As we stagger through this year’s uninspiring presidential campaign, it might help to look back at the election of 1856, when, for the first time, the West yielded a presidential candidate. His name ...

The House Speaker election is dragging on to a fourteenth vote, but it’s still a far cry from the chaos and violence that plagued 19th Century speaker races, especially one in 1856 that just preceded ...

Immigration. Race. Demographic change. Political demagogy. That year’s presidential race had it all. What can it tell us about 2020? By Steve Inskeep Mr. Inskeep is a co-host of “Morning Edition” on ...

The election of 1856 brought to the presidency an incompetent who was, at least, partially responsible for the tragedies of the Civil War. We can certainly hope that the 2024 election will not be a ...

Can any past presidential campaign help us understand the election year now beginning? There never was a sitting president like Donald Trump. But if we widen our lens, we find timely echoes in an era ...