Al Smith

Think this year’s Democratic convention is going to be nuts? One hundred years ago, Democrats took 103 ballots—and more than two weeks—to choose a candidate.

A century ago, the party took a record 103 ballots and 16 days of intense, violent debate to choose a presidential nominee.

Immigration has been a defining issue in a campaign before, and the consequences transformed the Democratic Party.

Despite a fractured party and health concerns, FDR capitalized on name recognition to win the 1932 presidential election.

In the late 19th century, statesmen feared that Catholics were something less than civilized (and less than white).

A 1974 review of Robert Caro's "The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York."

The 1946 elections were a disaster for Democrats—and the reason I was born.

The current political moment is reshaping the narrative about the first woman to serve in a presidential cabinet.

By removing Reps. Adam Schiff, Eric Swalwell and Ilhan Omar, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy would remove obstacles to his agenda.

How the authors of the Depression-era “Business Plot” aimed to take power away from FDR and stop his “socialist” New Deal.

A new history charts the forgotten ways the social politics of the Roosevelt years transformed the United States.

Democrats’ policies aim to address societal problems to make fascism and socialism less attractive.

Having a single candidate by the time of the convention has been a key stepping stone for a party’s victory. But it hasn't always worked out that way.

In 1928, women wanted more than just the vote. They wanted to do everything a man could do. Even fly the Atlantic.

What does the Klan of the 1920s have to teach us about the resurgence of organized bigotry in the Trump era?

The congressman who Alabamians later complained "made them the laughing stock of the Union."