Author: Dr. Jack

Does History Repeat Itself?

My brother Robb recently sent me a link to a Joe Rogan podcast comparing the Lincoln and Kennedy assassinations. Robb is a lot younger than I am, and I don’t think he (or Rogan for that matter) was aware that lists of that sort have been floating around for over sixty years. Some of the items on the list are twisted to fit the comparative mode, and others are flat-out wrong, but it still makes for interesting reading. There was even a popular song in 1966 that used this list. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln%E2%80%93Kennedy_coincidences_urban_legend)

I decided to try my hand at this sort of historical comparison, looking at two other leaders who operated about a century apart.

(1) Both men tried to overthrow their legally elected governments.

–In 1923, Adolf Hitler led a group of fanatical followers in an insurrection he hoped would end the Weimar Republic and establish Hitler as the head of the government. He was caught, convicted of treason, and sent to prison for a five-year term. He was released early because the government assumed that, since he had been thoroughly disgraced, he would no longer be a threat to the country. While in prison, he formulated a detailed plan to ensure that his second attempt would not fail.

–In January 2021, Trump encouraged a group of fanatical followers to gather in Washington for an insurrection he hoped would override the legitimate election results and establish Trump as the head of the government. Trump was caught and impeached, but his fellow members of the Republican party refused to embarrass him with a conviction. They assumed that, since his term had ended and he had been thoroughly disgraced, he would no longer be a threat to the country. After his defeat, Trump was indicted for numerous crimes, and convicted of many. While in exile from office, he formulated a detailed plan to ensure that his second attempt would not fail.

(2) Both men built their followings by stirring up anger, focusing on grievances, and pointing to minority groups as the cause of all of their problems.

–After his release from prison, Hitler slowly built a following by criticizing the government for signing the humiliating Versailles peace treaty after WWI. In 1929, world-wide economic problems caused the Great Depression, which hit Germany hard. Hitler attacked the government in power for allowing it to happen and blamed the economic problems on Jews, Gypsies, gays, those with mental disabilities, and anyone else he regarded as “inferior.” He used a technique called the “Big Lie” to assert that Jews were responsible for the Depression and all other problems facing the nation. Appealing to people’s suspicions and racial hatred, he assured the country, that if he were in power, he would get rid of all Jews and return the nation to greatness. He assured the German people that they would no longer have to think, that they merely had to trust him and he would take care of everything. His followers became known as Nazis, chanted slogans suggested by their Fuhrer at hate-filled rallies, and wore matching armbands featuring a swastika.

–After losing by 7 million votes in 2020, Trump continued to build his following by falsely claiming the election had been stolen from him, despite all evidence to the contrary. The U.S. experienced a brief period of inflation caused by world-wide economic problems resulting from Covid and supply-train issues. Biden tackled those problems aggressively, and the U.S. brought inflation under control faster than any other nation. Still, Trump attacked the government and convinced many Americans that things were worse than they actually were. He also blamed all of the nation’s problems on Blacks, gays, immigrants, and anyone else he regarded as “inferior.” He used a technique called the “Big Lie” to assert that all immigrants were murderers, rapists, and terrorists. Appealing to people’s suspicions and racial hatred, he assured the country, that if he were in power, he would get rid of all immigrants and return the nation to greatness. He told the American people that they would no longer have to vote, that they merely had to trust him and he would take care of everything. His followers became known as MAGA, chanted slogans suggested by their leader at hate-filled rallies, and wore matching red hats featuring those letters.

(3) Once in power, both men consolidated power and moved to eliminate all opposition

–Hitler’s Nazi Party won control of the government in 1933, despite having the support of less than half of the people. He cowed and bullied the rest of the government into supporting him with various threats. Once he had control of the courts and the legislature, he could do as he wished, ruling with autocratic impunity. He quickly moved to silence any opposition, attacking intellectuals, putting pressure on universities, intimidating or taking over newspapers, and using a new media source, radio, to spread his propaganda messages. Freedom of speech and the press came to an end, and it became illegal to even make a joke about Hitler. The device he used to instill fear and compliance in the German people was a paramilitary group called Sturmabteilung, orStorm Troopers. They wore matching brown shirts, swastika armbands, and used violence to silence Hitler’s opponents. Many of these young men were recruited from the ranks of the unemployed and given a club to use against anyone who dared to protest. They operated in gangs, even killing those who resisted. In a typical tactic, in 1933, Hitler had the Brownshirts burn the center of government, the Reichstag building, but declared the fire to be started by “communists” in order to gain even more power and authority. He then blocked all attempts to conduct an independent investigation of the crime.

–Trump’s Republican Party won control of the government in 2025, despite having the support of less than half of the people. He cowed and bullied the rest of the government into supporting him with various threats. Once he had control of the courts and the legislature, he could do as he wished, ruling with autocratic impunity. He quickly moved to silence opposition, attacking intellectuals, putting pressure on universities, intimidating newspapers, and using new media types, the internet and one-sided, submissive cable news sources, to spread his propaganda messages. Freedom of speech and the press have been seriously compromised, and he has used his influence to get those who make jokes about Trump removed from the airwaves. The device he uses to instill fear and compliance in the American people is a paramilitary group called Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. They wear masks and civilian clothing, ICE insignias, and use violence to make arrests while abusing America’s guaranteed civil rights. Many of these young men were recruited from the ranks of the unemployed and, with little training, given weapons to use against anyone who dared to protest. ICE is now the largest and best-funded law-enforcement agency in American history. In a typical tactic, just this week, Trump’s ICE agents murdered an unarmed mother of three, but justified the action by labeling her a “domestic terrorist” in order to gain even more power and authority. Trump then blocked all attempts to conduct an independent investigation of the crime, saying that federal authorities would investigate the murder. That’s a bit like having John Wilkes Booth investigate Lincoln’s assassination.

(4) Both men admired a contemporary dictator and copied their tactics.

–Hitler studied Benito Mussolini’s rise to power in Italy in the 1920s and emulated his style. Mussolini called his form of dictatorship “fascism,” using extreme nationalism to unify his following. Fascism is a form of autocracy that wins the support of the wealthy and corporations by promising them great affluence under the dictator’s leadership. Mussolini opposed labor unions and gave enormous financial advantages to corporations and the rich. Under this alliance between big business and the dictator, millionaires prospered at the expense of the poor and the middle class. When Hitler adopted fascism, he changed Mussolini’s Blackshirts to Brownshirts, civil rights and freedoms were dramatically undermined, and the wealthy Germans eagerly fell in line.

–Trump studied Vladimir Putin’s rise to power in Russia and has tried to emulate his style. Trump employs a modern form of fascism, winning the support of the wealthy and corporations (especially oil companies) by promising them great affluence under his leadership. He opposes labor unions and gives incredible financial advantages to corporations and the rich. Under this alliance between big business and the autocratic president, billionaires have prospered enormously at the expense of the poor and the middle class. When Trump adopted Putin’s dictatorial style, he changed the Russian secret police to ICE agents, civil rights and freedoms have been dramatically undermined, and wealthy Americans have eagerly fallen in line.

(5) Both men used their power for purposes of imperial expansion.

–In 1938, Hitler invaded Austria and annexed it to Germany to gain natural resources and in order to distract from the way he had trampled on German civil rights. He immediately issued propaganda statements to justify the illegal invasion, claiming it was necessary for national security, and threatening to do the same thing to the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, and Poland. He did it knowing full well that Austria was vulnerable and that no one would try to stop him. He followed through on his promises of further military aggression, and in 1939, with the invasion of Poland, England and France finally declared war, after having waited so long that Hitler was almost too powerful to stop. Over fifty million people, more than half of them civilians, were killed in the ensuing world war.

–In recent days, Trump has invaded Venezuela to gain natural resources (oil) and in order to distract from a weak economy and the fact that he has been closely linked to a pedophile ring conducted by his close friend, Jeffrey Epstein. He immediately issued propaganda statements to justify the illegal invasion, claiming it was necessary for national security, and threatened to do the same thing to Colombia, Greenland, and Canada. He did it knowing full well that Venezuela was vulnerable and that no one would try to stop him.

