Heather Cox Richardson is a Professor of History at Boston College. She has written many award-winning books about American history, American politics, and the history of the Republican Party through the Trump administration. In her most recent book, Democracy Awakening, Cox Richardson offers an analysis of how America, historically seen as a “beacon of democracy” is now on the brink of autocracy—and what we can do about it. Cox Richardson’s daily newsletter, Letters from an American, is published on substack.