For all its faults, America's Nixon administration provided a model for professional domestic debate when the stakes are huge, exemplified by the appointment of a Democratic intellectual as urban affairs adviser.

Insiders say the pressure of America's powerful national security apparatus and the fear among White House aides of facing the wrath of the intelligence community has made the once-media-friendly President Barack Obama appear neo-Nixonian.

Although only 20 percent of polled Americans rate Lyndon B. Johnson an above-average president — a lower ranking than George W. Bush or Jimmy Carter — the 36th president left a civil rights and medical welfare legacy that changed the fabric of today's society.

Critics of a deal on Iran's nuclear program need to answer a question: Is there a better alternative?

s historians and journalists downgrade the legacy of U.S. President John F. Kennedy on the 50th anniversary of his death this week, ordinary citizens around the globe will remember a cherished figure.

A false premise of the public, and some budget-cutting politicians, is that the U.S. deficit is spiraling out of control. In fact, the deficit is less than half the $1.55 trillion it was in 2009.

The political consensus among many U.S. Republicans is that tea party members in the House have done grievous harm to their brand. But that's not how grassroot activists see it.