Columnist
Michael Nelson is contributing editor and columnist for The Daily Memphian, the political analyst for WMC-TV, and the Fulmer professor of political science at Rhodes College. His latest books are “Clinton's Elections: 1992, 1996, and the Birth of a New Era of Governance" and “The American Presidency: Origins and Development, 1776-2018.”
There are 110 articles by Michael Nelson :
When we once again have the luxury of addressing First-World problems, we can take up issues such as this one: Should Andrew Jackson be replaced by Harriet Tubman on currency?
“Shiloh: Fiery Trial,” the newer film, embodies up-to-date scholarship on the battle and enlists 350 Civil War re-enactors who flesh out the 17-member cast.
The good news for Tennesseans who want to bet legally on sports within the state’s borders is that, assuming the spring professional leagues reboot by late summer and college and pro football kick off this fall, the gambling apps really should be open in time.
A joint exhibition of work by the famed photographer Eggleston and Jennifer Steinkamp at the Dixon Gallery has been extended to April 5. The Dixon is closed for two weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic, but currently scheduled to reopen March 31.
In the University of Memphis Tigers' basketball museum exhibition, history is marked as B.F. and A.F. The F is for Finch.
And in the race for Shelby County General Sessions Court clerk, candidates with experience relevant to the job but names unknown to the voters lost the usual game of local musical-chairs politics. Joe Brown, the Democrat. Paul Boyd, the Republican. These guys again?
The biggest difference between Al Gore in '88 and Michael Bloomberg '20 is the amount of money each could spend on Super Tuesday. Gore’s campaign was adequately funded by donors and federal campaign subsidies. Bloomberg’s has been spectacularly financed, with every dollar coming from his $60 billion-plus fortune.
Some critics argue that debates between candidates are shallow and superficial. To which I say: Compared to what? When else do we get to see them side by side, without their handlers?
McQueen’s particular stamp on the program has been to include selections by “living, breathing” composers of color and women composers. He incorporates recordings by Memphis artists such as Lecolian Washington and guitarist Lily Afshar.
His defenders hail Nathan Bedford Forrest's 'great commander' status. But at Fort Pillow, Forrest gained temporary possession of a meaningless fort while making things worse for the Confederate military effort everywhere.
One of the most prominent shakers and movers in the effort to create Super Tuesday in 1988 was then-Tennessee Gov. Ned McWherter.
New rules governing the Democratic National Convention means Tennessee will have 73 delegates (1.8% of the 3,979 total delegates), and 64 will be pledged to support one candidate or another.
You can find FiveThirtyEight.com predictions more than a month in advance of the Tennessee primary and nearly two weeks before votes are cast in the Iowa caucuses. How much faith should we have in these forecasts? Not a whole lot.
In 1831, the French traveler watched a federal agent load a band of Choctaw Indians onto a ship for transport to Arkansas, a vanguard of the Trail of Tears. “In the whole of this spectacle,” Tocqueville observed, “there was an air of ruin and destruction, something that felt like a final farewell with no returning.”
Stern cared deeply about both civil rights and bringing the NBA to mid-size cities where the basketball team would be one of the biggest things in town. For Stern, that combination equaled Memphis.
Even more remarkable than Hanover’s role in suffrage ratification was the rest of his life.
The Memphis congressman is the fourth most senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, which wrote the two articles that are the basis of the Senate trial. But Cohen’s peers tend to regard him as a grandstander rather than a team player.
In none of the past three elections – 2012, 2016, and now 2020 – has anyone given a thought to the possibility that the next president might come from Tennessee.
The senator has focused relentlessly on education and health policy, working to enact the sort of important legislation that Congress is supposed to deal with instead of attacking or defending the president’s conduct.
Gay, black and much, much more, Saeed Jones defies prevailing stereotypes.
The FedEx founder’s story is one every Memphian of a certain age has heard. But it’s a story – like the Christmas story – that never gets old. And like that story, it lies at the intersection of history and legend.
In addition to both being Andrews from Tennessee, Jackson and Johnson were among the earliest presidents to be the targets of assassination plots.
When his song “Green Onions” was racing up the charts, Booker T. Jones was a freshman at Indiana University Music School, coming home every weekend so the MG's could seize the moment by recording an album.
When the presidential debate is held in Tennessee next year, will Joe Biden face off with Donald Trump? The new book “Barack and Joe” presents the potential Democratic nominee as a “rare blend of moderate thinking and immoderate decency.”
The Legislature made the decision — unique among all the states in the country — that sports betting will be an online-only activity. Tennesseans and tourists won’t need to go anywhere in particular to gamble. They’ll just need their phones.