Elections | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/elections/RSS feed for ElectionsenTue, 09 Jun 2026 15:00:00 +0000Some Presidents Offer More Than Just Policy. Here Are Five Who Brought Their Innovative Spirit to the Officehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/some-presidents-offer-more-just-policy-here-are-five-brought-innovative-spirit-office-180988834/One president invented campaign buttons so he could just stay home during election season. Another one rallied Americans to go to the moon. And one—only one—holds a patent.Tue, 09 Jun 2026 15:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/some-presidents-offer-more-just-policy-here-are-five-brought-innovative-spirit-office-180988834/Theodore Roosevelt Survived an Assassination Attempt Because a Speech Tucked Inside His Pocket Slowed the Bullet. He Insisted on Delivering His Remarks Anywayhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/theodore-roosevelt-survived-an-assassination-attempt-because-a-speech-tucked-inside-his-pocket-slowed-the-bullet-he-insisted-on-delivering-his-remarks-anyway-180988911/"I am very much uninterested in whether I am shot or not," he told an audience in Milwaukee. Newly discovered documents shed light on how the 26th president wanted the incident to shape his legacyTue, 09 Jun 2026 11:45:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/theodore-roosevelt-survived-an-assassination-attempt-because-a-speech-tucked-inside-his-pocket-slowed-the-bullet-he-insisted-on-delivering-his-remarks-anyway-180988911/At a Pivotal Moment of the Civil War, Frederick Douglass Delivered a Speech That Reframed What Was at Stake if Slavery Stoodhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/pivotal-moment-civil-war-frederick-douglass-delivered-speech-reframed-what-was-at-stake-slavery-stood-180988836/In “The Mission of the War,” America’s incomparable orator helped turn public sentiment in favor of the Union and Abraham Lincoln, beginning the process of “national regeneration”Tue, 09 Jun 2026 11:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/pivotal-moment-civil-war-frederick-douglass-delivered-speech-reframed-what-was-at-stake-slavery-stood-180988836/A Woman’s Right to Vote Was Secured After Work That Was Inspired by Mothers and Driven by Maternal Instinctshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/womans-right-vote-secured-work-inspired-mothers-driven-maternal-instincts-180988828/In a poignant pattern, many of the most important contributions to suffrage were enacted—or inspired—by mothersFri, 05 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/womans-right-vote-secured-work-inspired-mothers-driven-maternal-instincts-180988828/Can Chatting With an A.I. Bot Shift Our Political Beliefs?https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/can-chatting-with-an-ai-bot-shift-our-political-beliefs-180987823/New research suggests that chatbots have a greater sway on policy issues than video ads, and that spouting the most information—even if wrong—is the most persuasive strategyWed, 10 Dec 2025 18:52:50 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/can-chatting-with-an-ai-bot-shift-our-political-beliefs-180987823/The Real Story Behind Netflix's 'Death by Lightning' and the Shocking Assassination of President James A. Garfieldhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-real-story-behind-netflixs-death-by-lightning-and-the-shocking-assassination-of-president-james-a-garfield-180987598/The new limited series dramatizes the brief tenure of the 20th commander in chief, who was fatally shot by Charles J. Guiteau, a lawyer who believed he'd secured Garfield's electionThu, 06 Nov 2025 12:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-real-story-behind-netflixs-death-by-lightning-and-the-shocking-assassination-of-president-james-a-garfield-180987598/Twelve Failed Constitutional Amendments That Could Have Reshaped American Historyhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/twelve-failed-constitutional-amendments-that-could-have-reshaped-american-history-180987425/These proposals sought to change the United States' name, abolish the presidency and the vice presidency, and set a limit on personal fortunes, among other measuresMon, 06 Oct 2025 13:18:24 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/twelve-failed-constitutional-amendments-that-could-have-reshaped-american-history-180987425/The Founding Father Who Lost a Leg, Romanced Married and Single Women Alike, and Escaped the Bloodshed of the French Revolutionhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-founding-father-who-lost-a-leg-romanced-married-and-single-women-alike-and-escaped-the-bloodshed-of-the-french-revolution-180987242/Gouverneur Morris wrote the preamble to the Constitution and shaped the future of the nascent United States. Later in life, he rejected the foundational document as a failureTue, 02 Sep 2025 10:30:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-founding-father-who-lost-a-leg-romanced-married-and-single-women-alike-and-escaped-the-bloodshed-of-the-french-revolution-180987242/How the 1973 D.C. Home Rule Act Enabled the Nation's Capital to Govern Itself—With Congressional Oversighthttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-1973-dc-home-rule-act-enabled-the-nations-capital-to-govern-itself-with-congressional-oversight-180987180/Far from being a new debate brought on by current events, the discussion over extending home rule to Washingtonians has been around as long as the District of Columbia itselfThu, 14 Aug 2025 21:13:42 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-1973-dc-home-rule-act-enabled-the-nations-capital-to-govern-itself-with-congressional-oversight-180987180/How Women in New Jersey Gained—and Lost—the Right to Vote More Than a Century Before the 19th Amendment Granted Suffrage Nationwidehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-women-in-new-jersey-gained-and-lostthe-right-to-vote-more-than-a-century-before-the-19th-amendment-granted-suffrage-nationwide-180986930/Vague phrasing in the state’s Revolutionary-era Constitution enfranchised women who met specific property requirements. A 1790 law explicitly allowed female suffrage, but this privilege was revoked in 1807Tue, 08 Jul 2025 15:03:49 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-women-in-new-jersey-gained-and-lostthe-right-to-vote-more-than-a-century-before-the-19th-amendment-granted-suffrage-nationwide-180986930/