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.

February 6, 1911: Ronald Reagan is Born

February 6, 1911: Ronald Reagan is Born February 6, 1911: Ronald Reagan is Born

A brief history of the “third-rate student at a fifth-rate college.”

Feb 6, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac

February 5, 1937: President Franklin Roosevelt Proposes to ‘Pack’ the Supreme Court

February 5, 1937: President Franklin Roosevelt Proposes to ‘Pack’ the Supreme Court February 5, 1937: President Franklin Roosevelt Proposes to ‘Pack’ the Supreme Court

The so-called “court-packing” scheme was endorsed heartily by The Nation—unsurprisingly, as the plan was first floated in its pages four years earlier.

Feb 5, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac

February 4, 1899: Fighting Erupts Between the Philippines and the United States

February 4, 1899: Fighting Erupts Between the Philippines and the United States February 4, 1899: Fighting Erupts Between the Philippines and the United States

Somehow, The Nation lamented, “we got hold of the notion that it would be a good thing to annex 1,200 islands at the other end of the world.”

Feb 4, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac

February 3, 1924: Woodrow Wilson Dies

February 3, 1924: Woodrow Wilson Dies February 3, 1924: Woodrow Wilson Dies

“Woodrow Wilson came into the political life of America as if in response to prayer,” wrote The Nation’s Oswald Garrison Villard. “Aspiring to the stars he ...

Feb 3, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac

February 2, 1943: The Soviets Accept Germany’s Surrender in the Battle of Stalingrad

February 2, 1943: The Soviets Accept Germany’s Surrender in the Battle of Stalingrad February 2, 1943: The Soviets Accept Germany’s Surrender in the Battle of Stalingrad

“Bankers, conservative columnists, and other respectable people” were happy to see a million Russians die to keep open an Eastern front, The Nation noted, but became a ...

Feb 2, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac

February 1, 1884: The Oxford English Dictionary Begins Publication

February 1, 1884: The Oxford English Dictionary Begins Publication February 1, 1884: The Oxford English Dictionary Begins Publication

A journey inside the famous Scriptorium of founding OED editor James A.H. Murray.

Feb 1, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac

January 31, 1950: President Truman Announces the US Will Seek to Develop a Hydrogen Bomb

January 31, 1950: President Truman Announces the US Will Seek to Develop a Hydrogen Bomb January 31, 1950: President Truman Announces the US Will Seek to Develop a Hydrogen Bomb

The Nation argued against the development of the hydrogen bomb in terms that apply to Edward Snowden’s revelations about the surveillance state today.

Jan 31, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac

Today is FDR’s Birthday: Before the 1932 Election, ‘The Nation’ Was Not Impressed

Today is FDR’s Birthday: Before the 1932 Election, ‘The Nation’ Was Not Impressed Today is FDR’s Birthday: Before the 1932 Election, ‘The Nation’ Was Not Impressed

“A new deal is needed in the world,” The Nation said, but FDR was not the man to deliver it.

Jan 30, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and Back Issues

January 30, 1948: Mohandas Gandhi is Assassinated

January 30, 1948: Mohandas Gandhi is Assassinated January 30, 1948: Mohandas Gandhi is Assassinated

The Nation was the first American publication to write about Gandhi, back in 1897. Here’s what we said.

Jan 30, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac

January 29, 1964: ‘Dr. Strangelove’ Opens in Theaters

January 29, 1964: ‘Dr. Strangelove’ Opens in Theaters January 29, 1964: ‘Dr. Strangelove’ Opens in Theaters

Stanley Kubrick “has taken a whole complex of America’s basic assumptions by the shoulders and given them a rough shaking,” The Nation’s Robert Hatch wrote....

Jan 29, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac

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