Filter by:

Filter by published date

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

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

Ronald Reagan Was Once Donald Trump

The Trump candidacy looks a lot more like Reagan's than anyone might care to notice.
1988 Republican presidential candidates on the debate stage.
partner

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.
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.
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.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
partner

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

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

A New Documentary Exposes the Truth About the Religious Right

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

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?
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.
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?

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.

How the GOP Became the Party of Resentment

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

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.

Where Were You in ‘73?

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

The Republican Choice

How a party spent decades making itself white.

'Evangelical' Has Lost Its Meaning

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

Haunted by the Reagan Era

Past defeats still scare older Democratic leaders — but not the younger generation.
George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush in church.
partner

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.
partner

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.

The Bobby Kennedy Myth

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

The Problem with "Reagan Democrats"

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

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.

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

The Real Origins of the Religious Right

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

Midterm Elections: 1966 Midterms Signal a Realignment, Shaping Today’s Parties

Southern voters, once loyal to the Democratic Party, elected Republican candidates in 1966 as the two parties began to sort themselves into partisan camps.
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.

Filter Results:

Suggested Filters:

Idea

Person