Is Something Rotten With the State of Presidencies?

Zócalo Heads to Mexico City to Understand Executive Power—And Why It Isn’t Always Best for Democracy

Last week, Zócalo Public Square held our first-ever event just steps from our organization’s namesake and inspiration, Mexico City’s Plaza de la Constitución, otherwise known as the Zócalo, one of the largest public squares in the world.

Together with Democracy International and Metropolitan Autonomous University for the Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy 2023, Zócalo convened an audience of over 100 at the Casa de la Primera Imprenta de América (House of the First Print Shop in the Americas). We were there in the historic space, just across a narrow road …

by Talib Jabbar | March 6, 2023

Trump Isn’t the First Presidential Power Grabber

American Chief Executives Have Always Tried to Act as They Wish. But Has the Practice Gone Too Far?

By Reed Johnson | April 26, 2017

King George III imposed taxation on the American colonies without representation. Franklin D. Roosevelt unilaterally exiled Japanese Americans to internment camps. Barack Obama declared his intent to bypass a perpetually …

Why Donald Trump Will Hate the Presidency

The Tycoon in the White House Doesn’t Understand the Difference Between Strength and Power

By Jennie Han | March 1, 2017

Donald Trump entered politics as a self-proclaimed “strong leader.” He castigated his supposedly tepid predecessor for lacking necessary strength. Trump, by contrast, would sweep away the establishment and remake America. …

Lady Bird Johnson Wielded Power With a Delicate Touch

LBJ’s First Lady Was a Trailblazer Who Flew Under the Radar

By Kate Andersen Brower | June 28, 2016

“Somebody else can have Madison Avenue,” Lyndon Johnson once said. “I’ll take Bird”—that is, his wife, Claudia Alta Taylor “Lady Bird” Johnson. (She got her elegant nickname as a toddler, …

George Washington’s Deep Self-Doubt

The First President Was Indispensable to Our Early Democracy, Precisely Because He Didn’t See Himself as Indispensable

by Robert Middlekauff | May 18, 2015

Revolutions tend to get hijacked, going from being about the people to being about the triumphant revolutionary leaders. And so the French Revolution begat Napoleon, and the Russian Revolution begat …

The President’s Coming to Town on Your Dime

We’re Well-Aware That Obama Brings Terrible Traffic to the Southland, But Do We Know How Much His Visits Cost—and Who Pays For Them?

by Michael Tasselmyer | June 14, 2014

The typical five-hour flight from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles costs anywhere from $300 to $500. This weekend, President Obama will be making that trip to deliver a commencement speech …

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