On this day in 1971 — 51 years ago — Sen. George McGovern announced his candidacy for president during a televised speech from the studios of KELO-TV in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
At the time of his announcement, McGovern was ranked fifth among Democrats in a presidential preference Gallup Poll.
He won the nomination at the 1972 Democratic National Convention in Miami, but was defeated by Richard Nixon.
Above, Frank Beacham with McGovern, 2008.
Photo by Margo Re
In his farewell address to the nation on this day in 1961 — 61 years ago — President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned the American people to keep a careful eye on what he called the "military-industrial complex" that began developing in the post-World War II years.
A fiscal conservative, Eisenhower had been concerned about the growing size and cost of the American defense establishment since he became president in 1953. In his last presidential address to the American people, he expressed those concerns in terms that shocked some of his listeners.
Eisenhower began by describing the changing nature of the American defense establishment since World War II. No longer could the U.S. afford the "emergency improvisation" that characterized its preparations for war against Germany and Japan. Instead, the United States was "compelled to create a permanent armaments industry" and a huge military force.
He admitted that the Cold War made clear the "imperative need for this development," but he was gravely concerned about "the acquisition of unwarranted influence...by the military-industrial complex." In particular, he asked the American people to guard against the "danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite."
Eisenhower's blunt language stunned some of his supporters. They believed that the man who led the country to victory in Europe in World War II and guided the nation through some of the darkest moments of the Cold War was too negative toward the military-industrial complex that was the backbone of America's defense.
For most listeners, however, it seemed clear that Eisenhower was merely stating the obvious. World War II and the ensuing Cold War resulted in the development of a large and powerful defense establishment.
The outgoing President warned that this new military-industrial complex could weaken or destroy the very institutions and principles it was designed to protect. Only now can we be begin to appreciate the truth of Eisenhower’s words.
In this painting by Jason Heuser, Franklin battles Zeus for lightning
Benjamin Franklin was born 316 years ago today.
One of the founding fathers of the United States and in many ways was "the First American," Franklin was a renowned polymath. He was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman and diplomat.
As a scientist, he was a major figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity.
As an inventor, he is known for the lightning rod, bifocals and the Franklin stove, among other inventions.
Franklin facilitated many civic organizations, including Philadelphia's fire department and a university. He earned the title of "The First American" for his early and indefatigable campaigning for colonial unity. He was an author and spokesman in London for several colonies and the first United States Ambassador to France.
Franklin was foundational in defining the American ethos as a marriage of the practical values of thrift, hard work, education, community spirit, self-governing institutions and opposition to authoritarianism both political and religious, with the scientific and tolerant values of the Enlightenment.
In the words of historian Henry Steele Commager, "In Franklin could be merged the virtues of Puritanism without its defects, the illumination of the Enlightenment without its heat."
To Walter Isaacson, this makes Franklin "the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type of society America would become."
Franklin, always proud of his working class roots, became a successful newspaper editor and printer in Philadelphia, the leading city in the colonies. With two partners, he published the Pennsylvania Chronicle, a newspaper that was known for its revolutionary sentiments and criticisms of the British policies.
He became wealthy publishing Poor Richard's Almanack and The Pennsylvania Gazette. Franklin was also the printer of books for the Moravians of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (1742 on).
Franklin's printed Moravian books (printed in German) are preserved, and can be viewed, at the Moravian Archives located in Bethlehem. Franklin visited Bethlehem many times and stayed at the Moravian Sun Inn. He played a major role in establishing the University of Pennsylvania and was elected the first president of the American Philosophical Society.
Franklin became a national hero in America when as agent for several colonies he spearheaded the effort to have Parliament in London repeal the unpopular Stamp Act.
An accomplished diplomat, he was widely admired among the French as American minister to Paris and was a major figure in the development of positive Franco-American relations. His efforts to secure support for the American Revolution by shipments of crucial munitions proved vital for the American war effort.
For many years, he was the British postmaster for the colonies, which enabled him to set up the first national communications network. From 1785 to 1788, he served as governor of Pennsylvania. Toward the end of his life, he freed his own slaves and became one of the most prominent abolitionists.
His colorful life and legacy of scientific and political achievement, and status as one of America's most influential founding fathers, have seen Franklin honored on coinage and the $100 bill; warships; the names of many towns; counties; educational institutions; corporations and countless cultural references.
Jim Hightower, syndicated columnist, progressive political activist and author, is 79 years old today.
From 1983 to 1991, Hightower served as the elected commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture.
Born in Denison in Grayson County in north Texas, Hightower came from a working class background. He received a Bachelor of Arts in government from the University of North Texas in Denton, where he served as student body president. He later did graduate work at Columbia University in New York City in international affairs.
