Letters from an American

November 8, 2026Trump's posts suggest that any plans to investigate the administration are crimes, Congressional Democrats are hiring former career prosecutors to join the investigative staffs of committees, After the Civil War, General Ulysses S. Grant allowed Confederate soldiers to go home, a humanitarian gesture that was also practical, Northerners believed that it was the political leaders who should be punished, But President Andrew Johnson pardoned many those leaders, who would not face accountability for their attack on the US, They claimed Grant’s clemency was proof that the Confederate ideology was right all along, Racism and rebellion carried forward for more than a century, The same partisan reworking of history took place after Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon after Watergate, Nixon never accepted responsibility, saying “When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal,” During Ronald Reagan’s administration, the theory of the “unitary executive” took this further, It claimed that neither Congress nor the courts could check the president, While serving as head of the Office of Legal Counsel for President George H.W. Bush, William Barr, who later was the attorney general in Trump’s first administration, warned of “legislative encroachments” on the president’s authority, In Trump v United States, the Supreme Court ruled that "a president has absolute immunity from criminal prosecution" for actions deemed part of his official responsibilities, Now, with the prospect of investigations into behavior that might fall outside his official duties, Trump is arguing that enforcing the rule of law is a partisan attack, It is the opposite, and is the fundamental rule under which the American government was conceived. To read this letter, click here:Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyYou can also find Heather at:YouTubeBlueskyInstagramFacebookThreadsTikTok Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

November 7, 2026Senator-elect James Talarico of Texas gave a victory speech that recalled an era when Americans worked together to defend their country against those who would take its wealth and power for themselves, He leaned into his own religious faith, his history as a middle-school teacher and as the son of a single mother, telling the crowd that his life has taught him to always bet on the underdog, And in Texas against all odds, his movement took their power back, He said, “this win is for every underdog who’s been counted out and left behind…and for every Texan who’s ever wondered if anyone is listening.,” He went on to say that “the billionaires who  … own the politicians fighting on our screens … want us focused on how we’re different instead of on how we’re the same,” He continued, “… tonight we sent a crystal clear message to the people at the top. We will not be conquered,” Explaining how Democrats had won Texas, he said, “the world changes person to person, neighbor to neighbor,”  And he said, “We won this race because people who are desperate for change now are going to get change…. a new politics is being born through each of us,”  Talarico, who won his race by an astonishing 12 points, identified the threat that this new politics poses to establishment politics, especially MAGA, Trump highlighted his need for division and hatred, offering the job of White House press secretary to the CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, whom Trump described as a “violent fighter and warrior.”To read this letter, click here:Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyYou can also find Heather at:YouTubeBlueskyInstagramFacebookThreadsTikTok Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

November 6, 2026On Tuesday, Americans rejected the Trump administration,  They voted to end corruption, end Trump’s war on Iran, end costly tariffs, and end masked agents kidnapping Black and Brown people off the streets, They voted for a country based on the rule of law, and for the multicultural country mocked by Trump and his loyalists, Hispanic voters swung back toward the Democrats, Black voters turned out in unusually high nmbers, voting for Democrats at higher rates than in 2024, Trump initially appeared dazed by the rebuke, but he woke up, ousting Susie Wiles as chief of staff and replacing her with Stephen Miller, Miller, a fervent white nationalist, has been a powerful force in the White House, Miller hsa been central to undermining disability rights, Miller is also a supporter of Russia and its war against Ukraine, Elevating Miller signals that Trump doesn’t care what Americans want, and a warning to Repubicans to stay in line.To read this letter, click here:Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyYou can also find Heather at:YouTubeBlueskyInstagramFacebookThreadsTikTok Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

November 5, 2026House Democrats plan to shine a light on Trump’s corruption and renew American government to serve the common good, Rep. Jamie Raskin is the incoming chair of the House Judiciary Committee and he plans to use subpoenas and investigations to learn more about Trump’s coercion of law firms, about Todd Blanche’s refusal to produce documents required by the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and about the DOJ’s persecution of Trump’s perceived enemies, The House Oversight and Reform Committee will focus on the “Trump crime family,” as well as abuses of ICE, The House Finance Committee intends to dg into JP Morgan’s relationship with Epstein, The Democrats also plan to look into the finances behind Trump’s presidential library, Trump appears focused on his legacy, as he pushes to build the arch and takes steps to prevent future changes to the Oval office, MAGA is blaming the election results on the Iran war, but polls indicate that concerns about corruption were foremost for voters, Rep. Thomas Massie plans to force a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act when Congress returns next week, Massie also plans to force a vote to impeach Pete Hegseth, The election made it clear that Americans do not want more data centers, Tech firms lost billions of dollars in market value because of concerns about the industry, Voters in Montana approved a ballot initiative to stop the flow of corporate money into political campaigns, with more than 65% supporting the measure.To read this letter, click here:Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyYou can also find Heather at:YouTubeBlueskyInstagramFacebookThreadsTikTok Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

November 4, 2026Voters flipped control of both chambers of Congress from the Republicans to the Democrats, A Democratic victory in the House was expected, but in the Senate the outcome was unclear, In the Senate, Democrats flipped seven seats, and the race in Alaska has not been called yet, Even more eye-popping, in another uncalled race, Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colom is ahead of the Republican incumbent in Mississippi, If he wins he will be the first Black senator from Mississippi since Reconstruction, Democrats claimed governors’ seats in five states, and none will be hamstrung by a Republican supermajority in the state legislatures, Voters flipped seats up and down the ballot in states like Texas, Some races were won by 20 points, some as high as 40, The election came off without significant hitches, and the win was, as hoped, “too big to rig,”  The results were a rejection of the Republican ideology that has driven American politics since the 1980s, that some people are better than others and have the right to rule, This took hold in response to the push for equality for women and racial minorities, After sending Democrat Jimmy Carter to the White House in 1976, Americans elected Ronald Reagan who won by attacking the modern American state, Reagan tied racial and gender inequality to economic prosperity, That combination worked until Trump’s second term, The administration's policies have hurt regular Americans, and in the election those Americans came together across the lines the Republicans have exploited, The election is a historic rebuke of the Republican ideology, and the results will turn the focus to Americans’ needs, and on checking Trump and his administration, Trump is a lame duck and he has turned his attention to his DC projects, Meanwhile the Republicans who hope to follow him to the White House are trying to draw lines distinguishing themselves, But for now, Americans have moved on. To read this letter, click here:Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyYou can also find Heather at:YouTubeBlueskyInstagramFacebookThreadsTikTok Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe