How Political Parties Collapse

The Gist

Two Whig presidents were elected by the American people—Zachary Taylor and William Henry Harrison. They lasted a grand total of one year and five months. The Whigs cracked up in the 1850s over intense policy divisions. Now, many historians are drawing parallels between the Whigs then and the Republicans now. Philip Wallach recently penned an essay for the Brookings Institution about what can be learned by the last major political party death in America.

Plus, a visit to Vexillology Corner with Ted Kaye, who explains why you can’t cheat in your flag design by trimming the ends off. Kaye is the author of the book Good Flag, Bad Flag.

In the Spiel, the greatest presidential broken promise in history.

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