What do you think?
Rate this book
American Minute
Notable Events of American Significance Remembered on the Date They Occurred. An interesting and inspiring collection of history vingettes, one for each day of the year. Well-known national holidays and achievements are recalled in fascinating detail as well as little known facts of courage, sacrifice and captivating American trivia. A great gift for any journalist, teacher, student, radio host, politician, or avid history buff! A book you won't want to put down!
416 pages, Paperback
First published May 3, 2003
2 people are currently reading
86 people want to read
About the author
William J. Federer
26 books55 followersWilliam J. Federer is a nationally recognized speaker, best-selling author, and president of Amerisearch, Inc., a publishing company focused on America's heritage. His "American Minute" radio feature airs daily nationwide, and his television program "Faith in History" broadcasts on the TCT Network and DirecTV.
A former U.S. Congressional candidate, Bill has appeared on major media outlets such as CSPAN, FOX, NPR, TBN, MSNBC, NewsMax, OAN, and Real America's Voice. He has been featured on shows like Hannity, The O’Reilly Factor, The Eric Metaxas Show, Prager U, and others. On radio, he has been interviewed by Focus on the Family, Salem Radio Network, USA Radio Network, and numerous other programs.
Bill’s writing has been quoted in USA Today, The New York Times, Washington Times, Washington Post, and WorldNetDaily, among others. His book America's God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations has sold over half a million copies and remains widely cited. Other titles by Bill include Change to Chains, Socialism: The Real History from Plato to the Present, The Ten Commandments and Their Influence on American Law, George Washington Carver: His Life & Faith In His Own Words, and What Every American Needs to Know About the Qur'an.
Bill has spoken extensively across the U.S. at political conventions, military bases, universities, high schools, churches, and national landmarks like Mount Rushmore and the Lincoln Memorial. His audiences have included Congress members, military officers, students, and civic organizations.
Honored for his contributions to history and public service, Bill has received an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from American Christian College and an Honorary Doctorate of Global Leadership from Midwest University. Other awards include the George Washington Honor Medal by the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge and the National Association of Christian Lawmakers' Lifetime Achievement Award.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Bill graduated from St. Louis University High School and earned his business degree from St. Louis University. He is the fifth of eleven children and married his wife Susie in 1981. Bill has worked in real estate, oil & gas, and religious organizations and is an original signer of the Manhattan Declaration.
In politics, Bill’s Congressional campaigns in 2000 and 2004 were notable. Running against Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, Bill mounted one of the most expensive and closely watched races in the nation, setting voting records for a Republican in Missouri’s 3rd District.
A former U.S. Congressional candidate, Bill has appeared on major media outlets such as CSPAN, FOX, NPR, TBN, MSNBC, NewsMax, OAN, and Real America's Voice. He has been featured on shows like Hannity, The O’Reilly Factor, The Eric Metaxas Show, Prager U, and others. On radio, he has been interviewed by Focus on the Family, Salem Radio Network, USA Radio Network, and numerous other programs.
Bill’s writing has been quoted in USA Today, The New York Times, Washington Times, Washington Post, and WorldNetDaily, among others. His book America's God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations has sold over half a million copies and remains widely cited. Other titles by Bill include Change to Chains, Socialism: The Real History from Plato to the Present, The Ten Commandments and Their Influence on American Law, George Washington Carver: His Life & Faith In His Own Words, and What Every American Needs to Know About the Qur'an.
Bill has spoken extensively across the U.S. at political conventions, military bases, universities, high schools, churches, and national landmarks like Mount Rushmore and the Lincoln Memorial. His audiences have included Congress members, military officers, students, and civic organizations.
Honored for his contributions to history and public service, Bill has received an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from American Christian College and an Honorary Doctorate of Global Leadership from Midwest University. Other awards include the George Washington Honor Medal by the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge and the National Association of Christian Lawmakers' Lifetime Achievement Award.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Bill graduated from St. Louis University High School and earned his business degree from St. Louis University. He is the fifth of eleven children and married his wife Susie in 1981. Bill has worked in real estate, oil & gas, and religious organizations and is an original signer of the Manhattan Declaration.
In politics, Bill’s Congressional campaigns in 2000 and 2004 were notable. Running against Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, Bill mounted one of the most expensive and closely watched races in the nation, setting voting records for a Republican in Missouri’s 3rd District.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 21, 2024
As I believe I have mentioned a time or three, I love encyclopedias, dictionaries, almanacs and "compendiums." If a book is A-Z or chronologically arranged, that automatically ups the chances that I'll read it.
