US presidents

US President John F Kennedy gives his first State of the Union address to Congress at the House of Representatives, Washington DC, 30 January 1961. Kennedy is one of eight presidents to have died during their term in office. (Photo by NASA/SSPL/Getty Images)

Q&A How many US presidents died in office?

Richard Nixon announces his resignation from the White House, 9 August 1974. Nixon resigned less than two years into his second term, before his near-certain impeachment following the Watergate scandal. (Photo by Dirck Halstead/Liaison via Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A brief history of presidential impeachment

A depiction of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence, 4 July, 1776, from a painting by John Trumbull. The men standing are (l to r) John Adams, Roger Sherman Robert R. Livingston, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. (Image by Bettmann/Getty Images)

Why does the United States of America celebrate Independence Day on 4 July?

The 1776 American Declaration of Independence. (Image by Universal History Archive / Getty Images)

Your guide to the 1776 American Declaration of Independence

The first state visit by American President George W Bush in 2003 was highly controversial, attracting protesters opposed to the involvement of the United States and Britain in the Iraq War. Here the president is pictured with the Queen in 2008. (Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images)

From pageantry to controversy: a brief history of state visits

Two American soldiers wait for the second wave of combat helicopters of the 1st Air Cavalry Division during Operation Pershing during the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War defined America in the second half of the 20th century. (Photo by Patrick Christain/Getty Images)

7 things you might not know about the Vietnam War

David Reynolds talks to the History Extra podcast. (Illustration by Hugh Cowling)

Second World War

Letters from World War Two leaders

Violence erupted in New Orleans, and white southerners killed and injured more than 100 freed slaves during a riot against reconstruction plans. (Image by Alamy)

The reconstruction of America after the Civil War

An illustration depicting the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, 1865. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Q&A Could modern medicine have saved Abraham Lincoln?

An illustration showing the effects of the Fugitive Slave Act, passed by Congress in 1850. The law aimed to make it easier for slaveholders to reclaim runaway ‘property’ in the free states, and contributed to rising political tension. (Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty images)

The story of the American Civil War: 32 key moments in the landmark conflict

Towards the end of the third century BC, the First Emperor of China sought to make his new state immortal by shielding it with what would be the earliest predecessor to the Great Wall. (Photo by Jean-Luc PETIT/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

General ancient history

A brief history of border walls – from 2,000 BC to Trump’s Mexico wall

A painting depicting the Mexican-American War of 1846–48: battle of Buena Vista, also known as battle of Angostura. Since that traumatic war, the US-Mexico bilateral relationship "has experienced sharp ups-and-downs; but there have also been underlying continuities," says Professor Alan Knight. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Peace, stability and pragmatism: a brief history of US-Mexico relations

A painting of America’s founding fathers inside the National Archives in Washington DC. (Photo by Visions of America/UIG via Getty Images)

A history of United States government shutdowns

The bronze statue in Washington DC celebrating Abraham Lincoln's emancipation of slaves shows the 16th president standing over a shackled African American. Lincoln is "one of the towering figures in the story that Americans tell about themselves," writes Lucy Worsley. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

Lincoln and slavery: “If I could save the union without freeing any slave, I would”