When I started teaching at Dartmouth in 2010, I was surprised to learn that most of my workshop course of 12 didn't know who LBJ was & had only the vaguest sense of what or when the US war in Vietnam had been. And yet, weirdly, most knew about the rabbit that tried to kill Jimmy Carter. - ThreadSky

jeffsharlet.bsky.social • 60 days ago

When I started teaching at Dartmouth in 2010, I was surprised to learn that most of my workshop course of 12 didn't know who LBJ was & had only the vaguest sense of what or when the US war in Vietnam had been. And yet, weirdly, most knew about the rabbit that tried to kill Jimmy Carter.

Comments

kurtweldon.bsky.social•60 days ago

commonfence.bsky.social•60 days ago

Why do you think Trump said out loud what all Republicans think, "I love the uneducated!"

hidinginalabama.bsky.social•60 days ago

So I have a degree in history, can talk about LBJ and the Vietnam War, *and* was born and raised in GA, but had never heard the rabbit story! That’s so wild!

guydemoeres.bsky.social•60 days ago

I was only 13 at the time. I have vague memory of the rabbit story.

hidinginalabama.bsky.social•60 days ago

In my defense, I wasn’t born! But the original post was about college students in 2010 and I was long out of college by then.

melissjpeltier.bsky.social•60 days ago

I was late teens during Carter’s term & never heard the rabbit story either!

doclynn.bsky.social•60 days ago

I was an undergrad, and oh that rabbit story was big. It was used by the bad guys as a way to make Carter look weak.

prosediva.bsky.social•60 days ago

I’m 150 years old, and I’ve never heard this story.

justinhigdon.bsky.social•60 days ago

That seems...ominous, somehow.
I listen to the LBJ telephone tapes for fun sometimes, and I was completely lost by the reference to the rabbit story made by The Onion.

justinhigdon.bsky.social•59 days ago

Hey, Jeff. Have you ever heard the term "algorithm brain" used to describe what happens to people who let the YouTube algorithm lead them around by the nose? I googled it and it seems like nobody has coined that term yet, startlingly...

secretkeepingpro.bsky.social•60 days ago

That’s where I went wrong in my Ivy applications! I know LBJ and the Vietnam War, not Carter-killing rabbits.

worldcitizen1994.bsky.social•60 days ago

That's what happens after high schools quit teaching civics.

recombobulating.bsky.social•60 days ago

Civics is still taught? The issue seems to be more that the content hasn't been updated much.

worldcitizen1994.bsky.social•60 days ago

Could be the case as well.

dennispcrawford.bsky.social•60 days ago

Those students probably forgot about Trump's first term and voted for him because eggs were too expensive.

jeffsharlet.bsky.social•60 days ago

Nope.

kportldy.bsky.social•60 days ago

Ronald Reagan had prior knowledge about the covert plan to delay the release of hostages to boost his chances of being elected.Reagan was aware of the behind-the-scenes machinations that might have secured his presidency. Rachel Maddow covered this on MSNBC.

leohorishny.bsky.social•60 days ago

That rabbit’s dynamite!!!

leohorishny.bsky.social•60 days ago

Is LBJ now as hidden history as is Julia Chinn? I hope not. 🤨

https://www.magbloom.com/2021/04/the-vice-presidents-black-wife-new-book-by-iu-history-professor/

leohorishny.bsky.social•60 days ago

Sad, but only a little surprising. 🫤

potrzebiesystem.bsky.social•60 days ago

Well that’s random af

zclaude.bsky.social•60 days ago

I started college in 2013 and I know a bit about LBJ but I have no idea what this thing with the rabbit is. Isn't that a bit from Monty Python?

americantype.bsky.social•60 days ago

I taught a senior capstone seminar in a subject where Marxist/Post Marxist theory is prevalent in the discourse and the students did not know who Karl Marx was.

kurtweldon.bsky.social•60 days ago

Not quite as appalling, but I had a coworker who only knew about the EPA from Ghostbusters.

