Applied History Project

The mission of Harvard’s Applied History Project is to revitalize applied history by promoting the production and use of historical reasoning to clarify public and private challenges and choices. Founded by Professors Graham Allison and Niall Ferguson in 2016, the Applied History Project builds upon the foundation laid by Professors Ernest May and Richard Neustadt in the 1980s, reflected in their book Thinking in Time: The Uses of History for Decision Makers. 

Advancing its mission, the Project sponsors the Applied History Working Group of faculty members across Harvard University to organize discussions with scholars and practitioners; supports historians and policymakers in producing Applied History; develops courses in Applied History; funds the Ernest May Fellowships in History and Policy for pre- and post-doctoral students; and holds Applied History Events open to the Harvard Community and the public. Harvard’s project is one of the leaders among a rapidly expanding network of universities and think tanks that are furthering the discipline of Applied History by clarifying predicaments and choices to inform better decisions.

The Project gratefully acknowledges the Stanton Foundation's generous support for its Applied History endeavors. 

Quote of the Week 

“We ought not to look back, unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dear bought experience. To enveigh against things that are past and irremediable, is unpleasing; but to steer clear of the shelves and rocks we have struck upon, is the part of wisdom.” – George Washington, Letter to John Armstrong, New Windsor (1781) 

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Article of the Week 

"There Is a Model for Shackling Presidential Power" by Kate Shaw (Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania's Carey Law School) in The New York Times 

Modeled on the legislation that Congress passed in the 1970s after Nixon resigned, Shaw recommends policies that today's Congress should adopt to reign in executive power after Trump's term ends. For each area in which Congress must strengthen its oversight, Shaw writes, there is precedent: spending (1974), emergency declarations (1976), government ethics (1978), declarations of war (1973). In a departure from the post-Nixon era, Shaw argues, Congress must also reform the Supreme Court to prevent future presidents from bypassing Congress thanks to favorable Court rulings, as Trump has.