Frontline: The Gulf War

Welcome to OrtizHistory

Welcome to OrtizHistory, a blog for my history students.

Throughout the semester, you’ll find a wide array of historical links, videos, articles, podcasts, and other items that are meant to supplement — directly or indirectly — your assignments, discussions, and overall explorations of U.S. history. I hope we all find the content interesting, if not useful and valuable to our academic work. I welcome your suggestions and contributions.

As I emphasized in every syllabus, this blog is purely a personal endeavor and is not part of my official responsibilities at San Antonio College, Northwest Vista College, the University of Texas at San Antonio, or Texas A&M University-San Antonio. No student is obligated to participate or even read this blog, and no grades will be affected by a student’s contribution to this blog. It is purely an optional entity co-existing with our classes.

Sincerely,
Fernando Ortiz Jr.

LBJ

George H. W. Bush . American Experience . WGBH | PBS

I’m fascinated by the recent war of words between former president George H.W. Bush and his son, George W. Bush, and his son’s vice president, Dick Cheney, and defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld. There’s a lot of bad blood there that tracks back to the Ford administration. We all forget how long all of these men have known each other, faced off against each other, and maneuvered around each other to shape the nation and world we live in today.

It all reminds me of a wonderful documentary on H.W. Bush from “American Experience.” I encourage everyone to watch it. Just click on the link below.

A biography of the 41st U.S. president, from his service in World War II to his days in the Oval Office. Part of the award-winning Presidents collection.
Source: George H. W. Bush . American Experience . WGBH | PBS

The controversy came to light in advance of a new biography of H.W. Bush, “Destiny and Power,” by Jon Meacham. I ordered it this morning, and I very much look forward to reading it. I’ll probably review it on my other blog.

Another documentary I can’t recommend enough is “Rumsfeld’s War” from the PBS series “Frontline.” It is essentially a brilliant political biography of Rumsfeld as he elbowed and knifed his way up through three presidencies as he sought more power for himself. It’s one of my all-time favorites.