History's Trainwrecks

As foretold by the prophecy—well, the one I made myself—I'm back, with the first episode of our series on All-Time, All-Star History's Trainwrecks. Since I'm going in no particular order, I'm starting with Richard Nixon, our thirty-seventh president and first and only one thus far to resign before his term ended.  Before I started my research, I had the same sense that most people who lived through the seventies did (though I had barely started solid food when Nixon went home in disgrace).  In short, I thought he was an unpleasant, criminal douchebag who disgraced the highest office in the land. Good riddance, former President Nixon, I thought while I watched Sesame Street and waited for someone to change my diaper. Off to California with you.  Boy was I wrong. This series about all our best trainwrecks will be quite the revelation.  For all of us.  I hope you enjoy it, and thank you as always for your continued support. I couldn't do this without you. Help out the show!https://www.patreon.com/c/historystrainwreckshttps://buymeacoffee.com/historystrain Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you've noticed my conspicuous absence, don't worry. I've been doing my whole history nerd thing. And I wrote a book about ancient Rome, because I just can't help myself. And it's got footnotes!Stay tuned for that, and our first episode of All Star History's Trainwrecks - Richard Nixon. Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Conway Cabal had been beaten.This unholy trinity of general slimeballs—General Horatio Gates, General Thomas Mifflin, and General Thomas Conway—had schemed to get rid of George Washington, his best generals, his staff of wunderkind (Alexander Hamilton, John Laurens, and the Marquis de Lafayette), and then take over the Continental Army, which was huddled at Valley Forge in the winter of 1778.George Washington proved himself to be no slouch at politics, using a combination of judicious silence, imposing dignity, and a Congressional delegation that came to visit the army's winter headquarters and see for itself what was really going on to cut the cabal off at the knees.With all that behind him and the weather getting better, George had to turn his attention to planning a campaign. There was a universal expectation that the army would spring out of its winter quarters (pun intended) and take the fight to the British. The Howe brothers were homeward bound, a new commanding general was appointed (Henry Clinton), and the French were on their way to help out.But was the army ready for a fight?Support the show on our Patreon page and check out The Secret Life of Canada Podcast! Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Supplies are running low and snow is running high at Valley Forge, along with desertions and resignations. The remaining officers are squabbling amongst themselves and the Congress is nearly no use at all, having fallen under the sway of the slimy and traitorous Conway Cabal. This band of cowardly malefactors has one goal—remove George Washington and his generals and take over the Continental Army.Along the way, they also come up with a plan to invade and conquer Canada, that longstanding pipe dream of the American Revolution.So this episode comes with, at long last, an official apology from the History's Trainwrecks Podcast to the country of Canada.We tried. We failed. We're cool now, though, right?Please support us on our Patreon page, and check out The Secret Life of Canada Podcast! Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On our last episode, we left George Washington's ragtag Continental Army without any shoes in the snow, marching their bloody way to Valley Forge in December, 1777.The year 1777 had been a lousy one for the American cause—Washington couldn't seem to decisively win a battle against the British (who held the American capital of Philadelphia), other generals were actively conspiring to have Washington removed and replaced by themselves (most notably Horatio Gates, who actually had won a decisive battle against the British at Saratoga), Congress was in exile, unable to raise the money needed to keep the army fed and supplied, and it was winter.The good news about winter was that armies tended to avoid campaigning when it was cold. The bad news was that it was cold (see the part above about no shoes).So the situation was dire. The whole thing left me thinking that the army's prospects were not good at all. The safe bet was on the British to win.Since I don't know much about military history or strategy, I've brought in a special guest to help out.Cullen Farrell is a co-host of the Drinks With Great Minds In History Podcast, a world history teacher, and a poet. Check out the links below for all the places you can find him:Drinks With Great Minds In History PodcastCullen's Historical PoetryIf you want to help keep the trainwrecks on the tracks, try our new $1 per month Patreon support level. Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You know how I love a good trainwreck, with all the self-inflicted calamity thereupon, but I found an episode of American history that could have been a massive fireball of a trainwreck, but then wasn't. Its an inspiring story, one that should definitely not be lost on modern-day Americans. The enemy held the high ground, American unity was at a low point, and winter was coming. The cause of the United States hung in the balance, and everything was at stake. There's a contest in the middle of the episode, an easy question perhaps for you devoted listeners, and we look forward to a special guest on our next episode who knows stuff about history and isn't obsessed with grumpy historical curmudgeons. Thank you for your support, and for spreading the word about our little history nerdfest. We've added a $1 per month support level at https://www.patreon.com/historystrainwrecksSupport the Valley Forge Project at https://www.valleyforgeproject.org/ Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you're a fan of the Presidencies of the United States podcast, you're familiar with the special series host Jerry Landry does called Seat At The Table, in which he and a special guest cover the life of a Cabinet secretary. Most of whom you've never heard of. Jerry does this because no president accomplishes anything alone. The President of the United States is at the top, but he needs someone to run foreign policy, handle the money, and keep an eye on the army as well as all the ships at sea. This was never more true than in the early days of the American Republic, before presidents figured out how things worked and relied on these early Cabinet secretaries to