A Chronological Journey Through History's Most Influential 'What Is' Works

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Questions can construct movements, but they can also destroy them in seconds. On September 8, 2016, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, running as the Libertarian Party nominee in the United States presidential election, appeared on MSNBC’s morning program Morning Joe. Johnson was polling between 7% and 10% nationally, sitting on the cusp of the 15% threshold required to qualify for the nationally televised presidential debates.

Panelist Mike Barnicle asked a direct foreign policy question: "What would you do, if you were elected, about Aleppo?"

Johnson paused before offering a blank response: "And what is Aleppo?"

Barnicle responded with genuine disbelief: "You're kidding."

At the time, Aleppo was the epicenter of the catastrophic Syrian civil war, with hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped under Russian and Syrian military bombardment. Footage of the five-second exchange spread across digital networks immediately. Editorial boards and political commentators seized on the remark as evidence of fatal foreign policy illiteracy. Johnson’s poll numbers cratered in the weeks that followed, ending any realistic prospect of third-party participation on the debate stage. Three spoken words neutralized months of campaign fundraising and logistical organizing.