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Donald Trump holding up a bill he signed.
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Ceding Power to the Executive is Backfiring on Free-Trade Advocates

Liberal Democrats sidestepped Congress to bring free trade to the U.S. Now, Trump is able to do the same thing to destroy it.
by Jennifer Delton via Made By History on June 7, 2018

The Only Way to Find Out If the President Can Be Indicted

Scholars disagree on existing precedents—and the question won’t be settled until evidence leads a prosecutor to try it.
by Garrett Epps via The Atlantic on May 23, 2018

The Presidency Is Too Big to Succeed

The problems of presidential gigantism can’t be solved by finding the right giant—the office is dying from its own growth.
by Jeremi Suri via The Atlantic on May 9, 2018

The Hardest Job in the World

What if the problem isn’t the president—it’s the presidency?
by John Dickerson via The Atlantic on April 17, 2018
Exhibit

Federal Bureaucracy

The federal government is the nation’s biggest employer. To many, its size is a problem in itself. This exhibit asks: how big is too big, and what do we miss when we focus on size alone?

Obama's Legacy of Impunity for Torture

Obama's desire to “look forward” on torture has enabled Trump to look backward in his appointment of a new CIA director.
by Adam Serwer via The Atlantic on March 14, 2018

Congress Handed to the President the Power to Level Tariffs

A republic needs a legislature that can handle such tasks. We don’t have one.
by Jay Cost via National Review on March 5, 2018
Trump at the podium to give a State of the Union address.
partner

The Corrupt, Racist Proposal from the State of the Union Address That Everyone Missed

Trump's plans for the federal workforce sound reasonable, but they would actually undo a century of reforms.
by Eric S. Yellin via Made By History on February 5, 2018

Could the 25th Amendment Be Trump’s Downfall?

An explanation of the provision that allows for the removal of a president who is deemed by others to be unable to serve.
by Jon Meacham via TIME on January 11, 2018
Albert B. Fall swears in as Interior Secretary in 1921.

Reckoning with History: Interior’s Legacy of Bad Behavior

Ryan Zinke isn’t the first Interior secretary to attract controversy.
by Adam M. Sowards via High Country News on January 3, 2018
Historian Timothy Naftali being interviewed by Fareed Zakaria on television.
partner

The Federal Agency That Few Americans Have Heard Of And Which We All Need To Know

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs wields enormous power and is key to President Trump's deregulatory agenda.
by Leif Fredrickson via Made By History on September 28, 2017

The Secret History of FEMA

The federal agency in charge of hurricane Harvey cleanup has a weird Cold War legacy.
by Garrett M. Graff via Wired on September 3, 2017

Trump Is A 19th-Century President Facing 21st-Century Problems

His hands-off approach to policy-making and moral leadership hearkens back to much earlier times.
by Julia Azari via FiveThirtyEight on August 28, 2017
partner

What Jared Kushner Could Learn from a Man He’s Probably Never Heard of

Donald Trump and Andrew Jackson are not the only similarities between the two administrations.
by Bruce W. Dearstyne via HNN on August 13, 2017
Barbara Lee speaking at a House of Representatives podium.

The Origin of Endless War

On Barbara Lee and the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force.
by Richard Beck via n+1 on August 11, 2017

Scaramucci’s Removal Evokes White House Turmoil During the Reagan Years

Anthony Scaramucci's resignation after 10 days broke a record held by Ronald Reagan’s communications director.
by Matt Giles via Longreads on July 31, 2017

Jeff Sessions Is the Canary in the Coal Mine

It took well over a century for the office of the attorney general to accrue power and independence. Trump could blow that all up.
by Joshua Zeitz via Politico Magazine on July 27, 2017
Line graph comparing executive actions over presidents' first 100 days in office.

Trump in Action: Comparing the Pace of Trump's Executive Orders to Recent Presidents

How do Trump's first 100 days measure up?
via The American Presidency Project on April 29, 2017

The Other 100 Days: 5 Decades Before Trump, the New EPA Truly Made America Great Again

Once upon a time, the EPA had a golden age.
by Karen Hao via Mother Jones on April 28, 2017

What Will Future Historians Say About President Trump's First 100 Days? Here Are 11 Guesses

Experts weigh in on how historians of the future may assess President Trump's achievements after his first 100 days in office.
by Ibram X. Kendi, David McCullough, Timothy Naftali, George H. Nash, Anne E. Parsons, Heather Ann Thompson, Julie M. Weise, Alice S. Yang, Kyle G. Volk, Pablo A. Piccato, Roger Pilon via TIME on April 27, 2017

Why Federal Employees Can Thank FDR for Some Restrictions on Their Tweets

The Hatch Act was crafted in response to New Deal-era political maneuvering.
by Olivia B. Waxman via TIME on April 3, 2017

How Reagan’s EPA Chief Paved the Way for Trump’s Assault on the Agency

Anne Gorsuch Burford — the mother of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch — cut its budget by a quarter and its workforce by 20 percent.
by Cally Carswell via The New Republic on March 21, 2017

The Melania Controversy is Nothing New: Eleanor Roosevelt Pitched Hot Dog Buns

Concerns are raised when the first lady treats her office like a brand.
by Emily Heil, Krissah Thompson via Washington Post on February 8, 2017

Iran/Contra Was the Prototype for Post-Vietnam Imperial Adventure

On the 30th anniversary, we can see that it was an ideological project, with the New Right reasserting the righteousness of militarism and markets.
by Greg Grandin via The Nation on October 25, 2016
Alexander Hamilton.

Inventing Alexander Hamilton

The troubling embrace of the founder of American finance.
by William Hogeland via Boston Review on November 1, 2007

The Education of David Stockman

"None of us really understands what's going on with all these numbers."
by William Greider via The Atlantic on December 15, 1981
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.

‘It Reminds You of a Fascist State’: Smithsonian Institution Braces for Trump Rewrite of US History

Normally staid historians sound alarm at authoritarian grasping for control of the premier US museum complex.
by David Smith via The Guardian on March 30, 2025
Donald Trump at Lancaster Airport on November 3, 2024, in Lititz, Pennsylvania.

This Is America

Donald Trump’s authoritarian second term has led critics to describe him as a fascist in the mold of Adolf Hitler.
by Daniel Bessner via Jacobin on March 27, 2025

George Washington Knew the Difference Between Running a Business and Running the Government

The first businessman president realized that working with Congress – not alone or against it – was the best way to create an efficient federal government.
by Eliga Gould via The Conversation on March 10, 2025
Constitution mural in the Capitol rotunda.

James Madison and the Crisis of the New Order

The effort to return American government to republican principles is daunting—but the Founders’ wisdom can serve as a guide.
by Richard Samuelson via Law & Liberty on March 4, 2025
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

History Warns Us About Cabinet Members Like RFK Jr.

If RFK is confirmed, he is likely to fail for reasons similar to those for past political choices for the cabinet.
by Dan McLaughlin via The New Republic on February 8, 2025
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