Nominating the President

It’s easy to imagine that front-runner Donald Trump could emerge with the GOP nomination in 2016. But that’s unlikely, according to Marty Cohen co-author of The Party Decides: Presidential Nominations Before and After Reform. He says the party “elites” still choose the nominee. Plus: Patrick Rhamey studies and teaches politics. And now he’s putting his expertise to use as a member of city council in the small town where he lives. And: Abraham Lincoln sat for some one hundred photo portraits. Richard Lowry’s new book The Photographer and the President explores Lincoln’s relationship with his photographer.

Later in the show: Today when we vote, we enter a private space, secretly make our choice, and go about our day. Don Debats explains that early voting wasn’t just public; it was a raucous, drunken community festival. Plus: It’s hard to find a smile in a 19th century photograph—instead, you’ll see stern faces and stiff poses. Historian Richard Straw tells the story of one early photographer who broke the formal rules and took candid shots instead.