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How Biden vs. Sanders Echoes a 1964 Republican Party Split

Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden are the icons of an ideological split among today’s Democrats, echoing a similar split in the Republican party of 1964.
Shirley Chisolm
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Losing Primary Candidates Still Influence the Race

What Shirley Chisholm can teach 2020 candidates as they exit.
Presidential candidates after a Democratic primary debate.
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South Carolina May Well Determine Whether Democrats Can Win the Presidency

Winning the South Carolina primary requires exciting a crucial constituency.
An illustration from a book of homes published by a Pennsylvania lumber company in 1920
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The Latent Racism of the Better Homes in America Program

How Better Homes in America—a collaboration between Herbert Hoover and the editor of a conservative women’s magazine—promoted idealized whiteness.

Slavery Was Defeated Through Mass Politics

The overthrow of slavery in the US was a battle waged and won in the field of democratic mass politics; a battle that holds enormous lessons for radicals today.
George McGovern surrounded by anti-Vietnam War protesters.

Bernie Sanders Is George McGovern

The similarities between 2020 and 1972 are too astonishing to ignore. But there’s one big difference.

The Tyranny of the Minority, from Iowa Caucus to Electoral College

The problem of minority rule isn’t Trumpian or temporary; it’s bipartisan and enduring.
A drawing in the style of a 1980s video game of shooting at rainbows.

Jesse Jackson’s Political Revolution

Before Bernie Bros vs. the DNC, there was Jesse Jackson vs. the Atari Democrats.
Portrait of George Washington in his military uniform.

The Gun Guy and Illegal Militia Founder Who Became President: George Washington

Our first President understood that armed citizens are essential to American freedom.
Painting of George Washington on his death bed, surrounded by family and friends.

The Myth of George Washington’s Post-Presidency

When Washington left the presidency, he didn’t really leave politics at all.

Lincoln’s Forgotten Legacy as America’s First ‘Green President’

Lincoln protected thousands of acres of California forest and wanted to restore the nation’s battle-ravaged countryside before he was assassinated.
Watercolor of Abraham Lincoln with soldiers in swirls of red across his face.

Abraham Lincoln’s Radical Moderation

What the president understood that the zealous Republican reformers in Congress didn’t.

A Post-Mortem

A look at the impeachment of Warren Hastings and the nature of American power.
Illustration of Lincoln consulting with military figures in a tent.

Did Lincoln Really Matter?

What the Civil War tells us about who has the power to shape history.
Victoria Woodhull speaks as the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives receives a group of female suffragists, January 11, 1871

The Scandalous and Pioneering Victoria Woodhull

The first woman to run for president was infamous in her day.

The Shameful Final Grievance of the Declaration of Independence

The revolution wasn’t only an effort to establish independence from the British—it was also a push to preserve slavery and suppress Native American resistance.
Trump shaking hands with wealthy supporters.

Even the Founding Fathers Couldn’t Envision a President Like Trump

Reflections on Alexander Hamilton, Alexis de Tocqueville, and the power of the presidency.

Slave Hounds and Abolition in the Americas

How dogs permeated slave societies and bolstered European ambitions for colonial expansion and social domination.
Workers among stacks of paper in the U.S. Census Bureau.

100 Years Ago, Congress Threw Out Results of the Census

The results of the 1920 census kicked off a bitter, decadelong political squabble. Could the same happen again in 2020?
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Why the Iowa Caucuses May Elevate an Underdog

History shows that this blockbuster event is merely a test of organizational strength in one small state.
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A Century of Reforms Made Iowa and New Hampshire Presidential Kingmakers

But did they backfire?
Alan Dershowitz
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Trump’s Attorneys Have Butchered a Crucial Founder’s Take on Impeachment

Gouverneur Morris’s views changed during the Constitutional Convention — setting a good example for senators today.
The seven members of Congress who managed the 1968 impeachment.

Is Impeachment Only About Getting a Conviction?

A new history of Andrew Johnson’s trial reminds us the impeachment is a tool to constrain executive abuse of power and publicize dissent on matters of policy.
Photograph of Michael Lind wearing a blazer and tie.

Michael Lind on Reviving Democracy

To fix things, we must acknowledge the nature of the problem.
Silhouetted soldiers with guns in the street at night

The Imperial History of US Policing: An Interview with Stuart Schrader

Dan Berger interviews Stuart Schrader about his new book on US imperialism.
Statue of Liberty melting.

The Last Time Democracy Almost Died

By examining the upheaval of the nineteen-thirties, we can recognize similarities between today and democracy's last near-death experience.
Congress in session.
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Why Impeachment Was the Answer to 17th-Century Tyranny

Charles I was charged with high treason, waging war against his people and conspiring to deprive them of their rights and liberties.

This Is Not the Senate the Framers Imagined

The Constitution originally provided for the selection of senators by state legislatures, but the 17th Amendment changed that, and with it, the Senate itself.

Ronald Reagan’s “October Surprise” Plot Was Real After All

A batch of quietly released documents confirms what many have long suspected.
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Jimmy Carter and The Myth That Gave the Iowa Caucuses Their Political Power

What does winning in Iowa really mean?