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Michael Beschloss

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28 Dec, 7 tweets, 2 min read

Time capsule from the removed Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond is being opened at this moment:

Time capsule has been opened:

So far, this is not exactly “National Treasure.”

Would be nice if the Robert E. Lee time capsule now being opened included a handwritten apology.

Found inside Robert E. Lee time capsule is a coin mashed into cover of a Holy Bible. For those who like metaphor, start your engines:

Lee’s time capsule includes a guide to city of Richmond. Would have been useful to Union Army liberators of 1865:

Note to pro-racist pro-Confederate insurrectionists who created the just-opened Robert E. Lee time capsule in the 1880s:
If you’re trying to make a time capsule interesting to future historians, don't stuff it with books, newspapers and currency that they will already have seen.

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Michael Beschloss

@BeschlossDC

30 Dec

In “The Godfather,” Hyman Roth and Johnny Ola were based on real-life mobsters Meyer Lansky and Vincent Alo, here enjoying birthday cake, just as in the movie:

Michael Corleone was said to be partly based on Chicago airport namesake Butch O’Hare, who became a World War II hero and died in battle, it was said, with an aim of overcoming his father’s dark past as Al Capone’s onetime collaborator:

In real life, not “Godfather Part II,” Castro rebels arrive in Havana for New Year 1959:

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Michael Beschloss

@BeschlossDC

27 Dec

LBJ celebrating his last Christmas, with family, LBJ Ranch, yesterday 1972. With ranch now open to public, this dining room looks much the same, except for that Lady Bird had linoleum floor yanked out and replaced by wood parquet after her husband’s death:

For those eager to search for replicas of Presidential furniture, at left is the hide-covered chair with little stirrups that LBJ often sat in while presiding at head of his ranch dining room table:

Note the desk in LBJ’s ranch office during his Presidency—he was using Nixon’s old Vice Presidential desk—after his 1968 election, Nixon went looking for it—learned that LBJ had flown it to Texas—Nixon had it flown back to DC, where he used it for all of his time in Oval Office:

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Michael Beschloss

@BeschlossDC

24 Dec

@MSNBC

My TV show “Fireside History with Michael Beschloss” (today, 5 PM Eastern on @MSNBC) shows the 1963 Christmas card JFK never lived to send:

@MSNBC

@MSNBC “Fireside History with Michael Beschloss” (today, 5 PM Eastern on @MSNBC) includes behind-the-scenes movies and images of First Families (including dogs) as they observe the holidays and open gifts:

@MSNBC

@MSNBC “Fireside History with Michael Beschloss” (today, 5 PM Eastern on @MSNBC) shows how FDR had Christmas dinner with his houseguest Winston Churchill at White House eighteen days after Pearl Harbor:

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Michael Beschloss

@BeschlossDC

20 Dec

Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley died forty-five years ago today:

One of last photos of elder Mayor Daley, taken today 1976 as he dedicated a Chicago fieldhouse, not long before he died of a sudden, massive heart attack:

Mayor Daley did not enjoy hearing “Gestapo tactics” of Chicago authorities denounced by Senator Abe Ribicoff from podium at 1968 Democratic convention. Note facial expression of Daley aide at right: #AP

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