https://reluctant-citizen.unsigned.blog/tags/history/Recent content in History on Reluctant CitizenHugoen-USSat, 31 Oct 2026 11:40:00 -0400https://reluctant-citizen.unsigned.blog/ghosts-on-the-ballot-spoilers-look-alikes-and-the-two-dan-sullivans/Sat, 31 Oct 2026 11:40:00 -0400https://reluctant-citizen.unsigned.blog/ghosts-on-the-ballot-spoilers-look-alikes-and-the-two-dan-sullivans/In 2020 a Florida state Senate seat flipped by 32 votes after a paid ‘ghost’ candidate who shared the incumbent’s surname took more than 6,000. This Tuesday, Alaskans will see two Dan Sullivans on their Senate ballot. What history says about spoiler and look-alike candidates, who gets caught, what the law can and can’t do, and what is really going on in Alaska.https://reluctant-citizen.unsigned.blog/history-has-seen-this-before-trump-and-the-authoritarian-playbook/Sat, 31 Oct 2026 10:16:00 -0400https://reluctant-citizen.unsigned.blog/history-has-seen-this-before-trump-and-the-authoritarian-playbook/On August 25, 2025, in the Oval Office, the president of the United States responded to critics who called him a dictator. “A lot of people are saying maybe we like a dictator,” Donald Trump said. “I don’t like a dictator. I’m not a dictator.” The next day, at a Cabinet meeting, he said it again: “So the line is that I’m a dictator, but I stop crime. So a lot of people say, ‘If that’s the case, I’d rather have a dictator.’ But I’m not a dictator.” Some of his Cabinet members laughed.