36.B) LBJ's Great Society, an interview with Mark Updegrove

"The business of America is business." - Calvin Coolidge. ~~~ Calvin Coolidge had a saying: When you see 10 problems coming down the road, nine will probably go into the ditch on their own. Translation? Don't do anything. But what happens when the one problem that doesn't go into the ditch is the Great Depression? Follow along as Coolidge works his way up the government food chain to VP, becomes president when Harding dies, introduces new tools like radio and motion picture to the presiden...

5 Joulu 202251min

On a late summer day in September, four podcasters got together to record the first ever History Podcast Friendsgiving Spectacular! Tune in as three respected podcasters join me for a round table discussion of American and presidential history. The other podcasters are: Jerry Landry, Presidencies of the United StatesAlycia, Civics & Coffee Howard Dorre, Plodding through the PresidentsIf you enjoy the format, let us know and we'll look for more collaborative opportunities in the futur...

21 Marras 202257min

Politicians having affairs is nothing new in the history of the world. But what happens when they're sleeping with an enemy spy? Join me as I talk to author and lawyer James Robenalt, author of The Harding Affair: Love and Espionage During the Great War, about Warren Harding's 15-year affair with Carrie Fulton Phillips, who became an Imperial German spy during World War I; whether we should be concerned about politicians having affairs; and whether Harding deserves a better shake than histor...

7 Marras 202234min

First, Warren G Harding was a beloved president. Then, he became synonymous with government corruption. But today, we know him for his sex scandals - scandals that took more than 90 years to fully come to light. Follow along as Harding jumps from the newspaper business to politics, sleeps with a potential german spy, fathers a child out of wedlock with another mistress, wins the presidency at a time of great national turmoil, presides over two of the largest corruption scandals in American h...

17 Loka 202257min

"Who was the biggest presidential bust?" "Do any of our presidents have an unvarnished legacy on race?" "Which 19th century president would fail under the media scrutiny of today?" You've all been submitting some great questions this summer and today I take some time to answer them. Thank you everyone who participated. Enjoy the show! Support the show

3 Loka 202237min

Woodrow Wilson's wives had a tremendous impact on his presidency. His first wife, Ellen Axson Wilson, died the week World War I broke out in Europe, leaving the president so depressed at a moment of crisis that he told aids he wished someone would shoot him. Less than a year later, he was over it, and instead obsessed with his courtship of Edith Bolling Galt, sometimes writing her three letters a day. When a stroke crippled Wilson in the final years of his presidency, it was Edith who cared f...

19 Syys 202230min

For the first 128 years of American history, the United States followed the parting advice of its first president, George Washington, to stay out of European wars. That all changed with Woodrow Wilson. Wilson wielded the power of rhetoric to change not just the country's course, but the way Americans thought of themselves - They had a destiny to make the world safe for democracy. But even as Americans embarked on this quest, the ideals Wilson gave life to began to flicker and dim as he succ...

5 Syys 202255min

No 20th century president did more to set back racial equality in the United States than Woodrow Wilson. His administration introduced a silent policy of segregating the federal government, and when he finally spoke out about it, he gave weight to a philosophy that was used to rationalize continued segregation for decades more. Join me as I talk with Eric S. Yellin, an associate professor of History and American Studies at the University of Richmond and author of Racism in the Nation’s Serv...

15 Elo 202254min