The past reveals something about our present.

History never repeats.

It echoes, it reverberates, it teaches.

It shows us what's working.

Our current system of taxation actually is invented by the Republican Party during the American

Civil War.

It exposes what we can do better.

Here's the thing about John Quincy Adams.

He's a fighter who stands up for his principles and really honors and defends the institutions

of government.

It's easy to sort of forget that you can do both of those things at the same time.

And it encourages us to make our union a little more perfect.

Fannie Lou Hamer.

I think of her really in many ways as the mother of the Black Lives Matter movement.

I'm Heather Cox Richardson and I'm Joanne Freeman.

We're two historians, authors and best friends who like to get together and talk history.

Now you can join us for our conversations on our new podcast now and then.

On each episode of Now and then we'll search American history for clues about how we got

to where we are.

Chester Arthur was on the ticket for Garfield in 1880 largely because he was a corrupt

SOB.

So when Garfield's assassinated, everybody's like, oh my god, we're all going to hell on

...