presidential history

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• SOURCE: New York Review of Books
  7/3/2020
  

  ‘The Most Ignorant and Unfit’: What Made America’s Worst Ever Leader?

  by David Rothkopf

  The best—maybe only—saving grace for Trump in the history books is that no one could accuse him of causing the Civil War.

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• SOURCE: USA Today
  7/6/2020
  

  As Divisions Threaten America, The Pressure To Cancel Presidents Is Dangerous

  Any hint of admiration for Lee means automatic cancellation these days but in the mid-20th century, it was ordinary and accepted.   

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• 6/21/2020
  

  Ghosts of Neshoba: Why Trump Can't Dog Whistle His Way Back to the White House

  by Rick Perlstein

  Ronald Reagan's notorious "states' rights" pledge in Mississippi in 1980 was actually damaging to his campaign. The Gipper needed all his political skill and actor's discipline to rebuild his standing with moderates while still appealing to resentful white voters. Donald Trump lacks the skill to pull off the same trick.

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• SOURCE: Politico
  6/14/2020
  

  Why Trump Is Right To Worry About That Glass of Water

  Trump's anger at internet speculation about his health reflects a serious concern: perceptions of vigor and physical strength have long been influential in presidential politics.

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• SOURCE: Frank Interviews
  6/18/2020
  

  Rick Perlstein on Our "Law and Order" Presidents

  "I've been very fortunate in choosing the right topic."

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• 6/14/2020
  

  What if Trump Refuses to Leave?

  by Richard Striner

  History offers few guidelines for how to handle the increasingly plausible scenario of a defeated president refusing to leave office. 

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  6/5/2020
  

  Trump’s Claim that He’s Done More for Black Americans than any President Since Lincoln (Fact Check)

  Historians Michael Beschloss, David Garrow, H.W. Brands, Max J. Skidmore and David Greenberg argue that LBJ is in fact second to Lincoln in this regard.

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• SOURCE: TomDispatch
  5/31/2020
  

  Donald Trump May Not Be Herbert Hoover

  by Tom Engelhardt

  Trump, unlike President Herbert Hoover, may usher us into a true Great Depression and possibly not suffer a staggering defeat at the polls in November, as that president did in 1932.

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• SOURCE: TIME
  6/2/2020
  

  Trump Declared Himself the 'President of Law and Order.' Here's What People Get Wrong About the Origins of That Idea

  Historian Elizabeth Hinton's research suggests that this platform truly took hold under the Johnson administration.

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  5/31/2020
  

  This Election Isn't 1968 or 1992 or 2016

  Richard Nixon won by portraying himself as a unifier against an out-of-control left; Bill Clinton won reelection by carefully navigating the politics of crime and unrest. There is nothing very careful, yet, about what we've seen from this president.

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• 5/31/2020
  

  JFK at 103: What We Miss

  by Joseph A. Esposito

  John F. Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917. Although much of the Camelot ideal was mythical, Kennedy's optimism and purposefulness are nevertheless missed today.

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• SOURCE: WBUR
  5/27/2020
  

  What We Learn From FDR's New Deal

  "A president alone can't do everything," says historian Lizabeth Cohen, "that president needs a supportive Congress."

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• SOURCE: ArtNet News
  5/19/2020
  

  In a Sign of a Divided America, President Trump Will Not Unveil Barack Obama’s New Portrait in the White House Anytime Soon

  Portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama will likely not be installed at the White House until Trump is out of office.

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• SOURCE: London Review of Books
  5/21/2020
  

  The Corrupt Bargain (Review Essay)

  by Eric Foner

  Eric Foner argues that reasons both strategic and idealistic informed the establishment of the Electoral College, and recent books support the case for its abolition. 

• 
• SOURCE: Axios
  5/25/2020
  

  Ken Burns: Coronavirus Pandemic Is Crisis "On The Level" Of Civil War And Great Depression (Podcast)

  On this podcast, the filmmaker and historian Geoffrey Ward discuss American leadership during moments of crisis.

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  5/26/2020
  

  We’ve Forgotten the Worst President in American History

  by Ted Widmer

  What is the legacy of bad presidents today? Do we need them to remind us of the perils of the job? If so, Americans should be grateful to James Buchanan.

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• SOURCE: Wall Street Journal
  5/22/2020
  

  ‘How Did We Get Here?’ Review: Why Presidents Win

  In reviewing Robert Dallek's recent book, Robert Merry argues that the writer short-changes the agency of voters and the significance of the basic political and economic conditions in determining who wins a presidential election. 

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• SOURCE: Smithsonian Magazine
  5/19/2020
  

  Warren Harding Tried to Return America to ‘Normalcy’ After WWI and the 1918 Pandemic. It Failed.

  by William Deverell

  The lessons from his presidency show that a quick retreat to the past can be just a mirage.

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• SOURCE: TIME
  5/19/2020
  

  When the Economy Collapses, Talk Is Cheap—Just Look What Led Up to the Great Depression

  by Robert Dallek

  For American leaders, the Great Depression is as much a lesson in what not to do as it is in what to do.

• 
• SOURCE: The New York Times
  5/16/2020
  

  Sorry, Abe Lincoln Is Not on the Ballot

  Historian David W. Blight contextualizes the use of Lincoln, and other not-so-popular presidents, in modern political discourse.