A Short History of Presidential Election Crises

FEATURING ALAN HIRSCH – President Donald Trump has joked multiple times about running for a 3^rd or 4^th term. The coronavirus pandemic has sparked some Republicans to call for a postponement of the 2020 general election. And some primary races have already been postponed due to the virus. In a good year the US suffers from numerous barriers to voting, problems with voting machines, voter ID laws, and even foreign interference. The strength of our democracy relies on the trust of its citizens that elections are properly conducted. Now, a new history book explores the many chapters of Presidential election crises in the US with some solutions for our current era.

Alan Hirsch, Instructor in the Humanities and Chair of the Justice and Law Studies program at Williams College, is the author of numerous works of legal scholarship and many books including Impeaching the President: Past, Present, and Future and For the People: What the Constitution Really Says About Your Rights. His latest book is A Short History of Presidential Election Crises (and how to prevent the next one).

** This segment was originally broadcast on March 17, 2020.