The Past, the Promise, the Presidency

Today’s episode is all about Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President of the United States and arguably the most consequential.  Note, I did not say one of the greats.  They aren’t holding a spot on Mt. Rushmore for him. Certainly not lately, as the national reckoning over race during 2020 has landed hard on Wilson, whose reputation has been sullied by the widespread realization that he might just vie for the unenviable title of most racist president of all. That’s a hard list to evaluate, especially given that numerous antebellum presidents owned people of other races, but as our friend Jon Meacham said in an earlier episode when discussing Andrew Johnson, if you are in the discussion for most racist president ever, well that’s a list you’d rather not be on. Wilson has not fared particularly well as our country rethinks its racial past, and has featured prominently in our national discussion about how to live with the harsh truths of the past in our own present day.  There is so much to discuss about this fascinating man. Today we are learning from two brilliant scholars, Dr. Paul Behringer and Dr. Adriane Lentz-Smith, about this complicated man and presidency. Together our scholars illuminated two points: First, that one can’t just look at American racial policy, and Wilson in particular, in black-white term—Wilson’s presidency invites us to consider questions of race in India, Africa, China, Japan and beyond;And second, that yes you can, at least in so far as the U.S. Army’s attitudes and policies were designed to wage and win a war for democracy yes, but precisely, for whom?Visit pastpromisepresidency.com to read more about Wilson, learn about our guest experts, and more! 

Today’s episode is all about William Howard Taft, the 27th President of the United States. The only person on our nation’s history to serve both as Commander-In-Chief and as Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Taft is one of those people in history with the sad fate of having his name forever recalled…alongside someone else’s.  But really, what did you expect would happen to the man Theodore Roosevelt picked to be his successor.  As we’ll soon see, with friends like these…..Today we will hear from two experts, Dr. Christopher McKnight Nichols and Dan Okert, on Taft’s life and era, and how he dealt with the racial issues of his day. Together they highlighted two critical themes: The national conversation about race no longer focused predominately on African Americans and Native Americans, but turned toward Eastern European and Asian immigrants as well.The role of science in racial thinkingTo learn more about our guests, read show notes, and more, visit pastpromisepresidency.com!

Today’s episode is all about Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States. Theodore Roosevelt, TR, or Teddy, was one of the all-time great personalities in American history. Larger-than-life, captured in stone on Mount Rushmore, inspiration for the Teddy Bear and featured in countless movies, he was at once is intriguing, frustrating, thoughtful and blustery, a man ahead of his times, yet also stuck in the rut of arcane thinking. TR left a legacy of economic reform, social reform, environmental reform, and a new standing for the country in the world. But…was he such a reformer on race? We’ll answer that question, and so much more, when we talk with Dr. Michael Cullinane and Dr. Leroy Dorsey on Roosevelt’s life and times. Together, these conversations highlighted two critical themes: First, the importance of the concept of the frontier to American nationalism, and American racial thinking. Second, why the president has an unparalleled bully pulpit—a term Roosevelt coined by the way—for shaping conceptions of race, citizenship, and ultimately, who could rightly claim to be an American.Visit pastpromisepresidency.com to learn more.

Today’s episode is all about William McKinley, the 25th president of the United States, the president who brought the country into the twentieth century and whose death left the nation in the hands of one of the all-time-great leaders, and characters, in American history, Theodore Roosevelt.  Historians typically view McKinley’s time in office as a moment of, well less transition, than visible transformation, as the country entered the new century more industrialized, urban, and globally powerful than ever before.  And even more so by the time he left office. One example: as we’ve discussed in depth so far this season, American historians typically divide our past, and more important our survey courses, with reconstruction at 1877.  Foreign policy historians typically use 1898 instead.  On this episode you'll learn why this moment is so pivotal, and also why the politics and economics of the McKinley age in many ways starkly resemble our own.This episode features guests Dr. Daniel Immerwahr and Dr. Richard Maass. Visit pastpromisepresidency.com to learn more.

Today’s episode is all about Presidents Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison, the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th presidents of the United States—one of the most unusual transitions in US history. Cleveland served one term from 1885 to 1889, lost the election to Benjamin Harrison, who was in turn replaced by Cleveland in 1892.  Whew.  And you thought our times were complicated!Our two experts today will fill in the details of their stories, and how their politics continue to inform our current moment. For this episode, we spoke to two esteemed scholars: Dr. Greg Downs, Professor of History at the University of California, Davis, and Dr. Gordon Chang, Professor of History at Stanford University.   Together our guests highlighted two key stories from this period: First, the ongoing battle, and ultimately the ongoing erosion, of African-American civil rights in the South now a full generation after the Civil War’s end. And second, immigration’s increasingly key role in the fight over who could, in fact, be a citizen, or if you will, a real American.  Visit pastpromisepresidency.com to learn more.

Today’s episode is all about Presidents James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur. Garfield, the 20th president of the United States, was only in office six and a half months before he died from medical complications following a botched assassination. Just sixteen years after Lincoln’s death, Garfield was the second president assassinated. His vice president, Chester Arthur, served the remainder of his term.  We will learn from two experts about why Arthur’s presidency was dominated by civil service reform, debates over immigration, and conflict over Native American policy—and how the administration might have gone differently if Garfield had survived. For this episode, we spoke to two esteemed scholars. Todd Arrington and Dr. Katie Benton-Cohen helped us grapple with three critical themes: First, the potential for greater civil rights under President Garfield and the opportunity lost with his assassination.Second, the emergence of the southwest as a site of racial tension.Third, the increasing role of immigration in racial relations. Visit pastpromisepresidency.com to learn more.

