The Brion McClanahan Author & Historian Blog

If you missed it, the Maine Secretary of State has decided to remove Donald Trump from the ballot in 2024. This followed the Colorado Supreme Court decision that did the same, though after Trump appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, the Colorado Secretary of State placed Trump back on the Republican primary ballot. The Supreme Court decided to hear the case today, as I …more

I’m back. I hope everyone is ready for a great 2024 and that your year will be healthy, prosperous, happy, and fulfilling. We know our opponents don’t want any of that for us. Deplorables don’t deserve good things. Without question, this will be an interesting year, and perhaps one of the most “historical” in recent memory. The political theater surrounding the presidential election alone will …more

Who is the real Thomas Jefferson? Historians have attempted to answer this question since “Sage of Monticello” died in 1826. Jefferson has been the symbol of nearly every political movement in America, even if he would have disagreed with their positions. He has been described as a radical, a progressive, a liberal, an agrarian, a populist, a libertarian, a conservative, a republican, and a federalist. …more

Secession may be on the ballot in Texas. At least it may be on the Republican primary ballot. Proponents of Texas Secession (TEXIT) have gathered close to 100,000 signatures on the issue, meaning the Republican Party may be forced to include it on the primary ballot, as per State law. This is a big development. For years, the Texas Republican Party has resisted a grassroots …more

A paranoid leftist law professor worries that the Supreme Court will destroy the federal government. That is if a pending case is decided in the way he fears. You see, this professor thinks that originalist “cherry picking” of the Constitution is going to undermine the regulatory state. What will we do without the SEC, FDA, OSHA, or a host of other unconstitutional federal agencies? Who …more

If you’ve been listening to my show or reading my emails for even a few weeks, you know I am very hard on establishment activists…historians. And for good reason. They are destroying both the “profession” and more importantly traditional America. Most of these “experts” make glaring mistakes on a regular basis. Their goal is never to understand. They want to wield history like a sword …more

I have been teaching the progressive movement in college classes for over two decades. Progressives always had one goal: power. They were born in the Deep North and found a political home in the early Republican Party. They were also smart. Progressives thought locally and acted locally, particularly in the late 19th century when the movement seemed dead. You see, “national” politicos thought they killed …more

In 1883, sociologist William Graham Sumner coined the term “The Forgotten Man” in a lecture at the Long Island Historical Society in Brooklyn, New York. This lecture was later published with a collection of essays after his death in 1910. Sumner correctly argued that the American middle class was being squeezed by those at the top and those at the bottom. Those at the top …more

Young Americans are refusing the join the military. In fact, for several years in a row, the military has fallen short of its recruitment goals. The question is why. Newsweek provided some answers, and surprisingly, were generally spot on. But they missed the larger picture. We take it for granted that the United States needs a standing army over nearly 1 million men and women. …more

I’ve often been asked a variation of the same question: “If you had to choose one American history book to recommend, what would it be?” The answer is simple: David Hackett Fischer’s Albion’s Seed. I don’t make this suggestion lightly. There are other fascinating and important works to consider, but Fischer presents a compelling tale of early American culture that cannot be ignored. Culture matters, …more