Plodding Through The Presidents

Season 4 premieres Tuesday, October 25th!Sign up for our mailing list at https://mailchi.mp/7a4c58846639/sign-up-for-our-mailing-list and get entered to win our 3-book giveaway of fascinating historical books from our first three guests this season! These are the books: 1. Benjamin Franklin's Last Bet: The Favorite Founder's Divisive Death, Enduring Afterlife, and Blueprint for American Prosperity by Michael Meyer2. Exploring American Healthcare through 50 Historic Treasures by Tegan Kehoe3. In the Arena: A History of American Presidential Hopefuls by Peter Shea & Tom MadayDrawing will be held November 2nd. Visit our website at www.plodpod.comCheck out our merch store at https://www.teepublic.com/stores/plodding-through-the-presidents?ref_id=24294Consider joining our Patreon family at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents

In our third season finale, we look at confounding founder Benjamin Rush—his outstanding humanitarian accomplishments, his controversial bleeding and purging treatments during the Yellow Fever epidemics, and the dramatic trial where he sued newspaper publisher William Cobbett for accusing him of killing his patients. Sources and more at plodpod.com but a special shoutout to the extremely helpful Law and Medicine in Revolutionary America: Dissecting the Rush v. Cobbett Trial, 1799 by Linda Myrsiades and Rush: Revolution, Madness, and Benjamin Rush, the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father by Stephen Fried.We'll be back in 2022!Consider joining our Patreon family at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents for bonus content and perks!Check out our merch store at https://www.teepublic.com/stores/plodding-through-the-presidents?ref_id=24294

We explore the tragic stories of John Quincy Adams's sons—George Washington Adams, John Adams II, and Charles Francis Adams—through the structure of their cousin Mary Hellen playing a real life game of "F*ck Marry Kill" with them. Show notes, photos, and sources at plodpod.comConsider joining our Patreon family (and our Season 3 patron party on November 14th) at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents for bonus content and perks!Check out our merch store at https://www.teepublic.com/stores/plodding-through-the-presidents?ref_id=24294

We dig into the dubious story of Winston Churchill's naked encounter with the ghost of Abraham Lincoln. Then we welcome author, paranormal investigator, and New England Legends host Jeff Belanger for a fascinating conversation about the long history of reported hauntings in the White House, why New England has so many legends, and the value of ghost stories in teaching history.Show notes, photos, and sources at plodpod.comWe'll be back November 9th!Consider joining our Patreon family at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents for bonus content and perks!Check out our merch store at https://www.teepublic.com/stores/plodding-through-the-presidents?ref_id=24294

First, the Hermitage's director of interpretation Bryan Gilley shares a historical haunting from Andrew Jackson's home and a hair-raising experience of his own. Then, Adams National Historical Park curator Kelly Cobble describes the hauntingly beautiful Stone Library built to house John Quincy Adams's books. And then we dig deeper into something Cobble mentioned – a 1996 heist at the Stone Library where the priceless Mendi Bible was stolen.Show notes, photos, and sources at plodpod.comConsider joining our Patreon family at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents for bonus content and perks!Check out our merch store at https://www.teepublic.com/stores/plodding-through-the-presidents?ref_id=24294

We look at the role of the Illuminati in the Election of 1800 between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson before welcoming Dr. Mark Cheathem to the show. He teaches a course on conspiracy theories in American history at Cumberland University, and he joined us to talk about his course, his personal inspiration for teaching it, and conspiratorial thinking. Then we dig into a conspiracy theory about a rigged election and the men who rode it all the way to the White House – Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren.Show notes, photos, and sources at plodpod.comConsider joining our Patreon family at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidentsCheck out our merch store at https://www.teepublic.com/stores/plodding-through-the-presidents?ref_id=24294Vote for us for Best History Podcast in the Discover Pods Awards at https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6563613/2021-Discover-Pods-Awards-Finalists

We explore the incredible story of the Amistad captives and the sensation sparked by their rebellion, along with the opportunities their situation offered to the abolitionist cause and the rabble-rousing John Quincy Adams. And we look at the impact of the Amistad rebellion on a man named Madison Washington who helped lead the most successful slave revolt in American history aboard a ship called The Creole.Show notes, photos, and sources at plodpod.comConsider joining our Patreon family at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidentsCheck out our merch store at https://www.teepublic.com/stores/plodding-through-the-presidents?ref_id=24294

Author Dr. Cara Finnegan (Photographic Presidents: Making History From Daguerreotype to Digital) joins Howard for a conversation about the early days of photography and some of the most intriguing presidential photographs, including a photo of a painting of William Henry Harrison that looks eerily lifelike and a "spirit photograph" of Mary Lincoln and the ghost of Abraham Lincoln. Before the interview, Jess and Howard tackle Jimmy Carter's brief but devastating encounter with a "killer" swamp rabbit, and the photographic proof.Show notes, photos, and sources at plodpod.comConsider joining our Patreon family at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidentsCheck out our merch store at https://www.teepublic.com/stores/plodding-through-the-presidents?ref_id=24294

