Historians, commentators and thinkers have written endless books on how the US presidency works. None of them applies to the incumbent, Donald Trump.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump stands during a service at the International Church of Las Vegas in Las Vegas in Oct. 2016.
AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File
Trump embraced evangelicals in his first year as president. Here, scholars provide historical context to how the religious right has shaped American politics over the past decades.
Former FBI Director James Comey testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington.
AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
The GOP was once the political home of anti-Catholicism. And the Vatican, it was believed, would use a Catholic president as a way to meddle in US politics.
Will history give Trump a thumbs-up for his first 100 days?
AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez
Franklin D. Roosevelt is famous for really getting a lot done fast. Will history remember Trump so kindly?
The Navy converted to oil from coal a few years before the U.S. entered World War I, helping to solidify petroleum’s strategic status.
Naval History and Heritage Command
Before World War I, petroleum had few practical uses, but it emerged from the war as a strategic global asset necessary for national stability and security.
President Dwight Eisenhower at the annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington on Feb. 2, 1956.
AP Photo
Diane Winston, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
President Trump gave a speech at the Prayer Breakfast that pledged to be “tougher” in international dealings and protect religious liberty. How does it compare with past Presidents?
Ready to roll: Trump’s inauguration stage.
EPA/Justin Lane
In 1952, military man Dwight Eisenhower was elected president without any experience in elective office. Here’s how he built his cabinet.
British prime minister, Anthony Eden, and US president, Dwight Eisenhower, after a conference at the White House in 1956.
JR AP/Press Association Images
For many contemporary observers, the Spanish Civil War was seen as very much of a piece with the war against Hitler and Mussolini. But then things changed. Why?
The man to watch: new Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
No denying it, Tuesday was a big day for Republicans. They took control of the Senate, expanded their majority in the House, and added to the number of governorships they hold. The Senate outcome is rightly…
Managing Director of the McCourtney Institute of Democracy, Associate Research Professor, Political Science, Co-host of Democracy Works Podcast, Penn State