We Cannot Surrender Our Institutions: Calhoun
Vice Presidents of The United States Podcast
Defender of his view of Southern rights, Vice President John Calhoun was the only VP to serve under Two Presidents. Both of those Presidents would come to dislike him strongly, as would (we think it's fair to say) most people today. That's because he undermined both Presidents he served under, and because Calhoun's defense of slavery went beyond what a majority of Southern Congressmen and Senators in his time would support. And even in context, it deserves the anger it generates today. If there's any silver linings for (some) modern ears, we discuss his position on tariffs (against...
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Theodore Roosevelt's Four Days
Vice Presidents of The United States Podcast
That's all TR had as Vice President, technically. His official duties were just four days in March. From there he spoke, wrote letters and travelled and to at least one person, complained about the restrictions of the Vice Presidency. Until the change. In this episode we'll actually get a bit into those four days in March 1901 and what happened. They did cover a bit of American history. And we will look at his ride to become President.
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Make It Big: Nelson Rockefeller
Vice Presidents of The United States Podcast
Nelson Rockefeller was already a household name and a figure of some stature when Gerald Ford asked Congress to approve him as Vice President. True to form, he attempted to make the Vice Presidency a big office.
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Liberal, with No Apologies - Walter Mondale
Vice Presidents of The United States Podcast
A one-term Vice President known for being liberal on issues and associated with Hubert Humphrey, Carter's Vice President Walter Mondale changed the office more than anyone else. He moved it from the Senate to the White House, where it has been since. He also ran for President twice, and ended up with a 49-state blowout. Yet, he never doubted what he did was right.
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Partisan-Statesman: Chester Arthur
Vice Presidents of The United States Podcast
Those that know the full story of Chester Arthur know he became President and instituted controls on replacing workers in the civil service. That's largely because a tragic shooting made him President and he, in a statesman-like way, implemented his sucessor's programs. But as Vice President, Arthur was all Stalwart. The Stalwarts, Half-Breeds and Independents fought each other as much as today's Republicans and Demcorats. He was opposed to Half-Breed Garfield's appointments and spent his vice-presidency fighting his own President and supporting his President's political enemy. But once...
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Great Goliath - George Clinton
Vice Presidents of The United States Podcast
Large in his time, mostly passed over in history, George Clinton's ascention to the vice presidency would not have surprised contemporaries. If anything, he was a contender for the top office. He was a giant in New York State, and in the democratic-republican movement in the nation. But his stand against The Constitution, his opposition to the new state of Vermont, and a parade of well-spoken competitors in ambition limited him. Thus he rose to VP, an office that he warned against creating. Clinton's warnings about the system of American government, likely written under an alias...
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Disinterested Friend - Elbridge Gerry
Vice Presidents of The United States Podcast
Elbridge Gerry was never a speaker with "thunder in his voice," per one contemporary description, and he was hard to pin down in terms of his politics, yet that may have made him persuasive. A compromiser and a critic, a pro-government and pro-liberty who hated both mobs and dictatorship. His experience may have been
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The Forlorn Hope: Richard Mentor Johnson
Vice Presidents of The United States Podcast
War Hero, Congressman, State Leader, and Senator. Kentucky's Richard Mentor Johnson was considered for the Presidency and might have obtained it in the case of his friend Andrew Jackson not seeking a second term. But timing is everything: Jackson did seek a second term, and in that term, politics changed. Johnson did become Vice President in the shuffle, and like most 19th Century Vice Presidents, spoke very little to Martin Van Buren, the President he served. Johnson is known for a few things. One is, many said of him that he killed the Indian warrior Tecumseh. ...
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The Shoemaker: Henry Wilson
Vice Presidents of The United States Podcast
Henry Wilson's experience as a workingman would have a double benefit in his political career. Not only could he identify with average people, but he could demonstrate that unlike his slaveholding oppponents, he worked his way up in a country that allowed him to do so. His very presence from actual rags to some riches (at least for a time) compelled Republicans to place him on the ticket with Grant as his second vice-president. Not a bad run for man who had to flee from a poor family and change his name. We tell his story.
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Walk in the Sunshine - Hubert H. Humphrey
Vice Presidents of The United States Podcast
If he wasn't ever Lyndon Johnson's Vice President, HHH might have been remembered as a pretty good Senator. And a well-regarded mayor. But Hubert wanted more. We take a look at the man who was almost President, his bumpy relationship with the President he served under, and the choice he was forced to make in the waning days of the election. We also look at a mayor who took on crime and a Senator who passed many things we take for granted today.
info_outlineHenry Wilson's experience as a workingman would have a double benefit in his political career. Not only could he identify with average people, but he could demonstrate that unlike his slaveholding oppponents, he worked his way up in a country that allowed him to do so. His very presence from actual rags to some riches (at least for a time) compelled Republicans to place him on the ticket with Grant as his second vice-president. Not a bad run for man who had to flee from a poor family and change his name. We tell his story.