Barack Obama

There’s no returning to a golden age of American democracy that never existed.

An examination of the tragic echoes of Reconstruction-era politics following Obama's presidency.

How Consoler-in-Chiefs respond to senseless gun violence.

Obama's desire to “look forward” on torture has enabled Trump to look backward in his appointment of a new CIA director.

The rise and fall of Clintonism.

An art historian explains how portraits can convey so much more than mere likeness.

America loves pitting black intellectuals against each other, but today's activists need both Coates and West.

The nation's first African-American president was a disaster for black wealth.

Ta-Nehisi Coates' latest book preaches political fatalism. But black activism has always believed in the possibility of change.

Other presidents used their anger for a purpose — Trump just rages blindly.

On Barbara Lee and the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force.

In order to win universal health care, we have to understand what — and who — we're up against.

In dismantling Obamacare and slashing Medicaid, Republicans would strike a blow against signature victories for racial equality in America.

Why the president, who appears allergic to the logic of bureaucracy, keeps getting defeated by that humblest of technologies, the office memorandum.

Over time, presidential libraries have morphed into a way for past presidents to shape their legacy on the taxpayers' dime. Obama is doing things differently.

Trump's election isn't cause for reassessing politics as we know it.

If Dwight Eisenhower or Ronald Reagan were transported to 2017, they would be shocked that the United States is considering an attack on North Korea.

Writers like Rick Perlstein miss the ways in which Trump’s rise is a story of discontinuity.

A smooth forehead suggests a hard heart.

Historians agree on the top three. Below that, there are fascinating trends in opinion.