Google Questions

Why Do We Hear About the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions? Where Are the Other 99?

by Troy Vettese

With so few Americans now in the military the public memory of the institution has faded. Although we hear about the exploits of this division or that division, it's unclear to most of us what different units are famous for--or even how they came by their names.Why do there exist only the 82nd and 101st Airborne Division? Where are the other ninety-nine? Or why is there a 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th and 25th Infantry division, but no 5th Infantry Division? There is a 10th Mountain Division, but what happened to the first nine? There are currently 10 active divisions in the US Army, yet their designation appears random. How and when did they receive their titles?There exists a simple explanation for this seemingly chaotic naming system. The U.S. Army Center of Military History (CMH), the Army organization charged with recording its achievements and the lineage of various army units, organizes the divisions within a hierarchy of honor, predicated upon unit age, campaign participation, and awards and decorations. This helps the Army’s leadership decide which divisions are the most historically important and therefore allowed to remain active.

What Happened When Democrats in Congress Cut Off Funding for the Vietnam War?

by Lauren Zanolli

The prospect of Democrats controlling the 110th Congress has raised speculation over a possible suspension of funds for the war in Iraq. Given control of the purse strings, a Democratic Congress would be in the position to force the government to begin the withdrawal of troops. Although they have been hesitant to define their plan for Iraq, some Democrats have hinted at a drastic reduction in funds. When asked in a recent interview how a Democratic Congress could stop the war, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), who is set to chair the Ways and Means Committee should the Democrats win the majority, precociously answered, “You’ve got to be able to pay for the war, don’t you?” Fellow member of the Out of Iraq caucus, Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) has stated that “Personally I wouldn’t spend another dime on the war,” and notes that Congress helped force an end to the Vietnam War by refusing to pay for it. (1)What happened when Democrats in Congress cut off funding for the Vietnam War?

How Many Times Has Congress Tried to Limit Presidential Power in Foreign Affairs?

by Troy Vettese

As popular support for the current Iraq War continues to plummet, Congress has become increasing vocal in its opposition.  The recent attempt to censure the troop “surge” in Baghdad and talk of withholding funds for the war are illustrations of this new sentiment.  This is not the first time that Congress has attempted to thwart presidential war planning. There are a number of examples from the 20th century:Occupation of Nicaragua (1926)In 1926, civil war broke out in Nicaragua.  In the name of protecting American lives and property, the usual excuse, President Calvin Coolidge sent ships and marines.  Unsurprisingly the State Department resorted to spreading apocryphal rumors that Nicaragua was a hotbed of Bolshevism.  Congress eventually grew tired of almost sixteen unbroken years of American occupation of Nicaragua and in 1932 voted to withhold funds for marines to supervise the upcoming election.  The US pulled out in 1933.

How Have Past U.S. Presidents Broken Bad News in Times of War?

by Caleb Miller

Depends on the President. In the fall of 1862, women who had tended wounded for the Union army came to Washington. When meeting Lincoln, it was clear they had seen some of the worst of war. But what was it worth? For all their effort they struggled to name solid Northern victories. One woman hinted at a word of encouragement. "I have no word of encouragement to give," replied Lincoln, before complaining in candid terms about his young and timid General McClellan, whom he thought treated war like a game. McClellan was fired days later, but this proved to give Lincoln little reassurance – and he wasn’t afraid to show his disappointment. In a letter to Hannibal Hamlin in September, days after a preliminary emancipation proclamation, Lincoln was downcast that "troops come forward more slowly than ever. This, looked soberly in the face, is not very satisfactory. We have fewer troops in the field at the end of six days than we had at the beginning [...] I wish I could write more cheerfully."

Where Did The Term "The West" Originate?

by Nathan Calverley

What is the geopolitical entity known as “The West”?

Have Americans Usually Supported Their Wars?

by HNN Staff

It wasn't just the Iraq War and Vietnam that proved unpopular.

