Tag Archives: Democratic Party

S008 – Transition Gone Wrong

December 31, 202019 - Rutherford B HayesAbram Hewitt, Allan Thurman, Benjamin Bristow, Boss Tweed, Carl Schurz, Chester A Arthur, Daniel Sickles, Democratic Party, Election of 1876, Florida, Hamilton Fish, James G Blaine, Liberal Republican Party, Louisiana, Marshall Jewell, Morrison Waite, Oliver P Morton, Oregon, Reconstruction, Republican Party, Roscoe Conkling, Rutherford B Hayes, Samuel J Tilden, Simon Cameron, South Carolina, Thomas Hendricks, Ulysses S Grant, US House, US Senate, US Supreme Court, William Chandler, Winfield Scott Hancock, Zachariah Chandlerpresidencies

Year(s) Discussed: 1875-1877

Though the US takes pride in the regular practice of peaceful transitions of power from one presidency to the next, sometimes the transition is not quite so peaceful, especially when the results are in dispute. Such was the case in the aftermath of the presidential election of 1876 where, for months, allegations flew back and forth, political leaders across the nation exerted their influence in favor of their chosen candidate, members of both parties prepared for armed confrontation, and no one could predict whether Samuel J Tilden or Rutherford B Hayes would end up being the nineteenth president of the United States. Source notes for this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Images: “Rutherford B Hayes” [c. 1865-1880], courtesy of Wikipedia and “Samuel Jones Tilden” [c. 1860-1886], courtesy of Wikipedia

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S006 – It’s Convention Time!

August 2, 2020UncategorizedAbraham Lincoln, Al Smith, Alton B Parker, Andrew Jackson, Anti-Masonic Party, Anti-Saloon League, Champ Clark, Democratic Party, Edwin T Meredith, Franklin D Roosevelt, Frederick Douglass, Henry Clay, James A Garfield, James G Blaine, James K Polk, James M Cox, John C Breckinridge, John C Frémont, John W Davis, Ku Klux Klan, Lewis Cass, Martin Van Buren, National Republican Party, Oscar Underwood, Republican Party, Robert La Follette, Samuel Ralston, Stephen Douglas, Tammany Hall, Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Walsh, Ulysses S Grant, Victoria Woodhull, Whig Party, William Howard Taft, William Jennings Bryan, William McAdoo, Woodrow Wilsonpresidencies

Year(s) Discussed: 1824-1992

Since the first national party convention in the United States in September 1831, party conventions have played a key role in American politics. In this episode, we explore the role of these gatherings in determining presidential nominees as well as setting agendas through the party platform and examine a few notable conventions in detail. Sources used for this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Image: “Eleanor Roosevelt addresses Democratic National Convention, Chicago, Illinois. July 18, 1940,” courtesy of Wikipedia

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S005 – Unprecedented Part II

June 21, 202032 - Franklin D RooseveltAlben Barkley, Alf Landon, Arthur Vandenberg, Charles McNary, Cordell Hull, Democratic Party, Douglas MacArthur, Edward Joseph Kelly, Eleanor Roosevelt, Election of 1936, Election of 1940, Election of 1944, Frances Perkins, Frank Knox, Frank Murphy, Franklin D Roosevelt, Harold Ickes Sr, Harry Hopkins, Henry Stimson, Henry Wallace, Herbert Hoover, Ilo Wallace, James Farley, Joe Martin, John Nance Garner, Millard Tydings, Republican Party, Robert A Taft Sr, Robert H Jackson, Sam Rayburn, Thomas E Dewey, Wendell Willkiepresidencies

Year(s) Discussed: 1936-1944

With increasing uncertainty in the global situation and continued instability in the domestic economy, candidates lined up on both the Democratic and Republican sides to succeed Franklin Roosevelt at the end of his second term. However, 1940 found the President considering what was previously unthinkable: running for a third term of office. In this special episode, we explore this unprecedented election conducted under the looming threat of being drawn into a war waging abroad. Sources used for this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Image: “Wendell Willkie, President of the Commonwealth & Southern Corporation appearing before House Military Affairs Subcommittee” by Harris & Ewing [17 May 1939], courtesy of Wikipedia

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S004 – Unprecedented Part I

April 19, 202005 - James Monroe, 16 - Abraham LincolnAaron Burr, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, David Farragut, Democratic Party, Democratic-Republican Party, Edward Bates, Election of 1800, Election of 1816, Election of 1820, Election of 1824, Election of 1860, Election of 1864, Francis P Blair, Frederick Douglass, George B McClellan, Henry Clay, James Monroe, John Adams, John Bell, John C Breckinridge, John C Calhoun, John C Frémont, John Quincy Adams, Republican Party, Salmon P Chase, Samuel Pomeroy, Stephen Douglas, Thomas Jefferson, Ulysses S Grant, William H Crawford, William Seward, William T Shermanpresidencies

