Calling out ICE and the National Guard to police Los Angeles, Portland and Minneapolis. DOGE and the evisceration of government institutions. Invading Venezuela. The insults, the rambling, the grift. The Epstein files. It’s hard to keep up with how Trump 2.0 is impacting our country. But in her popular newsletter, “Letters from an American” political historian Heather Cox Richardson helps readers keep their eyes on what matters.
Guests:
Heather Cox Richardson, author of "Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America", Richardson is professor of political history at Boston College. Her previous books include "How the South Won the Civil War." Her newsletter, “Letters from an American” reaches over 5 million readers on Substack and Facebook. <br />
This partial transcript is computer-generated. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.
Alexis Madrigal: Welcome to Forum. I’m Alexis Madrigal.
Historian Heather Cox Richardson is the author of Letters from an American, a newsletter that now reaches five million readers on Substack and Facebook. She’s a professor at Boston College who has become one of the few trusted, grounded guides to our chaotic political era. She joins us this morning. Welcome back, Heather.
Heather Cox Richardson: Such a pleasure to be here.
Alexis Madrigal: We all know what happened this weekend: a federal agent shot and killed Alex Pretti. How are you processing what happened?
Heather Cox Richardson: First of all, I think it’s significant that you said all of us know. In a country where many people don’t closely follow the news or events outside their immediate communities, the fact that this killing—like Renee Goode’s—has broken through is a big deal.
Second, like everyone else, I’m processing this moment in real time as details emerge. It’s very clear that we are in a moment of choosing, where people must decide whether they stand with the Constitution and democracy or with the Trump administration’s attempts to move the country toward autocracy.
You can almost see the dominoes falling minute by minute. I don’t have special information about how this will turn out. Like everyone else, I’m watching the pieces fall into place.
Alexis Madrigal: Is there a period in American history that feels analogous to what’s happening in Minneapolis, or does this feel new?
Heather Cox Richardson: There are always historical echoes. One obvious comparison is the 1850s, when the Democratic and Whig parties fell apart after elite Southern enslavers successfully captured the federal government and pushed to nationalize enslavement. That moment led to the rise of the Republican Party, which united people who disagreed on many issues but agreed they did not want to lose democracy.
Another moment that feels relevant is the late 1870s, when former Confederates took over the Democratic Party and attempted to shut down the federal government by starving it of resources. They believed they were poised for total political victory. Instead, they overreached, alienated the public, and lost support. That shift led to major political realignments—from Grover Cleveland to progressive reform movements to FDR and the New Deal.
We don’t know where this moment will lead, but the apparent fracturing of the Republican Party over the killings in Minneapolis has historical parallels and the potential to move the country in a new direction.
Alexis Madrigal: The short-run dominoes and the long-run dominoes both in play.
Let’s turn to ICE’s presence in Minneapolis. Where do you place this within the Trump administration’s broader political project?
Heather Cox Richardson: You have to be careful when you talk about “the Trump administration,” because it contains multiple factions with different agendas.
Russell Vought at the Office of Management and Budget, for example, is interested in dismantling the federal government and creating a theocratic state. In the White House, Stephen Miller, working closely with Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski, is pursuing a white nationalist project aimed at erasing people of color from the United States. That ideology draws on the idea that immigration is an “invasion” and that multiculturalism is a threat.
Then you have Trump himself and those around him, whose focus appears to be unprecedented corruption—less about building a traditional oligarchy and more about enriching the Trump family directly.
All of these factions are working together right now. To accomplish their goals, they needed to move quickly to capture institutions that could preserve democracy. From where I sit, they’ve done immense damage—but not fast enough. The public appears to be waking up.
Historically, this feels a bit like the Battle of the Bulge in World War II: not about spectacular victories, but about slowing an authoritarian project until it collapses under its own weight.
Alexis Madrigal: When we look at civil resistance movements in U.S. history, what distinguishes those that succeed from those that fade more quickly?
Heather Cox Richardson: Community. What stands against authoritarianism is people supporting each other—families, neighbors, mutual aid. You can see that happening in Minnesota right now.
People often say, “I’m just one person, what can I do?” But one person showed up with sticks and a staple gun so people could make protest signs on the spot. That’s how movements work—decentralized, communal, practical.
It’s also an ideological project: the belief that we are all equal, that we protect each other, and that we deserve a say in how we are governed. That is literally what the Constitution says. If a government loses the support of “We the People,” it loses legitimacy.
Nonviolence is crucial, and so is participation. Americans appear to be choosing to step up for their neighbors—and that is extraordinarily difficult for a small authoritarian force to overcome.
Alexis Madrigal: American cities are large, dense, full of civil society networks. Even with increased ICE funding, it seems hard to scale this kind of operation everywhere.
Heather Cox Richardson: Absolutely. That’s why they’ve also moved into smaller cities—like Portland, Maine, and Lewiston-Auburn, which together have about 100,000 people.
This is about “shock and awe.” It’s a performance meant to demonstrate power. But in reality, the federal apparatus isn’t that powerful compared with 340 million Americans who don’t want to live in a police state.
It’s a dangerous administration, but also a theatrical one—trying to look omnipotent when it isn’t.
Alexis Madrigal: We’re talking with historian Heather Cox Richardson, author of Letters from an American and professor of political history at Boston College.
We want to hear from you. What are your questions for Heather Cox Richardson? Call us at 866-733-6786 or email forum@kqed.org.
I’m Alexis Madrigal. Stay tuned.