American Presidents
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War Correspondence
Letters between George Washington and Marquis de Lafayette
September 01, 2007 |
By Smithsonian magazine
The Ethiopia Campaign
After fighting neglected diseases in Africa for a quarter century, former president Jimmy Carter takes on one of the continent's biggest killers malaria
June 2007 |
By Robert M. Poole
The Pardon
President Gerald R. Ford's priority was to unite a divided nation. The decision that defined his term proved how difficult that would be
February 2007 |
By Barry Werth
New Faces of 1946
An unpopular president. A war-weary people. In the midterm elections of 60 years ago, voters took aim at incumbents
November 2006 |
By William E. Leuchtenburg
The Spirit of George Washington
After two centuries, Mount Vernon's whiskey distillery returns
November 01, 2006 |
By Cate Lineberry
Discovering George Washington
Little-known facts about the nation's first president
November 01, 2006 |
By Cate Lineberry
Inventive Abe
In 1849, a future president patented an ingenious addition to transportation technology.
October 2006 |
By Owen Edwards
"My Whole Soul Is In It"
As his army faltered and his cabinet bickered, Abraham Lincoln determined that "we must free the slaves or be ourselves subdued." In 1862, he finally got his chance
January 2006 |
By Doris Kearns Goodwin
People's Choice
Almost from birth, Andrew Jackson was in training to become democracy's champion
October 2005 |
By H. W. Brands
Ties That Bind
At last, all parties were ready to make peace in the Middle East. Whoops ... Not So Fast
September 2005 |
By John F. Harris
When Franklin Roosevelt Clashed with the Supreme Court – and Lost
Buoyed by his reelection but dismayed by rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court, a president overreaches
May 2005 |
By William E. Leuchtenburg
Washington Takes Charge
Confronting the British in Boston in 1775, Gen. George Washington honed the personal qualities that would carry the day in war and sustain the new nation in peace
January 2005 |
By Joseph J. Ellis
Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr and the Election of 1800
For seven days, as the two presidential candidates maneuvered and schemed, the fate of the young republic hung in the ballots
November 01, 2004 |
By John Ferling
Digging for Jefferson's Lost Courthouse
Archaeologists in Virginia found the footprint of a red brick building lost in the mid-19th century
October 2004 |
By Clay Risen
Meriwether Lewis Gets His Marching Orders
Jefferson spells out the mission
December 2003 |
By Smithsonian magazine
The President's Been Shot
Forty years ago, the assassination of JFK stunned Americans, who vividly recall the day even as they grapple with his complex legacy
November 01, 2003 |
By Dana Calvo
Winter of Discontent
Even as he endured the hardships of Valley Forge, George Washington faced another challenge: critics who questioned his fitness to lead
May 2003 |
By Norman Gelb
Where the Wild Things Are
President Theodore Roosevelt started what would become the world's most successful experiment in conservation
March 2003 |
By Smithsonian magazine
The Calm Before Desert Storm
Two months before the Gulf War began in 1991, President George H. W. Bush greeted U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia
February 2003 |
By Christopher Buckley
Founding Fathers and Slaveholders
To what degree do the attitudes of Washington and Jefferson toward slavery diminish their achievements?
November 2002 |
By Stephen E. Ambrose