At this point, we don’t know if Trump will follow through on his threats or if his reckless actions will escalate into a full-scale war the way it did in Hitler’s day. If it does, far more than fifty million will die, given the power of current weapons. Nor do we know if we are witnessing the end of our 250-year-old democracy in the U.S. The signs are certainly there for those willing to see them, and they have been for some time. At the least, it will take a generation or more to repair the damage done by this deranged and disgraceful human being. Hitler’s name has become synonymous with “evil,” and Trump seems determined to follow that same path. The only question is: What will it take before the American people and the Republican Party stand up and try to stop him? I only hope that we do so before it’s too late.

Book News

Despite two years of delays and difficulty getting the actual books delivered, the book-launch parties for The Forest Primeval are completed. In late October, we had another great event at the school at which I taught for 22 years, Harpeth Hall in Nashville. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing former students and runners, parents, colleagues, and even some Chicago friends from my music days. I am now busy editing the sequel with a working title of Curious Minds.

Before I continue, I want to tell everyone that, if you still plan to buy the book, do so from Amazon or B & N online. Yes, I know Jeff Bezos is a narcissistic billionaire who abuses his workers, but the book is cheaper if purchased through Amazon or Barnes and Noble, and it will arrive in a few days, as opposed to the several months it might take if ordered directly through Written Dreams, my publisher.

Several people have asked me what they could do to help promote the book, and I have a few suggestions. The easiest one is, if you enjoyed the book, suggest it to your friends and family. Word-of-mouth is still the best way to promote a book if you don’t have a major publisher behind you. Another easy thing to do is request it at your local library or bookstore—especially in Wisconsin and Chicago-area locations (mention that it is set in those locations). Finally, if you are so inclined, you can post a review on Amazon. My cousin, Dave Taccola,  posted a concise review that read, “Thrilling page turner. Excellent glimpse of Wisconsin history.” So, you see, your review doesn’t have to be long or detailed, but a few positive reviews will help.

FYI: The book currently ranks as the 117th best-selling book in Native American literature and 7,106th in Historical Thrillers in terms of Amazon sales. Woo-Hoo!

Thanks for your support and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

The Portrait of My Life

When you live as long as I have, which is now over 71 years, you sometimes come to a point that causes you to assess who you are, where you have come from, and what you have done with your life. I have travelled a lot, lived in 7 different states, had a lot of different jobs, and met a large number of people along my peripatetic path. As a songwriter and author, I tend to see things in terms of metaphors, and an assessment of my life is no exception. I often think of my life as a painting that began as a pencil sketch with little color or detail. But every place I went, and every person I met, added something to my painting. A scene here, a little color there, some shading or texture over there. All of the people who have passed through my life have contributed to the portrait that seems to be just now taking full shape.

This past weekend, I had the good fortune to experience an extraordinary afternoon. Ostensibly, the occasion was my book launch party in Chicago, but it wound up being much more than that. By the late stages of life, most people have developed various groups of friends and acquaintances as they meandered through life. You probably don’t see most of those people on a regular basis—especially if you have moved away from your childhood home. You might run into some of those people at class reunions, weddings, and, increasingly, funerals or memorials, but not often.

What happened last Saturday for me was that I had the unique opportunity to see a wide variety of friends I had met in sub-groups through the years and most of whom I have not seen in 4 or 5 decades. In the days since this event, I have been running through the flashbacks of that remarkable day, replaying conversations, and smiling at the memories. It was like seeing slices of my life unfold before my eyes.

My brother Dan and his wife Esther generously hosted the event in a bar just outside Chicago. Fittingly, for this group, it was held in the “Saloon Room” of the Bourbon Street Bar—a room dominated by a long bar of polished oak and gleaming brass fixtures. Not everyone in the area was able to make it due to health issues or previous commitments, and many sent their wishes for a successful day. I sang a couple of songs—one old and one brand new—and talked a bit, but what I’ll remember most is the conversations I had with people. I won’t try to give the names of those people for fear I’ll forget someone or leave a name out.

I spent my first 14 years or so living in the southwest corner of Chicago, a neighborhood called Mt. Greenwood. Those years were well represented by my aunt, uncle, and most of my brothers. Those people knew me from the beginning, from the days when I was a sports-crazed little kid. That immediate family grew into a large extended family over the years, and many cousins, nieces, nephews, and spouses were also there on Saturday. Moreover, a childhood friend of my departed sister was there with her husband.

After 8th grade, we moved to the nearby suburb of Burbank (South Stickney at the time). I was astonished to see people from those years at the book launch. Friends from my graduation class who knew me when I was voted “Most Reserved” by my senior class of over 600 kids; others who were teammates and fellow runners; some people who attended Reavis long after me but wanted to read a book set in their hometown and high school. My aunt even brought a friend who happened to have started teaching at Reavis when I was a sophomore. These were all people I have not seen in at least 53 years, so I was especially surprised to see them and enjoyed hearing stories about how I was perceived back then. (“Quiet, nice, and funny” seemed to be the consensus). I even relayed some juicy gossip about one of my former coaches who died in prison out West while serving time for rape.

After high school, I attended college and broadened my social circle to include friends of my brother. There were several people at the event from those years. One couple reminded me that I had performed a couple of songs at their wedding in the late ‘70s. Another couple from Western Illinois University days included an old friend who was a rival from track and cross country during high school, but who became a friend and teammate in college.

After college, I lived a year in Texas, another in Colorado before drifting back to Chicago. There I worked in a factory and made the first tentative steps toward a career in folk music. Friends from Sciaky Brothers Manufacturing often overlapped with those who came to see me when I played in Chicago-area clubs. The guys from the factory, including Dan, had great stories about the shenanigans we would get into while working with the skeleton crew of the night-shift. Often, we would complete our work in an hour or two, then look for ways to entertain ourselves for the rest of the night. We apparently had vivid imaginations and creative ideas in those days.

From that same time period, there was a sizable group who had been regular audience members when I performed onstage. Some of them also hung out when I was tending bar at a club called Someplace Else in Park Forest. One guy reminded me of the time we attended a “Chicago Doubleheader,” going to the Cubs game in the afternoon and taking the El to the White Sox game in the evening. Another couple talked about a “Bad Movie Night” I hosted in my house near the club. Still another had a picture of the cover of the live record album we recorded in 1984. The names of everyone who was in the audience during the three nights we recorded the album were listed on the cover, and many of the people there Saturday were in that list.

When I retired from music in 1986, I started grad school and then my teaching career that lasted until 2019. I was startled to see two of my former students show up, one of whom drove two hours from Champaign, Illinois to be there. I’m pretty certain they were exposed to stories about me that they never imagined while sitting in my classroom years ago. They definitely heard songs that I could never have played at sedate Harpeth Hall. Still, they seemed unscarred by the experience and had a great time.

Others in attendance included friends and neighbors of my brother, a couple of former girlfriends, and a few people who probably wandered in by mistake. Another highlight of the weekend included a breakfast stop by Kathleen and me at Les Brothers Restaurant on the fringes of Burbank. For those familiar with my music, that was the place immortalized as the scene of the crime in my song “Dine and Dash.”

In short, it was an interesting day, and I had great fun reconnecting with so many people from the various phases of my life. Thanks so much to everyone who was there. It was exciting for me to see so many of the people who contributed to my “painting” over the years and made me who I am.

Next up:

Saturday, September 27, Local Author Fair, Ellsworth, Wisconsin, 12:00 to 3:00.

Thursday, October 23, Nashville, Tennessee, Richards Room at Harpeth Hall School, 3801 Hobbs Road, from 5:30 to 7:00. If you plan on attending the Nashville event, please wait until that evening to buy your book. They are a little cheaper in person, and I can sell my supply of the books I had to purchase in advance.

For those who cannot make those events, the book (The Forest Primeval, by Jack Henderson) is now available in both paperback and hard-cover on Amazon and the Written Dreams website.

Book Review and Launch Party Updates

It has been nearly a month since The Forest Primeval has been officially released, but things are progressing slowly—very slowly. The way this is supposed to work is that books are available from writtendreams.com, meaning the publisher, but also through Amazon and Barnes and Noble on August 1. As of yesterday, however, the book still has not appeared on the latter two websites. Written Dreams is supposed to ship the book within a few days of receiving an online order, but from what I am hearing, people who pre-ordered the book two years ago and should be at the top of the list, have still not yet received their books. Others have gotten their books, however, so all I can do is urge patience. In short, this is out of my control, and I am dependent on a publisher who has proven to be unreliable at best. If it makes you feel any better, I have not received all of the books I ordered and paid for two months ago either. These are the books that I buy and then sell at these various events for a reduced rate and without shipping charges.

