Power

Conservatives love rules about political balance — when they’re in charge.

The surprise vice presidential nomination of Julian Bond suddenly turned the televised discussion to poverty, racism, and war.

With democracy in peril, Du Bois reminds us of the long fight to protect it.

During Watergate, historians helped catalogue accusations made against past Presidents; their findings may be useful again.

Allegations that Nixon beat his wife have circulated for years without serious examination by those who covered his presidency.

The congressman and former slave claimed whites had killed 53,000 African-Americans. Few took him seriously—until now.

Why so many commentators share an overly grim view of America’s fate.

The parallel with Nixon leads to this question: Will voters still hold a president accountable for abuse of power?

The road to the violence around statues is paved with hate, lies, and political gamesmanship.

George Washington knew the perils of letting scandals linger.

Talk about caudillos is always, in reality, a discussion of their followers.

The revolutionaries of 1968 didn't succeed, but the world still needs turning upside down.

Because that moment isn’t quite what we remember.

Economic rationales for schooling are eroding democracy.

“Very fine people”—fathers and husbands, as well as mothers and daughters—have always been central to the work of white supremacy.

A history of denaturalization in the US.

The conservative conspiracy lit that paved the way for Donald Trump.

Black intellectuals in the U.S.—from W. E. B. Du Bois to Marcus Garvey—had strong and divergent opinions on Japanese Empire.

In 1911, the Dillingham Commission set a half-century precedent for screening out 'undesirable' newcomers.

Exploring the last 100 years of women in politics through data.

A look at the Clinton blunders that continue to damage his party today.

From domestic concentration camps to the war on terror.

The trials of Jimmy Carter.

Democrats don’t think America lives up to liberal democratic ideals. Republicans don’t think Americans need to.

Even America's founding document isn't immune to the powers of polarization.

There’s no returning to a golden age of American democracy that never existed.

A review of Stephen Brumwell's most recent book.

A conservative pundit questioned the prevalence of Dixiecrats switching to the GOP. Historian Kevin Kruse accepted the challenge.

The tension between nationalist ambitions and republican principles goes all the way back to our nation’s founding.

Whether it ran smoothly or ground to a halt, the mail offered daily reminders that the hand of war touched every aspect of life.