History Blog

The U.S. Constitution enshrines the peaceful transfer of power every four years for an incoming administration to lead the executive branch of the federal government. At noon on Monday, January 20, 2025, President Donald J. Trump took the oath of office at the 60th presidential inauguration ceremony in Washington, D.C. Until 1933, there was a four-month lag...

In addition to Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year’s Day, Iowans have another reason to celebrate during the last week of the year. On December 28, 1846, President James K. Polk signed a bill admitting Iowa into the Union.   This year, Iowa will celebrate its 178th birthday. Let’s take a look back at when Iowa became the 29th state.  Iowa has always been a free...

November is National Adoption Month, an opportunity to celebrate the blessings of family amid this season of thanksgiving. Growing the family tree through adoption is a special experience. From family mealtimes, to the homework grind, chore schedules and summer vacations, adoption delivers a priceless gift of hope for children who crave a forever home and...

We celebrate National Farmers Day on October 12, during the height of harvest, to honor the men and women who feed and fuel the world. The dirt underneath my own fingernails, from our 4th generation corn and soybean farm in Northeast Iowa, represents the real-world perspective I bring to Washington’s policymaking tables. A lot of times, that means countering...

When I celebrated my birthday on September 17th growing up on our family farm, I didn’t know I shared the day with Uncle Sam. On that day in 1787, our nation’s founders signed America’s highest law of the land – the Constitution.   While I can’t attribute my interest in government to this coincidence, it nevertheless coincides with my efforts to foster civic...

In 1894, Congress passed legislation to make the first Monday in September a federal holiday honoring the American worker. In recent years, the three-day holiday weekend has marked the unofficial end of summer as families gear up for busy back-to-school routines, football season and the fall harvest in America’s Heartland.  President Grover Cleveland’s...

On August 10, 150 years ago, Herbert Clark Hoover was born in his family’s two-room cottage in West Branch, Iowa. Hoover’s parents were among the village’s early settlers, traveling by covered wagon in search of America’s promise on the prairie. As the only Iowan elected to the White House, Hoover helped put his birthplace on the map. He was elected by a...

Our nation’s founders recognized the merits of blowing the whistle on government wrongdoing. How do we know? On July 30, 1778, the Continental Congress unanimously enacted whistleblower legislation, signaling for future generations that telling the truth is an act of patriotism. The Congress of 1778 wrote:   “It is the duty of all persons in the service of...

Americans this week will observe Independence Day. Growing up, it seemed like the Fourth of July packed a summer of activities into a single day. I looked forward to the annual parade in Cedar Falls and watched fireworks coming from Island Park on the bluff above the Cedar River.   The American flag waved prominently along the parade route and the entire...

This week, we celebrate Flag Day. Seventy-five years ago, Congress designated Flag Day to commemorate the Second Continental Congress adopting the flag resolution during the American Revolution on June 14, 1777: “Resolved, that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be 13 stars, white in a blue field,...

Washington has a chronic budgeting problem.   Before 1974, the congressional budget process was akin to the Wild West. Each committee had free rein of the public purse. No topline number steered appropriators within a fiscal fence. Nothing kept authorizers from tying new mandatory programs to the taxpayers’ saddle.   The Congressional Budget Act of 1974...

By U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley Weeks before the spring warmth began thawing the soil, farmers across Iowa felt the itch to get in the fields. As a lifelong family farmer on our fourth-generation, Northeastern Iowa farm, I know how tempting it is to get a head start on spring planting. I also understand the realities farmers face to weather all kinds of...

During my first term in the U.S. Senate, Congress and the White House tackled what then-House Speaker Tip O’Neill had dubbed the third rail of politics: Social Security. That’s because those who spoke up about Social Security’s finances invariably learned the topic was political kryptonite. But President Ronald Reagan and Speaker O’Neill changed the...

During my first term in the U.S. Senate, Congress established Women’s History Week to recognize the role women play in our nation’s economy, culture and politics. Acknowledging their work, sacrifice, resilience and patriotism inspires future generations to pursue their dreams and strengthens the social fabric of America.    The joint resolution of Congress...

The president shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient. – Article II, Section 3, Clause 1, U.S. Constitution Since George Washington traveled to Federal Hall in New York City to deliver the first annual message to a joint...

Less than one month into the New Year, President Biden’s administration threw allies, energy security and homegrown American jobs under the bus. You might wonder how the White House managed to do that with just the stroke of a pen. At President Biden’s direction, the Department of Energy effectively froze the approval process for American companies to export...