Presidential Chronicles

Calvin Coolidge #6: Continuing the Harding Agenda (1923-1924); Topics covered include: Death of President Warren Harding, Swearing in of Coolidge as President, pursues Harding agenda, investigations of malfeasance from the Harding administration, relationship with Secret Service agent Edmund Starling, pursuit of tax cuts and budget cuts, names Harlan Stone Attorney General, civil rights advocacy i...

Calvin Coolidge #5: Rise to National Prominence (1919-1923); Topics covered include: Re-elected as Governor (MA), election of 1920, Republican National Convention, nomination of Warren Harding for President and Coolidge for Vice President, Coolidge formally accepts the nomination, fall campaign, election of Harding and Coolidge, and role as Vice President Key people include: Frank Stearns, Bruce B...

Calvin Coolidge #4: The Boston Police Strike (1919); Topics covered include: Russian Revolution, General Strike in Seattle (WA), Boston Police joins the American Federation of Labor, Police Commissioner Edwin Curtis pushes back against unionization, Storrow Committee, interactions with Mayor Peters and Commissioner Curtis, Curtis terminates union leaders, three-quarters of police force go on strik...

Calvin Coolidge #3: State Leadership (1913-1919); Topics covered include: Elected President of the State Senate (MA), relationship with Frank Stearns, World War I, elected Lieutenant Governor (MA), U.S. entry into World War I, elected Governor (MA), armistice, welcomes soldiers back to Boston, welcomes President Woodrow Wilson to Boston, and his initial actions as Governor Key people include: Levi...

Calvin Coolidge #2: Law and Politics (1895-1913); Topics covered include: Pursues legal career in Northampton (MA), passes the Bar, establishes own law firm, meets and marries Grace Goodhue, birth of children (John and Calvin, Jr.), Murray Crane becomes political mentor, political positions: Republican City Committee, City Council, City Solicitor, Clerk of the Courts, state House of Representative...

Calvin Coolidge #1: From Plymouth to Amherst (1871-1895); Topics covered include: Early arrivals of Coolidges in North America, parents, youth on the farm in Plymouth Notch (VT), death of mother, education, death of sister, attends college at Amherst, father remarries, course taught by Anson Morse and Charles Garman, graduates from Amherst, and perspectives by people who knew Coolidge throughout t...

Warren Harding #10: Mistresses (1905-1923); Topics covered include: Relationship with Florence Harding, affair with Carrie Phillips (including extensive correspondence), conflicts with Carrie over Germany and World War I, election of 1920, end of affair with Carrie, affair with Nan Britton, birth of Elizabeth Ann, liaisons with Nan in the White House, death of Harding, Nan's attempts to get mo...

Warren Harding #9: Teapot Dome (1921-1931); Topics covered include: Prior scandals with Charles Forbes and Jess Smith, background on oil reserves at Teapot Dome (WY) and Elk Hills (CA), congressional investigations (after Harding's death), cash payments to Interior Secretary Albert Fall, wild (including false and questionable) claims by Gaston Means and Roxie Stinson, multiple court cases, eve...

Warren Harding #8: Alaska and Untimely Death (1923); Topics covered include: Harding "cronies" at the "Little Green House," Jess Smith suicide, trip to Alaska, advocates for joining World Court, multiple stops in Alaska, becomes ill upon return to continental U.S., travels to San Francisco for rest (Palace Hotel), dies, Calvin Coolidge becomes President, national mourning, serv...

Warren Harding #7: Second Year Challenges (1922); Topics covered include: Fordney-McCumber Tariff, Ship Subsidy Bill (doesn't pass), Agriculture Conference, labor strife (textile workers, coal miners, and railroad shopmen), results of strikes including injunction against striking railroad workers, advocates end to 12-hour workday in steel industry, scandal in Veterans Bureau (Charles Forbes),...

Warren Harding #6: Disarmament (1921-1922); Topics covered include: Technical end to World War I, calls Disarmament Conference, bold proposals by U.S., treaties established, Harding selects bipartisan delegation that helps with ratification in the Senate (compares to failures of treaty ratification by the Wilson administration), praise for Harding, commutation for Eugene Debs and release of other...

Warren Harding #5: Return to Normalcy (1920-1921); Topics covered include: President-elect, vacation (Panama and Jamaica), selects Cabinet, Inaugural Address, changes tone in Washington, press conferences, Special Session of Congress, emergency tariff, immigration reform, tax reform, administration reform (established Budget Bureau), names William Taft new Chief Justice; and challenges with farmer...

Warren Harding #4: Dark Horse from Ohio (1919-1920); Topics covered include: Election of 1920, death of Theodore Roosevelt, Harding agrees to run, campaign themes = America First and Return to Normalcy, Republican National Convention, Harding is nominated, front porch campaign, and landslide victory Key people include: Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Daugherty, Florence Harding, Leonard...

