Donald Trump

How Consoler-in-Chiefs respond to senseless gun violence.

Warnings against "normalizing" outrageous political acts misstate the problem. It’s never the immediate present that gets normalized — it’s the not-so-distant past.

A preview of Trumpism in 2010 protests against a proposed mosque in lower Manhattan.

After Democrats lost in 1876, they set about investigating the new Republican president — only for everything to backfire.

America's sense of religious nationalism was forged in the same fires that ignited the profoundly secular French Revolution.

Our launch protocols were designed to bypass checks and balances for a quick retaliation.

Obama's desire to “look forward” on torture has enabled Trump to look backward in his appointment of a new CIA director.

To make a more perfect union, don’t look to the Founding Fathers.

The anti-Semitic seeds of its use were firmly planted 75 years ago.

The GOP was once the party of protectionism, while the Democrats led the way on free trade.

During the Depression, business leaders knew that public works funding was key to economic growth. Why have we forgotten that lesson?

From William McKinley to Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump has plenty of precedent if he's looking for it.

How a demagogue resembles a typhoon, and why it matters to the future of the republic.

A republic needs a legislature that can handle such tasks. We don’t have one.

Three past conflicts tell a very different story.

The fourth president tried all kinds of sanctions to open markets, but still ended up in the War of 1812.

Conservatives have used celebrity glitz effectively, too.

It’s unsurprising considering the public careers of today’s political leaders began in the 1970s.

From fee-based governance to the “friendships” between the rich and public officials, the 19th century practices we once banished are back.

Why the Trump Era demands a better understanding of how racism got us into this mess.