‘Does it matter that the President knows nothing about history? We asked 3 historians‘, Esquire, 13 April 2019
From the politics editor of Esquire magazine, interviews three youngish American historians, riffing off the Trumpian ignorance of history (and his apparent lack of concern thereat), and picks up some other threads about anti-intellectualism, feelings compared with evidence, and related tropes.
History is just liberal snobbery now—not a fundamental achievement of the human race that allows our civilization to advance and grow as we learn from the experience of our forebears. Or is it? Why do we study history? Are there perils when our leaders disregard it with such proud ignorance?