Vice Presidents of The United States Podcast

Henry Wilson's experience as a workingman would have a double benefit in his political career.  Not only could he identify with average people, but he could demonstrate that unlike his slaveholding oppponents, he worked his way up in a country that allowed him to do so.  His very presence from actual rags to some riches (at least for a time) compelled Republicans to place him on the ticket with Grant as his second vice-president.  Not a bad run for man who had to flee from a poor family and change his name.  We tell his story.

If he wasn't ever Lyndon Johnson's Vice President, HHH might have been remembered as a pretty good Senator.  And a well-regarded mayor.  But Hubert wanted more.  We take a look at the man who was almost President, his bumpy relationship with the President he served under, and the choice he was forced to make in the waning days of the election.  We also look at a mayor who took on crime and a Senator who passed many things we take for granted today. 

Dan Quayle's name conjures up images of late-night comedian jokes and verbal gaffes, but he may have offered a little-known service to the President he served.  In this episode, we discuss George H.W. Bush's vice president, including his ups and downs, and even his recent role in advising Mike Pence during the Jan 6, 2021 events.  

Though Richard Nixon's presidency would get most of the attention of history, his time as Vice President was formative.  He was one of several veeps that helped modernize the office.  He was more active on foreign trips than his predecessors.  He even came under attack and was heralded for his calm nerves.  He acted as floor leader for the GOP on civil rights legislation, up agains Lyndon Johnson.  And in a late night session, there was that time he broke the gavel.  

We look at the Vice President who - maybe - described the office as a "bucket of warm spit."  That's a bit more questionable than some accounts, even my own podcast, makes it out to be.  (He never said it directly to any reporter).    The sometimes supporter of the New Deal and sometimes not VP may have been its most powerful VP occupant up to his time.  And he's responsible in a little way for making two President's careers.  He's also the first Vice President to campaign against the President, though since the President wasn't officially campaigning at the time, perhaps it doesn't count.

A look at Schuyler Colfax, Grant's first Vice President lived a full life but died in obscurity and some shame.  We examine the smiling vice president, former Speaker and friend to Lincoln.

Grover Cleveland's first vice president barely spoke with him, did not agree on politics and was in office for political reasons.  Hendricks was the bottom half of a ticket that lost the disputed election of 1876.  His position on the martyred ticket that lost after a congressional commission decided for Rutherford B. Hayes would earn him a spot in the hearts of partisan Democrats.  It would also earn him a second shot at the vice presidency, after an attempt to reach the the first office.  Then VP Hendricks would become a martyr again, dying in office.  In this episode we look at Hendricks, the fighter, the partisan, the martyr, his place on the currency and his limited relationship with the younger President he served under.  

The story of John C. Breckinridge, the only vice president to take up arms against the country he served.  A charismatic and skilled speaker, he knew all of the people he ran against in the 1860 election.  He took up the banner of a party associated with disunion, though his own views were far more complicated.  

We discuss Charles Fairbanks, Teddy's Roosevelt's Vice President from 1905 to 1909.  Not only did they not see eye to eye, but Roosevelt might have given his career a little shove.  Or maybe not. And how did a Senator from Indiana get his name on a town in Alaska that he never saw?   Chris Novembrino of Don't Worry About the Government podcast joins us to discuss all of this.  

President Biden was Vice President first, and ran for President before that.  In this episode, we discuss his first doomed run for President, and his improbable win over a Republican Senator during a Republican landslide election.  

Adlai Ewing Stevenson, Vice President under Grover Cleveland in his second term, has been eclipsed in history by his famous grandson.  This is for reasons of time and memory and TV pictures but not for accomplishment.  For the original Adlai had quite the career, and made it to national office as Congressman, Postmaster and then Vice President.  He was also a story teller and a master compromiser that could bridge the gap between conservatism and populism to help win an election.  We share some of Adlai's stories from his colorful memoirs, and discuss how he could have become President.

Hog caller and stump speaker Alben Barkley defied all expectations.  The son of a tobacco farmer with little money to spare became Vice President and sometimes, a contender for President.  Senator and Majority Leader he prospered from his ability to speak.  It even almost got him in trouble with the President he served, Harry Truman.  The Original "Veep," the term first used with Barkley, he modernized the Vice Presidency but managed to keep a 19th-century style at the same time.  He died the way he lived, on the stump.  

Dick Cheney is known as one of the most powerful Vice Presidents.  In this podcast, we look at the years before he became Veep, and how he almost threw his career away.  

Nobody would have expected local pol and newbie governor Cal Coolidge to become Vice President two years before the election of 1920.  Then a calamity happened, that made him the symbol of normalcy.

Rich, popular and diplomatic, Levi Parsons Morton was a banker-turned politician who had a knack for making connections and a penchant for raising money. He helped bankroll two Presidential campaigns before he found himself on a ticket, winning and serving under Benjamin Harrison. He would get along with the former General, but he would disappoint him on one important vote. He would also be one of the few vice presidents to be more successul after holding the office. And as our guest Tim Pearson, the author of Second Fiddle, tells us he had a big role in the construction of The Statue of Liberty.

George H.W. Bush's Vice Presidency was not spectacular; but arguably its most decisive event happened in its first months.  We discuss the day President Reagan was shot on this podcast.

Wilson's Vice President prospered through his folksy Indiana charm and humor and his status as a governor of a swing state.  But did his humor prevent him from a most serious role?  

