The Rulers of the Realm

The course follows American elites and covert power from the Gilded Age through two world wars, the Cold War and Cuba, the creation of the CIA and the JFK assassination, the Nixon years and Iran-Contra. A central lecture walks through Danny’s 1963 flow chart, shown below.

For the case Danny brought against the covert network behind the Contra supply operation, see Avirgan v. Hull.

Lectures

1. Introduction: the 2016 election and the moment Americans are in (March 29, 2016)
2. Election predictions (March 31, 2016)
3. The end of the Cold War (April 5, 2016)
4. The Bush elections and the Middle East (April 7, 2016)
5. The robber baron era (April 12, 2016)
6. Imperialism and labor unrest (April 19, 2016)
7. From World War I to World War II (April 21, 2016)
8. Covert and lesser-known U.S. actions during and after World War II (April 26, 2016)
9. Cuba, the United States and Russia, 1945 to 1963 (April 28, 2016)
10. Elites, the creation of the CIA, the Mafia and Cuba (May 3, 2016)
11. JFK, Cuba and the CIA (May 5, 2016)
12. CIA funding, the Anderson Trust and JFK (May 10, 2016)
13. The 1963 flow chart (May 12, 2016)
14. The JFK assassination (May 17, 2016)
15. After JFK: Robert Kennedy and Nixon (May 24, 2016)
16. The CIA in the 1970s and 1980s, Iran-Contra and the 2016 primaries (May 26, 2016)
17. Jimmy Carter, the Bushes and oil, elections and climate change (May 31, 2016)
18. Becoming disillusioned and doing something about it (June 2, 2016)

Course materials by Danny Sheehan

• Course syllabus (PDF)
• Paradigm Politics, excerpt on the end of the Cold War (pp. 73 to 114) (PDF)

Related

• The JFK assassination (2013)
• Avirgan v. Hull and Iran-Contra
• All lectures