President Clinton in Trouble(s)
The Maundy Monday Newsletter - This Week in History November 24 - 30.
The Republic of Ireland voted to amend its constitution to lift the ban on divorce on November 24, 1995. Since its inception in 1937, the Constitution has contained many prohibitions that aligned with the Catholic Church. An earlier referendum in 1986 failed, but this time, a coalition of left-leaning politicians pushed through a new law that allowed people who had been separated for at least four years to formally and officially divorce. It was a tough election, with only 50.2% voting in favor.
So even though the ban on divorce was eliminated, the Irish people weren’t entirely happy. Nearly half the voting public wanted to keep divorce banned, meaning that the country was split on whether people should stay in unhealthy or unwanted marriages. It was a mere coincidence that, a few days later, President Bill Clinton became the first sitting United States president to visit Northern Ireland on November 30, 1995.
Just as lifting the ban on divorce, a United States President visiting Northern Ireland was practically unheard of. With Christmas fast approaching, it wouldn’t be too crazy to think that Jesus Christ himself would soon return.
Two years prior, Clinton had won a surprising victory – ousting an incumbent president who had been wildly popular months earlier. The Arkansas Governor won despite a campaign that spent most of the time defying another Catholic Church no-no – potentially committing adultery.
Hillary Clinton stood by her man and accompanied him to Belfast, where the president would give a speech kicking off the Christmas season while flipping on the lights to the city’s tree outside of City Hall. Clinton would commit to the Irish people his determination to end the Troubles, the ongoing violence in Northern Ireland between the unionists, loyal to the British crown, and the nationalists, who wanted a unified republic. Religious identity (Catholics and Protestants) added plenty of kindling to the fire.
In 1998, Clinton helped usher in the Good Friday Agreement, bringing the Irish and the British together to end the Troubles. Clinton’s 1995 trip to Ireland was the first of three visits the president would make, and the Clintons themselves would make eight trips, which, right now, is five more than me - I’m working on it.
Okay, let’s highlight what else happened this week. As a reminder, these events celebrate their anniversary, ending in 5 or 0. Here’s what I got:
1. Photography became an accepted art form on November 24, 1905. Photographer Alfred Stieglitz opened The Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession in New York, the first-ever gallery explicitly dedicated to photography as a fine art. Photography had been around since 1826, but it was never considered on the same artistic level as, say, oil painting. When you think about photography as art, remember November 24, 1905. I took a couple of photography classes, but you have seen the pictures I take, so that’s why you are reading stuff from me instead.
2. New York’s Pennsylvania Station opened on November 27, 1910. A smaller portion of the tracks opened a few months earlier, but this was a grand opening to the public. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company owned the rail hub, which is why it is named “Penn Station.” The station finally provided access to New York City from the south, which makes you wonder why that wasn’t a part of the original thinking. Its demolition in 1963 sparked a movement to preserve such architecture.
3. A 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck Hawaii on November 29, 1975. The town of Kalapana sits on the far southeast corner of the island of Hawaii. At around 3:30 in the morning, Kalapana experienced a foreshock earthquake, which occurred 5 miles below the surface and registered 5.7 on the Richter scale. About an hour later, it was followed by a 7.4 hammer. The quake split roads and water pipes, knocking down houses. A tsunami followed, causing waves to crash on the surrounding beaches. Fortunately, the place was not well populated. That’s a heck of a way to begin your day.
2025 has been a good year for me when it comes to reading books. I recently had my first work anniversary. When I first started, I mostly drove to work and occasionally walked. Now I walk to and from work daily. It’s been great – although my commute is about an hour one way, I have time to read for 20 minutes on the metro, then listen to a book on the 40-minute hike from Foggy Bottom to Georgetown.
Nothing beats the morning commute. Check out this picture:
It’s about 6:30 in the morning, before the clocks changed, about a block from my house. I’m headed toward the left to the train station, and on the day I took this picture, I walked past the construction van I see every day that is working on one of the row houses that line that block. I happened to glance inside the van, where the driver sat, strumming his electric guitar. It was so great – I was not expecting it.
I’ve read twenty books so far – the most since 2020 when I stuck inside the house, work was scarce, and the seeds of what would eventually be Okay History were being planted. It’s a little embarrassing to admit that I mostly read articles, especially those on the Substack platform, but I’m happy to get back into the habit of reading novels and nonfiction.
I’m mentioning this because I think I’ll include a section in the MMN highlighting books I have read recently. If there are no objections, I’ll begin those in earnest next year.
Anonymous, Blue, and I will be driving down to Florida for Thanksgiving, beginning early tomorrow morning. I need to take the rest of the week off because I’ll be working on a mix of work-work, family work, and other personal projects. So there will be no Friday essay.
But I will be back on December 1.
I hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. If politics is still an issue in family gatherings, feel free to reference my suggestions from a year ago. I’m certain they still apply.
Either way, remember we do have a lot to be thankful for. It goes without saying how thankful I am for your support of Okay History and the work we share.
I’ll see you soon!
Okay,
Chris
