[Abridged] Presidential Histories
From Yorktown to the Civil War, Pearl Harbor to 9/11, discover the pivotal moments that defined each president's life and legacy and the lessons we can draw from them. New episodes available the 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month.
Episodes
116 episodes since 2020
40.A) Reaganomics and the anti-tax movement, an interview with Michael Graetz
Americans have long had a complicated relationship with taxes. We don't like paying them, but we love the things they pay for. In the decades after World War II, both political parties agreed - taxes are worth it.Then came Ronald Reagan and...
September 16, 2024
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55:30
38.B) The History of the Pardon, an interview with Kimberly Wehle
On September 8, 1974, President Gerald Ford pardoned recently-resigned president Richard Nixon of any crimes he may have committed in the presidency, and the pardon has never been the same since. Law Professor
September 02, 2024
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35:51
2.A) John Adams and the modern presidency, an interview with Lindsay Chervinsky
Pandemics, political violence, partisans recognizable by the color of their hat - it may sound novel, but it's been with us practically since the beginning of the republic. Historian Lindsay Chervins...
August 20, 2024
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47:39
40.) Ronald Reagan 1981-1989
"Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem," - Ronald Reagan's inaugural address, January 20, 1981.For the first 50 years after the onset of the Great Depression and the election of Franklin Roose...
August 05, 2024
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1:02:41
39.B) Jimmy Carter, Stagflation, & Paul Volcker, an interview with Jennifer Burns
When unemployment and inflation began to rise side by side in the 1970s, nobody knew what to do. Economic theory suggested it should have been impossible, and yet the numbers couldn't be denied. Stanford Historian
July 15, 2024
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50:57
BONUS! The Hail Mary Effect in Presidential Politics, an interview with William Silber
It's commonly accepted wisdom that presidents are less effective in their second terms, when the term limits of the 22nd amendment turn them into Lame Ducks who cannot be elected to office a third time. But what if that common wisdom is...
July 01, 2024
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48:57
39.A) Jimmy Carter, the outsider, an interview with Jonathan Alter
When Jimmy Carter won the presidency, his Democratic party held a 61-37 majority in the Senate and a 292-143 majority in the House. Why then, with such a clear governing majority, were his relations with Congress so poor, and his agenda so chal...
June 17, 2024
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54:24
39.) Jimmy Carter 1977-1981
"The erosion of confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and political fabric of the nation," - Jimmy Carter, July 15, 1979~~~Jimmy Carter may have been the luckiest presidential candidate and unluc...
June 03, 2024
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1:01:04
37.C) Nixon v The Supreme Court, an interview with Michael Bobelian
From 1953 to 1969, the Supreme Court was a vanguard of progressive change for the United States. But then came Tricky Dick.Michael Bobelian, author of
May 20, 2024
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1:00:59
38.A) Gerald Ford in the Maelstrom, an interview with Brooke Clement
A 24-year career in Congress crested at a tumultuous time for Gerald Ford. He was the GOP leader of the house during the Nixon administration, then Nixon's VP, then the president who had to heal the country after Watergate.
May 06, 2024
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38:13
38.) Gerald Ford 1974-1977
"Our long national nightmare is over." - Gerald Ford, August 9, 1974~~~Gerald Ford is the only person in American history to reach the vice presidency and the presidency without being elected to either. Despite this, he...
April 15, 2024
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48:40
37.B) The campaigns of Richard Nixon, an interview with John Farrell
It didn't take long for Richard Nixon to earn the nickname "Tricky Dick," but was he really any more tricky than the typical politician? You bet he was! John Farrell, a long-time journali...
April 08, 2024
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46:17
37.A) Nixon's Domestic Agenda, an interview with Luke Nichter
Richard Nixon was sworn in as President with a Democratic House and Senate across Capitol Hill, which you might expect to lead to legislative impasse. Instead, it was one of the more prolific legislative stretches in American history, including...
March 18, 2024
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55:40
37.) Richard Nixon 1969-1974
"People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook." - Richard Nixon, November 17, 1973~~~Richard Nixon's life is a drama unlike any ot...
March 04, 2024
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1:00:58
16.F.) How Lincoln changed American immigration, an interview with Harold Holzer
Migrating to the United States used to be as easy as buying a boat ticket. Getting settled was the hard part, and it became far more daunting when the United States was torn asunder by Civil War in 1861. As more and more northerners were conscr...
February 19, 2024
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1:01:11
36.B) LBJ's Great Society, an interview with Mark Updegrove
Lyndon Baines Johnson is one of the most legislatively accomplished presidents in American history - possibly the only president who actually did so much winning, people got tired of it. But how did he make legislating look so easy?
February 12, 2024
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46:31
36.A) LBJ & Vietnam, an interview with Mark Lawrence
Few presidents have a darker mark on their resume that LBJ's handling of the Vietnam war. Though overwhelmingly popular at first, the war divided the nation and broke Johnson's political power just 4 years later.How did the United State...
January 15, 2024
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49:48
36.) Lyndon Baines Johnson 1963-1969
"There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem. There is only an American problem." - Lyndon Baines Johnson, March 9, 1965~~~Lyndon Baines Johnson was thrust into the presidency a...
January 01, 2024
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1:02:43
35.C) JFK & The Press, an interview with Harold Holzer
JFK once joked, "the worst I do, the more popular I get." Historian Harold Holzer, director of the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College in New York City, Chairman of the Lincoln Forum, and author of
December 18, 2023
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52:11
35.B) Joe Kennedy Sr., The Patriarch, an interview with David Nasaw
Joe Kennedy Jr. used his intellect, connections, and more than a few shady stock market tricks to become one of the wealthiest men in America. Once there, he threw his vast fortune behind the political aspirations of his children, challenging t...
December 04, 2023
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56:09
35.A) The Assassination of JFK, an interview with Stephen Fagin
60 years ago today, John F. Kennedy was assassinated while traveling through the streets of Dallas. Stephen Fagin, curator of The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, takes us through the tragic day and discuss...
November 22, 2023
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45:36
35.) John F. Kennedy 1961-1963
"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." - John F. Kennedy, January 20, 1961~~~John F. Kennedy presided over three of the most turbulent years of the Cold War. From the Bay...
November 20, 2023
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59:13
BONUS! 2023 Friendsgiving History Podcast Spectacular
Earlier this year, four podcasters got together to record the second annual Friendsgiving History Podcast Spectacular! Tune in as I'm joined by three fellow history podcasters and friends for a round table discussion on U.S. and presidential hi...
November 20, 2023
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55:25
34.C) Ike, the Last General, an interview with Bryan Gibby
Eisenhower is the last general to have become president. How did his time in the army influence his administration and what stamp did it leave on the presidency? Bryan Gibby, the deputy head of
November 06, 2023
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1:15:16
34.C) Isolationism v internationalism, Ike & the election of 1952, an interview with Chris Nichols
As the election of 1952 approached, one thing seemed certain - a staunch isolationist, senator Robert Taft, was going to be the GOP's presidential nominee and the next president of the United States. Which was a major concern to anyone who fear...
October 16, 2023
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1:00:58