David Houpt is Assistant Professor of History at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. This interview is based on his new book, To Organize the Sovereign People: Political Mobilization in Revolutionary Pennsylvania (University of Virginia Press, 2023). JF: What led […]
political history
What did the founding fathers mean by “virtue”?
Recently a follower on one of my social media sites asked me for some reading material on the 18th-century understanding of virtue. I have tried over the years to inform many of my fellow evangelicals that when the founders talked […]
Gallup: 63% of Americans want a third major political party
Here is Jeffrey Jones at Gallup: WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sixty-three percent of U.S. adults currently agree with the statement that the Republican and Democratic parties do “such a poor job” of representing the American people that “a third major party […]
California Senator Dianne Feinstein has passed away
Until an official obituary appears, learn about this trailbazing United States Senator here. She was mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988 and was elected to five U.S. Senate terms. In 1984 she was on Walter Mondale’s vice-presidential short […]
Steven Mintz on “the left”
Over at Inside Higher Ed, historian Steven Mintz helps us make sense of the American left. Here is a taste of his piece, “What Does It Mean to Be a Leftist in 2023?“: Today, the left takes many different forms. […]
The Author’s Corner with Melissa Blair
Melissa Blair is Associate Professor and Department Chair of History at Auburn University. This interview is based on her new book, Bringing Home the White House: The Hidden History of Women who Shaped the Presidency in the Twentieth Century (University […]
The Author’s Corner with Kathryn Cramer Brownell
Kathryn Cramer Brownell is Associate Professor of History at Purdue University. This interview is based on her new book, 24/7 Politics: Cable Television and the Fragmenting of America from Watergate to Fox News (Princeton University Press, 2023). JF: What led […]
Is it time to make major changes to the U.S. Constitution?
The Atlantic is running an excerpt from a new book by Harvard political scientists Steve Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt titled, Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point. They write: “Born of compromise and improvisation, the U.S. […]
The Author’s Corner with Zhongping Chen
Zhongping Chen is Professor of History at the University of Victoria. This interview is based on his new book, Transpacific Reform and Revolution: The Chinese in North America, 1898-1918 (Stanford University Press, 2023). JF: What led you to write Transpacific […]
The Author’s Corner with Richard N. Langlois
Richard N. Langlois is Professor of Economics at the University of Connecticut. This interview is based on his new book, The Corporation and the Twentieth Century: The History of American Business Enterprise (Princeton University Press, 2023). JF: What led you […]
Just how unprecedented was Trump’s federal indictment?
Donald Trump is the first president or former president to face a federal indictment, but as Joshua Zeitz points out at Politico, a sitting vice-president and the president of the Confederacy faced treason charges. Here is a taste of Zeitz’s […]
Trump is indicted. Historians weigh-in.
Here is CNN: “The former president faces his first federal indictment for retention of classified documents and conspiracy with a top aide to hide them from the government and his own attorneys — a total of 37 counts.” Read an […]
The Author’s Corner with Robert Mann
Robert Mann holds the Manship Endowed Chair in Journalism at Louisiana State University’s Manship School of Mass Communication. This interview is based on his new book, Kingfish U: Huey Long and LSU (LSU Press, 2023). JF: What led you to […]
“Christianity in overalls”
Over at Jacobin, Stephen Barton introduces many of us to J. Stitt Wilson, the socialist major of Berkeley, California from 1911 to 1913. Here is a taste: On Easter Sunday, 1911, San Francisco’s Central Theater was packed with more than […]
“His rotundity” versus a supposed atheist and anarchist
Over at his Substack, historian William Hogeland is telling “lurid tales” of American elections. He begins his series with the presidential election of 1796. Here is a taste of his post: Jefferson supporters, labeling Adams “His Rotundity,” claimed that the […]
Will Kevin McCarthy last more than 66 days as Speaker of the House?
66 days. That’s how long Didius Julianus lasted as Roman emperor in 193 C.E. As historian Edward Watts notes, he “ran out of things to give his allies.” Here is a taste of his piece at Zocalo: Julianus was so […]
Historian Joanne Freeman on the near scuffle between Mike Rogers and Matt Gaetz
Here is part of what I wrote last night after the fourteenth ballot for Speaker of the House: Before the end of the vote, McCarthy had to walk up the aisle to talk to Matt Gaetz to try to get […]
1923 was the last time a vote for Speaker of the House went more than one ballot
The House of Representatives just adjourned for the day. It did not choose a speaker. Hakeem Jeffries won on the first ballot. Jeffries also won on the second ballot and third ballot. Nineteen right-wing Republicans voted against McCarthy on the […]
The Author’s Corner with Alex Zakaras
Alex Zakaras is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Vermont. This interview is based on his new book, The Roots of American Individualism: Political Myth in the Age of Jackson (Princeton University Press, 2022). JF: What led […]
Are the political parties realigning?
Yes. Here is Josh Kraushaar at Axios: Shifts in the demographics of the two parties’ supporters — taking place before our eyes — are arguably the biggest political story of our time. The big picture: Republicans are becoming more working class […]