Wednesday, September 02, 2026
|
|
|
|
We’re coming upon a pivotal election season, but it’s not the first time our country has faced such a crossroads. As such, Esquire columnist Charles P. Pierce took it upon himself to select and reflect upon the five most impactful midterms in American history. Think you know which ones he chose? Check out the story below to find out. We encourage you to debate in the comments, too. —Chris Hatler, deputy editor
|
|
|
|
Everyone’s talking about potentially historic midterm elections this November. Let’s see what history has to say about that.
|
Midterm elections are strange and powerful beasts. Every couple of years, we get to legally overthrow our government by electing the entire House of Representatives and a third of the Senate. This can—and often does—change the nature of our nation.
Although midterms affected only the House of Representatives until 1913, when the adoption of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution called for the direct election of senators, they’ve often acted as a healthy check on presidential power. Only Franklin Roosevelt and George W. Bush gained seats in both houses of Congress during a midterm, and only seven times has an incumbent president’s party gained seats in either house.
A number of midterms were important pivot points in history. Some were acts of contrition, attempts at redemption. Others were nationwide circuses, vehicles of mass entertainment. They can exacerbate into terminal the historical illness known as the Second Term Plague, whereby for one reason or another the American public gets bored with the president it elected twice and, knowingly or unknowingly, begins to rid itself of him. This infirmity has overwhelmed the current president, even though his first and second terms were separated by four years and even though his second term has been everything but boring.
|
|
|
|
I'm a uniform dresser. That’s my life. I used to fight it because I didn’t want to concede to dressing like every other kid in my Georgia town. But growing up for me was realizing there’s nothing wrong with regressing, nothing wrong with dressing like your dad. Just because I wear the same boots, same jeans, same polo every day doesn’t mean I’m adopting a Steve Jobs 100 of the same black turtleneck asceticism, nor does it mean I look like I’m on the SEC fraternity guy to Sea Island dad pipeline. Instead, it means that I’ve developed blind loyalty for the brands that fit said uniform.
The cowboy boots are Lucchese. The jeans are Wrangler. The jean jacket is RRL. The polos are Lacoste. But the polos found a challenger when Hanover came across my desk. The brand’s raison d’être—to “make everyday essentials ... produced in Los Angeles with nothing priced over $300”—piqued my interest. But what got me really interested was seeing that the piqué polo is only $110, exactly on par with the two big-name brands with recognizable horse or crocodile left chest logos. And once I held the shirt, wore it, I was sold.
|
|
|
|
Yes, Adam Scott knows the ending of Severance. No, you’re not going to get it out of him. In a new episode of What I’ve Learned, Esquire editor-in-chief Michael Sebastian learns that the film and TV star, whose career spans over thirty years, knows exactly how the Apple TV hit series will end.
But Scott is more than happy to open up about his other work. After breaking out in a supporting role in the 2008 comedy Step Brothers, he has enjoyed a constant presence across TV. His résumé includes shows like the cult favorite Party Down and the network hit Parks & Recreation, and films like Friends with Kids, Hokum, and the new Netflix movie The Whisper Man with Robert De Niro. He’s also married now with kids, and got to be one of the thousands in attendance at Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding in Madison Square Garden.
When Sebastian asks him if a version of the beloved Parks & Recreation could exist in today’s political climate, Scott says it’s unlikely. “I don't know if that's possible in this era,” Scott notes. “I feel like anyone in their right mind making a show about government in the Trump era—I don’t know if it could be reflective at all of today’s world and be as optimistic as Parks was. Unless it’s a period piece.”
|
|
|
|
|
