Edited by Gastón Espinosa (NHC Fellow, 2011–12) Contrary to popular claims, religion played a critical role in Barack Obama’s 2008 election as president of the United States. Religion, race, and gender entered the national and electoral dialogue in an unprecedented manner. What stood out most in the 2008 presidential campaign was not that Republicans reached … Continued
Between the 1820s and 1850, as more white males won the right to vote and political parties became more organized, the character of American democracy changed. It became more partisan and more raucous, a turn that bred ambivalence and even discontent with politics and the dominant parties.
The presidential election of 1800 was an intense political contest. Pitting two clearly opposing parties against each other for the first time, the Federalists and the Democratic Republicans fought in what some historians have called the dirtiest campaign in US politics. Referred to by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 as “The Revolution of 1800,” the election … Continued
Every four years, millions of Americans wonder why we choose our presidents through the Electoral College, an arcane institution that permits the loser of the popular vote to become the president and narrows campaigns to swing states. Most Americans have long favored reform, and Congress has attempted on many occasions to alter or scuttle the … Continued
This year’s election stakes are high, to say the least. But perhaps no presidential vote in U.S. history was more consequential than that of 1860. The nation roiled over the issue of slavery. Abraham Lincoln captured the Republican nomination over New York Senator William Seward, and then took on a divided Democratic Party. His win … Continued
The social media influence operations of the Russian Internet Research Agency were made famous by the 2016 U.S. Presidential election and the Mueller investigation. Today, their work continues. It has expanded in scope and is mimicked by other nations attempting to influence how we engage with one another online. In a time when the majority … Continued
Throughout their son’s childhood, Stephen Hall’s parents, both children of sharecroppers, crafted a “deeply humanistic perch” from which he could “view the world.” Though possessing none of the benefits of class or race privilege, they harnessed the power of the book, searching for what historian Isabel Wilkerson has called “the light of other suns” in … Continued
During the election week of president-elect Trump, I was upset. As I tried to make sense of my initial reaction and other’s reactions, a scripture from my youth came to mind. It reads, “…mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort…” When I was a child, I figured … Continued