Gil Troy

Gil Troy is a professor of history at McGill University. His latest book — his tenth — is The Age of Clinton: America in the 1990s .

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  Aug 14, 2017 1:27 pm
  

  The Surprisingly Glamorous History of New Jersey Presidential Vacations

  by Gil Troy

  Long before it was the capital of gym, tan, and laundry (or President Trump's "working vacation") New Jersey coastline was the chosen high-end destination for presidents.

  

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  Aug 7, 2017 3:05 pm
  

  The Truth About Colonel Klink: When America's Favorite Comedy Nazi Commandant Was Played by a Jewish Refugee

  by Gil Troy

  Thirty years after fleeing the Nazis, Werner Klemperer skewered the Nazis by playing them in one of TV's greatest hits.

  

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  Jul 24, 2017 3:35 pm
  

  This Anti-Slavery Crusader Was The Enemy of Lincoln

  by Gil Troy

  John C. Frémont’s biography, like California’s history, was rocked by earthquakes.

  

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  Jul 18, 2017 2:10 pm
  

  How Nikola Tesla Sparked the Electric Age

  by Gil Troy

  As we swim in invisible waves transmitting energy all around us, and spend our lives with wireless devices catching a hail of transparent messages, we live in Tesla’s world.
  
  

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  Jul 13, 2017 5:34 am
  

  How the Great Yankee Wife Swap Scandalized—and Changed—America

  by Gil Troy

  Like most baseball trades, the Great Yankee Wife Swap of 1973 had its winners and its losers.
  

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  Jun 2, 2017 12:48 pm
  

  The Rabbi Who Captured a Town Alone

  by Gil Troy

  Shlomo Goren was the Israeli Army’s first chief rabbi—and in one of Israel’s defining moments gave it the spiritual strength to reverse what looked to be a devastating loss.
  

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  May 4, 2017 3:05 am
  

  Ed Murrow and Marlene Dietrich's Secret Affair

  by Gil Troy

  This was no mere fling between Airhead Beauty and Brainiac Beast, but it did place Murrow in a long line of brilliant men who fell for Dietrich.

   

  

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  Apr 23, 2017 9:02 am
  

  The Ivanka Trump of the 19th Century

  by Gil Troy

  She played hostess for the president most often accused of being gay—and used technology to become world famous.
  

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  Mar 26, 2017 4:56 am
  

  When Nixon Floated—Then Gaslit—the First Female Supreme Court Candidate

  by Gil Troy

  The notorious president came close to naming a woman to the Supreme Court, sneering: ‘One thing about the woman conservative. These bastards can’t vote against her.’
  

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  Mar 16, 2017 5:45 am
  

  The Jew Who Changed Football Forever

  by Gil Troy

  There would have been no Tom Brady or Johnny Unitas if it hadn’t been for one determined son of Orthodox Jews from Cleveland, Ohio.
  

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  Feb 21, 2017 4:54 am
  

  The Progressive Attorney General Who Raided Immigrants—And Paid the Price

  by Gil Troy

  A. Mitchell Palmer had reached the peak of American politics, but his indiscriminate pursuit of terrorists backfired.
  

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  Feb 12, 2017 6:30 am
  

  The Most Patriotic Act of Treason in American History?

  by Gil Troy

  As President Nixon’s list of enemies grew long and his grip on reality fragile, one prominent member of his government prepared the military to commit treason.
  

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  Feb 5, 2017 2:28 am
  

  She Was the Steve Bannon of the Great Depression

  by Gil Troy

  Elizabeth Dilling screeched ‘America First!’, oozed hatred, and inspired Sinclair Lewis. In the era that saw the rapid rise of populists, she became famous on the back of hatred for minorities, Jews, and foreigners.
  

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  Jan 26, 2017 8:05 am
  

  Trump Needs some Sage Rabbinic Advice

  by Gil Troy

  These aren't predictions, but caveats for responsible leaders in a treacherous world, during unstable times, facing a boorish president.
  

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  Jan 22, 2017 4:46 am
  

  TRUMP’S TRASHY TRANSITION IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

  by Gil Troy

  Trump keeps doubling-down, playing to his core, refusing to stretch. The result was a trashy transition, a polarizing inauguration, and a new president who has yet to appear presidential.
  

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  Jan 22, 2017 3:02 am
  

  When Nixon’s Henchmen Plotted to Assassinate a Journalist with LSD

  by Gil Troy

  For those who think the future of press freedom is facing unprecedented challenges, a reminder of the time Nixon aides hatched a plot to kill a troublesome journalist.
  

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  Jan 20, 2017 8:17 am
  

  An Inauguration Day Plea to Democrats: Stop Moping, Trump Won

  by Gil Troy

  Democrats should remember the civics lectures they gave Donald Trump about accepting election results when they expected to would win, and stop moping.
  

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  Jan 19, 2017 4:29 am
  

  The ‘Daddy King’ of the Civil Rights Movement

  by Gil Troy

  Decades before Martin Luther King Jr. altered American history, Martin Luther King Sr.—Daddy King, as he called himself—fought injustice deep in the South.
  

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  Jan 19, 2017 4:11 am
  

  An Inaugural Prayer: Stretch Yourself as Person and President – to Stretch us too…

  by Gil Troy

  Although I am no theologian, America desperately needs inaugural prayers. Here is the benediction I would offer, if invited to Donald Trump’s Swearing-in (and no, I wouldn’t boycott – Democrats should remember all the civics lectures they gave Trump about respecting the people’s choice when they expected Hillary Clinton to win, and now attend graciously).

   

  

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  Jan 8, 2017 5:00 am
  

  The Millionaire Who Took on McCarthy

  by Gil Troy

  William Benton was an advertising icon and wildly successful investor—and with those millions backing him up, he took on the country’s scariest politician.