Vice President under Monroe, Tompkins was a popular populist republican governor of New York and symbol of young America. But he had a problem. Tim Pearson's book on Vice Presidents is Second Fiddle - https://www.amazon.com/Second-Fiddle-Strange-Elected-President/dp/0692877401/ This episode's sponsor - Light Stream credit card consolidation www.lightstream.com/myhist And inkl.com a unique news service that helps you get through news paywalls. inkl.com/my-history Want to advertise on the program? sales@advertisecast We are part of Airwave Media network.

We look at the Anti-Masonic Party of the 1820s and 1830s from backwater movement to national stage and its lasting influence on one of the two major parties today, and on political conventions. Was it truly a conspiracy theory-based movement? What can it say about today's politics. And a candidate who didn't want to run for President. We look at all that.

We take a look at a few topics, the "Joe Manchins" of History, Senators who have disagreed with their own parties Presidents, while also helping in some ways. FDR, Clinton and Lyndon Johnson dealt with their own versions of the dynamic in politics today. We are also reminded in telling this story that Clinton had a 50-50 Senate, in a form. And a bit about British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and his idea for a University of The Air, long before today's online learning.

WIth Matthew Howland from the Political Darkside podcast, Bruce discusses Joe Biden, his story, and the issues of crime, business, busing and more. Find Matthew's podcast at www.politicaldarkside.com

Of the many things Grover Cleveland is remembered for, his still extant wedding cake stands out for the few visitors to his birthplace home in Caldwell, N.J. He's not a President much remembered though podcasts have revived knowledge about him a bit. We discuss Cleveland, his legacy, and a great fight of the 1880's that determined executive power. We also look at another President's argument for why Cleveland should be remembered. We also look at Lincoln's coat, Hayes's oysters and dominos, Washington's teeth and the short military career of William Jennings Bryan.

Andrew Carnegie went from a bobbin-boy child worker to becoming the richest man in America. He also inspired generations of philanthropists, and his money is still at work today educating minds, funding books and pushing for world peace. But his story raises questions. His attitude towards unions was friendlier than most business people of his day on paper, but his actions differed from his words. And even in his philanthropy, is the model of giving after successful business a good one? We look at these questions, and tell his story.

Nixon's first bombing campaigns had the names of mealtimes which seem to also correspond with the years of his first term: 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972. In this episode we look at Nixon, Kissinger and the Paris Peace Accords that ended the Vietnam War. In addition to providing some additional context for the Saigon 1975 situation so much in the news today, we revisit whether the accord was a sham peace or a true deal. The deal left hundreds of thousands of enemy troops in South Vietnam as U.S. troops exited. Could a better deal have been etched? Or could the same deal have been made sooner. And what about those leopard spots? The great debate over the negotiating table? and the dingy carpet? All this and more.

With podcast host of Revolutions and History of Rome Mike Duncan, we talk about the Marquis de Lafayette. He left an aristocratic life in France to fight in the American Revolution, and did so with bravery and zeal. He remains the central figure of American-French cooperation. Mike talks about Lafayette's role not just in American history but in French history. He also talks about his book, Hero of Two Worlds. We also chat about Napoleon and Lafayette, French generals and other stories. Music by Kevin McLeod and Chris Novembrino.

We look at the 1975 Operation Frequent Wind - the evacuation of Saigon and the comparisons to today's events, the politics at the time and now and more. Also - FOR UNBIASED NEWS (or to have a fair chance at seeing the bias), download the app at Ground.News/myhistory. Support our sponsor. The first thing to know is, despite the image of failure, those days were an operational success in a sea of bad policy decisions. In this episode we look at that and: the original plan that was ditched, what Marines on the ground that day said, how it felt for a journalist, effects on the '76 election if any, the reluctant ambassador, 2022 midterms and burning US dollars.

