Editor’s Note: Julian Zelizer, a CNN political analyst, is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. CNN —Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to charges that he conspired to subvert the 2020 presidential election. As Garrett Graff wrote in a New York Times op-ed, “the precedent Ford set seems to have paralyzed a half-century of prosecutors. But the calculus for the decision to charge Trump shouldn’t rest on the former president’s political fate. Rather, we need to take a long-term view and consider how we can better hold presidents – present and former – accountable.

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Persons: Julian Zelizer, Donald Trump, Stormy Daniels, Trump, Gerald Ford, preemptively, Richard Nixon, Nixon, Ford, —, ” Ford, ”, –, Ronald Reagan’s, George W, Bush, Garrett Graff, Jack Smith Organizations: CNN, Princeton University, New York Times, America, Twitter, Trump, Department of Justice, Congressional, Justice Department, Republican, GOP, Ford Locations: New York, Iran, Nicaragua, United States