Prologue: Pieces of History

If you thought the Presidential election was over and all the votes were counted, you’re wrong. The formal election is Monday, December 17, when “electors” meet in their respective state capitals to cast their votes for President and Vice President. Although the names Barack Obama and Mitt Romney appeared on the November ballot, you were [...]

These days, pundits, candidates, and party activists like to cite the Constitution of the United States as the moral and legal backing for whatever they’re proposing. But the Constitution is silent on a lot of things you probably thought it said. Here are eight examples. The President can veto a proposed amendment to the Constitution. [...]

In the early afternoon of December 7, 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt was just finishing lunch in his oval study on the second floor of the White House, preparing to work on his stamp album. The phone rang, and he was informed that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, shortly before 1 p.m. Washington time, [...]

The National Archives current marquee exhibit, “What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam?”, is drawing some good crowds and public press. It’s showing in our main building in downtown Washington through Jan. 3, 2012. It’s all about how the Government has tried through the decades to dictate, or influence, what we should eat and why we should eat something from each [...]

Americans are used to waiting in line for things they really want: tickets to a rock concert, a World Series game or a controversial new movie, for example. At the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, this week some people  waited all night for a brief look at one of the nation’s most historic documents — the [...]