{"id":108489,"date":"2026-11-08T15:47:40","date_gmt":"2026-11-08T15:47:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/"},"modified":"2026-11-08T15:47:40","modified_gmt":"2026-11-08T15:47:40","slug":"jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/","title":{"rendered":"Jon Meacham on the midterms and America&#8217;s &#8220;better angels&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p><em>What does <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/midterms\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">Tuesday&#8217;s seismic election<\/a> say about America today? Perspective from Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Jon Meacham:<\/em><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p>In his long retirement in Independence, Missouri, Harry Truman spent a great deal of time musing about democracy and history. &#8220;The country,&#8221; he remarked, &#8220;has to awaken every now and then to the fact that the people are responsible for the government they get.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>This week an American electorate woke with a start, registering a protest of historic dimensions. From <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/maine-2026-senate-collins-jackson\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">Maine<\/a><\/span> to <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/kansas-2026-senate-hamilton-marshall\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">Kansas<\/a><\/span>, the Democratic Party upended years of assumptions about what was thought to be the most static of political landscapes, producing victories that reminded everyone \u2014 Democrat, Republican, and Independent \u2014 of the raw and resonant power of the ballot.<\/p>\n<p>Democracy is messy because we (you and I) are messy. The American Founders understood this. &#8220;If men were angels,&#8221; James Madison wrote, &#8220;no government would be necessary&#8221;\u2014 and given that men are so self-evidently un-angelic, the American government was designed to check our passions and balance our failings. <\/p>\n<div class=\"embed__float-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-left embed--size-small\" data-ads=\"{\" extrawordcount=\"\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/620x465\/9c1d19aa0baaad5f1fbaf27bcef7d85a\/vote-here-1280.jpg#\" alt=\"vote-here-1280.jpg \" height=\"465\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/620x465\/9c1d19aa0baaad5f1fbaf27bcef7d85a\/vote-here-1280.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1240x930\/51053b71b0d2b66acf3f90eea949c5d8\/vote-here-1280.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                CBS News<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>For a decade now, the issues of our own un-angelic moments have been profound: Is the United States a sustainable enterprise grounded in equality, dignity, fair play, and the rule of law? Are we a republic that respects elections that go the other way? Are we a country with politicians and partisans able to lose graciously, and win graciously?<\/p>\n<p>These questions transcend red and blue; they&#8217;re bigger than any policy debate or tax rate. And for the moment, the people have answered them affirmatively and definitively. The verdict has been accepted. The people have been heard. Democracy has prevailed.<\/p>\n<p>The Greeks were right: character is destiny \u2014 and destiny in Greek can also be translated as &#8220;fate.&#8221; And so, America&#8217;s fate depends on our dispositions of heart and of mind, on our capacity not to fear but to hope, on our willingness to heed not our worst instincts, but the better angels of our nature.<\/p>\n<p>This much is clear: Those better angels had a good week, because democracy had a good week. No matter your party, that&#8217;s good for America, and Americans.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<br \/>Story produced by Robert Marston. Editor: Jason Schmidt.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><strong>For more info:<\/strong><\/p>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n<\/section>\n<p>  <!-- data-recirc-source=\"chartbeat\" --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"component list recirculation component--type-recirculation  component--type-recirculation-collection\">\n<div class=\"component__heading-wrapper recirc\">\n<h3 class=\"component__title\">2026 Midterm Elections<br \/>\n                          <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/feature\/2026-midterm-elections\/?intcid=CNI-00-10aaa3a\" class=\"component__view-more component__view-more--lg\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\"><br \/>\n                More<br \/>\n                <svg viewbox=\"0 0 32 32\" class=\"icon__caret-right\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n                  <use xlink:href=\"#icon-caret-down\"\/>\n                <\/svg><br \/>\n              <\/a><br \/>\n                      <\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"component__item-recirc-block\">\n<p><h3 class=\"component__title\">Go deeper with The Free Press<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n      <!-- tags --><br \/>\n    <\/section>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What does Tuesday&#8217;s seismic election say about America today? Perspective from Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Jon Meacham: In his<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":108490,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Jon Meacham on the midterms and America&#039;s &quot;better angels&quot; - World News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In last week&#039;s historic elections, voters were asked to weigh in on whether our nation will maintain the ideals of equality, dignity, fair play, and the rule of law; historian Jon Meacham says that Americans overwhelmingly answered, and democracy prevailed.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jon Meacham on the midterms and America&#039;s &quot;better angels&quot; - World News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In last week&#039;s historic elections, voters were asked to weigh in on whether our nation will maintain the ideals of equality, dignity, fair play, and the rule of law; historian Jon Meacham says that Americans overwhelmingly answered, and democracy prevailed.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-11-08T15:47:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg\" \/><meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"998\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"News\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#\/schema\/person\/1d8ae7348e048cb7984f26b4dd818ff2\"},\"headline\":\"Jon Meacham on the midterms and America&#8217;s &#8220;better angels&#8221;\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-11-08T15:47:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-11-08T15:47:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/\"},\"wordCount\":382,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,630&ssl=1\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/\",\"name\":\"Jon Meacham on the midterms and America's \\\"better angels\\\" - World News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,630&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-11-08T15:47:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-11-08T15:47:40+00:00\",\"description\":\"In last week's historic elections, voters were asked to weigh in on whether our nation will maintain the ideals of equality, dignity, fair play, and the rule of law; historian Jon Meacham says that Americans overwhelmingly answered, and democracy prevailed.