Presidential Chronicles

Richard Nixon #8: Back-to-Back Defeats (1960-1962); Topics covered include: 1960 president election, Republican National Convention, relationship between Richard Nixon and John Kennedy, religion in the campaign, the first televised presidential debates, outcome of the election, Nixon returns to the law and writes his first memoirs, the Bay of Pigs, Nixon runs for Governor of California and loses,...

Richard Nixon #7: One of the More Consequential Vice Presidencies (1953-1960); Topics covered include: Inauguration of Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon, Nixon's primary roles as VP, trip to Asia/Middle East, 1954 midterm elections, Eisenhower's heart attack, election of 1956, Eisenhower's illnesses, trip to Latin America, facing Communist protestors in Peru and violent Communist pro...

Richard Nixon #6: The Fund Crisis and Checkers (1952); Topics covered include: Newspapers break the story of the Nixon Fund, rhetoric against Nixon builds, no one listening to his explanations, Dwight Eisenhower suggests he go on TV to explain everything, Nixon agrees and delivers the "Checkers Speech", reaction to the speech, and victory for Eisenhower and Nixon in the 1952 election Key...

Richard Nixon #5: "Tricky Dick" on the Rise (1950-1952); Topics covered include: California Senate campaign (1950), Nixon cruises to Republican nomination, after rough primary campaign Helen Gahagan Douglas emerges as Democratic nominee, Nixon links Douglas to Communism ("The Pink Sheet", Nixon wins senate seat, newcomers: close friend Charles "Bebe" Rebozo and new pe...

Richard Nixon #4: Taking Down Alger Hiss (1948-1950); Topics covered include: House Un-American Committee (HUAC), hearing with Whitaker Chambers who accuses Alger Hiss of being a Communist, Hiss denies the accusation, Nixon leads a subcommittee to investigate, evidence revealed, follow-up hearings, Chambers reveals new evidence implicating Hiss as a Soviet spy, the "Pumpkin Papers," Hiss...

Richard Nixon #3: The Political Journey Begins (1945-1948); Topics covered include: Campaigns for Congress, birth of Tricia Nixon, Attacks incumbent Congressman Jerry Voorhis as being aligned with Communists, wins congressional election, opposes Harry Truman administration on domestic policies but supports on foreign policy, serves on the Herter Commission, supports the Marshall Plan, and wins re-...

Richard Nixon #2: Marriage and War (1937-1945); Topics covered include: Passes the Bar, attorney for Wingert & Bewley, meets Patricia Ryan, courts her, eventually marries her, start of World War II, gets a job in Washington, D.C. with the Office of Price Administration, Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, the U.S. enters World War II, Nixon resigns from the OPA to join the Navy, requests combat duty,...

Richard Nixon #1: From the Farm to the Law (1913-1937); Topics covered include: Parents meet in Whittier (CA), rough upbringing, work in father's store, education, first love (Ola Florence Welch), deaths of brothers (Arthur and Harold), attends Whittier College, attends Duke Law School, relationship with Ola Florence ends, and graduates third in his class Key people include: Frank Nixon, Hanna...

Lyndon Johnson #15: Back at the Ranch (1969-1973); Topics covered include: Richard Nixon's inaugurated as President; the Johnsons return to the LBJ Ranch in Texas; Core projects: run the Ranch, establish the LBJ School of Public Policy, establish the LBJ Library, and write his presidential memoirs ("The Vantage Point"); interviews with Walter Cronkite, attend the liftoff of Apollo 11...

Lyndon Johnson #14: 1968: "Living in a Continuous Nightmare" (1968); Topics covered include: 1968 State of the Union Address, inflation rise and proposed tax surcharge to comabt, difficulties in Vietnam, the Tet Offensive and the reaction in the United States, requests for more troops and Johnson's response, Johnson announced he would neither seek nor accept the Democratic nomination...

Lyndon Johnson #13: Vietnam: Quagmire (1967); Topics covered include: 1967 State of the Union Address, letter to North Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh (and response), Six Day War in the Middle East, relations with the Soviet Union (meets Premier Alexei Kosygin), appoints Thurgood Marshall as the first Black to serve on the Supreme Court, increasing criticism of Johnson's handling of the Vietn...

Lyndon Johnson #12: Guns and Butter? (1965-1966); Topics covered include: 1966 State of the Union Address urging funding for both the Great Society and the war in Vietnam, strong GDP growth, bombing pause in Vietnam (did not work), pushback from Congress, the press, and from protesters, staff changes (and criticism over treatment), weddings for Luci and Lynda Johnson, Lady Bird's firm support...

