Right Side of History: Americans Have Always Been Fighting About Tariffs

“The Right Side of History” is a podcast dedicated to exploring current events through a historical lens and busting left-wing myths about figures and events of America’s past.

On this week’s episode, hosts Jarrett Stepman, a contributor to The Daily Signal, and Fred Lucas, The Daily Signal’s White House correspondent, discuss the long and contentious history of trade, tariffs, and protectionism in American history. Founding Father Alexander Hamilton was the first major proponent of tariffs, but many others followed in his wake. One particularly contentious debate over the “Tariff of Abominations” in the 1830s nearly brought the country to war.

This issue has come up again as President Donald Trump proposed steel tariffs, drawing criticism from conservative allies and sparking the debate about the future of conservative ideas.

Stepman and Lucas also discuss the legacy of perhaps the greatest advocate of conservatism in the 20th century, William F. Buckley, who died 10 years ago. To talk about this topic, they brought on Daily Signal Editor-in-Chief Rob Bluey, who spoke about a recent panel at The Heritage Foundation in which Buckley’s life and the future of his ideas were discussed by conservative leaders.