Monthly Archives: January 2017

0.01 – Source Notes



The Oval Office in 1981, courtesy of Wikipedia

The intro and outro music for this episode are excerpts from Hail to the Chief performed by the US Army Band and courtesy of Wikipedia.

• “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty (Quotation).”Monticello. https://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/eternal-vigilance-price-liberty-quotation. Last Accessed: 23 Nov 2016.
• “Theodore Roosevelt – Travels of the President.” Department of State, Office of the Historian. https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/president/roosevelt-theodore. Last Accessed: 26 Nov 2016
• Bartoloni-Tuazon, Kathleen. For Fear of an Elective King: George Washington and the Presidential Title Controversy of 1789. Ithaca, NY and London: Cornell University Press, 2014.
• Bourne, Peter G. Jimmy Carter: A Comprehensive Biography from Plains to Postpresidency. New York: Scribner, 1997.
• Cannon, James. Gerald R. Ford: An Honorable Life. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2013.
• Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton. New York: Penguin Press, 2004.
• Cooper, John Milton, Jr. Woodrow Wilson: A Biography. New York: Alfred A Knopf, 2009.
• Dallek, Robert. Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and His Times, 1961-1973. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
• Eisenhower, Dwight D. Mandate for Change, 1953-1956: The White House Years. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co, 1963.
• Eliot, Charles W, ed. American Historical Documents, 1000-1904, With Introductions and Notes. New York: P F Collier & Son, 1969 [1910].
• Harris, John F. The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House. New York: Random House, 2005.
• Ketcham, Ralph. James Madison: A Biography. Charlottesville, VA and London: University Press of Virginia, 1994 [1971].
• LaFeber, Walter. The American Age: United States Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad since 1750. New York and London: W W Norton & Co, 1989.
• Larson, Edward J. The Return of George Washington, 1783-1789. New York: HarperCollins, 2014.
• Lyon, Peter. Eisenhower: Portrait of the Hero. Boston, MA and Toronto, ON, Canada: Little, Brown and Co, 1974.
• McCullough, David. Truman. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992.
• Morris, Edmund. Theodore Rex. New York: Random House, 2001.
• Pole, J R, ed.; Hamilton, Alexander; Madison, James; Jay, John. The Federalist. Indianapolis, IN and Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Co, 2005.
• Thomas, Evan. Being Nixon: A Man Divided. New York: Random House, 2015.
• Trefousse, Hans L. Andrew Johnson: A Biography. Newtown, CT: American Political Biography Press, 2009 [1989]
• Woodward, Bob. The Price of Politics. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2012.


0.01 – Introduction – What is the Presidency?



White House, by Daniel Schwen, courtesy of Wikipedia

In the inaugural episode of this podcast, we examine the nature of the presidency – what qualifies someone for the presidency, what powers and limitations does the president have, how was the office developed in the first place, and how has the office changed over time? This high level overview gives us an opportunity to be introduced to some themes that are going to carry through the podcast, and I take a few minutes to share the intended format of the podcast. Sources used for this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.


Mini Episode 01 – Presidential Transitions



As a prelude to our full launch, this mini episode is an informal discussion of presidential transitions that have been less than smooth. From John Adams ducking out on his successor’s inauguration to name calling between Eisenhower and Kennedy, there are a number of examples of presidents who haven’t always wished their predecessors or successors well upon their transition.