Roundup

White supremacists love Vikings. But they’ve got history all wrong.

by David Perry

Why the accused Portland killer and others see Vinland as an inspiration.

Roundup Top 10!

This week's broad sampling of opinion pieces found on the Internet, as selected by the editors of HNN.

What John F. Kennedy teaches us today

by Robert Dallek

Donald Trump would do well to ponder the lessons of John Kennedy’s presidency on the occasion of JFK’s centenary.

The World That Trump and Ailes Built

by Jill Lepore

The measure of their influence lies in the distance between today’s media and politics and those of the years they were born.

On Memorial Day, What Do the Living Owe the Dead?

by Graham Allison

We owe them the courage and the wisdom to prevent the next war.

JFK’s Russian Conspiracy

by Tim Naftali

Kennedy had his own secret back channel with Moscow. It may have kept the superpowers from going to war.

I Don't Care Who Killed JFK

by Peter Dreier

The question of who killed JFK will never be resolved.

Trump Isn't Nixon – He's Worse

by John Aloysius Farrell

Comparing President Trump to President Nixon is an unfair comparison. Nixon had accomplishments.

Can Presidents Shape An Entire Era?

by Michael Todd Landis

Trump and the Possibility of a New “Age of Jackson”

When image trumps ideology: How JFK created the template for the modern presidency

by Steven Watts

JFK pioneered the modern notion of the president as celebrity.

Roundup Top 10!

This week's broad sampling of opinion pieces found on the Internet, as selected by the editors of HNN.

Why It Was Once Unthinkable for the President to Be Seen With the Pope

by David Mislin

It was unthinkable because for a century and more millions of American Protestants believed that Catholic politicians would be beholden to the Pope. 

Video of the Week: Insane Asylums

by Scott Rensberger

Insane asylums used to dot the American landscape. A photographer documents what remains of the buildings.

7 differences between Trump turmoil and Watergate

by Jon Marshall

While the Watergate scandal that forced Nixon to resign in 1974 resembles in some ways the current investigations into possible ties between Trump's campaign and Russia, the analogy isn't perfect.

Can Anyone Be Truly ‘Independent’ In Today’s Polarized Politics?

by Beverly Gage

Today many Americans approach the notion of professional, nonpartisan expertise with suspicion, seeing it as mere cover for elite interests, bureaucratic self-preservation or partisan agendas.

Why Donald Trump's 'Arab Nato' would be a terrible mistake

by Rashid Khalidi

This planned Sunni coalition would alienate Shia populations and Iran. How can it be in the national interest of the US to support one side in a sectarian conflict?

What Lincoln Thought of “America First”

by Sidney Blumenthal

Though he never traveled outside the US, Lincoln embraced an international perspective, celebrating the spread of freedom in Europe. 

The right lesson of Watergate: Forget facile Trump-Nixon parallels — and get the damn evidence

by Rick Perlstein

The evidence is out there. It's in the phones, or to be more precise whatever servers store the transcripts of their conversations.

Trump's Saudi Speech: Pretty Good

by Daniel Pipes

It's a mixed performance, but overall positive.

Trump in Absolute Monarchy during Iran’s Election

by Juan Cole

The day the Iranian public bucked the country’s Leader and the other hard liners and put centrist President Hassan Rouhani back in for a second term, the US president was feted with gold metals in an absolute monarchy.