Read more about this timeline. Return to the home page.
Mike Pence says the US has been “a force for good in the Middle East” for “nearly 200 years”; historians have thoughts about this
Historians say… Updated to include an additional response. Eight historians responded to our request for comment; their full statements and recommended sources are below (click […]
The Berlin Wall fell unexpectedly, so really anything could happen? Or maybe not happen? Predictions are difficult.
Makers of foreign policy seem particularly prone to certain historical touchstones. Some policy makers still see the world through the appeasement at Munich, others through […]
Where are the updates and when will they resume?
The editor has been busy feeding the interactive timeline and preparing for the next round of visualizations. The timeline is now current up to Valentine’s […]
Congress and the administration are using and abusing history at least six times a day. Historians might have something to say about this.
I wasn’t prepared for the volume. When I started the Political Uses of the Past Project, based on my home-brewed code that scanned public records […]
“We were involved in some coups”: How to avoid an inconvenient reckoning and more on the Cold War
The project is still getting caught up while simultaneously working on visualizations for the data; these will be posted soon and updated regularly. For now, […]
Trump’s the president, but Congress seems to want the nation’s founders to lead the way
In this installment of the Political Uses of the Past Project, the revolutionary generation seems to be on the minds of members of the House. […]
Catching up: A grab-bag of political uses of the past from the shutdown Senate
The Political Uses of the Past Project is sorting through the avalanche of statements that the new Congress has brought. This post includes two dozen […]
On the House Floor, the shutdown brings out the presidents and the precedents
Reagan, Truman, Kennedy, Clinton and both Bushes made appearances in congressional speeches about the shutdown last week, and other speeches focused on the unprecedented facts […]
You can’t impeach a president who has done more than any other president in the history of our country; that’s the way Trump views it
You can’t impeach somebody that’s doing a great job. … I’ve probably done more in the first two years than any President, any administration, in […]
#WWLD? Evoking Lincoln for Some Shutdown Shaming
Based on some lines from the Gettysburg Address, Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) has concluded that there is no way “President Lincoln, the founder of the […]