The Atlantic

The President Is Not Superman

Democracies around the world are falling into leader-worship.
Source: Xavi Torrent / Getty

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America is facing an existential authoritarian threat from Donald Trump and the Republican Party in 2024, in part because voters have for too long thought of the presidency as an omnipotent throne.

First, here are four new stories from The Atlantic:


The Glare of Presidential Power

President Joe Biden is trying to run for reelection on a record of policy successes. In modern American politics, this is a nonstarter: Many Americans no longer tie policy successes or failures to individual politicians. Instead, they decide what they like or don’t like and then assign blame or credit based on whom they . Donald Trump understands this problem and exploits it. Whatever his other emotional and intellectual failings, he has always grasped that

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