Alexis Coe

Consulting Producer, The History Channel and Freelance Writer at Freelance

Presidential historian. Senior fellow @newamerica. NYT bestselling author of Young Jack (2025), You Never Forget Your First (2020), Alice+Freda Forever (2014).

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Articles

Oval & Out

2 weeks ago | alexiscoe.substack.com | Alexis Coe

“The four most miserable years of my life.”–John Quincy Adam4.14: Rhinebeck, NY. Upstate Films. Moderating a discussion on "Free for All: The Public Library."4.29: Washington, D.C. USC in D.C. Panelist with moderator Chuck Todd. Details to come. In Newsweek, I outline Trump’s disturbingly plausible path to a third term: with Republican dominance in Congress and state legislatures, the constitutional "methods" to eliminate the 22nd Amendment could easily become reality.
When A President Knew Diversity Was a Superpower

3 weeks ago | harpersbazaar.com | Alexis Coe

"Oh, I think someone is playing with me," Gerri Whittington cooed into the phone after the caller identified himself as "the president." In 1963, Whittington's skepticism was well-founded. The nation writhed in Jim Crow's iron grip, its laws etching the violent subjugation of Black Americans into every facet of life—and the White House no exception. Whittington had met President Lyndon B.
When A President Knew Diversity Was a Superpower

3 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Alexis Coe

"Oh, I think someone is playing with me," Gerri Whittington cooed into the phone after the caller identified himself as "the president." In 1963, Whittington's skepticism was well-founded. The nation writhed in Jim Crow's iron grip, its laws etching the violent subjugation of Black Americans into every facet of life—and the White House no exception. Whittington had met President Lyndon B.
There's No Conspiracy-Just a Deeply Insecure Man Leveraging Distraction

1 month ago | alexiscoe.substack.com | Alexis Coe

Des Moines, I’m coming for you!In Rolling Stone, I wrote about Trump’s attempts to commandeer JFK’s legacy as nothing more than political theater aimed that has little to do with historical curiosity. Trump, fueled by envy, seeks to distract and rewrite the narrative of American greatness, transforming Kennedy’s narrative into mere footnotes. Harriet Beecher Stowe's abolitionist novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," was published on March 20, 1852. It sold 300,000 copies in just three months.
Trump Fixates on JFK's Death While Dismantling His Political Legacy

1 month ago | rollingstone.com | Alexis Coe

March 20, 2025 CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images As I began mining the 80,000 pages of newly released, previously classified Kennedy assassination records, Jack Schlossberg, JFK‘s only grandson, offered a piercing observation on X: “President Trump is obsessed with my grandfather — but not in his life or what he achieved in it. He’s only interested in his carcass.” “Obsession” may not be the right word, but “fixation,” “priority,” and most certainly, “distraction,” are more than fair. Trump has...
Trump Fixates on JFK’s Death While Dismantling His Political Legacy

1 month ago | yahoo.com | Alexis Coe

Credit: CBS Photo Archive/Getty ImagesAs I began mining the 80,000 pages of newly released, previously classified Kennedy assassination records, Jack Schlossberg, JFK’s only grandson, offered a piercing observation on X: “President Trump is obsessed with my grandfather — but not in his life or what he achieved in it. He’s only interested in his carcass.”“Obsession” may not be the right word, but “fixation,” “priority,” and most certainly, “distraction,” are more than fair.
A Dollar & a Dream: Mary McLeod Bethune

1 month ago | alexiscoe.substack.com | Alexis Coe

UPCOMING EVENTSMarch 22, 12pm, keynote at the Des Moines, Iowa Book Fair. ICYMIFor MSNBC, I wrote an op-ed on Trump's dual assault on American history and the Kennedy legacy. USAID, the Kennedy Center, and even RFK Jr.—it’s all a brazen effort to steal and distort the Kennedy name. In American history, two figures stand in stark relief: Mary McLeod Bethune and Donald Trump. Bethune, with calloused hands and an iron will, wove bridges of opportunity across the chasms of racial divide.
JFK Library closure was a cruel déjà vu of Trump’s past mismanagement

2 months ago | businessandamerica.com | Alexis Coe

In a scene straight out of a dystopian novel, the president of the United States, who campaigned on the promise of being “dictator on day one,” flexed his executive muscle and caused stunned visitors — including schoolchildren, researchers and history buffs who had traveled great distances — to be unceremoniously ushered out of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston on Tuesday. The sudden dismissal of federal employees at the JFK Library forced the museum to close today.
Opinion | Trump remains haunted by the specter of a predecessor he can never eclipse

2 months ago | yahoo.com | Alexis Coe

In a scene straight out of a dystopian novel, the president of the United States, who campaigned on the promise of being “dictator on day one,” flexed his executive muscle and caused stunned visitors — including schoolchildren, researchers and history buffs who had traveled great distances — to be unceremoniously ushered out of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston on Tuesday.
Opinion | Trump remains haunted by the specter of a predecessor he can never eclipse

2 months ago | msnbc.com | Alexis Coe

In a scene straight out of a dystopian novel, the president of the United States, who campaigned on the promise of being “dictator on day one,” flexed his executive muscle and caused stunned visitors — including schoolchildren, researchers and history buffs who had traveled great distances — to be unceremoniously ushered out of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston on Tuesday.