whigs

Throughout the podcast, we have flirted with and chit-chatted about all kinds of third parties in the United States, and while at first we didn't think it was the case, we realized it actually would have been wrong not to talk about all those extra parties - and explore what it is about our system that keeps them as extras. So HERE WE GO, starting way back with that nasty 1824 election and getting through Masons and Whigs and Free Soilers and Know-Nothings and Populists - OH MY! It's a lot more fun than anyone should have talking about third parties in America would be! Join us, why don't'cha?!

This BONUS episode was Produced, Written, and Performed by:

Gina Buccola
Sandy Bykowski
Joseph Fedorko
Sylvia Mann
Paul Moulton
Patrick J. Reilly
And Tommy Spears

This Episode’s Historians: Dr. Chelsea Denault, and James McRae

Original Music written and performed by Throop McClerg
Audio production by Joseph Fedorko
Sound effects procured at Freesound.org

DB Comedy Logo Designed by Adam L. Harlett
ELECTABLES logo and Episodic Thumbnails Caricatures by Dan Polito

THE ELECTABLES concept was created by Patrick J. Reilly.

CAST LIST

THIRD PARY PART ONE OPEN – Written by Paul Moulton
            DR. NAIR - Tommy
            PAIGE - Ramona

ANTIMA - Written by Paul Moulton
            FILMORE - Paul
            MORGAN – Joe
            MARSHALL - Sandy
            WEED - Tommy 

VICTORIA WOODHULL - Written by Patrick J. Reilly
            ANNOUNCER - Tommy
            STOCKBROKER - Patrick
            VICTORIA – Sandy
            CAPTAIN BLOOD - Joe
            POLITICIAN - Paul
            HARRIET BEECHER STOWE - Ramona
            FREDERICK DOUGLAS - Sylvia

WEAVER THE BELIEVER – Written by Paul Moulton
            REV. THEO CRADDICK - Joe
            MRS. BURA CRADDICK - Sylvia
            WEAVER - Tommy
            JESUS - Patrick

THE BIG LEAGUES - Written by Sandy Bykowski
            THE RED PLAYER - Patrick
            THE BLUE PLAYER - Paul
            THE NEW PLAYER - Tommy 
            ANNOUNCER - Joe 

What began as a 60th birthday surprise from a wife to her husband is now an INCREDIBLE compilation album sure to go down in history as one of the most unique and impressive ever produced. 

A wide-ranging group of talented musicians and artists have come together to celebrate one of the world’s most important, yet under-sung heroes; national treasure, Kevn Kinney. 

"Let’s Go Dancing: Said the Firefly to the Hurricane, A Compilation Celebrating the Songs of Kevn Kinney" is available on Record Store Day; Nov. 24th, 2023. And will be released on TastyGoodyRecords.com on November 28th *and* in even more stores on Dec. 1st. And CDs and the full digital album will be released Jan. 5th, 2024. 

So to celebrate and tell us the story behind this massive four-album undertaking, we're joined by the project’s Producer, Visual Artist, Anna Jensen (aka Mrs. Kinney) and her husband who is also the lyricist and front man of Atlanta’s own Drivin N Cryin; our favorite Braves Fan ever - Mr. Kevn Kinney - Welcome to Braves Country!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This BONUS episode was Produced, Written, and Performed by:

Gina Buccola
Sandy Bykowski
Joseph Fedorko
Sylvia Mann
Paul Moulton
Patrick J. Reilly
And Tommy Spears

This Episode’s Historians: Dr. Chelsea Denault, and James McRae

Original Music written and performed by Throop McClerg
Audio production by Joseph Fedorko
Sound effects procured at Freesound.org

DB Comedy Logo Designed by Adam L. Harlett
ELECTABLES logo and Presidential Caricatures by Dan Polito
THE ELECTABLES concept was created by Patrick J. Reilly.

