Category Florida History
The Battle of Lake Okeechobee – Old Rough and Ready
Christmas Day 1837 was a turning point in Florida History and a day that propelled Zachary Taylor towards the White House. In the battle Colonel Taylor’s forces strategically defeated the Billy Bowlegs led Seminole Indians. This battle proved the turning point in the Second Seminole War which finished in a Federal victory and chasing of […]
Book Review: When Freedom Would Triumph -The Civil Rights Struggle in Congress
When Freedom Would Triumph: The Civil Rights Struggle in Congress, 1954-1968 Most books that discuss the Civil Rights era focus on the movement itself on the ground in the southeastern states. Robert Mann’s “When Freedom Would Triumph.” looks at the battle in Congress and the political world. It is an updated and abridged and highly […]
The Return of Sami Al-Arian
The man who arguably decided the 2004 US Senate race here in Florida has made a spectacular return to Washington politics last month according to the conservative Washington Free Beacon. Sami Al-Arian who has been found guilty of aiding the Palestinian Islamic Jihad was a longtime professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa, including […]
The shameful Miami snub of Mandela
In 1990 when Nelson Mandela was released from prison it was a time of great joy throughout the planet as east and west alike united in praise of the man. However that summer when Mandela came to the US he got a heroes welcome everywhere but one spot in the country- Miami. In what was […]
Throwback Tuesday: The Cross Florida Barge Canal
A subject we’ve discussed a little bit in the past but never on its own, the Cross Florida Barge Canal and the movement to stop it are among the biggest environmental issues in the history of a state that is marked by huge environmental issues. Promoters of the canal sought to bisect Florida from Fernandina to Cedar […]
Throwback Tuesday: Charlie Crist, tobacco money, children’s health and the Lawton Chiles Endowment
With the state in a hopeless budget situation thanks to Republican economic policies and a global recession in late 2008 Governor Charlie Crist proposed raiding the Lawton Chiles Endowment which was running a surplus. Mark Caputo and Steve Bousquet had the report at the time about the situation and a potential Chiles family lawsuit: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2008/12/06/57247/ex-gov-chiles-family-threatens.html […]
In C.W. Bill Young and E. Clay Shaw Florida has lost two legends
Two of the legends of Florida politics have passed on in the last few weeks. Yesterday’s passing of Congressman Bill Young (R-Indian Rock Beach) came just weeks after his longtime colleague former Congressman E. Clay Shaw (R- Fort Lauderdale) passed on. Both were throwbacks to another era, when Republicans were fiscally responsible yet socially compassionate […]
Throwback Tuesday: Air Travel to/from Florida in 1974
It was the most progressive era in the state’s history with good government at the forefront and leaders in office who had a vision for the future of the state. The mid-1970s was a golden era in Florida politics and a time when the state was basking in a tourism boom and a positive image […]
Zest of the Day: Dexter Douglass, great Floridian passes on
One of he finest men I met and worked with in Tallahassee has passed on. I worked out Douglas’ office during the Pete Peterson Gubernatorial Campaign in 2001 and after Peterson aborted his run, I and several colleagues stayed on in the office for a few months while we tried to sort out what we […]
Throwback Tuesday: Florida’s Beaches in Peril
In the early 1970s Florida was booming but highly dependent on beach related tourism (this was shortly before the Amusement Parks in the Orlando area carved out a second tourist niche, and long before eco-tourism to the Everglades and other natural areas became Florida’s third tourism niche) and the erosion of beaches became a great […]
The Florida Squeeze 