American history. I thought i would start by spending five or ten minutes just talking about the book. Partly its genesis and partly the kinds of questions that arose, which for me, gave the book a kind of larger scope than i had originally intended. The quotations that are in the book, the slogans and catchphrases, up until 1955 were easy for me to remember because i am a child of the forties. That is what i learned in school. That is how we learned history in school. Either the books that we took out of the library in fourth or fifth grade, or the way history was taught. But when i got to graduate school in the sixties, i discovered that some of my fellow students who came from overseas would come to meet periodically, as one woman did, and said, who is this joe and why should he say it aint so . So i told her the story. And then, much much later, a friend of ours who is an immigrant doctor from south africa came to me and said, why do my patience, when they see me, say whats up doc and laugh maniacal . So i had to tell her that story. I realized that people who are under 30 had no real idea anymore of what these slogans and catchphrases meant. Where they came from or where people why people use them. It is at that time that i decided that this is a book and i should write this book and i started a long time ago. As i wrote one slogan or catchphrase at a time, i realized after about ten of them, that there were a number of questions that were arising in my mind that i was going to need to answer if i was really going to pursue the book and finish it. I was writing the history the way i wanted to. When i was young, it was called a post whole approach which meant you wrote indepth and a lot. The context was always more important to me than the actual facts because that is what gave rise to the facts. But the kinds of questions that arose were questions like, why is history important . We know its important anecdotally, but why . That became one rabbit hole i disappeared down into for several months, until i was able to come to one kind of an answer. The second was why is American History so important to americans . American history is starts to get written while the revolution is going on. It was published by a woman by the name of mercy warren otis, or Mercy Otis Warren sorry. She was very socially and politically connected around boston. She started putting together the reach church materials to write the history of the revolution. All that while the outcome was still in doubt. She published the book much later, partly because she was ill several times and several of her children died. But she published in 1805. She had a very specific reason that she gave for publishing it. That reason was, the fragility of the nation itself. She was sure that if we forgot our history and forgot why we did it, the country would begin to break up into regions and different interests. That foreign powers would take over the country and so she had to get this down, because if we do not remember our history, we would lose the country itself. I think we tend to forget that from the time of the revolution through the end of the civil war, the country was an amazing series of strokes of luck that the country ever survived at all. That was another question. Why was it so important . Well, it was important because they felt that if we didnt remember the history, we would lose a country. But people like noah webster and others who were also writing about American History. Weber first wrote his pages in 1777, were doing it for a slightly different reason. As the old federalist grouch that he was, he was already complaining that kids did not remember what we had to do to get here. He felt it to write down the history that they had to learn it if we were going to keep the country on the right track. Slightly later, another and that was on immigration. More more immigrants came in, the sense was we have to teach them not why they came, but what they came to. We had to make our history into their history to. So very early on history was written. Then came the third question, which is why slogans . What were slogans all about . Very simply, slogans started by cause of the textbook writers. Education was wrote, and small school houses. Its ended it tended to be facts only. And a couple of the smart book writers decided if you tell the kids stories, they will pay more attention. And in fact thats what happened. And i wanted to read you to descriptions a bunker hill about bunker hill very short, but you could see what happened in the space of one generation when noel webster wrote about bunker hill. He said this. The americans stood this severe and continual fire with artillery with a resolution. Which would not have done to discredit the troops, and they didnt return a shot. Until the kings forces approached. When a most dreadful fire took place. By which a number of them the bravest men and officers fell. Now thats not bad, but 30 years later this is what he wrote. General putnam told the american soldiers, how to manage. Powder and you must not waste them. Dont fire until you can see the whites of their eyes, fire low, fire at their waistbands. Euro marksmans said he. You could kill a squirrel and 100 yards. Take the name, pick off the handsome coats, and this they did. And the enemy fell by the score. Now that is how to keep control of a classroom. And you will notice, right in the middle of that was the first find of dont fire until you see the whites of their eyes and thats what happened. The more American History got written, more stories got told during this time period. That the totally