[Abridged] Presidential Histories

When it comes to politicians, promises made + promises kept is supposed to = reelection, right? For Benjamin Harrison and the 51st GOP Congress, this common sense equation failed in a major way. After passing more legislation than almost any Congress in U.S. history, Harrison and the GOP majority were sent packing in one of the most lopsided congressional wipeouts ever. Why?Follow along as Harrison serves in the Civil War, enters politics, wins the White House, and passes a raft of major legislation - some of which we still live under today - only for the voters to reward him by punching his pink slip. Oh, and he'll acquire the country's first overseas territory, too. Imperialism, here we come!Bibliography1. Benjamin Harrison – Charles W. Calhoun2. Grover Cleveland – Henry F. Graff3. The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century – Scott Miller4. T.R. the last Romantic – H.R. BrandsSupport the show

How do you break a 28-year losing streak? It takes good strategy, a bit of luck, and sometimes whatever the heck a mugwump is.Join me as I interview Ted Kohn, the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Norwich University and a historian of the Gilded Age in American History, on how the Democrats ended an era of Republican rule. Support the show

What do you do when your party hasn't won a presidential election in 28 years? You find an outsider and roll the dice. Grover Cleveland's political career was less than three years old when the Democratic party nominated him for president in 1884, but that guaranteed a candidate with a clean record - or so they thought. Get ready for a sex scandal that will have Republicans famously taunting, "Ma, Ma, where's my Pa?" and ultimately victorious Democrats rejoining, "Gone to the White House, ha, ha, ha!" Follow along as Cleveland buys his way out of serving in the civil war, jumps into law in politics, and rockets from Buffalo Mayor, to New York Governor, to U.S. President in three short years. He'll lose reelection in 1888, but don't worry, we'll see him again four years later.Bibliography1. Grover Cleveland – Henry F. Graff2. Benjamin Harrison – Charles W. Calhoun3. The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century – Scott Miller4. T.R. the last Romantic – H.R. BrandsSupport the show

Chester A. Arthur is a 19th-century American politics version of Breaking Bad mashed with Darth Vader's redemption story.Ok. There's no meth or space sorcery. But there is a seemingly noble man who jettisons his values when they get in the way of making a buck. (Ok, a LOT of bucks). And then,  after a lifetime of proving himself a good-for-nothing scoundrel, he turns into a redemption story when thrust into the presidency with the future of the nation on the line.Join me as I interview Scott Greenberger, executive editor of Stateline, the daily news service of the Pew Charitable Trusts, and author of The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A. Arthur, on why Arthur fell from grace, and the factors that inspired his redemption at a time when the entire country had given up on him.Support the show

Chester A. Arthur is the most corrupt politician to ever become president. For years, he made a fortune making sure enough money disappeared from the New York City customs house to keep his patron in power. When a backroom deal made him vice president and an assassin's bullet ended James Garfield's presidency and began Arthur's, the nation despaired. But then he got an unexpected letter. One woman - a woman he'd never met - believed he was capable of change. Could Arthur complete the most unexpected transformation in presidential history? Or was American democracy about to be sold to the highest bidder?Follow along as Arthur goes from inspiring Civil Rights lawyer to not-so-inspiring corrupt political crony, to Vice President, to the White House and ponder the age old question - can people change?Bibliography1. The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A. Arthur – Scott S. Greenberger2. Destiny of the Republic – Candice Millard3. Rutherford B. Hayes – Hans. L. Trefousse4. Grover Cleveland – Henry F. Graff5. T.R. the last Romantic – H.R. BrandsSupport the show

It's Obama time! We are skipping ahead in the narrative to talk with UNC professor Claude A. Clegg, author of the recently published book The Black President: Hope and Fury in the Age of Obama, about the Obama administration, race, and the challenges and opportunities that come with writing contemporary history.Support the show

James Garfield has been called, "The best president we never had." What did we lose when he was assassinated? A champion for the abandoned freedmen? A guiding light in an age of corruption? Or just another politician, same as the rest? Join me as I interview to Todd Arrington, a historian and site manager at the James A. Garfield National Historic Site in Mentor, Ohio, and author of The Last Lincoln Republican: The Presidential Election of 1880 , on what the nation lost when Garfield was assassinated and how the Republican Party was evolving in the final decades of the 19th century.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/AbridgedPresidentialHistories)Support the show

James Garfield didn't want to be president, but the 1880 Republican Convention nominated him against his will. And do you know what thanks he got for it? Assassinated within six months. But Garfield has a lot to teach us in his fascinating rags-to-riches life and the fierce political battles he waged during his short term in office for, in just a few months, he accomplished what his predecessor could not - the defeat of Lord Roscoe's corrupt New York political machineFollow along as Garfield goes from school janitor to school president, civil war soldier to Congressman, and a guy in the crowd at the 1880 GOP convention to 20th president of the United States. And learn why his assassin's lone defense in court was, "The doctors killed Garfield, I just shot him."Bibliography1. Destiny of the Republic – Candice Millard2. Rutherford B. Hayes – Hans. L. Trefousse3. The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A. Arthur – Scott S. GreenbergerSupport the show

Rutherford B. Hayes is known to history as the President who ended Reconstruction, but is that a fair monicker? What did Hayes think of slavery, the freedmen, and Reconstruction, anyway?Join me as I interview to Dustin McLochlin, a historian at the Rutherford B Hayes Presidential Library and Museums in Fremont, Ohio, on Hayes' evolving views on slavery and how to best protect the former slaves, and bring peace, after the Civil War set them free.Support the show

How do you lead a nation when half the country thinks you were fraudulently elected?  I'm not talking about 2021, I'm talking about 1877, when Rutherford B Hayes emerged the winner of an election that was so vigorously contested, he wasn't even officially declared the winner until two days before inauguration day. But what did Hayes win? A nation that didn't fully accept him, and a party so rife with corruption that the longest daggers were in his fellow Republicans' pockets.Follow along as Hayes fights in the Civil War, becomes governor of Ohio, wins the craziest election in American history, and then faces down corrupt bosses within his own party and a violent crescendo of labor unrest triggered by the rampant inequalities of the industrial revolution.Bibliography1. Rutherford B. Hayes – Hans. L. Trefousse2. Rutherford B. Hayes: Warrior & President - Ari Hoogenboom3. Grant – Jean Edward Smith4. T.R. the last Romantic – H.R. Brands5. The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A. Arthur – Scott S. Greenberger6.  Destiny of the Republic – Candice MillerSupport the show