Expansion and Motivation: Frontiers and Borders in the Past and Present of the United States and Russia

by Robert W. Thurston

Greg Grandin's The End of the Myth, David McCullough's The Pioneers, and Angela Stent's Putin’s World push us to consider and compare the history of the frontier and borders. 

David McCullough calls Gerald Ford one of history's great presidents for Nixon pardon

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — The decision by Grand Rapids native and former President Gerald R. Ford to pardon his disgraced predecessor after the Watergate scandal has put him in the pantheon of great presidents.That's according to noted historian David McCullough, speaking to CBS News's Barry Petersen, who cited Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon as "one of the bravest decisions ever" as reason for his claim.McCullough was interviewed by CBS for a segment on the legacies of great presidents as President Barack Obama's second inauguration draws near....