History on the Road's
Monroe Doctrine
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You're seeing right. That's Marilyn Monroe holding up a portrait of Abraham Lincoln. He's clean-shaven and determined -- she's got an exposed midriff and a come-hither look. They're not just in Hollywood -- they're in a Cadillac in Hollywood. It seems that Ms Monroe's admiration for Lincoln was less secretive than was hers for JFK. Still, owing to greatness, power, melancholia, bad marriage, freeing slaves, inflaming passions, drug abuse, showing up late on film sets, running with the Rat Pack and saving the Union (we’ll let you sort out who did what) -- Honest Abe and Norma Jean each had plenty to keep under wraps.
Not that either was all that inclined to. Of secrets, Marilyn said there are "certain kinds I'd like to let the whole world in on.” Had he actually been in that '56 Eldorado, Lincoln might've chimed in with his quip that secrets are things "we give to others to keep for us." However, imagining the kinds of intrigues to which the Rail Splitter and his actress admirer were privy, the best advice on the subject comes from Ben Franklin, who observed that three people can safely keep a secret -- "if two of them are dead."
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Huzzah that, Newton of Electricity.
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The History on the Road TV series is about American history. It's also on the road. Beyond that, the program contains a proprietary hook, a peculiar angle, a secret sauce that makes its format unique in the history of portraying history. Having received the support of a PBS-affiliate as the "presenting station" for its national broadcast over the public television network, its producers are now seeking underwriters for the series. For all those interested in sponsoring History on the Road it is, of course, an open book. While there's much to be read about the series in these pages, in time, all will be revealed. Just now, however, we must heed Franklin's advice on the matter.
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Think of it as History on the Road's "Monroe Doctrine."
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We hope you understand the need for this. In the battle for ideas, it’s Bleeding Kansas out there in TV Land. *
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* In today's politically charged atmosphere, portrayals of U.S. history have often become the equivalent of a sweating stick of dynamite. Even so -- as the curious ways the American past persist into the American present lie at the heart of History on the Road, coverage touching upon such controversies will invariably arise. Please note that the series will never knowingly take sides in these debates, its aim being to hew closely to its past-in-the-present goal.
Copyright Alan Wellikoff All Rights Reserved