First Rough Drafts

A newsletter that revisits big events in history as they were covered at the time.

Journalism, the saying goes, is the first rough draft of history. If you’ve ever spent in time in old newspaper and magazine archives, you know that sometimes the first draft can be very rough indeed.

In this newsletter, I’ll look at big events in history as they were covered at the time. I’ll also look for moments from the past that I think shed light — sometimes a floodlight, sometimes a flickering candle — on what might be going on in our present.

I’m Jonathan Darman, a journalist turned historian who focuses on American politics and the presidency. I’ve covered what felt like HUGE events as they happened and I’ve written about genuinely huge events decades after the fact. Both have given me a healthy skepticism for talking heads who throw out the term “historic” when talking about the news of a given week. How do they know?

But in the archives, I’ve also experienced moments of true wonder, watching how people act when they are living through genuinely momentous events. Every so often, you get to see what happens when see people sense, without anything telling them, that their world is about to permanently change.

I hope to to share some of that skepticism, and some of that wonder, with readers of First Rough Drafts. Sign up now so you don’t miss the first issue.

In the meantime, tell your friends!