![Circa 1905: Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), the 26th president of the United States (1901-09) sitting at his desk working [File: Hulton Archive/Getty Images]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/teddy-roosevelt.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
UNPACK THE PAST
Why does the US mythologise its former presidents?
No matter their shortcomings, former presidents have a way of still exerting influence. Will the same be true for Trump?
Features
![Protesters demonstrate against Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Tunis on January 14, 2011 [Zohra Bensemra/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/RTXWKHS.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
Ten years ago, Tunisia toppled its dictator, offering ‘a glimpse of hope that began to glow across an entire region’.
![Some 92 percent of people who would be displaced by the proposed expansion of the I-45 highway in Houston, Texas in the United States are from communities of colour [Courtesy: Jessica Wiggins/Al Jazeera]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/121506048_352498916167761_7026606957949264197_n.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
A proposed highway expansion in Houston, Texas threatens to disproportionately displace communities...
![Trump supporters gather outside the US Capitol building following a 'Stop the Steal' rally on January 6 in Washington, DC; a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol building earlier, breaking windows and clashing with police officers [Spencer Platt/Getty Images]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1294943389.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
The history of the US shows us that, when it comes to white supremacy, entertainment and violence go...
![Sanda Dia was 20 years old when he died as a result of a brutal, dehumanising hazing to join the elite KU Leuven fraternity Reuzegom in December 2018 [Photo courtesy of Sanda Dia's friends/sanda.dia on Instagram]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Images-courtesy-of-Sanda-Dia_s-friends_Instagram_-sanda.dia_.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Two years after Sanda Dia died, his family await justice and answers, while revelations point to racism.
![Sadyr Zhaparov, Kyrgyzstan's prime minister and a presidential candidate, attends an election rally in Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan, December 30, 2020 [Vladimir PirogovReuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2020-12-30T143316Z_101805846_RC2QXK9PJC0N_RTRMADP_3_KYRGYZSTAN-ELECTION.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Japarov, described as a populist, won a landslide with 79 percent of the vote. Months ago, he was languishing in jail.
![A Taiwan military honour guard performs during last year's annual recruiting fair in Taipei [File: David Chang/EPA]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/h_56481768.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Island is overhauling conscription as it tries to boost armed forces to face more assertive China.
![Chengeto Tapfuma, 59, boils water for tea outside the temporary shack she now shares with her four grandchildren. Their home in Budiriro 5, a suburb of Harare, was demolished by bulldozers in December after a court ruled that the residents had built their homes here illegally [Derick Matsengarwodzi/Al Jazeera]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1369.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Residents of a Harare suburb say they bought their plots legally 10 years ago, but now their homes have been flattened.
![Bidawadi, a Tongia woman, and her nephew Jaswant. Bidawadi has spent half her life working in the forest and has many tales to narrate of animal-human conflict that she has witnessed in her village, Sodhinagar [Devyani Nighoskar/Al Jazeera]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/1.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Treated like encroachers, a community in India fights for rights to the forest they built.
![Fatima says Vedanta should pay for the environmental and livelihood loss [Kunal Shankar/Al Jazeera]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_3097-1.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Vedanta was forced to shut a southern India plant in 2018, thanks to campaigning by teacher-turned activist Fatima Babu.
![Red flags on the graves indicate the person was killed for being a Shia [Sana Batool/Al Jazeera]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Image-4-graveyard.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
A graveyard in Pakistani city of Karachi where members of Shia community killed in targeted killings lay buried.
Misinformation and a history of health scandals have led to a powerful anti-vax movement.
![Sufra is a food bank in Brent, northwest London, which has seen demand rise sharply during the pandemic from both working and unemployed people [Eva Clifford/Al Jazeera]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/EMC_SUFRA_20.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
How a growing number of people from different walks of life are turning to food banks in the UK.
![Left: Asgarov pictured in prison, where he lost weight and alleges he was tortured. Right: Asgarov back at home with his son, Kurdoqlu, in Shamkir [Courtesy: Dilgam Asgarov]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ss.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Dilgam Asgarov, released from Armenian captivity after six years as part of a ceasefire deal, recounts ordeal.