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This 1856 political cartoon depicts the responses of the three candidates to the results of the election. Winning Democrat James Buchanan sits reading the returns of the election while newspaper editors approach from the left. Behind them the defeated Republican candidate John C. Fremont rides off into the West. To the right the second defeated candidate, Millard Fillmore, laments his fall into the “caverns of Know-Nothingism.”

Here’s What Happens to a Conspiracy-Driven Party

The modern GOP isn't the first party to embrace huge conspiracies. But the lessons should be sobering.
Herbert Hoover in January 1933

Herbert Hoover Did Something Donald Trump is Unwilling to Do

While Herbert Hoover was deeply critical of his successor, he put aside his differences to ensure the peaceful and democratic transition of power.
President Abraham Lincoln, bareheaded at center, giving the Gettysburg Address, Pennsylvania, 1863

The Party of Lincoln Ignores His Warning Against Mobocracy

“There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law,” declared the man who would be America’s sixteenth president.
Ronald Reagan at a news conference in Los Angeles on Jan. 4, 1965, after announcing that he would run for governor of California.

Long Before QAnon, Ronald Reagan and The GOP Purged John Birch Extremists From The Party

Six decades ago, leaders in the GOP backed away from the conspiracy theories peddled by the leader of the increasingly influential John Birch Society.

Minority Rule Cannot Last in America

It never has.
The Lincoln Memorial.
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Channeling Lincoln’s Ideological Balancing Act Will Lead Biden to Success

In his time, the 16th president drew comparisons to a famous tightrope walker.
Mail-in ballot in a mailbox.
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Holding an Election During the Civil War Set the Standard for Us Today

On-time elections are a key part of ensuring the promise of American democracy.
Graffiti on a wall spelling "vote"
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Refusing to Accept the Results of a Presidential Election Triggered the Civil War

The danger of President Trump's rhetoric.

How Abraham Lincoln Fought the Supreme Court

As Lincoln recognized, it's not enough to question the decisions, justices, or even the structure of the Court. We need to challenge the foundation of its power.
Statue of men in a bread line at the FDR memorial.

Who Remembers the Panic of 1819?

We haven’t built many memorials to panics, recessions, or depressions, but maybe we should.
John Tyler.

Two on John Tyler: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too!

After the Whig president’s shocking death, his vice president and successor proved to be a Whig by expedience only

Alternate Histories

A conversation with John Nichols about the night in 1944 that altered the trajectory of the Democratic Party.
Program for the National American Woman Suffrage Association procession in Washington, DC, 1913, featuring a woman on a horse heralding votes for women and leading marchers toward the capitol.

The Thorny Road to the 19th Amendment

A new book chronicles the twists and turns of the 75-year-path to securing the vote for women.
Painting of George Washington on his death bed, surrounded by family and friends.

The Myth of George Washington’s Post-Presidency

When Washington left the presidency, he didn’t really leave politics at all.

Is Impeachment Only About Getting a Conviction?

A new history of Andrew Johnson’s trial reminds us the impeachment is a tool to constrain executive abuse of power and publicize dissent on matters of policy.
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Jimmy Carter and The Myth That Gave the Iowa Caucuses Their Political Power

What does winning in Iowa really mean?

Trump's not Richard Nixon. He's Andrew Johnson.

Betrayal. Paranoia. Cowardice. We've been here before.
Devils roasting the earth on a spit.

From Saving the Earth to Ruling the World

The transformation of the environmental movement.

When Conservatives Tried to Throw Out Richard Nixon

Well before Watergate broke, John Ashbrook waged a primary campaign that the Right took very seriously.
Rush Limbaugh sits next to Newt Gingrich during NBC's "Meet the Press" taping on Sunday Nov. 12, 1995.

They Just Wanted to Entertain

AM stations mainly wanted to keep listeners engaged—but ended up remaking the Republican Party.
Supreme Court building under dark rainclouds.

The Supreme Court Is in Danger of Again Becoming ‘the Grave of Liberty’

Supreme Court decisions have practical consequences, which justices too often blithely ignore.
A man putting a ballot into a ballot box during a 1938 Arkansas ballot referendum.

How to Change Policy Without Politicians

As Arkansas politics becomes more conservative, voters are using the ballot for progressive ends.
Bernie Sanders

The Transformation of Bernie Sanders

How the Vermont senator went from a third-party independent to a 2020 frontrunner.

How the Daughters and Granddaughters of Former Slaves Secured Voting Rights for All

A look at the question of race versus gender in the quest for universal suffrage.
George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush in church.
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How George H.W. Bush Enabled the Rise of the Religious Right

Religious conservatives used the Bush presidency to launch their takeover of the GOP.

Democrats Aren’t Moving Left. They’re Returning to Their Roots.

Many on both sides are worried about the party’s leftward swing. They say it’s a deviation from the mainstream. It’s not.

Democrats’ Struggle Over Masculinity 50 Years Ago is Still Playing Out Today

Liberal politicians should trumpet a vision of masculinity that incorporates the best qualities of LBJ and Humphrey.

An Unlikely Hardliner, George H. W. Bush Was Ready to Push Presidential Powers

Though he ended up seeking congressional approval for the Gulf War, Bush was unconvinced he needed it – saying he would have gone regardless of the vote.
Political cartoon of Theodore Roosevelt holding his Big Stick and pulling a naval fleet in the Caribbean (1904).

Why Both Liberals and Conservatives Claim Theodore Roosevelt as Their Own

Our 26th President is lauded as an environmentalist, as well as an empire builder.
Trump smirking.

Was 2017 the Craziest Year in U.S. Political History?

A dozen historians weigh in.

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