Vietnam War

More Defections From Republican Party And Trump Than Ever Since 1964 And Barry Goldwater!

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The nation is witnessing more Republican Party defections from Donald Trump than from any Republican Presidential nominee in the past 60 years, since Barry Goldwater in 1964.

Goldwater, the most right wing Republican nominee ever, by comparison, is now seen belatedly as a libertarian. While definitely a right wing conservative who alienated the eastern liberal wing of the Republican Party, led by Nelson Rockeller, William Scranton, George Romney, and others, in retrospect, he was not as threatening as Donald Trump is.

Golcwater attacked the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and spoke of defeating Communism and the Soviet Union, including escalating the Vietnam War, but he did not call for the end of the Constitution, or prosecuting critics, or deporting millions of people as Donald Trump is advocating.

And in later times, Goldwater supported Abortion Rights and Gay Rights, so clearly, dramatically different than the present MAGA Republicans who swear by tyrant Donald Trump.

Goldwater was not personally corrupt as Trump is; did not have multiple marriages and divorces; did not promote the idea of overthrowing the results of an election; and did not personally promote character assassination of his opponent, Lyndon B. Johnson.

And most importantly, in 1974, ten years after his massive Presidential defeat, as again a sitting US Senator, he went to the White House and told Richard Nixon he should resign, or would face conviction on impeachment charges.

So Barry Goldwater was a decent loyal American, unlike Donald Trump, who makes Richard Nixon look like a “choir boy” by comparison!

One can be certain that he would repudiate Donald Trump, and would not have backed him in 2016 or 2020, as well as 2024!

May 4, 1970 Anniversary: A Sobering Moment Recalled

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It is now 54 years since the National Guard, called onto the campus of Kent State University in Ohio by Republican Governor James Rhodes, opened up fire on student demonstrators against the war in Vietnam, and specifically, the invasion of Cambodia.

Four students were killed, including Jeffrey Miller, who was shot in the back while walking far away from the student demonstration, and led to the infamous photograph of a young girl weeping over his body as his blood drained out. Nine students were also wounded, and one was paralyzed for life in this tragedy.

The idea that it was appropriate to call in military forces to a college or university campus, now being promoted by many Republicans, including Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, is an example of how nothing has been learned from that horrendous tragedy.

This tragedy only emboldened President Richard Nixon, as many Americans believed in so called “law and order”, and the fear is that the present college campus demonstrations regarding the Israel-Hama War might only embolden Donald Trump and his followers in the upcoming Presidential and Congressional Elections of 2024.

Henry Kissinger, Most Controversial Diplomat Since World War II, Is Dead At 100!

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Henry Kissinger, the most controversial diplomat since World War II, is dead at age 100!

The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the end of the Vietnam War, he is seen by many as having been an international outlaw and criminal for his involvement in spreading the Vietnam War into Cambodia; his support and promotion of a right wing government in Chile, destroying that democracy for a generation; and his lack of concern about human rights and loss of freedom in so many places around the world besides Chile, including Argentina.

As National Security Adviser and then Secretary of State to President Richard Nixon, and later to President Gerald Ford, he engaged in many unethical, if not illegal, actions.

A believer in Realpolitik in international relations, he was seen as lacking ethics and morality to the extreme, and was noted for his egotism and lack of concern about his reputation.

He is noted for helping to open up relations with the People’s Republic of China, and his dealings with the Soviet Union, and the Middle East cauldron. He also is criticized for backing Pakistan in the Bangladesh-India War for Independence of what had been East Pakistan, undermining relations with the largest populated nation, India, beyond China, and also encouraging the corrupt Shah of Iran during the energy crisis!

Seen as a brilliant and yet to many an evil man, he clashed with many other diplomatic and political figures, and stood out as diametrically opposite to many, including President Jimmy Carter, who survived him and one hopes will reach age 100 in ten months!

Henry Kissinger Reaches Age 100: Mixed Views On His Reputation And Legacy!

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Henry Kissinger, arguably the most significant Secretary of State in American history since World War II, turns age 100 today.

Sadly, Kissinger has a very checkered history, seen as outstanding in some ways as National Security Adviser and then the head of the State Department under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

But he has also been held complicit for supporting the prolonging of the Vietnam War under Nixon; backing the military coup in Argentina, which led to brutality and the deaths of tens of thousands of Argentines by death squads; the overthrow of the Chilean democracy in 1973, leading to the brutality of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorial regime until 1990; support of the Pakistan dictatorship war against Bangladesh and India in 1971; and the bombing of Cambodia in 1970 and after during the Vietnam War.