When a great national battle was on, Hamlin made his voice clear, taking on slavery, the slave power and Jefferson Davis himself.     So much so, he attracted the attention of a young congressman who would become his Commander in Chief.  When his name was added to the ticket in 1860, Hannibal Hamlin's Lincoln's first vice-president was pleased to see a supportive sign that combined the two names of the candidates and read "AbraHamlinColn."  The campaign sign however, would not reflect the relationship between Hamlin and the nation's most revered President that he served under.  Hamlin was not often consulted by Lincoln.   Nor would it reflect the accomplishment of a long-serving Senator who was a key fighter against slavery in the United States.  

Born to be best, he was never a great President.  But he did make history.  And the Theodore Roosevelts and Lyndon Johnsons of history owed him a thank you.  We talk about the man on the ticket with William Henry Harrison who became President upon his death. His history, and his love of parties and dancing. 

Banker, Comptroller, Campaign Manager and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Charles G. Dawes came to the Vice Presidency with many achievements already in hand.  A master of systems of supply and organization, he had served in the Army under Pershing and developed the Allies supply system, then re-engineered the reparations payments Germany owed and the resulting financial entanglements for world governments after the war.  He cast a shadow over his President, Calvin Coolidge, and confronted the Senate.  That didn't endear him to either.  Music by Lee Rosevere and guest is Chris Novembrino of Dont Worry About the Government.  

A look at Garret Hobart, William McKinley's first Vice President who would be so influential and charming that he would sometimes be called the Assistant Vice President.  Convincing the President to go to war, taking care of Cabinet squabbles and entertaining important administration allies were among the services he performed.  Until his health caught up with him.   Interviews with Tim Pearson and Robert Merry.  Music by Chris Novembrino and Lee Rosevere.

The story of John F. Kennedy's little-known and very short-lived run for Vice President of The United States. It lasted a few hours, but it's possible that instead of the Presidency, Kennedy might have been the 38th Vice president of the United States. 

Poor George M. Dallas.  Not only did he have to see his rival James Buchanan rise to the Presidency, but he also may really not lay true claim to the thing he's known for, the naming of the Texas city that shares his surprisingly common name.  Polk's Vice President on this episode.  

A bit about Gerald Ford's brief Vice Presidency, where he took over from Spiro Agnew.  He spent his time balancing between supporting Nixon during the Watergate crisis and supporting Watergate critics.  He also kept him self busy, and away from the White House as much as he could.   We also get a bit into Ford's resulting Presidency, and his underestimated impact on history.   Music by Chris Novembrino and Lee Rosevere.

Franklin Pierce's Vice President died in office before he reached Washington D.C. to serve. But his prior career had been one of a respected moderate Southerner willing to compromise. That didn't stop him from challenging Henry Clay to a duel once.  We discuss rumors and speculation that he may have been the first gay vice President, and how the US may have been robbed of a needed compromiser at the wrong time.

Years before Dick Cheney, a VP with his own politics and power base would emerge.  A brake to Taft's progressive tendencies and a token to conservative Old Guard Republicans, James Schoolcraft Sherman may have had more influence over the inexperienced and reluctant President Taft than has been widely known.  He helped pull the Taft Administration away from Rough Riderism.  And in one political battle he took on Ex-President Roosevelt himself, years before his boss would have to.  He's known in history for his optimism and changing the Electoral College records forever.  Music by Lee Rosevere and Chris Zabriskie

Henry Wallace was Vice President and wanted to stay Vice President.  But the bosses wanted Harry.  Even though, Harry didn't know he was up for the job.  And even though, no one knew who FDR truly wanted.  It's the story of the 1944 DNC Convention and the battle between two veeps.  Yes, at some point, it does involve an axe.   This episode previously aired on My History Can Beat Up Your Politics. Music by Chris Novembrino.

Monroe's Vice President is known for maybe two things.  A park in the East Village of New York City, and that he was a drunk.  Yet, as we discuss with Tim Pearson, the author of Second Fiddle, The Strange, Sick, Silly Sad and Soused Men We Elected Vice President a book about Vice Presidents (highly recommended), there's much more to Daniel D. Tompkins than that.  He was also a democratic superstar who defeated older aristocrats, prepared New York's defense in the War of 1812, and ended slavery in New York.  Music from Lee Rosevere in this episode and Chris Novembrino.  

Lyndon Johnson was a powerful man - a mover and shaker in Washington who had his own car phone.  He worked directly with the President of The United States, and many people thought he could be President next.  But then he took the job of VP under a junior senator John Kennedy.  Why? To solve the mystery of why, we speak with Tom Oliphant of the Boston Globe and author of Road to Camelot, about JFK's rise to the Presidency (an interview that aired on My History Can Beat Up Your Politics in 2017).  

The only Vice President to resign the office voluntarily is a much more interesting character than just that fact.  From a local politico to second-highest office in the land in five years, Agnew took an important role as Nixon's Nixon, attacking the news media and the so called hippie culture of the sixties.  Opponents pushed back, and he doubled down.  But his resignation was due to his own actions, and to some degree, the President he served.  

As a Vice President serving under an obscure President, Wheeler is not a common name in history.  In fact, his own President Rutherford B. Hayes had to ask the question "Who is William Wheeler?" when his name was in consideration.  But as we discuss, perhaps he should be known more.  His frankness, disdain for corruption, and love of nature made him a unique and well-liked politician.  We speak with Herb C. Hallas, author of William A. Wheeler, Political Star of the North Country on this episode.  And we enjoy music from Lee Rosevere and Chris Novembrino.  Remember to sign up for the podcast, and give us a review if you would.