define the departments of the Executive Branch and figure out how they were supposed to work, and what they were supposed to be doing. All the while dealing with things like economic calamities and wars, both declared and undeclared. We know about some of these early Cabinet secretaries, like Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe, who went on to be President themselves, and Alexander Hamilton, because of a certain Broadway play. But Jerry digs into the lesser-known ones, in many cases those who have never really been studied by historians. Why? Because without them, America would have been in trouble. Jerry seems to like talking about Navy Secretaries with me, despite my penchant for seasickness and me having no idea about how boats work. This is my second time as a guest on Seat at the Table, and it is our second Secretary of the Navy—William Jones, who served during the War of 1812. Jerry also likes to keep the identity of the Cabinet member a secret from his guest, which adds to the suspense, but doesn't make me look in the least bit knowledgeable. So I have to make things up as I go. This is something you long-time listeners of History's Trainwrecks may be acquainted with. Take a listen to the story of one of the early Navy Secretaries and why they mattered so much to the early American Republic.Check out the Presidencies of the United States Podcast - https://www.presidenciespodcast.com/And The Valley Forge Project - https://www.valleyforgeproject.org/ Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Building Hoover Dam was difficult and deadly work. But there was a Great Depression going on and dam work paid real money. If it could be said that there was a choice between your family starving to death or you risking your life on building the engineering marvel of the age, you chose the dam. Author Kelly Stone Gamble's historical novel Ragtown tells the story of the dam and the desperate people who lived in its shadow. It's a great story and great history. Ragtown is available for preorder now and releases on September 12, 2023. Check out the links below to get your copy of Ragtown and check out Kelly's other books. https://www.amazon.com/Ragtown-Kelly-Stone-Gamble-ebook/dp/B0CCF5PV4Yhttps://www.amazon.com/stores/Kelly-Stone-Gamble/author/B00JIPDBMW Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On our last episode of History's Trainwrecks, we left our major characters in serious predicament: oppositionally-defiant crank Charles Lee was in British captivity, although he did have his dogs and thirty shillings a day in expenses. General Richard Prescott was unwisely spending his nights away from his army, and George Washington and the Continental Army were having a bad winter at Valley Forge. Colonel William Barton had a plan to fix everything. Please support our show on the History's Trainwrecks Patreon page - https://www.patreon.com/historystrainwrecks and support our sponsor - The Valley Forge Project, which wants to amend the U.S. Constitution to eliminate corporate money from politics and term-limit Congress to twelve years. Check out https://www.valleyforgeproject.org to see how you can help. Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

American Major General Charles Lee had picked a great place to hide.Like big-city mobsters two centuries later, George Washington's second in command had discovered that New Jersey was a great place to lay low if someone was after you.Charles had a lot of people after him in December 1776. First and foremost was the British Army, commanded in that area by Lord Charles Cornwallis. After a string of British successes against the Continentals in New York, it wasn't George Washington the English high command was afraid of.It was Charles Lee.So the British send some dragoons to nab the general and take him prisoner. Which they do. Which makes quite a lot of Americans sad. And it inspires one American in particular to find a British officer of high enough rank to trade for General Lee. As luck would have it, he finds one.Support our sponsor - The Valley Forge Project - https://valleyforgeproject.orgHelp keep the trainwrecks on the tracks- https://www.patreon.com/historystrainwrecks Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There's an awful lot of testosterone on History's Trainwrecks. I tend to think it's because men are far more likely than women to self-sabotage in a big way. But as Abigail Adams told her husband John, we should always "remember the ladies."Samantha Wilcoxson, author of the phenomenal Women of the American Revolution, joins me to talk about her book and see how the stories we've always been told about the women of the founding generation are really just the beginning. In this book, you'll learn things you probably never knew about Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Eliza Hamilton, and Dolley Madison, as well as some figures you may not have heard of like Ona Judge. You can find Samantha Wilcoxson's books here:https://www.amazon.com/stores/Samantha-Wilcoxson/author/B00IGVWSCIAnd all her other shenanigans:Blog https://samanthawilcoxson.blogspot.com/Twitter https://twitter.com/carpe_librumInstagram https://www.instagram.com/samantha_wilcoxsonFacebook https://www.facebook.com/PlantagenetEmbers/Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/samanthajwPinterest https://www.pinterest.com/samantha_wilcoxson/ Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It occurred to me that we've been doing quite a lot of talking about George Washington in this series—or more accurately, talking AROUND George, so I thought it would be a good time to stop and focus on the man himself, and delve into what made him so darn indispensable. I didn't exactly HAVE a George Washington episode, but I knew someone who did. If you've been listening for a while, you know that I am a huge fan of the Drinks With Great Minds in History Podcast. The show is not only lots of fun to listen to, but the host, Mr. DGMH, otherwise known as Zach Debacco, has a historical insight that I truly admire. His approach to his great minds in history is unique, and he comes up with brilliant revelations about these historical figures that I had never before considered. It's a great show, and if you aren't already subscribed to it, you should be. If it helps, I can tell you that Drinks With Great Minds in History is the only history podcast that Mrs. History's Trainwrecks listens to. With all that that implies. Check out the Drinks With Great Minds in History Podcast . Cheers! Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

