Jonathan Alter, columnist for Bloomberg View, analyst for NBC News and MSNBC and the author of The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies (Simon & Schuster, 2013), offers analysis of the news and looks back at the 2012 presidential election.

Fourth of July fireworks are over, but are the political ones just getting started?  Jonathan Alter, Bloomberg columnist, MSNBC analyst and the author of The Promise: President Obama, Year One, looks at the news in Washington.

→ Add Your Comments, Listen, and Read a Recap at It's A Free Country

David Leonhardt, writer of the "Economic Scene" column for the New York Times, breaks down the fiscal impact of President Obama's deficit reduction plan, and how it differs from the Paul Ryan proposal.

→ Listen, Read a Recap, and Add Your Comments at It's A Free Country

A budget showdown and questions about the US military response to unrest in Libya looms large this week. Jonathan Alter, correspondent for Newsweek and the author of The Promise: President Obama, Year One, previews the week in politics ahead.

→ Listen, Read a Recap and Join the Conversation at It's A Free Country

Next week, President Barack Obama will deliver his annual State of the Union address. We can expect to hear him lay out his roadmap for the next two years. Leading up to his address, we’re talking with some key political observers about the direction in which the president should and must move in his remaining time in office.

Jonathan Alter talks about the Arizona shootings and what this means for Washington. Alter is a correspondent for Newsweek, a columnist for Bloomberg News and The Daily Beast, an analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, and author of The Promise: President Obama, Year One (now in paperback).  He is joined by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY4).

→Read More and Join the Conversation at It's A Free Country

Jonathan Alter, Newsweek columnist, MSNBC contributor, and the author of The Promise: President Obama, Year One, and Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of The Nation, talk about the Obama agenda, the angry left and right, and the coming midterm elections.

Jonathan Alter, Newsweek columnist, MSNBC contributor, and the author of The Promise: President Obama, Year One, and Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of The Nation, talk about the Obama agenda, the angry left and right, and the coming midterm elections.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal meets with President Obama today, as the fallout from a Rolling Stone article remains front and center in Washington. In his article, journalist Michael Hastings (who was on The Takeaway yesterday) quotes the general and his aides making disparaging remarks about various administration officials, including Vice President Biden and the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan.

Shortly before noon today, General Stanley McChrystal will face President Obama in the White House over derisive comments made by him and his aides in a Rolling Stone profile. Rumor in the beltway this morning says the U.S.'s top commander in Afghanistan is prepared to tender his resignation. McChrystal's insubordination is hardly the first case of tension between him and the president. According to Newsweek columnist Jonathan Alter, there is a history of personal conflict between these two that dates back to at least last fall. That story and this morning's headlines.

Jonathan Alter, Newsweek columnist, MSNBC contributor, and the author of The Promise: President Obama, Year One, talks about President Obama's leadership through crisis.

Barack Obama decided on the night he won the presidency to make comprehensive health care legislation his first priority. Not all of his aides agreed. "I begged him not to do this," his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, later told Jonathan Alter for his book, "The Promise: President Obama, Year One."

Jonathan Alter, senior editor and columnist for Newsweek, offers analysis of the health care bill, and is joined by New Jersey Congressman Bill Pascrell.

It’s the first Tuesday in November, and voters in New Jersey, Virginia and cities across the country are headed to the polls. As the voting gets underway, we take a look back to this Tuesday one year ago, when Americans went to the polls and elected Barack Obama president.

Newsweek's Jonathan Alter offers his assessment of Obama's policy achievements and missteps since; and Takeaway contributor Patrik Henry Bass gives his take on how one year has changed things, as candidate-Obama became President-elect Obama.

Jonathan Alter, a senior editor and columnist for Newsweek magazine and the author of The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope talks about the latest political news - and Newsweek's recent redesign.

Jonathan Alter, a senior editor and columnist for Newsweek magazine, and the author of The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope, discusses Obama's first 100 days in office, a milestone made notable by FDR.

Today President Obama kicks off his Southern California tour. Using an old fashioned medium, he’ll be hearing from beleaguered Americans at a town hall meeting. Tomorrow night he’ll talk to the nation by way of Jay Leno. In a time of crisis is President Obama effectively modernizing FDR’s fireside chats? To assess if Obama is learning from FDR's example we’re joined by Jonathan Alter. He’s the senior editor at Newsweek and author of The Defining Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope.

Jonathan Alter, senior editor and columnist for Newsweek magazine, and the author of The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope, talks politics and Obama's big week.