Browsing: Politics

A Brief History On August 11, 1984, President Reagan caused the Soviet Union to raise their security and defense levels by joking about bombing Russia.  Whether meant to go public or said in private conversation, politicians throughout history have been known to say incredibly stupid things.  Here we list 10 such misstatements made by politicians.  (Note: Due to the volume of stupid utterances, we do not claim these are the most stupid, but they are pretty stupid.)  Obviously, this list cries out for a sequel.   10.  “Read my lips, no new taxes.” George H.W. Bush, 1988. Campaign pledges are usually not considered…

A Brief History On July 28, 1914, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia, starting World War I.  When a Serbian nationalist assassinated the Archduke (heir to the throne) of the Austrian empire to protest Austro-Hungarian occupation of Serbian territory, he never could have seen the incredible consequences of the worst war in human history (until World War II).  Sometimes assassinations or attempted assassinations result in events unfolding differently than those anticipated by the assassin.  Here we list 10 such incidents, in no particular order.   Digging Deeper 10. Franz Ferdinand, 1914. As described above, all that was accomplished was the anger…

A Brief History On July 28, 1866, Vinnie (Lavinia) Ream, an 18 year old girl became the first woman in the United States to win a commission for a statue, that of the recently deceased President Lincoln.  This statue became her most famous work, and it resides in the Rotunda of the US Capitol. Digging Deeper In true American fashion, she was born in a log cabin in Wisconsin in 1847.  She attended Christian College in Missouri, now called Columbia College.  She began her groundbreaking career as one of the first female US government employees, working at the post office. …

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, 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…