Many Things Considered
In “Many Things Considered” one-time journalist and full-time political analyst Marc Johnson applies his passion for context to connect current politics with political history. What are the links between the debacle of Barry Goldwater’s 1964 presidential campaign and the Tea Party movement? Did Alexander Hamilton foresee the partisanship that now surrounds judicial appointments? Why haven’t third parties had political success in America? Johnson weaves interviews, archival sound, humor and authoritative narration to connect political history to today’s political stories.
Many Things Considered
Episode 8: Article 1, Section 9, Clause 8
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Marc Johnson
It is not likely that many of us have dropped a reference to the Constitution’s emoluments clause into casual conversation. But the once obscure clause is now just one more thing Donald J. Trump has brought to the center of American politics. The founding fathers wrote the prohibition against “emoluments” – gifts, advantages, benefits – into the Constitution because they were profoundly concerned about foreign influence damaging the nation. That old concern is new again.