Matthew Dallek teaches history and politics at the University of California’s Washington Center. He is the author of The Right Moment: Ronald Reagan's First Victory and the Decisive Turning Point in American Politics.

When the House Speaker is getting death threats, militants are spinning out of control. Matthew Dallek on what the radicals of the 1960s can teach us about today’s dangerous fringe.

Republicans are screaming that Obamacare’s mandates are a “stunning assault on liberty,” as one put it. That’s ironic, since Richard Nixon, Bob Dole and Bill Frist all embraced the idea.

In slamming health-care reform, GOP leaders proudly claim the mantle of Ronald Reagan. Yet they’re ignoring how Reagan deftly distanced himself from the far right.

Ted Kennedy’s unabashed liberalism helped enable the rise of Ronald Reagan in the 1980s—then Reagan returned the favor by playing the perfect foil.