Stories and Storytellers: Reflections on the State of the Union
Dozens of journalists and pundits have compared President Trump to the hero of All the King’s Men (a novel written by Vanderbilt alum Robert Penn Warren), the fictional governor Willie Stark, who was based on populist politician Huey Long, because Stark and Long were also political outsiders, known for free-range public speaking,...
American Sniper, the State of the Union, and the Dueling Narratives of Crisis in the United States
“The shadow of crisis has passed, and the State of the Union is strong.” Barack Obama tonight officially closed the book on the year 2014 and welcomed Americans into a new period of the 21st century. The speech was largely starry-eyed, harkening back to the president’s 2004 speech at the...
What The Minimum Wage Means to America, Pt I
In the days before the 2014 State of the Union, the internet exploded with speculation over what Obama would cover in his address. One hot button topic was the expected use of executive orders to further his agenda, especially with regards to minimum wage. Obama did not disappoint, announcing he...
Obama’s Minimum Wage: Good Politics, Contested Policy
President Obama placed the focus of his 2013 State of the Union Address squarely on the U.S. economy, and nothing does more to illustrate the tenor of Obama’s fiscal agenda than his call to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.00 by 2015, as well as indexing the minimum...
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