Lyndon Johnson #11: Vietnam: Escalation (1965); Topics covered include: Instability in South Vietnam, the Viet Cong attacks Americans at Pleiku, Johnson responds with a bombing campaign (Rolling Thunder), General William Westmoreland requests additional troops, 3500 Marines are sent to Da Nang and are soon involved in combat operations, protests begin on college campuses, Johnson speaks to the nat...

Lyndon Johnson #10: The Apex: Landslide Lyndon, Medicare, and the Voting Rights Act (1965); Topics covered include: Election of 1964, selecting a running mate, Johnson receives the Democratic nomination by acclamation, the general election campaign and Johnson's landslide victory over Republican Barry Goldwater, 1965 Inaugural, Great Society legislation for 1965: Medicare, Education Assistance...

Lyndon Johnson #9: Making the Presidency His Own: The Great Society and the Tonkin Gulf (1964); Topics covered include: War on Poverty, Economic Opportunity Act (and impact on poverty in the U.S.), formalizes the Great Society program, instability in South Vietnam, agrees to increase number of military advisers, conflict between the U.S. Navy and the North Vietnamese in the Tonkin Gulf (some of wh...

Lyndon Johnson #8: Let Us Continue (1963-1964); Topics covered include: John Kennedy assassination, beginning of the Johnson administration, Johnson's staff, Warren Commission (and report), initial decision on Vietnam, announces War on Poverty, pushes for Kennedy's tax cut (approved after budget cuts added to the package) and civil rights bill (also approved after extensive filibuster is o...

Lyndon Johnson #7: "That God-awful Job" (1961-1963); Topics covered include: Johnson as Vice President of the United States, difficulties with the Kennedy team and the Democrats on Capitol Hill, VP travels including trips to South Vietnam and Berlin in 1961 (including building of the Berlin Wall), Chair of the Space Council, Chair of the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity (CEEO),...

Lyndon Johnson #6: The 1960 Election (1958-1960); Topics covered include: 1958 midterm elections, 1960 presidential election, Johnson's strategy, John Kennedy wins the Democratic nomination, Johnson considers an offer for the vice presidential nomination and eventually accepts, the issue of Kennedy's Catholicism is prominent in the campaign, and the Kennedy/Johnson ticket wins the election...

Lyndon Johnson #5: Master of the Senate (1954-1958); Topics covered include: 1954 midterm elections, becomes Majority Leader (youngest ever), consolidates power in his office, "The Treatment," suffers heart attack, recuperation period and life adjustments, 1956 election, Civil Rights Act of 1957 (and perspective), and the 1958 midterm election Key people include: Wayne Morse, Bobby Baker...

Lyndon Johnson #4: To the Upper House (Barely) (1948-1954); Topics covered include: Elected to Senate, aligns with Richard Russell, Korean War, Chair of Preparedness Investigating Subcommittee, becomes Majority Whip, buys KTBC-TV, buys LBJ Ranch, becomes Minority Leader, and censure of Senator Joe McCarthy Key people include: Pappy O'Daniel, Coke Stevenson, George Peddy, George Parr, Abe Forta...

Lyndon Johnson #3: The Politician Emerges (1937-1948); Topics covered include: Enters the U.S. House of Representatives, establishes a mentorship relationship with President Franklin Roosevelt, very hard on his staff, womanizing/ affairs, runs for the Senate (1941) and barely loses, charges of campaign malfeasance against Johnson's backers from Brown & Root, start of World War II, activate...

Lyndon Johnson #2: Political Entry Point (1931-1937); Topics covered include: Secretary to Congressman Richard Kleberg, meets and marries Claudia ("Lady Bird") Taylor, serves as the Texas State Director for the National Youth Administration, and wins a seat in Congress through a special election Key people include: Harry Wurzbach, Richard Kleberg, Sam Johnson, Jr., Claudia ("Lady Bi...

Lyndon Johnson #1: Deep in the Heart of Texas (1908-1931); Topics covered include: Growing up in the Texas Hill Country, enjoys politics with his father, attends Southwest Texas State Teachers College (San Marcos), teaches 5th-7th graders at Welhausen Elementary School in Cotulla, TX, graduates from college, and teaches at Sam Houston High School (+debate coach) Key people include: Jesse Johnson,...

John Kennedy #15: Vietnam, Berlin, and the Kennedy Assassination (1963); Topics covered include: Challenges in Vietnam, assassination of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, Kennedy's trip to Europe including speeches in Berlin ("Ich bin ein Berliner") and his visit to his ancestral home of Ireland, the birth and death the next day of Kennedy's son Patrick, the beginning of...

John Kennedy #14: Finding Political Courage (1963); Topics covered include: Kennedy's call for a large tax cut, civil rights protests in Birmingham, Alabama, and the violent tactics of the authorities, the desegregation of the University of Alabama (against the protests of AL Governor George Wallace), Kennedy's push for major civil rights legislation, Kennedy's "Peace Speech,&quot...