Destroying and Saving The White House
The past doesn't take care of itself. Sometimes it requires radical renovation to avoid being lost. ... More
About: Jeff Nilsson
Jeff Nilsson is the director of Post archives and a website editor. He is a specialist in American History, with graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin, University of New Mexico, and Eastern Michigan University. He writes our website's weekly Retrospective feature, and is directing the program of digitally converting the magazine's 190 years of issues.
Posts by Jeff Nilsson:
Hard Truths: How The Polygraph Saw Americans
When Leonarde Keeler began studying honesty in Americans, he was surprised to learn who lied, who didn't, and what kept people honest. ... More
Grace Under Pressure: Jackie Robinson
First told in the Post, Robinson's story is still breaking barriers with the release of 42.... More
The Eventual Triumph of Duke Ellington
Fortunately, more people listened to his music than to his critics.... More
The Deathless Legacy Of Sargent Shriver
He launched one of America's greatest achievements — sending over half a million American volunteers to help raise the standard of living in 139 countries.... More
Campaigning With The Kingfish
Huey Long shows how it's done by tickling voters' sense of resentment, fear, envy, righteousness, and humor.... More
How the Kingfish Helped Elect the First Woman Senator
Huey and Hattie shocked the political establishment in the 1930s with a campaign that prefigured today's populist reaction.... More
The One Rule For Making Predictions
What makes predictions laughable isn't what they say could happen. It's what they say won't happen.... More
“Let’s Keep Christmas Commercial”
Maybe we're not doing such a bad job of celebrating Christmas.... More
Building The Ultimate Toy: From Monopoly To Slinky
Fortunes are made by making children happy. But as any parent knows, that job is a lot trickier than it seems.... More
What The Queen Does For A Living
It's mostly ceremonial work, but the ceremonies serve a real purpose.... More
Finding Some Good In The Royals
Does the royal family of Great Britain really serve a useful purpose other than attracting tourists and selling tabloid newspapers?... More
Beatings, Brawls, and Lawmaking: Mayhem in Congress
If you think Congress is in a bad mood today, take a look at how bad it got just before the Civil War.... More
Living With Less In America
Amid all the belt-tightening of his holiday season, take comfort in the fact that you can but more than 4 gallons of gasoline this week. ... More
The Case of the Missing Prosperity: An Economic Mystery from 1952
Did the American economy enter a golden age in 1952? Or did Peter Drucker completely misread events?... More
Young Sousa And The Musician Shortage
John Philip Sousa rose to national prominence thanks to talent, support, ambition… and an era of incredible opportunity for musicians.... More
The Great Decision: Eisenhower Makes The Call
In 1944, Dwight Eisenhower launched history’s biggest military operation against Nazi Germany. He had planned exhaustively for every contigency, right down to the details, to... More
