Jonathan Alter

The dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum was more than an opportunity for the five living U.S. presidents to compare notes on what Stefan Lorant called “the glorious burden” of the office. It also was the beginning of Bush’s campaign for rehabilitation. As Bill Clinton said at the ceremony, all presidential […]

That sound you’re hearing may be the cracking of gridlock in Washington. Bipartisan bills on three of the big issues of 2013 — the budget, immigration and guns — could pass Congress this spring. If the B.I.G. agenda goes through, the public will cheer, providing incentives for politicians to do more. It would also go […]

History sometimes has a way of tying itself up with a little bow. That’s the way I felt in January when I introduced Scott Prouty, the bartender-turned- videographer who helped sink Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, to Teddy Goff, the 28-year-old director of digital media for President Barack Obama’s re-election. Prouty was a new source. After […]

In a season of depressing budget news, the worst may have been that a majority of U.S. House Democrats signed a letter urging President Barack Obama to oppose any benefit cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other entitlements. That’s the last thing we need. To hold the line on harmful cuts to discretionary spending, […]

State of the Union addresses are traditionally laundry lists of policy proposals. U.S. President Barack Obama’s this week started that way, but it ended as the most emotional speech before a joint session of Congress in modern memory. The theatrics of the event also introduced a new approach to framing the public debate that could […]

The rule of law is the moral underpinning of U.S. foreign policy. President Barack Obama must now reaffirm that principle. This task became all the more urgent with the disclosure last week of a secret document that provides the Justice Department’s legal analysis of the targeted killings of suspected terrorists. After NBC News obtained the […]

In the summer of 2011, when the “Grand Bargain” on deficit reduction failed, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner accused President Barack Obama of “moving the goal posts” — shifting his demands to the left. After Boehner objected, Obama quickly moved the goal posts back and said he wanted to keep talking. But the speaker thought […]

Presidential inaugurations are traditionally occasions for stroking one’s chin and offering sober assessments of what the president and the nation can accomplish in the next four years. This is bound to be an exercise in futility. Four years ago, as Barack Obama took the oath, no one had heard of the Tea Party, Obamacare, the […]

You can already hear the rumbling in the distance — a train of noisy liberal Democrats barreling straight for the White House. They should arrive just in time for President Barack Obama’s second inauguration. The president already has his hands full dealing with angry and unrealistic Republicans. Now he’s getting reacquainted with their counterparts on […]