Monthly Archives: December 2021
Podcast: Former Secretary of State Bruce Smathers on his father Senator George Smathers (Part 1)
In our continuing look back at the life and career of former US Senator George Smathers, we’re privileged this week to be joined by his son, former Florida Secretary of State Bruce Smathers. We discuss Senator Smathers election to the US House in 1946, the famous US Senate race in 1950 and some of the […]
Holiday book recommendations: Rick Perlstein’s great political reads, 1960-1980
For the better part of the last 15 years, Rick Perlstein has written a narrative about the period from 1960 to 1980 and the effective conservative takeover of America. Perlstein’s four books provide the quite possibly the best societal and political critique of that era. This narrative is split up into four volumes. The first […]
The Omicron wave hits Florida – Time for personal responsibility
Omicron has hit and it could provide us with the biggest wave yet of Covid. This weekend we have seen scores of cancellations of sporting events from NFL, NHL and College Basketball games here in the United States, to Premier League and Football League soccer matches in England to other entertainment events in Europe. The […]
Holiday Book Recommendations: The Whigs
American politics and government was largely shaped by the polarizing Jackson era. The Democrats became a party shaped by Andrew Jackson’s personality and his supporters (Similar to today’s Republicans with Donald Trump) while Jackson’s foremost opponent, Henry Clay became a member of a new party called the Whigs which basically was a bunch of people […]
This week’s Florida commercial aviation news
American Airlines continues to face a shortage of long-haul aircraft and accordingly will cut Miami-Paris (CDG) service for the summer months, with current nonstops ending March 26, 2022. The flight is currently flown twice daily and American has flown the route continuously since 1992. The nonstop route will return in October 2022. American will also […]
Ron DeSantis is Florida’s “Great Divider” that mimics George Wallace and who now has a global following
So much of George Wallace’s lore is about his out-and-out segregationist activities in the 1962 election and between 1963 and 1965 as Governor of Alabama and his quixotic challenge to Lyndon Johnson for the 1964 Democratic Presidential nomination. But let me introduce you to another phase of George Wallace’s career which revolved around his 1968 […]
Holiday Book Recommendation: Poisoning the Press: Richard Nixon, Jack Anderson and the Rise of Washington’s Scandal Culture
This campaign cycle and the 24-hour cable news channel combined with Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, could be the tipping point of the political press being poisoned? Or is it just part of the evolution toward a completely scandal-driven, personality-based brand of political reporting? Poisoning the Press: Richard Nixon, Jack Anderson, and the Rise of Washington’s Scandal […]
Podcast: Florida and the Beatles
MSNBC contributor Fernand Amandi joins Kartik Krishnaiyer to discuss the surprisingly extensive links between the Beatles and the State of Florida. Outside the United Kingdom and perhaps India, it can be argued Florida contributed more to the Beatles story than any other place on the planet. You can listen to the Florida History Podcast on Anchor (which […]
Florida Holiday Book Recommendation: Last Train to Paradise
Les Standiford’s Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean is a definitive history of the railroad told by a fiction writer. This gives the narrative perhaps more color and flow than some boring histories written by historians and political writers. The decision to build a […]
JFK tribute to George Smathers in 1962
In our continuing look at George Smathers life and career, we feature a speech from President Kennedy in 1962 honoring Senator Smathers in Miami Beach.
The Florida Squeeze 