George Washington's mother Mary Ball Washington has been unfairly portrayed as a greedy shrew for decades. This week, we dig into the truth of the most popular allegations levied against her by biographers. We also trace the origins of two legends about her – the deadly lightning bolt said to have changed her and her founding fetus forever and the story of a wild horse (you thought we were done with animals?) that inspired the legend of young George and the cherry tree. Along the way we look at two recent biographies of Mary that approach their subject with very different perspectives. Show notes and sources at plodpod.com Consider joining our Patreon family at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents Check out our merch store at https://www.teepublic.com/stores/plodding-through-the-presidents?ref_id=24294

Our very first guest, Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky, joins Howard for a conversation about her book The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution and about the personalities and relationships of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and Hamilton. And of course we talk a bit about our mutual love for John Quincy Adams. Jess and Howard kick off the episode with a look at the most famous story of George Washington's profanity. Note: Our interview with Chervinsky was recorded in June 2021 and does not take into account any events that have transpired since. Show notes and sources at plodpod.com Consider joining our Patreon family at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents Check out our merch store at https://www.teepublic.com/stores/plodding-through-the-presidents?ref_id=24294

We continue the theme of naughty animals and dive into the stories of two parrots named Polly – Dolley Madison's violently jealous macaw and Andrew Jackson's purportedly potty-mouthed parrot. We dig into the plausibility of the popular story that Jackson's parrot had to be removed from his funeral for swearing, and along the way we explore the burning of the White House and the history of profane parrots in the United States. Show notes and sources at plodpod.com Consider joining our Patreon family at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents Check out our merch store at https://www.teepublic.com/stores/plodding-through-the-presidents?ref_id=24294

This episode is all about Thomas Jefferson's lust for wool and how it caused him to ignore the violence of a particular four-horned Shetland ram until it was too late. Come for the killer ram, stay for the sheep breeding and a quiz that could save you from getting rammed. Show notes and sources at plodpod.com Consider joining our Patreon family at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents Check out our brand new merch store at https://www.teepublic.com/stores/plodding-through-the-presidents?ref_id=24294

Season 3 premieres Tuesday, August 31! Enter our book giveaway to win books by our first two guests, The Cabinet by Lindsay Chervinsky and Photographic Presidents by Cara Finnegan at https://kingsumo.com/g/aiwbpi/plodding-through-the-presidents-podcast-season-3-book-giveaway. And check out our brand new MERCH STORE at https://www.teepublic.com/stores/plodding-through-the-presidents?ref_id=24294

Howard will be appearing at this year's Intelligent Speech Conference on April 24, 2021! This year's conference features David Crowther of History of England, Liz Covart of Ben Franklin's World, Rudyard Lynch of What if alternative History and around 40 other great content creators. Howard will be on a panel alongside Jerry Landry of the Presidencies of the United States podcast, Elizabeth Rees of the FLOTUS podcast, and Kenny Ryan of Abridged Presidential Histories. Interact with your favorite show hosts and fellow fans in an immersive conference experience. Tickets are $30 but you can get 10% with the promo code PLOD at https://www.intelligentspeechconference.com/shop/ Stay tuned for Season 3 of Plodding Through The Presidents coming later this spring, and join our Patreon family at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents for exclusive bonus content!

In this Valentine's Day/Presidents Day bonus episode, we discuss a few sweet and weird love letters from early presidents like John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson before diving into the raunchy trove of letters borne of Warren G. Harding's semi-treasonous affair with Carrie Fulton Phillips. Listener discretion advised. Show notes and sources at plodpod.com Join our Patreon family at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents for exclusive bonus content!

In our Season 2 finale, we take on the single deadliest disaster to befall a presidential cabinet – the explosion aboard the USS Princeton in 1844. We look at four of the key players aboard and how they got there - President John Tyler, Secretary of State Abel Upshur, Captain Robert Stockton, and Julia Gardiner, "The Rose of Long Island" – and how this tragedy shook up Tyler's plans for love and Texas. Show notes and sources at plodpod.com Join our Patreon family at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents for exclusive bonus content!

We delve into the big penman energy of founding father Gouverneur Morris, the peg-legged sex-positive anti-slavery aristocrat who penned multiple constitutions and sailed through life with care-free confidence. We also explore the story of his wife, Ann Cary "Nancy" Randolph Morris and the sensational scandal at Bizarre that she struggled to overcome. Show notes and sources at plodpod.com Join our Patreon family at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents for exclusive bonus content!