Break your news bubble and see biases in coverage clearly -Download our sponsor Ground News's App at - Ground.News/myhistory All about Signers in this one. We talk to Jason Petri, listener to MHCBUYP about his playing card deck project, and we discuss: :the lives of the signers What can Button Gwinnett, Stephen Hopkins or Thomas Heyward Jr. do for us? The importance of the Declaration, even when the country hasn't lived up always to the aspiration (with help from a former president for a good interpretation). The history of the actual document, and how it was saved from British capture. A reminder - we are part of Airwave Media Podcast Network - Check out great shows at airwavemedia.com Songs by Lee Rosevere - https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com/ and Kevin MacLeod who has excellent jazz music opens our episode up.https://kevinmacleod.bandcamp.com/

Opponent of the filibuster and sometimes a royal pain for the President he served under, Dawes is probably one of the most accomplished Vice Presidents of the United States. In his life time he would win a Nobel Peace Prize, posthumously he would win a Grammy. Friend to both William McKinley and William Jennings Bryan, a banker who could play that piano. We don't know him as well today but in his times, he was oft larger than life.

A Democratic President and a liberal Senator push a free-market reform in the late 1970s that affects us all today. We look at the story of the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. Among the topics - legroom politics, cold fried chicken, consumer rights, cargo politics, Carter's legislative ability or lack of it, champagne denial, mistreated pets, and the deregulator now wearing a robe at SCOTUS.

We are joined by Richard Bey of "The Richard Bey" show and "People are Talking" fame for a talk on a lot of things. We are pleased to have Richard as a long time listener of the show. Richard takes aim at the current depiction of cancel culture as a new thing, which is especially easy for him as he was canceled himself at least twice. Richard and Bruce also talk Iraq War, the 2016 election and what happened, and other topics.

Bruce reviews favorite old clips and speaks to two listeners from all the way back at the beginning, Kevin Willis and Tom Morris.

Vaccine history, acceptance and denial.  The man who saved Boston and never got credit.   Law and the citizen and medicine.   FDR's polio - if it was polio - and what it meant for America.  From 2014, with an update for...

You know about the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the shot heard around the world, the minutemen and their trifold hats and muskets. But how much do you really know about the day's events? This episode we look at the day of fighting at Concord, when a British raiding party turned into a display of American resistance and a trial run for American independence. We look at the stories from that day, and deal with some misconceptions and discuss the impact of the American origin story.

We speak to Dennis Kucinich about his fight to save Cleveland's municipal power system as mayor of the city in 1970's. He risked not only his career but his life during that battle, and he gives us some of the details from his new book -"The Division of Light and Power"

We know Jefferson and Franklin, but what about the other signers - John Hart, John Penn, William Williams, Richard Stockton, William Whipple, John Morgan, William Floyd, George Read and others. I released this series as its own podcast in 2012, some...

One violent event, captured in the best media technologies of its time and brought to American living parlors, completely changed American politics during the Reconstruction period.  A convention at the stately Mechanics' Institute in New...

This episode is all about voting in the federal capital we now call the District of Columbia. We talk about a movement to get voting rights that succeeded for a group of (then) D.C. residents 180 years ago, And about the petitions, committees, tea parties, bus trips and statements by Presidents over the years, and the reactions of Congress to them. Why Lincoln and Jefferson Davis found common ground on one issue about D.C. and neither got their wish. And about the rioting soldiers that may have spurred the whole idea of a federal city on a hill in the first place. Plus, about that guy who lived in a tree.

Known for being Lincoln's first VP and dropped from the ticket, Hamlin was actually as well-known as the President he served under. He was a fighter against the expansion of slavery and an important Senator. It was not out of the question that Hamilin could have been in Lincoln's spot. History has forgotten, but we'll give him a few words in this look at Vice Presidents this summer.

For Wall Street Insiders, Black Monday was not the worst day. The next day, Terrible Tuesday was an agonizing test of the financial system. As part of our series on the commercial history of the United States, we examine the events of Tuesday the 20th. And we look at the history of insurance in America, the reasons there is a stock market, what was learned and not learned from 1987 and a few other things.

Lincoln's turbulent period as President-elect also featured a novel twist: a thirteen-day train ride through the states that had cast their votes for him, and two that had not.  He countered large cheering crowds and some security risks, while he...

