Russia and the history of political rebellions

Plus: unsung American founders and the better day to celebrate America's independence |

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By Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer From June 23-24, Russian President Vladimir Putin managed to fend off the Wagner group rebellion led by a private military company—the biggest test of his leadership in more than two decades in office. Senior Correspondent Phil Elliott puts the revolt in historical context, comparing it to the revolts like the ones that Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher survived in the early 1990s. But Elliott argues Putin is still in a position of strength, writing: “The power of incumbency is one that has few rivals. Being commander in chief of Russia’s military complex—and the world’s largest reserve of nuclear weapons—comes with an advantage. And the open secret is that it may not be in the West’s interest to have Putin ousted.” Click here to read the full story.

HISTORY ON TIME.COM Why We’ve Gotten ‘Custer’s Last Stand’ Wrong for Nearly 150 Years By Olivia B. Waxman Why we've gotten 'Custer's Last Stand' wrong for 150 years. Read More » 'What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?' By Olivia B. Waxman Pulitzer-winning Frederick Douglass biographer David Blight explains what to know about Douglass' famous speech, and why its message still endures Read More » Sorry, Fourth of July. There May Be a Better Day to Celebrate By Olivia B. Waxman Historians weigh in on other dates in early American history worth celebrating in honor of the nation's independence Read More » Beyond the Founding Fathers: 12 Unsung Figures Who Helped Build America By Olivia B. Waxman From the brain behind the "We the People" clause in the U.S. Constitution, to a woman who risked her life holding loyalist soldiers prisoner during the Revolutionary War Read More » Lessons From America's First Camping Guide By Olivia B. Waxman The history of camping in the U.S. starts in the Adirondacks, with a guidebook that became an instant bestseller. Read More »

FROM THE TIME VAULT This week in 1978: Female athletes NEIL LEIFER “She is leading a revolution that is one of the most exciting and one of the most important in the history of sport...Spurred by the fitness craze, fired up by the feminist movement and buttressed by court rulings and legislative mandates, women have been moving from miniskirted cheerleading on the sidelines for the boys to playing, and playing hard, for themselves. Says Liz Murphey, coordinator of women's athletics at the University of Georgia: ‘The stigma is nearly erased. Sweating girls are becoming socially acceptable.’ Eight years ago, 294,000 high school girls participated in interscholastic sports. During the 1976-77 academic year, the number was 1.6 million, nearly a sixfold increase.” (June 26, 1978)   P.S. We have a new newsletter on the Women's World Cup. Sign up here. Read More » This week in 1986: William Rehnquist RICHARD HESS “William Hubbs Rehnquist will become the 16th Chief Justice of the United States…Reagan has made it clear that he wants to remake the federal judiciary in his own conservative image, not just on the high court but in the lower federal courts as well. Judicial appointments can be a President's most enduring legacy. Federal judges, appointed for life and removable only for ‘treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors,’ often serve long after a President's term expires. Future vacancies on the high court may offer Reagan a back-door means of achieving the New Right social agenda-- including permitting prayer in schools and banning abortion--that elected politicians in Congress have so far rebuffed.” (June 30, 1986) Read More » This week in 2004: Bill Clinton GREGORY HEISLER “For years Clinton has professed that fighting against impeachment was one of the triumphs of his Administration. He seems to have a dual purpose now: not just to discredit Starr but also to make the war against the ultraconservatives a significant part of his presidential legacy. He wants to be remembered for the Starr investigation. And so one of the more remarkable moments in our interview was when Clinton brought up his affair with Monica Lewinsky without our having to ask about it. Clearly he had fitted Lewinsky into his unified field theory of his life. ‘I think,’ he told us, ‘if people have unresolved anger, it makes them do nonrational, destructive things.’ The President insisted that was not an excuse, just an explanation.” (June 28, 2004) Read More »

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