Herbert Hoover

How can we ever fairly assess a President like Herbert Hoover? While there are plenty of pros and cons to this President, it is tricky to know of any one who would have thrived, or even survived to obtain a second term while first taking office in 1929. At the same time, there are few Presidential candidates in history who could have beaten Hoover, who had such an untarnished reputation for the 1929 election as well. In this episode of UnPresidented, we take a look at what happened in the American economy in the buildup to 1929 to make Hoover the perfect candidate to take over the Presidency following the decade of the Roaring 20s -- a time where industrialization and technological advancement were reaching all-time highs in the US up until that point.

We also explore how much Hoover can be blamed for the steepest collapse the US has ever seen (far worse than in 2008 and 2020). In being fair to Hoover’s severe limitations at the time to pull the country out of economic devastation, we recognize there are more interesting conversations to have about what causes an event like the Great Depression to happen in the first place, and also what Hoover could have actually done to ease the suffering of millions at home. Being well known as a humanitarian figure before stepping into a career in politics, why did Hoover struggle so much to use the power of the Federal Government to provide more safety nets to ease the suffering of millions? Was Hoover’s Presidency a necessary evil to globalize the world economy? In this episode, we shed light on how much our world has changed as a result of Hoover’s 4 years in office -- for better and for worse.

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

Jusef gave Niel a three week vacation letting him rest from his research and script duties. On this side-episode we go back to one of our favorite presidential episodes, Lyndon B Johnson. Apparently we aren't the only ones that think LBJ makes for an incredible subject matter - with Hollywood tapping Rob Reiner and Woody Harrelson to tackle his legacy. 

From IMDB "Lyndon B. Johnson aligns himself with John F. Kennedy, rises to the Presidency, and deals with the civil rights struggles of the 1960s."

Rob Reiner: Director:

Starring: 

Woody Harrelson as Lyndon B. Johnson

From the Lyndon Johnson Episode:

Johnson’s Presidency comes at a striking inflection point in US history. People are living through a time where there is an incredible movement with enough momentum to force meaningful legislation to finally end Jim Crow, as there is also declining party polarization taking place in Congress and throughout the country (besides the sturdy minority of southern Dixiecrats). At the same time, the looming threat of a nuclear attack had never felt greater, and Johnson took office a day after the country witnessed President Kennedy’s assasination -- all on camera for everyone to see. The stakes for how the country progresses from here have never been higher, and Johnson, the Central Texas raised Democrat, surprisingly emerges as a strong and thoughtful successor.

It is difficult to truly measure the longstanding impact and value of Johnson’s domestic policy achievements throughout his Presidency. This episode of Unpresidented details just how extraordinary they were and the critical role Johnson played in moving those laws through Congress, which were without question some of our most important -- such as the Civil Rights of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Somehow, Johnson’s failures still rise to completely overshadow his accomplishments by the time we get to 1968, as his handling of the Vietnam War destroyed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. How do you evaluate a President like Lyndon Johnson, then, when his actions in office were both extraordinary and catastrophic? We dive into that complicated question, and person, who’s legacy can still be widely felt in 2021.

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

James Monroe - Part 2

We pick up right where we left off in Part 1 during the year of 1800 with the introduction of Jefferson’s administration, where we really start to see the political career of President Monroe blossom. He is a crucial figure within it as well as  Madison’s administration, and it becomes easy to understand how essentially Monroe is guaranteed the Presidency by the time he takes office. His success and support for the War of 1812 becomes the final nail in the coffin for the Federalist Party, and Monroe further seizes upon his personal aspiration in trying to eliminate political parties in the US as a whole after his 1816 election win, ushering in a brief time period known as the The Era of Good Feelings.

Now that we are able to finally explore Monroe’s actual Presidency in this episode, we examine a futile and somewhat bold question, what was the point during these whole 50 years? Monroe takes the country in a direction of continued territorial expansion through the means of war, declares the most aggressive US foreign policy stance yet through the Monroe Doctrine, and further cements the eventuality of a Civil War occurring through his support of the Missouri Compromise. After living through the Revolution and helping to create and shape a document as creative and innovative as the US Constitution, it becomes hard to see how the founders era truly separates the US from any other Imperialist power at the time. If there is such a thing as American exceptionalism, we examine that it really can only be seen in political thought, and not actual practice in the founders era.

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

James Monroe - Part 1

Why would James Monroe, of all Presidents, be worthy of securing our first two part episode? Well, you may be surprised to know that Monroe’s own personal and political story closely mirrors many of the events we think about during the first 50 years of US history. He takes part in critical American Revolution battles, early and foundational Constitutional debates of the role and size of the Federal government, whether the US should expand West, and the War of 1812 -- just to name a few. His influence can be felt in each administration all the way up until he takes the Presidency himself in 1817, and so with him we get a great opportunity to take a deeper dive into the founders era of US Presidents, and how we ended up with one-party Executive dominance for the first quarter of the 19th century.

