AMERICAN HERITAGE

Featured Articles

Limits on Presidential Power from FDR to Trump

by Todd Belt

What does history tell us about presidents who have tried to push the limits of the system?

The Comic Revolution

by Bruce Watson

Before Saturday Night Live, there was "Your Show of Shows."

Oklahoma City and the Cost of Violence

by Calvin Warner

Thirty years later, an Oklahoma native reflects on one of the deadliest domestic terrorist attacks in American history.

Eisenhower’s “Middle Way”

by Steven Wagner

As president, Dwight D. Eisenhower took a moderate position on many issues, believing that “good judgment seeks balance and progress.”

Solving Our Political Disarray

by Yuval Levin

The Constitution is more than a legal code. It is also a framework for union and solidarity.

Classic Essays from Our Archives

The Man of the Century | May/June 1994, Vol 45, No 3

By Arthur Schlesinger Jr.

Of all the Allied leaders, argues FDR's biographer, only Roosevelt saw clearly the shape of the new world they were fighting to create.

“Perdicaris Alive or Raisuli Dead” | August 1959, Vol 70, No 3

By Barbara W. Tuchman

John Hay’s ringing phrase helped nominate T. R., but it covered an embarrassing secret that remained concealed for thirty years.

Lincoln As Commander in Chief | Winter 2009, Vol 70, No 3

By James M. McPherson

Even though he had no military training, Lincoln quickly rose to become one of America’s most talented commanders.

FDR and His Women | March 2003, Vol 54, No 1

By Ellen Feldman

A novelist who has just spent several years studying Eleanor Roosevelt, Lucy Rutherfurd, and Missy LeHand tells a moving story of love: public and private, given and withheld.

Alice Paul: “I Was Arrested, Of Course…” | February 1974, Vol 70, No 3

By Robert S. Gallagher

An interview with the famed suffragette, Alice Paul

Alice Paul: “I Was Arrested, Of Course…” | February 1974, Vol 25, No 2

By Robert S. Gallagher

An interview with the famed suffragette, Alice Paul

Today in History

Fort Pulaski surrenders

Union cannon bombard Fort Pulaski along the Savannah River, forcing the Confederate garrison to surrender. The loss of Fort Pulaski effectively closed Savannah to Confederate blockade runners and demonstrated the ineffectiveness of masonry forts against modern artillery.
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Truman relieves MacArthur

President Harry S. Truman relieves General Douglas MacArthur from commanding United Nations forces during the Korean War. MacArthur had made several insubordinate comments that had undermined President Truman's foreign policies and sought a widespread expansion of the conflict.
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LBJ signs Civil Rights Act of 1968

President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968 into law, opening housing opportunities to all Americans regardless of race, ethnicity, or creed. Widely considered the Fair Housing Act, the law enforced previous fair housing provisions and ensured federal protection.