Election of 1980 — Bunk History

Ronald Reagan’s “October Surprise” Plot Was Real After All

A batch of quietly released documents confirms what many have long suspected.

by Branko Marcetic via Jacobin on January 21, 2020

Ronald Reagan Was Once Donald Trump

The Trump candidacy looks a lot more like Reagan's than anyone might care to notice.

by Frank Rich via Intelligencer on June 1, 2016

1988 Republican presidential candidates on the debate stage.

Republicans Didn’t Always Run Far to the Right in Presidential Primaries

The 1988 presidential primary showed it wasn't always like this — and helped guide the GOP to where it is now.

by Robert L. Fleegler via Made By History on June 8, 2023

Iranian hostages exiting a plane with a sign that reads "Welcome back to freedom."

It’s All But Settled: The Reagan Campaign Delayed the Release of the Iranian Hostages

Suspicions have long swirled around unscrupulous campaign manager William Casey. We believe the evidence is now overwhelming.

by Stuart E. Eizenstat, Jonathan Alter, Kai Bird, Gary Sick via The New Republic on May 3, 2023

Jimmy Carter at a podium against the backdrop of an American flag.

Is Jimmy Carter Where Environmentalism Went Wrong?

Carter’s austerity was part of a bigger project. It didn’t really have much to do with environmentalism.

by Kate Aronoff via The New Republic on April 18, 2023

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

The Big Business Campaign That Has Shaped 40 Years of GOP Rhetoric

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

by Naomi Oreskes, Erik M. Conway via Made By History on March 9, 2023

Mike Lawler, Republican candidate for New York's 17th Congressional District.

The GOP Can Thank Suburban N.Y. For its Slim Control of The House

How a red wave in a solidly blue state helped tip the balance.

by Stacie Taranto via Made By History on November 28, 2022

Photograph of Donald Trump smiling and giving a thumbs up, with Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr. behind him.

A New Documentary Exposes the Truth About the Religious Right

It’s a political movement willing to align with anyone to win.

by Matthew Avery Sutton via Made By History on November 16, 2022

President Jimmy Carter and Sen. Edward Kennedy shake hands at the conclusion of the Democratic National Convention

What Being Unpopular Does to a First-Term President

Some lessons for Joe Biden from the ’70s presidents who lived it.

by Alexis Coe via Slate on October 3, 2022

How Did the GOP Become the Party of Ideas?

If Trump was the end of the “party of ideas,” the rise of Reagan was its start. But what were those “ideas” in the first place, and were they really as new as people said?

by Lawrence B. Glickman via Boston Review on December 9, 2020

Reagan in car

What the Rise of Reagan Tells Us About the Age of Trump

Rick Perlstein's "Reaganland" charts the conservative counter-revolution that moved the US to the right.

by Nick Burns via New Statesman on October 14, 2020

President Trump in car

Trump’s Illness and the History of Presidential Health

Are White House doctors keeping the public adequately informed about President Trump’s battle with COVID-19?

by Lawrence Altman, Isaac Chotiner via The New Yorker on October 6, 2020

Climate Change Was on the Ballot With Jimmy Carter in 1980—Though No One Knew It at the Time

Gains made under Carter’s presidential leadership in the early 1980s might have bought the planet precious time.

by Jonathan Alter via TIME on September 29, 2020

How the GOP Became the Party of Resentment

Have historians of the conservative movement focused too much on its intellectuals?

by Patrick Iber via The New Republic on August 11, 2020

Reaganland Is the Riveting Conclusion to a Story That Still Isn’t Over

Rick Perlstein’s epic series shows political history and cultural history cannot be disentangled.

by Jack Hamilton via Slate on August 3, 2020

Where Were You in ‘73?

In the turbulent 1970s, the balm of pop cultural nostalgia set the tone for today's political reaction.

by Jason Tebbe via Tropics of Meta on July 16, 2020

The Republican Choice

How a party spent decades making itself white.

by Clare Malone via FiveThirtyEight on June 24, 2020

'Evangelical' Has Lost Its Meaning

A term that once described a vital tradition within the Christian faith now means something else entirely.

by Alan Jacobs via The Atlantic on September 22, 2019

Haunted by the Reagan Era

Past defeats still scare older Democratic leaders — but not the younger generation.

by Ryan Grim via Washington Post on July 5, 2019

George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush in church.

How George H.W. Bush Enabled the Rise of the Religious Right

Religious conservatives used the Bush presidency to launch their takeover of the GOP.

by Neil J. Young via Made By History on December 5, 2018

The Roots of Evangelicals’ Political Fervor

White evangelical Christians are among President Trump’s most important supporters. But more than 40 years ago, they were on the margins of American politics.

via Retro Report on October 28, 2018

The Bobby Kennedy Myth

Many on the left have learned the wrong lessons from his ill-fated presidential bid.

by Joshua Zeitz via Politico Magazine on June 5, 2018

The Problem with "Reagan Democrats"

Does the trope obscure more than it illuminates about the 2016 election?

by Leah Wright Rigueur, Brent Cebul on October 19, 2017

Why Did White Workers Leave the Democratic Party?

Historian Judith Stein debunks liberal myths about racism, the New Deal, and why the Democrats moved right.

by Judith Stein, Connor Kilpatrick via Jacobin on September 6, 2016

Are Reagan Democrats Becoming Trump Democrats?

Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump may prove that having once been a Democrat is an asset for a Republican presidential nominee for president

by Jeffrey Lord via The American Spectator on August 13, 2015

The Real Origins of the Religious Right

They’ll tell you it was abortion. Sorry, the historical record’s clear: It was segregation.

by Randall Balmer via Politico Magazine on May 27, 2014

How Trump’s Red Wave Builds on the Past

Donald’s Trump’s resounding 2024 victory echoes electoral shifts of the past.

via Retro Report on November 8, 2024

Kamala Harris on stage at a campaign rally

The Polling Imperilment

Presidential polls are no more reliable than they were a century ago. So why do they consume our political lives?

by Rick Perlstein via The American Prospect on September 25, 2024

Recently freed African Americans receive rations.

The Origins of the Socialist Slur

Reconstruction-era opponents of racial equality popularized the charge that protecting civil rights would amount to the end of capitalism.

by Heather Cox Richardson via The Atlantic on September 26, 2023

Cartoon of a large Ronald Reagan leaning on a small Jimmy Carter.

The Surprising Greatness of Jimmy Carter

A conversation with presidential biographers Jonathan Alter and Kai Bird.

by Jonathan Alter, Timothy Noah, Kai Bird via Washington Monthly on November 8, 2021

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