forgotten patriot nathan hale was rediscovered, and his words went into the textbook. So slogan started a way of teaching history and giving mnemonic to history. But also became, a way of remembering the lesson of each one of the stories, that they sought to teach. Knowing history, is going to make american citizens out of the young and the immigrants they had to learn what values were here. And each one of the slogans, had catchphrases. Either an attitude, or value that america wanted to sustain, as a culture. So if you take a look at all the forms of catchphrases that are there, there are at least another 1600 that never made it. They form, en masse the way we wish to see ourselves, the way we do see ourselves, and the way we want those who come here, to see themselves. So thats whats behind the book. So. That is. It thank you all. Speaking of history, we just had some and we are less than 24 hours and passed the election of barack obama, a long campaign, lots of words what was the slogan . Well, since slogans like history are never written by the losers, nation first or country first, is not going to be one of the survivors. Drill baby drill might be i suppose, although i dont think that governor pollen realized that is a play on burberry burn. The one that i thought was going to last, and might get lost was, yes we can. And i loved it when it started, it partakes of the Childrens Book we all know and love, the little engine that could. But it also picks up on the repetition of what the optimism is the basic that is basic in american life. And you could see in any number its the same as tomorrow as another day. And i thought it would get lost, because it was dropped as soon as brook obamas, clearly was going to make it. But he brought it back last night, and he brought it back in a very very interesting way. I think of american cultural life, as what i call referential. Every time we get into a crisis or theres a moment of tension, we reach back and you can see it and you saw last night, in barack obama speech. He didnt say what a wonderful thing what he did what he did is put it in context of American History. Using the figure of the 106yearold woman. And in that he punctuated with as we can. So that is the one survived. Now, the followup question about that and when we talk last week, as you just mentioned yes we can was not very much in evidence. At what point do you know, whether a slogan is going to be a slogan. I think of some of the revolutionary war slogans, and stories about the founders, that the book tells us didnt really get put in place until 1830, 1840 after their lifetimes. So when we know the yes we can made it . Well, we shall be as a city on the hill, its 16 30, and it disappeared from sight, with everybody with academics and religious historians, until 1963. Or 1960. When jack kennedy, use the court in a speech, in massachusetts. But not really notice, outside of massachusetts, it was brought back to prominence by Ronald Reagan. And it is a shining city on the hill. Roger williams and everybody else, came to rhode island but they can say with him so, there is a slogan which was created in a sense, by Ronald Reagan and it took 300 years to get it done. Slogans coming go i doubt if there is 10 of the people in this room, that no millions for defense, but not a penny for tribute, where that comes from or white comes from their. He was once an extremely important slogan. Typical new and tyler to survives, it is the first line of song a during the election, but the other great slogan from his campaign is comparison roast beef and two dollars a day. Which we never really needed so slogans, coming go. And the ones theyve come closest to the core values, that transmit, or the core sentiments that we want to remember, other ones survive. I have a dream will never disappear, because it like yes we can, are you know europeans talk about those americans, theyre always optimistic and it is true. You look back in the culture, and one of the most basic elements of our culture is that basic optimism, and it is really the core of saying sitting so, because this news boy who probably never existed, if you read the original new story, but the news boy hissing saving so, is crushed because he believes it so badly. So i have no idea. If im to predict the future, i wouldnt buy it. That might be a slogan. We will see. You take us from city in the hill, 16 30, all the way forward to Ronald Reagan, 1987, tear down this wall. After that. Well stop there because my publisher said you have ex number of words and you get to stop. It also had to do, i think, was that after 1987 was more journalism than history and 1987 was problematic. However, there are a number of things from wheres the defense to mission accomplished, which i suspect will be remembered not for the slogan, but for the national what it now evokes which is hubris, overreaching. That is what the slogan certainly typified. But that one, make my day, read my lips. Some of those are so particular that they probably wont survive whereas no taxation without representation, which as far as i can tell was never actually uttered, and certainly not repeated in the textbooks until after the civil war, survives because theres another court value, which is we dont like taxes very much. From another perspective, it actually appears on the d. C. License plate. Its an official tagline. It is not an ad on, its on every d. C. License plate. So there are local meetings. I thought about more recent slogans. You have an interesting idea in the book what you talk about, the way slogan some large today with together with mass