Departments

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Joe Biden

  • SOURCE: The New Republic
    3/8/2023

    Why are the Dems Denying DC Self-Government?

    Historian (and HNN Alum) Kyla Sommers connects the recent Senate rejection of DC's local crime legislation to the history of suspicion of Black political power in the District. 

  • SOURCE: New York Times
    1/14/2023

    Why Do "Secret" Documents Keep Showing Up in the Wrong Places?

    by Matthew Connelly

    The near-unilateral authority of presidents to declare material secret in the name of national security is intoxicating and it's nearly impossible for the chief executive to resist abusing it, creating not a "deep state" but a "dark state" of secrecy and impunity. 

  • SOURCE: The New Republic
    1/4/2023

    How is the Biden Doctrine Working after Two Years?

    by Matt Duss and Stephen Wertheim

    After pledging to reorient foreign policy around the global issues affecting Americans – climate, disease, and ending "forever wars" – progress toward a Biden Doctrine has been incremental. 

  • SOURCE: The Baffler
    12/8/2022

    "Amtrak Joe" Leaves Rail Workers in the Dust

    by Kim Kelly

    Why did the "most pro-union president" in modern times push through a negotiated settlement rejected by the majority of railroad union members, and what would Eugene Debs think? 

  • 12/11/2022

    Is Gerontocracy the Problem?

    by Cary Heinz

    Although Biden, Trump, and other prominent elected officials represent a political leadership that's unprecedented for advanced age, it's not clear we can—or should—do anything about it. 

  • SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
    9/23/2022

    The Risks of Declaring the Pandemic Over

    by Molly Nebiolo

    As long as America has had pandemics, it has had leaders who sought political benefit by declaring them over, so Joe Biden is in good company. But moving on needs to include planning ahead. 

  • SOURCE: The Guardian
    9/21/2022

    Biden's Taiwan Rhetoric Risks Antagonizing China For No Gain

    by Stephen Wertheim

    The United States' "One China" policy is ambivalent, awkward and dissatisfying. But it's served to prevent a destructive war for decades. Biden's recent comments threaten to destabilize the arrangement. 

  • SOURCE: The Atlantic
    9/15/2022

    Is Biden Really the Most Pro-Union President?

    Labor historian Erik Loomis says Biden is spending limited political capital to support workers and strikers, and that the bar for pro-labor presidencies is set extremely low. 

  • SOURCE: NPR
    9/4/2022

    Why Were the Historians Advising Biden All White?

    Historians of color, including Kenneth Mack and Manisha Sinha, have argued that it shouldn't be necessary to look outside of the United States, or all the way back to the Civil War, to find examples of institutionalized racism, demagoguery, voter suppression, and political violence. 

  • SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
    9/1/2022

    Historically Speaking, Biden's "Semi-Fascist" Description of MAGA is Correct

    by Federico Finchelstein

    The global authoritarian movement, of which MAGA is a part, is becoming increasingly intolerant of democracy and committed to fighting imagined threats to the nation. It's an ominous direction that tracks with the past rise of fascist regimes. 

  • 8/21/2022

    President as Change Agent: Breakers vs. Builders

    by Michael A. Genovese

    While Joe Biden has recently enjoyed policy successes that point toward a revival of the Democrats' political fortunes, his brand of change is handicapped by a lack of excitement. Will Americans ultimately choose a "disruptor" over an incrementalist? 

  • SOURCE: TIME
    8/16/2022

    Historians on the Biden-Carter Comparison

    by Olivia B. Waxman

    Meg Jacobs, Gregory Brew and Kai Bird discuss the similar economic and international contexts of the two presidencies, and suggest that Biden may, like Carter, ultimately be more effective than he is given credit for.