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Franklin Roosevelt

Trump uses a pen as a prop while signing executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House | Chris Kleponis - Pool via CNP/Newscom

Executive Power

Forget Obama: Trump's Pen and Phone Are Bigger Even Than FDR's

The president is on a record-shattering pace for executive actions.

Matt Welch | 8.12.2025 2:30 PM

U.S Capitol dome with an orange background and a copy of the "Total Defense" book being reviewed | Illustration: Eddie Marshall | Joingate | Robwilson39 | Dreamstime.com

Book Reviews

How 'National Security' Came Unmoored From Americans' Actual Security

The turning point was the New Deal.

Brandan P. Buck | 8.4.2025 2:00 PM

Franklin Roosevelt and Donald Trump | Illustration: Eddie Marshall | Michael Brochstein | Media Drum World | ZUMAPRESS | Newscom | Midjourney

Executive Power

The Executive Power Case That Unites Donald Trump and Franklin Roosevelt

Trump’s firing of a federal agency head may soon spell doom for a New Deal era precedent that limited presidential power.

Damon Root | 5.23.2025 2:35 PM

U.S. Border Czar Tom Homan. | Aaron Schwartz/CNP / Polaris/Newscom

Civil Liberties

The Alien Enemies Act Is an Unconstitutional Affront to Civil Liberties

Like with the Japanese internment during World War II, the current move to deport alleged alien criminals is driven by hysteria.

Steven Greenhut | 4.4.2025 7:30 AM

Franklin Delano Roosevelt | Photo: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt; CPA Media Pte Ltd/Alamy

Law & Government

How FDR Built the American Security State

Historian Anthony Gregory explains how liberalism can be used to build an apparatus of repression.

Nathan P. Goodman | 12.31.2024 6:00 AM

A keyboard and money are seen next to a graph trending downward | Photo 7997381 © Maksym Filipchuk | Dreamstime.com

Price controls

No, Politicians Can't 'Fix' Prices—and That's OK

Price controls lead to the misallocation of resources, shortages, diminished product quality, and black markets.

Veronique de Rugy | 5.16.2024 12:01 AM

'Just Asking Questions' podcast background with a headshot of David Beito and the words "FDR: A Tyrant?" | Illustration by John Osterhoudt

Franklin Roosevelt

David Beito: Was FDR a Tyrant?

David Beito discusses his new book The New Deal’s War on the Bill of Rights: The Untold Story of FDR’s Concentration Camps, Censorship, and Mass Surveillance.

Zach Weissmueller | 4.25.2024 1:02 PM

Historical photo of the Pittsburgh Courier office in the 1940s. | New York Public Library

Press

How FDR Emasculated the Black Press in World War II

Instead of indulging in politically risky sedition prosecutions of the black press, the government relied on indirect methods of behind-the-scenes manipulation and intimidation.

David T. Beito | 12.27.2023 10:01 AM

minisNew-Deal-Rebels_American-Institute-for-Economic-Research | Photo: <em>New Deal Rebels</em>/American Institute for Economic Research

book

Review: Not Everyone Liked the New Deal

Amity Shlaes anthologizes Franklin D. Roosevelt’s critical contemporaries.

Stephanie Slade | 10.6.2023 6:00 AM

A black and white photo of James Stewart in a scene from Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | Wikipedia Commons

Politics

When the Left and Right Came Together To Applaud Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

A Republican, a Communist, and a Catholic conservative walk onto a movie set...

David T. Beito | 9.23.2023 7:00 AM

immigrants on ellis island look at statue of liberty | Lex Villena; PBS / US Library of Congress

Nazis

Ken Burns, Lynn Novick: How Closed Borders Helped Facilitate the Holocaust

A new PBS series underscores the long, deadly shadow cast by xenophobia, antisemitism, and restrictive immigration laws.

Nick Gillespie | 9.21.2022 4:45 PM

holocaust | Lex Villena

Immigration

How Closed Borders Helped Facilitate the Holocaust

A new PBS series by Ken Burns argues xenophobia, the Great Depression, incredulity toward the media, and State Department antisemitism combined to keep Jewish refugees out of America.

Nick Gillespie | 9.15.2022 12:32 PM

Gangsters of Capitalism cover | St. Martin's Press

History

The Progressive Imperialism of Smedley Butler

The Marine turned anti-imperialist had two very different legacies, but both clearly emerged from the same man.

Thaddeus Russell | 7.28.2022 4:30 PM

dreamstime_m_153801321 | Photo 153801321 © Aliia Chazova | Dreamstime.com

Social Security

Shaky Social Security Trust Fund May Run Out in 11 Years

Are you ready for 30 percent cuts in benefits to keep the program alive?

J.D. Tuccille | 7.14.2021 7:00 AM

radio_right | Oxford University Press

Censorship

The Sordid History of the Fairness Doctrine

It was terrible for free speech on the radio dial. We shouldn't inflict it on the internet too.

Paul Matzko | 1.30.2021 7:00 AM

courts | Illustration: Joanna Andreasson; Source images: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty, FPG/Archive Photos/Getty, Bob Daugherty/A.P. Photo, Wikimedia, Public domain

Supreme Court

Don't Pack the Courts

Joe Biden shouldn't repeat FDR's big mistake.

Damon Root | 1.16.2021 6:00 AM

Biden-Phoenix-Q&A-10-8-20-MSNBC | MSNBC still

Court Packing

Biden's Sudden Reticence on Court Packing Is Alarming

Although Democrats think the composition of the Supreme Court is a big election issue, their nominee won’t say what he plans to do about it.

Jacob Sullum | 10.14.2020 12:01 AM

zumaamericastwentytwo840062 | Christy Bowe/ZUMA Press/Newscom

Supreme Court

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Calls Court Packing a 'Bad Idea'

The liberal jurist puts judicial integrity before partisan politics.

Damon Root | 7.29.2019 12:20 PM

Large image on homepages | Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Supreme Court

Making Amends for Korematsu

The 1944 ruling validated FDR's order to relocate and imprison 120,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese immigrants during World War II.

Mike Riggs | 10.11.2018 6:00 AM

Large image on homepages

Banking

Did Federal Deposit Insurance Corrupt the Banking System? [Reason Podcast]

George Selgin vs. Josh Barro at the Soho Forum.

Jim Epstein | 4.19.2017 3:00 PM

Large image on homepages | Joanna Andreasson

Press

FDR's War Against the Press

Franklin Roosevelt had his own Breitbart, and radio was his Twitter.

David T. Beito | 4.5.2017 6:00 AM

Large image on homepages | Webdata / Dreamstime.com

Supreme Court

Shrink the Supreme Court?

A GOP proposal to deny Clinton's appointment choices may backfire.

Steve Chapman | 11.3.2016 12:01 PM

Large image on homepages | Scribner

World War 2

America's Other World War II Internment Camps

The legacy of the German and Japanese prisoners held hostage

John Bicknell | 9.24.2016 6:00 AM

Large image on homepages | Photo: David E. Scherman/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images. Montage: Joanna Andreasson using JL Fly FBI 1951 Report

Surveillance

The Man J. Edgar Hoover Blamed for Pearl Harbor

Larry Fly, the forgotten hero who refused to illegally wiretap Americans

Michael J. Socolow | 3.19.2016 6:00 AM

Large image on homepages

Politics

Why Polls Don't Work

After decades of gradual improvement, the science of predicting election outcomes has hit an accuracy crisis.

Stephanie Slade | 1.14.2016 6:00 AM

Politics

Critics: Annie's Blatant FDR Revisionism Doesn't Go Nearly Far Enough!

Matt Welch | 12.30.2014 2:44 PM

Large image on homepages | Flickr/Cannabis Culture

Politics

Marijuana Entrepreneurs Should Follow Joseph P. Kennedy's Example

Anthony Fisher | 11.18.2014 4:45 PM

Politics

Judge Napolitano on Lincoln, Wilson, and Roosevelt; Amity Shlaes on Coolidge and FDR

Matt Welch | 2.17.2014 12:19 PM

Policy

Historian: FDR's Anti-Semitism Cost Jewish Lives

He resisted helping refugees for fear of admitting "too many" Jews to the U.S.

Reason Staff | 4.4.2013 5:10 PM

Politics

World War II Spending Did Not End the Great Depression

The aggregate statistics fail to capture essential details of life.

Sheldon Richman | 1.27.2013 8:00 AM

Politics

The Unholy Spirit of Presidential Activism

So set your DVR for one of the oddest cinematic displays of power-worship in the history of American film.

Gene Healy | 9.18.2012 12:00 PM

Policy

Katyn Massacre Hushed-Up by U.S. Government

FDR didn't want to piss off his BFF, Stalin

Reason Staff | 9.10.2012 5:56 PM

Politics

Where are the Jobs? The Parallels Between Today and the Great Depression

Ted Balaker | 7.22.2012 10:30 AM

Politics

Obama's New New Deal: As Bad as the Old New Deal

Michael Moynihan | 7.8.2012 10:30 AM

Politics

FDR, The New Deal, and The Expansion of Federal Power

Nick Gillespie and Meredith Bragg | 2.3.2012 3:00 PM

Politics

Craig Shirley-How Pearl Harbor and December 1941 Made America a Global Power

Nick Gillespie and Meredith Bragg | 12.7.2011 10:52 AM

Politics

How George W. Bush Fulfilled FDR's Legacy

Jesse Walker | 7.1.2011 11:05 AM

Politics

Reason.tv: Never Enough - William Voegeli on America's Limitless Welfare State

Reason Staff | 8.23.2010 3:00 PM

History

Old Thoughts on FDR

Bruce Bartlett | 2.1.1980 12:00 PM

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