Samuel J. Tilden

Trump tried to exploit flaws that were embedded in the law from the start.

How the late 19th century’s raucous party system gave way to a sedate and exclusionary political culture that erected more and more barriers to participation.

The messy election of 1876.

A contested presidential election in 1876 produced a devastating compromise.

Eric Foner sees parallels with our own time but warns that yesterday’s solution would be a disaster.

They stood against Tammany Hall, the centralized presidency, and profligate spending. Today's Right should give them another look.

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

Effective Republican organizing and intraparty divisions among Democrats solidified GOP political dominance until the 1930s.

Fairly applying the rule of law to powerful politicians provides the stability that enables the U.S. to thrive politically and economically.

A new history argues that illiberalism is not a backlash but a central feature from the founding to today.

Since the end of the Confederacy, the cult of the “taxpayer” has provided a socially acceptable veneer for racist attacks on democracy.

The Texas senator claims to be moved by the spirit of 1876, but he’s just another huckster playing a risky game with democracy.

History is asking only one question right now as Trump refuses to concede. Will the Republicans decide they are no longer an American political party?

An excerpt from the diary of presidential hopeful at the outset of the contested election of 1876.

Presidents who win the electoral college but lose the popular vote never really recover.

The crazy history of nominating Conventions.