In the late 1960s, he worked in Washington, D.C., as legislative aide to U.S. Senator Ralph Yarborough. After managing the presidential campaign of former Senator Fred R. Harris of Oklahoma in 1976, he returned to Texas to become the editor of the The Texas Observer magazine.
In 1982, Hightower was elected Agricultural Commissioner, having unseated fellow Democrat Reagan V. Brown, who had ordered a quarantine of fruit coming into Texas from California. He served as agriculture commissioner until he was unseated in 1990 by the Democrat-turned-Republican, Rick Perry, later the governor of Texas.
His tenure was noted for fostering organic production, alternative crops, direct marketing by small farmers and strong gross materials regulations. During that time, he also became a leading national spokesman for Democrats and endorsed Jesse Jackson for president in 1988. Soon after Bill Clinton was elected president, Hightower became a critic.
He criticized Clinton for having accepted corporate soft money contributions, his support of NAFTA, his health care plan and his refusal to crack down on "corporate welfare." He also criticized Clinton’s inadequate efforts at fighting unemployment and poverty.
In 2000, he joined with talk show host Phil Donahue and actress Susan Sarandon to co-chair the presidential campaign of Ralph Nader. He also appeared at Nader's "super-rallies" and stumped across the country for him.
Since 1993, Hightower has produced "Hightower Radio," a daily two-minute commentary carried by over 130 affiliates. He also hosted a weekend talk show on the American Broadcasting Company radio network and a weekday midday talk show on the United Broadcasting Network (later called America Radio Network). The show aired in thirty-eight markets around the United States.
Hightower had endorsed Bernie Sanders for President in 2016, actively campaigning for the Democratic candidate. Despite the Democratic party losing each house of power in the United States, Hightower talked of his optimism toward a greater progressive revolution after meeting with Sanders.
Hightower cites the large number of progressive initiatives passed to counter the idea that Donald Trump and far right rhetoric is surpassing progressive ideals.
Hightower currently writes a nationally syndicated column carried by seventy-five independent weekly newspapers and other publications through Creators Syndicate. He also writes for The Progressive Populist.'
Above photo by Caleb Bryant Miller
A 105 year old protest began in Washington, D.C. by the National Woman’s Party. It led to giving women the right to vote.
It all began on the eve of Woodrow Wilson’s second inauguration and drew more than a 1,000 people to circle the White House. The “silent sentinels” stayed on Lafayette Square protesting for months.
The civil disobedience by the National Woman’s Party was the main force behind the 19th Amendment, which gave women a national right to vote in 1920.
Some pickets were arrested on the charge of obstructing traffic, and in prison, some went on hunger strikes. Abusive treatment of the protesters, who called themselves political prisoners, angered some Americans and created more support for the suffrage amendment. They were released and their arrests were later declared unconstitutional.
After the women helped replace anti-suffrage senators in the 1918 elections, the 19th Amendment finally passed both houses of Congress and was sent to the states for ratification. The Amendment was ratified by enough states by 1920, thus giving women the right to vote.
But the party suffered from some of the same segregationist tendencies circulating in society at the time. It took the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s to finally secure full suffrage for black women.
In 1912, W.E.B. Du Bois of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People called out the party’s parent group for rejecting black members and associations.
The following year, when the anti-lynching journalist, Ida B. Wells, led a contingent of black suffragists from Chicago to a march in the capital, organizers told them to stay in the rear.
Wells declined. She quietly walked alongside two white supporters with the Illinois contingent.
Thanks New York Times!
Simone de Beauvoir was born 114 years ago today.
De Beauvoir was a French writer, intellectual, existentialist philosopher, political activist, feminist and social theorist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, she had a significant influence on both feminist existentialism and feminist theory.
She wrote novels, essays, biographies, autobiography and monographs on philosophy, politics and social issues. She is known for her 1949 treatise, The Second Sex, a detailed analysis of women's oppression and a foundational tract of contemporary feminism.
Her novels include She Came to Stay and The Mandarins.
She had a lifelong relationship with Jean-Paul Sartre.
General Manuel Noriega: A Personal Story
In 1979, on Contadora Island, a small Panamanian island on the Pearl Islands archipelago in the Gulf of Panama, I was on an assignment with NBC News to report on the medical recovery of the late Shah of Iran.
When I say “recovery,” I mean the Shah just had his spleen removed and we were on a stake out to keep an eye on him. It was a cushy assignment — one we nicknamed “Spleen Watch.”
One day — totally out of the blue — I was arrested by Manuel Noriega, who was then Panama’s chief of military intelligence. It was early morning, and I exited the shower in my hotel room to find Noriega pointing an Uzi submachine gun at me. Needless to say, it was one hell of a way to start the day.
He told me to get dressed and he drove me in a jeep to a government-owned house on the island. He said I was using a walkie-talkie that interfered with his own private frequency. The walkie-talkie, which I bought in the hotel gift shop on the island, was being used to communicate with the rest of my crew. Anyone could buy these walkie-talkies, but that didn’t matter to Noriega.
