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History News Network

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Roundup Top 10!


What McCarthyism Can Teach Us about Trumpism

by Landon R. Y. Storrs

McCarthyism wound down thanks to the courage of independent journalists, the decision after four long years of McCarthy’s fellow Republican senators to put country above party, and U.S. Supreme Court decisions in cases brought by defendants and lawyers.


The moment in 1993 when healthcare died

by Joseph J. Fins

Bob Dole and Pat Moynihan were ready to cut a deal. Then Bill Clinton said no.


LBJ Launches Medicare: ‘You Can’t Treat Grandma This Way’

by Bill Moyers

Yes, our health system is broken, but broken systems can be fixed — not easily, but they can be fixed.


100 years ago African-Americans marched down 5th Avenue to declare that black lives matter

by Chad Williams

One hundred years later, as black people continue to insist that “Black Lives Matter,” the “Silent Protest Parade” offers a vivid reminder about the power of courageous leadership, grassroots mobilization, direct action and their collective necessity in the fight to end racial oppression in our current troubled times.


Donald Trump’s War on the 1960s

by Leonard Steinhorn

It’s often said that Trump is fixated on undoing everything President Obama accomplished. But in truth it’s not the Obama legacy he’s undoing. It’s the 1960s.


Donald Trump’s transgender ban vs. Harry Truman’s desegregation order: A backward echo of the past

by Jonathan Zimmerman

Many of the same arguments Trump used last week also came up in 1948. Thankfully for history, Truman didn't listen.


What the ‘Government Schools’ Critics Really Mean

by Katherine Stewart

In certain conservative circles, the phrase “government schools” has become as ubiquitous as it is contemptuous.


Don’t limit the powers of the FDA

by Alison Bateman-House and Ameet Sarpatwari

It is important that we remember the lessons of history and preserve the tools the FDA needs for its vital mission.


Our Long, Troubling History of Sterilizing the Incarcerated

by David M. Perry

State-sanctioned efforts to keep the incarcerated from reproducing began in the early 20th century and continue today.