Betrayal of their heritage?

Posted by Marc Hodak on January 26, 2008 under History | Read the First Comment

John Steele Gordon, eminent historian and popular guest speaker in my “History of Scandal” course, just wrote a terrific article in Commentary entitled Look Whose Afraid of Free Trade.

The short answer: the Democrats! Gordon writes that, historically speaking, this is a surprising turn-around. For most of its existence, the Democratic party has been the party of free trade, generally at odds with protectionist Republicans. (Yea, Smoot and Hawley were Republicans.) Well, things have clearly (or maybe not so clearly) turned around. As always, Gordon weaves a tight thread in his depiction of fascinating ideas through time. Great read.