And I love history.
So this book, judging from its synopsis, should be right up my alley.
There's nothing really *wrong* with "American Minute"; it's well-written and obviously the author did his research.
But this is a case of "Perfect match, but for someone else."
The synopsis I read was misleading. Once I started to read, I realized the book has An Agenda. Or rather, the author does.
That's fine. I guess it's fine. It's very hard for a writer, of fiction or nonfiction, to keep his own opinions completely out of his writing.
But this book is heavy-handed with its message. Its message of "The Right is right" and "God bless America" is grating and overplayed and has already been done to death in all media for as long as I can remember. The author's viewpoint and beliefs are not nearly as rare or as endangered as he seems to think they are. I would venture to say that his particular interest group is one of the most powerful lobbying forces in this country.
And the vignettes themselves are often overshadowed by the Message. He cherry-picks quotes to fit his agenda, and since the stories themselves are necessarily short, there is no real possibility for him or the reader to see the complexity and nuance in each.
I wrote a hatchet-job review of another "book of days" history book, "On This Day in History, Sh** Happened" and I'm sorry to say that while the two books are stylistically and ideologically poles apart, they share some of the same shortcomings.
Both authors are either preaching (and in Federer's case, preaching is the right word for it) to the choir or to the inconvertible.
Both books are heavy-handed and repetitive in their messaging.
Both were apparently compiled from previously published works: Federer's from a regular radio broadcast and Fell's from a Facebook series.
And both authors are so focused on their own views that they don't allow the people and events they write about to shine (or stink, as the case may be) for themselves, and this amounts to a lack of courage to give full voice to the subject, warts and all, and a lack of faith in the reader's ability and desire to make up their own mind and see historical figures as the many-faceted, flawed and fascinating people they really are.
"On This Day in History SH** Happened" is thoroughly obnoxious, deliberately written to be obnoxious for the sake of being obnoxious, in a misguided and unsuccessful attempt to be funny.
"American Minute" is written earnestly and very G-rated, and that's why it gets two stars instead of one. I feel some regret rating it so low, because the author's heart was probably in the right place and he'll probably delight other readers. But I must be honest about my own reactions and impressions or what's the point?
Lots of potential, but missed its mark for me.
Sorry it didn't work out between us. It's a bit of me, and it's a bit of you, book.
And I love history.
So this book, judging from its synopsis, should be right up my alley.
There's nothing really *wrong* with "American Minute"; it's well-written and obviously the author did his research.
But this is a case of "Perfect match, but for someone else."
The synopsis I read was misleading. Once I started to read, I realized the book has An Agenda. Or rather, the author does.
That's fine. I guess it's fine. It's very hard for a writer, of fiction or nonfiction, to keep his own opinions completely out of his writing.
But this book is heavy-handed with its message. Its message of "The Right is right" and "God bless America" is grating and overplayed and has already been done to death in all media for as long as I can remember. The author's viewpoint and beliefs are not nearly as rare or as endangered as he seems to think they are. I would venture to say that his particular interest group is one of the most powerful lobbying forces in this country.
And the vignettes themselves are often overshadowed by the Message. He cherry-picks quotes to fit his agenda, and since the stories themselves are necessarily short, there is no real possibility for him or the reader to see the complexity and nuance in each.
I wrote a hatchet-job review of another "book of days" history book, "On This Day in History, Sh** Happened" and I'm sorry to say that while the two books are stylistically and ideologically poles apart, they share some of the same shortcomings.
Both authors are either preaching (and in Federer's case, preaching is the right word for it) to the choir or to the inconvertible.
Both books are heavy-handed and repetitive in their messaging.
Both were apparently compiled from previously published works: Federer's from a regular radio broadcast and Fell's from a Facebook series.
And both authors are so focused on their own views that they don't allow the people and events they write about to shine (or stink, as the case may be) for themselves, and this amounts to a lack of courage to give full voice to the subject, warts and all, and a lack of faith in the reader's ability and desire to make up their own mind and see historical figures as the many-faceted, flawed and fascinating people they really are.
"On This Day in History SH** Happened" is thoroughly obnoxious, deliberately written to be obnoxious for the sake of being obnoxious, in a misguided and unsuccessful attempt to be funny.
