Our season four presidential closer is arguably the most tragic historical figure in American history; Ricard Nixon. Dick had all the strengths to be a great President, along with an impressive record of signing into law some of the country's most important legislation that still exists today.

Most Americans know nothing of Nixon's accomplishments though, and for good reasons. The abuse of executive power during Watergate served as a warning to the American public on giving away too much trust to the government, a culture that has grown since and polarizes the nation today.

In part one of our Nixon two-parter - Jusef and Neil explore the origins of Nixon's turn towards the darker side of politics and talk through the evolution of Nixon and his political motivations in his pursuit of the presidency.

Keywords:

Presidents

American Presidents

America

USA

United States

Politics

History

Biography

Biographical

Republicans

Democrats

Political Parties

Senator

House of Representatives

Constitution

American Anthem

White House

American Flag

Another twist in formatting with this episode! Think of it as a Part Two to the Dead Too Soon Presidents released earlier this season, as we follow up that episode with the successor to Zachary Taylor and the grandson of William Henry Harrison. We decided to put these two in the same episode to close out the last of our Presidents who have a more forgettable reputation in American history. It also served as an opportunity to shed light on how the failure of the Whigs to keep their Party united contrasted with Republicans giving their Party room to incorporate more political ideologies into their coalition. As a result, these Presidents leave behind very different legacies -- Fillmore's term marks the end of the Whigs and Harrison sparks a new era of Progressive politics that inspires the actions of many of his successors.

Keywords:

Presidents

American Presidents

America

USA

United States

Politics

History

Biography

Biographical

Republicans

Democrats

Political Parties

Senate

House of Representatives

Constitution

American Anthem

White House

American Flag

Today we close a major chapter of our post-founder presidents era -- covering the most impactful of them all in Andrew Jackson. No one before him, not even Washington and Jefferson, had the cult of personality that Jackson had. A whole new political party (which is now our oldest) was formed just to get him into the presidency. Without him, the Democratic Party does not even come into existence.

There have been other presidents who have thrived in their careers from leaning purely into character when you think about people like Teddy, or even Trump, but often what you’ll find in common with their rising political popularity is an overlooked populace that has an outsized grievance towards a government that is heavily favoring the rich and wealthy.

Jackson’s rise is unique when compared to those two, though, because he does much more to create the conditions for someone like him to gain that kind of popularity. If there is one thing that people know or could assume about Jackson, even today, is that he’s not really a nice guy, nor did he try to pretend to be. He’s someone who held a lot of grudges, he was vengeful and distrustful -- especially of the aristocracy -- and most notably, violent and brutal towards his opponents. It’s really how he makes a name for himself nationally through his service in the Tennessee militia and US Army.

Niel and Jusef discuss his new approach to presidential politics and its impacts on such a young country, especially when it comes to campaigning. We also explore his decision-making on the two issues that affected way too many presidencies in the 19th century -- the tariff and national bank.

Keywords:

Presidents

American Presidents

America

USA

United States

Politics

History

Biography

Biographical

Republicans

Democrats

Political Parties

Senate

House of Representatives

Constitution

American Anthem

White House

American Flag

We are back with another side episode, and here we review some of the familiar stories and people we have all heard about at some point growing up -- folk heroes -- focusing on American ones given we are a podcast centered on American presidents. We chose this topic to explore the stories and tales that have stuck around and have had the ability to unite groups of people, and also try to uncover how folk heroes obtained their exclusive status. While some have particularly dark histories and have been glorified for problematic causes, we more so explore what about these people made them so compelling that their [mostly fictional] stories carried on well beyond their lifetimes.

Andrew Jackson is up next in two weeks!

Keywords:

Presidents

American Presidents

America

USA

United States

Politics

History

Biography

Biographical

Republicans

Democrats

Political Parties

Senate

House of Representatives

Constitution

American Anthem

White House

American Flag

Three Presidents within 40 years of one another died in office less than two years into their terms. Niel and Jusef explore the implications of these deaths in how they changed the course of American history in a unique time-jump episode.

Keywords:

Presidents

American Presidents

America

USA

United States

Politics

History

Biography

Biographical

Republicans

Democrats

Political Parties

Senate

House of Representatives

Constitution

American Anthem

White House

American Flag

Rutherford B Hayes had all the potential to be an exceptional president for post-Civil War America. He had defended runaway slaves in court to obtain their freedom. He served in the army throughout the Civil War. He even fought for expanded measures to guarantee black suffrage as governor of Ohio.

Keywords:

Presidents

American Presidents

America

USA

United States

Politics

History

Biography

Biographical

Republicans

Democrats

Political Parties

Senate

House of Representatives

Constitution

American Anthem

White House

American Flag

x

Keywords:

Presidents

American Presidents

America

USA

United States

Politics

History

Biography

Biographical

Republicans

Democrats

Political Parties

Senate

House of Representatives

Constitution

American Anthem

White House

American Flag

Barack Obama is undisputably the most famous president of our modern era, and it's easy to see why. His campaigns (especially in 08) gripped the country's imagination and inspired voter turnout to levels not seen since the 1960s. After decades of neoliberal ideology dominating US domestic and foreign policy, there seemed to be a real reason to hope that we now had a president who would advocate for working families. 

In Part 1 of our two-parter for Barack Obama, we cover Obama's unlikely rise to the top of American politics and its unique story compared to any president. We also think about the monumental achievement of Obama becoming the first Black president and the extra scrutiny and attention that he received because of it while in office. How much does it matter if Obama under-delivered on his campaign promises when he was the first non-white president to contend with the racism embedded in American political institutions? 

Thank you for joining us for the start of Season 4! New episodes are out every two weeks!

x

Keywords:

Presidents

American Presidents

America

USA

United States

Politics

History

Biography

Biographical

Republicans

Democrats

Political Parties

Senate

House of Representatives

Constitution

American Anthem

White House

American Flag

While we would like to believe that the men and women running our country have beliefs that are somewhat grounded in reality, the truth - for better or worst - is that many of our politicians have fallen for beliefs that "we" have deemed outlandish. In today's Unpresidented, Jusef takes us down the weird and occult side of the Whitehouse with names such as Mary Todd Lincon, Nancy Reagan, and Hilary Clinton all subscribing to practices and beliefs one would not associate, in general, with politicians. 

Keywords:

Presidents

American Presidents

America

USA

United States

Politics

History

Biography

Biographical

Republicans

Democrats

Political Parties

Senate

House of Representatives

Constitution

American Anthem

White House

American Flag

Keywords:

Presidents

American Presidents

America

USA

United States

Politics

History

Biography

Biographical

Republicans

Democrats

Political Parties

Senate

House of Representatives

Constitution

American Anthem

White House

American Flag