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.

December 29, 1922: William Gaddis Is Born

December 29, 1922: William Gaddis Is Born December 29, 1922: William Gaddis Is Born

“What [The Recognitions] lacks, like all claustrophobic works of art, is imagination.”

Dec 29, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

December 28, 1973: Alexsander Solzhenitsyn’s ‘Gulag Archipelago’ is Published

December 28, 1973: Alexsander Solzhenitsyn’s ‘Gulag Archipelago’ is Published December 28, 1973: Alexsander Solzhenitsyn’s ‘Gulag Archipelago’ is Published

“The duty is not only to memorialize the fallen, it is also to confront the living.”

Dec 28, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

December 27, 1932: Radio City Music Hall Opens

December 27, 1932: Radio City Music Hall Opens December 27, 1932: Radio City Music Hall Opens

“All at once there is a vast firmament overhead, and a great distance stretching out under it.”

Dec 27, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

December 26, 1991: The Soviet Union Dissolves

December 26, 1991: The Soviet Union Dissolves December 26, 1991: The Soviet Union Dissolves

“However cruelly it developed, the union of peoples from Minsk to Vladivostok had the potential to improve the lives and realize the dreams of millions.”

Dec 26, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

December 25, ~4 BCE: Jesus Christ Is Born (Allegedly)

December 25, ~4 BCE: Jesus Christ Is Born (Allegedly) December 25, ~4 BCE: Jesus Christ Is Born (Allegedly)

“It was Christmas morning. I was looking for the light of quiet healing, the brightness of good-will, that should usher in the friendly open hand in place of the old, clenched, sha...

Dec 25, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

December 24, 1865: The Ku Klux Klan Is Formed

December 24, 1865: The Ku Klux Klan Is Formed December 24, 1865: The Ku Klux Klan Is Formed

“If they are so demoralized that they go on robbing, and murdering, and ‘Kukluxing’ each other, we cannot interfere effectively, and had better not interfere at a...

Dec 24, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

December 23, 1913: The Federal Reserve Is Created

December 23, 1913: The Federal Reserve Is Created December 23, 1913: The Federal Reserve Is Created

“The whole thing was a wonderful demonstration of what Christmas can do in the sphere of legislation.”

Dec 23, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

Representative-elect Bernie Sanders at an orientation for Congressional freshmen, November 28, 1990.

When the Berlin Wall Fell, Bernie Sanders Didn’t Respond Like Other Politicians When the Berlin Wall Fell, Bernie Sanders Didn’t Respond Like Other Politicians

Instead of heralding “the end of history,” Sanders called on Americans to take the revolutions of 1989 as a model.

Dec 22, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

December 22, 2010: President Obama Repeals ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

December 22, 2010: President Obama Repeals ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ December 22, 2010: President Obama Repeals ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

“This disastrous policy was born out of Bill Clinton’s refusal to honor his 1992 campaign pledge to let gays serve openly in uniform.”

Dec 22, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

December 21, 1892: Rebecca West Is Born

December 21, 1892: Rebecca West Is Born December 21, 1892: Rebecca West Is Born

“Pleasure is not arbitrary; it is the sign by which the human organization shows that it is performing a function which it finds appropriate to its means and ends.”

Dec 21, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

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