We go on a hunt for the often-mentioned but little-documented wicked sense of humor of James Madison. That hunt includes his abusive college poetry, his weird experimentation with animals and humans, and his special relationship with Thomas Jefferson. Show notes and sources at plodpod.com. Join our Patreon family for exclusive bonus material at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents

We have a good time exploring the unbelievable "coincidence" of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both dying on the Fourth of July on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the uncomfortable fact that James Monroe also died on the Fourth of July five years later, and the circumstances surrounding James Madison's deliberate choice to break with this weird tradition. Show notes and sources at plodpod.com. Join our Patreon family for exclusive bonus material at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents

  We explore the mysterious deaths of Thomas Jefferson’s sister Elizabeth and her enslaved body servant Little Sall, who both drowned just days after the first recorded earthquake in Virginia’s history. We also dig into how Elizabeth’s apparent intellectual disabilities were handled by biographies over the years. Show notes and sources (like Susan Kern’s The Jeffersons at Shadwell) detailed at plodpod.com  

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical Hamilton barely touched on the relationship between Alexander Hamilton and John Adams, and we dive into the many reasons these men HATED each other. It all started with their differences during the Revolutionary War and the hate only grew during their power struggles in the Quasi-War and the viciously contentious Election of 1800. Not even Hamilton's untimely death could stop their feud, as Adams continued smearing Alexander's memory with a pseudo-medical theory that Hamilton’s “superabundance of secretions” were responsible for his power-hungry ways. Show notes and sources at plodpod.com Sponsor: One Day University - the country's best professors present their greatest classes. Join live classes every weekday from home, or watch their 400+ past talks in their video library on demand. Our listeners get one month FREE at onedayu.com with the promo code PLODDING.

In our paranormal conclusion we dive into the wild story of Andrew Jackson and the Bell Witch, who terrorized the Bell family of Tennessee from 1817-1821. Then we explore John Quincy Adams's electrifying adventures in the hereafter via a bizarre spiritual autobiography written by the medium Joseph Stiles in 1859. Show notes and sources at plodpod.com Sponsor: One Day University - the country's best professors present their greatest classes. Join live classes every weekday from home, or watch their 400+ past talks in their video library on demand. Our listeners get one month FREE with the promo code PLODDING.

In our Season 1 finale, we trace Andrew Jackson's feelings about women's honor from his early days as a rowdy outhouse-mover to his tragic relationship with his wife Rachel and finally to the Petticoat Affair – the scandal surrounding Margaret Eaton that nearly took down his entire administration. We'll be back with more brand new episodes soon! Follow us on Facebook for updates. Sources: The Petticoat Affair: Manners, Mutiny, and Sex in Andrew Jackson's White House by John F. MarszalekLife of Andrew Jackson by James Parton

We dive into the truth behind four popular stories about John Quincy Adams, including the inspirational "if your actions inspire others" quote, the pet alligator in the White House, the skinny dipping interview with reporter Anne Royall, and the expedition to the center of the earth to visit the mole people. Sources and more at the website.

George Washington and James Madison never had any biological children, but they each had a problem child stepson. We explore the lives of the "voluptuous" Jacky Custis and the debauchery enthusiast John Payne Todd and how they affected their famous stepfathers and mothers.   Sources: My original (and unfairly harsh) article about Jacky Custis: George Washington's Disappointing Stepson Letters between Jonathan Boucher and George Washington - Founders OnlineLetter from James Madison to John Payne Todd - Founders OnlineThe Bad Boy: Payne Todd by William SealePayne Todd: Prodigal SonYou Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington by Alexis CoeDolley Madison's Son Payne Todd: The Final Blow by Feather SchwartzMrs. James Madison: The Incomparable Dolley by Ethel Stephens Arnett

We dig into the rise and fall of James Thomson Callender, the pamphleteer who exposed the greatest sex scandals in early American history. His story is told through his attacks on Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. Sources:With the Hammer of Truth: James Thomson Callender and America's Early National Heroes by Michael DureyEliza Hamilton: The Extraordinary Life and Times of the Wife of Alexander Hamilton by Tilar J. MazzeoThe Rise and Fall of Alexander Hamilton by Robert HendricksonThe Reynolds Pamphlet – "The variety of shapes which this woman could assume was endless."

We explore Thomas Jefferson's dangerous liaison in Paris with the talented artist Maria Cosway and her monkey-like husband Richard Cosway - a love story that resulted in two broken hearts, one permanently damaged wrist, and one epic 4000-word love letter written as a dialogue between Jefferson's head and heart. Sources:Founders Online - Jefferson's Head and the Heart letter to Maria CoswayMr. Jefferson's Women by Jon KuklaThomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon MeachamJefferson and the Rights of Man by Dumas MaloneJefferson: A Revealing Biography by Page SmithJohn Adams by David McCulloughRichard Cosway, “The Macaroni Miniature Painter” from The Art Amateur, Vol. 8, No. 2 (January 1883)Inspired by my post "Thomas Jefferson's Head, Heart, and Wrist" I won't link directly to the "don't say I didn't warn you" painting of Leda and the Swan, but it's up to you if you want to Google Leda and the Swan by François Boucher 1740. (Don't do it.)

We dig into the separate smallpox inoculations of John and Abigail Adams and the heartfelt and hilarious love letters this supercouple exchanged during their quarantines, along with some background on Lady Mary Montagu's bold introduction of the smallpox inoculation from Turkey to England. Sources:Founders Online - letters between John & Abigail AdamsTime Magazine: How One Daring Woman Introduced the Idea of Smallpox Inoculation to England by Thomas HagerThe Story of Smallpox in Massachusetts by Samuel Bayard Woodward, M.D.Inspired by my post "Love in the Time of Smallpox"

Introducing Season 1 of Plodding Through The Presidents with presidential history blogger Howard Dorre and his wife Jessica Dorre.