Allan Lichtman
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Allan Jay Lichtman (born April 4, 1947) is an American political historian who teaches at American University in Washington, D.C. He ran in the 2006 Maryland senate race for the seat vacated by Paul Sarbanes.
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[edit] Early life, education, and family
Lichtman was born in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City. He received his B.A. degree from Brandeis University in History in 1967, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude while also running track and wrestling for the school. Lichtman received his Ph.D. from Harvard University as a Graduate Prize Fellow in 1973, also in history.
[edit] Educational career
Lichtman began teaching at American University in 1973, rising to chair of the History Department, and was named Scholar/Professor of the Year in 1993.
Outside of the classroom, Lichtman has testified as an expert witness on civil rights in more than 70 cases for the U.S. Department of Justice and for civil rights groups such as the NAACP, the Mexican-American and Puerto Rican American Legal Defense and Education Funds, and the Southern Poverty Law Center. He also consulted for Vice President Al Gore and Senator Edward Kennedy. He assisted the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights investigation into voting irregularities in Florida during the 2000 election[1], submitting an extensive report of his statistical analysis of balloting problems. Lichtman concluded "there were major racial disparities in ballot rejection rates".[2]
[edit] Awards and honors
Lichtman has received numerous awards at American University during his career. Most notably, he was named Outstanding Scholar/Teacher for 1992-93, the highest faculty award at that school. Other honors include:
- Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Visiting Scholar, California Institute of Technology, 1980-81
- Top Speaker Award, National Convention of the International Platform Association, 1983, 1984, 1987
- Selected by the Teaching Company as one of America's "Super Star Teachers"
[edit] Author and commentator
Lichtman is the author or co-author of six books and more than 100 articles. He is best known for the "Keys" system, presented in his books The Thirteen Keys to the Presidency and The Keys to the White House. The system uses thirteen historical factors to predict whether or not the popular vote in the election for President of the United States will be won by the candidate of the party holding the presidency (regardless of whether the President is the candidate). The keys were selected based on their correlations with the presidential election results from 1860 through 1980, using statistical methods adapted from the work of geophysicist Vladimir Keilis-Borok for predicting earthquakes. The system then correctly predicted the popular vote winner in each of the elections of 1984 through 2004.
Lichtman has provided commentary for all networks and cable channels. He was the regular political analyst for CNN Headline News. He is also a fifteen-year columnist for Maryland’s Journal and Gazette newspapers. He has lectured across the world and been cited hundreds of times by leading newspapers, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Baltimore Sun.
[edit] 2006 Maryland Senate race
On September 28, 2005, Lichtman formally announced his candidacy for the United States Senate from Maryland. He ran as a progressive, opposing the War in Iraq and calling for an immediate and safe withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Lichtman used innovative approaches to reach voters and supporters during the campaign including MySpace and a web ad where he jumped in a lake. When he and other candidates were not invited by the League of Women Voters to a debate, Lichtman went to the Maryland Public Television studio and protested; he, his wife, and campaign volunteer Gail Dobson were arrested.[3][4] On October 19th, 2006, the three were found Not Guilty on all charges.
Lichtman lost in the primary to Ben Cardin. According to the final tally, he received 6,919, or 1.2% of the vote, landing him in 6th place in a field of 18.
[edit] Books
- Historians And The Living Past: The Theory And Practice Of Historical Study (Arlington Heights, Ill.: Harlan Davidson, Inc., 1978; With Valerie French)
- Ecological Inference (With Laura Irwin Langbein, Sage Series In Quantitative Applications In The Social Sciences, 1978)
- Your Family History: How To Use Oral History, Personal Family Archives, And Public Documents To Discover Your Heritage (New York: Random House, 1978)
- Prejudice And The Old Politics: The Presidential Election Of 1928 (Chapel Hill: University Of North Carolina Press, 1979; Lexington Books, 2000)
- Kin And Communities: Families In America (Edited, With Joan Challinor, Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Press, 1979)
- The Thirteen Keys To The Presidency (Lanham: Madison Books, 1990, With Ken Decell) ISBN 978-0819170088
- The Keys To The White House, 1996 Edition (Lanham: Madison Books, 1996; reprint, Lexington Books Edition, 2000) ISBN 978-0739101797
- White Protestant America: The Rise Of The Modern American Right, Grove/Atlantic Press, in progress. ISBN 978-0871139849
[edit] References
- ^ Voting Irregularities in Florida During the 2000 Presidential Election. U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (June 2001). Retrieved on 2006-09-27.
- ^ Supplemental Report on the Racial Impact of the Rejection of Ballots Cast in Florida’s 2000 Presidential Election and in Response to the Statement of the Dissenting Commissioners and Report by Dr. John Lott Submitted to the United States Senate Committee on Rules in July 2001. U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (July 2001). Retrieved on 2006-09-27.
- ^ Stephanie Desmon. "Excluded Candidates Cry Foul on Debate", Baltimore Sun, August 31, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-09-07.
- ^ Anti-Crazy Bias Rears Its Ugly Head. Wonkette (September 1, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-09-07.
