Presidency has emerged as strongest of three branches of U.S. government, Stanford historian says

Stanford history Professor Jack Rakove offers a long-term perspective on some of the changes and challenges facing the U.S. political system. The presidency has emerged as the strongest of the three government branches while Congress is seemingly paralyzed by partisanship.

By Nancy Murphy

Amid today’s relentless 24/7 news cycle, it’s difficult to put this year’s election events into a deeper historical and philosophical context.

This interview is part of Wide Angle: Election 2016, a Stanford media series that offers scholarly, nonpartisan perspectives on the forces shaping the election.

What can history teach us about the 2016 election?

Historians are very nervous about the idea of learning lessons from the past. That sounds somewhat counter-intuitive because common sense wisdom is that we study the past to learn lessons that we can somehow apply to the present ...

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