media. Newspapers play a role. You suggested that president ial campaigns are actually in earlier form of a mass media. I would like to explore that, but i also wanted to ask, conventional wisdom is that we are now beyond the age of mass media. We are in the age of internet. What happens to slogans when that is the case . Im not sure. The internet is not a form of mass media. Its not a form of Mass Communication, it is so individualizing and segmenting publics that it splits it apart. There are events like political elections that bring us together. But the national forms of communication are now disappearing and i dont know if there is enough cross cutting loyalties in groups to sort of mailed them back together or not. It also brings things at such a speed and then eats them alive so quickly that its not not much gets remembered. The only slogan i could ever think of that came out of the internet was, you have male. Thats only around for people who have aol, which is a quickly dying service. I dont know. What happens if you have. Im just not sure where the new slogans come from. It is interesting that political campaigns, which are the second oldest, i think textbooks are the first form of Mass Communication, but the second is political campaigns. Newspapers only come third. So political campaigns and of course our favorite american pastime, wars, are another form of Mass Communications because the country participates as a whole. Not necessarily always in favor, but we participate anyway. Does that mean that slogans only take hold when they apply to the whole culture . No. The perfect example of the vietnam war was a form of Mass Communication in which everybody took part. Whether you were there or state here. It really gave birth to import slogans. One is, hell no, we wont go. And the second is, our country, love it or leave it. Both those slogans have survived. Both evoke important sort of message for the culture. And they both existed to divide the country, and to a large extent still do, because we have not come to terms with that event i think. So slogans dont necessarily unite. They can divide and fatally divide because they dont provoke thought. They do provoke allegiance and a motion. And the debate over abortion is the same exact thing. I think if you use the word slogan, people probably talk about advertising taglines. Yet in the book, you only talk about one advertising slogan which is. Which is youve come a long way baby. Which had the advantage of not only allowing to talk a little bit about the advertising business and its ability to subvert almost any cultural trend it finds. But also to talk about the womans liberation movement. Its an interesting slogan because it was one that was actually welcomed by the womens liberation movement. I dont deal with advertising slogans per se because in many ways they are too effervescent. When the product disappears, the token tense slogan tends to disappear. When they survive like, where is the beef, they survived because they evoke they can be used for a lot of situations. It was used immediately in political debates, but i think that is going away to. inaudible manufactured slogans are generally obvious and dont work very well. All slogans are manufactured just like the holidays. People who complained to me about kwanzaa, its a madeup holiday. Well christmas, there wasnt always christmas. All holidays are created by somebody, so all slogans are created by somebody. The question then becomes, how long do they last . And do they arise out of something organic in the situation at the time . The one slogan to me that i wouldnt use because i swear it was made up by a Public Relations department at nasa is, this is one small step for man. I mean, im sorry. If i was getting out of a rocket ship onto the moon, i would say wow or whatever you or something. I wouldnt say this is small. It just never quite made sense to me. Anyway. I forget where we started with that question. This is off topic, but do people in fact complain to you about kwanzaa . And why is that . Yes. I dont know why, but you can always hear comments about kwanzaa, about any new holiday. Now of course, as someone who actually worked in Public Relations and actually participated in the birth of motherinlaws day, i have no right to complain about everything anything. But then again, motherinlaws day went back to where it came from and we went on. Back on point. Downtown from here, there are lots of people locked in conference rooms, desperately trying to come up with slogans and tag lines and other memorable phrases. Are you saying that they cant or that they have to be lucky . I think import they have to be lucky, because theyre often successful, for reasons that their client would rather they werent. Because the slogan will get remembered, and the product will be forgotten. For example . Youve come a long way baby. Under certain by age, people not know that is a cigarette commercial. And it actually became more enigmatic of the Womens Movement then it became of cigarettes. So if you get lucky, you may be looking for the wrong reasons. Because its also meant to make you do something. You know in your battle cry. Dont shoot before you see the whites of their eyes. Or remember the all along. But if you have a product, that what you chose to do is go by it. That doesnt tend to get remembered very long. You just touched on this, and you discuss in the book the difference between a slogan and a catchphrase. What is the difference . Well slogans as i said, our battle cries that make you do something with the either explicitly or implicitly tippecanoe and