History As It Happens

Americans – many of them, anyway – revere the Constitution and the men who framed it. We can recite its preamble with its aim of securing "the blessings of liberty” for future generations. But more than 230 years after its ratification, historian Jack Rakove contends we’re still laboring under damaging myths about what the Constitution does and does not mean. Rakove, who has written or edited dozens of books on the founding era, identifies the role played by myths, spurious claims, and lies in distorting constitutional debate and American politics in general. Jack Rakove is emeritus professor of history and political science at Stanford University.

Henry Kissinger, sage of American diplomats, is celebrating his milestone 100th birthday on May 27. To some, Kissinger is the embodiment of realpolitik whose shrewd diplomatic efforts left an enduring mark on the global order. To others, he's a war criminal. During the Vietnam War, Kissinger was a driving force behind the secret bombing of neutral Cambodia in 1969. He also backed the coup that toppled the democratically-elected leader of Chile. In this episode, historian Thomas Schwartz parses Kissinger's record, as the man has become a symbol of what's right and wrong with U.S. hegemony. Why are views of Kissinger still so polarized decades after he left power? Does your opinion of Kissinger say more about you and your politics than it says about his actual deeds? Are your views of Kissinger an index of your broader worldview concerning U.S. foreign policy – or imperialism?  

Martin Luther King Jr. had serious problems with American capitalism. He considered himself more of a democratic socialist as he demanded the federal government spend billions to eradicate poverty, and as he worked to build a multiracial working-class movement. Today, as the share of American workers in labor unions continues to decline and as income inequality worsens, one wonders if the country will undergo a national reckoning on class as it has with regard to race. Over recent years Americans have been debating the role of race and slavery in national origins, but there’s been relative silence when it comes to class issues. This problem extends to popular remembrances of King. His crusade to end racism and legal segregation overshadows these other aspects of his philosophy and legacy. In this episode, historian Thomas Jackson discusses the importance of MLK’s economic outlook in his overall civil rights agenda.

American allies in the Indo-Pacific are in a difficult spot. They have economic ties to Beijing, but China's rising influence and coercive methods underscore the importance of their long-standing military pacts and trade relationships with the United States. The visit by South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol to Washington in April opened a window into this complex diplomatic problem. The warm reception Mr. Yoon received and his moves to more closely align his nation’s interests with the U.S., met a cooler response in his own country. The escalating friction between the U.S. and China also complicates Seoul’s economic ties to the latter. In this episode, The Washington Times' national security team leader Guy Taylor and Asia editor Andrew Salmon talk about the complexities of a multipolar world, where America's days as the sole superpower in East Asia are over.

This is the fourth episode in a multiple-part series marking the 20th anniversary of the Iraq War, which began on March 20, 2003. Earlier episodes were published in March. From 1990 to 2003 the United States, through the U.N. Security Council, imposed the most punishing sanctions on a sovereign state in modern history. The sanctions on Iraq caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of children from inadequate food, medicine, and public health infrastructure. They flattened Iraq's economy and tore at the fabric of its society. But the humanitarian catastrophe remains somewhat of an "invisible war." When Americans reflected on the twentieth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, their minds focused on what happened after March 20, 2003, rather than on the fourteen years of economic warfare that preceded it. In this episode, Sarhang Hamasaeed of the U.S. Institute of Peace discusses life under Saddam, surviving the sanctions, and his work as a peacebuilder in Iraq today. 

Russian president Vladimir Putin, who sees himself as an astute student of history, once more exploited his nation’s victory over Nazi Germany to justify his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. In his annual speech on May 9 – Victory Day in 1945 – Mr. Putin said Russia would continue its war against “torturers, death squads, and Nazis,” repeating his fantasy version of reality. "Once again, we see war that is afoot, but we have been pushing back, fighting against international terrorism to protect the people in the Donbas region and to protect our country." Russia’s autocrat is overlooking a more important, accurate history lesson. In the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, a Soviet leader impulsively gambled, brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, but then stepped back from the precipice by compromising a peaceful way out. In this episode, historians Sergey Radchenko and Vladislav Zubok discuss the origins of Nikita Khrushchev’s move to send nuclear missiles to Cuba. They unearthed astonishing accounts of mishaps and miscalculations in recently declassified Soviet documents, which they detailed in an essay for Foreign Affairs, the official publication of the Council on Foreign Relations. Radchenko and Zubok say the “unlearned lessons” of the Cuban Missile Crisis include the roles of misperception, miscalculation, chance, and other unpredictable factors that influence the outcome of events. In 1962, they contend, the world got lucky.

Can the 14th Amendment save the U.S. from defaulting on its debts if Congress fails to raise the federal government's borrowing limit? That may depend on who you ask. Like so much else in the Constitution, Section 4 of the 14th Amendment means different things to different people today as it did in the 1860s when it was ratified. In this episode, historian Jeremi Suri discusses Section 4's enduring relevance, and the importance of civics in understanding past and present political conflict. The 14th Amendment is arguably the most consequential one ever ratified after the Bill of Rights. It was passed in a certain historical context – in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War – but its words stand for all time. It was designed to make a more perfect union.

This is the second in a two-part series of conversations recorded at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello as History As It Happens goes on location, with special guests historian Alan Taylor and Brandon Dillard, Monticello's director of historic interpretation and audience engagement. The "history wars" have reached Monticello. Visitors to Thomas Jefferson's old plantation in rural Virginia often bring their emotional or ideological baggage. But is it possible to talk too much about slavery at a historic plantation? How does an institution such as Monticello present Jefferson's successes and failures to the hundreds of thousands of Americans who visit each year, many of whom revere Jefferson, his radical ideals, and his remarkable mind? Listen to Alan Taylor and Brandon Dillard talk about the challenge of interpreting the past in our divisive political environment.

This is the first in a two-part series of conversations recorded at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello as History As It Happens goes on location, with special guests historian Alan Taylor and Brandon Dillard, Monticello's director of historic interpretation and audience engagement. Thomas Jefferson wrote the most famous, inspiring words in all of American history. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." From the moment the ink dried on the Declaration of Independence, Americans have been in a perpetual state of argument over its meaning. Democracy for whom? Freedom and equality for whom? No founding father better articulated the ideals or personified the paradox of the American Revolution. In this episode, Alan Taylor and Brandon Dillard discuss why Jefferson still matters, from his views on the nature of democracy to whether white and Black people might one day live together as equals.

As Ukraine prepares to launch its spring offensive to break the stalemate against the Russian invaders, it's unclear if Ukrainian forces will be able to reach Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula which for centuries has been of vital strategic importance. In this episode, the Quincy Institute's Anatol Lieven, who spent three weeks in Ukraine reporting on public opinion toward the war, talks about Crimea's historical relevance to today's conflict. First taken by the Tsarist Empire in the late-18th century, the Soviets transferred Crimea to the Ukraine S.S.R. in 1954. More than a half century later, the Kremlin seized it back in the aftermath of the 2014 revolution that ousted a pro-Russia president from Kyiv.