Nation (U.S. magazine)

Nation (U.S. magazine)
Title	Nation
Frequency	Weekly
Category	Political magazine
Firstdate	1865
Country	United States
Based	New York City
Language	English

Nation (U.S. magazine) is an American weekly magazine covering politics, culture, and current affairs with a progressive editorial perspective. Founded in 1865, it is one of the longest-running periodicals in the United States, publishing commentary, investigative reporting, and criticism on international events and domestic policy. The magazine has engaged with major figures and movements from the Reconstruction era to the Civil Rights Movement, reflecting debates around presidents, courts, and international conflicts.

History

Founded in 1865 by Edwin Lawrence Godkin and Evert Augustus Duyckinck, the magazine emerged in the aftermath of the American Civil War and the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, positioning itself amid debates over Reconstruction, the Thirteenth Amendment, and the rise of the Gilded Age. Early coverage engaged with contemporaries such as Ulysses S. Grant, Andrew Johnson, and issues tied to the Freedmen's Bureau and the Ku Klux Klan. In the late 19th century, editors responded to industrial controversies involving figures like John D. Rockefeller and events such as the Haymarket affair. During the Progressive Era, the magazine intersected with personalities including Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and critics of Trusts and Monopolies.

In the 1930s and 1940s the publication addressed the Great Depression, the rise of Fascism in Italy and Germany, and debates around Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal. Coverage of World War II placed it among voices discussing the Allies, the Axis Powers, and the postwar order embodied by the United Nations and the Yalta Conference. During the Cold War, editors and writers debated figures such as Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and events like the Korean War and the Vietnam War. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the magazine engaged with the presidencies of Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump, addressing matters from the Watergate scandal to the Iraq War and the Great Recession.

Editorial stance and content

The magazine espouses a progressive, left-of-center editorial line, critiquing administrations, judicial decisions, and policy developments associated with figures such as Antonin Scalia and John Roberts while supporting movements linked to Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Regular sections have included investigative reporting on corporate practices tied to names like J.P. Morgan and ExxonMobil, cultural criticism engaging artists such as Langston Hughes, Toni Morrison, and Pablo Picasso, and foreign policy analysis referencing actors like Henry Kissinger, Soviet Union, NATO, Israel, and Palestine Liberation Organization. The magazine has featured book reviews of works by Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Hannah Arendt, and John Maynard Keynes, and commentary on legal decisions from the Supreme Court of the United States, including rulings related to the First Amendment and the Civil Rights Movement.

Editorial campaigns have supported labor causes connected to unions like the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations, environmental initiatives associated with activists such as Rachel Carson and institutions like the Environmental Protection Agency, and electoral critiques involving the Federal Election Commission and campaign finance debates symbolized by Citizens United v. FEC. Cultural coverage spans theater in Broadway, film festivals such as Sundance Film Festival, and visual arts at institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Contributors and notable writers

The magazine has published contributions from a wide array of writers, intellectuals, and activists. Early contributors included journalists and critics linked to the Harper's Magazine milieu and literary figures associated with the American Renaissance. Throughout the 20th century, contributors have included historians like Eric Foner, economists such as Paul Krugman, critics like Susan Sontag, novelists including James Baldwin, poets such as Langston Hughes, and public intellectuals like John Dewey. Other notable figures who have written for the magazine include Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, Gloria Steinem, Cornel West, Toni Morrison, Edward Said, Naomi Klein, Rebecca Solnit, Angela Davis, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Robert Reich, I.F. Stone, Christopher Hitchens, Joan Didion, W.E.B. Du Bois, Emma Goldman, Dorothy Parker, Aldous Huxley, E.B. White, H.L. Mencken, Arthur Miller, Richard Hofstadter, Stuart Hall, bell hooks, Michael Harrington, Ralph Nader, Wendell Berry, and Howard Jacobson.

The magazine's letters and editorial pages have featured exchanges involving politicians and scholars such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Eleanor Roosevelt, Susan B. Anthony, Milton Friedman, and Friedrich Hayek in debates over policy and ideology.

Circulation and influence

Circulation has varied across eras, with peaks during periods of social turmoil such as the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War protests, and the anti-globalization protests at Seattle WTO protests. The magazine has influenced policymakers, activists, and academics, informing debates at institutions like Columbia University, Harvard University, Princeton University, and think tanks such as the Brookings Institution and the Heritage Foundation through essays and investigative pieces. Readership includes members of political organizations like the Democratic Party, progressive caucuses, labor unions, and civil liberties groups like the American Civil Liberties Union.

Its reporting has been cited in congressional hearings, judicial briefs before the Supreme Court of the United States, and debates in the United States Congress, impacting discussions on legislation including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Affordable Care Act, and regulatory reforms linked to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Controversies and criticism

The magazine has faced controversies over editorial decisions, perceived ideological bias, and publishing choices involving figures such as Joseph McCarthy-era critics and Cold War dissidents. Critics from conservative outlets like National Review and The Weekly Standard have accused it of partisanship, while left-wing critics have sometimes faulted it for positions regarding Soviet Union policy or electoral strategy during campaigns involving George McGovern and Michael Dukakis.

Specific incidents have provoked debate, including disagreements over coverage of Israel and Palestine Liberation Organization relations, editorial endorsements during presidential elections, and publishing of contentious op-eds that drew responses from commentators at The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and journals like Foreign Affairs. Internal disputes among editors and staff have mirrored broader tensions seen at publications such as The New Republic and The Atlantic, especially during periods of realignment in the media industry and challenges posed by digital platforms like The Huffington Post and Slate.

Category:Magazines established in 1865