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,630&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,630&ssl=1\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Jon Meacham on the midterms and America&#8217;s &#8220;better angels&#8221;\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/\",\"name\":\"World News\",\"description\":\"World News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#organization\",\"name\":\"World News\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2025\/01\/cropped-download.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2025\/01\/cropped-download.png\",\"width\":581,\"height\":581,\"caption\":\"World News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#\/schema\/person\/1d8ae7348e048cb7984f26b4dd818ff2\",\"name\":\"News\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Jon Meacham on the midterms and America's \"better angels\" - World News","description":"In last week's historic elections, voters were asked to weigh in on whether our nation will maintain the ideals of equality, dignity, fair play, and the rule of law; historian Jon Meacham says that Americans overwhelmingly answered, and democracy prevailed.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Jon Meacham on the midterms and America's \"better angels\" - World News","og_description":"In last week's historic elections, voters were asked to weigh in on whether our nation will maintain the ideals of equality, dignity, fair play, and the rule of law; historian Jon Meacham says that Americans overwhelmingly answered, and democracy prevailed.","og_url":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/","og_site_name":"World News","article_published_time":"2026-11-08T15:47:40+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""},{"url":"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg","width":1920,"height":998,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"News","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/"},"author":{"name":"News","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#\/schema\/person\/1d8ae7348e048cb7984f26b4dd818ff2"},"headline":"Jon Meacham on the midterms and America&#8217;s &#8220;better angels&#8221;","datePublished":"2026-11-08T15:47:40+00:00","dateModified":"2026-11-08T15:47:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/"},"wordCount":382,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,630&ssl=1","articleSection":["Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/","url":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/","name":"Jon Meacham on the midterms and America's \"better angels\" - World News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,630&ssl=1","datePublished":"2026-11-08T15:47:40+00:00","dateModified":"2026-11-08T15:47:40+00:00","description":"In last week's historic elections, voters were asked to weigh in on whether our nation will maintain the ideals of equality, dignity, fair play, and the rule of law; historian Jon Meacham says that Americans overwhelmingly answered, and democracy prevailed.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,630&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,630&ssl=1","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/jon-meacham-on-the-midterms-and-americas-better-angels\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Jon Meacham on the midterms and America&#8217;s &#8220;better angels&#8221;"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/","name":"World News","description":"World News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#organization","name":"World News","url":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2025\/01\/cropped-download.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2025\/01\/cropped-download.png","width":581,"height":581,"caption":"World News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#\/schema\/person\/1d8ae7348e048cb7984f26b4dd818ff2","name":"News","url":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=150&resize=150,150&ssl=1","medium":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=300&resize=300,300&ssl=1","medium_large":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=768&resize=768,0&ssl=1","large":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=1024&resize=1024,1024&ssl=1","1536x1536":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=1536&resize=1536,1536&ssl=1","2048x2048":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=2048&resize=2048,2048&ssl=1","colormag-highlighted-post":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=392&resize=392,272&ssl=1","colormag-featured-post-medium":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=390&resize=390,205&ssl=1","colormag-featured-post-small":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=130&resize=130,90&ssl=1","colormag-featured-image":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=800&resize=800,445&ssl=1","colormag-default-news":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=150&resize=150,150&ssl=1","colormag-featured-image-large":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=1400&resize=1400,600&ssl=1","colormag-elementor-block-extra-large-thumbnail":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=1155&resize=1155,480&ssl=1","colormag-elementor-grid-large-thumbnail":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=600&resize=600,417&ssl=1","colormag-elementor-grid-small-thumbnail":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=285&resize=285,450&ssl=1","colormag-elementor-grid-medium-large-thumbnail":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=575&resize=575,198&ssl=1"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"News","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e85cf08852547781a5f631f3713dbb5197ed4b54e32ae19c7d5769b8c8504897?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":false,"magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"What does Tuesday&#8217;s seismic election say about America today? Perspective from Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Jon Meacham: In his","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["Politics"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":2,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":2,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,630&ssl=1",1200,630,false],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=300&resize=300,300&ssl=1",300,300,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/11\/08\/82d572f8-e055-4c1f-a8ff-36ffc3ad9207\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/7e3122629c4636d4ac3802cb30b3e742\/vote-here-1280.jpg?w=150&resize=150,150&ssl=1",150,150,false]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"News","author_link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/author\/admin\/"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e85cf08852547781a5f631f3713dbb5197ed4b54e32ae19c7d5769b8c8504897?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"<a href=\"#\" class=\"category-link category-link-34\">Politics<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}