Bearing burdens and paying prices in Ukraine

John F. Kennedy articulated America’s Cold War credo in his inaugural address, “we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” … While Americans are certainly more focused on domestic than […] Read more »

‘An American Tradition’: Lessons from a year covering conspiracy theories

… I have spent this year thinking and writing about the draw to conspiracy theories, the perverse comfort they provide and the damage they can cause. Today in the United States, we are living in an era of segregated belief, of divergent realities, at a time when social media has […] Read more »

Americans Expect History to Judge Trump Harshly

Six in 10 Americans believe that history will regard President Donald Trump negatively, including 47% who say he will be remembered for doing a “poor” job. In contrast, fewer than three in 10 think he will be remembered as an “outstanding” (9%) or “above average” (20%) president. Relatively few, 10%, […] Read more »

Donald Trump, Joe Biden and the Vote of the Irish

In 2016, my vantage point on the donnybrook between Donald and Hillary was an Irish bar in Queens, where I was a bartender a few nights a week. … Half the patrons were Irish immigrants who considered Mr. Trump a real “eejit,” but the other half, the Irish Americans, thought […] Read more »

Obama Tops Public’s List of Best President in Their Lifetime, Followed by Clinton, Reagan

When asked which president has done the best job in their lifetimes, more Americans name Barack Obama than any other president. More than four-in-ten (44%) say Obama is the best or second best president of their lifetimes, compared with about a third who mention Bill Clinton (33%) or Ronald Reagan […] Read more »