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#Politics

178 entries

People (39)
Aaron Burr
Third Vice President of the United States — and Alexander Hamilton's killer
Alexander Hamilton
Founding Father, first Secretary of the Treasury, and architect of American capitalism
Andrew Jackson
Frontier general, champion of the common white man, and 7th President of the United States
Andrew Johnson
17th President of the United States and the first to be impeached
Benjamin Harrison
23rd President of the United States, 1889–1893
Bill Clinton
42nd President of the United States, 1993–2001
Charles Curtis
The Kaw Nation senator who rose to the vice presidency
Charles Sumner
Abolitionist Senator Beaten on the Senate Floor, 1811–1874
Chester A. Arthur
21st President of the United States, the machine politician who became an unlikely reformer
Daniel Webster
Senator, Orator, and Champion of American Union
Donald Trump
45th and 47th President of the United States
Eugene V. Debs
Labor Leader, Socialist Presidential Candidate, and Prisoner of Conscience, 1855–1926
Franklin Pierce
14th President of the United States, 1853–1857
Gerald Ford
38th President of the United States, 1974–1977
Grover Cleveland
22nd and 24th President of the United States
Henry Clay
The Great Compromiser who held the Union together — and delayed its reckoning
J. Edgar Hoover
The director who ruled the FBI for half a century — and amassed unrivaled power
James Buchanan
15th President of the United States, 1857–1861
James Garfield
20th President of the United States, who was killed not by a bullet but by his doctors
Jefferson Davis
President of the Confederate States of America, 1861–1865
Joe Biden
46th President of the United States, 2021–2025
John C. Calhoun
Senator, Vice President, and the intellectual architect of Southern secessionism
John C. Frémont
The Pathfinder of the West whose maps drew settlers into California and Oregon
John Hancock
President of the Continental Congress and the bold first signer of the Declaration
John Tyler
10th President of the United States, 1841–1845
Joseph McCarthy
U.S. Senator whose anti-Communist crusade defined — and disgraced — an era
Martin Van Buren
8th President of the United States, 1837–1841
Millard Fillmore
13th President of the United States, whose compromise bought a decade and cost a nation
Patrick Henry
The orator whose words gave the American Revolution its voice
Peter Stuyvesant
The last director-general of New Netherland, 1647-1664
Phyllis Schlafly
The conservative organizer who stopped the Equal Rights Amendment
Richard Henry Lee
The Virginian who moved the resolution for independence in 1776
Robert F. Kennedy
Attorney General, Senator, and presidential candidate assassinated in 1968
Rutherford B. Hayes
19th President of the United States, whose disputed election ended Reconstruction
Sam Houston
President of Texas, U.S. Senator, and the man who refused to take the Confederacy's oath
Stephen A. Douglas
The "Little Giant" Whose Kansas-Nebraska Act Fractured the Union, 1813–1861
Thaddeus Stevens
Radical Republican Congressman and Architect of Reconstruction
William Jennings Bryan
The Great Commoner — three-time presidential candidate and prairie populist
William Randolph Hearst
The publisher who bought his way to a newspaper empire, 1863-1951
Places (19)
Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
The Abilene, Kansas campus on the prairie where Ike grew up
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library
The Hyde Park archive that invented the presidential library
George H. W. Bush Presidential Library
The Texas A&M library of a one-term president and lifelong public servant
George W. Bush Presidential Library
The SMU library that lets visitors face the decisions of 9/11
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum
The only presidential library split across two cities
Harry S. Truman Presidential Library
The Independence, Missouri library where the former president kept an office
Herbert Hoover Presidential Library
The library at the birthplace of the president who preceded the New Deal
Jimmy Carter Presidential Library
The Atlanta library joined to the center that defined his later life
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
I. M. Pei's white tower on Boston harbor
Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library
The travertine monolith on the University of Texas campus in Austin
Obama Presidential Center
The Chicago campus that broke with the federal library model
Puerto Rico
American since 1898, a commonwealth since 1952, and a state never
Richard Nixon Presidential Library
The Yorba Linda library that started private and became federal
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
The hilltop library in Simi Valley with a retired Air Force One
The Pentagon
The headquarters of American military power — and a symbol of it
The U.S. Naval Academy
Annapolis — where the Navy and Marine Corps train their officers
The White House
The presidential residence that became the symbol of American power
West Point
The military academy that trained the officers who led America's wars
William J. Clinton Presidential Library
The cantilevered "bridge to the 21st century" over the Arkansas River
Eras (7)
Modern America
The post–Cold War decades — and the unraveling of their assumptions, 1991–present
The Antebellum Period
The decades of deepening crisis that made the Civil War inevitable, 1848–1861
The Civil War
The conflict that tore the United States apart and abolished slavery, 1861–1865
The Cold War
The ideological standoff between the United States and Soviet Union, 1945–1991
The Gilded Age
The era of industrialists, immigrants, and inequality that remade America, 1877–1900
The Great Depression
The economic catastrophe of 1929–1941 that reshaped American life and government
The Progressive Era
The reform movement that used government to rein in the Gilded Age's excesses, 1900–1920
