The Atlantic has endorsed a presidential candidate 3 times: in 1860, 1964—and today, in 2016.

The Atlantic made its first ever presidential endorsement in 1860—for Abraham Lincoln, to support the abolition of slavery.

And it would be 104 years before they endorsed another candidate. Barry Goldwater, they believed, “would rupture a fundamental belief that has existed from Abraham Lincoln.”

Today, 52 years later, The Atlantic spoke out once again to endorse a presidential candidate for the sake of the democracy: Hillary Clinton.

“[Donald Trump] might be the most ostentatiously unqualified major-party candidate in the 227-year history of the American presidency,” they wrote.

Here’s what else the magazine had to say about this historic race:

This election, democracy is on the line:

“We believe in American democracy, in which individuals from various parties of different ideological stripes can advance their ideas and compete for the affection of voters. But Trump is not a man of ideas. He is a demagogue, a xenophobe, a sexist, a know-nothing, and a liar. He is spectacularly unfit for office, and voters—the statesmen and thinkers of the ballot box—should act in defense of American democracy and elect his opponent.”

Hillary is the only one prepared for the job:

“[Hillary] is among the most prepared candidates ever to seek the presidency. We are confident that she understands the role of the United States in the world; we have no doubt that she will apply herself assiduously to the problems confronting this country; and she has demonstrated an aptitude for analysis and hard work.”

Trump’s temperament is uniquely dangerous—and he lacks the qualifications necessary to be president:

“Trump, on the other hand, has no record of public service and no qualifications for public office. His affect is that of an infomercial huckster; he traffics in conspiracy theories and racist invective; he is appallingly sexist; he is erratic, secretive, and xenophobic; he expresses admiration for authoritarian rulers, and evinces authoritarian tendencies himself. He is easily goaded, a poor quality for someone seeking control of America’s nuclear arsenal. He is an enemy of fact-based disclosure; he is ignorant of, and indifferent to, the Constitution; he appears not to read.”

Trump has stoked racial resentment:

“Trump disqualified himself from public service long before he declared his presidential candidacy. In one of the more sordid episodes in modern American politics, Trump made himself the face of the so-called birther movement, which had as its immediate goal the demonization of the country’s first African American president. Trump’s larger goal, it seemed, was to stoke fear among white Americans of dark-skinned foreigners. He succeeded wildly in this; the fear he has aroused has brought him one step away from the presidency.”
As this historic endorsement makes clear: This is not a normal election.

It’s up to us to prevent this unique threat to American democracy from getting anywhere close to the Oval Office. We only have 34 days left to do it: