Political Struggles and Electoral Reform: Birch Bayh's Legacy

As the US Presidential Election nears, Radiolab covers the closest we ever came to abolishing the Electoral College.

In the 1960s, then-President Lyndon Johnson approached an ambitious young Senator known as the Kennedy of the Midwest to tweak the way Americans elect their President. The more Senator Birch Bayh looked into the electoral college the more he believed it was a ticking time bomb hidden in the constitution, that someone needed to defuse. With overwhelming support in Congress, the endorsement of multiple Presidents, and polling showing that over 80% of the American public supported abolishing it, it looked like he might just pull it off. So why do we still have the electoral college? And will we actually ever get rid of it?

Special thanks to Jesse Wegman, the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, Sarah Steinkamp at DePauw University, Sara Stefani at Indiana University Libraries, Olivia-Britain-Toole at Clemson University Special Collections, Tim Groeling at UCLA, Samuel Wang, Philip Stark, Walter Mebane, Laura Beth Schnitker at University of Maryland Special Collections, Hunter Estes at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, and the folks at Common Cause.

We have some exciting news! In the “Zoozve” episode, Radiolab named its first-ever quasi-moon, and now it's your turn! Radiolab has teamed up with The International Astronomical Union to launch a global naming contest for one of Earth’s quasi-moons. This is your chance to make your mark on the heavens. Vote on your favorites starting in November: https://radiolab.org/moon
 

EPISODE CREDITS: 
Reported by - Latif Nasser and Matt Kielty
Produced by - Matt Kielty and Simon Adler
Original music and sound design contributed by - Matt Kielty, Simon Adler, and Jeremy Bloom 
Mixed by - Jeremy Bloom
Fact-checking by - Diane Kelly
and Edited by  - Becca Bressler and Pat Walters 

EPISODE CITATIONS:

Articles - 

Harry Roth, “Civil Rights Icon Defended the Electoral College Forty Years Ago” (https://zpr.io/jmS5buEGxBzU)

Frederick Williams, “The Late Senator Birch Bayh: Best Friend of Black America,”

(https://zpr.io/NDiAgcK5UPhX)

Christopher DeMuth, “The Man Who Saved the Electoral College” (https://zpr.io/PgneafdmWBVA)

Books - 

Jill Lepore, These Truths: A History of the United States (https://zpr.io/FyzMJAY8G7qe)

Robert Blaemire, Birch Bayh: Making A Difference (https://www.blaemire.us/)

Alex Keyssar, Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College? (https://zpr.io/kSf9uBQ7FHwa) 

Let The People Pick the President: The Case for Abolishing The Electoral College (https://zpr.io/mug4xcMqeZCw) by Jesse Wegman 

Videos:

CGP Grey series on The Electoral College (https://www.cgpgrey.com/the-electoral-college)

Birch Bayh speech about the Electoral College (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrAZVx7tekU) (from Ball State University Library which has many more Birch Bayh archival clips)  

Birch Bayh’s campaign jingle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcvnS5zaxC4

Signup for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!

Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.

Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org.

Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation Initiative, and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.