American Elections: Wicked Game
On February 10th, 1796, Vice President John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail, lamenting the state of discourse in the country. The election was nearing—and becoming heated. Newspapers screamed, factions warred, and John Adams was dismayed with what he called “the wicked Game.” Americans in 2023 can relate. They still have to endure months of shouting, outrage, and the worst sort of political rancor as the country once again chooses its president. But it’s almost always been this way. And to prove it, American Elections: Wicked Game will review the entire history of presidential elections, from the unanimous and inevitable election of George Washington in 1789 to Donald Trump’s surprise electoral victory in 2016—and his contested defeat in 2020. From the host of the American History Tellers and American Scandal, this podcast will explore all 59 presidential elections to discover that there never never was a “good ol’ days,” and that presidential politics has always been played dirty.
Episodes
December 3, 2024 • 37 mins
Today, we introduce the podcast Country Over Self: Defining Moments in American History - a short-form history podcast for Americans who want to understand the courageous decisions their Presidents have made.
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November 19, 2024 • 55 mins
With Biden out of the race, Trump must now face off against Vice President Kamala Harris. As Harris tries to seize the moment and appeal to the Silent Majority, Trump sticks with his signature brand of politics in an attempt to take back the country that he claimed he never lost in the first place.
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November 5, 2024 • 45 mins
In the wake of the infamous events of January 6th, former President Donald Trump fights through a sea of legal troubles to secure his party’s nomination. Trump’s improbable rise is jeopardized when President Biden announces his intention to step aside and endorse his Vice President, Kamala Harris.
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October 29, 2024 • 81 mins
President Donald Trump faces off with President Obama’s political wingman: Vice President Joe Biden. In a contest defined by partisan rancor, congressional investigations and a global pandemic, Donald Trump claims he is the man to “Keep America Great” while Joe Biden claims he is the man to win the battle for the “Soul of America.”
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October 22, 2024 • 74 mins
Donald J. Trump returns to the political arena. First as a longshot candidate and then as an improbable frontrunner, Trump makes his way through a crowded Republican primary field to take on Democratic nominee, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Trump and Clinton go head to head in a divisive election that upends political norms and further deepens the divide between Right and Left.
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October 15, 2024 • 49 mins
As Barack Obama fends off attacks on everything from his foreign policy to the color of his suits, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney defends his religion and fights his way through a crowded Republican primary to secure the GOP nomination. As the 2012 election takes shape, both sides see a narrow path to victory. In the midst of the divisive campaign, a New York businessman turned reality television star helps reignite an o...
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October 8, 2024 • 48 mins
New York Senator and former First Lady Hillary Clinton enters the 2008 election as the presumptive favorite to win the Democratic nomination. But Barack Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois, creates a groundswell in the Party and leaves Clinton behind. To win the White House, Obama must overcome racist attacks from both sides, conspiracy theories about his birth, and a veteran Republican senator: John McCain. But as George W. ...
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October 1, 2024 • 55 mins
As President George W. Bush navigates the challenges of his first year in office, he is confronted by one of the gravest, most horrific tragedies ever to reach American shores. But Bush’s response to 9/11 puts his presidency under fire. In the wake of the United States’ invasion of Afghanistan, Bush’s decision to go to war with Iraq costs him politically, and it leads the Democrats to look for a war hero candidate to lead them thro...
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September 24, 2024 • 48 mins
With Bill Clinton’s tenure as president coming to an end, Vice President Al Gore takes up the mantle for the Democrats. Gore tries to distance himself from the Clinton scandals while Republicans look to the son of a former president to get them back into the White House. In November of 2000, Vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush find themselves embroiled in one of the most controversial presidential elections in ...
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September 17, 2024 • 46 mins
Bill Clinton bounces back from early problems in his presidency and looks to become the first two-term Democratic president since Franklin Roosevelt. To stop him, Republicans turn to Senator Bob Dole and try to conjure images of a glorious American past that only they can bring back. But Dole won’t be the Democrats’ biggest problem: with re-election on the line, Bill and Hillary Clinton will find themselves at the center of multipl...
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September 10, 2024 • 46 mins
President George H.W. Bush tries to shore up his Republican coalition and offer the American people a clear picture of what a second Bush term will look like. Meanwhile, in the South, a young saxophone-playing Democratic governor from Arkansas and an Independent Texas businessman will make a second term for Bush seem like an impossibility.
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September 2, 2024 • 47 mins
Vice President George H. W. Bush is Ronald Reagan’s heir apparent. But in order to defeat Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis, Bush must embrace Reagan’s conservatism, get the best of a respected primary challenger named Bob Dole, and escape the shadow of what many call the biggest political scandal since Watergate.
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August 27, 2024 • 50 mins
With a Republican-controlled Senate and a clear mandate from the American people, Ronald Reagan sets out to show American strength abroad and to reduce the role of “big government” at home. The idea that his political future will ever be in question seems impossible, but a widening wealth gap and a lone gunman’s bullet will threaten his first term and his prospects for re-election.
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August 20, 2024 • 49 mins
President Jimmy Carter fights to keep the White House in a trial by fire of domestic recession and international turmoil. Carter defends his presidency against the rise of a softer, more approachable brand of conservatism embodied by the skillful optimism and powerful charisma of Republican nominee Ronald Reagan.
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August 13, 2024 • 49 mins
When Nixon gets caught up in the biggest presidential scandal in American History, he enlists the help of a man with unimpeachable character: Gerald R. Ford Jr. In the wake of Watergate, Ford becomes the only man to ever be appointed to the presidency. In his reelection bid for an office he was never elected to, Ford must prove himself worthy of his party’s nomination and fight off a Washington outsider: Georgia Democrat Jimmy Cart...
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August 6, 2024 • 53 mins
In a contest largely defined by the Vietnam War, Republican President Richard Nixon fights to keep the White House out of the hands of Democratic nominee Senator George McGovern. In order to give Nixon a run for his money, McGovern and his anti-war message must survive a political scandal that threatens to bring McGovern’s judgment and leadership skills into question.
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July 30, 2024 • 56 mins
Against the backdrop of the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement, President Johnson declares his intention not to run in the 1968 contest, leaving the door open for former Vice President Richard Nixon to stage a political comeback. In order to win the White House, Nixon must win the hearts and minds of a divided electorate and a political system teetering on the brink.
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July 23, 2024 • 51 mins
In the aftermath of JFK’s assassination, Lyndon Johnson fights to shed the mantle of accidental president. But as he strives to carry forward Kennedy’s legacy, he faces a barrage of opposition from a divided Democratic party. Meanwhile, across the aisle, the Republicans fight to mount a defense as they rally around a conservative candidate who hopes to redefine the word Republican: Barry Goldwater.
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July 16, 2024 • 47 mins
Democrat John F. Kennedy and Republican Richard Nixon fight for the White House on new technological turf: the rise of television sets the stage for an unprecedented campaign defined by race, religion and dirty tricks. But on the campaign trail, “Tricky Dick” Nixon meets his match in John F. Kennedy’s relentless brother, Bobby Kennedy.
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July 9, 2024 • 44 mins
In the run up to the 1956 contest, Ike battles severe health issues, an intensifying Cold War and enemies in the Democratic party. But his greatest struggle during the campaign isn’t with Adlai Stevenson and the Democrats, it’s with his Secretary of State: John Foster Dulles. The conflict between these two political titans comes to a head in the middle of a contentious domestic election largely defined by foreign affairs.
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To l...
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