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Federal employees wait for treatment at a public health dispensary.

Trump Isn’t the First to Upend the Federal Workforce Because of Race

President Woodrow Wilson presided over the segregation of government workers, putting Black people behind screens and in cages in 1913.
by Petula Dvorak via Retropolis on January 23, 2025
Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk walk behind Mike Johnson.
partner

History Suggests DOGE Won’t Accomplish Anything Unless It Gets Support From Congress

Theodore Roosevelt started a version of DOGE too, but it failed to achieve much.
by Bruce W. Dearstyne via Made By History on January 13, 2025
Drawing of the first five presidents.

When Presidents Sent Handwritten Lists of Their Nominees to the Senate

The U.S. faces the likelihood of a bruising and raucous set of confirmation hearings — a clear break from the cooperative system the founders established.
by Peter J. Kastor via The Conversation on January 13, 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
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?
Donald Trump at a podium

The New Trumpian Bargain

Trump's second term echoes 19th-century policies: tariffs and immigration limits protect workers, while deregulation risks widening inequality.
by Sohrab Ahmari via New Statesman on November 12, 2024
Aftermath of the explosions at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine.

How Congress Is Written Out of History

Congress's role in shaping policies like the Affordable Care Act and exonerating Port Chicago sailors is often overlooked, overshadowed by the president.
by John A. Lawrence via Perspectives on History on October 31, 2024
Joe Biden waving.

Joe Biden and the Art of the Presidential Farewell

Plus: How George Washington almost ruined his own exit from the national stage.
by Lindsay M. Chervinsky via The Bulwark on August 19, 2024

At Supreme Court, Corporations Misuse History in Cases on Agency Power

A pair of lawsuits claim that courts were a strong check against federal agency power in early America, but history shows otherwise.
by Gautham Rao, Thomas Wolf via Brennan Center For Justice on January 16, 2024

A People’s Obituary of Henry Kissinger

For decades, Kissinger kept the great wheel of American militarism spinning ever forward.
by Greg Grandin via The Nation on November 30, 2023
Capital Hill at night.
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Government Shutdowns Were Never Necessary Anyway

Government shutdowns only became possible in 1980, when the Attorney General offered a new interpretation of an 1870 law.
by M. A. Davis via Made By History on November 16, 2023
Richard Nixon pointing to a map of Cambodia.

The Unhappy Legal History of the War Powers Resolution

How the law became a staging ground for unrestrained war.
by Mary L. Dudziak via Modern American History on July 8, 2023
Photo of E.P.A Headquarters, shot through a bush

How Government Ends

Through an assault on administrative agencies, the Supreme Court is systematically eroding the legal basis of effective governance.
by Lisa Heinzerling via Boston Review on September 28, 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
Aerial view of a combine harvester in a grain field.

Abolish the Department of Agriculture

The USDA has become an inefficient monster that often promotes products that are bad for consumers and the environment. Let’s replace it with a Department of Food.
by Gabriel N. Rosenberg, Jan Dutkiewicz via The New Republic on December 27, 2021
National Park Services sign
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The Roots of the Politicization of the National Parks Service

Understanding how the National Park Service Director is chosen is important for understanding the current state of our national parks system.
by Nick DeLuca via HNN on September 26, 2021
A portrait of John C. Calhoun

No, John C. Calhoun Didn’t Invent the Filibuster

As convenient as it might be to blame the filibuster on the famous defender of slavery, the historical record is much messier.
by Robert Elder via The Bulwark on September 20, 2021

'Get Out Now' – Inside the White House on 9/11, According to the Staffers Who Were There

A top White House aide recounts her experiences that day.
by Anita McBride via The Conversation on September 2, 2021
Book cover of "When Good Government Meant Big Government," with text and red and blue stripes in the style of campaign signs.

When Good Government Meant Big Government

An interview with Jesse Tarbert about the history of the American state, “big government,” and the legacy of government reform efforts.
by Jesse Tarbert via Law & History Review on June 16, 2021
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
A drawing of George Washington surrounded by seals representing the states.

The Constitutional Convention Debates the Electoral College

How the founders settled on the system we love to hate today.
by Jason Yonce via Journal of the American Revolution on November 5, 2020

The Birth and Death of Single-Payer in the Democratic Party

In 1988, Jesse Jackson ran for president on a platform that included universalist policies like single-payer. His success terrified establishment Democrats.
by Vicente Navarro via Jacobin on May 5, 2020

The Obamanauts

What is the defining achievement of Barack Obama?
by Corey Robin via Dissent on October 7, 2019

Why Has It Taken Us So Long to See Trump’s Weakness?

There’s a bad synergy at work between the short-termism of the news cycle and the longue durée-ism of the academy.
by Corey Robin via Intelligencer on February 20, 2019
Title page of Thomas Paine's "Common Sense."
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Anonymous Criticism Helped Make America Great

Trump’s critic is utilizing a practice employed by many of the Founding Fathers to protect truth from power.
by Jordan E. Taylor via Made By History on September 8, 2018
Trump looks at border wall construction prototypes.
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The Militarization of Immigration Enforcement is Not Unique to Trump

Angry that ICE is ripping families apart? Don’t just blame Trump. Blame Clinton, Bush and Obama, too.
by Carly Goodman via Made By History on June 11, 2018

Hating on Herbert Hoover

Hoover was a brilliant manager, a wizard of logistics, and an effective humanitarian. Why do we remember him as a failure?
by Nicholas Lemann via The New Yorker on October 23, 2017

When Congress Almost Ousted a Failing President

It’s Andrew Johnson, not Andrew Jackson, who provides the best model for Trump’s collapsing presidency.
by Joshua Zeitz via Politico Magazine on May 20, 2017
Flag of the President of the United States.

Presidential Historians Survey 2017

A survey of 91 presidential historians that ranks U.S. presidents based on ten qualities of presidential leadership.
via C-SPAN on February 17, 2017

Why Are We in the Middle East?

America’s devotion to the Middle East did not make much sense in 2003, Bacevich argues; but it did in 1980, and the reason was oil.
by Richard Beck via n+1 on July 29, 2016

Why the Vice Presidency Matters

Choosing a running mate used to be more about campaigning than governing. But after Richard Nixon’s ruinous relationship with Spiro Agnew, the job has changed.
by Nicole Hemmer via The Atlantic on July 21, 2016
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