The Latest Breaking News from Abraham Lincoln

At a time of division in the US, biographer Nigel Hamilton returns to a similarly difficult moment to tell the story of a nation’s fate hanging in the balance

Mary Surratt, the building’s owner, would become the first woman executed by the US federal government

From the intimate to the infamous, these pictures of US commanders-in-chief (and a few also-rans) capture moments of tragedy and hope at the heart of the White House

Growing up in the late 1970s, my best friend was from Michigan. Early in our friendship I asked her what someone from Michigan is called. “Michigander,” she replied. I laughed and said, “You mean like a goose?” Her older sister then chimed in that it was being changed to Michiganian.…

Explore the ongoing debate sparked by Donald Trump's comparisons to Abraham Lincoln and their implications on presidential legacies and historical narratives.

Learn about the intense opposition faced by Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 election and the parallels to today's political climate.

Former president suggests Civil War should have been ‘settled’ as he compares himself to 16th commander-in-chief

John Wilkes Booth’s killing of Abraham Lincoln is skilfully examined in an absorbing play about the cyclical nature of political violence

How U.S. presidents habitually use—and abuse—pronouns to deceive.

What Donald Trump is doing is as dangerous as it is unprecedented in American history

There’s one question I get every time I give a talk. I’m a curator of political history at the Smithsonian Institution, and when I discuss the deep history of political division in our country, someone in the audience always asserts that we can’t possibly compare past divisions to the present,…