Ryan LaRochelle
@rlarochelle
Senior Lecturer at the Cohen Institute for Leadership and Public Service at the University of Maine. Writing a book about Bill Cohen and democratic crises in 20th Century America. Views are mine, not my employer's.
I'll admit that I'm a nerd and actually do enjoy spending time with friends and colleagues at conferences. But it's hard to imagine something I would enjoy less than watching a Red Sox game with a bunch of political scientists.
Took advantage of the annual @univpressofkansas.bsky.social sale to pick up a few books for a new project, and finally grab @strickjl.bsky.social's Between Guns and Butter!
I gave a talk at the Bangor Public Library about the vision, values, and contradictions of the Declaration of Independence. The talk was co-sponsored by the Bangor Historical Society, and they brought their Stone Copy of the DOI for folks to view. One of only 48 remaining from the original 200.
This white oak bench came from my wife's grandparents' house. She has fond memories of sitting on it as a child. We've had it for several years and it was clearly in need of some minor repairs and refinishing. I told my wife I'd repair and refinish it for her birthday...in April...of 2025.
Some new additions to the office button collection: Ike, Jimmy Carter, a new LBJ, a new McGovern, and another Bill Cohen!
Great piece by @jonathanbernstein.bsky.social today. Better headlines that point out Trump's lies won't help. No amount of opposition is enough to counter the fact that Trump and the GOP blatantly lie about election integrity every single election. The blame lies with Trump and the party.
Always nice to come across one of Bill Cohen's books of poetry at a vacation rental.
My wife and I made this willow plant stand for our honeysuckle this afternoon. Not perfect, but I'm pretty damn impressed.
Spent a couple days in DC with our Washington summer program, honored a recent alum with a leadership scholarship, and talked a little about my forthcoming William S. Cohen biography with the UMaine Alumni Association. Crazy times in our country, but I always love visiting the nation’s capital.
I didn’t attend my own PhD commencement, but I finally decided to pony up and get Brandeis regalia for this year’s commencement. Congrats to the UMaine class of 2026. Now I’ve got to finish grading…
I was on a student’s honors thesis committee. Her thesis was about the rise of celebrity politicians, and she made 3D printed Oscar statues for all of her committee members!!
Maine is chock full of towns named after countries! There's even a sign in another town with directional markers to all of them!
I mean, the article does in fact say that repression has been a major factor...
Very excited to share that my political biography of William S. Cohen is moving forward with the University Press of Kansas. Cohen was an independent-minded Republican who, at several moments of democratic threat, worked to protect democracy in 20th century America. A few highlights below!
My honors class on “Moral Courage in Uncertain Times,” is studying Bill Cohen’s leadership during Watergate. He was the first Republican on the Judiciary Committee to break with the GOP on impeachment. We have all of his papers here at UMaine, and students spent the class reviewing the materials.
I could grade or work on my book manuscript, but I built a dining table instead.
I've got the unenviable task of taking over as editor of Clio, the APSA Politics and History newsletter after @shamiragelbman.bsky.social made good on her threat to step down 😉 The call for submissions for the Winter 25-26 issue is live. Please be in touch if you're interested in writing something!