The Also-Rans

With special guest Todd Arrington of the Garfield National Historic Site. Join us as we look at the presidential election with the closest popular vote margin in all of U.S. history. Marvel as two former Union generals fight for the presidency: James Garfield and Winfield Hancock. We'll discuss the might-have-beens attending to Garfield, an abolitionist and savvy congressman; and Hancock, a f...

With special guest Dr. David Gary.  Rufus King is one of the most obscure of the also-rans, but he was an active part of countless key moments in early American political history: he fought in the Revolution, helped frame the U.S. Constitution, implemented the Jay Treaty, helped figure out the Northwest Ordinance, and was one of the first prominent anti-slavery American politicians. He was also th...

With special guest Dr. Jennifer Delton of Skidmore College. 1968 was a year of turmoil in many parts of the world. In the U.S., this was most keenly felt in protests over the Vietnam War, the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy, and the violence outside of the Democrats' convention in Chicago. Their nominee that year, Hubert H. Humphrey, is the focus of our second epi...

Or "The Tao of Losing." This introductory episode to The Also-Rans introduces the podcast's concept and makes the case for why we need to pay attention to the candidates who lost the presidential election.