tyler too isnt implicit one, because the boat you know is left but catchphrases, come out of popular culture, and are more reflective, of a dominant and improved way of saying we have seen life for example. Like nice guys finish last. Its a person its a reflection of something we would rather not see. Saying that theres a real cost to success. But frankly my dear i dont give a, is a wonderful reflection as to how frustrated people can feel and the opposite in always optimistic reply after he slammed the door. Like tomorrow is another day. Which is the sort of what will just keep going. But catchphrases then, are they not asking you to do anything but its like with this is how we feel. This is how we feel inside. And it covers a wide array of subjects, and often that takes opposite points of view, and but they are not telling, theyre not just saying this is how we feel. And catchphrases lasts as long as the feeling lasts. And when stops the catchphrase dies. You talked a bit before about conflict, and about catchphrase is being used to divide. Weve also talked a lot about the history of it and its written by the winners. Any examples of catchphrases being used by the losers. Or by the not yet winners. By the oppressed and those who are fighting for power . So slogans that people remember . You know this one is written by a Pr Department for the white house, injury forwards time, those of you might remember, or win inflation now, or jerry ford could even get that part of his administration correct. That came and went with incredible speed. And keep cool with cool, with coolidge actually thats not really remembered. More wind with wilkie, but its not remembered because they lost. There are many slogans, which are still current in ethnic community, or a smaller segment that we are just not generally aware of. Because he never became generalized. But those are slogans, theyre trying to be a no i am not a crook. Was there. It was a line. But im not a crook is like mission accomplished. Its one of the slogans that characterizes the hero, or the person and im sure that the people involved, rather that people dont remember that. So theres a sub group of snarky sayings in slogans. So the one the, has lasted the longest, and yet i talked about this is the one that is deliberately not in the book, and is not in the book, but not solely american but, the only good x, you put your own now and, this is a dead x. So its been with us for a long time. And we will needle probably always be with us. But partly because, the function of history is to say who we are. And who are we, as opposed to them. And we are the people, who did xyz. Who we are the people who believe excellency. And the only good is a dead one. Is who is we and who isnt. Its a quick in the dead. We have talked a lot you write about slogans in American History and what about overseas . Do other cultures do this . Or dont they need to . Other cultures to do, it and i have asked people, my contemporaries in other cultures, and you get a few but you dont get the incredible wealth that we have here. You know england, its everything from we shall fight on the beaches, we are not amused. In france, it is germany has them to, but russia has them, and the only only article ive ever seen on slogans, was done not surprisingly by lennon. Because they made a serious study on the slogans. So yes, they are in other cultures but they dont seem to be as pervasive, as here and i think the reason is, particularly in the 19th century, and certainly in the late 18 century, this is a strange place. Every other country in the world, that existed had been there forever right . There was no before and after. Its all in some vague vaulting past. You know there was moments when a king died, there was an invasion and the gloss arrived or something, but in the United States there was a before. It was called the colonial period. There was an after. There was a brief time, of almost like, the explosion of the universe. Where we created, ourselves. And people new people who live before, and they were living after, and there was a clear separation so that this was a created thing, and so it was so precious that we had to remember it, and all these things developed as a result. I dont think you see the same thing certainly dont see the same thing in england. The only country that is the exception here switzerland. Its a very small republic, and they had william tell. And you know what england certainly has that someone culture i know quite well, and it has just about the same. We talked before about the internet, and mass media and what does that do to slogans. Theres also a conventional wisdom, at least among some of us at a certain age, where words are less important than they used to be. That people read less, that this is the age of the image. And maybe instead of, slogans in catchphrases, we have videos that go viral. What happens to the slogan, if people arent thinking of words so much . And theyre expressing themselves in other ways. Well the people that invented the crucifix, would be interested to know that if the images just become an important communication. And i have a problem because i think that images, create words in your mind. Or words in your mind create images. And if theres one thing that barack obama has proved, that at least in a public oratory sense, it is not dead it is power and if misused are unused for so long, it you know Ronald Reagan was an excellent public speaker, and occasionally so was bill clinton team. But its been red that we have had somebody as powerful as this as the speaker. Im not sure what goes on. Yes you can