leohorishny.bsky.social•60 days ago

kevincarson1.bsky.social•59 days ago

That dickless guy is very memorable

agelessfashionista.bsky.social•60 days ago

Wow that’s bad.

klaxoncomms.com•60 days ago

I did not know the rabbit story! (Just googled it.) Also discovered that The Onion's headline about Carter's death referenced the rabbit story: https://theonion.com/48-year-old-rabbit-finally-finishes-the-job/

misterplutocrat.bsky.social•60 days ago

They never miss!!!

klaxoncomms.com•60 days ago

If anyone doesn't know the story: Carter was fishing and saw an agitated rabbit swimming nearby. He told the story as a joke; the press ran with it as a 'killer rabbit tries to attack president!!!!' story. The WH refused to release the photos while Carter was in office, but Reagan's WH did.

nancymittens.bsky.social•60 days ago

That rabbit is headed away from Mr. Carter.

zetm.bsky.social•60 days ago

One doesn't make it to 100 yrs old coming from a rural background and be afraid of an angry rabbit.

smintheus.bsky.social•60 days ago

It's pretty basic to keep clear of animals behaving like they have rabies.

smullins3000.bsky.social•60 days ago

This is the correct take. A wild animal doing something bizarre that they don't usually do is a big, bright red flag.

klaxoncomms.com•60 days ago

(All info and photos from Wikipedia.)

jeffmariotte.bsky.social•60 days ago

It's a good thing Carter had experience in the US Navy, or the rabbit might have won.

rattmathkamp.bsky.social•60 days ago

I remember running out of time to do recent history. We'd start at Jamestown or whatever and by the time we got to WWII, the year was basically over.

rubytuesday72.bsky.social•60 days ago

Isn't Dartmouth one of the Ivy League universities? How do you get accepted to Dartmouth without knowing who LBJ was?

freshrosebud24.bsky.social•60 days ago

Good point

jeffsharlet.bsky.social•60 days ago

Ask George W. Bush. And not because he got into Yale on his name alone, but because he gave us a massive acceleration of our idiot teach-to-the-test score arms race.

queercassandra.bsky.social•60 days ago

I only know the rabbit story because Arlo Guthrie made the audience sing a song about it at his concert. 🎶I don’t want a bunny wunny in a little row boat, in a little row boat in a pond, ‘cuz the bunny might be cwazy and he bite me in the thwoat, in a little row boat in a pond. 🎶

queercassandra.bsky.social•60 days ago

We finished the first time through and Arlo says, “That was terrible.” He made us sing it like 3 times until he was satisfied.

deaconacc.bsky.social•60 days ago

My favorite editorial cartoon is Carter as Elmer Fudd saying, "It was a wabbit! A cwazy, cwazy wabbit!"

akrazia.bsky.social•60 days ago

I... what happened now??

pauletteparis1.bsky.social•60 days ago

Wow!

zpaudio.bsky.social•60 days ago

Carter had many more appearances on The Simpsons.

auroranoemie.bsky.social•60 days ago

So as a mid-millennial, I know a bit on LBJ and Vietnam, but I've never heard about the rabbit. But I do know about Iran and the October surprise!

rainofclones.bsky.social•60 days ago

For an unreliable narrator version of the rabbit story - with a sing-along chorus:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ntuqp6b3QY

wyotitania.bsky.social•60 days ago

I'm always amazed at how much history my kids didn't learn in school. They took deep dives into bits of history, looking at it with a really critical eye. But breadth was sacrificed for depth. Grateful for the critical thinking skills they learned, but their lack of general knowledge shows.

littlestormcloud.bsky.social•60 days ago

As someone with a similar history education in high school with similar results -- 2 years of AP US Hist and never got to Vietnam-- I prefer the critical thinking skills approach. I can, and have, gone on to look up historic facts on my own.

edlouistaylor.bsky.social•60 days ago

Oh man the facts feel like they are fading into a distant galactic memory

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