Ronald Reagan phoned President Richard Nixon in 1971 and described African ambassadors at the United Nations as "monkeys" who were "still uncomfortable wearing shoes," The Atlantic magazine reported recently, calling it evidence of "Reagan's racism."
Anyone who refers to humans as animals is a turkey. But so long as the topic of racism by a Republican president is in the news, let's give this one a closer look.
City officials in Woonsocket, Rhode Island have unveiled a 7-foot-tall sculpture commemorating a campaign stop by Abraham Lincoln in 1860.
Lincoln was a private citizen at the time, but a national figure because of his prominent unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate in 1858. A local Republican businessman invited him. He spoke for about two hours at what was then known as Harris Institute Hall, which is now part of Woonsocket City Hall.