On the positive side, he was involved in the negotiation of the Paris Peace Accords ending the Vietnam War; pioneering the policy of detente with the Soviet Union; promoting the opening of relations with the People’s Republic of China; and involvement in shuttle diplomacy that ended the 18 Day Yom Kippur War between Egypt and Israel in 1973.

So Kissinger is looked at by experts as both a “war criminal” but also a statesman who won the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the end of the Vietnam War.

Kissinger has been unable to travel freely to many areas of the world, since he left office in 1977, as he could have faced arrest for the evil deeds he endorsed and supported.

He will remain controversial in the future after his passing, but one thing is certain!

You cannot study the history of the Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford Presidencies, without realizing the great impact, both negative and positive, of the German Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany!

50 Years Since Lyndon B. Johnson’s Passing: His Heritage Is Immense!

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It has been a half century since the passing of President Lyndon B. Johnson on January 22, 1973.

This giant of a man and a President had massive impact on the American people and their history.

LBJ brought about the greatest social and economic reform of any President except Franklin D. Roosevelt, and many might say that his impact in some ways was greater than that of FDR.

When one considers his impact on civil rights, education, health care, and the issue of urban and rural poverty, it is clear that LBJ transformed the American psyche on these matters.

The battles he fought and overcame against Southern Democrats have now, sadly, been transformed into struggles against most Republicans, who have become the new white supremacists and are out to promote the same narrow minded “states rights” arguments to erase advancements on race, women’s rights, and gay rights, in an attempt to bring America back to the mentality of the 19th century.

Had LBJ only had to deal with domestic issues, he would be ranked in the top five of all Presidents, but sadly, his insistence on continuing and expanding the war in Vietnam caused a massive split that started the attack against American liberalism and progressivism, which he and FDR had so championed from the 1930s through the 1960s.

So his ranking is lower, although with time, it has recovered so that he is considered in the top quarter of Presidents, generally ranking as about number 10 or 11 of all the 45 Presidents we have had.

Joe Biden Becomes A Wartime President

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Joe Biden has become a wartime President, alongside James Madison, James K. Polk, Abraham Lincoln, William McKinley, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush.

At this point, he looks more like Lincoln, Wilson, FDR, Truman, and George H. W. Bush than the rest of the group.

If fortune goes against him, he might look more like Madison, who saw the nation divide during the War Of 1812 and the White House being burned; like Polk, who caused a split over slavery expansion during the Mexican War that helped to lead to the Civil War a decade later; like LBJ, who divided the nation over Vietnam just as he promoted the Great Society; like Nixon, who continued an unpopular war in Vietnam that ended up in a tragic loss; and like George W. Bush, who started two wars based on poor tactics and planning, and dominated by lies and deception in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Historic Moment For Vice President To Turn Against President: Extremely Rare!

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Former Vice President Mike Pence has FINALLY stopped being a sycophant to Donald Trump, after being obsequious to the former President since his selection to be Vice President in the Summer of 2016.

Pence has been weak all along, but finally said he did his constitutional duty by counting the Electoral College votes in the Presidential Election of 2020, a ceremonial duty, with no power to challenge the official vote count.

This IS an historic moment, for a Vice President to turn against the President, extremely rare!

The only public times were Aaron Burr against Thomas Jefferson in 1801, after Burr created a constitutional crisis over whether he or Jefferson was to be President, due to a so called “tie’ in electoral votes; and John C. Calhoun against both John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, the two Presidents he served as Vice President, over the issue of the protective tariff and states rights, secession, and nullification.

Also, but more veiled, not obvious publicly, Charles G. Dawes had disagreements with Calvin Coolidge: John Nance Garner broke with Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940 as he sought to succeed him; Al Gore separated himself from Bill Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky Scandal as Gore ran for President in 2000; and Dick Cheney had growing disagreements and a growing breach with George W. Bush in Bush’s second term after 2005.

Also, more veiled was Thomas Marshall not being informed about Woodrow Wilson’s health after his stroke; Lyndon B. Johnson being mistreated by Robert F. Kennedy under John F. Kennedy’s Presidency; and Hubert Humphrey forced to support the Vietnam War under Johnson after 1965, later stated as a very difficult time for Humphrey.

