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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 New Racism

A glimpse inside the Alabama State House suggests that the civil rights movement may have reached its end.
Political cartoon of U.S. President Martin Van Buren sitting on a fence as men on each side try to pull him toward them.
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The Spirit of Party and Faction

On factional strife in the Early Republic, and why parties themselves were universally despised.
George Washington Plunkitt

The Case for Corruption

Why Washington needs more honest graft.
This editorial cartoon from a January 1879 edition of Harper's Weekly depicting a white man misspelling words on a sign announcing Black voters must pass a literacy test, while a Black man looks on laughing.

The Racial History Of The 'Grandfather Clause'

Companies and individuals are considered grandfathered and exempt from new sets of regulations all the time. But the term and the concept dates to a darker era.
Thaddeus Stevens imagined as a boxer.

Remarkable Radical: Thaddeus Stevens

Thaddeus Stevens was a fearsome reformer who never backed down from a fight.
Cartoon of congressmen talking in two insular groups. Illustration by Steve Brodner

The Empty Chamber

For many reasons, senators don’t have the time, or the inclination, to get to know one another—least of all members of the other party.
The large Wide Awake parade in lower Manhattan.

“Young Men for War”: The Wide Awakes and Lincoln’s 1860 Presidential Campaign

Wearing shiny black capes and practicing infantry drills had nothing to do with preparing for civil war.
Joseph Dennie.

Was the Federalist Press Staid and Apolitical?

Quite the contrary. They used rhetoric to build a partisan community, and realized that parties needed to create and market identities, not simply agendas.

Political Construction of a Natural Disaster: The Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1853

The conversation around race after Hurricane Katrina echoed discourse from another New Orleans disaster 150 years before.

Supreme Court Cronyism

With the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, George W. Bush restarts a long and troubled tradition.
Poet-playwright and political activist Imamu Amiri Baraka recites his poem, "Its Nation Time," at the National Black Political Convention.
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The Black Political Convention

Black Journal interviews with Imamu Amiri Baraka, poet-playwright and co-chairman of the National Black Political Convention.
Portrait of Charles Sumner

First in War, First in Nepotism

In 1872, Charles Sumner decries “a president who makes his great office a plaything and perquisite.”
Ben Davis Jr. leaving courthouse, surrounded by crowd carrying signs bearing various slogans.

In 1930s NYC, Proportional Representation Boosted the Left

NYC history suggests that the Left might profitably revive proportional representation as a tool to build its electoral strength.
John Tower; Pete Hegseth.

In 1989, Senators Faced a Pete Hegseth Situation Very Differently

I covered the 1989 fight over George H.W. Bush's secretary of defense nominee. It feels awfully familiar.
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

Instead of trying to recapture working class votes, Democrats should be focused on building the kind of economy they need to expand the political map.
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.
Man reading a newspaper

A Brief Literary History of the Newspaper Endorsement

When did endorsements become pro forma, anyway? And what do they even do?
"Vote here" sign in English and Spanish.

Chasing the “Latino Vote”

Political campaigns have often misunderstood Latino voters, oversimplifying their diversity and facing challenges in outreach and engagement.
Photo of Framer  James A. Bayard then a modern day photo of Congresswoman Liz Cheney.

How Past and Present Catch Up With Each Other

The election of 1801 offers a first-hand example of how current events can offer historians new perspectives on the past.
Theodore Roosevelt giving a speech.

A Brief History of Former Presidents Running for Reelection: 3 Losses, 1 Win and 1 Still TBD

History illustrates that voters become galvanized and change their party allegiance when former US presidents run for a nonconsecutive term.
Political cartoon of a politician with his clothes removed, revealing tattoos showing corruption.
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Campaign Missteps: Gaffes on the Trail

How a single phrase or blunder can end up dominating our political discourse.
Remains of an elephant preserved at the US National Museum.

How Moderate Republicans Went Extinct

On Nelson Rockefeller and the disappearance of moderate Republicans from American politics.
Pamela Harriman posing in an expensively decorated bedroom beside a four poster bed.

How a Mid-Century Paramour Became a Democratic Power Broker

Churchill weaponized her powers of seduction—but Pamela Harriman came into her own when she brought her glamour to Washington.
Andrew Jackson and John C. Calhoun.
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Picking a Partner: The V.P. Relationship

The relationship between presidents and vice presidents is unique and often personal. Sometimes, internal divisions spill out into public life.
Governor Philip La Follette signing the old-age pension bill in Madison, Wisconsin in 1931.

The Golden Age of Wisconsin Socialism

At its peak in the 1920s and early ’30s, the Socialist Party in Wisconsin used confrontational tactics and nonsocialists alliances to make legislative advances.
Art piece of a hand holding barbed wire.

Do Border

Who can migrate to the US and make their home here? Who gets to drop US-made bombs, and who is expected to suffer them? These are not unrelated questions.
Aaron Henry of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party delegation speaks at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.

60 Years Ago, Courage Confronted Racism at the Democratic Convention

My grandmother and the fight over the 1964 Mississippi delegation.
People holding antiwar signs at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

A Brief History of the Democratic Party

The Democratic Party, and the US political system as a whole, is a very strange beast.
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Electing the President, 1840-2020

Most election maps emphasize the candidates and parties who won the Electoral College. This project shifts the focus to voters, revealing a more nuanced story.

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