Forrest McDonald, Historian Who Punctured Liberal Notions, Dies at 89

The New York Times ^ | January 22, 2016 | Sam Roberts

[KC Burke]

Forrest McDonald, a presidential and constitutional scholar who challenged liberal shibboleths about early American history and lionized the founding fathers as uniquely intellectual, died on Tuesday in Tuscaloosa, Ala. He was 89.

The cause was heart failure, his daughter Marcy McDonald said.

As a Pulitzer Prize finalist in history and a professor at the University of Alabama, Dr. McDonald declared himself an ideological conservative and an opponent of intrusive government. (“I’d move the winter capital to North Dakota and outlaw air-conditioning in the District of Columbia,” he once said.) But he refused to be pigeonholed either as a libertarian or, despite his Southern agrarian roots, as a Jeffersonian.

[Monterrosa-24]

One of the great mistakes in my life was not going for a PhD under McDonald at Alabama when I had the chance.

He was probably an easier teacher than most in undergraduate courses because he organized the material so well.

He like to tell the story of our tough soldiers of WWII who had grown up during the Great Depression and had served overseas, survived and come home to raise families. And the typical statement of the time was “My kid is going to have it better than I had it.” And McDonald said, “They proceeded to raise a generation of spoiled brats the likes of which this nation had never seen.”

[Loud Mime]

I read this a couple of days ago. Thanks for the ping. Glad to see a thread on FR.

[Reily]

That biography on Hamilton made go and re-evaluate my past opinion of him. I went from the standard popular view (meaning mildly suspicious and hostile!) of Hamilton to one of an admirer.

[KC Burke]

Born in 27 he would have been about 15 when Pearl Harbor occurred and we joined the war. He would have watched that group of people ten years ahead like we all do.

We baby boomers did have the best of the last hundred years. We have certainly cost the nation a pretty penny but have paid a pretty penny in taxes.

[PGalt]

I humbly confess that he's one constitutional historian I haven't read. That will be remedied soon.

Me, too. Thanks for the post; ping; post; thread.

Condolences to family and friends of Forrest McDonald. R.I.P., sir.

love

[Sans-Culotte]

Bump.

[Oratam]

bkmk

[TradicalRC]

I read the Insull book, it was great. NOBODY that I know in Illinois knows who Insull is and what a debt they owe him.