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The annual tradition of Thanksgiving began with Abraham Lincoln, but its specific date is due to Franklin D. Roosevelt. For decades after Lincoln, presidents followed his example of declaring the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving. But in 1939, the calendar worked out so that the fifth
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In recent weeks, the New York Times has been completely embarrassing itself by using some incredibly watered-down, mealy-mouthed headlines for articles that describe acts of alarming political extremism. For instance, when former president Donald Trump denounced his political opponents as “vermin” who would suffer brutal retribution during his second term
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Work in Progress is a recurring feature on CAMPAIGN TRAILS for paid subscribers. I’m using it to share some of the more interesting materials I’ve uncovered in the past few years of research for my book-in-progress on the work of John Doar and the Civil Rights Division in
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Following the bizarre bloodletting in the Republican House caucus over the last few weeks, the relatively unknown Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana has been elevated to the powerful position of Speaker of the House. There are a lot of things we don’t know about the man who’s now
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I’m delighted to report that the paperback version of MYTH AMERICA will be coming out on December 4th. As a special offer to Campaign Trails subscribers, Basic Books is offering a 20% discount on all pre-orders. Just enter the code MYTH20 when you order here. That’s right. All
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Over the past few months, I’ve noticed a new round of references to the white supremacist “great replacement theory,” so I thought I’d offer a post to explain the dark corners from which this came and the nightmares to which it can lead. At its heart, the “replacement
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Dear Founding Members, This is a long-overdue note to thank you all for your generous support of Campaign Trails. As I noted when I set this up, I’d like to hold quarterly Zoom chats for you, just casual conversations where you can ask whatever you’d like. But I’
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Kevin Phillips, a strategist for Richard Nixon whose 1969 book The Emerging Republican Majority ushered in a new era in American politics, passed away earlier this week. This morning, I joined some other scholars and pundits to offer thoughts on Phillips’ legacy in a short roundtable The Washington Post put
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Yes, I know the social media saying. “This isn’t an airport. You don’t need to announce your departure.” And yet, I’m announcing my departure — from Twitter. And since a lot of you got to know me and my work there, I thought I’d make a short
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Work in Progress is a recurring feature on CAMPAIGN TRAILS for paid subscribers. I’ll be using it to share some of the more interesting materials I’ve uncovered in the past few years of research for my book-in-progress on the work of John Doar and the Civil Rights Division
Newsletter
President Joe Biden made history today by joining the United Auto Workers on a picket line in Michigan. “Wall Street didn’t build this country, the middle class built this country, and unions built the middle class,” he reflected. “That’s a fact, so let’s keep going. You deserve
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Today is the second anniversary of Sarge’s Accident, so I thought I’d take a moment to catch his fans up on his progress. (If you’re not familiar with the story of his accident and have a fairly strong stomach, you can read this thread and catch up