Thomas J. Balcerski
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Windham, CT, United States
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Past articles by Thomas:
OP-ED | Ranking the Best . . . and the Worst Presidents
Thomas J. Balcerski was one of 142 presidential historians surveyed for the 2021 C-SPAN Survey of Presidential Leadership. What makes for a great president? What makes for a bad president? These are just two of the perennial questions answered by the historians. → Read More
OP-ED | In Perspective: Biden’s First 100 Days
Jonathan L. Wharton and Thomas J. Balcerski analyze the the president's joint address to Congress and the challenges ahead → Read More
To sell his dream of the future, Biden should draw on the past (Opinion)
Thomas Balcerski writes ahead of President Joe Biden's first address before a joint session of Congress. He encourages Biden to strike the right tone and look to his predecessors for inspiration. → Read More
Opinion: The roadmap for Biden's infrastructure plan goes back to 1956
Thomas Balcerski writes that President Joe Biden's infrastructure goals should draw on the lessons from the implementation of President Dwight Eisenhower's interstate highway system. "Like Eisenhower, Biden will need to find a legislative path that satisfies Democrats -- and potentially Republicans in Congress -- and garners the widespread support of the American people," → Read More
Opinion: The first minimum wage and the battle for $15
Thomas Balcerski writes that if President Joe Biden wants to increase the federal minimum wage, he should follow the example of former President Franklin Roosevelt, who signed the first minimum wage bill into law in 1938. → Read More
Opinion: What Biden and Pelosi can learn from a 1941-1942 presidential commission
Thomas Balcerski writes that as congressional Democrats pursue a commission into the Capitol riots, they should adopt the best practices of the 1941-1942 Roberts Commission, while taking steps to avoid its pitfalls. → Read More
OP-ED | What Makes a Great President? There Isn’t One Answer
As we celebrate Presidents' Day, a look at our presidents through the dual view of politics and history → Read More
Opinion: FDR got this right. Biden can, too
Thomas Balcerski writes President Biden's flurry of executive orders forms part of a deliberate strategy to project a new vision for the country, and it makes sense for him to use the power he has in this way. In doing so, he is modeling his first 100 days in office after Franklin D. Roosevelt. → Read More
Opinion: History shows the GameStop saga won't end well
That anyone can now have the power to manipulate markets reveals the need for more targeted regulation of trading platforms and financial systems more generally. → Read More
Opinion: What history can teach Biden about facing insurrection on Inauguration Day
Thomas Balcerski writes both Abraham Lincoln and Rutherford B. Hayes faced threats of insurrection at their inaugurations, but they persisted in holding their ceremonies anyway. In doing so, they refused to let threats of violence stop the democratic process from continuing. → Read More
Opinion: The uphill road that awaits Donald Trump
Thomas Balcerski writes if presidential history is any indication, President Donald Trump courts political disaster by declaring his candidacy for 2024. Unless he can be absolutely certain that he will win the Republican nomination once more, he is likely to lose again. → Read More
Opinion: What America's former Presidents can teach Trump about pardons
Thomas Balcerski writes rather than invoking pardons for purely partisan ends, President Donald Trump should take notes from his predecessors, including Warren Harding and Jimmy Carter, and use this power to help unify the country after a contentious election cycle. → Read More
Opinion: A history lesson on presidents who snub their successors' inaugurations
Thomas Balcerski writes that history provides some indication of what Inauguration Day 2021 may look like. John Adams, John Quincy Adams and Andrew Johnson refused to attend their successors' inaugurations. In all three instances, the incoming president went on to run highly popular administrations and win two terms in office. → Read More
What 1932, 1980 and 1992 can tell us about 2020
Thomas Balcerski takes a look at the one term presidencies of Herbert Hoover, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush and writes that each of the failed incumbents demonstrated a fatal character flaw during their reelection campaigns that didn't sit well with voters. Taken together, these embattled incumbents still provide a recipe for electoral disaster in American politics. → Read More
Opinion: How Geraldine Ferraro and Sarah Palin set the stage for Kamala Harris
Thomas Balcerski writes that in order to win the VP debate on Wednesday, Kamala Harris will likely need to triangulate herself between the toughness of Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and the likability of Sarah Palin in 2008. → Read More
Opinion: The magic moments that can win presidential debates
Thomas Balcerski writes that while no magic formula exists to predict the outcome of presidential debates, one thing seems clear in retrospect: just one dramatic exchange can change public perception of the debates, and by extension, the result of the election. → Read More
The Jersey Shore's History of Wooing U.S. Presidents
Here's how the Garden State lured many of America’s chief executives to visit our coastal resorts. → Read More