Trusted Writing on History, Travel, and American Culture Since 1949
Presidents
Our leading politicians have spewed vitriol at each other since the nation’s founding.
From Henry Clay to Barry Goldwater and Shirley Chisholm, our failed presidential contenders can still inspire us with their legacies.
Trump is the most transformative one-term President in 175 years, but historians will not be kind.
The Capitol riot seemed hauntingly familiar to the author, who as a student at Ole Miss watched demagogues incite a deadly riot to prevent integration.
The cause of Donald Trump’s poor behavior may be “a severe case of bad manners,” says the author.
It is probably lost to mind who first said that “in the American presidency, character is destiny.” But whoever coined the adage must have been thinking of Washington, Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt, in whom the salience of personal qualities was so great as to be historically determinative – Was
There was widespread fraud, especially in the swing state of Florida. We are talking, of course, about 1876.
Editor’s Note: Roy Morris Jr.
The struggles and triumphs of our Presidents have been central to shaping our nation, even though they operated under a Constitution that didn’t grant them unilateral power.
Editor's Note: Portions of this essay were written by the distinguished Presidential historian Michael Beschloss for our book,
“It is recommended,” proclaimed Lincoln, that the People “celebrate the anniversary of the Birthday of the Father of his Country."
On February 19, 1862, with armies drilling for the spring Civil War campaignin
James K. Polk appears doomed to remain one of our least appreciated presidents, despite Robert W. Merry’s valiant attempt to drag him from the shadows in A Country of Vast Designs.
A diminutive, persuasive Virginian hijacked the Constitutional Convention and forced the moderates to accept a national government with vastly expanded powers
On May 5, 1787, James Madison arrived in Philadelphia.
For all his previous successes, President Herbert Hoover proved incapable of arresting the economic free fall of the Depression— or soothing the fears of a distressed nation
On March 4, 1929, Herbert Hoover took the oath of office as the thirty-first president of the United States. America, its new leader told the rain-soaked crowd of 50,0000 around the Capitol and countless more listening to the radio, was “filled with millions of happy homes; blessed with comfort and opportunity.”
What would Martin Luther King Jr.—had he been alive today—thought of our latest president’s oratory?
King gave his “
What a skeptical biographer discovered about a very elusive subject
Dick’s Last Trick
Watergate dominated the news in April, as it had for more than a year. Each day seemed to bring new evidence of malfeasance by President Richard Nixon and his staff, and in a nation unaccustomed to having a criminal in the White House, the revelations were taken quite seriously. As the House Judiciary Committee took up the question of impeachment, Nixon knew his time to wriggle out of the mess was running short. In the football metaphors that he loved so much, the President was trailing by two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter. So, like any coach in such a predicament, he called for an onside kick.
AN OHIO UNDERTAKER’S LIFELONG obsession has left a mysterious outdoor gallery of American folk art
They’ve all had things to say about their fellow Executives. Once in a great while one was even flattering.
John Adams said Thomas Jefferson’s mind was “eaten to a honeycomb with ambition, yet weak, confused, uninformed, and ignorant.” Ulysses S.
Governor Mario Cuomo of New York has used history as a guide — and a solace — for a good part of his life
Those who see Gov. Mario Cuomo of New York for the first time are likely to be surprised.
To what extent did greatness inhere in the man, and to what degree was it a product of the situation?
Seldom has an eminent man been more conscious of his place in history than was Franklin D. Roosevelt. He regarded history as an imposing drama and himself as a conspicuous actor.
All that the Adamses saw they were schooled to put down and save. The result is a collection of historical records beyond price and without peer.
Without doubt they were Washington, who walked carefully within the Constitution, and Lincoln, who stretched it as far as he dared
Discreet helpers have worked on the speeches and papers of many Presidents, but a nation in a time of trial will respond best “to the Great Man himself, standing alone”
No matter how busy he was, Theodore Roosevelt always found time for his children. The charming “picture” letters below, addressed to his thirteen-year-old son Archie from a Louisiana hunting camp, recall a man who for millions of Americans will always live on, forever vigorous, forever young.
Tenesas Bayou, Oct. 10, 1907.
Blessed Archie:
I just loved your letter. I was so glad to hear from you. I was afraid you would have trouble with your Latin. What a funny little fellow Opdyke must be; I am glad you like him. How do you get on at football?
We have found no bear. I shot a deer; I sent a picture of it to Kermit.
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