1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:03,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:17,400 Speaker 1: I'm editor Candid Speaks and joined by staff writer Jane Hey. 4 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:21,720 Speaker 1: Candids Jane. We have alluded to revisionist history before when 5 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:25,160 Speaker 1: we talked about Rosie the Riveter and um did the 6 00:00:25,239 --> 00:00:29,320 Speaker 1: Chinese Big Columbus to America. The idea being that as 7 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:32,479 Speaker 1: new evidence is found in new facts revealed, or we 8 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: start to look at history in a different way, we 9 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:38,519 Speaker 1: can see that it is an evolving thing. Yeah, and 10 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:42,240 Speaker 1: it's always a very popular subject to talk about anything 11 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 1: relating to derisionist history. And I find it really interesting 12 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:47,920 Speaker 1: just because it touches on the idea of the history 13 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:52,360 Speaker 1: of history itself, basically how we view history, and because 14 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:55,760 Speaker 1: it's it's always important to go over your own assumptions 15 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:58,760 Speaker 1: and like make sure like what you believe isn't based 16 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:01,800 Speaker 1: on something not right exactly. And that's what makes for 17 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:06,000 Speaker 1: visionist history so controversial. And it's not always controversial sometimes 18 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:09,199 Speaker 1: as a simples is fixing a date in a history textbook. 19 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:14,560 Speaker 1: But back in ninety one, the American Historical Association president 20 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 1: Carl Becker made this sort of landmark speech and which 21 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:22,479 Speaker 1: he clarified that history wasn't a static list of of 22 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:27,120 Speaker 1: dates and aims and you know, a very fixed chronology 23 00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:30,119 Speaker 1: in our global culture. He said that it is an 24 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 1: evolving living thing. And I like to think of history 25 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:36,280 Speaker 1: as going to an art museum and you look at 26 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: a painting, and the way that I interpret it is 27 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:42,959 Speaker 1: dependent upon my life experiences, the you know, environment which 28 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:45,920 Speaker 1: I was raised, the values I have, and what I've 29 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:48,240 Speaker 1: been taught, and you may come along and look at 30 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 1: the same painting you have a totally different interpretation. And 31 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:54,080 Speaker 1: I think that around that time people were starting to 32 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 1: learn that it was okay to think of history that way. 33 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:01,040 Speaker 1: It didn't have to be a very fixed subject. It 34 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:04,360 Speaker 1: could be you know, reinterpreted and re not reimagined, but 35 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:08,440 Speaker 1: re evaluated. Yeah, And I think Becker himself actually um 36 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:11,480 Speaker 1: compared it to looking over your own history. Like if 37 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:13,920 Speaker 1: you think about your own past, and there are certain 38 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: things that, uh, you do skew and you do choose 39 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:19,920 Speaker 1: to forget, like you obviously can't remember everything, and the 40 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 1: and the idea of of relating history is necessarily picking 41 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:27,520 Speaker 1: out facts and ignoring most of the other facts. And 42 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 1: so you necessarily, like objectivity is really difficult, and so 43 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:34,679 Speaker 1: just the fact, just the way that you pick out 44 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 1: facts can can alter how someone understands it. And we 45 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,280 Speaker 1: know that historians as early on as Plutarch and Tacitus 46 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:44,320 Speaker 1: were doing us they were revising history, but it didn't 47 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:49,520 Speaker 1: really become a major subject of discussion until World War Two, 48 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 1: when historians had to go back and think about how 49 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:54,560 Speaker 1: do we write about the war, how do we write 50 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:59,040 Speaker 1: about the Nazi soldiers, And that's when revisionist history really 51 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:01,360 Speaker 1: became a hot top. And in the decades that continue 52 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 1: to to follow, all of these volatile movements began um 53 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:08,360 Speaker 1: not just in the United States, but around the world, 54 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:12,040 Speaker 1: and even globalization itself with a volatile topic as well 55 