Podcasts about lbj library

Mark K. Updegrove, President and CEO of the LBJ Foundation, former Director of the LBJ Library and Museum, and author of Make Your Mark: Lessons in Character from Seven Presidents, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Mark discuss the relationship between character, leadership, and greatness in the American presidency, the case for not approaching politicians cynically, the personal stories behind Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and other late 20th century presidents, any why even flawed leaders leave behind admirable traits worth learning from.

President Biden gave remarks at the commemoration ceremony honoring the 60th anniversary of President Lyndon Baines Johnson's signing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 today at the LBJ Presidential Library on the University of Texas campus in Austin. This podcast features his full, unedited remarks. Huge thanks to the LBJ Library staff for a super-smooth event! More on today's visit by the President: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/29/joe-biden-supreme-court-supreme-court/ Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: At yesterday's ceremony at the LBJ Library in Austin, President Biden called for sweeping reforms designed to reign in a rogue conservative U.S. Supreme Court: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/29/us/politics/biden-supreme-court-austin-texas.html ...Several Democrats - but no Republicans - met Biden on the ABIA tarmac yesterday: https://x.com/willdupreetv/status/1818015413437087814?t=QDYKCZ-xFe677e13D6rz0Q&s=03 ...Those same Democrats weigh in on the POTUS visit and his plans for SCOTUS: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/state/2024/07/29/texas-politicians-react-joe-biden-austin-tx-visit-lbj-library-civil-rights-act/74595049007/ The President headed to Houston afterwards to pay respects to late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee: https://apnews.com/article/sheila-jackson-lee-houston-funeral-prayer-service-0755f59092b8468d2e583372be5ea67a Lockhart becomes the second Texas town in just the last month to verify enough petition signatures to put marijuana decriminalizaton on their November ballot: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/texas-officials-approve-marijuana-decriminalization-initiative-for-local-november-ballot-in-lockhart/ We salute an inspiring community effort in Denton to restore a mural defaced with anti-LGBTQ graffiti: https://www.lonestarlive.com/news/2024/07/theres-just-more-love-after-north-texas-town-restored-mural-with-anti-lgbtq-graffiti.html The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/ See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025 ...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: After a unanimous decision by our board, all of us at Progress Texas are very proud to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris in her bid for the presidency: https://progresstexas.org/blog/statement-progress-texas-endorses-kamala-harris-president ...VP Harris is scheduled to speak in Houston tomorrow: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/2024/07/23/kamala-harris-houston-texas-visit-national-convention-american-federation-of-teachers-union/74518494007/ ...While President Joe Biden has rescheduled his visit to UT Austin's LBJ Library to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act for Monday: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/07/23/joe-biden-heads-to-texas-on-monday-for-event-commemorating-civil-rights-act/ A study of air quality across the country's national parks finds ozone impacts at New Mexico's Carlsbad Caverns National Park, likely due to petroleum extraction activity in Texas' Permian Basin upwind: https://phys.org/news/2024-07-oil-gas-permian-basin-source.html#google_vignette ...While Monday night's 4.9 magnitude earthquake centered around Hermleigh is the strongest ever recorded with direct links to petroleum extraction: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/07/23/texas-earthquakes-blamed-on-oil-production/74517191007/ ...And parts of the Houston metro are now dramatically sinking due to groundwater and petroleum draws: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/groundwater-crisis-katy-subsidence-rule-of-capture/ See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025 ...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Texas connections to the Trump assassination attempt: ...The Pennsylvania man who allegedly tried to kill Donald Trump on Saturday was wearing merchandise from a Texas-based gun fanatic YouTube channel at the time: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/what-is-demolition-ranch-19573090.php ...Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller was standing near Trump when the shooting began: https://www.khou.com/article/news/national/sid-miller-trump-rally-shooting/285-ff11c342-22a2-4a5f-9eec-77cc47a24622 ...A nephew of Amarillo U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson was wounded but is okay: https://www.wral.com/video/blood-on-his-neck-texas-congressman-s-nephew-injured-during-trump-rally-shooting/21524308/ ...President Biden's visit to the LBJ Library at UT Austin has been postponed: https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/biden-to-reschedule-visit-to-austin-following-trump-rally-shooting/ Governor Abbott's ass-kissy tweets about the attack on Trump have drawn backlash from Houston folks still without power after Abbott's neglectful handling of Hurricane Beryl: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/greg-abbott-trump-rally-shooting-19573058.php ...Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo counters much of then-Acting Governor Dan Patrick's story of his handling of the situation while Abbott was sightseeing in Asia: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2024/07/11/493282/harris-county-judge-lina-hidalgo-responds-to-claims-from-acting-governor-dan-patrick-that-she-did-not-request-aid-for-the-county/ ...As a Category 1 hurricane basically cripples Houston, worry builds about the likely impacts of inevitable future storms of much greater intensity: https://www.texasobserver.org/hurricane-beryl-warning-shot-houston/ ...Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa calls on Republican elected officials to stay at their posts in Texas, rather than jetting off for the Republican National Convention: https://x.com/texasdemocrats/status/1811865878671298715 Protestors outnumbered the attendees of the extremist event they were countering at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden over the weekend: https://www.keranews.org/news/2024-07-13/christian-nationalism-event-in-fort-worth-botanic-garden-draws-protest-police-presence ALL progressives should learn all they can about Project 2025, in order to resist its becoming actual U.S. policy: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.

