Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

It was 150 years ago today that General Beauregard’s cannons began to play

The Civil War, the most important event in our nation’s history, began 150 years ago today. There is little I can say in a blog item to add or detract. (And btw, wasn’t that a magnificent closing phrase?: "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." ...

U.S. National Archives/Flickr
U.S. National Archives/Flickr
U.S. National Archives/Flickr

The Civil War, the most important event in our nation's history, began 150 years ago today. There is little I can say in a blog item to add or detract. (And btw, wasn't that a magnificent closing phrase?: "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." America in a nutshell.)

The Civil War, the most important event in our nation’s history, began 150 years ago today. There is little I can say in a blog item to add or detract. (And btw, wasn’t that a magnificent closing phrase?: "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." America in a nutshell.)

Rather, it is for us today to appreciate the meaning of the war. Historian Fergus Bordewich does good job of summarizing that, noting that among other things our world would be much different had there not been a United States to contain the Soviet Union (or, I might add, Nazi Germany).

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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