shutdown

A history of United States government shutdowns

Like so much else, it’s all the fault of the founding fathers.

Sleeping Giant: When Public Workers Awake

by Leon Fink

What W.E.B. Du Bois and American labor history can teach us about the government shutdown's end. 

Donald Trump's SOTU fiasco: Historians say it's unprecedented

Historians tell Salon that Trump's State of the Union implosion is completely "without precedent."

The State of the Union shifts power to the president. Pelosi took it back.

by Kathryn Cramer Brownell

The shutdown upended the ‘bully pulpit’ Trump’s predecessors have used.

What Historians Are Saying: State of the Union 2019

What historians are saying on Twitter about Pelosi, Trump, and the postponed State of the Union address.

What Alexander the Great Can Teach Trump About Compromise

by Robert Garland

A light-hearted historical solution to the government shutdown. 

The shutdown is Trump’s ultimate attack on American intellectual life

by Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen

The consequences of the shutdown nobody is talking about

Heather Cox Richardson On The First Government Shutdown In U.S. History

The first government shutdown in history was in 1879, when former Confederate Democrats in Congress refused to fund the government unless protections for black voters went away.

Will the State of the Union be postponed? That hasn’t happened since the Challenger disaster.

Postponing a State of the Union speech is not unprecedented.

This Shutdown Isn’t the First Time the U.S. Government Has Broken Down. The History Doesn't Bode Well for Trump

by David Kaiser

Have comparable breakdowns ever happened before? Yes, a few times. The earlier episodes shed some light on what has caused our current crisis, and give us some idea of how it is likely to be resolved.

A Tyrant's Temper Tantrum

by Ed Simon

How the History of England's 17th Century Civil War, the American Revolution, and the American Civil War Shows the Shutdown's Potential to Spur Radical Change

A Political Scientist Analyzes Why Trump Will Likely Lose the Government Shutdown

by John A. Tures

One of the biggest myths about government shutdowns is that presidents usually win.

UPDATED: What Historians Are Saying About Trump's National Emergency and Press Conference

A curated collection of Tweets and articles from across the web. 

Lincoln's Legacy and the Government Shutdown: The Suicide of a Great Democracy

by George Packer

A shutdown looks like the beginning of the end that Lincoln always knew was possible.

A Former House Historian Speaks About the Unprecedented New Congress – and the Government Shutdown

No one has ever shut down the government before over a single issue. Plus: What's special about this incoming class of congresspeople.

Government Shutdowns Illustrate the Pragmatism of the Founding Fathers

by Dale Schlundt

While we feel elements of failure and despair during a shutdown, it is also illustration of the fundamental brilliance of our Republic. 

Separating Children from Their Parents Is an Anglo-American Tradition

by Jeremy Seabrook

We need to face facts.

The Shutdown Standoff Is One of the Worst Crises in American History

by John B. Judis

Welcome to Weimar America.