have images, and im not sure. Look, im of a certain age, and we are at the point where Everyone Wants to say, every grumpy old man, its true things are going down and desperate, and young kids dont know squat. And i have one at home and its true. They dont know squat. No thats not true. Well dont trust anyone over 30. Yes thats true. Another says me this is all happened before, and it will happen again, and it wont really change. So i dont know what the answer is. And i guess i prefer, writing about history because it has happened. I dont have to worry about it. Writing about the future, or fiction is so difficult. It is beyond my ability to think that way. Which means you wont like the next question . Which is this. What do you expect, from an obama administration, by way of slogans . And catchphrases and use of language. Will that be a delivery a deliberate sorry part of the strategy . I dont think it will happen. I think weve been through a time, which we are so concentrated on the spin, the selected use of words, and i think were about to enter in a time, where we have an honest dialog, from somebody who is not afraid of talking. Yes we can. Yes we can. Correct. But what youre saying is that, slogans are not going to work, messages are going to work. No im not saying this is just wont work and of course they, work and then you know messages and spin they go as far back is when Alexander Hamilton was helping washington right the speeches, and tom payne was spinning the news. We just have to do a better job of it. No messages will be important, but they will not substitute for reality and im currently reading a book about kissinger, and nixon and the odd thing is, when you look at what happened with johnson and then nixon and now, the arguments for what is going on overseas have not changed. These same words. And its odd, and they are substituting there is a belief if you substitute words long enough they will become a reality. And i dont think this administration will do that. I think if they try, they will meet a wall of angry disappointment. We have an eager looking audience and you look eager so we have questions at this point lets throw it open. Who would like to jump in . We have a question on we have microphone. You mention messages are more important these days, so what type of messages or visions . Whats your thought . I think, what allen was trying to say was as the internet and texting and youtube and all the things that are available now are destroying the written word, as a primary form of communications. Books are read less, comic novels you know illustrated novels, are preferred it all the tracks from the ability to have civil discourse, particularly in public. And i suppose thats true, and messages will still be important, but images yeah i just dont know enough. I dont pretend know enough about communication theory, to answer because im not sure i see the difference between words and images. I think one creates the other and vice versa. But im oldfashioned. Any other questions. Sir. Hold on wait for the mic from. Help is on the way. Okay. I was just thinking, when we were discussing slogans, and i was thinking about you know the telegraph, and sitting around and if you know what starts out, as you know its all speech disguised in its a slogan when you talk about the internet, i was thinking about cut and paste. And oral history, our passing along oral history seems slow, but cut and paste doesnt. Cut and paste your held to the words. No emails, and so on. Its not the same is saying you are sitting around the fire, and talking. But a time someone says with the other person says around the campfire, when youve turns into a good story. And the next guy whos telling a gets even better. So how do you see this oral tradition continuing . Im not sure it even continues now. I think the oral tradition is pretty much gone at least in this country. Maybe your house. laughs thats only the excuses part of my existence. So i think what hes saying, is for a slogan to really be a slogan, and really to take hold it has to evolve. People have to take it on and work on it and move forward. And im saying is that stops happening. Is that what youre saying. It will be interesting to see what happens with yes we can. Because that is easily adaptable. And so was i have a dream, and i was shocked when i know people start using that for the Corporate Image campaign. Using it is what makes it more valuable and cheapens it at the same time. Yes. The microphone is coming. So which logan that you wrote about, is your favorite and why . Oh my, well many ways, its probably hit them where they aint. For many reasons thats it, and nobody could find the source of this. And i did and it is not a tribute to me, its a tribute to searchable tex, which nobody had bothered to do before and it was online with searchable text. So i found the exact article where theres rained out ballgame and billy keel are, and his friends are talking about betting on baseball. Which is common in those days. And this is well before the block socks game. And he turns to the reporter and says, you know what he goes into what a secret to his inches is his hitting is. And then its inside the inside sports pages, and in i probably would not a found either if i had to use micro film. So when you think about memorable slogans, and you touched on this a bit before but maybe you can go into more detail, is it more important that selfcontained, a chicken in every pot, thats understandable on itself, or theres some other alliteration, or you know Something Else i dont know what it means but. What you remember the