In the meantime, I am busy scheduling events for the near future, and here is the updated information on those events:

Chicago Book Launch—Saturday, September 20, 2025, 115 Bourbon Street Bar in Merrionette Park, just outside Chicago at 3359 W. 115th Street, from 1:00 to 4:00

Local Author Fair—Saturday, September 27, 2025, Ellsworth Public Library, Ellsworth, Wisconsin, 12-3:00.

Nashville Book Launch—Thursday, October 23, 2025, Harpeth Hall School, Richards Room, 3801 Hobbs Road, Nashville, Tennessee, 5:30-7:00

I am also trying to set up an event for the Chapter Two Bookstore in Hudson, Wisconsin. I’ll let you know when I have the details.

Finally, Dan Woll, a writer, guitar player, and retired educator, had a review of the book appear in our local newspaper, the Pierce County Journal. Here is the review:

Wednesday, August 20, 2025

By Dan Woll

“There Ain’t No Cure For the Summertime Blues”

River Falls author and raconteur, Jack Henderson begs to differ on the basis of his newly published mystery, The Forest Primeval. It’s the perfect end of summer read for those final vacation days, or a lazy evening on the porch. Just be prepared to set aside some time because it’s hard to put down.

Henderson tells the story of a Wisconsin Native American teen, Will Jarrett, suddenly yanked from her home in the deep forests of Northern Wisconsin and placed in a questionable foster home in Chicago. As the last surviving member of her small tribe, she finds herself a pawn in a dangerous game of land lust as she discovers that her gang-linked foster father wants to use her to control valuable property.

Forest Primeval will remind readers of True Grit but Forest Primeval is much more relevant than that iconic Western. Primeval is a riveting drama featuring a teen-age girl with an indomitable spirit, but it’s also a history lesson about the logging industry and consequences for Wisconsin tribes.

Set in 1969, protagonist Will’s hair-raising escape from Chicago to Wisconsin is believable in a way that internet, drones, GPS, and ubiquitous surveillance cameras would make impossible in 2025. Think David Janssen in the old black and white TV series The Fugitive. Will’s story works because of the 1969 setting. It was a time when strangers on the run could travel the highways unnoticed.

Henderson’s roots enhance his story telling. Will’s high school life and participation on her school track team sound real because the author was a teacher and a coach. He also spent time as a folk singer in dusky Chicago clubs and venues and it shows in the realistic Windy City settings. Heroine Will is a little too smart and a little too talented for unimpeachable verisimilitude, but a fun summer read never lets the facts spoil a good story and Forest Primeval is a great story.

The book is available now at writtendreams.com and will soon be available on Amazon and Barnes and Nobles. Meet Author Henderson and other local authors at the Ellsworth Library Author Fair from noon to 3 p.m. Sept. 27.

Dan Woll lives in River Falls with his wife Beth. His writing is informed by his years in education and summers on the great walls of Yosemite Valley. His books include “North of Highway 8,” “Further,” “Paperclip” (co-author), and “Death on Cache Lake” (co-author).

Chicago Release Party

The Forest Primeval Release Party in Chicago

Date: Saturday, September 20

Time: I’ll have to post an update later; it will definitely be in the afternoon, however

Place: 115 Bourbon Street Bar, 3359 W. 115th Street, Merrionette Park, IL

–This will be a party hosted by my brother Dan and his wife Esther to celebrate the release of my first novel. Beer, wine, and snacks will be provided. Cash bar for mixed drinks.

–Books will be available for sale (Cash, Credit, Debit) at the event at a cheaper price without shipping charges

–I will play a couple of songs and talk briefly about the book

About the novel: This is a crime/suspense novel set in a fictionalized version of Burbank, Illinois and Reavis HS in 1969

For those unable to attend, the books are available at Written Dreams Publishing (writtendreams.com, click on “Shop” and scroll down until you find The Forest Primeval)

Soon they will be available on Amazon and Barnes and Nobles websites as well

The local newspaper recently published an interview with me. Here is a link to that story:

https://www.piercecountyjournal.news/stories/i-hit-the-jackpot-with-jack-henderson,145670

Book Release Party . . . Finally!

“What a long, strange trip it’s been”

                        –Grateful Dead

In 1979, Iranian students, encouraged by fanatical cleric Ruhollah Khomeini, stormed the US Embassy in Tehran, grabbed 52 hostages, and held most of them for 444 days. President Jimmy Carter negotiated their release on his last day in office, and the entire nation sighed and quoted former President Gerald Ford, saying, “The long, national nightmare is over.”

While my struggle to get my first novel published hasn’t been as dramatic as that famous event, it certainly has lasted longer. But, at long last, it appears that my hostage situation is coming to an end. In any case, I am pleased to finally announce a celebration party for the release my novel, The Forest Primeval. For those in River Falls, you are invited to a party on Saturday, August 2, from 3:00 to 5:00 at the storm shelter in Hoffman Park, behind the baseball stadium. At 3:30, I will play a couple of songs and talk briefly. We will have cake, beer, wine, and soft drinks, and books will be available at a lower price than those available on the Written Dreams website.

I mentioned the Iran Hostage Crisis because that’s what I feel I have experienced in dealing with my publisher. I signed my contract with Written Dreams Publishing on August 31, 2022. My release party is scheduled for August 2, 2025. That’s 1066 days, for those counting at home. So, my book and I have been held hostage for longer than JFK was president, longer than the Spanish Civil War, and about twice as long as the marriage between Julia Roberts and Lyle Lovett.

The saga began when I signed on (August 2022) with Written Dreams, a small, mom-and-pop publishing company from Green Bay that specialized in Wisconsin writers. It has been more like a Written Nightmare since then. They promised the release of the book in “just over a year.” Everything seemed to be in order, and, in spring of the following year, they even announced the “cover reveal,” with a release date scheduled for “Fall 2023.” The problems started when my editor’s family had health issues, and my book was ignored for many months. The next thing I saw was another press statement announcing that my novel would be released in “Summer 2024.” Many more months passed. Whenever I contacted her, I was assured that she was working on it and completion was imminent. None of this was true, and she didn’t actually begin editing the manuscript until November 2024. I completed my rewrites in two or three weeks, and my part was done in January of this year. Then . . . nothing.

(A brief aside which speaks to her ability as an editor. In writing this book, I was inspired by such authors as John Sandford (Lucas Davenport, Virgil Flowers), Elmore Leonard (Get Shorty, Justified), and Michael Connelly (Bosch, Lincoln Lawyer, Ballard), and I wrote my book as fitting into that genre of crime/suspense/mystery novels. Meanwhile, my editor/publisher kept pushing me to turn it into a Young Adult (YA) book because the main protagonist is a 15-year-old girl. While editing, my publisher expressed surprise and horror that the story included violence, and argued that the girl should never use violence to defend herself. I said, “Have you ever read Hunger Games, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, or seen The Game of Thrones? Those stories all have young, female protagonists who are violent heroines.” She finally agreed to produce the book the way I wrote it, but it all led me to believe that she had never read those sorts of books in her life and was absolutely the wrong person to edit this book.)

To spur her to action, I was again forced to harass her with calls, texts, and emails. Finally, I threatened to withdraw my book from her company. She called me right back, apologized profusely, and promised to have it completed by May 31. I no longer believed her, so I gave her an extra three weeks to finish the work, and we agreed on a “release date” of June 20. A short time later, I told her I was planning a book-signing party in late June. Her response was, “Do you plan to have books there?” I said, “That would seem to be a basic requirement for a book-signing event. That and a pen. Of course, I want books there.” She then informed me that it takes 3-4 weeks to have the books printed and shipped to me, so they wouldn’t reach me until late July. I inquired as to the meaning of the term “release date” if nothing was actually released, but she failed to respond to my sarcasm.

Thus, I am announcing this book release event without knowing for sure that the books will arrive before that date. Even though she has not honored a single one of her promises, I am taking a leap of faith here and hoping for the best. Anyone who lives close to River Falls is invited to this event and encouraged to bring their friends.