In this episode of Unpresidented, we set the stage for how Monroe is able to position himself onto the winning sides of early American political debates, and go through what is truly at stake for the country in early US elections. Our conversation encompasses the first half of Monroe’s political career, from 1776-1800, and sheds light not only on his roles in the shaping of early US domestic and foreign policy, but the key players leading those conversations all around him as well. Monroe is very much a supporting cast member for founders in these first 25 years, but with him we have a fascinating character who goes through so many ups and downs, but ends up with arguably more political expertise and influence than his predecessors.

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

Lyndon Johnson

Johnson’s Presidency comes at a striking inflection point in US history. People are living through a time where there is an incredible movement with enough momentum to force meaningful legislation to finally end Jim Crow, as there is also declining party polarization taking place in Congress and throughout the country (besides the sturdy minority of southern Dixiecrats). At the same time, the looming threat of a nuclear attack had never felt greater, and Johnson took office a day after the country witnessed President Kennedy’s assasination -- all on camera for everyone to see. The stakes for how the country progresses from here have never been higher, and Johnson, the Central Texas raised Democrat, surprisingly emerges as a strong and thoughtful successor.

It is difficult to truly measure the longstanding impact and value of Johnson’s domestic policy achievements throughout his Presidency. This episode of Unpresidented details just how extraordinary they were and the critical role Johnson played in moving those laws through Congress, which were without question some of our most important -- such as the Civil Rights of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Somehow, Johnson’s failures still rise to completely overshadow his accomplishments by the time we get to 1968, as his handling of the Vietnam War destroyed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. How do you evaluate a President like Lyndon Johnson, then, when his actions in office were both extraordinary and catastrophic? We dive into that complicated question, and person, who’s legacy can still be widely felt in 2021.

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

Grover Cleveland

Everyone loves an anti-corruption candidate, right? Grover Cleveland was shaping up to be a historically accomplished President, rising from Mayor of Buffalo to President in just 3 years. The first and only Democratic to serve as President post-Lincoln in the 19th century, his party affiliation was a tough sell at a time where voter turnout was at a record high. In order to win voters, Cleveland had to draw a profound distinction between himself and a dominant Republican party. He found his silver bullet with the issue of rampant corruption that existed in almost every Presidential and local office that preceded him, and he capitalized on a small but impressive record of reshaping the status quo of the political machines that had been dominating politics in his home state of New York.

The unprecedented rise of Grover Cleveland is overshadowed by his underwhelming fall, though, and makes for another great case study to understand what character traits and strategies translate to an effective Presidency. Do voters value a President that is hard-lined and consistent or pragmatic and reactionary? Ultimately, it depends, but for any President who serves two terms (even non-consecutively), they will inevitably have to manage a crisis and break from their original policy agenda. Unpacking Cleveland’s Presidency provides a good conversation into what can happen when a President decides to put their personal political values (however noble they may think they may be) above the needs of Americans the position is meant to serve.

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

William Howard Taft

Before we had a Chief Justice Taft, there was President Taft, and those two jobs did not hold an equal value to the man born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. William Howard Taft may have been the one person to win a Presidential election who never truly wanted to hold the office, and unfortunately for him, served his one term in between two powerhouses -- Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. While he may fall into the camp as one of our more forgettable Presidents, this actually was not due to bad decision-making or being someone not engaged with the job. Oddly enough, his downfall from the Presidency could be more attributed to his disdain for the popularity that came with the office.

In this episode of Unpresidented, we dive into how someone with a calm, pragmatic political philosophy goes on to win a Presidential election at the height of the Progressive Era in the US. Taft comes to power at a time where environmental conservation, antitrust laws, and social welfare programs are popular with a majority of people, and is criticized for not publicly championing Progressive policies like his predecessor. Is this criticism fair, though? Did Taft actually work to reign in the Progressive movement, or was he only someone guilty of unsuccessfully defending himself from being characterized that way? Examining Taft’s Presidency helps us to shed light on what types of personalities do not thrive with being the Chief Executive, regardless of what they actually accomplish in office.

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

John Adams

American culture loves to romanticize the founding fathers and the timeline of its revolutionary history. The US puts the faces of their founders on its currency, names thousands of their cities, parks and universities after them, and showcases their quotes all over government buildings throughout all 50 states. Names like Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton are seared into all aspects of the country’s revolutionary story. There is one key founder, though, that always tends to slip under the radar in the never-ending celebration, and that founder is John Adams.

We are going to explore aspects of John Adams’ life and Presidency to uncover why our nation does not boast of his legacy to the same levels of his contemporaries. Why does our retelling of the drafting of the Declaration of Independence shine a light on Jefferson and Ben Franklin when it was Adams’ idea? How did Adams go from being a national hero after the Revolutionary War to becoming our nation’s first one-term President? Given Adams’ accomplishments, it is baffling that he is often downplayed and excluded from the pop culture narrative of the nation’s founding, and tackling his Presidency can tell us a lot about why that is.

Keywords:  

Presidents

Welcome to UnPresidented, a podcast that takes an in depth look at all the American Presidents trying to understand the challenges they face (within context of their era), how they were viewed by their peers and how history looks back at their presidency.

My name is Jusef and I am not qualified to explore history or politics - however, luckily my cohost and friend Niel has a bachelor’s in both history and political science to help us navigate these murky waters.

Keywords: