Mark R. Cheathem
@markcheathem.bsky.social
Historian, documentary editor, and writer. Views are my own. https://linktr.ee/markcheathem
If you're interested in ordering Who Is James K. Polk? or other fine @univpressofkansas.bsky.social books, UPKansas is running a 40% off sale with free shipping over $75.
kansaspress.ku.edu
kansaspress.ku.edu
November 14, 2025 at 3:23 PM
If you're interested in ordering Who Is James K. Polk? or other fine @univpressofkansas.bsky.social books, UPKansas is running a 40% off sale with free shipping over $75.
kansaspress.ku.edu
kansaspress.ku.edu
I also visited the Cahokia Mounds site and Mark Twain's home in Hannibal, MO, where I found a spectacular sticker about conspiracy theories stuck to a post on the edge of the Mississippi River.
July 22, 2025 at 6:51 PM
I also visited the Cahokia Mounds site and Mark Twain's home in Hannibal, MO, where I found a spectacular sticker about conspiracy theories stuck to a post on the edge of the Mississippi River.
I had the chance to visit Nauvoo and Carthage, Illinois, last week while at a speaking engagement in nearby Quincy. Having written about Joseph Smith's 1844 presidential campaign, it was great to be able to see in person what I had only been able to visualize in my mind during the writing process.
July 22, 2025 at 6:51 PM
I had the chance to visit Nauvoo and Carthage, Illinois, last week while at a speaking engagement in nearby Quincy. Having written about Joseph Smith's 1844 presidential campaign, it was great to be able to see in person what I had only been able to visualize in my mind during the writing process.
Seen in Hannibal, Missouri.
July 18, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Seen in Hannibal, Missouri.
This paragraph by @paulmatzko.bsky.social is one reason I stopped listening to sports talk radio in 2021. That and the fact that the constant need to be agitated about something, even something as seemingly innocuous as sports, wasn't healthy for me.
matzko.substack.com/p/trump-is-l...
matzko.substack.com/p/trump-is-l...
March 24, 2025 at 1:25 PM
This paragraph by @paulmatzko.bsky.social is one reason I stopped listening to sports talk radio in 2021. That and the fact that the constant need to be agitated about something, even something as seemingly innocuous as sports, wasn't healthy for me.
matzko.substack.com/p/trump-is-l...
matzko.substack.com/p/trump-is-l...
To add to my thread of yesterday, here was Andrew Jackson's immediate response to the Worcester decision. (Source: Andrew Jackson to John Coffee, 7 April 1832, in Papers of Andrew Jackson, 10:226)
March 18, 2025 at 1:09 PM
To add to my thread of yesterday, here was Andrew Jackson's immediate response to the Worcester decision. (Source: Andrew Jackson to John Coffee, 7 April 1832, in Papers of Andrew Jackson, 10:226)
That the quote was almost certainly made up is not new information. For decades, Jacksonian biographers and scholars, including yours truly, have included the quote with qualifying language making it clear that it is likely apocryphal.
March 17, 2025 at 8:52 PM
That the quote was almost certainly made up is not new information. For decades, Jacksonian biographers and scholars, including yours truly, have included the quote with qualifying language making it clear that it is likely apocryphal.
George N. Briggs, of Massachusetts, who was in Washington as a member of Congress when the decision was rendered” (106n27). Whether Briggs heard this statement in person or via the D.C. grapevine was left unsaid; Greeley didn’t explain why no one else bothered to mention it before the 1860s.
March 17, 2025 at 8:52 PM
George N. Briggs, of Massachusetts, who was in Washington as a member of Congress when the decision was rendered” (106n27). Whether Briggs heard this statement in person or via the D.C. grapevine was left unsaid; Greeley didn’t explain why no one else bothered to mention it before the 1860s.