Worried hands gripping phones. Black screens with green digits, going downward. Faces pressed against fancy brokerage office glass. Busy signals. The history of Black Monday 1987 crash and the history of what came before it, from stock commodities and even butter and eggs. This is the first of what will be a two-parter on commerce, risk and the attempts to control that risk, insurance. All of it came together on one day in 1987 which made history, but has been somewhat forgotten about. Don't forget to try out our sponsor Betterhelp - http://www.betterhelp.com/beatup

Five thousand people died in Philadelphia, then the capital of the United States in just a few months.  Between August and November of 1793.  Thousands of others, including the President, fled the city.   Preachers told of sins...

In this episode, no big deal, we just tackle about every significant problem we have in our politics today.  norm-breaking, free-speech and free-speech limits, threats and violence, double impeachments, pushing envelopes and reverse virtue...

About Presidents and their parties, particularly situations where a former President who was not re-elected is still in the political picture. There can be some interesting challenges for the party. We look at four cases in history, Gerald Ford's golfing and soft-pedaling in 1980, Truman's attack on a front-runner in 1956, Bush's largely successful exeunt from the stage in 1993 and Carter's absence in 1981-3 which still became an invisible influence.

Stealth ads. Secret advice. Kids in uniforms.  Soft money and hard choices in the information age.  As we discuss in this cast, a Presidential election was almost completely settled a year before it happened.  Some knew an election was...

Leftovers From the Black Monday and Terrible Tuesday Casts.

More about New Orleans Mayor Monroe and Louisiana's first black lieutenant governor.

Edward Stettinius, Jr. served a short but important time as Secretary of State serving F.D.R. and Truman.  Without him, there may not have been a UN.  And because he got very little credit, he was able to be successful.   With...

In this episode, we speak with Cheryl Woodruff Brooks, author of  Washington was a cosmetic entrepreneur whose company turned her into one of of America's first black millionaires. She was founder and president of Apex Enterprises consisting of...

We know the globe-running, meeting master Vice President Cheney, but did you know his parents were hardcore Democrats?  or that he thought his father turned into a bird (albeit at a pretty young age).   As we discuss with Tim Pearson,...

Events 100 years ago have nothing at all to do with today's events, unless you consider new technologies changing the pace of life, the immigration issue, a new administration changing messaging and policies, racism and racial violence, crime, labor...

The Constitution contains two possible forms of presidential removal outside of election, one is the much-discussed impeachment process. The other is the 25th Amendment's fourth section. We discuss 25 Section 4 with Professor Brian C. Kalt, Professor...

The 13th Vice President of the United States remains obscure. Where King's name does come up, it's often with the wrong picture. Or he's confused with Rufus King.  According to our guest, Thomas Balcerski, Associate Professor of History at...

A look at Governor Andrew Cuomo's father Mario, a classic tale of American politics and the potential campaign for President that he ran. 

In 1892, a dreaded disease caused a President to navigate local health situation and created a new law.  We look at the precedent-setting quarantine order of the 23rd President, Benjamin Harrison.  While we are at it, we look at Harrison's...

A look at the famous series of letters between Jefferson and Adams.  Friends as young diplomats, they 'unfriended' and 'refriended' from the time of their Presidencies and politics to their old age.

A look at a frenetic day at the Nixon White House.  

From the early attempts to depict Washington, to the first Congressional attempts to block Confederate statues, to today's debate.  In this episode Bruce examines the history behind statues in America, and Bruce looks at every debating point and...

Attack videos, apology tours, inoculation ads, presidential circles and glib phrases make up the scuttle for the Presidential race in 1988.  Part II of our series.  Biden's all, Dole's rise, Hart's second coming and  the 3x5 card that...

The quote from Atwater sums up the race 31 years ago nicely. Gephardt eyes a rusty belt. Dole proto-snarks, Jackson thunders, Biden runs a post route, Bush looks for his soul. Dukakis tries error free ball. Simon finds his inner bow tie and Bruce...

Nixon Goes to China, and what it might mean for the Iran Deal

A look at the Senator's father, his 1968 run, and time as HUD secretary.

