presidential history

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  4/21/19
  

  ‘The President himself may be guilty’: Why pardons were hotly debated by the Founding Fathers

  The Mueller report raised the issue the Constitution’s framers feared in 1787: Abuse of presidential power.

• 
• 4/21/19
  

  Presidential Personality and Politics

  by Jerome Braun

  A review of American Dialogue: The Founders and Us by Joseph J. Ellis. 

• 
• 4/21/19
  

  We Judge Presidents in part by Who Precedes and Follows Them

  by Ronald L. Feinman

  Some Presidents are fortunate to come before or after a President who was not a great success so they seem like a better president in comparison. Others follow and precede a President who was perceived as successful, dimming their reputation.

• 
• 4/21/19
  

  The Unseen Significance of Jefferson’s Natural-Aristoi Letter to Adams

  by M. Andrew Holowchak

  Jefferson’s Radical Redefinition of “Aristoi” for a Thriving Jeffersonian Republic.

• 
• 4/21/19
  

  The Value of Rating Presidents

  by Susan Swain

  Presidential rankings are quick, fun, and highly shareable on social media.  They foster lively debate about contemporary presidents and even help resurface some of our most obscure presidents.

• 
• SOURCE: CNN
  4/18/19
  

  Video of the Week: Mueller report 'devastating for the president'

  Princeton history professor Sean Wilentz says the Trump administration is using an old Nixonian strategy: "Redact, delay, redact, delay, double talk."

• 
• SOURCE: Tom Dispatch
  3/28/19
  

  The 47-Minute Presidency

  by Tom Engelhardt

  The 47 minutes that define Trump's presidency and why they are worth revisiting. 

• 
• SOURCE: Daily Beast
  3/23/19
  

  The Historian Who Thinks Donald Trump Is a Movie Hero

  A new book argues Trump is the modern-day equivalent of a gun-toting cowboy riding into town to help inept lawmen and rescue damsels in distress.

• 
• 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.