Michele Bachmann: A Retrospective

Rep. Michele Bachmann, Republican of Minnesota, announced today she won’t seek re-election to Congress in 2014. Max Whittaker and I followed her quixotic run for president across Iowa in 2011, and she was a compelling subject. Have a look at what we saw in our archive.

Video: Pete Muller on covering the mass rape trials in Congo

Fresno for The New York Times

Last September, during a break in presidential campaign coverage, The New York Times sent me to Fresno, California to work on a story by Adam Liptak about the advantages small-population states have over larger ones due to Senate representation. Read more.

Texas Teachers Take Handgun Training

While in Austin two weeks ago, Education Week sent me on a rather interesting assignment: teachers training for their Concealed Handgun License in Clifton, Texas.

It’s hard for me to fathom any of my teachers carrying a concealed handgun in the classroom when I was in school. I suppose we live in a time when this is becoming a reality. Read more.

2013 Presidential Inauguration

A presidential inauguration is the epitome of choreographed political theater. Plenty of political theater is self-aggrandizing, but in this particular case, the theater serves a more important and humbling function, emphasizing the peaceful transition of power and respect for the democratic will of the American voter. It also serves to elevate the office of president above any individual who might hold that office.

Read more.