writing one word. And it's something that Americans are not as aware of because we don't hear that much about these people. We don't see them interact.
cases electoral represent result underlying united
So the result was that in many cases the conventions really did represent the underlying electoral topography of the United States.
divided final oftentimes period
Oftentimes during the period in which conventions really did business, you had situations where the delegates were divided and you would have ballot after ballot before there was a final nominee.
center events historical
He's at the center of two big historical events.
build enormous felt fighting fights-and-fighting liberal seem support
He felt that if he was able to build enormous support for fighting poverty, then that wouldn't seem something that was liberal and off on the left.
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If James Madison were here today, Senator Byrd is exactly the kind of leader that he hoped the American Republic in the future would bring to power: someone of his stature and his learning and his understanding of history and philosophy. I think he would be very pleased.
war europe looks
As you look back in history, we [the United States] have done wonderful things, the Marshal Plan is the most obvious. After World War II, we spent billions of dollars to rebuild Europe or at least part of Europe after the devastation of World War II. We did it out of charity, but we also did it to keep the Russians from getting deeply into Europe.
party leader half
Then you get to the last half of the 20th century, Americans are getting very skeptical about their leaders and their institutions, and another place that is affected is parties and conventions.