1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:02,840 Speaker 1: Well, once again in the world of politics, we've had 2 00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:05,880 Speaker 1: an assassination. Just this week, it was the murder of 3 00:00:05,960 --> 00:00:09,840 Speaker 1: right wing influencer Charlie Kirk. But despite all the shock 4 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:12,520 Speaker 1: and awe, this kind of thing is nothing new in 5 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:19,160 Speaker 1: American political history. I'm Patty Steele settling differences with assassinations, duels, 6 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: and beatdowns on the floor of Congress. That's next on 7 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:31,040 Speaker 1: the backstory. The backstory is back. It's a stressful time 8 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:35,120 Speaker 1: in politics, and it feels like there's been unprecedented violence 9 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: for the last few years. This week, of course, there 10 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:40,400 Speaker 1: was the murder of thirty one year old right wing 11 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 1: influencer Charlie Kirk. Just this past June, two Minnesota politicians 12 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 1: and their spouses were shot, leaving two of them dead 13 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: and two others wounded. Others have been targeted, including President Trump, 14 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 1: who was shot in the ear while on the campaign 15 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: trail in twenty twenty four. And every time something happens, 16 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:03,360 Speaker 1: folks say, what's happened to this country and to our 17 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:07,119 Speaker 1: political system. This isn't who we are, But you know what, 18 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:11,600 Speaker 1: it's actually exactly who we are and have been. What's 19 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:14,319 Speaker 1: happening now is not a whole lot different than it's 20 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:17,280 Speaker 1: ever been. We just hear and see more of it 21 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:21,000 Speaker 1: because of media, TV and cell phones are always on 22 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:23,840 Speaker 1: the scene to capture it all and share it with 23 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:27,240 Speaker 1: us in real time. But let's take a look back 24 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: at some of the violent events that came about because 25 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 1: of angry politics. First of all, in US history, four 26 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 1: presidents have been assassinated pretty much always over politics, including 27 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:43,640 Speaker 1: Abraham Lincoln in eighteen sixty five, James Garfield in eighteen 28 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:47,800 Speaker 1: eighty one, William McKinley in nineteen oh one, and John F. 29 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:51,280 Speaker 1: Kennedy in nineteen sixty three. Now on top of that, 30 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty eight, Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy 31 00:01:56,400 --> 00:02:00,200 Speaker 1: was assassinated late at night following a campaign speech in 32 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:05,000 Speaker 1: Los Angeles. Plus, there were at least nine attempted assassinations 33 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:08,360 Speaker 1: on the lives of presidents or candidates in our history. 34 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 1: One of those left the victim badly wounded. That happened 35 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 1: back in nineteen seventy two. George Wallace, an old schooled 36 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 1: Southern Democrat, was running for president when he was shot 37 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:23,680 Speaker 1: during a campaign stop in Maryland. He was left paralyzed 38 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:27,760 Speaker 1: from the waist down, but political ideology played a role 39 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:31,160 Speaker 1: in violence throughout our history. Now we think of all 40 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:34,400 Speaker 1: the Founding Fathers as just a big, happy fraternity of 41 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:39,800 Speaker 1: guys who believed in the cause, but actually they frequently disagreed, 42 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:43,720 Speaker 1: sometimes violently with one another. Case in point the death 43 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: of Alexander Hamilton in a duel with Aaron Burr. They 44 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:52,040 Speaker 1: had virulent disagreements about their political beliefs, and after Hamilton 45 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 1: publicly insulted Burr, it led to the duel that left 46 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:59,160 Speaker 1: Hamilton dead. Then, in the run up to the Civil War, 47 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 1: the violence that resulted from different politics grew really intense. 48 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:08,040 Speaker 1: It got particularly bad in the South, where slave owners 49 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:12,400 Speaker 1: and abolitionists fought viciously. In the North, while there was 50 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:16,320 Speaker 1: no slavery, laws allowed bounty hunters to capture and slaved 51 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:19,400 Speaker 1: people who'd escaped and return them to their owners. In 52 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 1: the South, this also led to some ferocious battles. In 53 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:28,800 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty six, the anti slavery Republican senator Charles Sumner 54 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:31,920 Speaker 1: gave a speech in which he labeled slavery a crime, 55 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: and he was nearly beaten to death on the Senate 56 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 1: floor by a pro slavery congressman from South Carolina who 57 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: attacked Sumner with a metal tipped cane. Another disagreement on 58 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:46,880 Speaker 1: slavery almost led to a duel in which the Southerner 59 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:50,960 Speaker 1: involved requested they duel using bowie knives. All this led 60 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:53,880 Speaker 1: to members of Congress carrying weapons onto the House and 61 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 1: Senate floors in order to defend themselves. And then in 62 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty nine, John Brown, an intensely devout white abolitionist 63 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: who believed violence was the means to an end when 64 