Lyndon Baines Johnson

In 1964, Commonweal supported the Vietnam War. In 1966, the magazine condemned it in blunt, theological terms. What changed?

For centuries, theorists of liberal governance have worried about how emergencies can unfetter executive power. Trump has given those fears new urgency.

Presidents can't shutter an agency Congress created by statute. Only Congress has this power.

In a new book, Jeffrey Toobin makes a convincing case that Ford’s pardon of President Nixon set the stage for unchecked presidential power.

Dinner parties in the capital have long been a path to power, but Perle Mesta had her eye on a different prize.

And is probably still at it. As newly released classified documents confirm activists’ long-held suspicions, the disclosures should also alert us to current dangers.

Even Trump’s recent assertion that he would use executive action to abolish birthright citizenship has a historical link to the Chinese American experience.

Jimmy Carter, skeptical of NASA's shuttle, saved it with funding despite delays and opposition. His Voyager message carries hope deep into space.

What’s going on here, and are we ever going to talk about it?

The Bob Dylan film forefronts a conflict between acoustic and electric music, while ignoring how the Vietnam War divided folk musicians.

The meritocratic pitch was emblematic of Democrats’ long march away from working-class voters.

The notion of political realignment in the Lone Star State is older than you think. It goes back to Giant, an acidic novel by Edna Ferber.

Are we doomed to repetition? It’s something I worry about.

Donald’s Trump’s resounding 2024 victory echoes electoral shifts of the past.

Political campaigns have often misunderstood Latino voters, oversimplifying their diversity and facing challenges in outreach and engagement.

While the Citizens United case created major shifts in campaign contributions and spending, an earlier decision played a bigger role in campaign finance laws.

Although the American tradition is broadly liberal, it is best understood as divided between two schools: classical and managerial liberalism.

Jonathan Schell’s account of the US military’s destruction of the village of Ben Suc in Vietnam laid bare the problem with many American interventions.

Small wars have been used as a foundation of global order. The belief that limited violence preserves peace serves imperial control.

Dismantling it requires getting the story right.