Richard Kreitner

richardkreitner

Richard Kreitner is a contributing writer and the author of Break It Up: Secession, Division, and the Secret History of America's Imperfect Union. His writings are at richardkreitner.com.

September 4, 1958: Arkansas Governor Calls Out the National Guard to Prevent Public School Integration

September 4, 1958: Arkansas Governor Calls Out the National Guard to Prevent Public School Integration September 4, 1958: Arkansas Governor Calls Out the National Guard to Prevent Public School Integration

“State defiance of federal authority may not be tolerated. This would no longer be state sovereignty but state anarchy.”

Sep 4, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

September 3, 1991: Frank Capra Dies

September 3, 1991: Frank Capra Dies September 3, 1991: Frank Capra Dies

“One important function of good art or entertainment is to unite and illuminate the heart and the mind…. Bad art and entertainment misinform and disunite them.”

Sep 3, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

September 2, 1973: J.R.R. Tolkien Dies

September 2, 1973: J.R.R. Tolkien Dies September 2, 1973: J.R.R. Tolkien Dies

“One is puzzled to know why the author should have supposed he was writing for adults.… There is little in The Lord of the Rings over the head of a seven-year-old child.”

Sep 2, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

September 1, 1939: Germany Invades Poland, Beginning World War II

September 1, 1939: Germany Invades Poland, Beginning World War II September 1, 1939: Germany Invades Poland, Beginning World War II

“Democracy—even that 'pluto-democracy' derided by Hitler—must be defended against a despotism that would crush all attempts to make democracy real.”

Sep 1, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

August 31, 1997: Diana, Princess of Wales, Dies in a Car Crash in Paris

August 31, 1997: Diana, Princess of Wales, Dies in a Car Crash in Paris August 31, 1997: Diana, Princess of Wales, Dies in a Car Crash in Paris

“She ended up symbolizing a new set of values: self-invention, psychotherapy, emotional expressivity, egalitarian marriage and women’s right to seek love in and out of wedlock, fla...

Aug 31, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

August 30, 1944: Molly Ivins Is Born

August 30, 1944: Molly Ivins Is Born August 30, 1944: Molly Ivins Is Born

“Molly’s writing reminds us that dissent is what rescues the democracy from a quiet death behind closed doors, that republican self-government, properly understood, is an uproar an...

Aug 30, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

August 29, 2005: Hurricane Katrina Strikes the Gulf Coast

August 29, 2005: Hurricane Katrina Strikes the Gulf Coast August 29, 2005: Hurricane Katrina Strikes the Gulf Coast

“Faith-based disaster relief is no substitute for an effective, organized, rapid government response.”

Aug 29, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

August 28, 1963: The March on Washington

August 28, 1963: The March on Washington August 28, 1963: The March on Washington

“After the civil-rights issue has been won, as it will be—that is, after all legally sanctioned forms of Jim Crow discrimination have been removed—what then?”

Aug 28, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

August 27, 1963: W.E.B. Du Bois Dies

August 27, 1963: W.E.B. Du Bois Dies August 27, 1963: W.E.B. Du Bois Dies

“A society based on money values may reject such a man as scornfully as one based on the tradition of slavery, but a society based upon character and culture will always welcome hi...

Aug 27, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

Donald Trump.

Give Trump This: The 14th Amendment Has Been Working Overtime Give Trump This: The 14th Amendment Has Been Working Overtime

How healthy is it to found a democracy on this one slender reed?

Aug 26, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

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