The Past, the Promise, the Presidency S4 E8: Framing Reconstruction
Many Americans, if they know about Reconstruction at all, likely think of it as a failed venture. What had begun in 1865 as an opportunity to guarantee equal citizenship and rights for African Americans, fizzled out as citizens and elected officials became apathetic, or even hostile to the struggle for equality.
Our guests today survey the four presidencies that touched Reconstruction—Lincoln, Johnson, Grant, and Haynes—and offer a broad-sweeping, and perhaps disappointing framing of the era. The picture they paint is one in which the ultimate fate of Reconstruction was not only understandable given the context, but regrettably predictable.
This episode, we featured Dr. Joan Waugh of UCLA and Dr. Gary Gallagher of UVA, two acclaimed historians with unique insights into the nuances of the Civil War and Reconstruction eras.
Joan Waugh is a historian of nineteenth-century America, specializing in the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Gilded Age eras. Dr. Waugh is a frequent contributor to op-eds in publications like the Los Angeles Times and has been interviewed for many documentaries, such as the PBS series, “American Experience.” She has been honored with four teaching prizes, including UCLA’s most prestigious teaching honor, the Distinguished Teaching Award. Currently, Dr. Waugh teaches history at UCLA, where she serves as Professor Emeritus.
She is the author of Unsentimental Reformer: The Life of Josephine Shaw Lowell, The Memory of the Civil War in American Culture, U. S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth, and The American War: A History of the Civil War Era.
Visit her page on the University of California Los Angeles website.
Gary Gallagher is a historian and specialist on the 19th-Century U.S. who has published widely on the history and memory of the Civil War. Dr. Gallagher has served as President of Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites and currently teaches history as a Professor Emeritus at the University of Virginia. Along with his teaching, he has edited many books and won countless awards, which are listed on his biography page linked below.
He is the author of The Confederate War, Causes Won, Lost, and Forgotten: How Hollywood and Popular Art Shape What We Know about the Civil War, The American War : A History of the Civil War Era, and Reflections on the Great American Crisis.