Lyndon Johnson

In an April 1965 address to the nation, President Lyndon Johnson laid out his argument for expanding US involvement in Vietnam. From archival audio, we now know that Johnson had believed for at least a year that the conflict was a disaster in the making. Why did he continue to push for escalation in a war he didn’t think was worth fighting?

Historians still argue about what exactly happened in the Gulf of Tonkin in August of 1964. What’s not in dispute is the aftermath: A resolution from the Senate passed by a vote of 98 to 2 authorizing President Lyndon Johnson to use whatever force he thought he needed against North Vietnam. The resolution was a major escalation of US involvement in Vietnam and helped Johnson win the presidential election. But it was built on a lie.

The desegregation of hospitals in the South was just one of many things to come from the Medicare law.

NASA’s black engineers, mathematicians and technicians didn’t just help American win the space race, they also played a key role in reshaping the American South.

For 50 years, the hotline between Washington, D.C., and Moscow has helped protect the peace and avoid nuclear confrontation. But the popular image of a red telephone on the president’s desk is actually a far cry from what the hotline really is.