How to Witness American History
Sign up for Heather Cox Richardson's "Letters from an American"
June 17, 2021. Every morning Sam and I read Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American. Richardson is a history professor who writes her newsletter after midnight, capturing the complete previous day’s political news.
Often one particular point in her newsletter stands out to me. Today it was President Joe Biden’s statement after his Geneva meeting with the Russian President.
“I told President Putin my agenda is not against Russia or anyone else, it's for the American people,” Biden said.
Richardson’s deductive approach has trained me to look for a highlight that shows a trend in our nation’s politics. To me, Biden’s statement reversed the simplistic, combative tone President George W. Bush set on November 5, 2001, when he announced to the world, “You're either with us or against us in the fight against terror."
When Richardson quoted Biden this morning I think she noted a turnaround in American policy. After 20 years maybe we’re done with Bush’s confining focus on taking sides. Biden prefers a wide-open search for policies that will strengthen our nation.
Oh, did you notice that “you’re either with us or against us” sounds a lot like today’s partisan politics?
Heather Cox Richardson is a must read. If one watches no news he or she will be well filled in my reading Heather's posts.