Exhibits

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Trumpism

A presidency often referred to as "unprecedented" has deep roots in American history.

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Social Safety Net

How Americans through the years have approached the thorny questions of identifying who the government is obliged to help and how such assistance should be funded and distributed.

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Voting Rights: A Retrospective

Voting, a right not initially enshrined in the Constitution, has been secured, revoked, and contested since the nation's founding era.

Know-Nothing flag
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The Many Faces of Nativism

As this exhibit shows, anti-immigrant sentiment has been a throughline of American history.

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A Big Tent

Exploring the history of the Democratic Party, from its earliest days through the New Deal, the Long Sixties, and the post-Cold War era.

Declaration of Independence (1819), by John Trumbull
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Declaring Independence

A collection of resources about the meanings of the 1776 document in its own time – and in ours.

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President Precedents

How Americans understand the powers of the office and the legacies of past leaders.

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“All Persons Born or Naturalized in the United States...”

A collection of resources exploring the evolving meanings of American citizenship and how they have been applied -- or denied -- to different groups of Americans.

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American Corruption

The constant tug of war between those who try to bend government for their own gain and those who try to root out corruption and reform the system.

Voter with mask
Exhibit

Election of 2020

A look back at what historians have had to say about this epic contest over the nation's future.

Richard Nixon at a press conference pointing at a reporter.

Nixon’s Official Acts Against His Enemies List Led to a Bipartisan Impeachment Effort

An enemies list isn’t a weapon against ‘the Deep State.’ It was a tool Richard Nixon used to create a deep state of his own.

How America Invented the Red State

According to conventional wisdom, the last quarter century of elections has proved that most of the country leans conservative. It all started with a map.
A sign in support of Donald Trump in front of an Ohio junkyard in 2024.
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The 2024 Election Marked the Inversion of the Electoral Map

Basic political geography means Democrats might need to ask themselves a broader question as they look to rebound.
President Roosevelt signs the proclamation naming December 15 as Bill of Rights Day.

The Reinvention of the Bill of Rights

The New Deal-era creation of “Bill of Rights Day” obscures the real nature and guardrails of American liberty.
Newspapers showcasing the victory of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump
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Close Elections Signal a New Gilded Age

Donald Trump’s 2024 win, echoing the Gilded Age, highlights America’s volatile, close elections, partisan divides, and structural barriers shaping politics.
A portrait of Ignatius Donnelly.

The Peculiar Case of Ignatius Donnelly

The politician presents a riddle for historians. He was a beloved populist but also a crackpot conspiracist. Were his politics tainted by his strange beliefs?
"Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right" book cover.

The History of Gay Conservatism

LGBTQ voters overwhelmingly went for Harris, but the idea that gay voters are always going to be solidly blue is a myth.
Ronald Reagan and Paul Nitze.

A Cold Warrior for Our Time

James Graham Wilson makes a compelling case that the under-celebrated example of Paul Nitze is both instructive and worthy of our emulation.
Political cartoon depicting 1856 presidential candidates

The First Punch

There are uncanny parallels between the elections of 2024 and 1856, with one big exception: in 1856, it was the political left that was on the offensive.
Soldiers and a tank, a Defense department seal, and Pete Hegseth.

Bring Back the War Department

If you want a clear strategy for winning wars, don’t play a semantic game with the name of the department that’s charged with the strategy’s execution.
Donald Trump at the 2018 CPAC. Photo by Gage Skidmore.

Trump’s Neo-Fusionism

Using Murray Rothbard vs. Sam Francis to understand the next administration.
Black and white photo of Charles B. Warren from 1924.

The Last Time the Senate Rejected a President's Cabinet Nominee of the Same Party

It hasn't happened for 100 years.
Photo of Grover Cleveland and then a photo of Donald Trump next to each other.
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Will Grover Cleveland's Second Term Foreshadow Trump's Future?

The only president before Trump to win, lose, and win again ended up decimating his own party during his second term.
Tony Blair and Bill Clinton giving a talk together at Queen's Univesity Belfast.

The Age of Class Dealignment

Over the course of decades, social democracy abandoned workers. Then workers abandoned social democracy.
Shirley Chisolm
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Shirley Chisholm Was a Trailblazer for Change

Explore the groundbreaking career of the first Black woman to seek the U.S. presidency.
CPUSA members demonstrate in Union Square on May Day, ca. 1930s.

Maurice Isserman’s Red Scare

A new history of the CPUSA reads like a Cold War throwback.
A girl in Native American tribal regalia being crowned as homecoming queen.

The Complex Politics of Tribal Enrollment

How did the U.S. government become involved in “adjudicating Indianness”?
Parade of cars with Donald Trump flags and American flags.

The “Fascist” With a Popular Majority

Donald Trump’s victory will inevitably reopen the “fascism debate.” But does a populist whose appeal cuts across diverse groups truly fit the fascist profile?
Protesters storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

What’s the Difference Between a Rampaging Mob and a Righteous Protest?

From the French Revolution to January 6th, crowds have been heroized and vilified. Now they’re a field of study.
A window displaying two Puerto Rican flags and two Trump/Vance campaign posters.

Understanding Latino Support for Donald Trump

Democrats have often described Latinos as decisive when they support liberal candidates and inconsequential when they don’t.
Drawing of George Washington watching over a group of enslaved people working in a field at Mount Vernon.
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Even George Washington Was a Tyrant

We don't need to find heroes in our past presidents. We need to try to understand that tyranny has always been part of American freedom.
President Woodrow Wilson riding as a passenger in a two seater car with his chauffeur, George Howard.

States’ Rights or Inalienable Rights?

Some early progressives may have been advocates of states’ rights, but they misunderstood the philosophy of the American Founding.
Davy Crockett monument in Texas.

The Political Example of Davy Crockett

As a congressman, Davy Crockett found ways to navigate populist upheaval and maintain his own independence.
Children smile and wave flags at a Farmer-Labor Party demonstration, circa 1920.

The Rise and Fall of Midwest Populism

When the Minnesota’s Farmer-Labor Party merged into the Democratic machine, its populist energies were chewed up and spat out.
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How Trump’s Red Wave Builds on the Past

Donald’s Trump’s resounding 2024 victory echoes electoral shifts of the past.
A drawing of protestors wrestling a tax collector to the ground.

A Prudent First Amendment

Often, the proper scope of the First Amendment can be determined only by considering both text and context.
Polling volunteer handing a voter an "I Voted" sticker.

Did We Just See an Electoral Realignment?

Shifting voting patterns suggest it’s possible, but only if they persist through subsequent elections.
Donald Trump standing behind a podium at a campaign event with his family at his side.

It’s the Charisma, Stupid

It’s not whom you’d want to get a beer with, but whom you’d want to watch getting a beer.
A person in Native American regalia looks on at the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and Mohawk flags.

How Native Americans Guarded Their Societies Against Tyranny

Native American communities were elaborate consensus democracies, many of which had survived for generations because of careful attention to balancing power.
Publicity still from Black Legion, 1937.
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Ohio’s Little-Known Fascist Member of Congress

How a local prosecutor protected white supremacists and went on to a career in Washington, DC.