Mr. President, Mr. Chief Justice

Today in History, July 11, 1921:

Former President William Howard Taft is sworn in as Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, his dream job.

He had been a jurist in several different posts, Governor-General of the Philippines, Secretary of War and finally President. His former friend Theodore Roosevelt had tried to appoint him to the court several times, but he had refused because he felt responsibilities to the positions he filled at the time.

He never really wanted to be President, but Chief Justice had been his life long dream. President Warren G. Harding gave it to him, making him the only person to hold both jobs, and the only former President to swear in future Presidents.

Consequences of Propaganda

Today in History, July 9, 1944:

Victory at the Battle of Saipan. The US Marines defeat the Japanese military on Saipan, the first island with Japanese civilians to be taken by the US.

It was a difficult battle, made all the more so by the existence of a civilian population. The Marines set up well lit camps for the civilians to be safe from battle.

Fearing that his citizens would find out that the Americans were not the vicious, heartless enemy projected by propaganda, the Emperor issued a communique to the civilian population of Saipan, telling them that if they committed suicide they would receive the same treatment in the afterlife as Japanese soldiers that died in battle.

American servicemen were horrified as Japanese civilians threw their children from cliffs, then followed them to the rocks below. The newly won island would be used as an air base for B-29 Superfortress bombers that would bomb the Japanese mainland.

The US Forces Japan into the Modern World in 1853…Less than a Century before WWII

Today in History, July 8, 1853:US Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry and his fleet arrive in Edo Harbor (Tokyo) Japan and by threat of force, demand that the Japanese contemplate relations with the US. Faced with the threat of bombardment from Perry’s ships, the Japanese accepted a letter from President Millard Filmore. When Perry returned the next year, the offer of open relations was accepted. The rest of the story is that Commodore Perry also pioneered steam power in the Navy, served under his famous older brother Oliver Hazard Perry (“We have met the enemy and they are ours!”) during the War of 1812, was a hero in the Mexican-American War, and he and his brother were direct descendents of William Wallace. Wow. The irony cannot be ignored that America dragged Japan kicking and screaming into the modern industrial world, and less than a century later would have to fight a thoroughly modern Japanese military in a world war. And then would drop an Atomic bomb on their homeland.

“If Warren Ever Dies, He Will Be Shot…”

Today in History, July 7, 1900:Warren Earp is killed in a bar fight in Willcox, Arizona. This is interesting for the “here’s something I didn’t know” and the “we aren’t told everything” categories. Most of us know of the exploits of Wyatt, Morgan and Virgil Earp. But how many know of Warren, the youngest brother? After Morgan was murdered and Virgil was injured in the aftermath of the “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral”, Warren, who had been visiting his parents in California, returned to Tombstone and helped Wyatt hunt down the “Cowboys” that had victimized their brothers. But, as Virgil said, “‘If Warren ever dies he will be shot. He is too hasty, quick-tempered and too ready to pick a quarrel. Besides he will not let bygones be bygones, and on that account, I expect that he will meet a violent death.” Virgil was right. On this date in 1900 Warren was bullying a local range boss, Johnny Boyett in a local bar, advancing on him and threatening him, when Boyett fired 5 rounds into him. Boyett hid out for some time, afraid of revenge from the Earp brothers. While Virgil did conduct his own investigation and decided that it was murder, Wyatt never became involved. Boyett died of natural causes in Texas, never harassed by Wyatt or Virgil.

Rabies Vaccine

Today in History, July 6, 1885:9-year-old Joseph Meister had been badly mauled by a rabid dog, which meant he would almost certainly contract the horrible disease. Louis Pasteur had been experimenting on a vaccine for rabies using rabbits, and had tested the vaccine successfully on several dogs. Treating the boy put Pasteur at risk of prosecution should the treatment fail, as he was not a licensed physician. He chose to attempt to save Joseph. His vaccine was successful, saving the boy and countless others in the future. Meister would live to be 64 years old, taking his own life when the Nazis captured Paris in 1940, where he served as caretaker for the Pasteur estate.

Gettysburg

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Today in History, July 4, 1863:

On the same day, half a continent away, Confederate General Robert E. Lee leads his defeated Army of Northern Virginia south away from the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. No official surrender here…Lee’s army would survive to fight another day. While both battles were turning points, they did not spell the end of the South as many believe. There were years of hard, bitter fighting still to come with ghastly losses in life and injury. Gettysburg was, however, the last serious attempt by the South to invade the North.

Vicksburg

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Today in History, July 4, 1863:

Confederate General John C. Pemberton surrenders Vicksburg, Mississippi to Union General Ulysses S. Grant. Pemberton had sent a note asking for terms on the 3rd, and initially Grant gave is usual “unconditional surrender” response. He then thought about what he would do with 30,000 starving Southern troops, who he had lay siege to since May 18th, and granted them parole, accepting the surrender on the 4th.

The capture of Vicksburg effectively cut off of the Confederate states west of the Mississippi (and their supplies) from the South. Grant’s parole of the rebels would come back to bite him, as the Confederacy did not recognize it’s terms and many of them fought again…which came back to bite the Confederacy because as a result the Union stopped trading prisoners.

The South knew the consequences of the loss of Vicksburg.  It would be many, many years before Independence Day was celebrated in Vicksburg again.

Founding Brothers

 

Today in History, July 4, 1826:

Fifty years after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, two of it’s signers, second President John Adams and third President Thomas Jefferson, die on the same day.

The two had become bitter political enemies for years (Adams a devout Federalist, Jefferson an equally devout state’s rights man). But in 1812 they made amends and began a years’ long correspondence, making them good friends again.

It is said that Adams’ last words were, “Jefferson survives”. He was wrong, Jefferson had died five hours before. Many Americans at the time saw their death on the same day 50 years after the Nation’s birth as a divine sign.