Meanwhile, I am still planning to have similar parties in Chicago and Nashville in the near future. I will keep everyone posted as to times, dates, and locations. I have also asked my beloved publisher when the book will be available on the Written Dreams website and when those who preordered the book can expect delivery. I have heard only crickets in response. I will send out that info as soon as I know something concrete.

Thanks to everyone who has encouraged me in this lengthy process and I hope you enjoy the book.

Frank Capra’s Wonderful Life

One of the most embarrassing moments in the history of the Academy Awards took place on March 16, 1934. Will Rogers, the famous humorist, hosted that year, and, as he opened the envelope to announce the winner of the Best Director award for films made in 1933, he simply said, “Come up and get it, Frank.” Unfortunately, two of the three men nominated for the award that year were named Frank. Young director Frank Capra jumped to his feet and headed for the podium, thinking he had won for his film Lady For a Day. Halfway there, though, he noticed that the audience was applauding, but looking toward Frank Lloyd, who had actually won the award for his movie, Cavalcade. A red-faced Capra put his head down and slinked back to his seat. His disappointment did not last long, however, as he won Oscars as Best Director three times in the next five years.

In many ways, Capra embodied the American Dream, working his way to the top from humble beginnings. An immigrant born in Italy in 1897, he became a U.S. citizen, worked his way through college, and earned a degree in chemical engineering from Cal Tech. After struggling to find a satisfying career, he drifted into the film industry, wrote gags for the slapstick Keystone Kop films of Mack Sennett, and, eventually, became a director at Columbia Studios. His early films were silent, but he was better suited for the “talkies,” as he and frequent screen-writer Robert Riskin were brilliant at creating wise-cracking dialogue that provided comic relief to the sometimes-heavy topics.

The year after his Oscars embarrassment, Capra and Columbia struck it big, as his film, It Happened One Night, became a huge hit and swept all four major Academy awards, best picture, best actor (Clark Gable), best actress (Claudette Colbert), and, finally for him, best director. That film started a hot streak for Capra in which he directed a major hit nearly every year for the next twelve years. Even during the war, while working in the U.S. Army’s film-making Corps, he won another Oscar for Why We Fight, his series of short documentaries designed to explain to the American people why it was essential for the U.S. to step up and oppose power-hungry dictators in Germany, Italy, and Japan even though they were an ocean away from our shores. During this streak, critics dubbed his directorial touch, “Capra Magic.”

In 1936, he won his second Academy Award for directing Mr. Deeds Comes to Town with Gary Cooper. In 1938, a third best-director Oscar came his way for the film version of a comedic Broadway play, You Can’t Take it With You. Other great films in this period were Lost Horizon, Meet John Doe, and Arsenic and Old Lace. In and around those hits, Capra was nominated for an Oscar for his two best films, both starring Jimmy Stewart: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, in 1939, and It’s a Wonderful Life, in 1946. When he didn’t win for Mr. Smith, Capra told the press that he was disappointed, but that he had learned a valuable lesson. When a reporter asked what lesson that was, Capra explained, “Don’t make the best film of your career the same year someone else makes Gone With the Wind.”

All of these films have stood the test of time and are still entertaining today, eighty or ninety years after they were made. Moreover, Capra masterfully tapped into the issues and concerns of the 1930s and the Great Depression. One major theme runs through most of these films: self-sacrifice and looking out for your fellow man.

In the 1920s, millionaires and businessmen were celebrated as the embodiments of the American Dream. Ruthless men such as John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and J.P. Morgan had built enormous fortunes while paying virtually no taxes. In that decade, Congress passed laws and created tax loopholes that were designed to preserve the wealth of the few at the expense of the many. Much was made of the fact that Rockefeller, worth over a billion dollars, often handed out dimes to children on the street. Public relations acts such as these made these businessmen heroes in popular culture, even though the truth was that their greed made them reluctant to contribute to the greater good.

Then came the Stock Market Crash in 1929. President Herbert Hoover and the conservative Republicans who controlled Congress did little to alleviate the suffering of the poor, hoping the economy would “fix itself.” The first action Hoover did take was to fire numerous federal government workers and raise tariffs designed to protect the profits of corporations and the wealthy. When other nations retaliated by erecting tariffs walls of their own, international trade came to a screeching halt. Thus, an economic downturn became a worldwide depression that lasted over a decade.

During the Great Depression, then, attitudes toward business began to change, and Capra helped to alter those opinions. Bankers, the wealthy, and big businesses were depicted as the “bad guys” in his films. In general, Capra’s films often featured an ordinary man standing up to rich and powerful adversaries. Whether it was Longfellow Deeds (in Mr. Deeds), Jefferson Smith (in Mr. Smith), or George Bailey (in Wonderful Life), the decent, “everyman” character defends the poor and downtrodden people. He is opposed, however, by corrupt, wealthy villains who simply want more: more money, more power, more of everything. In the end of these films, of course, decency wins out, and the greedy, champaign-swilling, plutocrats are defeated. Good triumphs over evil, basic goodness and self-sacrifice wins the day, and the audience goes home happy.

This theme is best illustrated by Longfellow Deeds when speaking to a judge about wealthy relatives who want him found insane for trying to use his money to help people in need: It’s like I’m out in a big boat, and I see one fellow in a rowboat who’s tired of rowing and wants a free ride, and another fellow who’s drowning. Who would you expect me to rescue? Mr. Cedar, who’s just tired of rowing and wants a free ride? Or those men out there who are drowning? Any ten-year-old child will give you the answer to that.

More important, building on the new attitudes toward the rich, President FDR ushered in a series of reforms designed to help those on the bottom. A minimum wage, banking restrictions, legalization of labor unions, Social Security, and tighter rules on income taxes ensured that the wealthiest Americans would pay their fair share for the first time in U.S. history. These reforms, along with Medicare and affordable health care, which came later, made it possible for the working class to share in the nation’s prosperity and the country enjoyed a period of unparalleled economic success.

By the late 1940s, however, Capra had lost his magic touch. Post-war economic success brought a degree of complacency and sensibilities began to change again. Corporations had helped win the war and were no longer seen as villains. Also, during the Red Scare and McCarthy Era of the late ‘40s and early ‘50s, paranoid minds looked suspiciously on anyone who portrayed capitalists in a negative light. Capra’s theme of ordinary people sticking together to oppose wealthy power-brokers sounded like communism to some. His popularity waned, and he made few major films after 1946.

Even worse for his reputation, many of his films suffered the indignity of being remade by filmmakers who didn’t “get” Capra’s message. It Happened One Night was redone in 1956 as You Can’t Run Away From It, with the ultra-masculine Clark Gable replaced by the vaguely feminine Jack Lemmon. My favorite film, Mr. Smith, was remade as Billy Jack Goes to Washington in 1976. In case you missed that particular classic, Tom Laughlin portrays Billy Jack, the subject of several cult films of the ‘70s. Billy Jack was a half-blood Navajo who espouses peace and non-violence, but is always forced to use martial arts, guns, and other weapons to kick-ass on his enemies in a bloody manner. That particular remake was so bad that it was never released to theaters. It Happened One Christmas was a 1977 TV movie starring Marlo Thomas in the Jimmy Stewart role of It’s a Wonderful Life. Finally, in 2002, another remake, Mr. Deeds, won a Razzie Award for Adam Sandler (in the Gary Cooper role) as the worst acting performance of the year. These abysmally bad films helped to illustrate the importance of a good director in turning decent stories into classic films.

By the 1980s, film critics who had earlier hailed Capra’s movies as “Magic,” now referred to them as “Capra Corn,” and disparaged them as overly sentimental claptrap. Despite this, in 1982, the American Film Institute awarded Capra the Life Achievement Award for his films. At that same time, however, the country was changing again, following President Ronald Reagan even further away from the values portrayed in Capra’s films. Reagan embraced corporate power and used his office to cut taxes for the rich and subtly celebrate the accumulation of wealth for its own sake. This attitude was personified in the 1987 film Wall Street, in which the main character, Gordon Gekko proclaims “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good!” The image of millionaires and corporations as heroes returned to popular culture, having come full circle since the 1920s.

