
34.A) Ike v McCarthyism, an interview with Larry Tye
Dwight Eisenhower ascended to the presidency when the United States was in the grips of a red scare - a red scare fanned by Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy. As McCarthy exploited the public fear to steal the spotlight with hundreds of unfounded accusations of communist sympathies, Eisenhower, and three future presidents then in the Senate, had to grapple with the moral and societal threat of McCarthy to the republic, and what they were willing to do to stop him. New York Times best-selling au...
18 Syys 202335min

34.) Dwight Eisenhower 1953-1961
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed." - Dwight Eisenhower, April 16, 1953 ~~~ Dwight Eisenhower was born to poverty, but rose to be the savior of Europe and preside over the perilous early years of the Cold War. Follow along as Ike punches a ticket to education and upward mobility at West Point, leads the allied armies of Europe to victor...
4 Syys 20231h 1min

33.D) The blinding of Sgt. Isaac Woodard and the awakening of Harry S. Truman, an interview with Judge Richard Gergel
As millions of Americans demobilized after World War II, some were welcomed home as heroes, but others were attacked by their neighbors. When a white South Carolina sheriff attacked a black sergeant, still in uniform, on his way home from the war, the resulting outrage inspired Harry Truman to risk his presidency for the cause of Civil Rights. Judge Richard Gergel, author of Unexampled Courage: The Blinding of Sgt. Isaac Woodard and the Awakening of President Harry S. Truman and Judge J. Wati...
21 Elo 202336min

33.C) Truman and the Pendergast Machine, an interview with Jon Taylor
Before he was president, and before he formed the Truman Committee, Harry Truman was known primarily for one thing: his connection to an infamous Kansas City political machine - the Pendergast Machine. But what was the Pendergast Machine? How did it work? What was it into? Historian Jon Taylor discusses Truman's connection to the infamous operation, and who was helping who in the relationship.Support the show
7 Elo 202351min

33.B) Truman and the Bomb, an interview with D.M. Giangreco
"16 hours ago, an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima ... It is an atomic bomb. It is a harnessing of the basic power of the universe. The force from which the sun draws its power has been loosed against those who brought war to the Far East" - President Harry S. Truman, Aug. 6, 1945, in his announcement of the first atomic attack in world history ~~~ When Harry S. Truman unexpectedly became president on April 12, 1945, the United States was still in the midst of World War II - ...
24 Heinä 202353min

33.A) The Truman Committee: An interview with Steve Drummond
"When people create delays for profit, when they sell poor products for defense use, when they cheat on price and quality, they aren't any different from a draft dodger and the public at large feels just the same way about it." - Senator Harry S. Truman, March 31, 1941 ~~~ As American war industry roared to life in 1941, Senator Harry S. Truman began receiving letters from concerned constituents. Money was being wasted. Badly. And all over the place. Truman jumped in his car and travelled t...
17 Heinä 202348min

33.) Harry S Truman 1945-1953
"I don't know if you fellas ever had a load of hay fall on you, but when they told me what happened yesterday, I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me." - Harry S. Truman, April 13, 1945, the day after Franklin Roosevelt died and Truman was sworn in as president. ~~~ Harry S. Truman was a political late bloomer, first elected to the senate at age 50, and becoming vice president against his own wishes at age 60. That second role lasted just 82 days before ...
5 Heinä 202356min

Bonus! The Rough Rider and the Professor, an interview with Laurence Jurdem
"You are the only man whom in all my life I have met who has repeatedly and in every way done for me what I could not do for myself and nobody else would do." - New York Governor Theodore Roosevelt to Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, 1900 ~~~ Theodore Roosevelt didn't reach the top of American politics without a little help from his friends, and no friend was more important than Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, a titan in his own right. Laurence Jurdem, author of The R...
4 Heinä 20231h 4min