World War II was a transformational event. It offered the United States general government the opportunity to codify the aggressive Lincolnian nationalism prevalent but not triumphant since 1865. The entire United States was affected politically, militarily, diplomatically, and socially. I discuss how this happened in this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show.
In 1956, the great Southern philosopher Richard Weave penned a review of Russell Kirk’s Conservative Mind where he asked which ancestors we should emulate. There are several traditions in America but which traditions are best? Should we follow Lincoln, the progressive tradition, or something else? Just as with the definition of liberty, tradition can be a thorny issue. I discuss Weaver and his brilliant essay …more
Michael Vlahos argues at The American Conservative that “civil war” is the natural result of two competing “legitimacies” slugging it out for control of the same government. This I agree with. But he falls flat when he suggests that this has occurred twice in American history and when he considers nullification to be a root cause of such conflict. I was disappointed with this article …more
Have historical sites gone too far in pushing a slavery narrative? Some people think so. I do, too. I discuss the issue in this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show.
Most people seem to think that “think locally, act locally” is the product of some crazy conspiracy and distortion of history. Not so. In fact, two of the greatest American minds openly discussed federalism and decentralization. An amazing 1798 exchange between Thomas Jefferson and John Taylor of Caroline highlights that our political problems are not new and even members of the founding generation thought “think …more
My latest McClanahan Academy course is now available, United States History 1865 to the Present. You’re going to want to get this class. I title the last unit in the course The Triumph of Progressivism. Why? Because the progressive movement has transformed American society and most people don’t realize it. We view almost everything in America through a progressive lens. Even “conservatives” do this, particularly …more
Jarrett Stepman has a new book out for Regnery titled, The War on History. This is a great subject and a needed tome on the ongoing effort to destroy Western Civilization. I offer my honest review of both the book and the subject in this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show.
Professor Steele Brand wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post arguing that Roman History should be the savoir of America. The founding generation were certainly reared on stories of Roman republicanism, there is little doubt that this type of republicanism molded the culture of the founding generation. But can this help us today? In short, yes, but not completely in the way Brand suggests.
The big question of the day: has Trump committed impeachable offenses? The talking points have been distributed and almost every Democratic presidential candidate insists that Trump violated his oath of office. It’s almost as if they read my book 9 Presidents Who Screwed Up America. Except, if they had, they would know that their position is on thin ice, at least in regard to the …more
Donald Trump is facing impeachment. Climate alarmists are twerking in DC. The Republicans in Washington are still spineless, and the Democrats are lunatics, and I say to myself, what a wonderful world. Why? Because none of that matters. I adopted a think locally, act locally mentally long ago. Most Americans, however, do not share the same attitude as evidenced by a recent poll. They can’t …more
Most Americans recognize a few of the Founding Fathers—Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, Adams, Franklin—but what about some of the important but forgotten men who have been lost to time? They have great stories that need to be told. Here are ten whose fantastic lives are in many ways better than fiction.
Get this fun-to-read 26 page e-book and the audio book version as an immediate download and receive even more great content every month.