In fact, there’s no reliable evidence that Jackson uttered this statement. It first appeared in Horace Greeley’s book The American Conflict: A History of the Great Rebellion in the United States of America, 1860-64, published in 1865. Greeley attributed it to “the late Governor
March 17, 2025 at 8:52 PM
In fact, there’s no reliable evidence that Jackson uttered this statement. It first appeared in Horace Greeley’s book The American Conflict: A History of the Great Rebellion in the United States of America, 1860-64, published in 1865. Greeley attributed it to “the late Governor
I wanted to talk about Andrew Jackson’s famous statement, “John Marshall has made his decision: now let him enforce it!” Allegedly, he said this in response to SCOTUS Chief Justice Marshall and the majority decision in Worcester v. Georgia (1832), a case centered on Cherokee tribal sovereignty.
March 17, 2025 at 8:52 PM
I wanted to talk about Andrew Jackson’s famous statement, “John Marshall has made his decision: now let him enforce it!” Allegedly, he said this in response to SCOTUS Chief Justice Marshall and the majority decision in Worcester v. Georgia (1832), a case centered on Cherokee tribal sovereignty.
During President Andrew Jackson's second term, this political cartoon, entitled "King Andrew the First," depicted Jackson as a king trampling on a shredded U.S. Constitution.
February 20, 2025 at 3:05 PM
During President Andrew Jackson's second term, this political cartoon, entitled "King Andrew the First," depicted Jackson as a king trampling on a shredded U.S. Constitution.
For those not interested in the #SuperBowl, here's my C-SPAN interview on Andrew Jackson's 1st 100 days.
www.c-span.org/program/firs...
www.c-span.org/program/firs...
February 9, 2025 at 11:28 PM
For those not interested in the #SuperBowl, here's my C-SPAN interview on Andrew Jackson's 1st 100 days.
www.c-span.org/program/firs...
www.c-span.org/program/firs...
If you are interested in hearing me prattle on about Andrew Jackson's first 100 days, tune in to C-SPAN2 this Saturday evening at 7:00E/6:00C.
www.c-span.org/schedule/?ch...
www.c-span.org/schedule/?ch...
February 4, 2025 at 5:22 PM
If you are interested in hearing me prattle on about Andrew Jackson's first 100 days, tune in to C-SPAN2 this Saturday evening at 7:00E/6:00C.
www.c-span.org/schedule/?ch...
www.c-span.org/schedule/?ch...
I had a little bit of free time, so I visited the FDR Presidential Library in Hyde Park.
February 1, 2025 at 7:17 PM
I had a little bit of free time, so I visited the FDR Presidential Library in Hyde Park.
A great crowd turned out in Kinderhook for my talk on Van Buren and the 1844 presidential election. The inimitable Van Buren biographer @jamesmbradley.bsky.social was in the front row, so I deflected all of the hard questions to him.
February 1, 2025 at 7:17 PM
A great crowd turned out in Kinderhook for my talk on Van Buren and the 1844 presidential election. The inimitable Van Buren biographer @jamesmbradley.bsky.social was in the front row, so I deflected all of the hard questions to him.
During my recent trip to New York, I found a few dozen Van Buren letters that we didn't have in our catalog. The Lindenwald collection also had a photo of a ghost child and bicycle that caught my eye!
(Photo credit: Martin Van Buren National Park Site collection.)
(Photo credit: Martin Van Buren National Park Site collection.)
February 1, 2025 at 7:17 PM
During my recent trip to New York, I found a few dozen Van Buren letters that we didn't have in our catalog. The Lindenwald collection also had a photo of a ghost child and bicycle that caught my eye!
(Photo credit: Martin Van Buren National Park Site collection.)
(Photo credit: Martin Van Buren National Park Site collection.)
Join me at The Hermitage on January 20 as I discuss Andrew Jackson's inauguration as president in 1829.
