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Historians who told real story of founders

National Columnists

The sudden death of the historian Gordon Wood, just weeks before the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, is one more mark of the closure of a golden age of the historiography of the Revolutionary era. It's an occasion to reflect on the uniqueness, indeed the idiosyncrasy, of the emergence of the primacy of this United States among the nations of the world. As the historian Walter McDougall has pointed out, a catalog of world civilizations in the year 1600 looks, with one exception, much like the world today. There is a prosperous and ...

Humanities strike back

National Columnists

Last year Microsoft Research reported on the 10 jobs most threatened by artificial intelligence. Should I, dear reader, be running scared? Historians are No. 2 on the list. The report says 91% of what historians do is pretty much covered by AI queries. Uh-oh. I majored in history in college and went on to get a master's. In the movie "Animal House," Bluto laments throwing "seven years of college down the drain." I guess the good news is maybe I only wasted six. Eventually, I pivoted to writing, with five novels published and another coming next year. And of course, there's ...

Political parties succeed when understand people

National Columnists

One of the more revealing political developments of recent years has been the Democratic Party's growing concern about its declining support among male voters. After years of watching men drift toward the political right, many Democrats have begun asking a simple question: Why are men leaving? The answer may be simpler than party strategists would like to admit. For many men, politics is not merely about policy preferences. It is also about whether they feel understood, respected and represented. Increasingly, many men feel that modern progressive politics views them less as ...

Visitors are finding America at its best

National Columnists

The World Cup is kicking off here in the United States and for the next five weeks will bring the rest of the planet to our doorstep. They are already arriving. Germans, Spaniards, Egyptians, Australians, every continent but Antarctica is showing up and something is happening that ought to make us pause. A German named Freddy came to Atlanta and made his way up to North Georgia, went tubing on the Chattahoochee, drove through Chattanooga and on to Auburn, Ala. He has been tweeting it all home in stunned, joyful disbelief. Auburn's eagle flies around the stadium. There was a ...

We cherry-pick past to grade present

National Columnists

As we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, America is in a pretty foul mood, and I understand why. For starters, Washington is broken, prices are high and rising, and AI is scaring the stuffing out of people. Understanding, however, is not synonymous with agreement. In other words, some complaints about America in 2026 have more empirical weight than others. Crime may be too high, but it's been going down for a while. Actually, let's start there because crime is a good example of how perceptions don't necessarily reflect reality. Since 2000, writes ...

Former VP's book is message for all Americans

National Columnists

Former Vice President Mike Pence is now promoting his new book, "What Conservatives Believe: Rediscovering the American Conscience." Distinct from most stuff appearing now for the nation's 250th birthday, Pence's book is targeted not at the nation as whole, but at the Republican Party in particular. Pence's op-ed in the Wall Street Journal discussing the book is headlined, "A Republican Time for Choosing." He uses the title of Ronald Reagan's famous speech delivered Oct. 27, 1964, at the Republican National Convention, which put Reagan on the national stage, and was his ...