39: Julian Zelizer and Thomas Patterson on the Modern History of the GOP

<p>Much of the blame for the sad state of affairs the United States is facing gets heaped at the feet of Donald J. Trump. But while a fair amount of guilt should be borne by his contemporary enablers, there has also been a clear path over the last 50 years that has led the Republican party towards the existential darkness the president is now dragging them into. Bradlee Professor of Government &amp; the Press at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government <a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/thomaspatterson/home">Thomas Patterson</a> and <a href="https://history.princeton.edu/people/julian-e-zelizer">Julian Zelizer</a>, the Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton School of Public &amp; International Affairs, pinpoint the key players in this grand decline, including Nixon, Cohn, Reagan and Gingrich. </p>