Roundup

It is time to get very afraid: Extremists, authoritarians now run the GOP — and no one can stop them

by Heather Cox Richardson

Boehner and McConnell weren't conservative enough for them. Nor Eric Cantor. Right-wing purists won't stop here

Debacle, Inc.: How Henry Kissinger Helped Create Our “Proliferated” World

by Greg Grandin

Each of his Middle East initiatives has been disastrous in the long run.

Our forgotten slavery horror: The shameful, untold history of America and the Cuban slave trade

by Stephen Chambers

As Cuba opens, it's time to recognize our proxy role in Cuba's slave trade, and the Monroe Doctrine's real purpose

Substance, style, and myth in the Kennedy-Nixon debates

by Christopher McKnight Nichols

Yes, image was crucial, but it also seems that what Kennedy had to say and how he approached the issues that was also significant.

Donald Trump and the Rise of the Moral Minority

by Molly Worthen

The success of his campaign so far exposes a rift within the evangelical movement.

What Ronald Reagan Teaches Us About Donald Trump

by Rick Perlstein

Reagan, and now Trump, reveal our own tendency to repress our fear of demagogues by dismissing them. And ultimately, it's all about us.

Why is Catalonia in revolt against Spain?

by Scott Eastman,

The real trick of romantic nationalists is that they can gloss over economics and history to call for the creation of a state that they themselves may one day lead.

Pope Francis Desecrates Memory of Catholic Martyrs in Cuba

by Humberto Fontova

Castro’s KGB and STASI- tutored regime prepared for the Pope’s visit carefully. Any unsightly protests would obviously mar the occasion, especially for a regime long-accustomed to preening in front of the international media mirror.

The Real Presidential-Age Question

by Jeffrey Frank

In the fifties, Dwight D. Eisenhower worried about cultivating a new generation of Republican candidates. Democrats face similar concerns today.

Roundup Top 10!

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

Video of the Week: William Ashley (AKA: Billy Sunday) Preaching Against Alcohol

How preachers used to sound (and some still do).

History’s True Warning

by Timothy Snyder

How our misunderstanding of the Holocaust offers moral cover for the geopolitical disasters of our time.

The Pope Is Coming to Get Us -- At Least That's What We Used to Think

by Edward T. O’Donnell

It was not that long ago that word of the impending arrival of a pope on the shores of the United States would have triggered bloody riots and a call to arms.

Pop Culture Roundup: This Week

by HNN Editor

Topics include: GOP debate, Yitzhak Rabin, Bill O'Reilly's new book, "Killing Reagan."

The Question of Narrative

by Tom Cutterham

Should historians employ the narrative approach? Or is it limiting?

From ‘the Scarlet Whore’ to Pope Francis: A Brief History of America and the Papacy

by Ted Widmer

It would have amazed the Founders that a pope would be willing to speak to Congress—and that Congress would want to hear him, for that matter.

Why the Pope wants to canonize Father Junipero Serra

by Steven W. Hackel

Serra may be remembered for whipping Indians, but the Pope hopes he'll serve to remind Americans of their Hispanic roots. 

Kissinger the Freedom Fighter

by Niall Ferguson

Henry Kissinger is often condemned as a heartless practitioner of realpolitik. But early in his career, he was strikingly idealistic.

Ben Carson Would Fail U.S. History

by Denise A. Spellberg

The idea of a Muslim president was first debated 227 years ago

Sean Wilentz is wrong about the Constitution and slavery

by Patrick Rael

According to Sean Wilentz’s opinion piece in the September 16 New York Times, the Constitution of 1787 did not make slavery a national institution. Wilentz badly misinterprets the antislavery sentiment evident at the constitutional convention of 1787.