Browsing: July 26

A Brief History On July 26, 1861, Major General George McClellan was appointed the commander of the Army of the Potomac, a move President Lincoln hoped would instill professionalism and competence to that Army.  McClellan was outranked only by Winfield Scott, the 75 year old relic who was increasingly under fire from a public that demanded a quick and thorough victory. Digging Deeper Scott advocated a plan of siege and blockade called “The Anaconda Plan” by which the Confederate States would be squeezed and starved into submission.  As the Union Army and Navy at that time did not have the…

A Brief History On July 26, 1948, President Truman issued Executive Order 9981, which ordered the desegregation of the US military.  At times presidents cannot or will not wait for congress to act on a subject and they take it into their own hands by issuing an “Executive Order.”  President Obama is currently under attack by Republicans for using this non-legislative authority, somewhat hypocritically when in fact George W. Bush used many more executive orders than Obama (291 to 183).  Franklin Roosevelt holds the record for the most executive orders with a whopping 3721.  Second place is Woodrow Wilson with…

A Brief History On July 26, 1767, Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk, and one-time mistress of King George II of England, died. Henrietta has the distinction of probably being the only mistress in history to be unwanted; George II much preferring the company of his wife to her. Digging Deeper What also sets Henrietta Howard apart is that she was a different nationality from her royal lover. This article will list 10 women who slept with emperors, czars, kings and princes but were not their subjects. Mistresses such as Cleopatra or Wallis Simpson who eventually married their lovers will not…

A Brief History On July 26, 1945, the leaders of the major Allied countries fighting Japan in World War II met in Potsdam, Germany to issue the conditions by which the Japanese were to surrender to the Allies.  Also known as “unconditional surrender” the Allies left no room for negotiation, which soon became a point of controversy and is debated to this day, as the declaration is seen by some as having prolonged the war by leaving Japan no honorable way to stop the fighting. Digging Deeper President Truman, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, and Chinese premier…