presidential history

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• SOURCE: The Bulwark
  1/7/2022
  

  Our Last Insurrectionist President

  by Daniel N. Gullotta

  John Tyler's post-presidential second act, as a secessionist, yielded something worse than historical condemnation: irrelevance. 

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• SOURCE: CSPAN
  1/6/2022
  

  Meacham, Goodwin Join Librarian of Congress to Discuss January 6 a Year Later

  Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden moderates a discussion between historians Doris Kearns Goodwin and Jon Meacham, as well as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, to "establish and preserve the narrative of Jan. 6."

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• SOURCE: CNN
  12/15/2021
  

  JFK Researchers: Latest Released Assassination Documents Underwhelming

  UVA's Larry Sabato says an unfortunate side effect of the release, which frames the removal of minor redactions as "new" documents, is that it feeds continuing conspiracy theories based on the idea that the government is concealing the truth about the assassination. 

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• 10/24/2021
  

  Four Myths of Presidential Power

  by Daniel Farber

  History looms large in arguments about the Constitution these days. But there are widespread misunderstandings of what history tells us about presidential powers, from making war to being impeached. 

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• 10/17/2021
  

  Scoring the Presidents on Integrity and Humanity in Dealing with Native American Nations

  by Michael A. Genovese

  Since George Washington, the President has had principal influence in government policy toward Native American nations. The nation's record is not generally a proud one but some presidents have dealt more honorably than others. 

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• SOURCE: WBUR
  8/31/2021
  

  How Previous Presidents have Ended American Wars

  With the U.S.'s longest war coming to an end, Here & Now's Scott Tong speaks with Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, to look back at how other U.S. presidents have handled ending conflicts.

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  8/25/2021
  

  End the Imperial Presidency

  by Stephen Wertheim

  Congress has not issued a declaration of war since Pearl Harbor. President Biden should force Congress to shoulder its constitutional duty by withdrawing troops from any conflict in six months unless Congress debates and formally declares war. 

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  8/3/2021
  

  Is Kamala Harris Really the Least Popular VP in a Half-Century?

  The right has seized on the argument, which is based on shoddy interpretation of polls and ignores the fact that net favorability ratings for current officials are much more affected by partisan polarization than for their predecessors decades ago. 

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• SOURCE: MSNBC
  7/25/2021
  

  The President Who Beats Donald Trump at Corruption

  by Kevin M. Kruse

  "To find the real counterpart to Trump’s gang of money-grubbing grifters, we need to look back a century to the crime-riddled administration of Warren G. Harding."

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• SOURCE: Harvard Political Review
  7/26/2021
  

  The Oval Office Desperately Needs a Historian

  by Jacob Miller

  If presidents take advice from economists, scientists and lawyers, historians should have a seat at the table too. 

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• SOURCE: Vanity Fair
  10/29/2020
  

  Presidential Historian Jeffrey Engel Reviews Film Portrayals from "Lincoln" to "Nixon"

  Being the POTUS is hard. Playing one on screen isn't easy either. Jeffrey Engle of SMU rates some presidential portrayals. 

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• SOURCE: CSPAN
  6/30/2021
  

  CSPAN Poll of Presidential Leadership: Trump Beats Pierce, Buchanan and Andrew Johnson; Lincoln #1

  Read the results of the annual CSPAN Historian poll of presidential leadership. Sure to have something to please/anger everyone!

• 
• 6/6/2021
  

  America's First Peaceful (Just Barely!) Transfer of Power

  by Akhil Reed Amar

  While the selection of Thomas Jefferson as the third president in 1801 (after an electoral college deadlock) is touted as a crucial peaceful transfer of presidential power from one party to another, the transition was far more fraught with peril than most realize. 

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• 5/30/2021
  

  Politics Aside, Was Trump Even an Effective Leader?

  by George C. Edwards III

  Trump's supposed dealmaking genius amounted to playing to his base to the detriment of any policy agenda. 

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• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  5/24/2021
  

  Are We Entering a New Political Era?

  A group of younger progressive activists is seeking to push the Democratic Party to see a new political alignment where active government and public programs are no longer considered impossible. Some members of the group of historians and scholars who met with President Biden in March also relayed that message.

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• SOURCE: The Nation
  4/22/2021
  

  Fritz Mondale and Decency

  by Kai Bird

  Jimmy Carter thought the vice presidency was "a wasted national asset." He gave Walter Mondale the charge and the freedom to redefine the role. 

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• SOURCE: The Hill
  4/23/2021
  

  100 Days is a Ridiculous Way to Judge a Presidency

  by Lindsay M. Chervinsky

  FDR's 100 Days was a historical aberration; not least because of the lack of partisan opposition that is delaying the seating of Joe Biden's cabinet and the staffing of his administration. 

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  4/28/2021
  

  President Biden is a Very Different Pandemic President than Woodrow Wilson

  by E. Thomas Ewing

  A century ago, there was little expectation that a US President would have much to say about a public health emergency, even one of national scope. 

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• SOURCE: PBS News Hour
  4/25/2021
  

  Does a President’s First 100 Days Reveal Anything About the Next Four Years?

  Does a President's "First 100 Days" really tell anything useful about the course of a presidency? PBS News Hour compares Biden to some past Presidents. 

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• SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
  4/25/2021
  

  In His First 100 Days, ‘Uncle Joe’ Biden Combines Progressive Goals and a Reassuring Manner

  “Government doing something for people ... that was an idea that was disabled,” said Princeton historian Sean Wilentz. “He’s trying to bring it back.”