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 1: as technology. Events like the Vietnam War, the Civil rights movement, 56 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:18,799 Speaker 1: the Cold War, and the feminist movement. All of these 57 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: things happening that made people realize that different names and 58 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 1: different motivations needed to be included in history textbooks. That's right, 59 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 1: and so textbooks started incorporating looking at marginalized people of society, 60 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:33,919 Speaker 1: Like you mentioned the feminist movement, so they looked at 61 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:37,360 Speaker 1: famous women and in their their work in the feminist movement, 62 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:40,320 Speaker 1: and you know, the Civil Rights movement in America. At 63 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:43,640 Speaker 1: least after that, people started paying much more attention to 64 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:48,760 Speaker 1: landmark um African Americans or marginalized races in general, exactly. 65 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:50,880 Speaker 1: So before we go any further, I think it would 66 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:52,920 Speaker 1: be a good idea, maybe just to even warm you 67 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 1: guys out or get you um familiar with revisionist history, 68 00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 1: to tell you a little anecdote. And we have a 69 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: great article on our website about Vision's history, and the 70 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 1: author of this one begins by telling the much beloved 71 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:08,160 Speaker 1: story of George Washington and the Cherry Tree. And it 72 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: is it's a fun, simple little anecdote in which we're 73 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:13,920 Speaker 1: told as school children, or we used to be rather, 74 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:17,680 Speaker 1: that George Washington went and cut down a cherry tree 75 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:19,719 Speaker 1: on his parents property one day, and when his father 76 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:21,799 Speaker 1: asked him whether or not he had cut down the tree, 77 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:24,720 Speaker 1: he said, father, I cannot tell a lie. I cut 78 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:28,279 Speaker 1: down the cherry tree. And it was meant to reaffirm 79 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:32,159 Speaker 1: in the early American's mind that George Washington was a 80 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 1: man of a valor and truth, and he could be trusted, 81 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:38,280 Speaker 1: and he was a good leader. And it wasn't true. 82 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:42,480 Speaker 1: And we know even today archaeologists went out and they 83 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:44,640 Speaker 1: surveyed the land where he would have grown up, and 84 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:47,599 Speaker 1: there were no cherry trees on the property. But it 85 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:49,720 Speaker 1: was a story that made him a larger than life 86 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 1: figure in our minds. And so one of the things 87 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 1: that revisionist history does is correct specific facts. And with 88 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:59,599 Speaker 1: a case like this, it doesn't really detract from George 89 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:02,400 Speaker 1: Washington and character that that story isn't true. You know, 90 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:04,599 Speaker 1: we still have many of the same assumptions that we 91 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:08,040 Speaker 1: did about him before. Yeah, that's right. Um, Correcting facts 92 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:11,080 Speaker 1: is something that like obviously every historian should be you know, 93 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:13,560 Speaker 1: open to if they if there is new evidence that 94 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:16,160 Speaker 1: is revealed by all means go back and fix it. 95 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:18,800 Speaker 1: And if that means altering how we think of someone 96 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 1: in our history, we should do that. But a lot 97 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:24,080 Speaker 1: of people think of revisionist history in a more radical way. 98 00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:28,000 Speaker 1: Charles Beard is a famous historian that challenge how we 99 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:31,599 Speaker 1: thought about the founding fathers in general. He looked particularly 100 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:34,960 Speaker 1: at the Revolution, the American Revolution, and he said these 101 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:38,840 Speaker 1: people um stood to gain money like too because they 102 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:42,000 Speaker 1: had debt that they bought very cheaply, and that they 103 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:45,120 Speaker 1: by after the revolution they would make out and so 104 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:47,479 Speaker 1: Charles Beard was like, oh, they weren't really interested in 105 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:50,240 Speaker 1: what they said they were interested in like the liberties 106 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:54,120 Speaker 1: and all the all the meanings behind the the constitution, 