inaugurations

While Herbert Hoover was deeply critical of his successor, he put aside his differences to ensure the peaceful and democratic transition of power.

When poetry met power in January, 1961.

An hour of stories about a few high-stakes inaugurations from the past.

John F. Kennedy's 1961 inaugural address remains one of the most famous presidential speeches.

Jefferson and his connection to partisanship in early America.

Horseback travel time is only part of the story.

The Trump Administration has clamored for a military parade. What are the origins of tank-led celebrations?

Dwight Eisenhower did more in his first hundred days than change laws—he changed a culture.

Twenty-one historians explain which moments in history are closest to the Trump election - and what we can learn.

The untold story of the Wide Awakes, the young Americans who took up the torch for their antislavery cause and stirred the nation.

Early Americans conscripted the universe into their nation-building project.

A breakdown of how Woody Guthrie's hit song "This Land" has evolved over time.

The residence staff, many of whom have worked there for decades, balance their service of the First Family with their long-term loyalty to the house itself.

History is asking only one question right now as Trump refuses to concede. Will the Republicans decide they are no longer an American political party?

Biden will take over a country facing myriad challenges. And Trump's lame-duck period could be one of the most treacherous in American history.

A Trump-Biden transition is sure to be scary. But it’d be hard to beat Buchanan-Lincoln.

Lessons from 1800.

What the battle between Herbert Hoover and FDR can teach us.

Joyce Chaplin on the malevolence of American goodwill.

Washington may be the only city on Earth that lobbied itself into existence.