Trump, like Reagan, squandered his chance to offer a unifying pick to satisfy his most conservative supporters.
Julian E. Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School. He is the co-editor of Rightward Bound: Making America Conservative in the 1970s and is completing a book on the history of national-security politics since World War II, to be published by Basic Books.
There were massive protests in 1973 at Richard Nixon’s second inaugural, just as there will be for Donald Trump’s first. And that might not be all the two men have in common.
A lot of people have made comparisons between the 1980 wave that elected Ronald Reagan and this year’s election. They are so wrong.
Back in 1964, LBJ knew GOPers would desert Barry Goldwater in droves. He called it the ‘frontlash.’ Fifty years later, it could happen again.
In his State of the Union address 50 years ago, LBJ laid out his vision for the Great Society. In an excerpt from his new book on the 1960s, historian Julian Zelizer highlights the forgotten role Congress played in getting it done. Read a Q&A between the author and Scott Porch.
Obama’s mid-year train wreck puts him in the inglorious company of previous Democratic presidents. How the heat derailed Johnson, Carter, and Clinton, too.
Did "Clintonism" go down with Terry McAuliffe in Virginia? David Greenberg and Julian Zelizer say that, if you look at the Obama administration, you’ll find the philosophy alive and well.
As he figures out how to react to the swine flu, President Obama should look toward Gerald Ford, who had his own harrowing battle with the flu in 1976. It didn’t go so well.
The president is receiving high praise for the rescue. Historian Julian Zelizer says that a thrilling episode from Gerald Ford’s presidency proves the good feelings may not last long.
Caroline Kennedy won't be the next senator from New York because after George W. Bush, Americans no longer want politics to be a family affair.