It was reported yesterday by Tom LoBianco (via The Huffington Post) that while Governor of Indiana, “Mitch Daniels Sought to Censor Public Universities, Professors.” Daniels, now president of Purdue University, wanted to ban Howard Zinn‘s seminal A People’s History of the United States: 1492-Present (1980). In emails obtained by the Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act, we know that Daniels wrote the following about Zinn and his classic study of US history:

This terrible anti-American academic has finally passed away,” Daniels wrote. “The obits and commentaries mentioned his book, `A People’s History of the United States,’ is the `textbook of choice in high schools and colleges around the country.’ It is a truly execrable, anti-factual piece of disinformation that misstates American history on every page. Can someone assure me that it is not in use anywhere in Indiana? If it is, how do we get rid of it before more young people are force-fed a totally false version of our history?

Wow.