Amid Turbulence In The United States, Historian Explains How The US Can Become Stronger

3 months ago

On "Forbes Newsroom," presidential historian Professor David Greenberg spoke about the presidential election.

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00:00When you say that it could get even more turbulent, I feel like my only response is buckle in, but I do want to ask you because you are an historian and you can provide a wide lens on this.

00:11So many people say we live in unprecedented times and I'm sick of living in unprecedented times.

00:16How unprecedented is this moment really and really the past eight years or does history always feel unprecedented when you're living through it?

00:25Well, look, I mean, I never like the word unprecedented because, of course, things are different.

00:31I mean, everything's always in flux. Everything's always changing.

00:35And yes, I mean, I think you'd be a fool to deny that these are unusually polarized times, dramatic times.

00:44We've seen a surge in political violence.

00:47That's quite uncommon, not just the assassination of Trump, but over many years, other members of Congress being shot at, people being stalked at their homes.

01:02The boundaries of civility are falling away, the guardrails of democracy.

01:09But this is not the only time we've been through something like that.

01:12I mean, people, some of our listeners will remember the late 60s as a time where there were multiple assassinations.

01:21Martin Luther King, Robert F. Kennedy, as I said, Wallace was shot a few years later, not killed, but shot.

01:29You had, you know, riots in the streets.

01:33You know, it was a very turbulent time when a lot of people thought American society was coming apart at the seams.

01:40You can go back, you know, to other eras where there were periods of, you know, anarchist terrorism.

01:48You could go back, of course, to the pre-Civil War era.

01:51Not that anybody hopes that that would be a precedent where the country literally goes to war with itself.

01:58So, you know, we are in times that are quite different and quite different from what most of us have grown up with.

02:06But at the same time, you know, you can find, you know, certain precedents and certain other periods that were turbulent, that were disruptive,

02:16where people feared for the future of democracy or people feared for the stability of the system.

02:21It's cold comfort to say, well, we made it through then.

02:26I don't think that should diminish our vigilance and concern about the health of the present moment.

02:31But it is important to realize that, you know, this is not sort of completely new in all respects.

02:39So since it is not completely new and we're coming up towards the end of time I have with you, what are your final thoughts?

02:46What would you like to leave with our audience?

02:48Either words of comfort, words of this is something to watch for.

02:52You know, if we don't know our history, we're doomed to repeat it.

02:55What is one thing everyone should know as we move forward into this very, very busy summer?

03:01Well, I think, you know, it'd be kind of foolish to try to offer words of comfort.

03:08I tend to be an optimist myself.

03:10But, you know, I'll confess that I have great anxiety about the state of our democracy and the state of our civil discourse.

03:20I do think that times of high political engagement, you know, can lead to times of higher, you know, greater political education.

03:34And that if people do sort of use the excitement and the passions that get them into politics,

03:41if they then channel that into a kind of serious concern with the health of democracy,

03:46you know, we could come out on the other side, you know, if not stronger, at least with our institutions intact.

03:55But we have a long way to go before I think any of us can rest easy and say that all is well with American democracy right now.

Amid Turbulence In The United States, Historian Explains How The US Can Become Stronger

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