On September 18th, 2012, University of Oklahoma Professor J. Rufus Fears gave the opening presentation in the Nobel Foundation’s Profiles and Perspective Series. It was the week after Benghazi, where US Ambassador Christopher Stephens, Foreign Service employee Sean Smith and CIA security contractors Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty lost their lives in a scandal that should have ended a president’s administration. Obama survived the disaster and our republic today is fighting for its life against his legacy of corruption.
Professor Fears would himself pass away less than a month after this presentation. Fortunately for us, it was posted to YouTube, October 16, 2012.
Now, one may argue that David McCullough, Shelby Foote, Ron Chernow or Doris Kerns Goodwin are among the best American historians of our lifetime. I am telling you, the list is not complete if it excludes Rufus Fears. Watch
I bet old Rufus is rolling over in his grave right now. About 6000 RPM.
touched on some great points:
the first US Congress passed the Bill of Right in their first year
the first US Congress absolved the US debt in their second year
Carter’s absolute vacillation & Reagan’s emergence of strength resulting in the collapse of the Soviet Union
Iran’s (& Islam’s) emergence as a global threat … & our country’s leaders (along w/ the rest of the Western world) to acknowledge it … to this day!
Lincoln’s ability to manipulate popular opinion for political gain (rightfully so; he was righteously correct)
sadly, he was only 4 years too early … the election of 2016 is as profound as 1789, 1860 or 1980
(btw, he glossed over the election of 1936 … an election that had serious consequences for the US)
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ – Nice summary and perfect conclusion.
Excellent talk/lesson.
Hard to believe it is forty minutes long, time went by fast.
Imagine what the founders would do if they learned of a federal government (and state governments) that turned into a corrupted industry from which lying thieves and avowed enemies of the Republic make vast wealth at the expense of taxpayers.
Can you imagine?
It’s a shame our university system lost such a rare jewel in today’s society. There’s nowhere near enough like him sounding the alarm and far too many spewing useless drivel and warping the perspective on our country’s historical milestones.
It’s likely he was marginalized among his fellow teachers too.
Professor Fears would have been gravely disappointed in Romney, whether he had beaten Obama in ’12 or not.
While we put the ultimate anti-Obama in the WH three years ago, the forces that Obama built up and unleashed have done their best to keep their prerogatives intact, they have succeeded for the most part.
Be very careful whose “history” you trust. Foote was treasured by Ken Burns and Foote was more of the revisionist historian along the lines of — but not as blatant as — Zinn. Doris Kerns’ biggest selling biographies contained numerous and broad sections of plagiarism from other authors, including their own source material. Her biggest problem was the nonaplogy-apology for her theft. McCullough, despite his hatred of POTUS #45, managed to stay true to his histories of Adams and Truman (for the most part), but I would never buy his account of anyone occupying the WH from 2017 and forward. This, for me, is one of the most depressing revelations of 2018.
Joseph Ellis — despite his ridiculous lies about serving in Vietnam — is a top tier historian of the American Founders, as is Chernow.
AA…Yes, as soon as Doris Kerns Goodwyn’s was mentioned I scoffed at the name being forwarded as a serious historian. She’s a shill and that’s all she is.