Current Events that Relate to History
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OverviewThe President’s Weapon
Why does the power to launch nuclear weapons rest with a single American?The Atlantic -
Book ReviewWhy America Got a Warfare State, Not a Welfare State
How FDR invented national security, and why Democrats need to move on from it.The New Republic -
Q&ALeonard Peltier’s Story Isn’t Over Yet
The Native activist spent nearly fifty years in prison for the killing of two F.B.I. agents. In January, Joe Biden commuted his sentence, and he went home.The New Yorker -
Book ExcerptWhy Everyone Hates White Liberals
1988 was a pivotal year in how “white liberals” are perceived by their fellow Americans.Arc: Religion, Politics, Et Cetera -
BiographyThe Radical Midwest of Bill Sentner
St Louis organizer Bill Sentner led some of the most successful labor battles in Midwestern history by uniting workers across race and gender lines.Jacobin -
LongreadThe Compassionate Historian
History’s academic study is now deeply politicized, with partisan views shaping beliefs and debates over even basic historical facts.National Affairs -
exhibitSupreme Thwart
Ever since the Supreme Court gave itself the power of judicial review in 1803, its role in the federal government and its influence on American life has been bitterly contested.
From the HNN Archive
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How to Succeed in Government Without Really Trying
The long history of promising an “efficient” federal government. -
What Is the Role of the Historian?
Rethinking the job of history — and the American Historical Association — after the veto of the Gaza “scholasticide” resolution. -
Indifferent to the Fate of Freedom Elsewhere
Jimmy Carter is known for his defense of human rights worldwide. But in 1979, he threatened to deport thousands of Iranian student protesters. -
An Attempt to Defeat Constitutional Order
After the Civil War, conservatives used terrorism, cold-blooded murder, and economic coercion to fight the new state constitution in South Carolina. -
Whose Side Are College Administrators On?
There’s a long history of politicians targeting student protesters — and of campus leaders abetting those efforts. -
The Constitution Does Not Speak for Itself
In 1841, John Tyler said he was the president. The Constitution said he wasn’t. What happened next? -
“At Any Future Time”
In 1880, the daughter of a Welsh politician turned to fiction to expose perspectives missing from the official record, upending histories for generations to come. -
Letting the World Scream
In 1984, the U.S. rejected the International Court of Justice’s jurisdiction, revealing its tendency to ignore international rules it sees as unfavorable — even when it helped write them. -
Scared Out of the Community
Between 1929 and 1939 approximately half a million Mexicans left the United States. Many of the departing families included American-born children to whom Mexico, not the United States, was the foreign land. -
When Good Housekeeping Meant Getting Vaccinated Against Polio
The pages of 1950s lifestyle magazines offer a glimpse of a time when childhood vaccines were anything but controversial.