polarization — Bunk History

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The inauguration of Abraham Lincoln in 1861.

The Most Contentious Presidential Transition in American History

Was Abraham Lincoln's the most tumultuous presidential transition in American history?

by Jon Grinspan, James M. McPherson, Peter Feuerherd, Frederic Bancroft via JSTOR Daily on November 22, 2016

The Moment That Political Debates on TV Turned to Spectacle

A new documentary explores the infamous 1968 dispute between William Buckley and Gore Vidal.

by Nadine Ajaka via The Atlantic on September 27, 2016

Donald Trump and Newt Gingrich.

They Were Made for Each Other

How Newt Gingrich laid the groundwork for Donald Trump's rise.

by Nicole Hemmer, Brent Cebul via The New Republic on July 11, 2016

The Myth of the 'Reagan Democrat'

The notion that Donald Trump can convert a large swath of white, blue-collar Democrats is a fantasy. They don’t exist.

by Peter Beinart via The Atlantic on May 28, 2016

Billy Graham and Richard Nixon

The King’s Chapel and the King’s Court

Richard Nixon, Billy Graham, and their White House church services.

by Kevin M. Kruse via Arc: Religion, Politics, Et Cetera on July 7, 2015

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.

by George Packer via The New Yorker on August 2, 2010

Senator Joseph R. McCarthy speaking

The Paranoid Style in American Politics

It had been around a long time before the Radical Right discovered it.

by Richard Hofstadter via Harper's on November 1, 1964

A map of the United States divided into regions.

A Balkanized Federation

Without a shared civic narrative – the pursuit of liberal democratic self-government – the rival regional cultures of the United States agree on very little.

via Nationhood Lab

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

Photo of Kamala Harris speaking at a moderated conversation with Liz Cheney.

Why People Should Stop Comparing the U.S. to Weimar Germany

Those who draw a line from today to that infamous historical moment when democracy slid into authoritarianism are missing a key difference.

by Christine Adams via Made By History on November 5, 2024

William Rehnquist

The Late Supreme Court Chief Who Haunts Today’s Right-Wing Justices

William Rehnquist went from a lonely dissenter to an institutionalist chief—and his opinions are all the rage among the court’s current conservatives.

by Duncan Hosie via The New Republic on October 23, 2024

Illustration of John Tanton

The Ghosts of John Tanton

Today’s contentious immigration debate is the construct of one man’s effort to halt overpopulation.

by Abrahm Lustgarten via ProPublica on October 19, 2024

Democratic donkey necktie.

The Consultants Who Lost Democrats the Working Class

The rivalry of two men tells the story of how Democrats fumbled with their traditional base—and how they can win again.

by Ben Metzner via The New Republic on October 15, 2024

Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson.

Hate Burst Out: Chicago, 1968

It is hard not to figure the 1968 election as inaugurating the cultural and political polarisation of the American electorate so evident today.

by Kim Phillips-Fein via London Review of Books on August 7, 2024

A judge's gavel and the Capitol building, edited to look like the top of the Capitol is the other side of the gavel.

America Has Too Many Laws

An excess of restrictions has taken a very real toll on the lives of everyday Americans. Their stories must be told.

by Neil Gorsuch, Janie Nitze via The Atlantic on August 5, 2024

How Conservatives Changed the Whole Point of American Political Parties

The rise of the right remade the GOP—and fundamentally changed how parties operated in American politics.

by Daniel Schlozman, Sam Rosenfeld via Made By History on June 10, 2024

Students in a Kent State University classroom.

Decades After Kent State Shooting, the Tragic Legacy Shapes its Activism

The university where 13 student protesters were killed or injured during the Vietnam War era worries that other schools have learned nothing from its history.

by Jonathan Edwards via Washington Post on May 4, 2024

Solidarity book cover and photos of authors Leah Hunt-Hendrix and Astra Taylor.

Talking “Solidarity” With Astra Taylor and Leah Hunt-Hendrix

A conversation with the activists and writers about their wide-ranging history of the politics of the common good and togetherness.

by Astra Taylor, Leah Hunt-Hendrix, Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins via The Nation on April 23, 2024

Endesha Ida Mae Holland in the documentary “Freedom on My Mind.

“Freedom on My Mind”: A Symphony of Voices for Civil Rights

This 1994 documentary brings the passions and agonies of Mississippi’s voter-registration drive into the present tense.

by Richard Brody via The New Yorker on February 22, 2024

A statue of Martin Luther King Jr. stands larger than life in the center of the frame; two small figures view it in the foreground

The Struggle for Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Memory

How political misappropriations of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy fuel right-wing movements.

by Hajar Yazdiha via Contexts Magazine on January 15, 2024

A kindergarten teacher coaches a group of crouched children to duck and cover in a national air raid drill, Chicago, 1954.

The Politics of Fear Is Damaging American Education—And Has Been for Decades

Politicians have often sought to remedy educational panic with remedies that do more harm than good.

by Diana D'Amico Pawlewicz via Made By History on December 14, 2023

Capital Hill at night.

Government Shutdowns Were Never Necessary Anyway

Government shutdowns only became possible in 1980, when the Attorney General offered a new interpretation of an 1870 law.

by M. A. Davis via Made By History on November 16, 2023

Group portrait of the first African-American legislators in Congress, 1872.

Reclaiming the American Story

To Heather Cox Richardson, the battle for our history is the battle for our democracy. And we may be nearing the endgame.

by Peniel E. Joseph via Democracy Journal on September 18, 2023

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

Revolutionary War reenactors shooting muskets.

“Originalist” Arguments Against Gun Control Get U.S. History Completely Wrong

Gun control is actually an American tradition.

by Mary C. Curtis, Robert J. Spitzer via Slate on May 3, 2023

Campaign banner ad from former Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters, stating that he "won't ask for your pronouns in the U.S. Senate."

The Modern Electoral History of Transphobia

How transphobia has been a consistent liability for Republicans, and why the right refuses to give it up.

by Ettingermentum via Ettingermentum Newsletter on March 18, 2023

The Capitol Building in ruins within a US-shaped crater.

Why Our Country Is Too Big Not to Fail

Maybe the United States was doomed from the start. And Jean-Jacques Rousseau can explain why.

by Matthew Sitman via The New Republic on December 6, 2022

Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake holds a news conference as she tours the U.S.-Mexico border on Nov. 4 in Sierra Vista, Ariz.

Cochise County Didn’t Used To Be the Land Of Far Right Stunts

How the rural Arizona border county embodies the political shift in much of America.

by Katherine Benton-Cohen via Made By History on December 2, 2022

Photograph of protesters and text from a 1944 edition of "Are You An American?"

The Failure of a Public Philosophy

How Americans lost faith in the possibility of self-government.

by Win McCormack via The New Republic on November 23, 2022

Shadowy photograph of two people standing in front of statue of Lincoln in Lincoln Memorial

In Jon Meacham’s Biography, Lincoln Is a Guiding Light For Our Times

The famous historian makes the claim that the demigods of American historical mythology can help us carve paths through our forbidding 21st-century wilderness.

by John Fabian Witt via Washington Post on October 24, 2022

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