107 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:56,880 Speaker 1: but rather they were just after money. And that brings 108 00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:00,080 Speaker 1: to mind a very important perspective that revisionist history it 109 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 1: takes as well. And if the fact checking perspective is 110 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:04,839 Speaker 1: the most cut and Drive will call that number one. 111 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:07,680 Speaker 1: The number two perspective, we would say, like Jane is 112 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:12,320 Speaker 1: referring to now applying specific lenses to history, and there 113 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:16,840 Speaker 1: are four that are primarily applied, and those are economic, 114 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: like with Charles Beard, theory, political, racial, and sexual and 115 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:26,800 Speaker 1: so the social or theoretical perspectives can completely alter the 116 00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: way we we view a group of people. But it's 117 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:32,440 Speaker 1: again like you're looking at a painting and an art museum, 118 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:34,840 Speaker 1: or or even reading a book. You can read these 119 00:06:34,839 --> 00:06:38,000 Speaker 1: different theories and you can appreciate the lens that's being 120 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:39,840 Speaker 1: applied to it, but you don't have to agree with that. 121 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:43,480 Speaker 1: It just gives it a new shade of meaning. That's true. 122 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:46,800 Speaker 1: And one thing to consider when these new um ideas 123 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:49,360 Speaker 1: come out, these radical new ideas about you know, did 124 00:06:49,839 --> 00:06:52,599 Speaker 1: the Chinese discover America before Columbus and all like this, 125 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:56,560 Speaker 1: that these books and everything they do sell. And uh 126 00:06:56,680 --> 00:06:58,720 Speaker 1: so there is that motivation just to take these new 127 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:02,320 Speaker 1: theories with a grain of salt. That academics have this motivation, 128 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:04,120 Speaker 1: they have that temptation to come up with these new 129 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:08,559 Speaker 1: radical ideas for their own purposes. And that's when things 130 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:11,760 Speaker 1: can get really dangerous. And we'll call that perspective number three, 131 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:15,160 Speaker 1: and that is taking a negative perspective and looking at 132 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:20,000 Speaker 1: revisionism as an opportunity to put your agenda onto history 133 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:23,440 Speaker 1: and to get people to believe a certain factor that's 134 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:27,720 Speaker 1: not exactly true and in some instances if it's just 135 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:31,239 Speaker 1: dead wrong, and that's apparent to everyone. It's not called 136 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:35,520 Speaker 1: revision of revisionism. Excuse me, It's called negationism. And that's yeah. 137 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:37,160 Speaker 1: And one example of this I think you're going to 138 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 1: lead to was the Holocaust denial. Yeah, yeah, and the 139 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:41,800 Speaker 1: revisionist claim, oh, you know, we don't want to be 140 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:44,720 Speaker 1: associated with something like Holocaust denial because you know the 141 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:47,800 Speaker 1: facts are there and it did happen, and these radicals 142 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 1: who were saying that it didn't shouldn't be associated with us. 143 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:54,120 Speaker 1: So let's take a look at some other examples of 144 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:58,640 Speaker 1: revised histories and revised historical narratives that can in fact 145 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:02,680 Speaker 1: alter our perspective of the past, and um, it's it's 146 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:04,240 Speaker 1: the same old song for me. I'm gonna bring up 147 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:08,239 Speaker 1: my favorite man, Thomas Knew Jacob feel like that sparkle 148 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:11,640 Speaker 1: in my eye. Um. The Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemming's 149 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 1: affair didn't come to light until, you know, well after 150 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:19,560 Speaker 1: DNA tests conclusively proved that he had fathered children with 151 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:22,360 Speaker 1: her and that there were, you know, as several generations 152 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:27,400 Speaker 1: of Jefferson children who had black blood in them. And 153 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:31,160 Speaker 1: I think that really complicates that Jefferson image because we 154 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:34,560 Speaker 1: know that he had slaves on Monticello, and we know 155 00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:37,520 Speaker 1: from some of his his slaves narratives that were written 156 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:41,080 Speaker 1: down that he was, you know, I guess, in certain 157 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:43,920 Speaker 1: terms a good master, but he was