Now today, we have a president who embodies every negative stereotype of the wealthy, power-hungry villains who care nothing about ordinary people and use all of their energy to operate like reverse Robin Hoods: stealing from the poor to give to the rich. Worse, Trump is assisted by Elon Musk, an evil puppeteer who was elected to nothing but clearly wants to use the power of our government to create an American version of the Apartheid system in which he grew up in South Africa. Under that system, a handful of powerful white males controlled everyone else. You can practically see a 16-year-old Musk standing up in a movie theater in 1987 and applauding Gordon Gekko’s declaration. Together, Trump, Musk, and the Republican Party have attacked all of the things that made this country economically powerful and allowed working people to enjoy financial security from the ‘40s to the ‘80s. They have indicated they want to eliminate labor unions, Social Security, Medicare, affordable health care, and the IRS. Eliminating or crippling the IRS is an obvious objective coming from a convicted tax cheat like Trump: he never believes he should have to pay his fair share. Like John D. Rockefeller handing out dimes while hoarding billions, the Musks and Trumps of the world want a government of the wealthy, by the wealthy, and for the wealthy while making empty promises to the gullible middle-and lower classes.

Frank Capra’s films helped to define an era and molded attitudes in which people cared about others and were willing to sacrifice to help those on the bottom. In a popular song from the 1960s, Paul Simon lamented the absence of heroes in America with his line, “Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you.” Today, we could easily substitute Frank Capra’s name for that of Joe DiMaggio. Capra and his films were produced in an era of economic collapse and widespread suffering. I sincerely hope it won’t take another catastrophe of that magnitude to make Americans wake up and see the danger looming in the dark shadows of Washington.

The question, then, is where are the Longfellow Deeds, Jefferson Smiths, and George Baileys of today’s world?

The Jester

Kathleen and I went recently to see the film A Complete Unknown with Timothee Chalamet channeling Bob Dylan. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, which did a great job of capturing the atmosphere of Greenwich Village in New York during the folk-music boom of the early 1960s.

The film shows Dylan at his best, as the ambitious, inspired genius who tapped into the psyche of a generation and helped call attention to the injustices that troubled young people at that time. He sang about segregation, unnecessary wars, atomic weapons, and racism in ways that made people care about those problems and try to do something about them. It also shows him at his worst, using women as interchangeable parts (much like his idol, Woody Guthrie) to comfort him when he felt lost or lonely—and that was much of the time. The filmmakers, at Dylan’s request, changed the name of his first love interest from “Suze” (Susan Rotolo) to “Sylvie.” He argued that she was the only person depicted in the film who was not an iconic celebrity and was thus entitled to a degree of anonymity. The result was interesting. In the film, Suze/Sylvie is portrayed as passive and unimportant, where in fact (from other things I have read), she was a strong woman who enlightened him about social issues and inspired some of his best early music. On the other hand, I thought Elle Fanning as Sylvie did an amazing job of acting “without the ball.” Her best scenes showed her reacting to Dylan’s romance with folk music queen, Joan Baez—she doesn’t speak in those scenes, but shows all of her emotions with facial expressions.

The movie uses the songs of Dylan almost as another character, not just as background filler, but to advance the storyline in clever ways. For instance, in one of the final scenes, he bids farewell to acoustic protest music by performing “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.” Chalamet, Norton, and Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez all played their own instruments and did their own singing. They were all spot-on in those performances, and the film is worth seeing for that aspect alone.

A Complete Unknown focuses on Dylan’s rise to stardom, the struggle to deal with his newfound celebrity, and his battle to regain control of the direction of his career and his music. The undisputed star of traditional folk music, Pete Seeger, took Dylan under his wing and helped him rise to the top of the folk world. Ed Norton depicts the banjo-playing minstrel incredibly well, but the musician is unfairly shown as one of those who refuses to allow Dylan to grow into different genres as a musician. In fact, Seeger was conflicted about Dylan’s changes and came to love his electric music as much as his original acoustic material. Alan Lomax is held up as the villain in the film, shown as a bullying purist who cannot accept anything but authentic folk music. Actually, he (along with his father and brother) were largely responsible for starting the folk music boom of the late ‘50s and early ‘60s. Carrying a battery-operated tape recorder, they traveled into every corner of the U.S., capturing and preserving English, Irish, and Scottish folk songs from Appalachia along with the music of former slaves and sharecroppers in the South. That incredible music would have probably been lost without his efforts.

The climax of the film takes place at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island in 1965. In that famous concert, Dylan brings a newly assembled band, plugs in, and plays his new, electrified music that would later appear on the Highway 61 Revisited album. The audience rebels and tries to boo him off of the stage while Seeger, Lomax and others scramble in an effort to curtail his performance. In reality, my understanding of the celebrated event is that it was not electric music alone that generated such a virulent reaction. Instead, many people were angered that Dylan seemed to be rejecting socially conscious songs in favor of those that used surreal poetic imagery to wrestle with personal issues and those outside the traditional purview of protest music. Songs such as “Positively 4th Street,” “Like a Rolling Stone,” and “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” remain among my all-time favorites of his songs. He recorded much of that landmark album just four days after the Newport concert.

My wife, Kathleen, not as familiar with the Dylan story as I am, suggested that the film left her wondering who Dylan really was. It was a great observation, because he has repeatedly reinvented his music, his persona, and even the stories about his past. My brother Dan, the one who first introduced me to Dylan’s music fifty years ago, has said something along the lines of “If you don’t like Dylan’s latest record or style of music, just wait a while; he’ll change again to something you might enjoy more.” I have seen him in concert twice, and both shows were disappointing. He famously mumbles his lyrics, and even the music of familiar songs is changed to an almost unrecognizable form. He speeds up the slow ones and slows down the fast ones. Moreover, he barely speaks between songs, reveals nothing about himself, and seems as if he does not enjoy performing. Yet, I heard a story about when he was touring Europe relatively recently and spent a few days, by himself in a small town in northern Sweden. He showed up at a local bar and asked if he could sing the next day. Of course, the owner said sure, and made a few handwritten signs advertising the event. Dylan played for over an hour, just him and his acoustic guitar before a few dozen people. If that story is any indication, he still feels the need to play and sing in front of an audience and enjoys it more than might be apparent.

I guess the truth is that we will never really understand Dylan or his many personas. This movie, like Todd Haynes’ 2007 art film, I’m Not There (which used six different actors, including Cate Blanchett to portray the many sides of the artist) is merely the latest attempt to get to the core of Bob Dylan. Maybe it’s best to give up on those efforts to make sense of the man and simply enjoy his music.

Singer/songwriter Cat Power recently recorded a live, note-for-note recreation of a 1966 concert Dylan gave in London, shortly after the Newport show and the release of the Highway 61 record. The album, Cat Power Sings Dylan, even includes an audience member famously yelling “Judas” during one of her electrified numbers. This faithful recreation gives a good sense of what a Dylan concert was like during his peak years and is worth a listen

Better yet, listen to the Highway 61 Revisited album. Sixty years after its initial release, it remains electric.

A side note:

While watching A Complete Unknown, I kept hearing the words of Don McLean’s 1971 song “American Pie.” He clearly was one who, while he enjoyed Dylan’s music, lamented that folk music and the rock music of the late ‘60s had undermined the “danceable music” of his childhood in the 1950s. One partial verse deals with Bob Dylan. I have parenthetically included my interpretation of McLean’s lyrics.

For ten years we’ve been on our own, and moss grows fat on a rolling stone,

But that’s not how it used to be

(McLean started writing this song in 1969, ten years after Buddy Holly died in a plane crash in February 1959—the day the music died; rolling stone is a reference to Dylan’s song, “Like a Rolling Stone”)

When the Jester sang for the King and Queen, in a coat he borrowed from James Dean

(The Jester is Dylan, the King and Queen are Elvis Presley and perhaps Joan Baez; Dean’s most famous role in his brief film career was Rebel Without a Cause, which Dylan loved; on the front of the Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, Dylan is seen walking with Suze Rotolo in a brown jacket similar to the one worn by Dean in the film, but more than that, the line refers to Dylan adopting the rebellious persona of Dean, complete with the mumbling, inarticulate delivery of his lines)

And a voice that came from you and me

(Dylan has often been called the voice of the ‘60s counterculture generation, pronouncing concerns about social issues with his protest songs such as “Blowing in the Wind” and “The Times They Are A-changing”)

And while the King was looking down, the Jester stole his thorny crown

(Elvis abdicated his throne when he enlisted in the army and gave up rock music to produce bad movies and Vegas-style songs; Dylan took the position as pop music’s biggest star, but it came at a price (the “thorny crown”); the price of fame was a loss of freedom and control over his life—as Jesus also learned, the crown had sharp thorns)

Historical Perspective

The 2024 Presidential election is in the books and it’s time to take stock. I’ll let the political science people analyze the results, but one number jumped out at me. Trump won an election for the first time in his life with slightly more votes than he received in 2020. The big difference was that Kamala Harris received about 9 million fewer votes than Joe Biden had in 2020. Again, other people are more equipped than I to comb through these results and explain them, but, as a historian, I can offer some thoughts about the presidency in a general sense.

