Polaroid Portraits: Capturing President Obama’s Second Inauguration

Photographer Tamir Kalifa captured some of the moments and thoughts of those who attended President Obama’s second inauguration on January 21, 2013. - View more photos at Smithsonian.com.

The Secret Plot to Kill Lincoln

During his inauguration tour in 1861, the president’s life was threatened in the city of Baltimore.

Ed note: Read an excerpt from Daniel Stashower’s book, “The Hour of Peril: The Secret Plot to Murder Lincoln Before the Civil War.

The Long History of Americans Debating Empty Chairs

As part of yesterday’s showings at the Republican National Convention, famed actor and director Clint Eastwood startled and amused viewers by mock-debating an empty chair, meant to represent President Obama.

Many who saw the scene thought it to be strange and bizarre, let alone unconventional, for a forum that is usually meticulously directed. Delegates on the convention floor, however, loved it.

But it turns out that the history of debating empty chairs is a rich one, stretching back to at least 1924 when Democratic vice-presidential nominee Burton K. Wheeler took a stab at an invisible President Calvin Coolidge. - Continue reading at Smithsonian.com.

Video: PBSNewsHour

Ed note: Here are the top 10 political conventions that mattered the most.

How a New Yorker Article Launched the First Shot in the War Against Poverty

Ostensibly a review of Michael Harrington’s book The Other America, which had all but disappeared since its publication in 1962, “Our Invisible Poor” took in a slew of other titles, along with a series of dreary economic reports, to demonstrate these facts: The poor are sicker than everyone else, but they have less health insurance; they have less money, but they pay more taxes; and they live where people with money seldom go. - Continue reading at Smithsonian.com.

Illustration: Colin Johnson

Ed note: How segregated are the rich and poor in America? Find out in our interactive map.