U.S. News
Historians warn Biden of the rise of totalitarianism, pre-Civil war era
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- President Joe Biden quietly met with historians at the White House last week, according to The Washington Post.
- Sources said the historians warned Biden about the rise of totalitarianism and pre-World War II fascism.
- The Post reported that historians described the current situation as the pre-Civil War era.
The Washington Post on Wednesday reported that President Joe Biden privately met with a group of historians at the White House on August 4. Those historians warned him about the current threats to democracy.
Sources familiar with the meeting told The Post the experts described the current situation as among the most dangerous to democracy in modern history.
Those who attended the meeting included Princeton University history professor Sean Wilentz, the University of Virginia historian Allida Black, the journalist Anne Applebaum, and the presidential historian Michael Beschloss. Speechwriters for Biden, including Vinay Reddy and Jon Meacham, and the White House senior advisor Anita Dunn were also in attendance.
The group mostly discussed totalitarianism around the world and threats to American democracy, according to the outlet.
The historians compared the current state of affairs to the pre-American Civil War era, as well as the period before World War II when fascist movements emerged. The scholars specifically noted Abraham Lincoln’s 1860 election and President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1940 election, The Post reported.
Some of the people associated with the meeting have spoken publicly about threats to democracy. Applebaum, a staff writer at The Atlantic, published a book in 2020 called “Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism” about the rise of right-wing populism and democratic decline.
Biden is known for seeking outside experts to provide guidance on domestic and foreign-policy issues. In May, he also met with former president Bill Clinton to discuss inflation and the November midterms. The president met with a group of foreign-policy experts in January when the US anticipated Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Experts have been vocal on threats to democracy in recent years, especially after the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack.
In June, historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat said that the Capitol attack still posed a threat to US democracy. Ken Hughes, another historian, who is an expert on Watergate, said in July that democracy was in a “dangerous” position as the systems that usually protected against presidential abuses of power were no longer functioning.
Source: Yahoo! News
Grizzly
August 11, 2022 at 7:08 pm
Buffoon Joe Bidet is himself a radical threat to the Republic that is the United States of America. He and his minions with their incompetent, inept and disastrous domestic and foreign policies as well as the numerous unconstitutional and illegal edicts issued from Washington, D.C., have thrown the entire globe into a dangerously chaotic state. These bungling morons have forced our nation into near catastrophic energy deficiencies, near historic economic failure and all the present (mis)administration including Slow Joe himself does is lie, lie lie and place the blame for all their failures on anyone but themselves. The supposedly “most popular” (p)resident ever elected vowed to unite the America people in healing and further exclaimed it would be the “most transparent” of any administration in U.S. history, has succeeded in deepening and widening the divide of the left and the right all the while being the most secretive and purposely cloaked in misinformation.
Paul E
August 12, 2022 at 6:59 am
Although Biden is a threat to our republic. He’s only the pawn. There are players behind the scenes that ALL the media is covering up. Soros and Obama are calling the shots. When are we going to demand that Soros be tried as a war criminal? Confiscate all his holdings and ship him gift wrapped to Putin.
Haskell
August 12, 2022 at 8:33 am
The Democrats don’t want to follow the Constitution they want to be a dictatorship. They are not for the people. They want to control us like Socialism. People better wake-up and vote them out in November or you won’t recognize America anymore.
robinsong01
August 12, 2022 at 1:37 pm
Better to send him gift wrapped to Hungary. They are anxious to try him and imprison him or apply the death penalty.