Every few years, someone conducts a poll among historians and other scholars, asking them to rank the presidents from best to worst. The sort of criteria used by these polls usually include various questions, but they fall into three main categories. (1) How did the president do in terms of foreign policy? (Did they keep us out of unnecessary wars, strengthen our status in the world, make us stronger militarily, etc.?) (2) How did he do with domestic affairs? (Did the economy improve or decline?;  How did he handle the rights of minority groups?; Did he rule on behalf of all people, not just the wealthy,?; Were there political scandals or corruption connected with his administration)? (3) And finally, if faced with a crisis, how successful was he in resolving the situation?

Because of the assortment of people polled and criteria used, the results have varied over time, but certain patterns emerge from these polls. The top three presidents in these polls are invariably the same: Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and George Washington.

Washington ranks highly because of his steady guidance and restraint through the process of establishing exactly what a president’s role would be within the brand-new, checks-and-balances system of a democratic government. Most important of all, he set the incredible precedent of willingly stepping down from the presidency and conducting a peaceful transfer of power to the next president. This may not sound like much, but it had never happened before in modern history. Before Washington, most national leaders in the world had been kings, absolute monarchs, or military leaders who were loathe to even share power, let alone surrender it. George’s amazing act set an example that was followed in the US until 2020 and was copied by many other nations.

FDR makes these lists because he guided the nation through our two greatest crises of the 20th Century, the Great Depression and World War II. In the process, he did several things that helped elevate the country to world dominance and greatness. First, he legalized labor unions, thus allowing millions of workers to improve themselves economically and even join the middle class. Also, he passed the Social Security Act, called by many the single most important piece of legislation in US history. The SSA provided security for millions of people who had previously lived on the dangerous edge of poverty. Finally, he laid the groundwork for an alliance system that provided national security for the US and numerous other countries across the globe for decades. Before his international leadership, the US had floundered on the periphery of the world’s stage and pursued a policy of isolation, assuming that we could go it alone, without getting involved with other nations, especially in Europe. It was this myopic stance by the isolationists that allowed Adolf Hitler to take over one country after another in Europe until he was almost too powerful to stop. FDR elevated the US to a position of leadership that we have never fully relinquished since the 1940s.

Lincoln stands at the top, poll after poll, for obvious reasons: he ended the odious institution of slavery and held our nation together at its most critical moment, the Civil War. I could write pages more about the greatness of Lincoln, but this will suffice for now.

Toward the bottom of these polls, you will find the usual suspects. Those connected with massive corruption, such as Warren G. Harding, Ulysses S. Grant, and Richard Nixon (although Nixon’s reputation has improved in recent polls), show up repeatedly. Also, those who demonstrated utter incompetence in the face of a crisis show up here. This would include Herbert Hoover (The Depression), Andrew Johnson (Reconstruction), and especially James Buchanan. I just read Erik Larson’s The Demon of Unrest, which is about the start of the Civil War, and Buchanan, with the nation at a critical breaking point, repeatedly tried to appease the slave-holding states or pass responsibility off to the next president.

All of this is preamble to an attempt to speculate where our last two presidents will fall in these polls. I should preface these remarks by saying that historians never like to discuss current events. We are trained to delay analysis for at least several decades to allow the passage of time to cool partisan passions and, hopefully, create a more objective viewpoint. That said, this is my attempt to guess what historians will say about the recent presidents fifty years from now.

Biden will be complicated. A good comparison might be Harry S Truman. FDR died in April, 1945 and his VP, Truman, took over during one of the most difficult moments in the nation’s history. It fell to Truman to end the war against Germany, defeat Japan, rebuild the economy after the war, and develop an alliance system to oppose an aggressive Russia. After the war, millions of former soldiers returned home, expecting to find jobs, buy homes, and start families. However, at that very moment, factories that had been supplying tanks, airplanes, machine guns, uniforms, and other things for the military, suddenly shut down in order to convert to making civilian goods such as appliances, clothing, and automobiles. Unemployment was rampant, and the grumbling began. Further, because of shortages of consumer goods, prices shot up as people were willing to pay higher prices for almost everything. Economists predicted a return of the Depression that had ended with the start of the build-up for war. So, although none of this was the fault of the President, Truman got blamed for the lack of jobs and the high inflation. His approval ratings plummeted, hitting a low of 22%. He was regarded as a bumbling bureaucrat who was in over his head as President. His campaign song for his re-election was “I’m Just Wild About Harry,” but detractors, noting the lack of enthusiasm for the Democrat, altered it to “I’m Just Mild About Harry.” Despite all of that, he managed to win re-election in a close vote. Still, his 2nd-term approval rating remained mired in the twenties and low thirties. Historians, too, ranked him among the weakest presidents of all time.

Then, twenty years later, something remarkable occurred. In the early ‘70s, in the wake of the Vietnam War and Watergate, his reputation enjoyed a resurgence. After dealing with Nixon, people suddenly looked at Truman as an honest, decent man who spoke frankly, rebuilt our peacetime economy, and started the nation on a quarter century of world-wide economic dominance. Moreover, he stood up to the aggressive Russians, who were trying to take over all of Europe, and limited their expansion. About the time of his death in 1972, his popularity soared. There was a one-man show on Broadway called “Give ‘Em Hell, Harry.” That play was made into a movie, and a best-selling book titled, Plain Speaking detailed his life and career through his speeches and quotes. His ranking in those presidential polls began to climb as well, and the most recent one I saw had him ranked as the 6th best president of all time, just behind the Big Three, Thomas Jefferson, and Teddy Roosevelt.

I am suggesting that, fifty years from now, Joe Biden’s presidency will be looked at in a similar fashion. He took office during another critical period in our nation’s history. Like all Democratic presidents over the past 40 years (Clinton, Obama, and Biden), he inherited an economy from his Republican predecessor (Bush, Sr., Bush, Jr., and Trump, respectively) that was in a severe recession. Covid was still killing tens of thousands of people every day, unemployment under Trump had been as high as 15% and millions of people were still out of work. The stock market had bottomed out under Trump, with the Dow Jones Avg. hitting a low of 23,000. Many economists were predicting a depression or a prolonged recession that would devastate our country. Moreover, our alliance system had been greatly weakened by Trump, the US had abdicated its leadership role in world affairs, and we were stuck in a war in Afghanistan that had lasted nearly twenty years and seemed to have no end in sight. Finally, the previous president, Trump, tried to overthrow the legitimate government and conduct a coup that would have, in effect, ended democracy.

With all of these obstacles in his path, Biden managed to pull us out of the mess he inherited. He used the full power of the government to facilitate the final development of a vaccine and distribute it to the people for free. The Covid crisis slowly subsided and people were able to return to work. The jobless rate improved dramatically, reaching levels not seen in six decades. The Dow recovered rapidly and now sits at an all-time high of over 44,000, thus helping everyone’s IRA and retirement accounts. Biden worked with the handful of Republicans who actually cared about the country more than they cared about Trump and passed important, bipartisan legislation such as the infrastructure bill. Every president of the 21st Century had tried and failed to pass such a bill. As soon as the economy recovered, however, another crisis reared its head: inflation. As in Truman’s case, the rise of prices came about because of worldwide problems, in this case supply-line shortages caused by Covid and higher gas prices caused by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and sanctions put on Russian oil by the West. Every industrialized nation experienced bad inflation, but Biden’s aggressive approach to the problem meant that the US recovered faster and more effectively than the rest of the world.