CAST LIST

CLAY OPEN – Written by Paul Moulton
            DR. NAIR - Tommy
            SANDY – Sandy

THE GREAT COMPROMISER – Written by Sandy Bykowski
            CLAY – Patrick
            MARJORIE - Sandy
            AOC – Sylvia

BRYAN OPEN – Written by Paul Moulton
            DR. NAIR - Tommy
            PAUL – Paul

TRIUMPH OF THE WILLA – Written by Paul Moulton 
            Bryan - Paul
            Mary - Sandy
            Malarkey and Schnitzel – Patrick
            Willa – Sylvia

CLAY OPEN – Written by Paul Moulton
            DR. NAIR - Tommy
            SANDY – Sandy

DEBS OPEN – Written by Paul Moulton
            DR. NAIR – Tommy
            TOMMY – Tommy

TOMMY’S DEBS MONOLOGUE AND SONG – Written and Performed by Tommy Spears

Contributions to DB Comedy are graciously accepted by going to the DB COMEDY donation page at https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/db-comedy, who is the nonprofit fiscal sponsor of DB COMEDY. Donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.

For more information on DB Comedy and THE ELECTABLES, visit DB Comedy’s host page on Simplecast.com. Follow us on Facebook at DB Comedy or Democracy Burlesque, and listen to us on the Trident Network, and on World Perspectives Radio Chicago, streaming at 365live.com.

Thanks for listening! Thanks for downloading! Don’t forget to subscribe and don’t forget to like!!

Our special guest today is Professor Christopher Leahy, a leading expert on the U.S. presidency and American politics in the 18th and 19th centuries. His book, President Without a Party: The Life of John Tyler, published by LSU Press in 2020, is the first full-scale biography of America’s 10th president published in more than 80 years. Dr. Leahy has appeared on numerous podcasts discussing his work and he’s also the author of numerous journal articles and reviews in scholarly publications.

When Millard Fillmore became president, the country was on the verge of collapse. President Taylor had just died, the Compromise of 1850 appeared dead, and southern secessionist were organizing a convention to plot disunion. The nation looked to Fillmore to save it.

And he totally whiffed.

Follow along as Fillmore uses the scapegoating of minorities to rise to power, postpones Civil War for a decade with the Compromise of 1850, destroys the Whig party with his overzealous enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act, and runs for president with the Know Nothings - a nativist secret-society-turned-political-party that dreamt of building an America where immigrants, catholics, and minorities are second-class citizens.

Bibliography
1. Millard Fillmore – Paul Finkelman
2. Zachary Taylor – John D. Eisenhower
3. Heirs of the Founders – H.W. Brands
4. Abraham Lincoln – David Herbert Donald
5. Franklin Pierce – Michael F. Holt

The music you hear in this episode is Granary by Ryan Ahlwardt. You can find more of his music on ryansongs.com.

If you'd like to learn more about INvets and it's mission to help Veterans find careers in Indiana, visit invets.org.

To see all of Stephen Floyd's Presidential biography reviews (where we picked our books from), visit: Best Presidential Bios

Logos designed by Dimitri Morrison

Like and follow us on Social Media

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Instagram: @presiquential

Twitter: @presiquential

"Ol' Rough n' Ready" hadn't even been sworn in yet when the discovery of California gold derailed whatever plans he'd held for his presidency. 100,000 Americans flooded west to California In 1849 and quickly began clamoring for statehood - statehood without slavery. The north loved the idea, the south threatened to secede over it, and Zachary Taylor had to bridge the gap or die trying.

Follow Taylor as he participates in four wars and becomes a national hero for his generalship in the Mexican-American War, gets pulled into politics by a Whig party desperate to reclaim the White House, and then shows he won't be bullied by anyone when the California Gold Rush leads to the threat of a secessionist crisis In 1850.

Bibliography
1. Zachary Taylor – John D. Eisenhower
2. Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America – Walter R. Borneman
3. Millard Fillmore – Paul Finkelman
4. Martin Van Buren and the American Political System – Donald B. Cole
5. Heirs of the Founders – H.W. Brands
6. Abraham Lincoln – David Herbert Donald

President John Tyler was so hated, he was burned in effigy by his own party before being kicked out of the party and made into a political pariah. And that's BEFORE he committed treason.

Follow along as John Tyler sneaks into the presidency in a fluke, vetoes his own party's agenda to incur their wrath, engages in some of the most ambitious backroom political plotting so far, and then annexes Texas during his final days in office - lighting a 16-year fuse to Civil War.