MICHAEL WYNNE
August 12, 2022 at 6:56 am
Once all the i’s have been dotted and all the t’s have been crossed, it would be amazing to be able to read a high school/college-level American History textbook some five or ten years further down the corridors of time in order to see what kind of spin would have to be utilized in order to create a positive picture of the Biden regime! I mean, the mind boggles at the very thought! While one can put lipstick on a pig, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s still a pig! Throw in the stolen election of 2020 along with all the concomitant prevarications, and the only realistic outcome is one big NEGATIVE!
bruce
August 12, 2022 at 8:12 am
F. Roosevelt’s admin were full of communists. Its one of the reasons for McCarthyism. That was founded in solid evidence, regardless how it was played by guess who, the media. The only promise Biden has kept at this point is to destroy the oil and gas industry with no viable replacement. Executive Orders were to enforce laws enacted by congress. While Biden isn’t the 1st president in history to have EOs they don’t do that, he is the most proliferate. Every one of them has damaged our country. This admin’s move towards socialism must do 2 things control the media (propaganda) and weaponize the enforcement agencies towards their political goals…We are seeing both 1st hand right now. Its is not the right wing of America that is the danger to our form of government, it is the left who has too much power.
Will
August 12, 2022 at 8:34 am
If we still have electricity at the time…will the last goon to leave the White House please turn out the lights?
Fred
August 12, 2022 at 1:01 pm
100%, and the socialists must disarm the people. The Biden regime is aggressively working on that now as we all know, and building an illegal registry of gun owners. On the 24th of this month, the ATF intends to write its own laws by redefining what a firearm is.
Steven S. Hall
August 12, 2022 at 8:32 am
Interesting. The views of these “learned” advisers are not so dangerous as what Biden decided to hear. Since this occurred on 04Aug22, was it the impetus for the Mar-e-Lago raid?
Bill Codner
August 12, 2022 at 8:58 am
Never in my lifetime have I ever seen such incomptence. It’s so bad I have come to the conclusion that these reprobates are bungling everything purposely. People aren’t this stupid, even DemocRATs are not this stupid. I think we are being delivered to the Chinese by Soros and his minions at Facebook, Google, the news media, and Bill Gates.
Buck Fiden
August 12, 2022 at 6:20 pm
Bring delivered to the Chinese by tick tock as well
Paul
August 12, 2022 at 9:39 am
Why is everything always about “right-wing populism” when it is the LEFT WING POPULISM that is the curse of this nation?!
DemsHaveRuinedUSA
August 12, 2022 at 6:22 pm
The blame game
Roland
August 13, 2022 at 7:00 pm
What you say makes no sense could you please explain what you are thinking.
Jim
August 12, 2022 at 9:50 am
We are in dangerous condition for our nation, we all should be praying everyday for God to help us out of this situation. Or maybe we are closer to the end than we realize. We should all repent to be ready for the lord to return!! Praise God
EJP49
August 12, 2022 at 10:00 am
I just for my mental stability want to see solid libs Dems progressives to come on and Addmin they Really are wrong in wanting a life of Fascism, athoritarism, totalitarian, lies to cover up lies, and ALL the commodities THAT are NOT THERE as well as kids in school Morally Broke & DUMB as bricks. Instead of what makes & keeps this Country Great and Envy of World, LIFE, LIBERTY, PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS, EARN what you GET, GET what YOU EARN. Come back to the MORAL, SANE LIFE, USE & THINK for YOURSELF. DON’T LET AGOV. Official do it for YOU!
Sick and Tierd of listening to empty headed MORONS
August 12, 2022 at 10:27 am
Hey DILL CODNERD you right about one thing, I’ve never seen it my life time either INCOMPETENCE (not spelled right) not to worry though it’s expected from F—ING MORONIC IDIOTS who would still believe that LYING FAT F—ING COMMIE CHUMP after everything that was proven by good people from own party run by a bunch of F—ING COMMIE RADICALS, and don’t believe that there aren’t people that stupid, all you have to do is look at all the ASSHOLES that followed that F—ING IDIOT to the capitol and commit murder and to this day keep telling yourselves it was just a peaceful tour, if that wasn’t a wagon full of STUPIDITY than nothing is. If you people can be led around by the NOSE that easy by a LYING useless excuse for a HUMAN that just needs people to get what he wants and to satisfy his own SICK needs and if you don’t agree with it he’ll put a brand on you and kick you aside, and the REALITY of it is you won’t care, because your all BRAINWASHED, I really should have PEA where brain is but you probably wouldn’t catch what I meant.
former marine
August 12, 2022 at 11:20 am
Could You please learn to organize your thinking and try again .
r w
August 12, 2022 at 4:40 pm
wow, no actual fact in your bigoted racist rant at all. Choosing to be dumb and blind to the obvious corruption in the Biden administration disqualifies you at every level! So just shut up and go back to your hole!
