Synopsis
The bestselling author of A Patriot's History of the United States examines some of the pivotal—yet mostly ignored—moments that shaped our history.
Every schoolchild is taught the great turning points in American history, such as Gettysburg, Pearl Harbor, the Kennedy assassination, and 9/11. But other, equally significant events have altered our destiny without being understood—or even widely noticed.
Acclaimed conservative historian Larry Schweikart now takes an in-depth look at seven such episodes and reveals the profound ways they have shaped America. He also asks readers to reconsider them not just in terms of what happened, but in light of the Founding Fathers' vision for our nation. What would Washington, Jefferson, or Madison have said about these events?
In the same reader-friendly style of his previous bestsellers, A Patriot's History of the United States and 48 Liberal Lies About American History, Professor Schweikart doesn't merely recount our history—he forces us to rethink what makes our country great. He shows how individual liberty, private enterprise, and small government helped build a free and prosperous nation. Conversely, whenever these values have been threatened by big government, oppressive taxes, and special interests, we lose sight of the principles that made us strong.
You'll be surprised to learn how these events spurred sweeping changes that still affect us today. For instance:
- Martin Van Buren's consolidation of the first national political party made it possible for Barack Obama to get elected almost two centuries later
- Dwight Eisenhower's heart attack led to a war on red meat, during which the government took control over Americans' diets
- The rock'n'roll craze (often mistakenly claimed as a liberal phenomenon) helped bring about the decline of communism and the fall of the Soviet Union
Publishers Weekly
Some events spotlighted in this overwrought right-wing screed, like Martin Van Buren's redesign of political parties in the 1820s and the Dred Scott decision, were genuine historical watersheds. Others, like the Johnstown flood and President Eisenhower's 1955 heart attack, an alleged milestone in government “dietary nannyism,” maybe not. What unites them is the theme that historian Schweikart (48 Liberal Lies About American History) reliably extracts: the federal government is incompetent and corrupt, and the founders would have abhorred its modern initiatives, from arts funding to disaster relief to the food pyramid. Some of Schweikart's arguments, like his contention that Dred Scott precipitated the Panic of 1857, are intriguing and plausible, but his conclusions run to rabid anticollectivist sermonizing, e.g., “throughout history, all inventions, all major decisions have come down to a single person.” (Take that, Constitutional Convention!) His credibility is undermined by factual misstatements (“In 2003... the world was already reaching its population peak”), paranoid hyperbole (“beneath the obesity hysteria was a deep hatred of capitalism”), and obscure mutterings about “'the Lysenkoist 'man-made global warming' nonsense” and the “ 'other shooters' ” sighted at President Kennedy's assassination. Schweikart's tea party serves up an iffy blend. (June 1)