[Abridged] Presidential Histories

William Howard Taft is the only American in history to serve as both president of the United States and chief justice of the Supreme Court. But how did his experience as president shape his leadership as chief justice? What role did it play in his nomination process, and how good of a chief justice was he, anyway? Join me as I talk with Kevin Burns, an assistant professor of political science and...

To hear William Howard Taft tell it, all he ever wanted to do is be a federal judge. But people don't just accidentally become president. Join me as I talk with Peri Arnold, a professor Emeritus in the Department of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame , a consultant to New York Times in Education , and author of several books, including Remaking the Presidency: Roosevelt, Taft,...

In 1908, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft were such great friends, TR personally campaigned for Taft to succeed him to the presidency. Four years later, that relationship was so irrevocably damaged that TR split the GOP in half to deny Taft's reelection. There's no way around, Taft's presidency was made by Roosevelt, and then it was unmade by Roosevelt. But there's fa...

Theodore Roosevelt is the youngest American to become president. He's also the youngest American to become a former president, which means the hyper-energetic TR had plenty of time to do whatever he wanted with the rest of his life. In Roosevelt's case, that meant going on a bunch of suicidally dangerous adventures in search of death or glory.   Join me as I interview presidential histor...

When Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in to replace the assassinated William McKinley, he was well aware that almost every previous accidental president had been a failure, and none had won reelection. He had a plan to buck the trend, and it started with winning over McKinley's cabinet.   Join me as I interview presidential scholar Lindsay M. Chervinsky, author of The Cabinet: George Washington a...

When you hear the name Theodore Roosevelt, a face, personality, and image all pop into mind - Just the way Roosevelt wanted. Presidents have always dealt with and nurtured the press, but Teddy was a quantum leap forward in presidential PR, and he used the media to advance his career, his policies, and to create an image of himself that has lasted 100 years. Join me as I interview Harold Holzer , d...

Theodore Roosevelt is one of the biggest personalities to ever inhabit the presidency, so of course he was born in New York City. Roosevelt was  heir to one of the city's oldest families and a civil servant at nearly every level - state assemblyman, police commissioner, and governor of the Empire State. Join me as I talk with Ted Kohn, the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Norwich Univer...

Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Theodore Roosevelt is one of the most unlikely champions of progressive reform. Yet there he is, ushering in the American progressive era, promising a "square deal" to all. Join me as I talk with Alycia, host of the excellent Civics and Coffee podcast, about the origins and impact of TR's environment, economic, and civil service progressivism....

In 1898, Theodore Roosevelt was a pencil-pushing desk jockey with no clear political future. Six months later, he was the war-hero governor-elect of New York and well on his way to the presidential ticket. How'd he do it? Follow along as Roosevelt pushes the nation toward war with Spain, quits the safety of his Washington desk job to fight in Cuba, comes home a war hero with a bright politica...

How did a country founded by anti-imperial revolutionaries come to own an empire of its own? The answer starts with William McKinley, whose administration exploded onto the international stage by carrying the American flag to Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, Hawaii, and China. Join me as I talk with Robert Merry , a 40-year veteran of Washington journalism and author of five books, includ...

When William McKinley ran for president in 1896, he out-raised his opponent 7-to-1, printed more campaign literature than all previous GOP presidential candidates combined, and organized what is often called the first modern presidential campaign. How'd he do it? Join me as I talk with professor Christopher McKnight Nichols , director of the Oregon State University Center for the Humanities ;...

Once upon a time, the United States stuck to its shores and big business largely stayed out of politics. Then came William McKinley. William McKinley took the United States international in a big way, carrying the American flag to Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and China; he revolutionized political campaigning by leveraging the power of big business against a progressive populist threat and...

What was Grover Cleveland hiding in 1893? When the famously honest president was diagnosed with mouth cancer, he decided to keep it from the public at all costs - even if that meant hatching a hair-brained scheme to surgically remove the tumor on a yacht at sea. Join me as I talk with award-winning journalist and author Matthew Algeo , author of All This Marvelous Potential: Robert Kennedy’s 1968...