still a master 158 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:48,239 Speaker 1: of slaves. And he did not believe in the disillusion 159 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:51,200 Speaker 1: of the institution of slavery. He stood up very strongly 160 00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:52,760 Speaker 1: for the fact that he thought it was an institution 161 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:55,839 Speaker 1: that would face itself out. And I believe he had 162 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:58,040 Speaker 1: a selfish motivation in that. I think that Marc Chello 163 00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:00,800 Speaker 1: was run completely off of all the hard work of slaves, 164 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:02,360 Speaker 1: and he knew he had a good thing going, and 165 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:04,160 Speaker 1: despite the fact that he was kind to them or 166 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:06,760 Speaker 1: he was a good master, it would have fallen apart. 167 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:11,240 Speaker 1: And how how complex and difficult to grapple with the 168 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:14,880 Speaker 1: fact that he supported slavery and yet he fathered children 169 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:19,880 Speaker 1: who wouldn't be accepted as as equal members of society. 170 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:22,520 Speaker 1: So that's a really strong point of view about a 171 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:25,199 Speaker 1: founding father whom I ide really love for his ideas 172 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:28,319 Speaker 1: and when he contributed to our nation. But revisionist history 173 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:31,120 Speaker 1: doesn't just look at people specifically. It can also look 174 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:33,480 Speaker 1: at periods of time. That's right. It's interesting if you 175 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:37,040 Speaker 1: look at the different periods in history. Uh, they were 176 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:40,640 Speaker 1: obviously named, and these names were invented by certain people 177 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:43,120 Speaker 1: who had certain perspectives on history. So you look like 178 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:45,520 Speaker 1: a name like the Dark Ages or the Enlightenment or 179 00:09:45,559 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 1: the Renaissance, and whether it was through intention or just 180 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:50,520 Speaker 1: the connotation of the name of the word, it does 181 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:53,120 Speaker 1: sort of shape how we think of them. And so 182 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:55,240 Speaker 1: it's always good, like how stuff works. We have this 183 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:57,760 Speaker 1: gray motto of keep asking and it's always good to 184 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:01,680 Speaker 1: always be questioning how we think about history in general. 185 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:05,400 Speaker 1: And one personal uh story of mine that I, you know, 186 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:08,560 Speaker 1: had I am young enough to have gotten a kind 187 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:11,320 Speaker 1: of revisionist history when I was taught, was that when 188 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:14,600 Speaker 1: I was learning about the American Revolution, my textbook would 189 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:17,720 Speaker 1: talk would basically give a lot of defenses for the British. 190 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:20,679 Speaker 1: You know, I was taught obviously in America, but um, 191 00:10:20,679 --> 00:10:23,480 Speaker 1: my textbook was like, Hey, but the British, you know, 192 00:10:23,559 --> 00:10:26,160 Speaker 1: had their had their reasons and and this is why 193 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:28,600 Speaker 1: they did those taxes, and they were just defending America 194 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:31,560 Speaker 1: and blah blah blah, and so it really, um, you 195 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:34,440 Speaker 1: can see it seeping into American school children today. It's 196 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:37,480 Speaker 1: so interesting to think about. And I think that there's 197 00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:40,840 Speaker 1: one particular county in Florida that has outright banned any 198 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:44,760 Speaker 1: sort of interpretive or revisionist textbooks. And again we see 199 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:47,400 Speaker 1: that revisionist history can be a really nasty term. Even 200 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:51,520 Speaker 1: George W. Bush used it to describe the media covering 201 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:53,439 Speaker 1: the war in Iraq back in two thousand three. He 202 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:57,560 Speaker 1: called them revisionist historians. And again, depending on whether you 203 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:00,280 Speaker 1: look at revisionist history as an opportunity to being a 204 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:02,680 Speaker 1: greater truth in a in a greater shade of understanding, 205 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:06,240 Speaker 1: or some sort of ulterior motive to get people to 206 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:10,040 Speaker 1: correspond to your agenda. It can go either way. One 207 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:12,920 Speaker 1: of the most important reasons to study revisionist history and 208 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:16,280 Speaker 1: even history is that we've un told time and time