Sublime
An inspiration engine for ideas
“The Republican party,” he wrote, “must be known as a progressive organization or it is sunk. I believe that so emphatically that I think that far from appeasing or reasoning with the dyed-in-the-wool reactionary fringe, we should completely ignore it and when necessary, repudiate it.”
Jean Edward Smith • Eisenhower in War and Peace
Consensus academics articulated the need for tough men of will in politics, using prose laden with metaphors of sexual prowess.
Elaine Tyler May • Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era
The 1824 election came down to a contest between a member of the English elite, John Quincy Adams, and a member of the Scots-Irish lower class, Andrew Jackson.
George Friedman • The Storm Before the Calm: America's Discord, the Coming Crisis of the 2020s, and the Triumph Beyond
To a man of such deep convictions, there was something almost immoral about the Johnson campaign, with its theatrics, its use of money, the unadorned appeal to selfishness in its argument that Johnson should be elected because he could get more federal contracts for Texas. Moreover, Roosevelt supporter though Mann was, he was disturbed at the
... See moreRobert A. Caro • The Path to Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson I
“Secret deal”? Perhaps Coke Stevenson felt he wouldn’t dignify the charge by denying it. But dignity was a luxury in a fight with Lyndon Johnson, a luxury too expensive to afford. Perhaps Stevenson had too much pride to deny the charge. Pride was a luxury that an opponent of Lyndon Johnson could not afford. Once Johnson found an issue, true or
... See moreRobert A. Caro • Means of Ascent: The Years of Lyndon Johnson II
The president did not believe such a large legislative and cultural undertaking could be done on a partisan line vote. “Unless we have the Republicans joining us and helping us,” Johnson told Humphrey, “we’ll have a mutiny in this goddamn country, so we’ve got to make this an American bill and not just a Democratic bill.” He used similar language
... See moreJon Meacham • The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels
“Johnson did not win that election,” he said. “It was stolen for him.” And, he said, he, Luis Salas, had participated in the stealing. Three days after the election, he said, he was summoned to George Parr’s office in San Diego, where he found the Duke, Ed Lloyd, Alice City Commissioner Bruce Ainsworth—and Lyndon Johnson. Johnson, according to
... See more
