American POTUS

Send us Fan Mail 2 Presidents on the same team with the curious name, the Whig Party.  For this brief moment of time in the mid-1800’s, it was the powerful and divisive home for Zachary Taylor and his VP Millard Fillmore.  But just as soon as this party came to power, they disappeared due to infighting, regional division and…the impending Civil War! Old rough-n-ready Zachary Taylor, his successor...

Send us Fan Mail William Henry Harrison found a fair amount of success on the battlefield, which turned into a successful career as a Governor, which turned into the first “modern” presidential campaign.  Slogans, songs, and some creative spinning of the truth gave him the keys to The White House.  But before he could really make a difference, his very long speech on a very cold and wet inaugurati...

Send us Fan Mail From the outside, the White House appears to be a shining, peaceful center of American governance.  But inside, there’s a rowdy history of backstabbing, slander, deception, cheating, double-crossing, scamming and swindling!  But what do you expect when you combine powerful personalities with the most powerful office in the world?!  The colorful characters and salacious stories tha...

Send us Fan Mail As Americans began driving more and more, the need for gas was growing faster than our own supply.  Next thing you know, we had to turn to the Middle East, which resulted in a whole different set of problems that still cross the President’s desk today.   The administrations of Nixon, Ford and Carter – how they all tackled the problem with their own creativity and ingenuity, is on...

Send us Fan Mail In 1952, Dwight Eisenhower's run at the Presidency was a sure thing, but who he would pick as his running mate – it was the question everyone had.  After a lot of deliberation and consultation, he ended up picking a young, smart upstart from California to balance the ticket and get him ready for his own run at the White House.  2 of the most famous political figures of the 20...

Send us Fan Mail In late 1918, World War 1 was winding down, but the fighting over what exactly peace would look like, was just getting started.  Woodrow Wilson stepped in with 14-points that he thought would create lasting peace not just then, but for future generations.   He faced an uphill battle though, getting our European allies and our own Congress to back the plan.  Neither was easy and it...

Send us Fan Mail Chief Justice John Marshall was  one of those guys, always in the middle of things - fighting alongside Washington, and helping create the constitution.  But where he really shined, was when our 2nd POTUS asked him to sit on the Supreme Court.  He took the new job and ran with it, creating new procedures used to this day, and most importantly, elevating the court to an independent...

Send us Fan Mail Asking which President was the worst, will get you many different answers, but most historians and experts will agree – the title goes to James Buchanan.  His resume was one of the most impressive in the history of the White House, but his obsession with being a Presidential People Pleaser may have ultimately been his demise.  He flip-flopped a lot on important issues, and contrad...

Send us Fan Mail From the time James Garfield took office, he was focused on cleaning up the dirty politics of Washington.  And he was making progress, ensuring those that held lucrative government jobs, were actually qualified for those jobs – something that didn’t always happen.  But before he could really make his mark, two gun shots left him fighting for his life.  He died 11 weeks later, leav...

Send us Fan Mail Chester Arthur was the dirty politician who shocked the nation with an honest presidency.  As VP, he was considered harmless with an inconsequential role, but when Garfield was shot, he suddenly found himself in the top job.  The country was full of doubt and fear over what this man with the terrible reputation might do.  But the weight of Presidential responsibility actually turn...

Send us Fan Mail It’s the spring of 1945, and POTUS 32 is exhausted, but still determined to achieve his self-imposed lofty goals.  He sets off on a 14,000 mile journey to the other side of the world, to work with our allies and secure immediate peace, and peace for future generations.  The trip was a success, he came home, made a historic address to congress, then surrendered to the many hurdles...

Send us Fan Mail We’ve all seen the picture, a smiling Harry Truman holding up the Chicago Daily Tribune’s front page with the headline “Dewey Defeats Truman”. But as with most headlines, there’s a lot of story behind the big bold print.  At the end of the day, it all really came down to overconfidence versus confidence, one side relishing in a supposedly insurmountable lead, the other – kickstart...