Today’s episode is all about Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th president of the United States, a man whose name is synonymous with the end of Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow in the south. But perhaps his legacy isn’t quite that simple.Here’s a quick refresher on Hayes.  Born in Ohio in 1822, he was trained as a lawyer, prior to enlisting in the Union Army during the Civil War. After serving bravely in the war, he was elected to Congress and then as Governor of Ohio. Although Hayes had been a staunch abolitionist, had defended enslaved individuals in runaway court proceedings before the war, and supported Radical Republican Reconstruction programs, he made a deal with the devil to win the presidency. In the 1877 election, Hayes lost the popular vote, but won the electoral college through a congressional deal that gave him the victory, in return for withdrawing federal troops from the south.We will learn from two Hayes experts, Dr. Brooks Simpson and Dr. Alaina Roberts, about why Hayes’ election is often seen as a dividing line in our nation’s history—defining the end of federal government intervention on behalf of formerly enslaved people in the South, and the beginning of a prolonged era of state-sanctioned terror for black Americans. This era also ushered in increased encroachment upon Native American lands and sovereignty—and raised new questions about land ownership and citizenship rights—as the nation moved westward. Visit pastpromisepresidency.com to learn more.

Today’s episode is all about Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president of the United States, a man whose story is inextricably intertwined with the history of race in America.  He was, after all the, the commanding General of the Union Forces that ultimately won the Civil War, and he was present at every step of the way as the country faced perhaps an even larger task: reconstructing a workable union in the wake of the war.A national hero, he served contentiously under Andrew Johnson following Lincoln’s tragic death, and succeeded both men when elected President in 1868.  He served two terms, until 1877, years that were incredibly consequential for the course of the South, the Union, and in particular for the millions of African Americans freed at war’s end, but uncertain for what the future might hold.  He’d fought to save the Union during the war.  He’d have to fight again to preserve it long after the guns fell silent.  In today's episode, we speak to Dr. Hilary Green, Associate Professor at the University of Alabama, and Nick Sacco, Park Ranger at the Ulysses S. Grant National Park Service site in St. Louis. We learn from our two Grant experts that we can’t understand his life, his legacy, and certainly not his presidency, without grappling with the biggest event of all: the Civil War.  

Last week, President Donald Trump revealed he has tested positive for COVID-19. After experiencing symptoms and trouble breathing, he was transferred to Walter Reed Medical Center on Friday night, October 2, 2020. While receiving treatment, President Trump's staff and doctors released conflicting and confusing information about his health.But 2020 isn't the first time a president and his doctors have kept information about health a secret. In fact, more often than not, presidents keep their health condition private.Over the last week, lots of media and news reports have mentioned these past incidents of presidential health, but rarely do they provide details. So this emergency episode gives some more information about George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush. We also discuss what information presidents owe to the American people and whether they are entitled to privacy about their health like every other average citizen.Next week, we'll be back to our usual scheduled programming with an episode on President Ulysses S. Grant.

Today’s episode is all about Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States, a man whose presidency is synonymous with the missed opportunities of the post-Civil War era. Never elected, Johnson instead became president after Abraham Lincoln’s tragic assassination. Rather than continuing Lincoln’s agenda, Johnson instead undermined black citizenship, and attempted at every turn to thwart the Republican Party’s Reconstruction efforts in the South.  He is today remembered as a bitter, angry, and failed president, and the first ever to be impeached by the House of Representatives.  But he wasn’t always remembered so harshly. We will learn why today. Here’s a quick refresher on Johnson.  Born in deep poverty in North Carolina in 1808, he apprenticed as a tailor, settled in Tennessee, and won election to the House of Representatives in 1843. After five terms in the House, he served as Tennessee’s governor and then its senator in Washington, remaining the only Senator from a Confederate State to remain loyal to the Union after secession.  Lincoln appointed him military governor of Tennessee as a reward, and then brought Johnson onto the Republican national ticket during the critical election of 1864, hoping inclusion of a Southerner, and a Democrat, might help him win a tough and troubled re-election campaign.  No one imagined he’d be President a mere six weeks after Lincoln’s second inauguration.    It fell to Johnson to reunite the nation after the apocalyptic Civil War, but he couldn’t even make peace in Washington DC.  Perpetually at odds with Congress, he opposed the 14th amendment made freed black Americans full citizens, supported and even pardoned former Confederate leaders, and undermined the Freedman’s Bureau created to help former enslaved individuals adjust to their new lives of freedom.  Years of open political warfare led to his impeachment, which he survived by a single vote in the Senate—a vote historians now believed was bought.  Rejected by both major political parties, he left office in 1868 a man reviled in the North he’d supported during the war, and beloved in the former Confederacy he’d fought against.  Why?  Because of race, plain and simple.To help understand his presidency and discuss Johnson’s legacy more broadly, we spoke to two esteemed scholars: Dr. Lesley Gordon and Jon Meacham.For more information on our guests, show notes, recommended readings and more, please visit www.pastpromisepresidency.com!