Has Money Always Been Important in American Politics?

by Thomas Fleming

Know when money first helped elect a president? It was in 1800. Want to know more? Read this. It's eye-opening. In the beginning was Aaron Burr, America's first professional politician, who in 1800 taught a chowder and marching society named Tammany Hall how to assemble lists of voters and canvass them, asking, with special urgency, if they were willing to give money. It worked so well, Burr took New York City away from a stunned Alexander Hamilton, the man who maintained that the rich had to have a voice in government. That meant New York state's electoral votes and the presidency went to Thomas Jefferson, hater of moneyed men and their fondness for banks, stock markets and speculation. Thirty years later, history's penchant for irony became even more apparent. The politics of mass democracy under the aegis of Andrew Jackson made money crucial. Parties needed cash to fund newspapers, pamphlets, parades, conventions. The slogan of a New York Jacksonian, William Larned Marcy,"To the victor belongs the spoils" put public offices up for auction in every election. It seemed logical to expect the office holders to kick in a percentage of their salaries to the party of their choice.

Why Did President Ford Ban Assassinations?

by HNN Staff

This article was first published on November 4, 2001.Until 1975 few people outside the government knew that the United States had ever plotted the assasination of foreign leaders. Even many high officials inside the government did not know, including Henry Kissinger, then secretary of state, and President Gerald Ford. All that changed, however, as the result of a series of exposes published in the New York Times by investigative journalist Seymour Hersh.The story came out as the result of a disclosure by the president himself. In late 1974 Hersh had stumbled upon evidence that the CIA had been engaged in domestic spying, in express violation of its 1947 charter. After he had assembled his evidence he went to the head of the CIA, William Colby, for an explanation. Colby promptly warned the White House, which wanted to know what other skeletons lurked in the CIA closet. Colby, complying, sent over a copy of a document known as the Family Jewels, which had been prepared at the direction of the previous director, James Schlesinger, near the end of his term. The Family Jewels listed every underhanded operation in which the CIA had ever been engaged, including plots to assassinate foreign leaders. When Colby after the Christmas holiday briefed the president he emphasized the assasination plots.

Why Are Great Men (or Women) Not Chosen President?

by Lord Bryce

Europeans often ask, and Americans do not always explain how it happens that this great office, the greatest in the world, unless we except the Papacy, to which any one can rise by his own merits, is not more frequently filled by great and striking men. In America, which is beyond all other countries the country of a" career open to talents," a country, moreover, in which political life is unusually keen and political ambition widely diffused, it might be expected that the highest place would always be won by a man of brilliant gifts. But from the time when the heroes of the Revolution died out with Jefferson and Adams and Madison, no person except General Grant, had, down to the end of last century, reached the chair whose name would have been remembered had he not been president, and no president except Abraham Lincoln had displayed striking qualities in the chair. Who knows or cares to know anything about the personality of James K. Polk or Franklin Pierce? The only thing remarkable about them is that being so commonplace they should have climbed so high.Several reasons may be suggested for the fact, which Americans are themselves the first to admit.One is that the proportion of first-rate ability drawn into politics is smaller in America than in most European countries....

Why Do So Many Americans Hate Politics?

by Thomas Patterson

The nastiness of American politics is keeping voters from the polls.

Can Anything Be Done to Increase Voter Participation?

by Thomas E. Patterson

Where Have All the Voters Gone? Series by Thomas PattersonPart 1: Where Have All the Voters Gone?Part 2: Why Do So Many Americans Hate Politics?Part 3: Why Is News So Negative These Days?Part 4: Why the Re-election of Incumbents Year After Year Is a Threat to DemocracyPart 5: Can Anything Be Done to Increase Voter Participation?In last week's fourth installment of this five-part series, I discussed how changes in the electoral competition have contributed to the decline in voter involvement during the past four decades. The decline includes sharp drops in primary and general election turnout and even steeper drops in attention to televised debates and other forms of election communication.

