Ideas

A picture of Lincoln, beardless, beside a photo of Lincoln with his hand on a book
Illustration by The Atlantic*

The Degraded State of the Union

Presidential oratory once sought to elevate its audience, through high seriousness and artful rhetoric, but also by being high-minded and fair.

Neil Gorsuch raises his finger while speaking to an audience in front of a blue curtain
Apu Bomes / Getty

What Justice Gorsuch Fears

His concurring opinion in the tariffs case may become the Roberts Court’s most influential statement on how to prevent the steady accretion of executive power.