Editor's Note

Creative Destruction

The modern Republican Party has braided together a reverence for tradition with a devotion to free markets. But those two values are inexorably in conflict.

Meet the New Boss

Tattered finances, broken schools, rampant crime—can Rahm Emanuel make Chicago work?

How I Missed That Story

Obama, Explained

A longtime analyst of the presidency takes the measure of our 44th president, with a view to history.

Campaign Inc.

How a presidential election boosts the economy

Perfecting Our Union

The president of the United States reflects on what Abraham Lincoln means to him, and to America.

The President’s Proclamation

Seven months after his call to free the slaves, Emerson hails the Emancipation Proclamation.

Assassination

Three months after Lincoln’s murder, The Atlantic seeks to make sense of it.

The Words That Remade America

The significance of the Gettysburg Address

Recollections of Lincoln

A journalist who covered the Lincoln-Douglas debates recalls the future president’s bawdy appeal.

The Election in November

In 1860, The Atlantic endorsed Abraham Lincoln for president.

The Queen of San Francisco

The first openly gay U.S. political candidate works to save a slice of gay history.

Sex and the Married Politician

As the list of politicos laid low by sexual scandal grows longer, history offers lessons on when the press should opt for exposure—and when it should leave well enough alone.

The Agony of Crist

A political superstar’s precipitous fall

How to Turn Republicans and Democrats Into Americans

An insider’s six-step plan to fix Congress

The Tragedy of Sarah Palin

Where would Alaska’s most notorious inhabitant—and our national politics—be today if she had run on her collaborative record rather than her divisive persona?

The Iowa Caucus Kingmaker

Bob Vander Plaats offers GOP candidates a choice: join his crusade against gay marriage or lose the primary.

Inside the Secret Service

Granted exclusive access, our correspondent follows the agency on one of its toughest assignments.

Herman Cain, the GOP Wild Card

An unlikely candidate may disrupt the GOP's 2012 field.

Good Ol’ Girl

Does Nikki Haley, the new governor of South Carolina, signal a fundamental change in the GOP’s relationship with women, and in the GOP itself?

Strict Obstructionist

Senator Mitch McConnell is the quiet architect of the Republicans' resurgence—and the biggest reason why nothing's getting done in Washington.

The Tea Party’s Brain

How Ron Paul's fringe obsessions—the gold standard, the Fed, the perils of deficits—entered the mainstream

The Salesman

Joe Biden really, truly did not want to be vice president. But almost two years in, he’s found his stride. And his unique life trajectory— by turns tragic, comic, and triumphant—may have made him the perfect man for a highly imperfect job.

Judgment Day

How Arnold Schwarzenegger might just have saved California

My Country, Tis of Me

There’s nothing patriotic about the Tea Party Patriots.

Video

Miami: The Next Big Start-Up City?

How the city became a center for innovation

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A Brief History of Romantic Comedies

From The Atlantic's Chris Orr

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Life in 'the New Arctic'

A moving portrait of a fading landscape

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The Rise of New York City

A fascinating look at Manhattan in the 1940s

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'I Thought It Was Really Funny, but No One Else Did'

A day with New Yorker cartoonist Joe Dator

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New Yorkers: The Winemaker

Make your own wine ... in New York City

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What Is Methane Hydrate?

"Flaming ice" is a vast natural energy source

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NASA's Time-Lapse of the Sun

Now with epic dubstep music

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A Video Letter From the Editor

Highlights from the May 2013 issue

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Shaken Not Tuned: Cocktail Experiments

Can a tuning fork improve a cocktail?

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The Rise of Environmentalism

Tracking 50 years, from the Love Canal disaster to Greenpeace

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Is He Cheating? A 1950s Guide

'That little blonde secretary from the office?’

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New Yorkers: Vintage Vacuum-Tube Amps

Risking electric shock to restore old amplifiers

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The DIY Piano-Bicycle

Everybody needs a hobby

Writers

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In Focus

2013 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest