Sequels Bomb at the Ballot Box Too

From the desk of your friendly neighborhood presidential historian: Study Marry Kill is solely funded by paid subscribers. It costs less than that hardcover atop your ever-growing to-read pile. Dislike Substack? Cut out the middleman on Venmo or Zelle.

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ICYMI

Highlights from the farewell address tour include another great conversation with Erin Gloria Ryan at Crooked and learning about the ceasefire live with Steve Scully at POTUS.

Cleveland & Trump may share an unlikely comeback story but as I write for MSNBC, that's not necessarily good news for the GOP.

“Whether it's two hours or two hundred years later, I assure you, it’s not the same. There's no substitute for witnessing history unfold in real-time. I say this with the conviction of someone who has devoted her life to reconstructing it. You can scarcely fathom the fervor with which I parse every syllable, every moment of silence, and every leaden declaration—and I do so with the knowledge that it will never fully represent what happened.”

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ERA: ECHOES RESOUND AGAIN

“I would like to see a new beginning. I’d like it to start over.” —Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 2020

On Friday, President Biden declared the ERA "the law of the land," sending ripples through social media. As a historian, a woman, and an American, I consider the ERA's ratification a vital promise long deferred—but my heart sank at the spectacle. The emperor has no clothes—or at least, lacks an essential part of this equation: legal authority.

The congressionally mandated deadline to ratify the ERA expired over 40 years ago.

If Biden had included action items, it may have felt like a “a great day for women.” He could have prodded the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel to recalibrate its stance. He could have demanded that Dr. Colleen Shogan, the Archivist of the United States, certify it.

But again, constitutional amendments are creatures born not of rhetoric but of process. The Justice Department and the Archivist have consistently confirmed their belief that the ERA’s ratification deadline is long past.

Why now? In late 2024, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand went on a campaign to publicly pressure him into ratifying it. Gillibrand also went after Shogan, arguing that she could certify the ERA. In December, the archivist maintained she lacked the authority to do so:

“In 2020 and again in 2022, the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice affirmed that the ratification deadline established by Congress for the ERA is valid and enforceable. The OLC concluded that extending or removing the deadline requires new action by Congress or the courts. Court decisions at both the District and Circuit levels have affirmed that the ratification deadlines established by Congress for the ERA are valid. Therefore, the Archivist of the United States cannot legally publish the Equal Rights Amendment. As the leaders of the National Archives, we will abide by these legal precedents and support the constitutional framework in which we operate.”

Gillibrand dubbed Shogun’s response "unprecedented," but it wasn’t. Her strategy and Shogan’s rebuttal trace a well-trodden path.

For years, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney pressured David Ferriero, then Archivist of the United States, to certify it. Legal scholars at conservative and liberal institutions alike pointed out then, and now, that he could not.

Like Shogan, Ferriero cited the expired deadline with a touch of unyielding pragmatism. He echoed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's incisive advice from 2020: “I would like to see a new beginning. I’d like it to start over.” Both Ferriero and Ginsburg, attuned to history's mellifluous complexities, understood that the ERA's journey must be one of legal diligence.

Words alone cannot legislate justice. When politicians masquerade rallying cries as monumental strides, they risk public trust and amplify cynicism.

See you soonish! In the meantime, you can find me on Esty, Instagram, Bluesky, and Twitter. My books on Bookshop, Amazon, and your local bookstore or library. If you’d like me to sign or personalize my books, purchase copies from Oblong Books.