WMAL GUEST: 8:35 AM - INTERVIEW - EMILY MILLER - Journalist covering the Alec Baldwin trial  WEBSITE: https://www.emilypostnews.com/ EMILY MILLER: Alec Baldwin's New Defense: Pulled the Gun's Trigger Unintentionally Biden to campaign in Michigan as he vows to stay in presidential race MEANWHILE THIS WEEK: Whitmer says she doesn't think ‘it would hurt' for Biden to take cognitive test First Lady Jill Biden to visit Pittsburgh on Saturday, same day as Former President Donald Trump's rally ON MONDAY: Joe Biden to visit LBJ Library to mark Civil Rights Act anniversary Where to find more about WMAL's morning show:  Follow the Show Podcasts on Apple podcasts, Audible and Spotify. Follow WMAL's "O'Connor and Company" on X: @WMALDC, @LarryOConnor,  @Jgunlock, and @patricepinkfile.  Facebook: WMALDC and Larry O'Connor Instagram: WMALDC Show Website: https://www.wmal.com/oconnor-company/ How to listen live weekdays from 5 to 9 AM: https://www.wmal.com/listenlive/ Episode: Friday, July 12, 2024 / 8 AM Hour  O'Connor and Company is proudly presented by Veritas AcademySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the 8 AM Hour: Larry O'Connor and Patrice Onwuka discussed: WMAL GUEST: 8:05 AM - INTERVIEW - SEAN SPICER - former White House press secretary and host of the “Sean Spicer Show” – reacted to the Biden press conference SOCIAL MEDIA: https://x.com/seanspicer SHOW: https://www.youtube.com/seanmspicer WMAL GUEST: 8:35 AM - INTERVIEW - EMILY MILLER - Journalist covering the Alec Baldwin trial  WEBSITE: https://www.emilypostnews.com/ EMILY MILLER: Alec Baldwin's New Defense: Pulled the Gun's Trigger Unintentionally Biden to campaign in Michigan as he vows to stay in presidential race MEANWHILE THIS WEEK: Whitmer says she doesn't think ‘it would hurt' for Biden to take cognitive test First Lady Jill Biden to visit Pittsburgh on Saturday, same day as Former President Donald Trump's rally ON MONDAY: Joe Biden to visit LBJ Library to mark Civil Rights Act anniversary Where to find more about WMAL's morning show:  Follow the Show Podcasts on Apple podcasts, Audible and Spotify. Follow WMAL's "O'Connor and Company" on X: @WMALDC, @LarryOConnor,  @Jgunlock, and @patricepinkfile.  Facebook: WMALDC and Larry O'Connor Instagram: WMALDC Show Website: https://www.wmal.com/oconnor-company/ How to listen live weekdays from 5 to 9 AM: https://www.wmal.com/listenlive/ Episode: Friday, July 12, 2024 / 5 AM Hour  O'Connor and Company is proudly presented by Veritas AcademySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New York Times bestselling author A.J. Baime joined us to discuss the famous outcome of the election of 1948. Baime is the author of The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months that Changed the World (2017), The Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, Detroit, and an Epic Quest to Arm an America at War (2014), Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans (2009), and Dewey Defeats Truman: The 1948 Election and the Battle for America's Soul (2019).Baime is a longtime regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal, and his articles have also appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and numerous other publications.