American major general Charles Lee is free of British captivity and gets one more chance to redeem himself at the Battle of Monmouth Court House in summer, 1778. But he doesn't take it. By the time of the second anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Charles is facing a court martial. He never commands troops in the field again. Being Charles, he goes on the attack against Washington and the Congress, which doesn't work out for him. We reach the end of our series on Charles Lee, and talk about what makes him such a historical trainwreck. Thanks for listening, and click here to support the show! Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christmas 1776 wasn't such a great time for two American generals. George Washington was wrapping a Christmas present for the Hessian garrison at Trenton, New Jersey. He was going to cross the Delaware and drop it down their metaphorical chimney like some kind of badass Santa Claus.Second in command Charles Lee had checked into a tavern and sent his dogs and his army down the road a ways. With only a few guards and a dirty shirt, he was cooling his heels while waiting to decide to follow Washington's orders to join up with him.In the meantime, British General Cornwallis, who was way more scared of Lee than Washington, sent Charles's old regiment of dragoons to find him and capture him.Which they did. Merry Christmas, Charles... Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Christmas, 1776 approached, it sure looked like the cause of American liberty was going to find a lump of coal under the tree.The British had taken New York and had George Washington's army on the run. They had a massive force pointed right at Philadelphia, the American capital. The Continental Congress had placed their hopes in one man to swoop in and save them.And it was NOT George Washington.This gave General Charles Lee the idea that he could be the man of the hour, and then take George Washington's job away from him.As long as he didn't run out of time. Click here to support the History's Trainwrecks Patreon page and thanks for listening! Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1776 was a great year for Charles Lee. He had overseen the defensive preparations in New York, Virginia, and North Carolina. The British didn't attack those places, which Charles called a win. He successfully led the defense of Charleston, South Carolina against a British assault, which he also put in his win column. Then he was ordered to New York, which was under serious threat from the British, and where he would be, for the first time in his Revolutionary War service, under the command of someone else. This wasn't one of Charles's strong suits. But his luck was holding, and he was greeted in New York as the savior of the cause. George Washington's luck, on the other hand, was pretty bad. The British had him trapped between a massive army and navy, and the Continentals were suffering major setbacks. Plus, he had to listen to the cheers of his men when the most battle-tested general in the army showed up. But George's luck was going to change come December. He was going to have a great Christmas. Charles Lee, on the other hand, was not. If you've enjoyed this episode, please rate the show on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast outpost. Click here to support our Patreon page, which is a great way to keep the trainwrecks on the tracks and get access to fun bonus content. Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brand new Major General Charles Lee was looking pretty darn indispensable in the early days of the American Revolution.After the British abandoned Boston, their next move was unclear. The Continentals believed that the next attack would either hit Canada, New York City, or the Southern colonies.It is worth noting that new General Charles Lee was appointed to each of these commands. He became the early Revolution's troubleshooter.And there was a lot of trouble to shoot.There were British Loyalists, runaway slaves, poorly equipped and trained Continental militia, and civilian governments who didn't seem to realize that the British were about to rain hell and damnation down on them.If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Click here to support us on Patreon! Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If Charles Lee was alive today, he would be considered a master networker.That guy knew EVERYBODY.As we've seen in prior episodes, Charles was pals with a few kings and kings-in-waiting like Stanislaus of Poland, Frederick I of Prussia and his son, future king Frederick Wilhelm, as well as Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II. He wasn't a fan of King George III, but still managed to get a meeting with him.Like any modern-day Wall Street capitalist on the make, Charles Lee could ALWAYS get the meeting.With all these movers and shakers on his side, Charles was a front-runner for one of the top jobs in the upcoming war with Britain: Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. But there was ANOTHER fellow who also wanted the job, and he was willing to overlook the fact that Charles still owed him fifteen bucks from that time he and his dogs mooched at Mount Vernon and made Martha mad.  Click here to support History's Trainwrecks. Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Major General Charles Lee was a complainer.It didn't start when he joined the Continental Army in 1775. Charles was predisposed to crabbiness. His father was a British major general and his mother was descended from landed gentry. He was the youngest child, and the only son to survive to adulthood. A place of stature had been carved out for Charles, and he meant to have it.He pursued a career in the British Army and served in the colonies during the French and Indian War, where he met George Washington and Thomas Gage. When the war was over he went adventurin', getting into duels, hanging out with kings, and sticking it to the Ottoman Empire, which is always a good idea. But his complaining, about his superiors in the army and THEIR superior, King George III, meant that England was a bit too hot for Charles. So he and his little dog went to America to see what kind of trouble they could get into. Which in part meant, just maybe, being appointed commander of the Continental Army instead of George Washington. Click here to support the show and thanks for listening! Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Was George Washington truly America's indispensable man? John Adams thought so, and lots of later historians agreed. Washington had the qualities the country needed at the time - dignity, gravitas, and integrity. He was perceived to be above the kind of petty squabbles that would doom the newborn republic. But things very nearly didn't go his way. After his defeat at the Battle of New York in 1776, the war, and with it the Revolution, was nearly over. Had Washington not managed to get things back on track, there were a few other commanders who would have been quite happy to take the top spot. Help Support History's Trainwrecks! Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm trying to figure out who REALLY killed Huey Long. Don't worry. Your favorite history podcast hasn't suddenly turned into a true crime show. Neither has this one.There are few viable ways to stop a dictator. Julius Caesar and a disturbingly large number of Roman emperors were assassinated in order to end their reigns. Benito Mussolini's execution and subsequent “corpse dragged through the streets of Milan and hung upside down at a gas station” party was, I suppose, a modern expression of the ancient Roman tradition. Some well-timed deaths, like those of Genghis Khan, Tamerlane, Attila the Hun, and Adolf Hitler, put an end to bloody autocrats. Once they have amassed ultimate power, legitimate means of removing them disappear. Even tangential methods, or what I like to call paper traps—tax fraud and other types of accounting or regulatory crimes—didn't hold out much hope and took way too long to suit anyone. And so it came to pass in the mid-1930's in Louisiana, people started to talk openly about killing Huey Long.Huey was killed by an assassin's bullet. His last words were "God, don't let me die. I have so much to do."He died on September 10, 1935, but his political machine controlled Louisiana politics until the 1960's. His son served in his father's Senate seat from 1948 to 1987. His legacy in Louisiana lives on.   Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Huey Long was losing political control of Louisiana, thanks to the Depression-era policies of the new President. Federal jobs, which were literal lifesavers, were given to Huey's opponents.Huey's own dictatorial behavior was costing him support among the people of the state, so he took his show on the road, appealing to masses of poor Americans and fueling the fire for a 1936 presidential run.FDR's Justice Department started investigating Huey's financial shenanigans, a trick that had worked on Al Capone, but that was taking too long.Something permanent was going to have to be done about Louisiana's Senator, and his enemies started making assassination plans. Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're counting down to number one - the biggest historical trainwreck of all time.Can you guess who it is?Check out the Beyond The Big Screen Podcast at the link below.https://www.atozhistorypage.com/beyond-the-big-screen/George McClellanAaron BurrMarcus CrassusDouglas MacArthur Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

I love a good trainwreck. I mean, who doesn't?One day, historian and podcaster Steve Guerra, host of the Beyond the Big Screen Podcast, asked me what I call The Big Question: of all the trainwrecks you've studied so far, who is on your top ten list of all time?It gave us the opportunity to better define a historical trainwreck, and it got us thinking about who wasn't on the list and who should be.Long time listeners of this show may not be surprised at the list, but then again…maybe you will.Check out the Beyond The Big Screen Podcast at the link below. https://www.atozhistorypage.com/beyond-the-big-screen/Richard NixonTheodore RooseveltCato the YoungerPhilip II of SpainHuey LongHerbert Hoover Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Huey Long was the bull in the United States Senate's china shop.He stormed into the world's greatest deliberative body in 1932 after it had already been in session for two months. In a room full of men in dour blue suits, Huey wore “flashy brown tweeds, beautiful white shirts of the finest fabric with his monogram embroidered on one sleeve, a bright red silk necktie, and, according to one chastising reporter, ‘a handkerchief regrettably on the pink side.”It wasn't long, pun intended, before the Senate figured out that they had a real problem on their hands.But soon enough there was another fellow in the capital who was even more worried about the storm from the bayou.President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.No one seemed to take Huey very seriously in the Roosevelt camp except for FDR himself. “The people are jumpy and ready to run after strange gods,” he wrote. “It's all very well for us to laugh over Huey, but actually we have to remember all the time that he really is one of the two most dangerous men in the country. We shall have to do something about him.”Franklin Roosevelt was certainly a visionary. He knew things for sure long before others came around to his point of view. He saw Huey Long as a self-obsessed man with huge ambitions who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted, even if it meant damaging the country. Like challenging Roosevelt for the nomination in 1936 or running as an independent, splitting the Democratic vote, and throwing the country to the Republicans for four years so that Huey could win the White House in 1940.Which, as it turns out, was exactly what Huey Long was planning to do. Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

The most famous American in the world was about to have one of the worst days of his life, and everyone who was anyone in London wanted to be there to see it.Benjamin Franklin had been summoned to the Cockpit, a room King Henry VIII had once used for cockfighting, to appear before the King's Privy Council in late January 1774. His ostensible purpose for being there was to deal with a petition sent by the Massachusetts colony to have their governor removed, but with the colonists getting all uppity and turning Boston Harbor into the world's biggest teapot, the Council was going to take out all of its pent-up frustration with their cranky subjects on America's best-known representative. The King's Solicitor General unleashed a tirade on Franklin, taking an hour to ruin his reputation in London. Before the Cockpit, Benjamin Franklin had been working for both sides in the conflict between England and America. After, he was only working for one.  Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

