Prologue: Pieces of History

Part Two of Discovering the Civil War opens at the National Archives in Washington, DC, on November 10!  Rarely seen footage of Civil War veterans, intelligence gathering with balloons, prosthetic limbs, two different Thirteenth Amendments, and the Confederate States of Mexico are just a few of the ways that the National Archives Experience is showing [...]

History tends to show that  midterm elections are never particularly good for the sitting President. In 2006, many Republicans were moved from their seats due to dissatisfaction with George Bush’s policies. In 1994, Republicans swept the House as a referendum on the policies of Bill Clinton. Even one of the most revered Presidents, Abraham Lincoln, [...]

Part two of Discovering the Civil War opens at the National Archives in Washington, DC, in just 10 days! Spies, code breaking, personality conflicts over balloons, prosthetic limbs, two different Thirteenth Amendments, and the Confederate States of Mexico are just a few of the ways that the National Archives Experience is showing you the Civil [...]

In the history of Presidential elections, there has never been a battle of the beards. Beards have challenged mustaches. Mustaches have challenged clean-shaven candidates. Clean-shaven candidates have challenged beards. But never in the history of our republic, have two bearded candidates duked it out on the campaign trail. This is startling for many reasons. One, [...]

These doughboys’ morale could use a lift, Bryan, because the original caption reads “three 5,000 cubic feet Nurse Balloons in Hangar. Fort Sill, Oklahoma, May 1, 1918.” So far as we can tell there are two balloons, not three in this photo, meaning these soldiers are one dirigible short and probably have some explaining to [...]