Warren Harding #3: Senator Harding (1912-1920); Topics covered include: Nominates William Taft (1912 Republican National Convention); Republican Party breaks over election, elected U.S. Senate, World War I (and U.S. role), 1916 election (Woodrow Wilson re-elected), Germany announces unrestricted submarine warfare, U.S. enters war, victory in Europe, Paris Peace Conference, and the U.S. Senate reje...

Warren Harding #2: From the Paper to Politics (1895-1914); Topics covered include: Local leader in the Republican Party, runs for county auditor, Chautauqua Speaking Circuit, elected State Senator (twice), elected Lieutenant Governor, back to Marion to focus on Star, fraternal organizations, loses election for Governor, and vacations with Jim and Carrie Phillips Key people include: George Van Flee...

Warren Harding #1: A Young Man Buys a Newspaper (1865-1895); Topics covered include: Puritan migration, family settlement in Blooming Grove (OH), parents, youth on the farm, move to Caledonia, attends Ohio Central College, move to Marion, buys Marion Daily Star, competition with other papers in Marion, marries Florence Kling, conflict with Amos Kling, and investments in the Star Key people include...

Woodrow Wilson #13: Invalid … and Failure (1920-1924); Topics covered include: [Coverage and perspective re: Wilson's legacy (including failures) begins at 12:30.] Topics covered include: 1920 presidential election, Opening League of Nations, Transition to post-presidential home, remains an invalid, falling out with Joe Tumulty, death, perspective on legacy and failures Key people include: Edi...

Woodrow Wilson #12: Who's Running the Country? (1919-1920); Topics covered include: Wilson's stroke, Edith Wilson's "stewardship" role, objections by Secretary of State Robert Lansing (and Lansing resignation), defeat of the Treaty of Versailles in the Senate (twice), reasons for failure to pass, and potential solution that could have been considered Key people include: Cary...

Woodrow Wilson #11: Fighting for the League and His Life (1919-1920); Topics covered include: Returns to U.S. with Treaty of Versailles, objections to Covenant for League of Nations by Henry Cabot Lodge, death of Theodore Roosevelt, Wilson's train tour to garner support for the League, and Wilson's illness which ends the tour early Key people include: Henry Cabot Lodge, Theodore Roosevelt,...

Woodrow Wilson #10: Peace Conference: Round Two (1919); Topics covered include: Break from Peace Conference for end of congressional session in U.S., meets with Senate Foreign Relations Committee embers over proposed Covenant for the League of Nations, Henry Cabot Lodge raises objections to the League, returns to Paris, contentious negotiations with Allies, becomes ill in Paris, negotiations conti...

Woodrow Wilson #9: Peace Conference, Round One (1918-1919); Topics covered include: Results of World War I, leads American delegation to Peace Conference, negotiations, focus = League of Nations, and breaks to return to the U.S. for end of congressional session Key people include: Robert Lansing, Tasker Bliss, Edward House, Henry White, Henry Cabot Lodge, William Taft, Elihu Root, Georges Clemence...

Woodrow Wilson #8: Fourteen Points and Victory (1918); Topics covered include: World War I, mobilization, "The Inquiry," Fourteen Points, League of Nations, domestic challenges (civil rights and women's rights), U.S. military engagements in the war, and victory Key people include: Edward House, William Taft, Elihu Root, Henry Cabot Lodge, Ferdinand Foch, Kaiser Wilhelm, Fredrich Eber...

Woodrow Wilson #7: World War (1917); Topics covered include: World War I, German unrestricted submarine warfare, Zimmerman note, Wilson's second inaugural, requests congressional declaration of war, American mobilization (military and economy), turns down Theodore Roosevelt's request to lead troops, and then Espionage and Sedition Acts Key people include: Arthur Zimmerman, Edward White, Jo...

Woodrow Wilson #6: Love Amidst a World at War (1915-1917); Topics covered include: World War I; meets, courts, and marries Edith Galt; sinking of the Lusitania (and other ships) by German submarines; maintains U.S. neutrality, conflict with Mexico, progressive agenda, "He Kept Us Out of War," and Election of 1916 (re-elected) Key people include: Ellen Wilson, Jessie Wilson, Francis Sayre...

Woodrow Wilson #5: Crises: International and Personal (1913-1914); Topics covered include: Revolution in Mexico and U.S. reaction, World War I underway in Europe, Ellen Wilson gets sick and dies + funeral in Georgia, midterm elections (1914), conflict with William Trotter over civil rights/segregation, and the economic impact of war on the U.S. Key people include: Francisco Madero, Porfirio Diaz,...