As you surely know by now, I love history. I always have. If you do too, you know that studying history invariably leads to learning about politics. It's inescapable. The Greek city-states, the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, monarchies and religious wars, the Enlightenment that led to the establishment of constitutional democracies, the growth of superpowers.  Regionalism and factionalism and schisms and wars. If you study history, you've seen all this before. This is one of the 257 reasons I'm not allowed to watch the news. I tend to rant, drawing historical parallels between today's America and yesterday's. It scares the dogs.  My wife said no more watching the news. So the dogs and I started a new podcast, where I get to rant about all the things that bother me about 21st century politics. That'll teach her.  For all you History's Trainwrecks listeners, I'm putting out the first episode here. The rest will be available wherever you get your podcasts. I hope you like it. And I hope we can find a way forward, politically-speaking. Because if we've learned anything from history, it's that situations like the ones we keep finding ourselves in do not end well. Check out the first ever episode of I'm Not Allowed To Watch The News. Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

England's American colonists were a serious problem for the British Empire by 1774. Mad old King George was pretty…well…you know. Great Britain was the world's foremost military power, which meant it had bills to pay. The American colonies were prosperous, what with all their self-starting go-getterism, so Parliament and the king decided they should bear some of the financial burden of being subjects of the world's foremost military power.England did, after all, kick the French out of Canada and the land east of the Mississippi, which opened all that territory for development by the colonists.Here's your bill, said the King.The resulting taxes got the colonists all in an uproar. Things were set on fire and Boston Harbor was turned into the world's biggest tea kettle. Ben Franklin, the most famous American in the world, was in London, and he became a handy target for all the pent-up frustration the British Empire had with its uppity provincials. He was summoned to appear before the King's Privy Council in 1774 to take a beating in a room Henry VIII had once used for cockfights. The British Solicitor General spent an hour tearing Franklin to shreds. Ben Franklin stood in silence the entire time. It is said that he went into the Cockpit an Englishman and came out an American. Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this special episode, I join Presidencies of the United States Podcast host Jerry Landry for his Seat at the Table series. This series covers the known and unknown Cabinet officers of American presidential administrations. No president can do it alone, and the early American Presidents alternately relied upon or avoided working with their Cabinet. In the early days of Federalists vs. Democratic Republicans, finding loyal Cabinet officers was rare. Benjamin Stoddert was one of the first and best. And very few people have ever heard of him. Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Huey Long had won a seat in the United States Senate while still in office as Louisiana's governor. His move to the national stage was a real threat to the re-election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936. Huey amassed dictatorial control over Louisiana in a very short time. He survived impeachment, neutralized his remaining opponents, and won a Senate seat. He became a driver of hard bargains. “He is always trying to trade us a biscuit for a barrel of flour,” one of his vanquished opponents complained.While the state and the country was deep in economic trouble, Huey held singular control over state jobs and lucrative contracts. The men who opposed him faced a stark choice: get on board with Huey Long or brace for financial disaster.Huey's biggest problem with being the “Kingfish” of Louisiana was that he couldn't leave the state. His lieutenant governor, Paul Cyr, kept trying to assume the governorship, taking advantage of any time Huey crossed out of the state. Once Huey won a Senate seat, Cyr figured his claim on the governor's chair was assured. We'll just have to see about that. Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julius Caesar's war against the Roman Republic, and his dictatorship, didn't go the way he planned. Cato the Younger's suicide made him a hero during the short years of Caesar's rule. The men who conspired to kill the tyrant held Cato up as their inspiration. So did the Founding Fathers of the American Republic nearly two centuries later. Joseph Addison's play Cato was a huge hit in the colonies, inspiring, among others, George Washington. Cato's inflexible commitment to freedom from tyranny and democratic principles became the template for America's leaders. The Founding Fathers, and their descendants, believed they were Catos. It was his example they aspired to, and the best of them fulfilled it.  Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julius Caesar was finally ready to put an end to that pesky civil war.His best legions had mutinied while he was away in Egypt consorting with Queen Cleopatra. He had left Rome in the hands of less-capable surrogates for about a year, which gave the remaining Republican resistance time and space to fortify the North African city of Utica, under the careful management of Cato the Younger.Caesar had had enough. It was time to finish this once and for all. Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Roman Republic was making its last stand, but first it had to figure out who was in charge.Not that it didn't have bigger problems. Pompey the Great, thinking the civil war was over, failed to capitalize on his victory at the Battle of Dyrrhachium, allowing Julius Caesar all the time he needed to regroup so they could meet again at the Battle of Pharsalus in August of 48 BC.Pompey did not win the Battle of Pharsalus.After his crushing defeat, he retreated to Egypt, thinking he could get troops and money by picking a side in the ongoing incestuous power struggle between Cleopatra and her brother-husband, one of the last of the Ptolemaic kings. He picked the wrong side, and the Egyptians sent his severed head to Caesar, hoping that he would pick a side in the ongoing incestuous power struggle between Cleopatra and her brother-husband.Julius Caesar would indeed pick a side, but that is a trainwreck for later. Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Someone needed to rally the troops, and Rome's greatest living general was having a hard time doing it. Pompey the Great had a—well…great reputation as a commander, which his recruits and veterans alike could see for themselves. He trained and drilled right alongside them, and could swing a sword like a man half his age. But this time his troops weren't just Romans—desperate times—and a civil war--had caused him to recruit men from the provinces instead of just Italy itself, and they were about to go to war against soldiers who had up until recently been on the same side. If ever there was a time for an inspiring speech, this was it. After the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC, the Republic was now a resistance. It was a government in exile. With Cato at its head, Julius Caesar could be deprived of total victory, and Caesar knew it. The dictator could never rest easy on his throne while the standard-bearer of the institutions he was going to trample was still out there somewhere. Cato and the Republic's remnants went to Utica, to make Rome's last stand.  Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Not bad for a lawyer.”Marcus Tullius Cicero, former Roman consul, famed orator, Senator, and jurist, had been sent to govern the province of Cilicia, near modern-day Turkey. He had vanquished some roving bands of thieves, sent a Parthian reconnaissance force scurrying back to their territory, and stormed a hilltop fortress. He didn't equate himself with the two great generals circling Rome like tigers about to pounce—Julius Caesar and Pompey Magnus—but since his performance was pretty good for an intellectual egghead, Cicero thought he deserved a triumph. Even though Rome was a year away from the total collapse of its ancient republic, this was just the kind of distraction that kept things spiraling down the drain.  Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

It was every man for himself. The First Triumvirate was collapsing. Julia, the beloved daughter of Julius Caesar and adored wife of Pompey the Great, died in childbirth in 54 BC. Her daughter lived only a few days. Pompey fell into deep mourning, which was unusual. This was a time when upper-class marriages were only means to an end—forging political alliances, in the case of Pompey and Caesar, populating the Republic with more elite male citizens (especially in a time when infant mortality—and disposing of girl babies on trash heaps—was at an all time high), and propping up one's bank account. The upper classes of Rome made fun of Pompey behind his back because he was actually in love with his wife. With her death, Pompey was sidelined for a while by grief and the thin bonds tying him to Caesar, his rival for power, were gone. Love is powerful, and should never be underestimated. Cato the Younger is once more behind the times, finally realizing the truth about Pompey and Caesar, and what it means for the Roman Republic. Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

The dancing girls would take their clothes off, but not while Cato the Younger was in the audience. It was 55 BC, and the Floral Games were in full…um…bloom. The Games were the culmination of a week-long festival celebrating fertility, with the usual accompanying shenanigans: outrageous dress, lots of drinking, prostitutes being treated like queens, and a troupe of dancing girls in an amphitheatre reminding the spectators of the rites of spring. A message came down to Cato where he was seated in the crowd. The spectators wanted “to encourage the girls to take off their clothes, but are embarrassed to do so with Cato watching.”Cato got up from his seat without a word and went for the exit. A chronicler reports that “As he was leaving, the crowd loudly applauded him and then went back to their usual theatrical pleasures.”The spectators catcalled, the dancers disrobed, “and the Floral Games went on.”This scene captures the feeling Rome had for the man who was their moral compass. They didn't want him to see them at their low points, but instead of rising to the high ground that Cato had staked out for himself, they just wanted him to be somewhere else. They were “eager to applaud him for leaving, unwilling to follow him out.”If we can equate the dismantling of the Republic with some dancing girls stripping to the buff, the same scenario plays out: Rome would embrace empire, shamefully, as long as Cato wasn't watching them as they did it, reminding them the entire time that they could have done better.  Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cato the Younger's exile from Rome began with a cross-dressing aristocrat who had a crush on Julius Caesar's wife. In 62 BC, Publius Clodius figured that the best way to get close to Pompeia—Mrs. Caesar—was to dress as a female lute player and worm his way into the Good Goddess ceremony. This religious rite was only attended by women and was being hosted by Caesar's wife. Clodius was found out when he spoke to a maid in a deep baritone voice and was eventually caught hiding under a bed. Caesar divorced his wife, asserting that “Caesar's wife must be above reproach.”Which she was. Clodius was hauled into court on charges of “sacrilege and sexual immorality.” Cicero got involved in the case because his wife believed he was having an affair with Clodius's sister. In order to defend himself, Cicero had to testify that he had seen Clodius in Rome on the day of his offense, which destroyed the alibi Clodius had offered—that he was out of town on the day of his cross-dressing. Clodius was acquitted, thanks to bribes paid to the jurors by Rome's rich crime lord Crassus. But his reputation, and with it his political future, was ruined. Instead of the many others Clodius could have blamed for the debacle—well, really just himself—he set the whole thing at Cicero's feet, despite the fact that Cicero's involvement in the whole sordid mess was insignificant. I sure hope Clodius doesn't find his way to any kind of political power any time soon.  Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's almost like Cato the Younger had no idea he was putting his head in the lion's mouth. In the space of two years he had managed to get on the wrong side of Julius Caesar, Rome's up and coming populist leader, Pompey the Great, Rome's greatest living general, Marcus Crassus, Rome's richest man, and Marcus Tullius Cicero, who had been Rome's most recent consul, and for a few minutes there, the man with near-absolute power over the state during the Catiline Conspiracy. Stubborn sticks in the mud like Cato are not impressed with anyone. This is what makes them formidable. And dangerous. Caesar, Pompey and Crassus were on a path to power that would ultimately end the Roman Republic. Cato the Younger was standing firmly in their way, and he had to go. One way or another.  Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