In international affairs, he was equally successful. Bush, Jr., Obama, and Trump all promised to extricate us from the lengthy war situation in Afghanistan. All of them, though, quickly realized that to do so would be a messy and unpopular proposition. Biden was the only one to follow through with that promise. It was, as expected, an ugly withdrawal, and it could have been handled better. Still, he gets high marks for getting us out of an unwinnable war that had resulted in over 23,000 Americans being killed or wounded. Most important, Biden rebuilt the alliance system that had been greatly weakened by Trump. This became crucial in February, 2022, when Putin and the Russians invaded Ukraine as part of his plan to start a new Russian empire in Europe and Asia. Biden is seen as something of a hero in Europe for taking the lead in organizing NATO’s resistance to this naked aggression, and the US is a stronger nation because of this alliance. It should be noted that we would have not won WWI, WWII, or the Cold War without allies who helped present a united front to our enemies.

Biden was heavily criticized for his inability to solve the immigration problem at our southern border. In that regard, he certainly did no worse than the other three presidents in the 21st Century. Trump proposes shutting down the border completely and expelling millions of immigrants now living in the US. My question to him would be: What do you plan to eat if you do that? I have recently seen some startling statistics about immigrant labor in this nation. In the lily-white state of Iowa, 73% of all agricultural workers were born in another country. In Wisconsin and Minnesota, as many as 80% of the low-paying, filthy jobs in the beef and pork industries are held by immigrants, most of them illegal. I expect that similar numbers of immigrants are involved in fruit-picking and other agricultural jobs across the country. Instead of railing about the problem without offering a real solution, as Trump continues to do, Biden worked with Republicans and law-enforcement authorities along the border and helped design an actual policy that would provide a possible solution to the problem. That plan, of course, was effectively vetoed by Trump, who ordered his GOP minions to defeat the bill rather than see Biden and the Democrats get credit for solving the problem.

Despite all of his accomplishments, the media, as they did with Truman, focused on Biden’s missteps and his obvious diminished capacity near the end of his term. As a result, his approval ratings hit a low of 36% at one point, bad, but not as low as Truman’s 22% or even Trump’s low of 34% when he was president. I believe that, fifty years from now, Biden’s presidential record, like that of Truman, will be re-evaluated and his status will be much higher than it is today. If one of those polls were taken today, I expect that Biden would rank somewhere between the top 15-20 presidents in history. Like Truman, though, I think history will be good to him, and he will rise into the top ten in a half-century.

Trump’s status is much easier to ascertain than that of Biden. Historians will certainly focus on one issue in evaluating his first term. The fact that he tried to instigate an insurrection, overrule the democratic election, and institute a coup d’état is the only factor that matters. That alone places Trump as the worst president in US history. No other person tried to interrupt the 250 years of peaceful transfers of power and establish himself as dictator.

Looking at the other factors historians use to evaluate presidents, Trump will fare no better. The only crisis he faced was the Covid virus that raged during his term in office, and he failed miserably in dealing with that issue. He gets points for helping allocate government money toward finding a vaccine, but he dramatically undermined that effort by downplaying the virulence of the virus. Focused much more on getting re-elected than dealing with the crisis, he pronounced it “no worse than the flu” and discouraged people from taking even the most rudimentary precautions. As a result, many thousands died needlessly because they refused to wear masks, avoid crowds, or get vaccinated when the shots were available. Domestically, the only meaningful thing he accomplished was a large tax break for corporations and the wealthiest Americans. Those tax breaks helped the top 3% of the people, but put the financial burden of the nation on the other 97%. Further, these breaks increased the national debt more than any president in history by greatly decreasing the amount of money the government took in each year. Our grandchildren will have to deal with that burden in the future, and the corporations repaid the government’s generosity by gouging the consumers and making inflation much worse when prices began to rise.  In terms of corruption, Trump’s administration stands alone. Never before has a president or former president been found guilty of multiple felonies (although Nixon was pardoned before he could face a judge or jury). The president himself, of course has been indicted and convicted of numerous crimes. Because of his stranglehold on the government and the judicial system, however, he will never be held accountable for those horrendous crimes. Moreover, dozens of his closest aides and accomplices in crime have already been convicted and have served time in prison.

In international affairs, Trump made the US a much weaker country. He failed to do anything about immigration except separate parents from children at the border and build 40 miles of a proposed 2000-mile-long wall. He vowed to get the US out of Afghanistan, but did nothing when he realized that such actions would be complicated. He withdrew from the nation’s traditional role of world leadership by refusing to take part in worldwide agreements concerning the environment or even standing up to Russia’s aggression. Instead, he lauded Putin and encouraged him by indicating the US would not stand in his way should he want to expand his borders in Eastern Europe. Finally, he denigrated the US military personnel by labelling anyone who fought for their country as “losers” and “suckers.” Even the generals who served under him have characterized Trump as a dangerous man with fascist tendencies. In short, there is no way to view Trump’s first term other than as a complete disaster. So, what does the US do with the worst President in American history? They give him a second chance.

It should be noted, of course, that Trump has not even started his second term, so his legacy is not yet complete. When he first took office in 2017, many observers urged caution in judging Trump prematurely. He can’t be as bad as he sounds, they said. No one could be that bad, they said. The Republicans in Congress will rein in his excesses and teach him how a responsible leader of the Free World behaves, they said. Instead, the GOP complied with all of his selfish wishes and kissed the ring (and other body parts) whenever he demanded. The result was a failed presidency of epic proportions. But perhaps this time will be different. Maybe he has learned from his countless mistakes and will now rule as a decent human being.

Perhaps. And perhaps Hell will freeze over, the world will stop spinning on its axis, and all leopards will suddenly change their spots. Check back with me in fifty years.

Fantasyland vs. Jack and Kathleen Henderson

Good afternoon, visitors. You have been waiting in line for nearly an hour, but you will now be allowed to enter the courtroom in Orlando, Florida for the exciting conclusion of case number 4530, the People of Fantasyland vs. Jack and Kathleen Henderson. Although the 21st-Century is not yet a quarter of the way through, journalists are already referring to this legal battle as “The Trial of the Century.” Please step into your seat as the revolving visitors’ gallery approaches, move to the far end of your row to make room for others, and remain seated for the entire ride, or, um, trial. Keep your hands and feet inside the seating area for your own safety. You may want to remove your hats and mouse ears, as this promises to be a fast-moving trial, with numerous twists and turns. Those with weak hearts or high blood pressure and pregnant women are encouraged to skip this event. And, as always, you must be at least 42 inches high to attend. We join the trial, already in progress:

Defense Attorney: How would you characterize this trip?

Jackleen: A wonderful time. Going by the numbers, it was 4 days, 5 nights, 32 rides or roller coasters, 4 separate theme parks, 5 great dinners, an average of 22,000 steps a day—I kept track (chuckles from the jurors), and, in terms of money, well over 5 digits worth of fun.

Defense Attorney: That makes me tired just hearing it! (More laughter). And how were the kids?

Jackleen: They were great. Fourteen-year-old Abigail is a smart girl with a strong cynical streak who suffers terribly from FOMO—the Fear Of Missing Out on something. Lucas turned 11 during the trip, he adores his sister, and he parrots every thought or word she expresses. They had both received a generous cash gift from their Uncle Dan before the trip and were dying to spend it. We sent them to the gift shop in the hotel to spend their loot, and they surprised us when they returned wearing Mickey Mouse ears. Abigail, despite her usual cynicism, sported a set of ears with a mortarboard, complete with gold tassels, in the middle, and the words “Class of 2024.” She lit up when complete strangers offered congratulations, but the highlight of the trip for her may have been when someone asked her if she had graduated from high school or college. I think she enjoyed the opportunity to be herself without the embarrassing chance of being seen with her family by someone she knows. Lucas chose a set of ears festooned with all of the colors of the rainbow simply because he liked the colors, and they were the only ears he could find without a ribbon in the middle. He was completely unaware that June is pride month at Disney or what that might signify. In any case, they both wore their ears with great pride for the entire trip.

Defense: And did they contribute anything to the trip?

