J.Michael Martinez

Edward Moore “Ted” Kennedy was one of those public figures that engenders strong emotions. He is loved and hated in almost equal measure ...

Republican Arthur Hendrick Vandenberg served as a United States senator representing Michigan from 1928 until his death in 1951. During h...

Robert Ferdinand Wagner served as a Democratic United States senator from New York from 1927 until 1949. He was well-known for his effort...

George William Norris of Nebraska served five terms in the United States House of Representatives (1903-1913) as well as five terms in th...

Robert Marion La Follette, Sr., was nicknamed “Fighting Bob” for a reason: he was an outspoken and tenacious supporter of numerous progre...

Carter Glass, a white southern politician in the age of Jim Crow, was an ardent racist and apologist for segregation, but he was much mor...

I am pleased to announce the publication of my 13th book, Congressional Lions: Trailblazing Members of Congress and How They Shaped Ameri...

One commentator characterized Benjamin Franklin Wade, the Radical Republican from Ohio, as “pugnacious,” and indeed he was. Other descrip...

Charles Sumner was an erudite, haughty senator from Massachusetts, a man confident in his superior intellect and legislative acumen. He a...

Thaddeus Stevens, a nineteenth century “Radical Republican,” was one of the most effective and passionate men to ever serve in the United...

He is not a household name, but Justin Smith Morrill was one of the most important members of Congress in American history. I discuss his...

Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, nicknamed the “Little Giant” owing to his diminutive physical stature but his outsized political ...

Thomas Hart Benton served as a United States senator from Missouri for 30 years—from 1821 until 1851. His service stretched roughly from ...

Of the members of the “Great Triumvirate” in the United States Senate during the nineteenth century, John C. Calhoun of South Carolina ap...

Continuing my coverage of the “Great Triumvirate” (Henry Clay of Kentucky, Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, and John C. Calhoun of South ...

Three statesmen dominated American politics for the first half of the nineteenth century, and no book on influential members of Congress w...

History recalls James Madison as the father of the U.S. Constitution, one of the three authors of The Federalist Papers, secretary of sta...

Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill, Jr., served as speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 until 1987, the third longest ten...

Mike Mansfield, sometimes called the “gentleman from Montana,” served as a United States congressman and senator from the Treasure State,...