The Boston Marathon Bomber and the Verdict Heard ‘Round the World
The Boston Marathon Bomber and the Verdict Heard ‘Round the World On April 15, 2013, the finish line of the Boston Marathon transformed into a war zone. What should have been a celebration of perseverance turned into a scene of carnage when two homemade bombs detonated, killing three people and injuring over 260. But it…
May 11, 1961: How JFK Quietly Escalated the Vietnam War
May 11, 1961: How JFK Quietly Escalated the Vietnam War On May 11, 1961, a well-dressed man with perfect hair and a haunted conscience signed off on a quiet little thing—just 400 Special Forces troops and 100 military advisers to South Vietnam. “A modest step,” he might’ve called it. But as history tends to do,…
Mandela’s Moment and Washington’s Reckoning
On This Day in American Politics: Mandela’s Moment and Washington’s Reckoning On May 10, 1994, Nelson Mandela was sworn in as South Africa’s first Black president—an iconic moment celebrated around the world. In America, the inauguration triggered both reflection and discomfort, as U.S. politicians confronted their own history of ambivalence toward apartheid. What did it…
Because at Political Rift, the past isn’t dead — it’s still cracking the foundations of power today.