CPO Bill
August 12, 2022 at 10:40 am
Armed and ready family!
Tha Count
August 12, 2022 at 11:35 am
All this nonsense about totalitarian thread has a purpose for the Democrat thieves. This will justify every stolen election from now on because they are doing the right thing. They are saving the democracy. How can anyone argue with that.
Pence should have never certify the electoral votes, never.
History tells that the one who could have changed all that what is coming chose not to because he did not want to set a precedent
Larry (ret)Smith
August 12, 2022 at 11:48 am
We are at a crossroads but I’m not worried. We will survive and eventually people with some common sense will come to our rescue. The far left has become to powerful but will eventually be put down by cooler heads. Their attempt to change our culture has become ridiculous and petty and eventually will be ignored by normal people and go away. I am concerned about the far left and far right becoming violent. However, we have mechanisms in place to deal with them but I don’t think we will ever have to use them. I’m reminded of the 1960s and the problems we had back then. The turmoil back then eventually faded out and the problems of today will also.
Jimbo
August 12, 2022 at 3:22 pm
It’s more likely that the Biden administration started first with an agenda and followed up on it by seeking out historians likely to make the right connections. This administration is the threat. If it were left up to them, nobody would be allowed to share an opinion that didn’t match theirs. So how is that any different than the CCP? Anything done to protect our way of life is now classified as xenophobic. One fact that they fail to mention is that revolution generally follows after the government in power fails the citizens that rely on it. Maybe the shoe is starting to fit.
JoeBlow
August 12, 2022 at 6:14 pm
Joe Biden blows dead goats
Jim
August 13, 2022 at 8:57 am
Shameful. Hope I’m wrong but I can see civil war in the future.
Terry Clardy
August 14, 2022 at 11:48 am
Where are the people that were supposed to Prosecute Hilliary Clinton for the disgraces she performed to the country? Where are the people that are supposed to put an end to the insanity that they call a government in D.C.? Where are the people with the power to legally get rid of the Hunter Biden?
So, I guess, if you are in power and have a government job, it dont matter if you are right wing or left wing person, Just do any damn thing you want and you can get away with it as long as you are currently in office and/or support the current people in office? Where is the system of checks and balances that this country is supposed to have in place to proctect Democracy? The next step from Socialism is Communism? Has everyone forgot the fact that communism is very oppressive, inhumane, cruel, and offers NO Freedom? Have we Forgotten Tinneman Square massacre when people protested in China? Is money and position more important than your freedom? What would happen to someone who rioted in Moscow? I suggest everyone votes this year and rids themselves of the current administration and anyone who agrees with it. However, we do need a system that is fool proof in checking the results of the Valid votes submitted. A way to determine that a person is Elgible to vote, and that when elgible, that the vote is counted Correctly. Can we even accomplish that as a country or is it all hopeless?
thomas alley
August 14, 2022 at 10:37 pm
i agree when a party in power utilizes other government offics to silence the opposiuny ng view, maybe it is time for the people to step up and take back control of this country. Its fuunny how the protest on jan 6 were an insurection but all the destruction done by the BLM movement an antifa are peaceful protest, How come noone every went looking for these threats to our country, Its all a sham so they can keep trump from running vfor office again, Just remember midterms less than 100 days caway and its time for the everyday person to vote to get these moron running the country out of office, then the real investigations can start ie fauci, hunter,pelosi, schumer and shift for starters, Then the doj and fbi