Saving and Loans Crisis

One reaction to the inflation stagnation and interest rates of the 1970’s was to loosen up on a particular ‘harmless’ form of banking. It didn’t work out so well.  

Midterms: They Don’t Always Work Out Badly for Presidents (But Mostly They Do)

In the past 100 years, over 80% of the first term midterms went badly for Presidents, and their party lost seats.  But in a few cases they did not. And a few times when they did lose seats, the result was very little real change for their administration’s situation in Congress, or even a kind of win. A…

Whiskey, Ice and Federal-State Powers

The American system is one of divided and concurrent power. Where state starts and federal ends has not always been easy to clarify. A heat wave and a rebellion are among the many incidents that filled in the gaps. Most importantly, The Whiskey Rebellion went a long way to define federal and state powers. The…

That Time JFK Ran for Vice President

In 1956 JFK made his first attempt for an Executive Branch office. Thank God he didn’t win it, many thought afterward.