Power

Two new books reveal the shortcomings at the heart of the liberal critique of Trump voters.

Some scholars say that it’s to blame for our political dysfunction—and that we need to start over.

Culture wars have a long and divisive history in American politics, with gender, race and religion continuing to inflame public opinion.

Horace Greeley ran against incumbent Ulysses S. Grant in November 1872. Twenty-four days later, he died of unknown causes at a private mental health facility.

Many founders expressed their hope that slavery would be abolished, while simultaneously exerting themselves to defend it.

On Nelson Rockefeller and the disappearance of moderate Republicans from American politics.

A new book tells the story of American communism as an integral part of 20th-century US history, with Communists “as social critics and social change agents.”

Churchill weaponized her powers of seduction—but Pamela Harriman came into her own when she brought her glamour to Washington.

For American politicians, the obsession with appealing to the everyman dates back to the raucous campaign of 1840.

The relationship between presidents and vice presidents is unique and often personal. Sometimes, internal divisions spill out into public life.

We took a closer look at how Americans’ views and experiences have evolved on a variety of topics over the last 20 years.

At its peak in the 1920s and early ’30s, the Socialist Party in Wisconsin used confrontational tactics and nonsocialists alliances to make legislative advances.

America long ago rejected the trappings of monarchy in favor of republicanism, but many have wanted to have it both ways.

A new book on how 9/11 altered the national psyche also demonstrates how it stunted progressive politics.

What the three-fifths clause meant at ratification.

Anti-Trump Republicans revere Ronald Reagan as Trump’s opposite—yet in critical ways Reagan may have been his forerunner.

The 40th president inadvertently prepared the ground for the 45th in multiple ways.

The factionalized press was the site of campaigning in the U.S.'s first contested presidential elections.

Historians may never speak of an “Age of Adams” to rival Andrew Jackson, but Randall Woods’s new biography reveals the sixth president’s greatness.

In 1916, an unlikely duo exposed political corruption in Indiana, setting a new precedent for fair voting across the country.

The white pines of New England may have done more than any leaf of tea to kick off the American Revolution.

Revisiting the Agrarian-Distributists and their fabrication of an American past.

Demography has not managed to be destiny in the past half-century—but predictions of a millenarian shift have not lost their appeal.

The spirit of socialism has coursed through the American Midwest ever since the movement emerged, continuing to animate the political landscape today.

In 2002, Republicans attacked the patriotism of a distinguished Democratic veteran. It worked and they've kept doing it ever since.

By suggesting that those seeking asylum in the U.S. are dangerous, Trump echoes the often false narratives around the 1980s Mariel boatlift.

My grandmother and the fight over the 1964 Mississippi delegation.

A grand strategy for a turbulent world.

Liberalism’s relationship to equality has, his­torically, been far from a warm embrace.

Scientists peered into the partisan abyss. They looked to see why hostility has become so high between groups with different political leanings.