I write with bittersweet excitement to reveal the new interim editor in chief of Chronicles. As our readers know, Aaron Wolf was to become the editor in chief this year, but passed away suddenly on Easter Sunday. Aaron was an exceptional man and a wonderful, loyal editor for Chronicles, serving the institution for 20 years. Not a day goes by that we don’t miss his grace and intellect.

Nonetheless, Chronicles must “keep coming out,” as Aaron was fond of saying. After many months of searching, we are delighted to announce Dr. Paul Gottfried, a name familiar to Chronicles readers, as our new editor in chief effective Nov. 1, 2019. Edward Welsch, who has done yeoman’s work to keep Chronicles on course, will continue as the executive editor.

Gottfried has been a steadfast intellectual powerhouse for the Old Right for many decades. Just how many? Well, let’s just say that Leopold Tyrmand and John Howard made him one of the original contributors to Chronicles a year before I was born. Paul brings with him bountiful knowledge and wisdom gained from years of study. He joins The Charlemagne Institute and Chronicles magazine from his position as the Raffensperger Professor of Humanities Emeritus at Elizabethtown College, where he taught for 25 years. He is a Guggenheim recipient, a Yale Ph.D., and the author of 13 books, most recently Fascism: The Career of a Concept and Revisions and Dissents. In the first 30 years of Chronicles’ existence he wrote for it more than 150 times.

An exciting new chapter of Chronicles is beginning, and I know that Paul has big plans for the magazine in the coming months and years. In addition, we expect him to help guide the editorial direction of Intellectual Takeout, The Charlemagne Institute’s digital media publication. In doing so, we see a tremendous opportunity to build a cohesive family of publications that will affect the national discourse and draw many new readers to Chronicles. Our young staff are thrilled by the opportunity to work with and learn from Paul as they prepare to take the reins in the continuing culture war.

As for our November number, it’s exceptional. Stephen Presser, our legal affairs editor and one of 19 scholars who advised Congress during Clinton’s impeachment proceeding, gives us key insights into the current impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. The raw use of political power on display in our fiercely divided country is cause for concern.

After reading Piers Shepherd’s piece on the Spanish Civil War, you may find yourself even more troubled by the current situation in the U.S. Shepherd provides fascinating detail about the Civil War and the atrocities committed by the communists, illuminating what that conflict represented to our civilization and its disturbing parallels to contemporary America.

Wayne Allensworth beautifully reexamines the film The Deer Hunter on its 40th anniversary. He draws our attention to the film’s poetic exploration of the bonds of ritual, religion, friendship, and kinship, and how they help us endure the trials of life. And alas, Joe Ecclesia, in his “Letter to the Bishop,” reminds Catholics of how much the current Church leadership seems to have abandoned some of those vital bonds.

For the history buffs we have two book reviews that dig into America’s past, one covering Boston’s unique position in history, while the other examines the early period of the American Revolution and its prelude. Srdja Trifkovic recognizes the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in his column, and wisely hopes for President Trump’s success in ending the globalist-interventionist mindset that has continued to gain strength even after its raison d’être disappeared.

And, of course, we are treated to the wit of Mark Brennan and Taki Theodoracopulos, whose penetrating writing always gives readers a reason to chuckle, if not laugh out loud. There is plenty more brilliant writing inside this issue, including two compelling correspondence pieces exploring crime in Ohio and religious discrimination in Saudi Arabia. I hope you enjoy it!