MICHAEL BESCHLOSS

Watergate and Jan. 6 are a half-century apart, in vastly different eras, and they were about different things.

President Joe Biden is under pressure to preserve access to abortion, but he has few good options to do it.

A president's State of the Union speech is normally crammed with new proposals.

The discovery of more than a dozen boxes of records at Mar-a-Lago has alarmed historians and archivists, who rely on government documents to eventually provide a more complete picture of every presidential administration.

President Joe Biden is hoping to turn the page after a summer of unrelenting crises and refocus his presidency around his core economic agenda.

After a summer of unrelenting crises, President Joe Biden is hoping to turn the page and refocus his presidency this fall around his core economic agenda.

President Joe Biden’s vision of his presidency is quickly taking shape.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden watch fireworks light up the sky from the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, in Washington. Both he, Harris and their spouses walked the last short part of the route to the White House after an abridged parade. At Biden's invitation, congressional leaders from both parties bowed their heads in prayer in the socially distanced service a few blocks from the White House. The Bidens ended their evening watching fireworks from a White House balcony. Trump did adhere to one tradition and left a personal note for Biden in the Oval Office.

“For all four years, this is someone who at every opportunity tried to stretch presidential power beyond the limits of the law,” said presidential historian Michael Beschloss. I think he’s done tremendous damage in the last several weeks.”Jeopardizing the peaceful transfer of power was hardly Trump's first assault on the traditions of the presidency. He rage tweeted at members of his own party and used government property for political purposes, including the White House as the backdrop for his renomination acceptance speech. Trump used National Guard troops to clear a largely peaceful protest across from the White House for a photo-op. He held superspreader events at the White House and contracted the virus himself.

FILE - In this Nov. 4, 1992, file photo, President George H.W. Bill Clinton won the 1992 president election. Most concessions are gracious — less about the loser and more about closure for the country. “Just moments ago I spoke with George W. Bush and congratulated him on becoming the 43rd president of the United States. President John Adams was glum, too.

WASHINGTON – It was at the same time shocking and utterly to be expected. And he had demanded in advance that the results be known on Election Day, which is never a given. Whether that dynamic will continue if fuller election results deliver the presidency to Biden is another key unanswered question. If the vote count goes against him, does he really want to be remembered as the president who burned down the building on his way out the door? ___EDITOR’S NOTE -- Nancy Benac is White House news editor and has covered government and politics for The Associated Press for four decades.

“I don’t look at this in terms of the way he does — blue states and red states,” Biden said. Turning to foreign policy, Biden accused Trump of dealing with a “thug” while holding summits with the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un. And closer to home, the former vice president laced into the Trump administration's policy of separating children from their parents trying to illegally cross the southern border. “He thinks he’s running against somebody else," the former vice president said. Biden declared the discussion about family entanglements “malarkey” and accused Trump of not wanting to talk about the substantive issues.

Mock debaters perform onstage as preparations take place for the second Presidential debate at Belmont University, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden are scheduled to debate Thursday, Oct. 22. Biden, who has stepped off the campaign trail in favor of debate prep, expects Trump to get intensely personal. The Biden campaign has rejected Trump’s assertion of wrongdoing and noted that Biden’s schedule did not show a meeting with the Burisma official. Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said, "Trump is still the political outsider, while Biden is the ultimate insider. ““The mute is very unfair,” he said Wednesday as he left the White House for a campaign rally.

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)WASHINGTON – “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” — President Franklin D. Roosevelt. ___In times of crisis — wars, hurricanes, pandemics — effective leaders strike a balance between inspirational rhetoric and leveling with the public about the tough times ahead. “In Trump’s case, he was saying it was not a dire situation, he was putting people off their guard,” Beschloss added. She cited public skepticism even after schools, sports, entertainment and other industries shut down to keep the virus at bay. Still, “you want people to be informed and to make decisions that are for individual safety and for public safety.