Burr's Boats, Part I

Most of Cincinnati’s thousand citizens lined the banks of the Ohio River on April 27, 1801, to watch one of the wonders of the age.  A great new sailing ship,…

Read More

Meeting McCullough

Last Tuesday night, I attended a lecture on the Constitution by David McCullough at the Capitol Visitors Center.  (He’s the one on the right in the photo.)  The event was…

Read More

Nuremburg War Crimes Trials

John Q. Barrett is a law professor at St. John’s in New York and a scholar of Justice Robert Jackson (pictured below).  He produces periodic e-mails about Justice Jackson that…

Read More

The Original Jersey Boys

I have a new article at Smithsonian.com about Aaron Burr and his posse of North Jersey pals from Elizabeth, “The Original Jersey Boys.”  The four boyhood friends achieved much —…

Read More

Top 10 Government Showdowns

In honor of the debt-ceiling drama playing out here in Washington, Time Magazine has put together a list of Top 10 Government Showdowns in American history.  I was initially delighted…

Read More

The Fourth and Thomas Jefferson

What better way to prepare for the Fourth of July, which celebrates Thomas Jefferson’s brilliant Declaration of Independence, than to reflect on the never-ending dispute over whether Jefferson fathered from…

Read More