How Much Does Character Count in a President?

by Thomas Reeves

During the Monica Lewinsky scandal, some liberal defenders of Bill Clinton, including historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., argued that a man's personal life has no bearing on presidential duties. That tune changed, however, when Republican contender George W. Bush refused to discuss his possible involvement with drugs during his youth. Character was suddenly a highly significant issue. Liberal columnist Sandy Grady exclaimed that"Bush's self-righteous silence is not only phony but dangerous to his 2000 campaign."Good character is a major quality we need in a chief executive. And it has long been so recognized. Thomas Jefferson paid tribute to George Washington's"perfect" character, noting especially his integrity, prudence, dignity, and sense of justice. Every presidential election in our history has contained references to the vital link between character and the White House.

What Did Jane Fonda Really Do Over in Hanoi?

by Nathaniel Bates

Jane Fonda was more than just an actress born to a wealthy and prominent Hollywood family. She was a symbol of a divided nation. Many Americans traveled to Vietnam on “peace delegations” to end the war, yet it was Jane Fonda who was captured as a timeless image when she was photographed looking through a Viet Cong anti-aircraft gun. She so symbolized the divided nation, hawks arrayed against her and doves siding with her, that she became a personal target, most recently with allegations about personal involvement in the mistreatment of POW’s.[1] According to a recent email that circulated to various Vietnam veterans, Fonda reportedly beat one POW, and betrayed the confidence of another, resulting in his death. These horrendous claims went around the nation on the Internet, resulting in a great deal of anger and consternation among veterans.

What Qualifies as Demagoguery?

by P.M. Carpenter

Surprisingly few attempts have been made at defining the term “demagoguery” with much precision, despite its frequent use as a negative epithet by politicians, their critics, historians, political sociologists and the like. Those attempts that do exist in the literature suffer from either excessive comprehensiveness or inaccuracy in particulars. These problems led historian Raymond Arsenault in 1984 to resign himself to the term’s “inherent ambiguities.”

Why Do Historians Write About Race, Class & Gender?

by Robert Alford

The subtext of much race, class, and gender scholarship is that only by recognizing the mistakes of the past can society move forward to a more democratic future.

Why Did California Adopt the Recall?

by Joshua Spivak

Why California became the home of the recall and referendum. 

Who Dreamed Up Our Concept of Time?

by Derek Alger

Viewing the turbulent contemporary world landscape, it seems improbable, almost impossible, to imagine an international conference being held where consensus was achieved, much less a consensus that remained intact for any appreciable period. And yet, that was the result of the Prime Meridian Conference convened in Washington, D.C. almost 120 years ago to determine a standard for world time.The Prime Meridian Conference, officially called by President Chester Alan Arthur in October of 1884, ushered in world standard time. Imagine, representatives from 25 nations meeting in Washington, D.C. and returning home some three weeks later with an agreement, and an agreement which is still in use today.That conference laid the groundwork, recognizing the need for a time standard in a world of increasing speed in both communication and travel, with its implications for commerce, and eventually the Standard Time Act of 1918 was enacted into law in the United States on March 19th, only eighty-five years ago.

When Did the Killing of Civilians in War Become Illegal?

by Hans J. Morgenthau

From the beginning of history through the better part of the Middle Ages, belligerants were held to be free to kill all enemies whether or not they were members of the armed forces.

Which Presidents Do the Presidents Themselves Like?

by Thomas Fleming

Calvin Coolidge called Herbert Hoover "the wonduh boy." Harry Truman summed up Lyndon Johnson with a curt:"No guts!" Richard Nixon thought Democrat Woodrow Wilson was the greatest president of the twentieth century. It is hardly surprising that presidents would have strong opinions about their predecessors and successors. The presidency of the United States is a unique job and the holders of the office have been acutely aware that they were members of a small extremely select society. John Adams put his finger on one secret of George Washington's success:"the gift of silence .... He had great self command." It was, alas, a gift that President Adams disastrously lacked. Adams's son, John Quincy Adams, considered Andrew Jackson, the man who kicked him out of the White House in 1828,"a barbarian who can barely sign his name." Adams had equally little use for Jackson's successor, Martin Van Buren, whom he saw as a player of"base and dirty tricks." On the other hand, Adams admired James Madison's"imperturbable patience" in the chaos of the War of 1812.

Has the U.S. Ever Started a War?

by David Greenberg

Americans are enamored with our own goodness. Should we be?