partner

A Brief History of the Theory Trump and Barr Use to Resist Congressional Oversight

Is Trump's power as president becoming just what the Founders feared?

Republicans and Democrats Are Describing Two Different Constitutions

Conservatives and liberals both cite the nation’s charter, but they’re not talking about the same parts of it.
Illustration of Peurifoy and others attempting to find homosexuals within the federal government.

The Homophobic Hysteria of the Lavender Scare

Despite a thriving queer community in Washington, the 1950s State Department fired gay and lesbian workers en masse.

The Surprising Origins of 'Medicare for All'

It was the original idea behind Medicare itself.

The Hidden Power Behind D-Day

Admiral William D. Leahy was instrumental in bringing the Allies together to agree upon the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe.

The Making of the Military-Intellectual Complex

Why is U.S. foreign policy dominated by an unelected, often reckless cohort of “the best and the brightest”?

Fear and Loathing of the Green New Deal

What the backlash to the emergency legislation reveals about the age-old pathologies of the right.

Surrender in the American Civil War

During the Civil War, surrendering was an honorable way of accepting defeat — under the right circumstances.

A Parade of Imperial Presidencies

Trump is just the latest in a long line of executives to stiff-arm the Constitution and ignore congressional powers.
Andrew Johnson impeachment proceedings in the House chamber.

A National Debate Over Politics, Principles and Impeachment — in 1868

Was the impeachment of Andrew Johnson a matter of national principles? Or an affair of pragmatic politics?

Julius Scott’s Epic About Black Resistance in the Age of Revolution

"The Common Wind" covers the radical world of black mariners, rebels, and runaways banding together to realize their freedom.

The Political Odyssey of Sean Wilentz

How one of America's original Bernie Bros became an outspoken critic of the left.
Demonstrators hold a painting of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump outside a Trump rally in Phoenix, Arizona, August 22, 2017.

Democracy and Its Discontents

A consideration of four recent books that attempt to contend with the rise of Trumpism at home and abroad.
A man putting a ballot into a ballot box during a 1938 Arkansas ballot referendum.

How to Change Policy Without Politicians

As Arkansas politics becomes more conservative, voters are using the ballot for progressive ends.

Joe Biden's Audacity of Grief

On the mournful threads connecting his half-century in politics.

Inside the Long War to Protect Plastic

Single-use plastic is clogging oceans and landfills. The plastic industry has waged a decades-long campaign to keep it selling it.

Now You See It, Now You Don't

On the danger that the US government's habit of redacting official documents poses to democracy.

An Oral History of Trump’s Bigotry

His racism and intolerance have always been in evidence; only slowly did he begin to understand how to use them to his advantage.
John Lewis Krimmel's painting, "Election Day in Philadelphia" (1815).

Mapping the First Party System

Introducing a new digital history project focused on the ways Americans voted from 1788 to 1825.

Antislavery Wasn’t Mainstream, Until It Was

After Republicans lost their first election in 1856, Democrats declared slavery opposition radical and fringe. Then came 1860.

Women’s Issues Within Political Party Platforms

Every four years, political parties document their positions in written platforms. How often do women's issues appear in the text?
Andrew Johnson

The Author of a New Book About Andrew Johnson on the Right Reasons to Impeach a President

Johnson’s impeachment was driven by his refusal to rid the country of the lingering effects of slavery.
Bernie Sanders

The Transformation of Bernie Sanders

How the Vermont senator went from a third-party independent to a 2020 frontrunner.

wE’rE a rEPuBLiC nOt A dEMoCRacY

A political usage guide for a feckless commentariat.

The Forgotten History of How Abraham Lincoln Helped Rig the Senate for Republicans

The Great Emancipator has a lesson for today's Democrats about how to play constitutional hardball.

Here’s How Deep Biden’s Busing Problem Runs

And why the Democrats can’t use it against him.
Banner of George Washington on a stage with nazi symbols and the American flag

Nazis Rallied at Madison Square Garden

A chilling raw feed of an infamous event. 
Collage of old political cartoons related to the question of women's suffrage.

Massachusetts Debates a Woman’s Right to Vote

A brief history of the Massachusetts suffrage movement, and it's opposition, told through images of the time.
Image of the front cover of "The Republican Reversal: Conservatives and the Environment from Nixon to Trump."

Conservatives Before and After Earth Day

As Republicans denounce climate change as a “hoax” and dismantle the environmental regulatory state they worked to build, we are left to wonder: What happened?
George Washington is depicted in the 1856 painting "George Washington Addressing the Constitutional Convention" by Junius Brutus Stearns.

‘The President Himself May Be Guilty’: Why Pardons Were Hotly Debated By The Founding Fathers

The Mueller report raised the issue the Constitution’s framers feared in 1787: abuse of presidential power.