again, 209 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:19,480 Speaker 1: the history repeats itself. And a really hot topic right 210 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:21,600 Speaker 1: now with Obama getting ready to come into the White 211 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:25,520 Speaker 1: House is the idea of a New New Deal. But 212 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:29,000 Speaker 1: to u c l a. Economists are claiming through their 213 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:32,760 Speaker 1: research that the original New Deal wasn't so hot after all, 214 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:35,160 Speaker 1: and that it actually might have put the United States 215 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:39,440 Speaker 1: back seven years in terms of economic recovery. And what 216 00:11:39,559 --> 00:11:42,640 Speaker 1: they're saying is that the policies that were part of 217 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:47,559 Speaker 1: the National Industrial Recovery Act actually made the Great Oppression 218 00:11:47,679 --> 00:11:50,600 Speaker 1: continue on until about nineteen forty three, when the economy 219 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:54,760 Speaker 1: could have naturally corrected itself by thirty six. So what 220 00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:58,600 Speaker 1: FDR I did essentially was revoke any sort of punishment 221 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:03,600 Speaker 1: for big corporateations that were trusts, and he encouraged employees 222 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 1: to be paid more than what their salaries and their 223 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:10,760 Speaker 1: jobs were really worth. And so we're looking now and 224 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:13,679 Speaker 1: these economists are saying we really need to think twice 225 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:17,240 Speaker 1: about any sort of new stimulus plan to how boost 226 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:19,480 Speaker 1: the economy. Yeah, that's true, and how in a plus today, 227 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:21,600 Speaker 1: you're very right, And I have heard that theory before 228 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:23,199 Speaker 1: because like if you look at the f if you 229 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:24,920 Speaker 1: look at FDR, like a lot of people say, the 230 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:27,360 Speaker 1: depression didn't end until the war, and the war is 231 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:31,040 Speaker 1: really what ended the depression, um and not FDR's policies. 232 00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:33,240 Speaker 1: So it is very relevant today to decide what we're 233 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:35,760 Speaker 1: gonna do exactly. And I think a lot of us 234 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:39,080 Speaker 1: think of FDR as a bigger than life president. You know, 235 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:42,199 Speaker 1: he certainly has one of the most um memorable monuments 236 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:45,040 Speaker 1: in Washington. Certainly he's a very beloved figure. He had 237 00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:47,640 Speaker 1: an incredibly long term. He had, you know, people who 238 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:49,680 Speaker 1: followed and listened to the fireside chats, and they were 239 00:12:49,679 --> 00:12:52,960 Speaker 1: also very big fans of Eleanor. And so these economists 240 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:55,199 Speaker 1: who are putting forth this new theory are are really 241 00:12:55,240 --> 00:13:00,200 Speaker 1: shaking up our perceptions of a president who people know 242 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:03,720 Speaker 1: here to fourth that led our nation through a really 243 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:08,120 Speaker 1: hard time and another questioning they're questioning that. And I 244 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:11,200 Speaker 1: think some theorists are even going so far as to 245 00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:14,840 Speaker 1: question what FDRs ulterior motives may have been. Perhaps he 246 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:17,160 Speaker 1: genuinely thought he was doing the right thing for the nation, 247 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:19,800 Speaker 1: for the economy, or perhaps it was a power and measure. 248 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:21,680 Speaker 1: Maybe he wanted to hold his office and he knew 249 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:24,120 Speaker 1: that he could if he continued to keep the people 250 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:30,080 Speaker 1: you know. Understand exactly so our business history here near 251 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:32,920 Speaker 1: is what will we revealed next. But there are so 252 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:35,440 Speaker 1: many opportunities for you to go in and look at 253 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:38,960 Speaker 1: historical narratives and revise them and bring your own point 254 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:40,800 Speaker 1: of view to them. And we would encourage you guys 255 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:43,160 Speaker 1: to do that with many of the history articles on 256 00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:45,160 Speaker 1: our site, so be sure to check them out at 257 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:48,920 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com for more on this and 258 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:52,679 Speaker 1: thousands of other topics. Because it how stuff works dot com. 259 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:54,960 Speaker 1: Let us know what you think. Send an email to 260 00:13:55,040 --> 00:14:03,400 Speaker 1: podcast at how stuff works dot com.