A hundred years ago, Wisconsin’s U.S. Senator, Robert M. La Follette made his mark on national politics by running as an independent third party candidate for the White House. He captured a record breaking one-sixth of the popular vote. Historian Richard Drake joins host Allen Ruff to talk about “Fighting Bob” La Follette’s campaign and the legacy it left behind.

Drake is the author of author of The Education of an Anti-Imperialist: Robert La Follette and U.S. Expansion. He has a piece in the current edition of The Progressive Magazine titled “Lessons from the Progressive Campaign of 1924.”

He will speaking at 2pm on Thursday, April 25th as part of the Progressive Magazine’s 4-day long celebration of the 100th anniversary of La Follette’s campaign. A full breakdown of events can be found here.

Richard Drake is the Lucile Speer Research Chair in Politics and History at the University of Montana. In addition to his book on Bob La Follette, Drake is the author of Charles Austin Beard: The Return of the Master Historian of American Imperialism.

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