ABSTRACT
I have given considerable thought to what I should talk about for this Presidential address. One practice in such situations is for the President to discuss some aspect of his own research in his particular area and outline its importance to the field that the Society represents. A second approach is to philosophize, in a “doomsday fashion,” about current threats to the future of research in general and in the field he and the Society represent in particular, or to enthusiastically outline the prospects for continued activity in these areas. A third way is to present a discussion of some unrelated area with appropriate jokes and patter to try to keep the audience less soporific than they usually are after a bustling cocktail hour and a delightful meal. In any case, an afterdinner speech is usually an anticlimax to a pleasant evening, and although most of us are indulgent, we wish the speaker would get on with it so that the bar can be open again. Knowing the latter, and aware that you have had a healthy diet of science in the last few days, I have opted to follow along another route and discuss with you some aspects of what might be considered a hobby, namely my interest in history and, particularly, of 19th century American history.