In 1892, the rich were getting richer, the poor were getting poorer, and a former president decided to run again against the rival who had defeated him. How similar is the Gilded Age to our modern political and economic moment? Join me as I talk with University Kentucky professor Mark Summers , a historian of the Gilded Age and author of numerous books, including The Era of Good Stealings ; The Gi...

On the final day of Grover Cleveland's first term in office, his wife turned to a member of the white house staff and said.  "I want you to take good care of all the furniture and ornaments in the house, for I want everything just as it is now when we come back again. We are coming back. Just four years from today." Four years later, she was right.   Follow along as Cleveland gracio...

Benjamin Harrison presidential accomplishments range from obtaining America's first overseas possession to signing an anti-trust bill that is still the law of the land, but he's hardly known today. Why? Join me as I talk with Charles Hyde, the President and CEO of the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site in Indianapolis, Indiana, on why Benjamin Harrison should be better known and what we...

Is it possible to win your way to defeat? Benjamin Harrison and the 51st Congress might say so. After passing almost all the legislation they had campaigned on in 1889, American voters dealt them crippling defeats in 1891 and 1893. What went wrong? Join me as I interview Charles Calhoun , a retired distinguished professor of History at East Carolina University, a past president of the Society for...

When it comes to politicians, promises made + promises kept is supposed to = reelection, right? For Benjamin Harrison and the 51st GOP Congress, this common sense equation failed in a major way. After passing more legislation than almost any Congress in U.S. history, Harrison and the GOP majority were sent packing in one of the most lopsided congressional wipeouts ever. Why? Follow along as Harris...

How do you break a 28-year losing streak? It takes good strategy, a bit of luck, and sometimes whatever the heck a mugwump is. Join me as I interview Ted Kohn, the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Norwich University and a historian of the Gilded Age in American History, on how the Democrats ended an era of Republican rule.  Support the show

What do you do when your party hasn't won a presidential election in 28 years? You find an outsider and roll the dice. Grover Cleveland's political career was less than three years old when the Democratic party nominated him for president in 1884, but that guaranteed a candidate with a clean record - or so they thought. Get ready for a sex scandal that will have Republicans famously taun...

Chester A. Arthur is a 19th-century American politics version of Breaking Bad mashed with Darth Vader's redemption story. Ok. There's no meth or space sorcery. But there is a seemingly noble man who jettisons his values when they get in the way of making a buck. (Ok, a LOT of bucks). And then,  after a lifetime of proving himself a good-for-nothing scoundrel, he turns into a redemption s...

Chester A. Arthur is the most corrupt politician to ever become president. For years, he made a fortune making sure enough money disappeared from the New York City customs house to keep his patron in power. When a backroom deal made him vice president and an assassin's bullet ended James Garfield's presidency and began Arthur's, the nation despaired. But then he got an unexpected le...

It's Obama time! We are skipping ahead in the narrative to talk with UNC professor Claude A. Clegg, author of the recently published book  The Black President: Hope and Fury in the Age of Obama , about the Obama administration, race, and the challenges and opportunities that come with writing contemporary history. Support the show

James Garfield has been called, "The best president we never had." What did we lose when he was assassinated? A champion for the abandoned freedmen? A guiding light in an age of corruption? Or just another politician, same as the rest? Join me as I interview to Todd Arrington, a historian and site manager at the James A. Garfield National Historic Site in Mentor, Ohio, and author of The...

James Garfield didn't want to be president, but the 1880 Republican Convention nominated him against his will. And do you know what thanks he got for it? Assassinated within six months. But Garfield has a lot to teach us in his fascinating rags-to-riches life and the fierce political battles he waged during his short term in office for, in just a few months, he accomplished what his predecess...