How Does America Get Its Dictator?
American Butterfly 19: How People Let Hitler Happen
My schoolmates and I were spoiled with a fantastic history teacher in seventh grade.
A college professor from a Midwest university, he had supported his wife when she found her dream job in Memphis. Dr. Turner had bitten the bullet. He was certain he could find a university position in the Mid-South, but it might take a while. For a couple of years we had him at Academy School of Memphis.
Dr. Turner’s social studies/history class was one of the first to begin delivering real depth in our study of the past. Something more than the history of great men, great wars, and great countries:
The endless cause and effect of history and real people.
We were finishing a unit on America and Europe after World War I. Dr. Turner had covered the broader economic, social, and political trends. He brushed up just a little against the National Socialist German Workers Party (the Nazis) in Weimar Germany and was, I think, stopping before taking us into a totally different place next week.
It was towards the end of the day, maybe even a Friday. Most of us were a little asleep when a usually quiet student asked,
Dr. Turner, why did…
