Political Leaders

President Ronald Reagan, pictured waving to a crowd shortly before John Hinckley Jr. tried to assassinate him on March 30, 1981

The History of Presidential Assassination Attempts, From Andrew Jackson to Teddy Roosevelt

Before last weekend's attack on Donald Trump, would-be assassins unsuccessfully targeted Ronald Reagan, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and seven other sitting presidents or candidates for office

After Ronald Reagan stumbled through his answers and closing statement at the first presidential debate in 1984, Walter Mondale closed the gap in the polls. This photo was taken at the second debate two weeks later.

When a Debate Flop Raised Concerns About Ronald Reagan's Fitness to Run for Re-Election

During the 1984 campaign, the 73-year-old president meandered his way through his first face-off against Walter Mondale, prompting questions about his mental acuity

Beginning on June 24, 1924, the summer convention in Madison Square Garden was a bleak, sweltering affair for the Democrats.

Why the 1924 Democratic National Convention Was the Longest and Most Chaotic of Its Kind in U.S. History

A century ago, the party took a record 103 ballots and 16 days of intense, violent debate to choose a presidential nominee

A coal-fired power plant in Germany, which derives about 27 percent of its national electricity from coal.

Seven Major Nations Agree to Phase Out Coal by 2035, Though Vague Language Leaves Wiggle Room

The wealthy, industrialized countries set a flexible schedule to cut one of the dirtiest fossil fuels from their economies

Artist Graham Sutherland painted this study of William Churchill in preparation for a portrait that the politician famously despised.

A Study for the Portrait Winston Churchill Famously Abhorred Is for Sale

The final painting, dramatized on Netflix's "The Crown," was secretly burned in the middle of the night

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov performs a dance at his 35th birthday celebration in 2011.

Chechnya Bans Music That Isn't Between 80 and 116 Beats Per Minute

Officials have given artists until June 1 to rewrite material that does not fall within the accepted range

The hideout boasted more than 1,000 bunk beds, a 400-seat cafeteria, individual auditoriums for both the Senate and the House of Representatives, vast water tanks, and a trash incinerator that could serve as a crematorium.

The Town That Kept Its Nuclear Bunker a Secret for Three Decades

The people of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, helped keep the Greenbrier resort's bunker—designed to hold the entirety of Congress—hidden from 1958 to 1992

Regina King as Shirley Chisholm in Shirley, a new film written and directed by John Ridley

The True History Behind Netflix's 'Shirley' Movie

A new film dramatizes Shirley Chisholm's history-making bid to become the first Black woman president in 1972

Tobias Menzies (right) as Secretary of War Edwin Stanton in "Manhunt"

The Real History Behind Apple TV+'s 'Manhunt' and the Search for Abraham Lincoln's Killer

A new series dramatizes Edwin Stanton's hunt for John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirators in the aftermath of the president’s 1865 assassination

The 2023 Doomsday Clock on display before a Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists event on January 24, 2023. The Bulletin has been setting the clock since 1947 based on analysis of threats facing humans from technologies people have made. 

Doomsday Clock Stays at 90 Seconds to Midnight Amid Climate Change, War and A.I.

For the second year in a row, the clock is the nearest it has ever been to signaling our total annihilation

Churchill's custom-made dentures helped him maintain his distinctive speaking style.

Winston Churchill Wore False Teeth to Deliver Historic Wartime Speeches. Now, They're for Sale

The British prime minister likely acquired the custom gold-mounted dentures around the beginning of World War II

President John F Kennedy, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, and Texas Governor John Connally ride through the streets of Dallas, Texas prior to the assassination on November 22, 1963.

Inside the Autopsy Room: The Details Doctors Gathered About JFK’s Assassination

Sixty years ago, three pathologists at the National Naval Medical Center examined the president's fatal wounds

The Dallas County Administration Building, formerly the Texas School Book Depository, as photographed in 2015

The Architectural History of the JFK Assassination Site

How November 22, 1963, changed Dallas' Dealey Plaza forever

Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter dancing at the presidential Inaugural Ball in January 1977

From the Governor's Mansion to the White House and Beyond, Rosalynn Carter Was a Tireless Advocate for the Vulnerable

Smithsonian experts reflect on the life and legacy of the former first lady, who died Sunday at age 96

Helen Mirren as Golda Meir

The Real History Behind the 'Golda' Movie

A new film explores how Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir navigated the 1973 Yom Kippur War

Though historians today generally agree that Harding died of natural causes, suspicions to the contrary lingered for decades.

Why President Warren G. Harding's Sudden Death Sparked Rumors of Murder and Suicide

The commander in chief's unexpected death in office 100 years ago fueled decades of conspiracy theories but was most likely the result of a heart attack

The monument, designed by artists Amanda Williams and Olalekan B. Jeyifous, will be placed at an entrance to Prospect Park.

A Monument Honoring Shirley Chisholm, the First Black Congresswoman, Is Coming to Brooklyn

After years of delays, New York City officially approved a statue commemorating the borough native and political trailblazer

President Harry S. Truman speaks from the dais at the Convention Hall as Kentucky Senator Alben Barkley (seated onstage in black suit) looks on during the 1948 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

The 1948 Democratic National Convention Is the Missing Link in Civil Rights History

Civil rights activists failed to expel an all-white, segregationist delegation. But their efforts foreshadowed later milestones in the fight for equality

In 1804, jurors in New Jersey indicted Vice President Aaron Burr for killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Burr’s friends persuaded state officials to drop the charges, but their success had nothing to do with any immunity that Burr enjoyed as an executive officer.

What the Nation's Founders Said About the Indictment of a Former President

Alexander Hamilton wrote that a commander in chief removed from office would be "liable to prosecution and punishment"

Woodrow Wilson and his second wife, Edith, in 1916

How Edith Wilson Kept Herself—and Her Husband—in the White House

A new book about the first lady reveals how she and the ailing President Woodrow Wilson silenced their critics

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