Robert Gates served in public life for over 50 years. He began his career as an entry-level CIA analyst and would rise the ranks to become director of the agency from 1991-93. In 2006, he was named Secretary of Defense by President George W. Bush as our nation waged war in Afghanistan and Iraq. He would retain the position for President Barack Obama until 2011, making him the only Secretary of Defense asked by a newly elected President to remain in the office.Secretary Gates is the author of a number of bestselling books, including A Passion for Leadership and his memoir, Duty, and has served as President of Texas A&M and currently holds the position of Chancellor of the College of William & Mary. Mark Updegrove talked to him recently before a full house at the LBJ Library, where he offered his reflections on an increasingly chaotic world, including the Israel-Hamas War, the War in Ukraine, the security threats posed by an increasingly aggressive China, and the struggles we face here at home

Henry Kissinger, a giant of American History, and arguably the nations greatest diplomat died on November 29, 2023 at the age of 100. In this episode we look back at his extraordinary 100 years as he worked with Richard Nixon to bring peace to millions of people around the world and keep our nation safe here at home. His passing comes at an unusual moment as our rebroadcast of the Nixon Podcast Documentary  is,  in December,  coming to the section that brings to a close the end of the Vietnam War. The bulk of the coming episodes is a window into this extraordinary partnership between one of the four greatest Presidents in American History and one of its  greatest diplomats, as they bring to a close a war that ripped apart the American people as few things have over its nearly 250 year history. We invite you to tune in, in December, to a month that will be dedicated to the memory of Henry Kissinger as it shows you in real time the true story of how the Vietnam War ended.  So please join us at "The Richard Nixon Experience" or go through our back catalogue here at "Randal Wallace Presents" for a chance to deep dive into the most comprehensive examination of the Nixon tapes available online, other than at Luke Nichter's www.Nixontapes.org website. You can also visit www.RandalWallace.com to hear our show and read all about these podcasts. Henry Kissinger was 100 years old.  Questions or comments at , Randalrgw1@aol.com , https://twitter.com/randal_wallace , and http://www.randalwallace.com/Please Leave us a review at wherever you get your podcastsThanks for listening!!

Heather Cox Richardson is professor of history at Boston College, and author of six major books about US history in the 19th Century. Among her best-known works are To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party, and How the South Won the Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America.In the past few years, Richardson has also become one of the most influential voices in American public life. Almost 2 million subscribers receive Letters From An American, a daily newsletter than delves into the historical context of the latest national and international news.Her new book, Democracy Awakening, similarly sets current political controversies within the long sweep of American history. She joined us at the LBJ Library for a discussion on the book, and how she views our current political moment.