I apologized for interfering with his communications, but Noriega was having none of it. Soon, my other crew mates, who were also surprised and arrested that morning, all arrived at the house. He made us sit on a couch and look at his Panamanian porno magazines, while hysterically laughing at our discomfort. This was one sick dude!
Hours dragged by as we quietly waited, having no idea of our fate with this increasingly erratic madman. Our answer came later that day when he took us in his jeep to the island’s airstrip. Our bags and camera gear, packed by his forces and removed from our rooms, were waiting there for us. We were ordered to board the plane and were flown back to Miami.
After returning to NBC’s offices in Miami, the phone rang and it was a call from the military leader of Panama, Gen. Omar Torrijos. Torrijos profusely apologized for Noriega’s actions to Don Browne, the NBC bureau chief, and insisted that we come back to Contadora Island to complete coverage of the Shah’s recovery there.
He promised absolutely no more trouble. Anxious to make the extra money on this lucrative job and having zero common sense in my youthful days, I agreed to return with my crew. However, when we arrived back in Panama, we first visited Gen. Torrijos, who warmly welcomed us back. As a favor, he asked if I could deliver a box of Cuban cigars to his friend, Sen. Edward Kennedy, who enjoyed them.
Each cigar had a band that had the words “General Torrijos” printed on it — a personal gift from Fidel Castro. I promised to send the cigars — illegal in the United States — to Kennedy when we returned. (That was not without skimming the top row for myself!)
The rest of our trip on Contadora Island was without incident and we returned home a week and a half later when the Shah left the island. We never saw or heard from Noriega again.
As a footnote to this story, Gen. Torrijos died in a plane accident on July 31, 1981 after a two-year power struggle. Col. Roberto Díaz Herrera, a former associate of Noriega, claimed that the actual cause for the accident was a bomb and that Noriega was behind the incident. I was never surprised by this.
Noriega emerged as general of Panama's military forces. He became the country's de facto leader, fixing presidential elections so he could install his own puppet officials. Noriega's rule was marked by corruption and violence. He also became a double agent, selling American intelligence secrets to Cuba and Eastern European governments.
In 1987, when Panamanians organized protests against Noriega and demanded his ouster, he declared a national emergency, shut down radio stations and newspapers and forced his political enemies into exile.
That year the United States cut off aid to Panama and tried to get Noriega to resign. In 1988, the U.S. began considering the use of military action to put an end to his drug trafficking.
Noriega voided the May, 1989 presidential election, which included a U.S.-backed candidate, and in December of that year he declared his country to be in a state of war with the United States. This led to Noriega’s overthrow and arrest on this day in 1990 by the U.S. military.
He stayed prison until January 23, 2017, when he was released and placed under house arrest to prepare for surgery that would remove a benign brain tumor. On March 7, 2017, he suffered a brain hemorrhage during surgery which left him in a critical condition in the intensive care unit of Santo Tomas hospital in Panama City. He died on May 29, 2017, at the age of 83.
I got older, wised up and — sick of continuing wars and violence in Latin America — moved to Los Angeles in 1984 to start a new phase of my life.
(Thanks to History.com for parts of this story.)
It’s no secret that Marilyn Monroe had “strong feelings for civil rights, for black equality and strongly disliked red-baiting, McCarthyism and J. Edgar Hoover, the authoritarian director of the FBI.
However, Monroe’s FBI files, which previously were heavily redacted, have not revealed any new information about her mysterious death 56 years ago.
Letters and news clippings included in the file show the bureau was aware of theories the actress had been killed, but they do not show that any effort was undertaken to investigate the claims.
Los Angeles authorities concluded Monroe's death was a probable suicide.
Updated FBI files do show the extent the agency was monitoring Monroe for ties to communism in the years before her death in August, 1962. The records reveal that some in Monroe's inner circle were concerned about her association with Frederick Vanderbilt Field, who was disinherited from his wealthy family over his leftist views.
A trip to Mexico earlier that year to shop for furniture brought Monroe in contact with Field, who was living in the country with his wife in self-imposed exile.
Informants reported to the FBI that a "mutual infatuation" had developed between Field and Monroe, which caused concern among some in her inner circle, including her therapist.
"This situation caused considerable dismay among Miss Monroe's entourage and also among the (American Communist Group in Mexico)," the file states. It includes references to an interior decorator who worked with Monroe's analyst reporting her connection to Field to the doctor.
Field's autobiography devotes an entire chapter to Monroe's Mexico trip, "An Indian Summer Interlude."
He mentions that he and his wife accompanied Monroe on shopping trips and meals and he only mentions politics once in a passage on their dinnertime conversations. "She talked mostly about herself and some of the people who had been or still were important to her," Field wrote in "From Right to Left."
