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Image of classified documents and Russia and US leaders shaking hands.

A Newly Declassified Memo Sheds Light on America’s Post-Cold War Mistakes

This remarkably prescient document holds several lessons about how to run foreign policy.
Newspapers showcasing the victory of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump
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Close Elections Signal a New Gilded Age

Donald Trump’s 2024 win, echoing the Gilded Age, highlights America’s volatile, close elections, partisan divides, and structural barriers shaping politics.
Children smile and wave flags at a Farmer-Labor Party demonstration, circa 1920.

The Rise and Fall of Midwest Populism

When the Minnesota’s Farmer-Labor Party merged into the Democratic machine, its populist energies were chewed up and spat out.

History Teaches …

On being defeated.
A 1923 General Electric advertisement of a women standing over a light switch.

Using Women’s Suffrage to Sell Soup and Cereal

In the 1920s, advertisers tried to convince women to exercise their political power not only at the ballot box but also in the store.
Attendees look at a map of the U.S. electoral college during the Republican National Convention (RNC) near the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.
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The Debate That Gave Us the Electoral College

John Dickinson's contributions to the Constitution continue to reverberate today.
Thomas Carlyle.

A Fundamentally Anti-Democratic Tradition: Zack Beauchamp's "The Reactionary Spirit"

Where conservatives may seek to conserve their democratic systems, reactionaries by their nature seek to weaken or abolish them.
Kamala Harris on stage at a campaign rally

The Polling Imperilment

Presidential polls are no more reliable than they were a century ago. So why do they consume our political lives?
Barack Obama holds up a baby on the campaign trail
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Charm Offensive: Why Politicians Reach for ‘Relatable’

For American politicians, the obsession with appealing to the everyman dates back to the raucous campaign of 1840.
Andrew Jackson and John C. Calhoun.
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Picking a Partner: The V.P. Relationship

The relationship between presidents and vice presidents is unique and often personal. Sometimes, internal divisions spill out into public life.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio riding in the back of a convertible car painted like an American flag.

Are Sheriffs Above the Law?

Many vignettes of sheriffs in action are dramatic and alarming. But how representative are they?
Charles Gates Dawes.
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History Shows How Dangerous 'America First' Really Is

In the 1920s and 1930s, the U.S. tried America First. This philosophy helped lead to World War II.
People in red and blue with campaign signs and posters, yelling at each other across a widening chasm.

Divided We Stand: The Rise of Political Animosity

Scientists peered into the partisan abyss. They looked to see why hostility has become so high between groups with different political leanings.
A collage of newspaper articles discussing the possibility of Absaroka becoming the 49th state.

How the Depression Fueled a Movement to Create a New State Called Absaroka

In the 1930s, disillusioned farmers and ranchers fought to carve a 49th state out of northern Wyoming, southeastern Montana and western South Dakota.
FBI agents and local police examine a bombed out pickup truck in Natchez, Mississippi.

The History of Violent Opposition to Black Political Participation

Leaders in the 20th-century South faced violence and death for promoting voting rights; systemic failure enabled their killers to go unpunished.
Congressman Phil Burton and State Assemblymen Leo T. McCarthy, Willie L. Brown and Art Agnos.

How San Francisco’s Democratic Political Machine Led to Kamala Harris’ Presidential Campaign

Kamala Harris is the heir to a political lineage that dates back to a chain-smoking, hard-drinking mastermind elected to Congress from San Francisco in 1964.
Broward County sheriff Walter R. Clark.

The Peculiar World of American Sheriffs

The history of sheriffs suggests we need to pay attention to what our local sheriffs do, vote in local elections, and choose our sheriffs wisely.
Protestors and counter-protestors face off holding flags and posters.

Two Americas?

Heather Cox Richardson argues that there are two Americas: one interested in equality, the other in hierarchy. But it's not that simple.
Thomas Nast’s 1874 elephant illustration.

What History Tells Us Might Happen to the Republican Party

The signs that precede the crumbling of American political parties and the creation of new ones.
The Little White School House in Ripon, Wisconsin.

Looking Back at Wisconsin's Long History with the Republican Party

The one-room schoolhouse that was one of the birthplaces of the GOP.
Broken hammer and sickle illustration.

The Cause That Turned Idealists Into Authoritarian Zealots

The history of American Communism shows that dogma and fervor are no substitute for popular support.
Ronald Reagan taking the presidential oath.

The GOP's Lurch to the Right

Past conservative figures seem moderate by today's standards.
U.S. presidential seal

Founding-Era History Doesn’t Support Trump’s Immunity Claim

Historians Rosemarie Zagarri and Holly Brewer explain the anti-monarchical origins of the Constitution and the presidency.
Irma Sherman, Chair of McMaid Workers Organizing Committee.

How Four Black Women Changed Labor Organizing Forever

40 years ago in Chicago, McMaid workers sparked a movement.

Why the Long Shadow of Bush v. Gore Looms Over the Supreme Court’s Colorado Case

In the fight over keeping Trump’s name on the ballot, the 2000 decision is a warning but not a precedent.
Painting of the Mexican railway

On the Shared Histories of Reconstruction in the Americas

In the 19th century, civil wars tore apart the US, Mexico and Argentina. Then came democracy’s fight against reaction.
Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat shake hands at the White House

A Brief History of Peace Talks, Israel & the Palestinians

Who's to blame for failures in 2000, 2001 & 2008?
Photo of Donald Trump at a podium and pointing.

The Supreme Court Must Unanimously Strike Down Trump’s Ballot Removal

Excluding him, wrongfully, by a close vote of the Supreme Court could well trigger the next Civil War.
A white mob poses for a photograph in front of the charred remains of the Daily Record building they burned.

Majority-Black Wilmington, N.C., Fell to White Mob’s Coup 125 Years Ago

The 1898 Wilmington massacre overthrew the elected government in the majority-Black city, killed many Black residents and torched a Black-run newspaper.
Fourteenth Amendment.

The Fourteenth Amendment's Ambiguous Section Three

Scholars and pundits are suddenly interested in the section disqualifying insurrectionists from offices. But text and history don't offer clear answers.

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