Browsing: Politics

A Brief History In June of 2015, the Treasury Department announced that Alexander Hamilton, first Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, who has graced the $10 U.S. bill since 1929 will be replaced by the image of a woman in the year 2020.  No decision has yet been made about who will be selected, although the Treasury stated that it would probably be someone who represents for “our inclusive democracy.” Digging Deeper A little known fact is that women have already appeared on U.S. paper bills, in fact twice – namely inaugural First Lady Martha Washington and Native American princess Pocahontas. U.S. money has also included fictional characters such as…

A Brief History On June 25, 1998, the US Supreme Court voted 6-3 to strike down the Line Item Veto Act of 1996.  It is said that politics makes for strange bedfellows, and this attempt to stifle congressional pork barrel tactics was an example of just that. Digging Deeper After Democrat Bill Clinton was elected President in 1992, the Republicans mounted a major surge in the mid-term elections of 1994 and achieved their dreamed of majority in congress.  One promise these Republicans had made was to enact a line item veto law allowing the President to veto only a specific…

A Brief History This article provides a table of contents and timeline or sorts for History and Headlines’ editor Beth Michaels’ series of counterfactuals concerning the wives of King Henry VIII of England in which she takes a less-than-conventional approach and highlights aspects from their lives about which even Tudor enthusiasts may not have thought. Digging Deeper Introduction: A Timeline of Tudor Britain Wife no. 1: Could Catherine of Aragon have Lied? Wife no. 2: What if Anne Boleyn Had Slept with Henry VIII? Wife no. 3: What if Jane Seymour Had Survived? Wife no. 4: What if Anne of Cleves Had Been Beautiful? Wife no. 5:…

A Brief History On June 22, 1990, Checkpoint Charlie, the best known crossing point between Soviet-occupied East Germany to Western-occupied West Germany was torn down, a sign that the Cold War that had threatened the world with nuclear annihilation since 1947 was drawing to an end.  Here we list 10 prominent symbols or icons that are closely associated with this time period.  (Honorable mention to the AK-47 and the M-16 assault rifles.) Digging Deeper 10. MiG-15 and F-86.  These are the best of the early jets from both sides that faced off during the Korean War; the fierce debate over which was the…

A Brief History On June 11, 2015, President Obama was in the strange position of having a trade agreement he and many congressional Republicans supported shot down in a vote by members of his own party. Digging Deeper The “Pacific Rim” trade treaty endorsed by the President would involve Canada and 11 other countries in freer trade with the US.  Wary of another NAFTA trade fiasco where such a treaty cost American jobs, many Democrats opposed the agreement, as did enough Republicans to deal the President a defeat.  The President must now go back to negotiating a revised deal if…