The Florida History Podcast

The period between Hurricane Andrew and the 1994 Election saw a period in Florida politics characterized by flux and a GOP surge- which would carry us into a 1995 Legislative Session at parity between the parties.

Presumptive Dem nominee Bill Nelson wasn't cutting it, so Lawton Chiles unretired, ran for Governor, beat Bob Martinez and began reforming Florida Government.

Bob Martinez had a troubled Governorship and entered 1990 as an underdog for reelection.

We talk about Bob Martinez's 1986 triumph in the Governor's race.

We discuss Buddy MacKay, former Florida Governor and US Congressman who passed this week at 91. Additionally, we've recorded a 1 hour video discussion about MacKay which is available at the Florida Squeeze's YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/HwO2PRL93Bk

President Jimmy Carter passed away today at age 100. We bring you an encore podcast taped in 2021 honoring him and discussing his links to Florida.

It fits in our Governor's series coincidently right during our holiday break, so here is an encore presentation of our Bob Graham tribute podcast from when he passed away earlier this year.

The Governorship of Reubin Askew was a Golden Age for Florida. We discuss it in this pod.

The emerging Florida Republican majority took a thud in 1970 as Reubin Askew won back the Governorship for the Democrats and ushered in a decade of Dem dominance in the state up-and-down the ballot.

Claude Kirk was oh so close to being on Richard Nixon's 1968 GOP ticket and with the RNC convention in Miami, it seemed written in the stars. But then protests happened and got out of control and Kirk's national ambitions were thwarted.

We discuss Florida's first post-Reconstruction GOP Governor, Claude Kirk who was a colorful populist.

We discuss Leroy Collins massive legacy both in Florida and nationally.

We've discussed Leroy Collins many times on this podcast but never taken quite the deep dive into his Governorship that we do on this episode.

The first Governor from South Florida died tragically in office- but changed the trajectory of Florida politics forever.

We discuss Florida's populist Governor Fuller Warren who was impeached multiple times by the legislature. NOTE: Portions of this podcast were recorded in 2019.

The 2004 Hurricane Season was one of the worst ever experienced by the state of Florida...and coincided with a Presidential campaign centered largely on Florida and an open US Senate seat. How did it impact the election?

A record breaking tropical system, one of the strongest in the history of the Atlantic basin has just ravaged Florida. Kartik Krishnaiyer, Ryan Ray and Johnathan Starling give their take on the impacts, the devastation in the Tampa Bay and Sarasota areas, the Tornado outbreak in south Florida as well as some comments on the NHC forecasting and TV meteorologists in the state and climate action.

Major Hurricane Milton is barreling toward the Sunshine State. A Cat 5 Hurricane with one of the lowest ever central pressures at the time of recording, we dive into some hurricane history in Florida and talk about the threats to the Tampa Bay and Orlando areas as well as the rest of the peninsula with longtime hurricane watcher Johnathan Starling.

Millard Caldwell had one of the most distinguished careers of any public official in the state's history.

What was supposed to the "big one" for Tallahassee ended up being a "bigger one" for the storm-ravaged Big Bend and unfortunately a potential Katrina-like event for the Tampa/St Peterburg Metropolitan area. Helene delivered statewide impacts from Miami to Apalachicola. In a state littered with historic Hurricanes, this one has made immediate and unfortunate history. We discuss this unfolding histo...

We discuss one of the giants of 20th Century Florida public life - Spessard Holland. Holland's career saw the transition of Florida from largely rural backwater to urban-driven megastate.

In this first edition of "Squeezing the Season" a special podcast we will run during Election season 2024, Democratic pollster and MSNBC contributor Fernand Amandi offers a frank look at why Florida's Hispanic vote has shifted heavily toward the GOP since 2016 as well as an in-depth look at Democrats success in North Carolina and what Florida Democrats can learn from that state.

Arguably the most embarrassing figure in Florida History, Sidney J. Catts is probably the worst Governor that Florida ever had. The violently anti-Catholic and racist Governor was also inept at the actual art of Governance.

Napoleon Bonaparte Broward is one of the most famous Floridians ever- he drained the Everglades threaded the needle between Populist and Bourbon Democrats while maintaining a Teddy Roosevelt like-persona. He also was close to being on the Democratic ticket as VP in 1908.

Florida has never had a President, Vice President, Speaker of the House, Senate Majority Leader or Minority Leader or major party nominee for President or Vice President (excluding Donald Trump who wasn't exactly a Floridian). But when was Florida closest to real power? Fernand Amandi our guest argues it was during the Senate tenure of George Smathers.