“Hungary is reported to be on the brink of revolution…[Since the war’s end] The Government has never been popular with the majority of the people; it was only accepted by them as a temporary measure, pending the advent of King Otto – the late King Charles’ young son – to the throne of Hungary.”
“Hungary is reported to be on the brink of revolution…[Since the war’s end] The Government has never been popular with the majority of the people; it was only accepted by them as a temporary measure, pending the advent of King Otto – the late King Charles’ young son – to the throne of Hungary.”
Five months after the death of President Roosevelt, writer Michael Sayers (1911 – 2010) managed to get this FDR article to press while the public’s interest in the man was still hot. It addressed the tremendous lengths the Secret Service went to on a daily basis to protect President Roosevelt from Axis assassins and general kooks who wanted a shot at him:
“The White House detail, headed by six-foot Michael Reiley (1909 – 1973), stayed beside the President at all times. They became his shadows, unseen in the public glare, but always at hand… The President was not permitted to set foot in any place that had not been thoroughly investigated beforehand.”
On the second anniversary of the Armistice, an American veteran of the war looked back on his days in military training. In this article, he walked the grounds of his old cantonment wistfully recalling how each plot of ground was put to use:
“…the K.P.’s peeling potatoes at the doors of the mess hall, the prisoners digging ditches or working on the coal pile, the guards walking their posts, the officers with their ladies under the trees… Here, under these trees, were the tents of the medical staff… There were the horse-stalls… That thrill, that enthusiasm, that lofty notion that the country was greater than the man…”
On the very first day of America’s participation in World War II, an African American sailor at Pearl Harbor named Dorrie Miller shot down four enemy planes and saved 12 men from drowning. One would think that this would make the gang on capitol Hill sit up and realize that the war would be shorter if other men of a similar hue could be released upon our enemies, but this was not the case. Very few American blacks were permitted to fight and this article serves as a testimony to their frustration.
Although the attached column is a book review covering the 1923 novel by Rupert Hughes (1872 – 1952), Within These Walls, we have posted it in this category due to the fact that in our age, more people see his movies than read his books. In fact, the bulk of the review refers to his Hollywood efforts (he had over 65 credits before retiring) rather than his novels (thirty titles):
“Few authors have been successful at the business of creating motion pictures…Rupert Hughes, however, has proved to be exceedingly able in the Hollywood studios. He not only writes his own scenarios, but he directs his pictures.”
As 1923 was winding to a close, President Coolidge’s Treasury agents were targeted to receive over $28,000,000.00 in equipment and personnel to enforce the Eighteenth Amendment.
The 1923 lynching of James Thomas Scott was precipitated by a case of mistaken identity. Falsely accused of rape, the World War I veteran was dragged from jail by a mob and hanged from a bridge before 1,000 onlookers. The Time journalist wrote:
“What they did, some people call murder; others, lynching.”
This 32 year-old reminiscence of the closing moments of the Civil War, told from a Southern perspective, recall it all in the simplest terms – the letters exchanged between the commanders, the McLean House secured, agreeing to terms and Lee’s exit. The intended audience for this article was the young men of the South who came after the war.
“Is it strange that the world wondered when 7,892 infantry, 63 pieces of artillery, and 2,100 cavalry was all that was left to surrender to an army of more than 75,000 men?”
Weeks after the Prohibition Amendment came into effect, there was much scurrying about by all politicians on both the state and Federal levels – all looking for allies they could rely upon to either defend or overturn the legislation, depending upon their respective constituencies. The first question put to each representative was, “Are you wet or dry?” Shortly before this article went to press, Congress held a vote to repeal the Volstead Act: the repeal was rejected by a vote of 254 to 85.
Dr. Eduard Bloch (1872 – 1945) was the Austrian physician who treated the family Hitler throughout the 1880’s up until 1908. He knew the future tyrant well. Oddly, the doctor seems quite sympathetic toward Hitler – he couldn’t have known that his patient would become one of the greatest monsters of the Twentieth Century, but he had read Hitler’s book and knew what he was capable of.
“What kind of boy was Adolf Hitler? Many biographers have put him down as harsh-voiced, defiant, untidy; as a young ruffian who personified all that is unattractive. This simply is not true. As a youth he was quiet, well-mannered and neatly dressed.”
A report by a Swiss journalist as to what becomes of the Germans who are left homeless after the bombings:
“In most cities they immediately get 200 marks cash payment. The money is fresh and clean from the press… With cup in hand, the bombed-outers wait in the streets for the army goulash truck to drive up and give them a feed. Sometimes they wait for as much forty-eight hours. People who don’t like or cannot get the army goulash build themselves a fire and cook the horses, dogs and cats that lie around the street…”
Here is an article by George Creel (1876 – 1953) regarding the life and career of General George Marshall (1880 – 1959) and all the unique elements within him that made him an ideal Chief of Staff for his time:
“He can not only talk with civilians in their own language, but he can also see things from the civilian point of view. Even during the years when Congress denied adequate appropriations for the Army, no one ever heard him snarl at rotten politicians. He saw the unwillingness to prepare for war as a democracy’s hatred of war, and even while regretting it, he understood.”
Click here to read about the Marshall Plan.
“On the first day of operations, I heard him say, ‘By golly, we’ve done it again! By golly, I wouldn’t have believed it1’ Meaning the surprise landings really turned out to be a surprise. And [turning to the press corps] he added, ‘This is the period when you fellows want to know everything, but military folks are scared to death just now. Darn it, I can’t tell you anything! After all, I’m the man responsible.”
“The fiasco at the Bay of Pigs, began ten months earlier on a hot June [1960] morning in room 125 of the plush Commodore Hotel in midtown Manhattan. It was born in the classical fashion of the cloak and dagger intrigue. Five prominent former residents of Cuba, all anti-Castro and untainted by former dictator Batista, were instructed to arrive at the Commodore separately. There they were confronted by Roy Bender, a high-ranking agent of the CIA.”
This article about the newly established nation of Israel will give a sense as to how difficult it is to govern, seeing that the land is dear to the three Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
American diplomats caught in Germany, Austria, Italy and other occupied lands at the time of FDR’s declaration of war were subject to five months of incarceration before they were repatriated. The attached article tells of the hardships and hunger experienced by the citizens of those nations as the war entered its third year. Also seen was the tremendous distrust that was developing between the Italians and the Germans.
“What Hollywood is saying secretly and can’t say publicly is: The Armed Forces are taking away all our actors, all our technical men. Things are serious now; in six months they will be desperate. But if anybody in Hollywood got up and said that unless a great change in public policy is made, the movies might be out of business in six months…”
“[Movie stars have] a duty and Hollywood has a duty and they should be made to stick to it.”
