Fail to the Chief

It's the Ides of October, and that got me thinking about other would-be Julius Caesar presidents of American history. The men who never were nominated, and maybe never even run, but who could have been either the great Man of the People who'd lead us to glory.... or terrible Imperators who tore us apart. I'll be posting a bunch of these throughout this week.

This time it's iconoclastic Sam Houston, First President of the short-lived Republic of Texas, and maybe the one man who could have kept the Union together in 1860?

It's the Ides of October, and that got me thinking about other would-be Julius Caesar presidents of American history. The men who never were nominated, and maybe never even run, but who could have been either the great Man of the People who'd lead us to glory.... or terrible Imperators who tore us apart. I'll be posting a bunch of these throughout this week.

On this episode, King of the Wild Frontier (and Congressman and badass) Davey Crockett!

It's the Ides of October, and that got me thinking about other would-be Julius Caesars of American history. The men who never were nominated, and maybe never even run, but who could have been either the great Man of the People who'd lead us to glory.... or terrible Imperators who tore us apart. I'll be posting a bunch of these throughout this week.

Our first is The Man Who Would Not Throw Away his Shot... what's your name man? It's Alexander Hamilton, of course.

It's the Ides of October, and that got me thinking about other would-be Julius Caesars of American history. The men who never were nominated, and maybe never even run, but who could have been either the great Man of the People who'd lead us to glory.... or terrible Imperators who tore us apart. I'll be posting a bunch of these throughout this week.

Our first is Founding Father, man on the $100 bill, and political "lightning rod": Benjamin Franklin.

We're not just talking about losers anymore! This episode, join amateur historian Thom Woodley on a tour through the vice presidents of history - those mediocre, second-rate men who were a heartbeat away from the presidency. Those who never served as Commander in Chief (or who were nominated as candidate of one of the major parties) gets discussed today - and rated!

(Please forgive the audio quality on this one - I was without my pop filter and you can hear every single 'p' nice and close!)

I discuss in this episode: George Clinton, Elbridge Gerry, Daniel Tompkins, John Calhoun, Richard Mentor Johnson, George Dallas, William Rufus Devane King, Hannibal Hamlin, Schuyler Colfax, Henry Welson, William Wheeler, Thomas Hendricks, Levi Morton, Adlai Stevenson I, Garrett Hobart, Charles Fairbanks, James Sherman, Thomas Marshall, Charles Dawes, Charles Curtis, John Nance Garner, Alben Barkley, Spiro Agnew, Dan Quayle, Dick Cheney and Mike Pence!

(And special mention goes to some interesting THIRD-place runner ups, like David Rice Atchison, John Hay, Samuel Southard and more)...

(Tertiary special mention goes to some interesting loser veep candidates - like Sarah Palin, Thomas Eagleton and Curtis Lemay, among some dubious others...)

Well, we've come to the end. Fail to the Chief started ten years ago in 2014, and now 50 losers later, we are finally at the big boy (girl), the elephant (donkey) in the room = Hillary Clinton.

It took me forever to get here, but thanks for sticking with me. But please still continue to like, follow, subscribe (and of course, listen) because we'll still throw out some goodies!

Buy my book(s):

https://www.amazon.com/Fail-Chief-1788-1928-Thom-Woodley-ebook/dp/B08WLD5CMG/ref=sr_1_2?crid=19APH7S49I56Q&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.65f4SSp-4xGm2NQM5KYXYGn4Hodq4Aqqo8w-oKCVCcAPFPes6SrBW6IMznU-Z4JGEWKU1tG0ltvkfVA3c43iceQK2hPLcfFN0857atN47MRR31KulpCVPm7s94h9WyStpllJ2HZ0ZDGgsnFFIb1fLINY0JLWwR8ZuBkTTz7mWGfXjgwjwoBMYSlYkyUC5oXAn6KtGLTzsgJzt8xw7x863TAGEcn-omn2_Me0xg26kPs.Y0JIuaRNDiQAga6-4nn5XvQIU7sb6WfoNfr8FoTc_aY&dib_tag=se&keywords=fail+to+the+chief&qid=1727115557&sprefix=%2Caps%2C118&sr=8-2

And email me if you like the show at failtothechiefpodcast @ gmail !

Join amateur historian Thom Woodley as he delves into the losers of presidential history - and today, the man who inspired the podcast in the first place, 2012 loser (to Barack Obama) Governor and Senator Mitt Romney. Why did he lose? Could he have won? What would America be like if so?

This episode, amateur historian Thom Woodley digs into the life and politics of John Sidney McCain, Jr. - Arizona Senator and two-time Republican candidate for president, who lost the 2008 race to Barack Obama.

Every episode, comic historian Thom Woodley dives deep into a loser of the US presidential elections. This time, it's John Kerry, Senator, Secretary of State, war veteran and protestor, surf rocker, and the only Democrat since 1988 to lose the popular vote (and even THAT's questionable!)

What if President Kerry had inherited the Iraq War and Operation Enduring Freeom? What if he'd been man on watch during the 2008 Recession?

This is the (lightly comedic) history podcast where we talk about the losers of presidential races. In this one, we're discussing ALL your favorite losers of the 6th period of American history (1968-2004), including:

Hubert HUMPHREY! George WALLACE! Robert F. KENNEDY! Eugene MCCARTHY! Nelson ROCKEFELLER! Charlene MITCHELL! George MCGOVERN! Shirley CHISHOLM! John SCHMITZ! Patsy MINK! Ed MUSKIE! Gerald FORD! Jerry BROWN! Jimmy CARTER! Teddy KENNEDY! John ANDERSON! Walter MONDALE! Gary HART! Jesse JACKSON! Michael DUKAKIS! George H.W. BUSH! Ross PEROT! Pat BUCHANAN! Bob DOLE! Al GORE! and Ralph NADER!!