David Von Drehle

Recent Articles

George Herbert Walker Bush 1924-2018

The 41st President and father of the 43rd left a lasting legacy of service

By David Von Drehle

George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st President of the United States and the Father of the 43rd, Dies at 94

George H.W. Bush, the careful and pragmatic manager of the Cold War’s final dramas, had nearly every tool a great president needs. He had fire and drive, which are indispensable to a great statesman. From...

By David Von Drehle

Remembering America's 'Angel of Death Row'

She was called “the Angel of Death Row” more than a few times in her life, but Scharlette Holdman was not everyone’s idea of angelic. She had a salty tongue and a wicked sense of...

By David Von Drehle

How Donald Trump Jr.'s Emails Have Cranked Up the Heat on His Family

The most pressing question of our time might be: How bad is it? As a candidate and now as President, Donald Trump has smashed the gauges that once tracked the normal temperature, pressure and wind...

By David Von Drehle

The Justices Agree to Grapple With Travel Bans and Phantoms

President Donald Trump's travel ban (government officials argue that it's not a ban, but the President's tweets beg to differ) is headed for the Supreme Court in one of the biggest cases of the upcoming...

By David Von Drehle

Robert Mueller: The Lie Detector

The formidable special counsel has time, money and an all-star legal team on his side. But he's never taken on an investigation like this before

By David Von Drehle

Why Donald Trump Was Low-Hanging Fruit for the Public Theater's Julius Caesar

The election returns were still coming in when Oskar Eustis, artistic director of New York City’s famed Public Theater, knew what he must do. Seven months later, the deed is done: the first play of...

By David Von Drehle

John F. Kennedy's America Answered a Call to Leadership No Longer Given Voice

These are words hard to imagine writing, or reading: John F. Kennedy was born a century ago. One hundred years is a meaningful milestone, a distance at which even youth seems somehow antique. The concept...

By David Von Drehle

The Comey Misfire

Did Donald Trump ax James Comey because he mishandled the Clinton email investigation? Or did he have the FBI's probe of his campaign's possible links to Moscow in mind?

By David Von Drehle

United Debacle Shows Airline Lost Faith in Its Own Business Model

Add hypocrisy to the rest of United’s offenses

By David Von Drehle

The World May Little Note, but Kansas City Still Remembers

They were hoping to get the President. He would attract Prime Ministers and live TV coverage and all the signifiers of an Important Commemoration. But as the day approached, the White House schedule called for...

By David Von Drehle / Kansas City, Mo.

What Will it Take to Rebuild America?

Plus a blueprint for today moonshots for tomorrow and a plan for getting it right

By David Von Drehle

7 Questions With Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America

'Try living in a country where they stop talking and start shooting'

By David Von Drehle

Barack Obama Ranked 12th Best U.S. President Ever in Major Survey of Historians

Others have fallen in the rankings

By David Von Drehle

Is Steve Bannon the Second Most Powerful Man in the World?

Most modern Presidents chart their opening moves with the help of a friendly think tank or a set of long-held beliefs. Donald Trump's first steps had the feel of a documentary film made by his...

By David Von Drehle

President Trump's Vision for America

In a rancorous first speech, the new president announces a sharp U-turn in U.S. policy, "America First"

By David Von Drehle

Why It’s More Powerful for Artists Like Meryl Streep to Speak Through Their Art

'Art works by showing, not telling.'

By David Von Drehle

Honor and Effort: What President Obama Achieved in Eight Years

And what he didn't

By David Von Drehle

Last Surviving 'Doolittle Raider' Recalls Crucial World War II Mission

Lt. Col. Richard “Dick” Cole, age 101, spoke on the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor

By David Von Drehle

Donald Trump’s Twitter Feed Sings the Same Old Distracting Song

Conspiracy monger, or cynical manipulator of public outrage? Neither alternative was very presidential

By David Von Drehle
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