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A map of Georgia's Yazoo land divided between companies.

How the Yazoo Land Scandal Changed American History

Without the now-obscure land investment affair, Georgia might have been a "super state."
by Frank Jacobs via Big Think on April 19, 2021
Annabel Battistella photographed at the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C.

Fanne Foxe, ‘Argentine Firecracker’ at Center of D.C. Sex Scandal, Dies at 84

She ran from the car of a powerful congressman and dove into the Tidal Basin in 1974, generating a splash that would ripple into a political cause celebre.
by Adam Bernstein via Washington Post on February 24, 2021

What Trump Could Learn from America's Long History of Sex Scandals

Too bad Trump isn't a student of history.
by Mark Hay via Vice on March 26, 2018

5 Reasons This Still Isn’t Watergate

Read this before you start printing tickets for an impeachment trial.
by John A. Farrell via Politico Magazine on May 30, 2017

The Search for Donald Trump’s Own Watergate

Some call it "Russiagate," others "Comeygate." What are we really saying when we apply the Nixonian suffix?
by Zachary Jonathan Jacobson via The New Republic on May 16, 2017
Cast of Hamilton take a curtain call.

The Original Attack Dog

James Callender spread scurrilous rumors about Alexander Hamilton and John Adams. Then he turned on Thomas Jefferson, too.
by John Dickerson via Slate on August 9, 2016
Gerry Studds faces reporters outside the U.S. Capitol on July 20, 1983.

Gerry Studds: The Pioneer Gay Congressman Almost Nobody Remembers

His story of coming out was so shrouded in scandal, so drenched in professional embarrassment, that its broader significance may forever be overshadowed.
by Jennifer Bendery, Sam Stein via HuffPost on February 20, 2014
A newspaper article about Warren G. Harding's death.

Commanders-in-Heat VII: Flatline & Spin

The first modern presidential death was also the first medical mystery America refused to let go.
by Alexis Coe via Study Marry Kill on August 2, 2025
An astrology chart by Joan Quiqley.

Hoover Makes Available the Newly Processed Papers of Nancy’s Reagan’s White House Astrologer

How an astrologer's direction steered presidential travel, public appearances, and meetings.
by Jean McElwee Cannon via Hoover Institution on August 1, 2025
James Garfield
partner

A Mere Mass of Error

Two stories from the 19th century about government records being falsified to foment distrust of nonwhite Americans.
by Philip Kadish via HNN on July 8, 2025
Black and white photo of Charles B. Warren from 1924.

The Last Time the Senate Rejected a President's Cabinet Nominee of the Same Party

It hasn't happened for 100 years.
by Simmone Shah via TIME on November 21, 2024

A Hundred-and-Nineteen-Year-Old Book That Explains Eric Adams

A collection of political sermons attributed to a crooked machine boss is a handy reference for New York City’s current political chaos.
by Eric Lach via The New Yorker on October 17, 2024
Political cartoon of a politician with his clothes removed, revealing tattoos showing corruption.
partner

Campaign Missteps: Gaffes on the Trail

How a single phrase or blunder can end up dominating our political discourse.
via Retro Report on September 20, 2024
The signing of the Alaska Purchase Agreement on March 30, 1867.

Russia’s First Secret Influence Campaign: Convincing the U.S. to Buy Alaska

Russia has been peddling influence for a long time, using a playbook that it still uses today.
by Casey Michel via Politico Magazine on September 8, 2024
Senator Robert Menendez walking into court
partner

The Long, Sordid History of Foreign Government Lobbying

The many strategies foreign governments have used to shape American policy in their favor.
by Aaron Coy Moulton via Made By History on May 28, 2024
April 1999 photo of Los Angeles City Council candidate Alex Padilla addressing his supporters in Sylmar.