Events (32)
Assassination of James Garfield
The 1881 shooting that ended a presidency and broke the spoils system
Assassination of JFK
The Murder of a President, Dallas, November 22, 1963
Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy
The 1968 murder that silenced a generation's hope
Barbecue
Caribbean barbacoa, enslaved pitmasters, and four regional traditions
Bleeding Kansas
The violent territorial struggle that previewed the Civil War
Chicago 1968
The Democratic Convention that tore a party apart and handed the White House to Nixon
Compromise of 1850
The last great legislative bargain before the Union broke apart
Constitutional Convention
The 1787 Philadelphia gathering that scrapped one government and invented another
Election of 1800
Jefferson's "Revolution of 1800" — America's first peaceful transfer of power between parties
Election of 1828
Andrew Jackson's populist landslide reshapes American democracy
Election of 1860
The presidential election that dissolved the Union before the winner took office
Election of 1876
The disputed election that ended Reconstruction and handed the White House to Hayes
Election of 1896
McKinley vs. Bryan — gold, silver, and the soul of American capitalism
Election of 1932
FDR's landslide gives the New Deal its mandate
Election of 2000
Bush v. Gore and the 36-day Florida recount that decided the presidency
Election of 2008
Barack Obama defeats John McCain to become the first Black president
Election of 2016
Donald Trump's upset of Hillary Clinton remakes American politics
Election of 2020
Joe Biden defeats Donald Trump in a pandemic election
Great Compromise
The Connecticut Plan of 1787 that created the bicameral Congress and saved the Constitutional Convention
Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
The first presidential impeachment — and a referendum on who would control Reconstruction
Impeachment of Bill Clinton
The 1998–99 impeachment over the Lewinsky affair
Impeachments of Donald Trump
The first president impeached twice, in 2019 and 2021
January 6 Capitol Attack
The 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol that interrupted the certification of the presidential election
Jay Treaty
The 1794 agreement that kept peace with Britain — and nearly tore the republic apart
Kent State Shootings
The 1970 killing of four students by National Guard troops that broke the antiwar movement open
Nullification Crisis
The 1832 standoff between South Carolina and Andrew Jackson that previewed secession
Teapot Dome Scandal
The 1920s bribery scheme that sent a Cabinet secretary to prison and defined political corruption for a generation
The Bonus Army March
The WWI veterans' encampment that Hoover destroyed — and Roosevelt studied carefully
The Panic of 1907
The banking crisis that one man stopped — and that created the Fed
Trump Assassination Attempt (2024)
The July 2024 Butler, Pennsylvania shooting during the presidential campaign
Veterans Day
The November 11 holiday honoring all who served in the armed forces
Watergate
The 1972–1974 political scandal that ended a presidency and shook American democracy
Documents (17)
Alien and Sedition Acts
The 1798 laws that tested the limits of free speech and nearly tore the young republic apart
Articles of Confederation
America's first constitution and the document that proved insufficient
Chinese Exclusion Act
The First Federal Law to Bar Immigration by Race, 1882
Civil Rights Act of 1968
The Fair Housing Act — Passed One Week After King's Assassination
Equal Rights Amendment
The Proposed Constitutional Amendment for Gender Equality, 1923–Present
Immigration Act of 1924
The Johnson-Reed Act That Closed America's Door by Race and Nation
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The 1854 law that reopened the slavery debate and shattered American politics
Missouri Compromise
The 1820 deal that delayed the Civil War by 40 years — and guaranteed it would be worse
Neutrality Acts of the 1930s
The Congressional Attempt to Legislate America Out of Another World War
Pendleton Civil Service Act
The 1883 Reform That Ended the Spoils System in Federal Hiring
The Declaratory Act
Repeal with one hand, absolute authority with the other, 1766
The Federalist Papers
The 85 essays that explained the Constitution to a skeptical public — and defined American political thought
The Teller Amendment
Congress disclaims any intention of annexing Cuba, April 1898
The Titles of Nobility Amendment
The "phantom" amendment that would strip citizenship for foreign titles
Twenty-fifth Amendment
Presidential succession and disability
Twenty-second Amendment
The two-term limit on the presidency
Twenty-seventh Amendment
The 203-year journey of the congressional pay amendment
Concepts (31)
American Dream
The belief that effort and merit guarantee opportunity in America
American Exceptionalism
The conviction that the United States occupies a unique and exemplary place in world history
American Imperialism
The expansion of U.S. power, territory, and influence beyond its continental borders
American Media
How the nation learned to inform, persuade, and entertain itself
Black Power
A movement demanding Black self-determination, pride, and political independence
Capitalism
The economic system that built American prosperity — and its persistent contradictions
Checks and Balances
The constitutional design that prevents any branch of government from becoming supreme
Containment
America's Cold War strategy to halt the spread of Soviet communism
Electoral College
The constitutional mechanism for electing presidents — and the perpetual argument about it
Evangelical Christianity
The faith of revivals, reform movements, and the most durable political coalition in modern American history
Federalism
The division of power between national and state governments that defines American governance