Jackleen: Oh yes. Lucas was sweet and wide-eyed the entire time, with an infectious good humor. At meals, he liked to organize activities such as ranking the roller-coasters or the various parks, and we were all expected to elaborate and explain our rankings. Abigail is, . . . well, she’s 14 years old. She tries to hide her positive feelings whenever possible, rolls her eyes a lot, and grumbling is her default position, but she was at her absolute best on this trip. She also is light years ahead of her grandparents when it comes to technology. She became an expert navigator and the one who mastered the Disney App that showed the wait times for the various rides with long lines. The best money we spent was the extra $25 per person per day for a special pass that enabled us to reserve a spot and skip the long lines by taking the “Lightning Lane.” Instead of waiting an hour or more for the most popular rides, we never waited more than 5 minutes. Abigail conquered that system so well that, by the last day, at the Wild Kingdom park, we were able to get off of one premium ride, walk to the next one, and immediately get on. At first, we felt guilty walking past those throngs of hot, sweaty people who had been waiting for over an hour, but we got over it. For us, the highlight of the trip was the relationship between the two siblings. At home or under normal circumstances, the two kids bicker constantly. Lucas wants to hang out with Abigail and do whatever she is doing, while she enjoys her time alone and finds her little brother annoying at times. At Disney, however, they were great buddies, often walking with arms around each other, and bonding over their annoyance with their grandparents.

Defense Attorney: Okay, let’s get into that. Exactly how old is Nana Handerson?

Jackleen: She will be 75 in September.

Defense Attorney: And can I assume that she is not exactly an athlete?

Jackleen: That is a safe assumption.

Defense Attorney: Does she like the climate of Florida in June?

Jackleen: She hates heat. She hates humidity. She hates crowds. She has a health condition in which she develops a violent rash on her ankles if she remains on her feet for long periods of time. So, the answer would be a resounding no.

Defense Attorney: Then why on Earth would you go on such a taxing trip?

Jackleen: It was for the kids. We promised Abigail we would take her anywhere she wanted to go for her 8th-grade graduation. We thought she would pick Paris or some European city, but she chose Disney World. Then, we decided we might not be in good enough health to take Lucas on a similar trip in four years, so we took them both this time.

Defense Attorney: Did you make any special accommodations for Nana Henderson?

Jackleen: Yes. Every so often, we would find some shade and let her sit for a few minutes. The kids also agreed that we would take a break for a couple of hours in the afternoon, when the heat and the crowds were the worst. The kids were pretty accepting of that idea for the first few days. By the last day or two, though, Abigail’s FOMO phobia kicked in, and she wanted to ride roller-coasters from dawn to dusk without a break. Other than that, Nana was a trooper. Before the trip, there was concern that some—or all—of us would chicken out on some of the scarier rides, but that was not the case. Everyone rode on every ride, and no one backed out.

Defense Attorney: I understand that many Disney officials considered Nana a security risk.

Jackleen: Apparently. They stopped her repeatedly at the metal detectors, and once did everything but strip search her at the entrance to a park. Another time, a handler with a drug-sniffing dog stopped her while the dog did a thorough search of her person. Finally, she was stopped at least six times at the secondary entrances to the parks while they took her picture for comparison to known felons and terrorists. I’m happy to report that they found no weapons or drugs except for her blood-pressure medicine.

Defense Attorney: You said that Lucas had a birthday during the trip. What was that day like?”

Jackleen: It was exhausting, but fun. As on most days, we left the room just after 7 a.m., had a full breakfast in the hotel, and were inside the gates of one of the parks as soon as they opened. That day, we went to The Hollywood Studios park and started with the Tower of Terror, Twilight Zone ride. I had my arms around Lucas when it started and his little heart was pounding at about 150 beats per minute. We hit 4 more rides that morning, including the two Star Wars rides that Lucas wanted to experience. We returned to the hotel for a break about 1:00. Grampa Jack took the kids to the pool while Nana took a quick nap. Then we were off to Epcot for some more rides and a great dinner, complete with costumed Disney characters and a special cake for Lucas’ birthday.

Defense Attorney: Wow. That’s a full day. I’m guessing you returned to your room after that.

Jackleen: Yes, but just for a few minutes to drop off the leftover cake. At 9:00, we headed out again, this time to the Magic Kingdom park for fireworks and more rides. You see, Magic Kingdom had special hours that day. Instead of closing at 11:00, as usual, they were open until 1:00 a.m., and we told the kids we would let them stay up late for those extra 2 hours. After standing in a crowd for the fireworks, after walking to Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, Adventureland, and a few other lands I can’t recall, we hit more rides, some for the second time. The adults were fading fast as midnight approached, so we let the kids go alone to wait the 50 minutes for the 7 Dwarfs Trail Ride while we sought a place to sit down. They finally rejoined us at 12:15. But something was different. Abigail was now dressed in a business suit. The Mickey Mouse ears were gone, replaced by a businesswoman’s bun and glasses. She even carried a briefcase full of legal arguments that she was ready to unleash at any moment. All we could figure was that, while she was on the 7 Dwarf’s ride, the Evil Queen of Snow-White fame had put a magical spell on her that transformed our sweet granddaughter into a lawyer.

(After a brief recess, the trial resumed with the prosecutor—who looked suspiciously like Abigail—interrogating the grandparents.)

Prosecutor: So, the way I understand it, you had a verbal agreement to stay in the park until 1:00 in the morning. Is that correct?

Jackleen: Well, yes, but we didn’t want to get caught up in the long lines at the Monorail if we waited until the park closed at one.

Prosecutor: That’s not what I asked. Did you agree to stay until 1:00?

Jackleen: Well, we said we would go to the park during the special extended hours.

Prosecutor: Which ran from 11:00 to 1:00. Correct?

Jackleen: Yes.

Prosecutor: Not from 11:00 to 12:15 or 12:30, but to 1:00. Correct?

Jackleen: I guess so.

Prosecutor: There is no guessing involved. The park was open until 1:00. And at what time did you decide to leave the park.

Jackleen: At 12:16. I checked my watch. The kids came off of the Seven Dwarfs ride at that time and said they wanted to ride the Space Mountain roller coaster again. But, that ride was a 10-minute walk away, and the App said there was a 40-minute wait to get on it. Since the park closed in 44 minutes, the math didn’t work. We were all exhausted, we had been on the go for nearly 18 hours, and we had walked over 27,000 steps that day. So, we decided to leave.

Prosecutor: Objection! Immaterial! I didn’t ask how many steps you had taken; I asked what time you decided to leave. Your honor, I want everything after 12:16 stricken from the record. Instruct the witness to simply answer the questions that are asked.

Judge: So ordered.

Prosecutor: You decided to leave at 12:16, a full 44 minutes before the promised leaving time.

And how did the children react to this abrupt and egregiously unfair change of plans?

Jackleen: Well, you have to understand that they were completely over-tired, cranky, and unreasonable after a full day of activities—

Prosecutor: Your honor!

Judge: Just answer the question, please.

Jackleen: They were upset. They still wanted to go to Space Mountain, hoping that some miracle would happen, and that they could squeeze in one more ride.

Prosecutor: So, you admit that the children were upset, that it was not yet 1:00, and that the grandparents made the arbitrary decision to leave, despite the prior agreement.

Jackleen: I wouldn’t put it that way, but yes, it was our decision.

Prosecutor: Ah hah! You decided to leave early without even consulting with the children. And what time was it when you got back to your room at the Contemporary Hotel?

Jackleen: It was 12:52.

Prosecutor: (Nodding, smiling, and looking at each juror knowingly.) 12:52. Eight minutes before 1 o’clock. You returned to your room while the park remained open for another 8 minutes. Eight full minutes that could have been spent having fun, riding roller coasters, and engaging in other activities. (Pausing dramatically to allow those words to register with the jurors) One final question: 12:52 is not 1:00, is it?

Jackleen: No.

Prosecutor: Your honor, I rest my case.

Excerpt from the prosecution’s closing arguments:

And so, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the facts of the case are clear. The grandparents, despite a prior agreement, and with malice aforethought, did knowingly and intentionally drag the children from the Magic Kingdom before the closing time, causing both children irreparable emotional harm. But forget these children for a moment. I ask you to render a guilty verdict not for Lucas and Abigail. For them it is already too late; the damage has been done. (At this point, the prosecutor’s eyes welled with tears, and her voice cracked) Nay, I ask you to find these grandparents guilty for other children, for the future generations of children who might otherwise be so grievously abused by equally insensitive grandparents. To paraphrase William Shakespeare, “For never was a tale of such travail, as that of Lucas and Abigail.”

[Disclaimer: This was just my way of poking fun at Abigail and her lawyer-like tendencies while illustrating some of the fun things we did at Disney World. I hope that no one misconstrues this story and thinks that the kids were anything less than appreciative for the trip.]