Election 2008

American History majors rarely get the chance to experience American History in real time. Last night was like a gigantic episode of 24, but instead of Jack Bauer and a countdown clock, it had Wolf Blitzer and an electoral counter.

Like Bauer, Obama solved big problems all in one day - turning red states into blue states, bringing a huge Democratic majority to both houses, and defusing 232 years of racism. There wasn't this much history on The History Channel.

In his inspiring victory speech, Obama barely smiled. He looked like he had the next day's work on his mind, or possibly how he's going to undo the illegal and/or immoral acts Bush has planned for his remaining 77 days.

Speaking of Bush, it is clear now, if it wasn't before, what his legacy is going to be: Obama.

Bush will be known for ushering in the Obama era, the way Herbert Hoover was known for ushering in FDR or Pete Best was known for preceding Ringo.

Historians like to talk about how history "unfolds," as if it were made of paper. Today history is unfolding with no sign of stopping, like a really, really big map.

There's so much history right now, if you even tried to write a thesis about it, you'd have to write another one tomorrow.

American History is now like iTunes - there's an update every five minutes.

It's weird being an American History major in the midst of so much American History. Does this happen with other disciplines? Do geometry majors ever find themselves in the midst of an isosceles triangle? Or do comp lit majors find themselves in novels by the Brontë sisters?

America is like a novel. It's never finished. It's a draft that's been rewritten over and over. Soon our new author will revise and correct what has been left him by his predecessor. One thing you can be sure of, it hasn't been proofed in eight years.

History has already unfolded three more times since this morning. We're not used to it. We may have to switch majors just to get some rest.

Posted by: John Marshall      I’m a fan of John Marshall