Send us Fan Mail He was the President who had it all, then lost it all, only to gain a lot of it back – Richard Nixon.  By most accounts, Tricky Dick had a successful run in the White House, but it was all cut short by the Watergate Cover-Up.  Today, the perspective of history has shown us that his might just be the ultimate comeback story - the president who went from rock bottom to respected and...

Send us Fan Mail Theodore Roosevelt was a sickly child who found relief in the great outdoors and then preserved it for future generations as our 26th President.  He  always loved a good challenge; personal health, running a ranch, and fighting off the reckless use of our nation’s most impressive wild lands.  It took a lot of political capital to make it happen, and our beautiful national parks ex...

Send us Fan Mail Thaddeus Stevens was a defiant man who challenged 4 different Presidents of the Civil War era.  Fillmore, Buchanan, Lincoln and Douglas – they were all forced to deal with this head strong political heavyweight, bargaining and negotiating to make positive change in a very difficult time.  It’s an important story of how political influence from Congress can and should affect change...

Send us Fan Mail This Hollywood Hero achieved the biggest role on the world’s biggest stage and went on to literally change the world.  To a majority, his 8 years were successful but also full of challenges inside and outside of our borders.  Ultimately, he’s received the biggest award any actor-slash-president could ever want, the everlasting admiration of millions to this day.  The Teflon Presid...

Send us Fan Mail If you thought modern elections were tight, we present to you – the election of 1876!  The outcome was so close and so contested, some say a back room deal ultimately gave Hayes the White House by a margin of just 1 electoral vote.  Hayes did the best he could with his 4 years in office, but the formidable challenges of Southern reconstruction have tarnished his legacy to this day...

Send us Fan Mail Sharing presidential history with your kids that’s both fun & accurate is vitally important.  Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, JFK – their All-American stories are ripe with genuinely heroic tales…but also some embarrassing missteps that every young American can learn from.   Put the standard issue school history books aside, we’re looking at the presidency with a modern-day ki...

Send us Fan Mail From a young age, life kept throwing hurdles in front of a determined Bill Clinton, but he always worked and charmed his way over, around or through them – finding success and new opportunities.  And when he ultimately won the presidency in 92, when no one thought it was possible, he brought the same tenacity to his 8 years in The White House.   The personal stories of intelligenc...

Send us Fan Mail The Supreme Allied Commander who would become Commander-in-Chief, Dwight Eisenhower.  If titles were a true description of the man, you’d think his ego would shine as bright as the stars on his old uniform.  But this quiet statesman seemed to find the perfect balance between gentle and tough, cautioning the world’s communist leaders he would fight them every step of the way with n...

Send us Fan Mail Jimmy Carter's 1 term was full of challenges foreign and domestic; including inflation, fuel shortages and The Iran Hostage Crisis.  Ultimately, those issues were too big to overcome and he was shown the White House door a bit earlier than he would’ve liked.  But his idea of retirement is different than most, working around the globe to ensure fair elections and building home...

Send us Fan Mail The 2 founding fathers who would be friends, enemies and then friends again – John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.  The 51-year relationship between these Frienemies is complicated but telling, offering critical insight into the very delicate and increasingly political first couple decades of our nation.  Looking back, it’s proven to be one of our republic’s best examples of respectfu...

Send us Fan Mail By all accounts FDR appeared to have every advantage in life: family prestige, money, wit, and wisdom.  But it may have been his life-changing disadvantage that gave him the inspiration to win The White House.  And once he got there, it was no easy task – dealing with a global war on 2 fronts and an economic mess at home.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s affliction with Polio and his...

Send us Fan Mail As we look back on our first 13 episodes, we’ve learned that while the personalities and political parties may be vastly different, the patriotism of each POTUS is the common denominator.  In every case, these office holders & the people they’ve surrounded themselves with, have all had one goal in mind – to further the great American experiment the best way they knew how.  Bef...

Send us Fan Mail The presidency and tragic ending to the JFK era is well known, but how did POTUS 35 grow into the legend that inspires and haunts many to this day?  His path to the White House included family privilege, luck, disease, heartbreak, but most of all – personal perseverance.  We're covering the All-American story of how a young John Fitzgerald Kennedy went from supporting role to...