Year(s) Discussed: 1800-1801, 1816-1825, 1860-1864

While some presidential elections function in much the same way as others of the time, there are those select few that reshape the process or are noteworthy for being unique in some way. In the next two episodes of the special series, I will be examining four presidential elections that stand out to me as unprecedented. In this episode, I start with the election of 1824 which saw a four way match up between Secretary of State John Adams, Secretary of the Treasury William Crawford, Speaker of the House Henry Clay, and Senator Andrew Jackson. The remainder of the episode is devoted to the election of 1864 which saw President Abraham Lincoln running for reelection against his challenger, General George McClellan. Sources used for this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Images: “Abraham Lincoln” by George Peter Alexander Healy [c. 1869], courtesy of Wikipedia and “George Brinton McClellan” by Julian Scott [c. 1888], courtesy of Wikipedia

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S002 – Primaries vs Caucuses

February 1, 2020UncategorizedAl Smith, Barack Obama, Democratic Party, Edmund Muskie, Election of 1904, Election of 1928, Election of 1972, Election of 1976, Florida, George McGovern, Harold Hughes, Harry Reid, Herbert Hoover, Iowa caucuses, Jimmy Carter, Jonathan Bourne, Nevada caucuses, New Hampshire primary, Oregon, presidential election, Republican Party, Robert La Follette, Ronald Reagan, South Carolina primary, Wisconsinpresidencies

Year(s) Discussed: 1901-2008

What is the difference between a primary and a caucus anyway? Listen as I explore that question and discuss the various permutations of both as well as how the presidential primary calendar came to have Iowa and New Hampshire as the first contests in this episode. Sources used for this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Image: “Republican Candidates at the Nashua, NH Debate, 1980”, courtesy of Wikipedia

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S001 – A History of Primaries

January 5, 2020UncategorizedAdlai Stevenson II, Al Smith, caucus, Charles Evans Hughes, Democratic Party, Dwight D Eisenhower, Election of 1816, Election of 1820, Election of 1824, Election of 1912, Election of 1916, Election of 1924, Election of 1928, Election of 1932, Election of 1952, Election of 1960, Election of 1968, Election of 1972, Election of 1976, Election of 2020, Herbert Hoover, Hubert Humphrey, James Monroe, John F Kennedy, John W Davis, Joseph I France, Lyndon B Johnson, presidential election, presidential primary, Republican Party, Robert Taft, Theodore Roosevelt, William H Crawford, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilsonpresidencies

Year(s) Discussed: 1816-1976

Did you know that presidential primaries in the United States are a rather modern innovation and that for a long time, presidential primary winners often didn’t end up as the party’s nominee? Learn how the primary system came to be what it is today, the varying impacts it has had on presidential campaigns since its inception, and why it took so long to play a key role in choosing presidential nominees. Sources used for this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Image: “For Auld Lang Syne” by Leonard Raven-Hill [May 1912], courtesy of Wikipedia

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V004 – Interview with Zacharie Kinslow

July 21, 2019UncategorizedAndrew Jackson, Civil War, Democratic Party, Dolley Madison, Elias Polk, James K Polk, Martin Van Buren, Paul Jennings, Reconstruction, Sarah Polk, slaverypresidencies

Year(s) Discussed: 1795-1891

On the anniversary of James K Polk’s death, I spoke with Zacharie Kinslow of the President James K Polk Home and Museum in Columbia, TN about the 11th President and his wife Sarah Childress Polk. Zach also shares his research on the life of Elias Polk, an enslaved individual whose life after attaining freedom following the Civil War provides insight into life for African-Americans in the Reconstruction Era and the Gilded Age. Images used for this episode as well as links to Zach’s article on Elias and video of a presentation at a conference on Polk can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Images: “Zacharie Kinslow” and “Elias Polk”, courtesy of Zacharie Kinslow

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Presidencies of the United States

A journey through presidential history from the beginning to the present day

Tag Archives: Democratic Party

S008 – Transition Gone Wrong

S006 – It’s Convention Time!

S005 – Unprecedented Part II

S004 – Unprecedented Part I

S002 – Primaries vs Caucuses

S001 – A History of Primaries

V004 – Interview with Zacharie Kinslow