Tag Archives: Ronald Reagan

Trump, His Billionaires, and Ayn Rand

By Robin Bates | Published: October 24, 2024

Ayn Rand’s novels help explain why certain billionaires are gravitating to Donald Trump. Trump’s own enthusiasm about “The Fountainhead” is also revealing.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, Donald Trump, Election 2024, Fountainhead, Libertarianism, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Thomas Hartmann, Tom Nichols, Trumpism | Comments closed

A Public Liberal Arts Education

By Robin Bates | Published: April 18, 2018

In which I assess what my students have gained from having attended a public liberal arts college.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Jean Giraudoux, Liberal arts education, Madwoman of Chaillot, public education, public liberal arts college, St. Mary's College of Maryland | Comments closed

Good Readers Make Good Presidents

By Robin Bates | Published: November 9, 2016

Continuing with the favorite literature of our presidents, here is Eisenhower through Obama.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged American presidents, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Dwight D. Eisenhower, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, John F. Kennedy | Comments closed

Old Lit as a Transformational Experience

By Robin Bates | Published: February 20, 2015

The power of a “King Lear” passage is a refutation of Scott Walker’s attempt to redirect higher education to “work force needs.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged culture wars, Geoffrey Chaucer, King Lear, Scott Walker, state university system, Wife of Bath, Williams Shakespeare | Comments closed

Obama’s Locker Room Speech

By Robin Bates | Published: September 9, 2011

President Obama’s jobs speech last night resembled a coach’s half time speech to a team that feels on the ropes. The Al Pacino speech in Oliver Stone’s “Any Given Sunday” comes to mind.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Barack Obama, Football, Jobs speech, Oratory, politics, Sports | Comments closed

The Favorite Books of American Presidents

By Robin Bates | Published: June 10, 2009

I’ve had fun discussing the reading of Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas over the last couple of days, and while I’ve come up dry on further posts about the Supreme Court and literature, it has given me the idea of periodically dipping into reading stories of other political figures. I’ll start a list here, beginning […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Abraham Lincoln, Al Gore, Albert Camus, Barack Obama, Bible, Bill Clinton, Book of Job, Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Cremation of Sam McGee, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Edward Arlington Robinson, Elizabeth Alexander, Eric Carle, From Russia with Love, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, George W. Bush, George Washington, Ian Fleming, James Dickey, John Kennedy, Joseph O'Neill, Leo Tolstoy, Mark Twain, Maya Angelou, Mr. Flood's Party, Netherworld, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Proverbs, Richard Corey, Richard Nixon, Richard Sheridan, Robert Frost, School for Scandal, Shooting of Dan McGrew, Song of Solomon, Stendahl, Teddy Roosevelt, The Red and the Black, The Stranger, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Toni Morrison | Comments closed