Bernard A. Weisberger
Bernard A. Weisberger, distinguished former history professor of Wayne State University and the Universities of Chicago and Rochester, was the associate editor of American Heritage from 1970 to 1972. He recently authored When Chicago Ruled Baseball: The Cubs-White Sox World Series of 1906 (William Morrow 2006), and has also written Reporters for the Union, a study of Civil War newspapermen.
Articles by this Contributor
July/August 1995
A look at the very small group of powerful and effective men who are Gingrich’s truest models
September 1995
How the Bureau got those restrictions that so many people today want to see abolished
October 1995
Today’s States’ Rights debate is in fact as old as the republic—and not yet as contentious as it got in the 1830s
November 1995
Presidents have wanted it since before any of us was born
December 1995
The saga of Liberia’s beginnings reflects both America’ humanitarian generosity and its racism
February/March 1996
The father of the Pure Food and Drug Act was as hard on his allies as he was on his foes
April 1996
New legislation means to bring lobbyists out into the sunlight. History suggests they’ll bask there.
May/June 1996
Our century ends as it began, with corporations rushing headlong into wedlock
July/august 1996
Some worries surrounded these early atomic-bomb tests, among them: Would the Pacific Ocean explode?
September 1996
A recent book argues that to preserve the Republic, we must stop worshiping an outmoded document

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In association with the
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Why do we need a national nonprofit membership society for American history?
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“Save America’s Treasures” has been totally eliminated—the largest Federal program supporting preservation of such treasures as the original Star Spangled Banner and George Washington’s tent.
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65% of Americans don’t know what happened at the Constitutional Convention, according to a recent survey by Newsweek.
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The “Teaching American History” grants—the largest Federal program supporting history education—have been completely eliminated.
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Visits to the Top 20 Civil War battlefields have dropped in half from 1970 to 2009 according to official National Park Service statistics.
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40% of Americans can’t identify whom we fought in World War II, according to a recent survey by Newsweek.
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A quarter of Americans believe Congress shares power over U.S. foreign policy with the United Nations, according to a recent Annenberg survey.
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“There is little that is more important for an American citizen to know than the history and traditions of his country,” John F. Kennedy wrote in American Heritage.
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The “We the People Program,” which touched some 30 million students and 90,000 teachers over 25 years, has been completely eliminated.
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Two-thirds of Americans could not correctly name Yorktown as the last major military action of the American Revolution, according to a recent national Gallup survey.
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The National Heritage Areas and Scenic Byways program, the only major Federal program encouraging visits to historic places, has been completely eliminated in Congressional committee.




