Okay, thank you for coming out. Its wonderful to see you here today hello, my name is Christopher Mcknight nichols, im a historian at oregon state university, scholar of intellectual history of the u. S. Role in the world. I specialize in isolationism, internationalism, and globalization. My work is called promise and peril, america at the dawn of a global age, just out in paperback, you can buy a downstairs. I have the distinct pleasure of being the chair and coorganizer of this panel. Its a fascinating panel. Our panel is entitled turning. 1916, u. S. Foreign relations before and after that kept us out of war election. This is not just about u. S. Foreign relations, but also international relations. The spark for this panel is this intending all of the 1960 election in which Woodrow Wilson ran on a he kept us out of war platform, despite military intervention ongoing in the mexico and caribbean. This roundtable brings together superb historians to discuss whether 1916 should be as th
Hughes is what we claim we want. In both a president ial candidate and a president. A man who did get it. A man called Charles Evans hughes as a Supreme Court justice. All but when the election. In 1916 when president Woodrow Wilson went to bed the Election Night, he thought he was beaten. He had been elected, how American History goes in several Different Directions on suffrage, civil rights. What does he do on Foreign Policy . Germany baited us into war. Wilson would hughes have avoided it . Hes the one you could write novels about. He had Charles Evans hughes who would later the he was on the Supreme Court. He left the Supreme Court when he ran for president. He went back on the Supreme Court. One of the finest minds on the court. A fellow justice called Charles Evans hughes, the greatest in our great line of chief justices. Why hughes . Robert jackson provided part of the answer when he was attorney general. Jackson said that hughes, quote, looks like god and talks like a god. And
Man hadnt democrats. I cant shake the feeling that some people here are pulling for me. [applause] im delighted to see her tonight hillary. I feel right at home here because it is often said i share the politics of alfred e. Smith and the ears of alfred newman. It is an honor to be here with al smith. I never knew your greatgrandfather. Everything senator mccain told me, the two of them had a great time before prohibition. [laughter] of course im delighted to testify on the 18th amendment. I felt all along that this matter was the rank and file about people they would readily see that it had no place in our constitution. It would be very difficult if not impossible to come to this country for the coming generations to make it their business to see that no such matter is this is ever again made the subject to federal constitutional law. And youve been listening to the 2008 president ial nominees talking at that years ill smith dinner. Followed by al smith himself talking about prohibiti
And historian discusses his book an uncommon man, triumph of Herbert Hoover. Richard norton smith, why did you call your book that you wrote 35 years ago uncommon man . Well, its taken, actually, from the title of a relatively famous hoover speech about the uncommon man. Remember, Vice President henry wallace, who was the second of fdrs Vice President s, gave a famous speech in 1942, i believe, maybe43, about the century of the common man. And wallace, from a left of center perspective, was projecting, in effect, the goals and ambitions of the generation that was fighting world war ii. And it wasnt enough simply to defeat the nazis,c at home, a true democracy. A place where the common man would finally come into his own. And hoover approached this from a different place on the political spectrum. He was, in effect, making the case for what we might call a meritocracy. But something to say, that i shouldnt paraphrase it, but, you know, when you get sick, you want an uncommonly skillful
After that handsome introduction by president truman. You can see the president seated in the background, taking it easy and waiting for the speech to begin. Mr. President , ladies and gentlemen of the convention, my fellow citizens, i accept your nomination and your program. I should have preferred to hear those words uttered by a stronger, a wiser, a better man than myself. But after listening to the president s speech, i even feel better about myself. None of you, my friends, can fully appreciate what is in my heart. I can only hope that you understand my words. They will be few. I have not sought the honor you have done me. I could not seek it because i aspired to another office, which was the full measure of my ambition. And one does not treat the highest office within the gift of the people of illinois as an alternative or as a consolation prize. I would not seek your nomination for the presidency because the burdens of that office stagger the imagination. Its potential for good