Who was Chester Arthur's secret pen pal?  How did Herbert Hoover spend his last day in office?  What was McKinley's obscure accomplishment?  What was Rutherford B. Hayes passionate hobby? What event hurt Taft's Presidency from the...

A look at Harding's Vice President and future President

From Eugene Debs to Richard Nixon, from a previously run episode, the President's power to pardon is examined.  

The 1969 occupation of the former federal prison by Native American activists was the beginning of a movement and a shift in perception that lives on today. http://www.myhistorycanbeatupyourpolitics.com/alcatraz.mp3 We discuss: Why Alcatraz? The 1973 Stan

The Battle in 1787, 1969 and Today

a bit about Adlai Stevenson I who had an opposite ideology from the President he served.

Presidential Scandals from Nixon to Grant

Story of a very young cold warrior for peace.

Host Bruce Carlson reflects on 14 years of the podcast, provides a show update.  Plus some listener questions on masks then and now, Presidents leaving (or not leaving) the Oval, and Kennedy's 1960 election and allegations of fraud.

The invention of radio and government intervention in recreation.

Nothing starts a good presidential transition like charges of treason, and thus it was in 1968 that a tense election ending started a transition between Presidents of two parties.  Yet all things considering, Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson's...

There Must Be Some Trick in It - Constitution Advocates Take on Conspiracy: Madison, Wilson, "Mr Union" and Others.

Jessica Weisberg has traced Ben Franklin's early advice-writing, read the "Lord Chesterfield" letters that early Americans read to learn how to act, attended Dale Carnegie workshops and spoke with Miss Manners all in a quest to track down why...

America's fascination then and now with sea rebels, sea dogs, privateers, smugglers, and pirates by other names is pretty clear.  Books, movies and video games with pirates sell.  We talk with pirate expert and historian Rebecca Simon, Ph.D....

It started with one guy's idea.  And nothing happened with it until after he died.  We look at the Maine and Nebraska congressional district system of Presidential elector assignment and its history as both the NE2 and ME2 went for different...

In this episode we look at an enduring mystery, one that didn't matter too much in the 1960 election but has since taken on significance. Could it be that Kennedy lost, and Nixon won, the popular vote nationally in 1960. We looked at it a decade ago,...

If the Congress hadn't tried to give Nixon trouble, they might have not handed the Presidency so much power, and other thoughts.

A look at the history of child labor and attempts, mostly unsuccessful for decades, at child labor restrictions.  From 2014.  

Trump's loss and the ensuing court fight is getting the news. There were a few other historical things to note about the election.

He's the President that is on the bottom of most lists.  But why?  And is it fair?  What did he think about his place in history?  We talk about POTUS 15 and look at the events of the run-up to the American Civil War, and we hear...

a bit about Trump's ex-Presidency and Other Things

We know that on May 4th, 1970, fifty years ago, four students were killed by the National Guard at Kent State in Ohio.  What is not always known is everything that happened after that.  Opinion wasn't universally with the slain students, the...

Both Blaine and McKinley dodge possible challenges to their Presidential hopes from military generals.  But in different ways.

We discuss the tight election that elected the first Democratic President in 25 years and some comparisons and contrasts to the current election.  A President's umbrella, salutes for his "big foot," chain-armor clad parades, and the importance of...

'The public and the public papers have been much occupied lately in placing us in a point of opposition to each other. ' So wrote Jefferson to Adams about the 1796 Presidential Election, America's first with two candidates with true campaigns. ...

A candidate who didn't run for President.  A candidate who ran, but didn't know he was running.  A candidate who didn't want to run, but had no choice.  A candidate who ran without seeming to run, and a candidate who ran but died before...

Abraham Lincoln running against...Sam Houston? It is not a far-fetched idea that Abraham Lincoln might have faced Texas hero Sam Houston in the election of 1860, as he  was under serious consideration to be one of the candidates in what became a...

Jimmy Carter's speechwriter said "We were 30 points up, but unfortunately we had to campaign."  A tight race turns to a veritable battle of gaffes between two newbie Presidential candidates.  A surprise challenger and an unelected...

