The Anti-Communist History Behind 'Loyalty Day'

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President Donald Trump has made it clear from day one that he'd be putting America first in his administration’s policies. So when he announced last week that May 1st would be celebrated nationwide as “Loyalty Day,” many of his critics were quick to attack the declaration as yet another alarming example of the president's nationalism.

But it turns out that the origins of Loyalty Day date back to the anti-communist Red Scare of the 1920s, and it has been an official holiday since the Eisenhower Administration. In recent years, presidents from both ends of the political spectrum have kept the tradition alive.

Nicole Hemmer, an assistant professor in presidential studies at the Miller Center, columnist for Vox.com, and co-host of the podcast Past Present, joins The Takeaway to help place Loyalty Day into a wider historical context.