Historians/History

Would We Still Have Had "The Sixties" If Kennedy Had Lived?

by James T. Patterson

Remember, the turmoil of the 1960s stemmed from forces unrelated to JFK's assassination.

Why Lee Harvey Oswald Pulled the Trigger

by Steven M. Gillon

The Warren Commission painted him as a disaffected sociopath. But Oswald actually had a political reason to kill JFK: to impress Castro.

Does PBS's "JFK" Whitewash Kennedy's Flaws?

by Sheldon M. Stern

The new PBS documentary fails to rise above the imagery crafted by Arthur Schlesinger and Theodore Sorensen in the 1960s.

The Kennedys and Martin Luther King

by Yohuru Williams

King and the Kennedys remain important symbols of the power of hope and the promise of a just democracy.

Veterans Day, Ninety-Five Years On

by Adam Hochschild and Joe Sacco

The enduring folly of the Battle of the Somme.

Veterans Day in Ireland

by Jason R. Myers

For one thing, it's not Veterans Day, it's Remembrance Day. For another, it's not an official holiday, even though some 200,000 Irishman fought in World War I.

History Gets Into Bed with Psychology, and It’s a Happy Match

by Carol Tavris

History gives us the data of our march of folly. Cognitive science shows why.

David Dennis on the Nazi Distortion of the Western Tradition [INTERVIEW]

by Robin Lindley

The Nazis tried to put their stamp on the entirety of the Western canon.

Abraham Lincoln Never Believed in Racial Equality

by Alan J. Singer

"I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races."

Lancaster, PA: Home of the Worst President (and Best Congressman) in American History

by M.J. Rosenberg

Lancaster was home to both James Buchanan and Thaddeus Stevens.

What Happens When a Country's Culture is Replaced by Immigrants?

by Diana Muir Appelbaum

It happened before in Mexican Texas.

Peter C. Doherty: Pandemics Have Had "Enormous Influence" on History [INTERVIEW]

by Robin Lindley

The Nobel Prize-winning immunologist has just published "Pandemics: What Everyone Needs to Know."

Rethinking the JFK Legacy

by Steven M. Gillon

There is a wide gap between the way historians view JFK and how the public perceives him. Why?

America Owes a Debt to the National Debt

by Jessica Lepler

An attempt to eliminate the debt in the 1830s ended in disaster. Here's why we need the debt.

So You Want to Write?

by Vaughn Davis Bornet

A veteran historian's advice.

Channelling George Washington: What if John F. Kennedy Had Lived?

by Thomas Fleming

Had JFK lived, could he have beaten second-termitis?

A Tale Worthy of Poe: The Myth of George Bateson and his Belfry

by Jeremy Stern

Why do people still tell the "true" story of George Bateson, the supposed inventor of the belfry coffin?

America's Top Colleges and Universities Have a Hidden Legacy of Slavery [INTERVIEW]

by David Austin Walsh

MIT's Craig Wilder on the role slavery played in the founding and rise of the Ivy League.

When John F. Kennedy Judged the Senate's Greats

by John T. Shaw

JFK didn't just write "Profiles in Courage" -- he also chaired a special committee to determine the best senators in American history.

George Washington's Flexible Constitutionalism

by Harlow Giles Unger

The next time someone complains Barack Obama is acting unconstitutionally, remember, that's how George Washington gave the office of president its powers.