[Abridged] Presidential Histories

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31.B) Herbert Hoover, the first businessman president, an interview with David Hamilton Feb 06, 2023

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"It simply comes to this: men hate me more after they work for me than before. They don't need think they are coming to a snap. They're coming to a perfect hell and I am the devil." - Herbert Hoover, 1897, written from the gold fields of Australia.
The United States had seen generals, publishers, history professors, and lawyers - oh so many lawyers - become president. But it had never had a businessman president before Herbert Hoover. David E. Hamilton, a history professor at the University of Kentucky, discusses how Hoover's background in business gave him the tools to handle some aspects of the presidency, but left him entirely unequipped to handle others.

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31.A.) The political evolution of Herbert Hoover, an interview with Thomas Schwartz Jan 16, 2023

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"My country owes me nothing. It gave me, as it gives every boy and girl, a chance. It gave me schooling, independence of action, opportunity for service and honor.” - Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover entered government a self-described progressive. But by the time the end of his life, his opposition to the New Deal had some calling him a father of modern conservativism. What's the truth of the matter? Join me as I talk to Thomas Schwartz, director of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library-Museum, about the evolution of Herbert Hoover and whether he changed, or whether the country changed around him.

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31.) Herbert Hoover 1929-1933 Jan 02, 2023

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"In America today, we are nearer a final triumph over poverty than is any other land." - Herbert Hoover.
~~~
Herbert Hoover made his fortune as a mining engineer, made his name as a humanitarian leader, and lost his reputation as a president. Nobody knew the great Depression was coming when they elected Hoover, but the great irony of his presidency is that, after savings millions of lives as a humanitarian during national and global emergencies, he's the first guy most Americans would have turned to if they had known it was coming. He went above and beyond what any previous president had dared try to combat a financial panic, but it wasn't enough.
Follow along as Hoover goes from being an orphan, to a member of Stanford's inaugural class, to the gold fields of Australia and China, and the boardrooms of Britain, only to shed his business identity for a 15-year career as a humanitarian from Belgium to the Mississippi, and ultimately win the White House, only for a series of economic calamities known as the Great Depression to destroy his administration and reputation. By the time Hoover leaves the White House, his name will be a synonym for homeless encampments.
Bibliography
1. Hoover: An Extraordinary Life in Extraordinary Times - Kenneth Whyte
2. FDR – Jean Edward Smith
3. Calvin Coolidge - David Greenberg
4. The Moralist: Woodrow Wilson and the World He Made – Patricia O’Toole
5. Warren G Harding – John W. Dean
6. Truman – David McCullough
7. The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century – Scott Miller
8. Eisenhower in War and Peace – Jean Edward Smith
9. William Howard Taft – Jeffrey Rosen

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30.A.) Calvin Coolidge turns PR into Presidential Relations, an interview with David Greenberg Dec 19, 2022

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History remembers Calvin Coolidge as "Silent Cal," but the notoriously quiet president was also an early adopter of emerging forms of mass media, such as radio and motion picture.
Join me as I talk to historian David Greenberg, author of Calvin CoolidgeandRepublic of Spin: An Inside History of the American Presidency, about how Coolidge quietly became one of the more effective image manipulators of the early 20th century.

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30.) Calvin Coolidge 1923-1929 Dec 05, 2022

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"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 presidential PR kit, enjoys one of the most fortuitous presidencies in U.S. history, and then leaves office just in time for the Great Depression to smack Herbert Hoover in the face instead of Cal.
Bibliography
1. Calvin Coolidge - David Greenberg
2. Warren G Harding – John W. Dean
3. Hoover: An Extraordinary Life in Extraordinary Times - Kenneth Whyte

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History Podcast Friendsgiving Spectacular Nov 21, 2022

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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 States
Alycia, Civics & Coffee
Howard Dorre, Plodding through the Presidents

If you enjoy the format, let us know and we'll look for more collaborative opportunities in the future.
Happy Thanksgiving!

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29.A.) Warren Harding's affairs & legacy, an interview with James Robenalt Nov 07, 2022

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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 history has given him.

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29.) Warren Harding 1921-1923 Oct 17, 2022

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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 history, dies in office, and somehow leaves behind a nation that's in much better shape than how he found it. It's the start of the roaring 20s! This is going to be fun.
Bibliography
1. Warren G Harding – John W. Dean
2. Calvin Coolidge - David Greenberg
3. The Moralist: Woodrow Wilson and the World He Made – Patricia O’Toole
4. William Howard Taft – Jeffrey Rosen
5. Hoover: An Extraordinary Life in Extraordinary Times - Kenneth Whyte
6. T.R. the last Romantic – H.R. Brands

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APH Mailbag Episode! Oct 03, 2022

Show notes

"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!

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28.E.) Wilson's Wives, an interview with Paul Brandus Sep 19, 2022

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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 for him and maintained the illusion that he was still healthy enough for the office - leading some to dub her the first female president.
Join me as I talk with White House correspondent Paul Brandus (@WestWingReports on Twitter), author of several books on the presidency and first ladies, about the relationships and influence of Wilson's Wives.

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[Abridged] Presidential Histories

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