Born in poverty in Texas Hill Country, President Johnson delivered an unsurpassed series of legislation, including the Voting Rights Act and Civil Rights Act. Yet by 1968 he was so toxically unpopular that he decided against running again.

Don's guest today (for the second time in a row!) is Mark Atwood Lawrence.

Mark is Professor of History at the University of Texas at Austin and author of ‘The Vietnam War: A Concise International History’, ‘Assuming the Burden: Europe and the American Commitment to War in Vietnam’ and ‘The End of Ambition: The United States and the Third World in the Vietnam Era’.

Produced by Freddy Chick. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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The Vietnam War is a defining chapter in American military history. But how did the US get so involved in this far away conflict? And when did those in command realise that they had to leave?

To answer these questions in this first episode of our series about the Vietnam War, Don if joined by returning guest, Mark Atwood Lawrence.

Mark is Professor of History at the University of Texas at Austin and author of ‘The Vietnam War: A Concise International History’, ‘Assuming the Burden: Europe and the American Commitment to War in Vietnam’ and ‘The End of Ambition: The United States and the Third World in the Vietnam Era’.

Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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Almost a year into the American Civil War, Union forces laid siege to Fort Donelson. In this episode, we're going to find out why this fort was strategically important, and how Ulysses S Grant got his nickname - Unconditional Surrender.

Don is joined by Chris Mackowski, Copie Hill Fellow at the American Battlefield Trust and professor at the Jandoli School of Communication at St Bonaventure University.

Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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Bobby Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign had an aura around it. Its urgency, idealism and raw emotion connected with a nation in turmoil. But his life was cut short, just as his brother's had been, by an assassin's bullet.

Don's guest to help capture this remarkable man and campaign is Patricia Sullivan, Professor of history at the University of South Carolina and author "Justice Rising: Robert Kennedy’s America in Black and White".

Please note this episode contains outdated strong language which has been used for historical context and accuracy

Produced by Freddy Chick. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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80 years ago, the battle of Iwo Jima came to an end on 26 March 1945. After 36 days of fighting, nearly 7,000 US Marines had been killed and another 20,000 injured.

Don is joined by historian Timothy Heck, naval historian, artillery officer and author of two books on amphibious warfare. They discuss the tactical importance of Iwo Jima, the battle itself and its outcomes, including that famous image of the marines raising the US flag.

Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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How do you justify a war you lost, and that destroyed countless homes, businesses, towns and families? This was a question facing the southern states after the Civil War.

Their answer? The myth of the Lost Cause.

In this final episode of our series on the Confederacy, Don catches up with Ty Seidule to find out where this myth came from, and what it really is.

Ty is a Brigadier General (Ret.) of the US Army, Professor Emeritus of history at West Point and author of 'Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerner’s Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause'.

Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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The biggest counterfactual that hangs on the assassination of JFK is this: Would JFK have launched a ground war in the jungles of Vietnam? Don Wildman and his guest Fredrik Logevall explore what might have happened if JFK didn't die.

Fredrik Logevall is a Pulitzer Prize winning historian at Harvard who is working on a definitive three-part biography of JFK. The first volume is out now, JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956.

Produced by Freddy Chick. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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Did the Confederates predict that secession would lead to war? How ready were they to fight? And what was their military strategy?

Cecily Zander is back on the podcast for this third part of our series on the Confederacy. Listen to find out who was in charge, and whether there was ever a point when they might have won.

Cecily is the author of the upcoming 'Abraham Lincoln and the American West', and 'The Army Under Fire: Antimilitarism in the Civil War Era'.

Produced and edited by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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Dwight D. Eisenhower is a fixture in the lists of America's favourite Presidents. How did Eisenhower change America? How did the Cold War and Civil Rights become intertwined in this period? What doomsday did Eisenhower foresee for America at the end of his time in office?

Don's guest today is Christopher Nichols, professor of history at The Ohio State University. Chris is working on a book about Eisenhower and the 1952 election.

Produced by Freddy Chick. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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The Civil War consumed the Confederacy for its entire existence, draining it of supplies, food and people. In this second episode of our confederacy series, Don is joined once again by Aaron Sheehan-Dean.

They explore what everyday life was like for the people of the 11 southern states of the US, and what the Confederate government had in mind for peacetime.

Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.