Truman's high-tech train, Dewey's We Go High optimism and the defeat that made him cling to it, Truman's risky calling of a Session of Congress and how it went badly for him in a few ways, and Dewey's decision to get angry, unfortunately first at an...

After the four TV debates between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy in 1960, there was talk of a fifth.  That talk didn't result in another TV debate, but did provide one more campaign issue for a very tight election, and developed a new thing -...

From James Blaine's fainting spell days before Republicans chose a candidate, to Washington's extreme flu scare, to the SARS epidemic and a look at the Ever-So-Prescient Defoe's Journal of a Plague Year, Health and Sickness and Politics.

When an obscure lawyer won a party's nomination for President in a surprise convention choice, he used his platform to take on a hate group. 

The death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg has brought forth a week of mourning but also politics over the Supreme Court.  We discuss the history behind election-year appointments, most notably 1968 and we look at the thorny issue of Court-Packing. ...

The 1880 election was close, with Democrats and Republicans seeking an advantage in its waning days when a letter hits a major city newspaper purporting to be in the hand of a candidate.  It is a letter that could turn the election.  With...

From belt buckles to town-hall meetings, to letting the veeps debate, a history of debate negotiations.

The Democratic Convention in New York City in 1980 was not the example to follow for how to run a convention. With the help of "Reaganland" author and historian Rick Perlstein, we look at one of the most frustrating modern conventions. The fight...

Did Clinton Win Because of Ross Perot?  Or Not.

A bit about an obscure procedure that can mean everything, from a 2011 episode.

Usually a choice at the top of the ticket helps. But sometimes it doesn't. Bruce goes into his Top 10 Worst VP Picks.

The early settlement of Southern Missouri, through the tale of William Monks told in 1908.

The convention that nominated then-unknown Jimmy Carter in 1976 convention was worth 30 percentage points in the polls, and is seen as one of the best organized events by many who study politics. We look at what happened - from a strict chairman's...

Why do people spend so much time watching the news? Bruce Carlson is interviewed by David, Brad at the IP...Frequently Podcast (hah)   We discuss current events in the context of historical ones. Also, reverse virtue signaling.   If...

A bit of an American political story about politics, corn, common sense.  

Separating truth from lore about what is perhaps the most important moment of American Independence, along with authors Bob Drury and Tom Clavin.  A very different Valley Forge emerges than the one in the textbooks.  An integrated army of...

Eagle Claw, popularly known as Desert One, was the unsuccessful attempt to rescue hostages in Iran in 1980, hostages that had been held since the storming of the embassy in 1979.  Replaying two previous podcasts on the topic, we look at the...

High political stakes, secret plots, Plug Uglies armed with sharp awls to help 'convince' voters... Baltimore in the 1850's was a fearsome place where politics and gangs were hard to separate.  Yet it was the connecting stop for new Presidents...

Newark N.J. suffered a brutal and consuming riot, or rebellion, depending on how you see things, in the hot summer of 1967. Through the voices of history, we hear about those events, what caused it, and the musician who got caught up and became an...

George Washington did not get a Cabinet as President. He created it. His precedents forged the institution and the President's relationship to the Executive Departments. Washington didn't fire a cabinet member, but he set the precedents in this area...

What caused The Great Depression, did FDR do anything to fix it, and how does it compare to our recent recessions? A 2008 cast that holds up well...As events started to take shape in '08, , I remember sitting down in a park and scribbling the base of...

In the wake of Occupy Movements, we took a look at what happened at the Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1968.  

We talk about Idi Amin, Kim Jong-il and other despots with Scott Rank of History Unplugged Podcast.  He joins us to talk about his book History's Nine Most Insane Rulers.  We get into Amin's awful suppression of opposition, deportation of...

Godwin's Law is Not a Law.  And yet, it probably should be followed in most cases.  (re-do of past episode that contained an error).  The surprising history of the rule that one should not discuss Nazis in debates, and the person who is...

The May 4, 1970 shootings at Kent State killed 4 students and wounded 9. Paula Stone Tucker was a student going through her work and studies on campus when she witnessed a historic event. We talk about Kent State, how the 4 days unfolded, and get...