"She told us about her strong feelings for civil rights, for black equality, as well as her admiration for what was being done in China, her anger at red-baiting and McCarthyism and her hatred of (FBI director) J. Edgar Hoover."
Under Hoover's watch, the FBI kept tabs on the political and social lives of many celebrities, including Frank Sinatra, Charlie Chaplin and Monroe's ex-husband, Arthur Miller. The bureau had also been involved in numerous investigations about crimes against celebrities, including threats against Elizabeth Taylor, an extortion case involving Clark Gable and more recently, trying to solve who killed rapper Notorious B.I.G.
Six years ago, on the 50th anniversary of Moore’s death, the Associated Press had sought the removal of redactions from Monroe's FBI files as part of a series of stories on the 50th anniversary of Monroe's death. A few months later, the FBI released an updated version of the files that eliminate dozens of redactions.
For years, the files have intrigued investigators, biographers and those who don't believe Monroe's death at her Los Angeles area home was a suicide.
A 1982 investigation by the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office found no evidence of foul play after reviewing all available investigative records, but noted that the FBI files were "heavily censored."
That characterization intrigued the man who performed Monroe's autopsy, Dr. Thomas Noguchi. While the DA investigation concluded he conducted a thorough autopsy, Noguchi has conceded that no one will likely ever know all the details of Monroe's death.
The FBI files and confidential interviews conducted with the actress' friends that have never been made public might help, he wrote in his 1983 memoir, Coroner. "On the basis of my own involvement in the case, beginning with the autopsy, I would call Monroe's suicide `very probable,'" Noguchi wrote.
"But I also believe that until the complete FBI files are made public and the notes and interviews of the suicide panel released, controversy will continue to swirl around her death."
Monroe's file begins in 1955 and mostly focuses on her travels and associations, searching for signs of leftist views and possible ties to communism. One entry, which previously had been almost completely redacted, concerned intelligence that Monroe and other entertainers sought visas to visit Russia that year.
The file continues up until the months before her death, and also includes several news stories and references to Norman Mailer's biography of the actress, which focused on questions about whether Monroe was killed by the government.
For all the focus on Monroe's closeness to suspected communists, the bureau never found any proof she was a member of the party.
"Subject's views are very positively and concisely leftist; however, if she is being actively used by the Communist Party, it is not general knowledge among those working with the movement in Los Angeles," a July 1962 entry in Monroe's file states.
Thanks Associated Press
Above, Marilyn Monroe boards a flight to Bement, Illinois, 1955
Photo by Eve Arnold
Woodrow Wilson held the first presidential press conference in 1913.
Wilson said he “likes” reporters, after inviting 100 of them in his office at the White House.
Wilson was convinced to invite the press into the oval by Joseph Tumulty, his personal secretary, or by today’s standards, his chief of staff. Tumulty organized 159 press conferences during Wilson’s two terms in office.
It was the beginning of a love-hate ritual that would continue for every president that followed. It took just over one century from cigars in the oval office to “fake news," the term manufactured by Trump acolytes.
Thanks Washington Post!
Above, White House correspondents and photographers in 1913 during the Wilson Administration
Photo from the Library of Congress
Ramsey Clark, U.S. Attorney General in the turbulent 60s, was born 94 years ago today.
Clark was a progressive. After leaving senior positions under John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, he became an attorney and activist. He was attorney general from 1967 to 1969.
As Attorney General, Clark was known for his vigorous opposition to the death penalty, his aggressive support of civil liberties and civil rights and his dedication in enforcing antitrust provisions.
Clark supervised the drafting of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and Civil Rights Act of 1968. Since leaving public office, Clark led many progressive activism campaigns, including opposition to the War on Terror.
When I was working on the legacy of the Orangeburg Massacre — the killing of seven college students in South Carolina by white state officials — Clark broke the story open for me during a visit to his office in New York City.
He didn’t buy S.C. Gov. Robert McNair’s story at all. Over time, he learned that FBI agents purposely misled the Justice Department about important details in the Orangeburg case; that key evidence was severely compromised by FBI agents friendly with South Carolina’s corrupt head cop, Pete Strom, and his men; and that his own U.S. Attorney, based in Columbia, would not cooperate with the investigation.
Then Clark cut to the chase about the governor and his friends in South Carolina.
“They committed murder. Murder...that’s a harsh thing to say, but they did it. The police lost their self control. They just started shooting. It was a slaughter. Double-ought buckshot is what you use for deer. It’s meant to kill. One guy emptied his service revolver. That takes a lot of shooting. The [students] are running away. Pow, pow, pow, pow, pow, pow! My God, there’s a murderous intent there. We are lucky more weren’t killed.”
Clark minced no words when he described what happened in Orangeburg. He helped me nail the story, like no former public official had before.