anglosaxon, form of making poetry. I think the most important thing is for almost all of them, is what value it is teaching, and why the culture is keeping it in its group memory. But there are things like tippecanoe and tyler too and 50 4 40 or fight. Which i think its the most innocuous campaign slogan, mantoman and yet it also got him elected. And there are some that are there for nonsense reasons, and i cant explain why. And why anybody should remember the election in harrison and tyler, when harrison died a month after getting elected, and tyler was eventually thrown out of a party for being some such a bad whip he. Wasnt even a week to begin with. So it was a complete failure to his administration. So i do not know. I just dont know. It anyone else. Anyone else. What we do have some more time and i want to ask, talk about life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is a slogan . Is it a catchphrase . Is it none of the above . Well, its like all men are created equal. And they are not in the book because the one thing i figured, everybody really did know, was the declaration of independence. But if there is probably the most powerful slogan, is all men are created equal. We started going back to that, in jackson, started to enlarge the democracy. It went back to it when lincoln was debating, douglas and could not justify his switch, on his feelings on segregation, by the constitution because it was in the constitution. So he switch the focus of the argument, to the declaration of the independence. Which he saw as a prior more important document. Every rise group in this country has begun by touching on all men are created equal as a place to spring from. It is the most important and probably the most important american influence on the rest of the world. Its a very powerful vision. Some others, maybe less powerful but let me get quick reactions and heres a lightning round if you will. Greed is good i think only those of us who saw that movie, knows what that means. What was it . Greed is good. It comes from the movie wall street with michael douglas, and it was sort of the last time, we hated wall street and that we hate it again. It hasnt survived because yellin the sentiment, is so repelling. That we dont remember it. We dont choose to remember it. Yes . Im curious what you think what we have the slogan on every dollar bill, in god we trust and the messages sense . Is that something that will endure . Does god belong with monetary pursuits . Well its not really monetary so much as it is, its the belief that the debt that the Founding Fathers fell to a superior being. It was not for many of them a christian god, it was an atheist god, and to believe in a got of some kind, is in the country. Elizabeth scholes last attempt to stay in office was to accuse your opponent of being an atheist. Its amazing she can say the womans daughter was a thespian, which is used would it was used once in a louisiana campaign. So is it the proper place for money to be given the central itty of the capitalist Economic System in this country its hard to argue that it isnt . Some yeah. Irrational exuberance. No no. That gets into the area of epithets, not catch catchphrase its is a tiny mountainous kingdom of, or the embattled ceo thumb, it is its a lovely subject and when we used to spend a lot of time thinking of, all the home eric epithets, baseball pitcher for the philadelphia athletics bobby chance, was always called the diminutive you know and youve got to believing that his parents actually named him diminutive. But its really not a slogan. Will be remembered . Probably not. It depends, the ability of newspaper writers and editorial writers, and television commentators, to be lazy about their choice of words and phrases is almost boundless. And i was talking actually talking to a reporter from the washington post, he was very interested and i talk to reporters i didnt do that before, he said theres one thing i want to complain to you about and he said what, and i said if i hear the term, gate anymore im going to run screaming into the void. And he said youll be interested to know that theres actually a policy against the word gate at the washington post, unless it refers to the original watergate, or using in a quote. But it is automatic it is just lazy lazy people. And you cant blame them, youre watching last night trying to fill airtime. Its painful. Unless you add those bizarre holograms. You know someone today said i look like princess leya waiting to be beamed up. So. Okay from another direction, youve got to believe. Well thats great but the problem is it so tight new york, or philadelphia. Or philadelphia. Yes thats true, but they stole it from us. And its to say youve got to believe, there are a number of those its in the future, you just have to wait till next year. Same one. And they only gave it up, they took the team to los angeles. Final question. Weve talked about this nation, other nations tribal identities, is their slogan or catchphrase, or can there be a slogan or catchphrase, that stretches across boundaries, and becomes a globalization. You know a global catchphrase. Not until the awful thing happens, and the world become a single culture. And that would make our lives as boring as they could possibly be. I thank you all for coming. Thank you. applause . Up next ron chernow, recalls the life in leadership of Union General and 18th president ulyssesesque grant. At the book festival in washington d. C. Mister chair now is the author of the biography grant. Which is voted one of the best books in 2017. We recorded the program in september of 2018