Effect Of John F. Kennedy Assassination Still Reverberates On America 58 Years Later!

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This author and blogger was a sophomore in 1963, when John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963.

It was the most stunning event of my life until the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The Kennedy assassination transformed American politics dramatically, both in good ways and bad ways.

It brought about the possibility of the greatest period of reform since Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, with Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society.

But it also brought on a devastating long term war in Vietnam, and the beginning of disillusionment with government at all levels.

Had Robert F. Kennedy survived and won the Presidential Election of 1968, instead of being assassinated after winning the California primary in June 1968, the potential for more great reform and change, and to avoid the Presidency of Richard Nixon, would have existed.

WIth RFK’s death, after the earlier tragedy of JFK, America was put into a permanent decline in hope and optimism for the next forty years, as even the election of Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Bill Clinton in 1992 did not revive the hopes of the Kennedy legacy.

Instead, we had Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush cause great regression in so many ways, as Richard Nixon had done earlier.

Barack Obama was a bright light, but faced great opposition, and the horrors of Donald Trump as his succession!

Joe Biden, who has a bust of RFK behind him on the left in all photos when he is sitting at his desk, is trying to revive the Kennedy legacy of hope and promise, and has made a good start.

But it is clear the two Kennedy assassinations in the early and late 1960s have left a permanent scar on the nation!

Remembering Ted Kennedy, John McCain, Lyndon B. Johnson, WEB DuBois,19th Amendment Anniversaries In Time Of Turmoil

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Late August is a time to remember the contributions of three political leaders who were true statesmen, one civil rights leader and educator, as well as the celebration of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.

Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts died on August 25, 2009; Senator John McCain of Arizona died on August 25, 2018; President Lyndon B. Johnson was born on August 27, 1908; WEB DuBois died on August 27, 1963; and the 19th Amendment (Women Suffrage) was ratified and declared in effect on August 26, 1920.

These four individuals had a dramatic effect on American history, and the woman suffrage amendment has transformed American history as well.

Ted Kennedy is one of the greatest US Senators of all time, with his 47 plus years of service on all kinds of crucial issues.

John McCain is one of the heroic Senators, who also sacrificed years of torture and imprisonment in Vietnam, and was the true conscience of the Republican Party.

Lyndon B. Johnson promoted the greatest series of domestic reforms (“The Great Society”) since Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, and those reforms still impact America today.

WEB Dubois was the most significant early leader of the Civil Rights Movement before Martin Luther King Jr. and impacted the concept of Black History, and holding America to a higher standard of racial advancement.

The 19th Amendment overcame the long discrimination against women participating in public life, and has had an immeasurable effect on the American promotion of democracy.

The “Ups And Downs” Of Ranking Presidents Over Time

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Historically, many Presidents have gone through periods of low esteem, and then, suddenly, high esteem in the minds of public opinion and also, Presidential scholars.

Abraham Lincoln had a very divided nation in response after his assassination, and only in the early 20th century, did the nation decide to honor Lincoln with the construction of the Lincoln Memorial, dedicated in 1922. He has been rated Number One by just about every Presidential scholar and poll, except those right wing Confederate sympathizers and white supremacists

Harry Truman left office in 1953 with a very low public opinion rating, and was regarded poorly in assessments of Presidents, until after he passed away in 1972. In the next five years, as TIME Magazine termed it in the late 1970s, we had “Truman Mania”, as massive research and writing on Truman caused his rise in stature to as high as Number 5 in scholarly polls on Presidents.

Dwight D. Eisenhower left office with an image of a passive, lazy President, and the vitality and youth of his successor, John F. Kennedy, did not improve his image, and he was seen as not an outstanding President. But his historical reputation has risen dramatically to the point that in many scholarly assessments, he is now seen as number 5 or 6 among all Presidents.

Lyndon B. Johnson suffered mightily in assessments due to the Vietnam War, despite his amazing domestic accomplishments of the “Great Society”, and was poorly rated for 20 years. But now, he is somewhere between number 9 and 11 in rankings of Presidents.

Jimmy Carter has never risen from the mid to low 20s in rankings and popularity, but it seems possible to imagine that when the longest lived President eventually passes away, that his rating may go up much more than many might now imagine.