Tickets on sale here: my.thehermitage.com/19656/22384
Image credit: National Museum of American History
Tickets on sale here: my.thehermitage.com/19656/22384
Image credit: National Museum of American History
December 30, 2024 at 1:38 PM
Join me at The Hermitage on January 20 as I discuss Andrew Jackson's inauguration as president in 1829.
Tickets on sale here: my.thehermitage.com/19656/22384
Image credit: National Museum of American History
Tickets on sale here: my.thehermitage.com/19656/22384
Image credit: National Museum of American History
I’ve had this record since I was a kid. The title was probably humorous to a lot of Americans in the late 1970s, but it seems fitting today.
December 29, 2024 at 10:13 PM
I’ve had this record since I was a kid. The title was probably humorous to a lot of Americans in the late 1970s, but it seems fitting today.
On Christmas Day 1825, Martin Van Buren wrote Charles E. Dudley about the political chaos that he was seeing: "What is to come out of this time alone can determine. I do not despair of the Republic, and whatever others may do, I mean to hold on to the true faith."
vanburenpapers.org/document-mvb...
vanburenpapers.org/document-mvb...
December 24, 2024 at 2:33 PM
On Christmas Day 1825, Martin Van Buren wrote Charles E. Dudley about the political chaos that he was seeing: "What is to come out of this time alone can determine. I do not despair of the Republic, and whatever others may do, I mean to hold on to the true faith."
vanburenpapers.org/document-mvb...
vanburenpapers.org/document-mvb...
The most recent issue of the PMVB newsletter is now out! In it you will find updates on documents in the PMVB digital edition, news about the expanded Cynthia Van Buren Lecture Series, and profiles of staff and students working on the project.
mcusercontent.com/d991be5c79b6...
mcusercontent.com/d991be5c79b6...
December 17, 2024 at 4:20 PM
The most recent issue of the PMVB newsletter is now out! In it you will find updates on documents in the PMVB digital edition, news about the expanded Cynthia Van Buren Lecture Series, and profiles of staff and students working on the project.
mcusercontent.com/d991be5c79b6...
mcusercontent.com/d991be5c79b6...
In 2020, some discussions occurred about moving the statue, but they petered out. My Spring 2025 Civil War students are going to be researching Hatton and the history of the statue honoring him.
December 15, 2024 at 9:22 PM
In 2020, some discussions occurred about moving the statue, but they petered out. My Spring 2025 Civil War students are going to be researching Hatton and the history of the statue honoring him.
In sum, this discovery offers historians the chance to engage with and expand upon the scholarship on Jackson as an enslaver, as well as that of the African Americans whom he enslaved at the Hermitage. We should take advantage of it.
Photo credit: The Andrew Jackson Foundation
Photo credit: The Andrew Jackson Foundation
December 12, 2024 at 4:01 PM
In sum, this discovery offers historians the chance to engage with and expand upon the scholarship on Jackson as an enslaver, as well as that of the African Americans whom he enslaved at the Hermitage. We should take advantage of it.
Photo credit: The Andrew Jackson Foundation
Photo credit: The Andrew Jackson Foundation
Desage, however, performed across NY and even in Philadelphia. According to newspaper accounts, he fled Quebec in 1836 without paying printers, who presumably produced playbills or other printed media for him.
December 10, 2024 at 6:52 PM
Desage, however, performed across NY and even in Philadelphia. According to newspaper accounts, he fled Quebec in 1836 without paying printers, who presumably produced playbills or other printed media for him.
It listed two acts appearing during Van Buren's visit: a magician named Pierre Desage and a husband/wife acrobatic act named Mr. and Mrs. Wyatt/Wyott. Newspaper database and web searches turned up nothing about the Wyatts, who may have been a local act.
December 10, 2024 at 6:52 PM
It listed two acts appearing during Van Buren's visit: a magician named Pierre Desage and a husband/wife acrobatic act named Mr. and Mrs. Wyatt/Wyott. Newspaper database and web searches turned up nothing about the Wyatts, who may have been a local act.