The Supreme Court's conservative majority has been nominated by presidents and confirmed by senators who represent rural, white, Christian conservatives in an increasingly diverse country. Court historian Jeff Shesol says this dynamic has threatened the court's legitimacy in the past.
"In a climate of conspiracies and intrigues, and against the backdrop of charismatic dictators in the world such as Hitler and Mussolini, the sparks of anti-Rooseveltism ignited into full-fledged hatred."
As the Supreme Court adopts a posture of governing by injunction before lower court appeals run their course, should revive FDR's proposal that cases seeking to throw out state or federal rules be heard by special panels, not single judges chosen through jurisdiction-shopping.
The proposed dollar value of spending in Biden's recovery plan isn't the best measure of comparison to the New Deal. Does the plan assume the society is basically sound and in need of "bailing out" or unsound and in need of restructuring? Historian Eric Rauchway explains.
Does a President's "First 100 Days" really tell anything useful about the course of a presidency? PBS News Hour compares Biden to some past Presidents.
Times columnist Jamelle Bouie draws on the work of historian Eric Rauchway to argue that Franklin Roosevelt envisioned the New Deal as a renewal of core democratic principles that the government should serve the needs of the people and be accountable to them.
"As President Trump begins his post-presidential life, Americans will start to reckon with his legacy. They need look no farther than his callous indifference to human life — his response to the crisis marks the ultimate failure of presidential leadership."
Major General Smedley Butler (USMC) told Congress in 1933 that a group of business leaders had asked him to lead a coup against FDR. He insisted the plot was serious and credible. Has this episode faded from awareness because it was a hoax, or because Roosevelt and Congress all wanted to conceal how close it came to succeeding?
Joseph Biden should issue an executive order requiring federal contracts go to firms with collective bargaining agreements in place, boosting wages, strengthening organized labor, and stimulating economic recovery.
The Republicans' choice to push through Amy Coney Barrett's nomination with the backing of a minority of the country means a new Congress must consider corrective action in the name of justice and democracy.
Franklin Roosevelt's error in 1937 was not to propose expanding the court, it was to fail to explain and defend his popular political reasons for doing so.
The events surrounding Operation Long Jump, as the Nazi assassination mission that targeted the Tehran Conference was known, remained a deeply buried official secret.
Rumor and gossip during World War II reflected currents of racism in American society, as well as many citizens' unwillingness to make deep sacrifices to the war effort.
By the end of April 1945, the institutions of American journalism generally met the challenges of an overwhelming torrent of news and helped other American institutions manage military, political and economic transition.
No president can end an epidemic single handedly, but they can inspire a popular movement that eradicates a disease. Such was the case with Franklin Roosevelt and polio.
Comparing the first 100 days in power of Franklin Roosevelt and Adolf Hitler offers a sobering reminder of the consequences of decisions pursued by leaders in crisis.