The battle for the fate of the Roman Republic was on. On one side were the empire-builders: Julius Caesar and his right-hand man Marc Antony (and sickly little Octavian in the next tent), Pompey the Great, and Marcus Crassus, who wanted to be great himself but never quite got there. On the other side were Marcus Tullius Cicero, Rome's greatest orator, consul in 63 BC, dictator during the Catiline Conspiracy, and all-around clever guy. At his side was Rome's greatest conservative and champion of ancient ideals, Cato the Younger. They also had in their corner—at least on paper--the cowardly Roman Senate, but being cowardly--and venal--the Senate was always kind of a moving target. They could be bought and they could be intimidated, and the empire-builders had money and soldiers to burn. It was a contest between military power, which the Romans had always admired, and republican traditions, which the Romans had always revered. But the citizens of the republic saw their ideals go to the Senate house to die more often than not, and might be willing to take a chance on a smooth operator like Caesar, who claimed to be a staunch defender of the republic even as he quietly dismantled it. Cicero and Cato had their work cut out for them. Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

The ancient Roman Republic was under threat from all sides. Catiline's insurgency was coming to a head. Cicero was dictator of Rome. Julius Caesar, Pompey Magnus, and Marcus Crassus waited to see how it all turned out. Rome stood on the brink of empire, and the only one trying to stop it was Cato the Younger. He had his work cut out for him. Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Theodore Roosevelt was kept out of World War I by Woodrow Wilson, so he sent his sons instead. Their fate, his own poor health, and watching from the sidelines while the President of the United States covered himself in glory had him down in the dumps. But the election of 1920 promised a good chance of his returning to the White House. If only he could make it. Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

There was no way Woodrow Wilson was going to let former President Theodore Roosevelt anywhere near Europe during the First World War.Teddy had made multiple requests to War Secretary Newton Baker, asking permission to raise a division of volunteers, with himself as a major general, "to put our flag on the firing line."But what Wilson actually feared was that Teddy, upon his arrival in Europe, would be drafted into chairing a peace conference. By 1916 the military situation had reached a stalemate of trench warfare and pointless killing. The Germans had made some initial peace overtures. If the man who had successfully negotiated an end to the Russo-Japanese War only a decade earlier showed up, the "vital hold which personalities like Roosevelt have on popular imagination," as Georges Clemenceau told Wilson, might just get all the warring parties to the peace table and end the war. Woodrow Wilson, who lacked Teddy's "vital personality" and international stature, did all he could to keep Teddy home. If Teddy couldn't fight, he was going to send his four sons in his place.  Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1916, the world was on fire, and Theodore Roosevelt was down in the dumps. The country, with either Woodrow Wilson or Charles Evans Hughes destined for the White House, was “in the hands of two aloof and cagey deliberators. Wilson and Hughes were men who waited for events to happen and then reacted.” Teddy saw things coming, and got ready. But as happened in 1912, Teddy allowed his candidacy, and his potential third term, to be derailed in the “smoke-filled room” of the nominating convention. He let party insiders, many with presidential ambitions of their own, talk him out of running, and he surely didn't help himself by doing the same thing he accused Wilson of doing in Mexico: taking one step forward and two steps back. He forgot that his true power came from the American people. In time of war, the best argument to get or retain the presidency was experience in office—it was an argument Teddy's “fifth cousin by blood and nephew by marriage” would use decades later to win four terms in the White House. In 1916, only two men had the kind of experience the country knew it needed—Wilson and Roosevelt. But Teddy allowed his emotions to get in the way, and his political shrewdness and canny assessment of the mood of the people was lost in a wave of self-pity. 1904 Theodore Roosevelt went after what he knew to be best for the nation. 1916 Teddy waited to be asked, not by the people, but by cynical party insiders. And he let his temper get the best of him. As President Wilson had once said about Teddy, “The way to treat an adversary like Roosevelt is to gaze at the stars over his head.”Woodrow Wilson's chances in 1916 were looking pretty good. Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rome's greatest orator pointed his finger at Cato the Younger and said, “Do you not see a storm coming?”Marcus Tullius Cicero was consul for the year 63 BC, and thanks to the aforementioned storm, was a virtual dictator. But he had a number of problems, and he was going to use Cato the Younger to try and solve them.Here's the thing: it wasn't just one storm.Cato ran for his first office in 67 BC—military tribune. This would put him in command of a legion of about four thousand troops and pave his way to a Senate seat when his year was up.He campaigned for his first office at a time when the average Roman-on-the-street was feeling pretty nervous about the state of the Republic. Rome's success had come, in part, from its ability to learn and adapt, to see what worked and make it their own. Military formations and tactics, education, politics, engineering, territorial conquest and management—the Romans were great learners. The problem was that the lessons currently being taught were the ones that would ultimately end the Republic.He won his election and went to take command. Like his famous great-grandpa, he shared his men's hardships and they loved him for it. When the year was up, he went back to Rome and took over the Treasury, calling in old debts and paying off others. But his moral handling of the public trust didn't survive past his term in office. Back in the throes of corruption, a new populist arose - Catiline - who proposed cancelling all debts and redistributing land to the poor. The elite of Rome freaked out, and backed another "man of the people" candidate to beat him - Cicero, Rome's greatest orator. But Catiline didn't give up, and planned to take the city by force.Cicero and Cato were going to have to team up to stop him.  Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lousiana governor Huey Long had learned a lot from his impeachment trial, and it was no more Mr. Nice Governor down in the bayou.He wanted to expand a road-building program and build a new massive state capitol building as a lasting monument to his reign. The legislature (and Huey's own brother) opposed the plan, so Huey had to come up with a way to persuade them, and make sure he retained power.His answer: he was going to run for the United States Senate.But there were two men who had damaging secrets about the governor, and something had to be done about them before the election.So Huey had them kidnapped.Thanks for listening and your support of the History's Trainwrecks Podcast. Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bay of Pigs invasion was, to coin a phrase, a train wreck.Fidel Castro had come to power in Cuba in 1959, planting a Communist country right on America's back porch. Having a Soviet satellite ninety miles away from American soil was, shall we say, troubling. The Eisenhower Administration approved a CIA plan to train Cuban exiles and provide them with weapons and air support for an invasion of the island. The expectation was that the Cuban people would rise up in rebellion and topple the Castro regime. The train went off the tracks pretty early. Despite efforts to keep the mission a secret, the invasion plan was widely known among the Cuban community in Miami. Castro's intelligence service found out about the training camps the CIA had set up in Guatemala, and some of the details of the plans made it into the press. Fidel Castro was not going to be surprised. President John F. Kennedy authorized the invasion, which was a massive failure that resulted in 1200 prisoners ending up in Castro's hands. He would let them go free, if the United States sent him five hundred heavy-duty tractors.This was about to get interesting. Thank you for listening, and your support of the History's Trainwrecks Podcast. Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

As had become his practice after, shall we say, NOT winning a presidential election, Theodore Roosevelt left the country. He didn't trust himself to stay quiet while Woodrow Wilson did things he didn't approve of: removing African-Americans from the federal bureaucracy, passing a pro-business tariff, and developing an isolationist and pacifist foreign policy.Like his African trip in 1909, Teddy's journey to South America had a number of items on the agenda: scientific study of flora and fauna, the usual slaughter of native beasts for sport, and a way for him to make some money. He told his wife that he “expected to clear $20,000 over the next six months.”                                                                                                And, like his African trip, Teddy was putting himself firmly in harm's way. It's not inconceivable that somewhere in his subconscious was the notion that he might end his life, which now seemed without purpose, in the midst of the kind of action that made him feel most alive.Theodore Roosevelt did not think he should die in his sleep. He nearly got his wish on this post-election trip south of the equator. Thanks for listening and for your support of the History's Trainwrecks Podcast.https://www.historystrainwrecks.com/  Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's 81 BC, and ancient Rome is under the control of the drunken bloodthirsty dictatorship of Cornelius Sulla. There were three things you could do - be on Sulla's side and live, oppose him and get exiled, or oppose him and get your head stuck on a pike in the Forum. Cato the Younger, fourteen years old, was taken under Sulla's wing for a front-row seat to the bloodbath. Rome's problems didn't end when the dictator drank himself to death. Spartacus, a former slave and legionnaire, raised a huge rebel army in the city's back yard, the renegade general Sertorius had essentially taken over Spain, and annoying old Mithridates was taking a third swing at the Roman pinata. Cato the Younger found plenty of opportunity for career advancement in these tense times. But so did Julius Caesar. The two of them were now on a collision course. https://www.historystrainwrecks.com/ Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

The governor of Louisiana was in serious trouble, but he didn't really know how bad it was. Until it was almost too late. Huey Long was far more than just a guy who told the people what they wanted to hear. “There are smarter guys than I am,” he said, “but not in Louisiana.” By the end of his riotous reign, he had seized more personal control of the state than any other governor in its history. He “orchestrated elections, padded voting lists, and directed the counting of ballots.” He assaulted the press with gag laws and oppressive tax increases. He used the state militia as his personal bodyguard and goon squad. He packed the courts, local governments, and state regulatory boards with his people. He was untouchable.Or so he thought.SourcesLong, Huey P. “Every Man a King: The Autobiography of Huey P. Long.” Hachette, 2008.White, Richard D. “Kingfish: The Reign of Huey P. Long.” Random House, 2009.Wikipedia, “Huey Long.” Retrieved October 17, 2021 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huey_Long  Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join history nerd and classicist extraordinaire, Lexie Henning, as she chats with thought leaders in academia and the entertainment industry about how they got into their field, their current research/projects, and how the ancient world inspires them. Together they strive to connect modern societies to ancient worlds, examine the practicality of going into ancient studies, and talk about why it's important to fund the humanities. Their goal is to increase access to information about the ancient world and the people who are influenced by it. Today I'm presenting their interview with Dr. Andrew Reinhard, an archaeologist and Director of Publications at the American Numismatic Society. His career in Classics is a great story. Dr. Reinhard has had quite the interesting career, to say the least. He has also pioneered archeogaming, and discusses the challenges of being a historian who works with gaming companies.  Visit their website at www.theozymandiasproject.com , listen to the Ancient Office Hours podcast on Itunes, Spotify, or your favorite podcatcher (RSS Feed), and follow them on their social media (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, and Youtube)  Subscribe to History's TrainwrecksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/historys-trainwrecks. Help keep trainwrecks on the tracks. Become a supporter at https://plus.acast.com/s/historys-trainwrecks. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.