Joe Biden and the VP’s dilemma

Plus: Beyoncé and the Mueller Report |

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. SUBSCRIBE to TIME Magazine April 25, 2019 By Lily Rothman After much anticipation, Joe Biden declared on Thursday that his hat is in the ring for the presidency in 2020. We used the occasion to look back at the history of Vice Presidents who have tried to make that leap in the past. As scholar Joel K. Goldstein told TIME's Olivia B. Waxman, the vice presidency can be a great stepping stone to the top job in the country, but it's hardly a guarantee. In fact, Richard Nixon has so far been the only former VP ever to have successfully made the move Biden is attempting, having won the presidency after time away from the White House. Click here to read more about what this history might mean for Biden. Here's more of the history that made news this week: HISTORY ON TIME.COM How the Colleges Beyoncé Honors in Homecoming Made History As Jim Crow took hold and codified second-class citizenship via law and custom, it became clear just how crucial Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) would be Meet 'Mr. Earth Day,' the Man Who Helped Organize the Holiday An organizer of the first Earth Day explains the real reason Earth Day is April 22, how it got its name and where it's going next What Was the Biggest Political Scandal in American History? Seven historians make their picks There's a Real-Life Inspiration for GoT's Valyrian Steel Here's how its long-lost secrets were revealed What a Watergate Expert Thinks of the Mueller Report Robert Mueller's full report represents a major moment in the history of special counsels in the U.S. — but none looms as large as Watergate FROM THE TIME VAULT Today in 1960: LBJ “Above and beyond the clattering typewriters, the telephone calls and his other business-as-usual, there was one momentous personal problem running through Lyndon Johnson's calculating-machine brain. When he arrived in Texas, he told his closest friends and well-wishers that some time during his vacation he would make a final decision on the question of running for the presidency.” (April 25, 1960) Read the full story 70 Years Ago: U.S. Communists “The U.S. Communist Party, born in 1919, was a rachitic child dropped on the U.S. doorstep by the Russian Revolution. The U.S., historically crowded with rebels and reformers—vegetarians, Fletcherizers, yogi followers and deep-breathers; Know-Nothings, Single-Taxers, Abolitionists and seekers after Utopias; Tom Paines, John Browns, W. J. Bryans and Gene Debses—always had room for one more heresy, even a foundling of communism. The infant was not big... But what it lacked in size, it made up for in lung power. Its piercing Marxist cry—that capitalism was robbing the worker of the wealth which he alone created—burned into the souls of some Americans like a hot skewer.” (April 25, 1949) Read the full story This Week in 1963: Richard Burton “On the half-acre billboard above Manhattan's Times Square, there are no names. There is no title. There is no need for one, for the billboard is instantly recognizable as 20th Century-Fox's proclamation of its $40 million movie Cleopatra, by far the most expensive picture ever made, which opens a few weeks hence. Nor do the two lovers need an introduction. The tabloids have taken care of that. There is some difference in the familiarity of the two faces. Hers is widely recognizable. His is not. But it would be hard to find anyone who could not identify that Roman. He is Richard Burton as Mark Antony. In the short space of a year or so, his name has become about as well-known as a name can be.” (April 26, 1963) Read the full story HIGHLIGHTS FROM AROUND THE WEB Monumental How should someone who made history be remembered? Jillian Steinhauer at the New York Times looks one possible answer by diving into the design for a planned Shirley Chisholm monument in New York City. What’s in a Name And speaking of modes of remembrance, Minnesota’s KSTP news reports on a controversy brewing over a change to the wording of a sign at Historic Fort Snelling. Best Dressed For GQ, Eamon Levesque introduces readers to “Gentleman Jim,” a 75-year-old tailor whose YouTube videos offer a window into Harlem’s fashion history. A Shot in the Arm As health officials confront a need to enforce mandatory measles vaccination in New York City, Linda Poon at CityLab looks at the history and consequences of such policies. Ars Longa Artnet News has this fascinating excerpt from historian Wu Hung’s Mellon Lectures, about the surprising relationship between Chinese art history and Western Enlightenment ideas. To Unsubscribe Unsubscribe here if you do not want to receive this newsletter. Update Email Click here to update your email address. Privacy Policy Please read our Privacy Policy. TIME may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. For Further Communication Please email history@time.com TIME USA, LLC 225 Liberty Street New York, NY 10128 Connect with TIME Find TIME on Facebook Follow TIME on Twitter Subscribe to more TIME Newsletters Get TIME on your Mobile Device Get TIME on your iPad Subscribe to RSS Feed