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Brenda Wineapple

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William Jennings Bryan, the lead prosecutor in the Scopes trial, delivering his opening remarks, Dayton, Tennessee, July 1925

Evolution in the Dock

How the Scopes trial informs today's culture wars.
A monkey listening to a radio with headphones.

The Scopes Trial and the Two Visions of US Democracy

A new history revisits “the Trial of the Century” and its legacy in contemporary politics.
Illustration by Joanne Imperio / The Atlantic. Sources: Bettmann / Getty; Heritage Art / Getty; NY Daily News Archive / Getty.

What a 100-Year-Old Trial Reveals About America

A new book on the famed 1920s court case traces a long-simmering culture war—and the fear that often drives both sides.
‘This Little Boy would persist in handling Books Above His Capacity—and this was the Disastrous Result’; cartoon of Andrew Johnson by Thomas Nast, 1868

He Was No Moses

While he opposed slavery and southern secession early in his career, as president Andrew Johnson turned out to be an unsightly bigot.
The seven members of Congress who managed the 1968 impeachment.

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.

‘Impeachment Polka’: How a Composer in 1868 Sought to Capitalize on America’s Political Obsession

A pianist performs a piece of music forgotten for 150 years.
Lithograph replacing Andrew Johnson with Trump giving a political speech from a train.

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

Betrayal. Paranoia. Cowardice. We've been here before.
Andrew Johnson

Making Impeachment Matter

Democrats need to face up to their constitutional duty without fear.
Andrew Johnson impeachment proceedings in the House chamber.

A National Debate Over Politics, Principles and Impeachment — in 1868

Was the impeachment of Andrew Johnson a matter of national principles? Or an affair of pragmatic politics?