Power

The philosophy that drives the GOP's attacks on government and how it has fueled some of our biggest problems.

For many historians today, the present is forever trapped in the past and defined by the worst of it.

Decades of failed promises have left voters apathetic or pessimistic.

A new book about the first lady reveals how she and the ailing President Woodrow Wilson silenced their critics.

1796, the first contested presidential election.

The new era of social consciousness and racial activism in the 1970s would play a pivotal role in the events leading up to the 71-day occupation.

How the Senate has become a bastion of Republican minority rule.

A sweeping new history weaves personal, intellectual, and spiritual narratives into a book that reminds us of the potential of the socialist movement.

America’s classification crisis.

Police K-9 units in the United States emerged during the Civil Rights era. This was not a coincidence.

What the differences between Hiram Fong and Nikki Haley tell us about changes to the GOP.

The crusade against civil liberties during World War I.

The rise of the right-wing paranoid fantasy, egged on by Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene, reflects deep currents in American politics.

Lost wars, especially when defeat comes as a rude surprise, inevitably spark painful self-examination.

Militia groups have long used Waco as a rallying cry. But it was never the example of whiteness under siege that they invoke.

Americans disparaged the British as arsonists. But the rebels fought with fire too.

Remembering the mixed reception is key to understanding the complexities of our history and the persistence of racism today.

The shadow of Samuel Adams, a crafty and government-wary revolutionary, lingers over the January 6 Capitol insurrection.

Reflecting on Pat Buchanan's legacy.

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

A new history of American politics examines the past and future of political realignments.

Always a dealmaker, then-senator LBJ negotiated with segregationists to pass a bill that cautiously advanced racial equality.

The machine breaks down: A brief history of Tammany Hall.

Whole states of the Union owe their very existence to nothing more nation-building than 19th-Century pols’ wanting to add new senators to one side of the aisle.

In practice, aggressive congressional investigations of the intelligence community require consistent levels of public support.

Religious conservatives see “anti-eugenic” laws as the most promising path to establish a federal ban on abortion.

Conservative “populism” has never been about egalitarianism, but about mobilizing support for traditional hierarchies.

A new history of the environmental movement places too much emphasis on famous figures like Rachel Carson and shies away from confronting failures.

The investigative committee singles out Trump for his role in the attack. As prosecution, the report is thorough. But as historical explanation it’s a mess.

The House speaker fight was eerily reminiscent of 1923 — but the differences between the two will drive what comes next.