STEVEN M. GILLON
Historian | Author | Producer | Professor | Speaker
Professor of History at the University of Oklahoma
Senior Fellow at the Miller Center for the Study of the Presidency at the University of Virginia.
Convicting Trump would have required accepting a half-century of Republican guilt
Trump’s guilt wasn’t his alone
—Washington Post, February 16, 2021
On Saturday, the Senate acquitted former president Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial. While seven Republicans voted to convict, making it the most bipartisan vote in favor of conviction in a presidential impeachment in history, 43 voted to acquit Trump. In reality, the outcome was never in question because Republicans could not convict Trump without indicting their entire party.
The concept has changed through history, but now we can’t agree on what it ought to be
—Washington Post, September 3, 2020
It comes as no surprise that the Democratic and Republican conventions highlighted the stark gulf separating the two parties. Their differences stem not just from how to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic or differing views about race and racism; they are rooted in fundamentally divergent visions of the American Dream.
The last half-century has eroded their advantages, leaving them fuming.
—Washington Post, August 29, 2017
What emboldened white nationalists to brazenly march through a sleepy college town and then violently assault counterprotesters? That’s the question lingering in the minds of Americans two weeks after Charlottesville.
“History is not about memorizing facts.
It’s about using facts
to build an argument for
interpreting the past.
”
Steven M. Gillon