"American Minute" is written earnestly and very G-rated, and that's why it gets two stars instead of one. I feel some regret rating it so low, because the author's heart was probably in the right place and he'll probably delight other readers. But I must be honest about my own reactions and impressions or what's the point?
Lots of potential, but missed its mark for me.
Sorry it didn't work out between us. It's a bit of me, and it's a bit of you, book.
January 26, 2024
This book was pretty good.
June 4, 2013
Our friend Bill Federer is somewhat of a fixture in the St. Louis, MO, area, where we lived for six years. He is a homeschooling father, businesssman, historian, nationally known speaker, radio host, book publisher, and best-selling author, whose first book, America's God and Country: Encyclopedia of Quotations (1996), has sold over a half-million copies. His publishing company, Amerisearch Inc., is dedicated to researching America's noble heritage. He has appeared on numerous television and radio programs and been quoted or referenced in various newspapers and magazines. In addition, he ran as a U. S. Congressional candidate against Minority Leader Dick Gephardt in 1998, 2000. and again in 2004 garnering up to 46% of the vote. Also he has served in the ministry.
I first met Bill back in 2006 when I was the speaker coordinator for the Greater St. Louis Area Home Educators Expo and we arranged for him to speak at our first conference. We had him return in 2010, the last year I served as speaker coordinator. Just recently, our local Tea Party had him come to speak in Salem, IL, where we now live. Our younger son Jeremy helped carry his boxes of books in and out of the hall, so he gave Jeremy a copy of this book. Bill's radio feature, The American Minute, which is broadcast daily across America and by the Internet, summarizes what happened on a certain day in history. It is also sent out as a daily e-mail message. I assume that the contents of American Minute: Notable Events of American Significance Remembered on the Date They Occurred are taken from the archives of the program. The book is an interesting and inspiring collection of history vignettes, one for each day of the year. If you are reading it during a leap year, there is even an entry for Feb. 29.
Well-known national holidays and important achievements are recalled in fascinating detail along with little known facts of courage and sacrifice and other captivating American trivia. In everything, Bill emphasizes the Judaeo-Christian tradition which undergirds our Western culture generally and our American heritage specifically. I was just noticing the entry for my birthday, Jan. 11. That was the date in 1817 of the death of Timothy Dwight, grandson of Jonathan Edwards, chaplain in the Continental Army, member of the first Massachusetts state legislature, and president of Yale, who during his 22 years at the college promoted a religious revival to counteract the deistic “cult of reason” that had enticed the students. He wrote, “Religion and liberty are the meat and drink of the body politic. Withdraw one of them and it dies….If our religion were gone, our state of society would perish with it and nothing would be left worth defending.” How true! The book has a table of “Contents,” which is in actuality an index, and copious “Endnotes” to document everything that is cited.
I first met Bill back in 2006 when I was the speaker coordinator for the Greater St. Louis Area Home Educators Expo and we arranged for him to speak at our first conference. We had him return in 2010, the last year I served as speaker coordinator. Just recently, our local Tea Party had him come to speak in Salem, IL, where we now live. Our younger son Jeremy helped carry his boxes of books in and out of the hall, so he gave Jeremy a copy of this book. Bill's radio feature, The American Minute, which is broadcast daily across America and by the Internet, summarizes what happened on a certain day in history. It is also sent out as a daily e-mail message. I assume that the contents of American Minute: Notable Events of American Significance Remembered on the Date They Occurred are taken from the archives of the program. The book is an interesting and inspiring collection of history vignettes, one for each day of the year. If you are reading it during a leap year, there is even an entry for Feb. 29.
Well-known national holidays and important achievements are recalled in fascinating detail along with little known facts of courage and sacrifice and other captivating American trivia. In everything, Bill emphasizes the Judaeo-Christian tradition which undergirds our Western culture generally and our American heritage specifically. I was just noticing the entry for my birthday, Jan. 11. That was the date in 1817 of the death of Timothy Dwight, grandson of Jonathan Edwards, chaplain in the Continental Army, member of the first Massachusetts state legislature, and president of Yale, who during his 22 years at the college promoted a religious revival to counteract the deistic “cult of reason” that had enticed the students. He wrote, “Religion and liberty are the meat and drink of the body politic. Withdraw one of them and it dies….If our religion were gone, our state of society would perish with it and nothing would be left worth defending.” How true! The book has a table of “Contents,” which is in actuality an index, and copious “Endnotes” to document everything that is cited.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews