Classic Essays from Our Archives

Herbert Hoover Describes the Ordeal of Woodrow Wilson | June 1958, Vol 9, No 4

The great tragedy of the twenty-eighth President as witnessed by his loyal lieutenant, the thirty-first.

Ike's Son Remembers George S. Patton Jr. | Summer 2012, Vol 62, No 2

The author, who once served under General Patton and whose father, Dwight D. Eisenhower, was Patton's commanding officer, shares his memories of "Ol' Blood and Guts"

Growing Up Colored | Summer 2012, Vol 62, No 2

The noted writer and educator tells of his boyhood in the West Virginia town of Piedmont, where African Americans were second-class citizens but family pride ran deep.

A Yankee Among The War Lords | October 1970, Vol 21, No 6

First of the Three Parts from STILWELL THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE IN CHINA 1911-1945

The Man of the Century | May/June 1994, Vol 45, No 3

Of all the Allied leaders, argues FDR's biographer, only Roosevelt saw clearly the shape of the new world they were fighting to create

Range Practice | Februrary 1968, Vol 19, No 2

Our former Secretary of State recalls his service fifty years ago in the Connecticut National Guard—asthmatic horses, a ubiquitous major, and a memorable

"I Had Prayed To God That This Thing Was Fiction…" | February 1990, Vol 41, No 1

He didn’t want the job but felt he should do it. For the first time, the soldier who tracked down the My Lai story for the office of the inspector general in 1969 tells what it was like to do some of this era’s grimmest detective work.

The Treasure From The Carpentry Shop | December 1979, Vol 31, No 1

THE EXTRAORDINARY ORIGINAL DRAWINGS OF THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE

Alice Paul: “I Was Arrested, Of Course…” | February 1974, Vol 25, No 2

An interview with the famed suffragette, Alice Paul

Did Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson Love Each Other? | Fall 2008, Vol 58, No 5

To call it loaded question does not begin to do justice to the matter, given America’s tortured racial history and its haunting legacy.

America: Experiment or Destiny? | June 1977, Vol 28, No 4

“The Tide Is Setting Strongly Against Us” | Winter 2010, Vol 59, No 4

Lincoln’s bid for reelection in 1864 faced serious challenges from a popular opponent and a nation weary of war

1619: The Year That Shaped America  | Winter 2019, Vol 64, No 1

Four hundred years ago this year, two momentous events happened in Britain’s fledgling colony in Virginia: the New World’s first democratic assembly convened, and an English privateer brought kidnapped Africans to sell as slaves. Such were the conflicted origins of modern America.

Did Castro OK The Kennedy Assassination? | Winter 2009, Vol 58, No 6

Incriminating new evidence has come to light in KGB files and the authors' interviews of former Cuban intelligence officers that indicates Fidel Castro probably knew in advance of Oswald's intent to kill JFK.

How My Father and President Kennedy Saved The World | October 2002, Vol 53, No 5

The Cuban Missile Crisis as seen from the Kremlin

Who Invented Scalping? | April 1977, Vol 28, No 3

In recent years many voices—both Native-American and white—have questioned whether Indians did in fact invent scalping. What is the evidence?

"The Sparck of Rebellion" | Winter 2010, Vol 59, No 4

Badly disguised as Indians, a rowdy group of patriotic vandals kicked a revolution into motion