presidential history

• 
• 3/17/19
  

  History Will Clash With History in the 2020 Election

  by Ronald L. Feinman

  Three different historical precedents all suggest a different outcome in 2020. 

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  3/12/19
  

  How presidential empathy can improve politics

  by Jeremi Suri

  The legacy of FDR and his fireside chats. 

• 
• 3/10/19
  

  Three Unexpected Deaths That Shaped Presidential History

  by Ronald L. Feinman

  Unexpected tragedy in the lives of three political leaders—John F. Kennedy, Jr., Paul Wellstone, and Joe Biden—demonstrate the profound impact of chance on political history. 

• 
• 2/27/19
  

  What FDR Can Teach Us About Congress and National Emergencies

  by Martin Halpern

  Seventy-five years ago this week, there was a serious conflict between President Franklin Roosevelt and Congress.

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  2/26/19
  

  George Washington’s lesson for Trump’s America

  by Marc Aronson

  Principles, not a thirst for power, must guide our leaders.

• 
• SOURCE: Politico Magazine
  2/24/19
  

  The Lost History of FDR's Court Packing Scandal

  Some Democrats are talking about adding justices to the bench. But the revelations show almost no one understands what really happened back in the 1930s. 

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  2/17/19
  

  The plot to assassinate George Washington — and how it was foiled

  If it weren’t for an overheard conversation in a New York jail, we might all be drinking British tea today.

• 
• SOURCE: Forbes
  2/18/19
  

  How To Drink Like A President

  The drinking habits of presidents past and present. 

• 
• SOURCE: New Yorker
  2/15/19
  

  Historian Ana Raquel Minian Interviewed on How Trump's Wall Rhetoric Changes Lives in Mexico

  Why does America detain so many illegal immigrants and asylum seekers in the first place?

• 
• SOURCE: The Conversation
  2/15/19
  

  A brief history of presidential lethargy

  by Stacy A. Cordery

  Before Theodore Roosevelt ascended to the presidency in 1901, the question of how hard a president toiled was of little concern to Americans.

• 
• 2/16/19
  

  Barack Obama, Politics, and Presidential Rankings

  by Ronald L. Feinman

  How can political circumstances alter how scholars rank past presidents? 

• 
• SOURCE: New York Review of Books
  Accessed 2/14/19
  

  New Book Sheds New Light on the Starr Investigation

  by Sean Wilentz

  Twenty years after Kenneth Starr delivered to Congress his report recommending the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, the former independent counsel has delivered a second report, in the form of a memoir, condemning Clinton all over again. 

• 
• SOURCE: Fox News
  2/12/19
  

  30 acres once owned by Abraham Lincoln in Illinois sold for $300,000

  According to the newspaper, Lincoln bought 40 acres in 1841 from his cash-strapped father, Thomas Lincoln. It is said to be the only farm he ever owned, though he let his father continue to farm it.

• 
• SOURCE: Smithsonian Magazine
  2/4/19
  

  Smithsonian Magazine Interviews Amy S. Greenberg on Sarah Polk and the Model of Conservative Female Power

  The popular and pious wife to President James Polk had little use for the nascent suffrage movement  

• 
• 2/10/19
  

  Why Our World Seems Out of Control

  by Walter G. Moss

  What the world needs more than ever are wise political leaders who can redirect technology to serve the common good.

• 
• SOURCE: PBS Newshour
  2/5/19
  

  Video of the Week 2: Michael Beschloss Analyzes Trump's State of the Union Address

  How will President Trump's 2019 State of the Union address fit into American history?

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  2/5/19
  

  George Washington’s first State of the Union address: Little pomp and no applause lines

  It was very different from the speech President Trump delivered and the political spectacle the event has become.

• 
• SOURCE: USA Today
  2/4/19
  

  Kruse and Zelizer: Watergate's lesson? If Democrats want to heal America, Trump must be held accountable

  by Kevin Kruse and Julian Zelizer

  Accountability is essential to the long-term health of our democracy, more important than even healing the nation’s partisan divisions.

• 
• 2/3/19
  

  Six Times the Failure of a Political Nomination Changed American History 

  by Ronald L. Feinman

  Including slavery, gay marriage, abortion rights, and desegregation. 

• 
• 2/16/19
  

  What To Know About the History of Impeachment

  by Peter Charles Hoffer

  A primer on the constitutional basis of impeachment, when it's been used before, and what that means for our current political moment.