Americans finish a chaotic year with a contentious election, which threatens to tear the country apart. A pompous, bombastic president storms the country and is willing to win at any cost. The year is ... 1898!

On the eve of the 2020 election, we are looking back to one of the most significant Midterms in US history. In 1898, future-president Theodore Roosevelt became a national celebrity in Cuba and the Spanish American War. As the US Military conquered Caribbean and Pacific islands, the Fall election became a referendum on 'Expansionism.' Author Stephen Kinzer joins the show for Part 1 of 2 about Anti-Imperialism and a fight for "The Soul of the Nation."

Stephen Kinzer is an award-winning foreign correspondent who has covered more than 50 countries on five continents. Kinzer spent more than 20 years working for the New York Times, most of it as a foreign correspondent. His foreign postings placed him at the center of historic events and, at times, in the line of fire.

In 2006 Kinzer published Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq.  It recounts the 14 times the United States has overthrown foreign governments.  Kinzer seeks to explain why these interventions were carried out and what their long-term effects have been.  In 2017 Kinzer published The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire.  It describes America’s first great debate over military intervention abroad.