Financial Panics and Crashes
The recurring booms and busts that have shaped the American economy
Gerrymandering
The art of drawing district lines to choose your voters before they choose you
Immigration
The continuous movement of people that built, transformed, and defined the United States
Isolationism
The foreign policy doctrine that kept America out of two world wars — until it didn't
Keynesian Economics
The Theory That Government Spending Could Save a Failing Economy
Machine Politics
The urban political organizations that traded services for votes and ran American cities for a century
Manifest Destiny
The 19th-century belief that American expansion across the continent was fated and righteous
McCarthyism
The anti-communist witch hunt that suppressed dissent and defined postwar American politics
Military-Industrial Complex
Eisenhower's Warning About the Alliance Between Defense Industry and Government Power
Nativism
The recurring American belief that immigrants threaten the national character
Populism
The agrarian movement that challenged corporate power and reshaped American democracy
Red Scare
Two Episodes of Anti-Communist Hysteria That Reshaped American Civil Liberties
Sectionalism
The regional rivalry between North and South that drove America toward Civil War
Separation of Powers
The constitutional division of government authority among three independent branches
Social Darwinism
The Gilded Age ideology that dressed inequality in the language of natural law
States' Rights
The constitutional doctrine that shaped — and shadowed — American history
The Domino Theory
The Cold War premise that communist takeover in one country would trigger a regional chain reaction
The Iroquois Confederacy
The Haudenosaunee league that united nations under one Great Law of Peace
Truman Doctrine
The Cold War Policy That Committed America to Containing Communism
Women's Rights
The two-century fight for equality — the vote, the workplace, and the body
Organizations (29)
AARP
The seniors' lobby that became a political heavyweight, founded 1958
Mothers Against Drunk Driving
The grief-driven movement that changed America's drinking laws, 1980
Planned Parenthood
The reproductive-health provider at the center of the abortion battle, 1916
Tammany Hall
The New York political machine that ran on patronage and graft, 1789–1960s
The ACLU
The organization that made the Bill of Rights its client, founded 1920
The Anti-Imperialist League
The campaign against an American colonial empire, 1898-1921
The Anti-Saloon League
The single-issue lobby that drove America into Prohibition, 1893
The Black Panther Party
The armed revolutionary movement for Black liberation, 1966–1982
The Brookings Institution
The century-old think tank at the center of American policy, 1916
The Department of Homeland Security
The cabinet department built out of September 11, 2002
The FBI
The federal police force born in 1908 that hunted gangsters and radicals — and sometimes the Constitution
The Federal Reserve
The central bank created in 1913 to tame the financial panics that had wrecked the economy for a century
The First Bank of the United States
Hamilton's 1791 experiment in national finance — and the fight it started
The Heritage Foundation
The conservative think tank that shaped the Reagan revolution, 1973
The John Birch Society
The far-right anti-communist group that roiled Cold War conservatism, 1958
The Ku Klux Klan
The white-supremacist terror movement that rose, fell, and rose again
The League of Nations
The world body Woodrow Wilson built — and the U.S. Senate refused to join, 1920
The Moral Majority
The evangelical movement that fused religion and Republican politics, 1979–1989
The National Grange
The farmers' fraternal order that fought the railroads, founded 1867
The National Guard
The citizen-soldiers who trace their line to the colonial militia
The National Organization for Women
The group that drove the fight for women's equality, founded 1966
The National Rifle Association
From a marksmanship club to the most powerful gun lobby in America, 1871
The Presidential Libraries
The archive system FDR launched in 1939 to preserve the records of the modern presidency
The Second Bank of the United States
The national bank Andrew Jackson set out to destroy, 1816–1836
The Sons of Liberty
The secret agitators who lit the fuse of the American Revolution, 1765
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce
The business lobby that speaks for American enterprise, founded 1912
The United States Armed Forces
From the Continental Army of 1775 to the most powerful military the world has ever known
The Washington Post
The capital's paper, from bankruptcy auction to Watergate, founded 1877
U.S. Intelligence
The community of spy agencies built across the 20th century to watch the world — and, at times, Americans
Symbols (3)
The Great Seal of the United States
The eagle, the motto, and the unfinished pyramid of the republic
The Pledge of Allegiance
The oath to the flag, written in 1892 and revised ever since
Uncle Sam
The white-bearded personification of the United States government
Technology (1)
Television
The screen that became the center of American life
All Tags
Politics 178 Economy 171 Military 129 Reform 121 Civil Rights 118 Law & Justice 116 Presidency 113 Science & Technology 112 Foreign Policy 107 Arts & Culture 103 Race 98 Founding Era 96 Industry 90 Constitution 75 Modern America 67 Protest 66 Cold War 65 Civil War 62 Westward Expansion 61 War 59 Revolution 59 Slavery 57 Media & Press 57 Women 56 Indigenous 51 Diplomacy 47 Immigration 41 Labor 40 Environment 36 Colonial America 34 Congress 33 Religion 33 World War II 32 Supreme Court 32 Disaster 29 Exploration 27 Public Health 25 Progressive Era 25 Abolition 22 Finance 22 Reconstruction 22 Democracy 20 Gilded Age 19 Assassination 15 Education 15 Suffrage 11 World War I 9 Sports 9 Corruption 9 Prohibition 1