The Rise and Stumbles of the San Fernando Valley Latino Political Machine

On how Latino political power has changed Los Angeles.
by Gustavo Arellano via Los Angeles Times on February 27, 2024
Picture of William Belknap sitting in a chair.
partner

Mayorkas Almost Became the Second Cabinet Member Impeached. The First Was a Civil War Hero.

Belknap’s downfall was his decision to abuse his authority to appoint “sutlers” or civilian merchants who ran trading posts that served military outposts.
by Melissa August via Made By History on February 6, 2024
Spiro T. Agnew button.

The Wildest Month of the US Presidency, Part I

The Spiro Agnew Edition.
by Garrett M. Graff via Doomsday Scenario on October 10, 2023
President Warren G. Harding against a background of news clippings related to his death.

Why President Warren G. Harding's Sudden Death Sparked Rumors of Murder and Suicide

The commander in chief's unexpected death in office 100 years ago fueled decades of conspiracy theories but was most likely the result of a heart attack.
by Greg Daugherty via Smithsonian on August 1, 2023
CIA director William Colby, left, and President Gerald Ford, right.

How the Murder of a CIA Officer Was Used to Silence the Agency’s Greatest Critic

A new account sheds light on the Ford administration’s war against Sen. Frank Church and his landmark effort to rein in a lawless intelligence community.
by James Risen, Thomas Risen via The Intercept on May 9, 2023
Political cartoon of the Lincoln Administration, reading "Running the 'Machine'", 1864.

Blues, Grays & Greenbacks

How Lincoln's administration financed the Civil War and transformed the nation's decentralized economy into the global juggernaut of the postwar centuries.
by Nicholas Guyatt via New York Review of Books on May 4, 2023
Table of election returns printed in newspaper in 1796.

Collusion, Theft, Violence, and Lies: Lurid Tales of American Elections

1796, the first contested presidential election.
by William Hogeland via Hogeland's Bad History on March 3, 2023
Douglas R. Stringfellow reading a statement before the press.

The Congressman Who ‘Embellished’ His Résumé Long Before George Santos

In the 1950's, Rep. Douglas Stringfellow was a promising young congressman with an incredible World War II story. Then the truth came out.
by Gillian Brockell via Retropolis on December 29, 2022
Donald Trump
partner

Trump’s Call to Suspend the Constitution Betrays the Lawlessness of Law and Order

Trump champions “law and order” while calling for the Constitution’s suspension. But there’s no tension between the two.
by Lawrence B. Glickman via Made By History on December 15, 2022
Store window selling shirts and ties mentioning the "Nixon Squeeze"

The Burglaries Were Never the Story

The historical insights of one era have been lost to the journalistic instincts of another.
by Andrew Yamakawa Elrod via n+1 on July 13, 2022
Richard Nixon giving a speech

Why We’re Still Obsessed With Watergate

The reasons that Nixon’s scandal endures when other presidents’ disgraces have not.
by David Greenberg via Politico Magazine on June 19, 2022
Richard Nixon, Pat Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Betty Ford walking away from White House

Regime Change, American Style

A new book about Watergate is the first to stress how much we still do not know many of the basic facts about the burglary at its center.
by Christopher Caldwell via First Things on May 20, 2022
Eartha Kitt engaged in conversation with Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House

When Eartha Kitt Disrupted the Ladies Who Lunch

The documentary short “Catwoman vs. the White House” reconstructs an unexpected moment of activism during the Vietnam War.
by Scott Calonico, Lauren Elyse Garcia via The New Yorker on February 16, 2022
the contra military group

Reagan and the Iran-Contra Affair

Reagan's commitment to deregulation, aggressive military spending, and diminished oversight created a cocktail of corruption that was worse than Watergate.
by Jeremi Suri via American Heritage on February 1, 2021
Portrait of Martin Delany in uniform

The Organizer’s Mind of Martin Delany

Why did the man known as the “father of Black nationalism” defect to the Democratic Party during Reconstruction?
by Andrew Donnelly via Insurrect! on January 4, 2021
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