In 1892, the rich were getting richer, the poor were getting poorer, and a former president decided to run again against the rival who had defeated him. How similar is the Gilded Age to our modern political and economic moment?

Join me as I talk with University Kentucky professor Mark Summers, a historian of the Gilded Age and author of numerous books, including The Era of Good Stealings; The Gilded Age; and Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion: The Making of a President, 1884, to discuss how Grover Cleveland won his revenge campaign against Benjamin Harrison and whether we currently live in another Gilded Age.

Support the show

On the final day of Grover Cleveland's first term in office, his wife turned to a member of the white house staff and said.  "I want you to take good care of all the furniture and ornaments in the house, for I want everything just as it is now when we come back again. We are coming back. Just four years from today."

Four years later, she was right.
 
Follow along as Cleveland graciously accepts defeat in 1888 only to become convinced he must run again, wins the white house, and them stumbles into one of the greatest economic depressions of the 19th century.  By the time he leaves office, the party will be done with him and his brand of small-government politics forever.

Bibliography
1. Grover Cleveland – Henry F. Graff
2. Benjamin Harrison – Charles W. Calhoun
3. The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century – Scott Miller
4. T.R. the last Romantic – H.R. Brands
5. The Moralist: Woodrow Wilson and the World He Made – Patricia O’Toole

Support the show

Benjamin Harrison presidential accomplishments range from obtaining America's first overseas possession to signing an anti-trust bill that is still the law of the land, but he's hardly known today. Why?

Join me as I talk with Charles Hyde, the President and CEO of the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site in Indianapolis, Indiana, on why Benjamin Harrison should be better known and what we should remember him for.

Support the show

Is it possible to win your way to defeat? Benjamin Harrison and the 51st Congress might say so. After passing almost all the legislation they had campaigned on in 1889, American voters dealt them crippling defeats in 1891 and 1893. What went wrong?

Join me as I interview Charles Calhoun, a retired distinguished professor of History at East Carolina University, a past president of the Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, and the author of Benjamin Harrison, on how Benjamin Harrison and the Republican Party won their way to defeat.

Support the show

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!

Bibliography
1. Benjamin Harrison – Charles W. Calhoun
2. Grover Cleveland – Henry F. Graff
3. The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century – Scott Miller
4. T.R. the last Romantic – H.R. Brands

Support 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.

Bibliography
1. Grover Cleveland – Henry F. Graff
2. Benjamin Harrison – Charles W. Calhoun
3. The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century – Scott Miller
4. T.R. the last Romantic – H.R. Brands

Support 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?

Bibliography
1. The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A. Arthur – Scott S. Greenberger
2. Destiny of the Republic – Candice Millard
3. Rutherford B. Hayes – Hans. L. Trefousse
4. Grover Cleveland – Henry F. Graff
5. T.R. the last Romantic – H.R. Brands

Support 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