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 1: it came to slavery, was arrested for inciting a slave 65 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: rebellion and was hung in Harper's Ferry, Virginia. But political 66 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 1: violence didn't end with the Civil War. In the aftermath 67 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 1: of Lincoln's assassination in eighteen sixty five, another president, James Garfield, 68 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 1: was shot by a disgruntled campaign worker who wanted more power, 69 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:30,280 Speaker 1: And then twenty years after that, President William McKinley was 70 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:33,240 Speaker 1: shot and killed. And during that period, by the way, 71 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:38,560 Speaker 1: on average one congressman was assassinated every seven years. People 72 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:41,720 Speaker 1: were really worked up about politics. One of the most 73 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:45,920 Speaker 1: common ways to express their political outrage was in constant 74 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:50,839 Speaker 1: torch carrying rallies, where tens of thousands of marchers rampaged 75 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:54,320 Speaker 1: through cities and towns. Late at night. Fights broke out, 76 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:58,359 Speaker 1: some involving guns and knives, in saloons and on train cars. 77 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:02,080 Speaker 1: Many of them were organized by the wide Awakes clubs 78 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:06,160 Speaker 1: that formed across the country. The eighteen eighties saw massive 79 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:09,799 Speaker 1: battle on Broadway in New York City. Now, this mass 80 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:13,040 Speaker 1: violence was blamed on alcohol by many of the women's 81 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:16,840 Speaker 1: temperance movements, and actually was where the seeds for prohibition 82 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:19,719 Speaker 1: first germinated. It was also a time in which the 83 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 1: nation had its all time biggest voter turnout during elections. 84 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:27,360 Speaker 1: In eighteen seventy six, there was an almost eighty three 85 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:30,720 Speaker 1: percent voter turnout, crazy when you think about us now 86 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:33,520 Speaker 1: in the sixty percent range, and even then only in 87 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:38,240 Speaker 1: presidential years. So people were intense about their politics. In fact, 88 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:41,600 Speaker 1: even women who weren't allowed to vote back then. As 89 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:45,400 Speaker 1: we got into the nineteen hundreds, anarchists were front and center. 90 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:49,920 Speaker 1: President McKinley was assassinated by an anarchist, and a massive 91 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:53,400 Speaker 1: bombing on Wall Street, which was never solved, was suspected 92 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:56,800 Speaker 1: of being carried out by anarchists. Moving forward to the 93 00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:01,600 Speaker 1: nineteen sixties and seventies, political upheaval was huge. In fact, 94 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:05,680 Speaker 1: between nineteen sixty nine and nineteen seventy, there were four 95 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:09,760 Speaker 1: three hundred and thirty bombings in the US, almost fifteen 96 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 1: hundred attempted bombings, and over thirty five thousand bomb threats. 97 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:18,280 Speaker 1: Pretty much all of them were politically motivated and mostly 98 00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:23,000 Speaker 1: by left leaning groups. So what we're experiencing, while disturbing, 99 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:26,000 Speaker 1: is not all that different from where we've been in 100 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:29,160 Speaker 1: our almost two hundred and fifty year existence as a nation. 101 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:33,880 Speaker 1: The question is what motivates individuals to try to kill 102 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:38,240 Speaker 1: others because of their ideologies. Well, despite the differences in 103 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:41,840 Speaker 1: their backgrounds and motives, these people share a common trait, 104 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:46,160 Speaker 1: a willingness to resort to extreme violence to support their agenda, 105 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:49,800 Speaker 1: And once again, that tells us something about the need 106 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:52,359 Speaker 1: to turn down the heat, both on the part of 107 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:56,839 Speaker 1: the media and in our own conversations about United States politics. 108 00:06:57,200 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 1: Everybody has an opinion. You might not like it, but 109 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:04,919 Speaker 1: that's okay because, as Abraham Lincoln implied, that free exchange 110 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:09,160 Speaker 1: of thought is what's always made democracy work. I hope 111 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:12,280 Speaker 1: you're enjoying the backstory with Patty Steele. Please leave a 112 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:15,680 Speaker 1: review and follow or subscribe. For free to get new 113 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:19,120 Speaker 1: episodes delivered automatically, and also feel free to DM me 114 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:20,680 Speaker 1: if you have a story you'd like me to cover. 115 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:25,000 Speaker 1: On Facebook, It's Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. 116 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 1: I'm Patty Steele. The Backstory is a production of iHeartMedia, 117 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 1: Premieer Networks, the Elvis Durand Group, and Steel Trap Productions. 118 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner. We 119 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:45,840 Speaker 1: have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free to 120 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:48,840 Speaker 1: reach out to me with comments and even story suggestions 121 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:52,320 Speaker 1: on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and on Facebook at 122 00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:55,920 Speaker 1: Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the Backstory with Patty Steele, 123 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:59,440 Speaker 1: the pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know.