article_snippet: Andrew Cayton is a distinguished professor of history at Miami University in Ohio.
article_snippet: Andrew Cayton wrote a book called "The Identity of the American Midwest: Essays on Regional History.
article_snippet: " "The Midwest," Andrew Cayton told me, "has always been a dynamic and diverse place, but that image doesn't fit with what people want to believe.
article_snippet: And, by people, Andrew Cayton means politicians who routinely use the Midwest as code for a place in time that never actually existed: crime-free and populated with hard-working people who all look and worship the same.
article_snippet: Arguing about the Midwest," Andrew Cayton says, "has become arguing about America as a whole.