"Our long national nightmare is over." - Gerald Ford, August 9, 1974~~~Gerald Ford is the only person in American history to reach the vice presidency and the presidency without being elected to either. Despite this, he was a popular president - for 1 month. But then he pardoned Nixon, and it was all downhill from there. Follow along as Ford rides his athletic gifts from Grand Rapids to The University of Michigan and eventually Yale, serves his country in World War 2, then embarks on a quest to become Speaker of the House, only to discover the presidency instead. Once there, he'll grapple with the legacy of Watergate, and a bedeviling rise in unemployment and inflation that threatened to send the country's economy over the cliff.Bibliography1. Gerald Ford – Douglas Brinkley2. Richard Nixon: The Life – John Farrell3. Ronald Reagan: The life – H.W. Brands4. The Vietnam War – Ken Burns (documentary)5. Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush – Jon Meacham6. Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream – Doris Kearns Goodwin7. Indomitable Will: LBJ in the Presidency – Mark K Updegrove

Support the show

It didn't take long for Richard Nixon to earn the nickname "Tricky Dick," but was he really any more tricky than the typical politician? You bet he was! John Farrell, a long-time journalist and author of numerous books on political leaders, including Richard Nixon, The Life,  discusses the many campaigns of Richard Nixon, from the red scare tactics that swept him to office, to the southern strategy that changed America's political map forever.

Support the show

Richard Nixon was sworn in as President with a Democratic House and Senate across Capitol Hill, which you might expect to lead to legislative impasse. Instead, it was one of the more prolific legislative stretches in American history, including such accomplishments as: Lowering the voting age, Title IX, creating the EPA, the Clean Air Act, abolishing the draft, and more. But were all of these laws passed because of Richard Nixon, or despite him? Historian Luke Nichter, a Chapman University professor who operates nixontapes.org, explores how Nixon and the Democratic Congress came together to pass so much meaningful change.

Support the show

"People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook." - Richard Nixon, November 17, 1973~~~Richard Nixon's life is a drama unlike any other. A desire to win at any cost earned him the name "Tricky Dick" and carried him from Whittier, California, to the Presidency of the United States, but it also proved his undoing. From Alger Hiss to Checkers, the Chenault Affair, "Nixon goes to China," and Watergate, we will dive into the remarkable rise and fall of the only American to resign the presidency, Richard Milhouse Nixon.Bibliography1. Richard Nixon: The Life – John Farrell2. The Vietnam War – Ken Burns (documentary)3. Gerald Ford – Douglas Brinkley4. Eisenhower in War and Peace – Jean Edward Smith5. Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush – Jon Meacham6. An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917–1963 – Robert Dallek7. Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream – Doris Kearns Goodwin8. Indomitable Will: LBJ in the Presidency – Mark K Updegrove

Support the show

Migrating to the United States used to be as easy as buying a boat ticket. Getting settled was the hard part, and it became far more daunting when the United States was torn asunder by Civil War in 1861. As more and more northerners were conscripted into the Union Army, Lincoln realized a friendlier immigration policy might be the key to sustaining economic and military strength through the long years of war. Harold Holzer, director of the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College in New York City and  Chairman of the Lincoln Forum, discusses his new book Brought Forth on this Continent Abraham Lincoln and American Immigration, which delves into the role immigration played in killing the Whig party, building the republican party, and how Lincoln's views toward immigration changed during through his career and into the Civil War, when he attempted one of the first major overhauls of the American immigration system in U.S. history.

Support the show

Lyndon Baines Johnson is one of the most legislatively accomplished presidents in American history - possibly the only president who actually did so much winning, people got tired of it. But how did he make legislating look so easy? Mark Updegrove, president and CEO of the LBJ Foundation and author of 5 books on the presidency, including will-hardcover-updegrove-autographed.html">Indomitable Will: LBJ in the Presidency, discusses the impact and legacy of LBJ's Great Society.

Support the show

Few presidents have a darker mark on their resume that LBJ's handling of the Vietnam war. Though overwhelmingly popular at first, the war divided the nation and broke Johnson's political power just 4 years later.How did the United States get into Vietnam? Why didn't LBJ see what the American people saw as public opinion turned against it? And what can we learn from Johnson's handling of the war in Vietnam?Mark Lawrence, director of the LBJ Presidential Library & Museum in Austin and author of The End of Ambition: The United States and the Third World in the Vietnam Era, discusses the legacy of LBJ's leadership of the Vietnam War.

Support the show

"There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem. There is only an American problem." - Lyndon Baines Johnson, March 9, 1965~~~Lyndon Baines Johnson was thrust into the presidency at a moment of tragedy - the public assassination of his predecessor. With the nation in panic, Congress in deadlock, and Civil Rights seemingly out of reach, the challenges were long, but Johnson used his mastery of the legislative process to overcome them. He may have gone down as one of the greats if not for the war that consumed his presidency, the war in Vietnam. Bibliography1. Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream – Doris Kearns Goodwin2. The Years of Lyndon Johnson and the Passage of Power – Robert Caro3. Indomitable Will: LBJ in the Presidency – Mark K Updegrove4. The Vietnam War – Ken Burns (documentary)5. An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917–1963 – Robert Dallek6. Richard Nixon: The Life – John Farrell7. Eisenhower in War and Peace – Jean Edward Smith8. Gerald Ford – Douglas Brinkley

Support the show

JFK once joked, "the worst I do, the more popular I get." Historian Harold Holzer, director of the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College in New York City,  Chairman of the Lincoln Forum, and author of The presidents vs. the Press: The endless battle between the white house and the media, from the founding fathers to Fake News, discusses how JFK used his mastery of the press to become one of the most enduringly popular presidents in U.S. history.

Support the show

Joe Kennedy Jr. used his intellect, connections, and more than a few shady stock market tricks to become one of the wealthiest men in America. Once there, he threw his vast fortune behind the political aspirations of his children, challenging them to do good in the world. But tragedy was always a step away. Within a year of Joe's crowning achievement, the presidential inauguration of his son, Jack, Joe was struck down by a stroke. He lived 8 more years, helplessly watching as two sons were felled by assassins bullets.Historian David Nasaw, author of The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy, discusses the Shakespearean tragedy that is Joe Kennedy Sr.

Support the show