Bibliography
1. John Tyler - Gary May
2. William Henry Harrison – Gail Collins
3. Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America – Walter R. Borneman
4. Sam Houston – James L. Haley
5. Martin Van Buren and the American Political System – Donald B. Cole
6. Heirs of the Founders – H.W. Brands
7. John Quincy Adams - Harlow G Unger

Hey, y'all! Welcome back to a huge tone shift as we talk about the morally-decent life of Horace Greeley.

Join us as we discuss the adventures of the 1830s Millennial Hipster experience,  ultra-specific newspapers, and we reveal our brand new right-wing grift.

When William Henry Harrison pledged to only serve one term as president, he probably expected that term to last more than one month, but a disease lurking in the D.C. sanitation system had other plans, and so history knows him as our shortest-serving president. But Harrison is far more than that. He's also the reason England didn't capture the American midwest during the war of 1812, and his presidential campaign introduced the word "Booze" to American culture.

So, rock on.

Follow Harrison as he joins the army on the frontier, saves midwest from British invasion, defeats the shawnee warrior Tecumseh at the battle of Tippecanoe, and wins one of the wildest presidential campaigns of all time, only to die a month after being sworn in. But hey, you can't knock him for breaking campaign promises.

Bibliography
1. William Henry Harrison – Gail Collins
2. John Tyler - Gary May
3. Martin Van Buren and the American Political System – Donald B. Cole
4. Heirs of the Founders – H.W. Brands

Gadfly is back and it's part two of the What Led to the Lincoln Election Saga. This time 'round we will be discussing the 1854 Midterm Election, the badass that is Charles Sumner, but If this episode had a star, it would be the worst completed presidential term in American history, that of 15th President James Buchanan. 

Join us as we discuss the importance of the surname apostrophe, Soviet McDonald's, and how bad of an idea it is to ever declare war on Paraguay.

Hey y'all! This is a topic that historians describe as "a big 'un." 

For the next few weeks we're going to be talking about the election of Abraham Lincoln and all of the things that had to happen for a brand new political party go from upstart troublemakers to having control of the House, Senate, and Presidency in the span of six years. 

In part one, we're going full high school history on your butts! It's thirty years of all the Compromises that hit the snooze button on Civil War while also leading the nation into inevitable battle.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act threw American politics into chaos in 1854. The two-party duopoly that existed for the previous 20 years was swept away in the space of a few months. As Abraham Lincoln fought for the anti-Nebraska coalition in Illinois, he found himself with an unexpected political opportunity -- followed by the most difficult decision of his career to that point. 

Nursing his own ambitions and trying to hold onto his power in the U.S. Senate, Stephen Douglas agreed to introduce legislation repealing the Missouri Compromise and opening the upper Midwest to slavery. The brazen assault by pro-slavery forces upended the nation's party system and brought Abraham Lincoln to the forefront of the forces opposing Douglas and defending the Declaration of Independence. 

As he returned for the final congressional session of his term, Abraham Lincoln tried to lay the groundwork for the future of his party -- by proposing the abolition of slavery within the District of Columbia, and in using the patronage powers of the newly elected Whig president. But opposing forces, and Lincoln's underestimation of them, led to disappointment. 

The Whigs were desperate for victory in 1848, and Abraham Lincoln joined a group promoting the candidacy of General Zachary Taylor. Lincoln showed that he could be an effective speaker -- but he could not have foreseen that his efforts would help destroy the party that he had devoted his life to. 

The U.S. invasion of Mexico in 1846 sparked a humanitarian catastrophe that had profound consequences for both countries. Abraham Lincoln joined a Whig fight against the war. 

By 1842, Abraham Lincoln had completed a long and painful journey into the middle class. He was an established attorney and had married into a prominent family. But politics would force him to reckon with the costs of his decisions -- and later, confront a grief he had never left behind.

As Abraham Lincoln recovered from his nervous breakdown, he further focused on ways to allow his head to control his heart. Yet as 1842 unfolded, he found himself in a potentially deadly fight with a political rival, and growing closer to Mary Todd.

His personal and professional bonds all snapped at once at the end of 1840. It proved a prelude to the worst emotional crisis of Lincoln's life, one that he would need a full year to pull himself out of.