Jake Tapper is the chief Washington anchor for CNN, whose shows “The Lead with Jake Tapper” and “State of the Union” are fixtures of broadcast news. Tapper has been covering politics in Washington for over 25 years--from the Clinton Administration through the Biden Administration. He's also a best-selling author of five books, three of which are works of fiction, including his latest, All the Demons Are Here. During a recent visit to the LBJ Library to promote the book, Jake talked to Mark Updegrove about his reflections on the state of our democracy, the media landscape, President Joe Biden, and Biden's presumptive Republican challenger in next year's presidential election: former President Donald Trump.

President Lincoln is perhaps the most analyzed and studied of all America's 46 presidents, the subject of numerous outstanding biographies. Yet some aspects of his life remain difficult to fathom, not least his religious views.In his new book, Lincoln's God, Josh Zeitz teases out Lincoln's complicated religious outlook, and makes clear just how important religion was to the course, and the outcome, of the Civil War.Josh Zeitz writes for Politico, and has also been published in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The New Republic. He is also the author of several books, including Building a Great Society: Inside Lyndon Johnson's White House; Lincoln's Boys: John Hay, John Nicolay, and the War for Lincon's Image; and now, Lincoln's God: How Faith Transformed a President and a Nation.

Samuel Freedman is a Professor at Columbia University and the award-winning author of ten books. In Into the Bright Sunshine he looks at the life of Hubert Humphrey, who would become Senator from Minnesota, Vice President to Lyndon Johnson, and the Democratic presidential nominee in 1968, who lost his bid for the presidency to Richard Nixon by less than one percentage point.But it's Humphrey's early years that Samuel Freedman covers in his book, chronicling Humphrey's humble beginnings in smalltown South Dakota and his move to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Humphrey launched an activist political career that helped to change the trajectory of civil rights in America. 

Late last year we did a “best of” year-end podcast that focused on top moments from With the Bark Off. It was no easy task to choose those moments given the sheer volume of great material we had to draw from, but it was fun and proved to be very popular among our listeners. We decided to make this a biannual thing to reflect on those moments that stood out to us in the last six months. In this episode you will find vignettes on Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Edith Wilson, Jackie Kennedy, J. Edgar Hoover, and Joe Biden.

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a giant of American history, a figure celebrated in classrooms and public discourse for his towering contributions to the struggle for civil rights. And yet Jonathan Eig's biography, King: A Life, rooted in abundant newly available sources, is the first full-fledged study of King to be published in decades.Eig joins us for an enlightening conversation about King's life and legacy. This is the second of a two-part conversation; the first conversation was released on July 20, 2023.

Jonathan Eig is a highly accomplished journalist and author. His bestselling biography of the boxer Muhammad Ali, entitled Ali: A Life, won the PEN America Literary Award and was the basis for a PBS series about Ali's life and times. Eig is also author of Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig. Eig joins us for an enlightening conversation about Martin Luther King Jr's life and legacy. This is the first of a two-part conversation; the second conversation will be released on August 3, 2023.

Melvyn Leffler is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Virginia and one of the world's leading scholars of U.S. foreign relations. His many award-winning books include For the Soul of Mankind: The United States, The Soviet Union, and the Cold War and A Preponderance of Power: National Security, the Truman Administration, and the Cold War. His most recent book is Confronting Saddam Hussein, about the decisions that led America to war in Iraq in 2003.

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy remains one of the most fascinating figures of the 20th century - an iconic First Lady who brought elegance, sophistication, and a cultivated cultural sensibility to the White House. But her formative early adult years provide a glimpse into a headstrong, confident young woman of great intelligence and ambition trying to find her way in the world.Carl Sferrazza Anthony, author of a new book, Camera Girl: The Coming of Age of Jackie Bouvier Kennedy, offers a compelling look at the future First Lady in her years as an adventurous college student, as the Washington Times-Herald's inquiring camera girl, and as a vibrant single woman who had come to date and eventually marry the dashing U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy.Anthony is the author of a dozen books about presidents' wives and families, including As We Remember Her: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the Words of Her Friends and Family, The Kennedy White House: Family Life & Pictures, 1961-1963 and the two-volume First Ladies: The Saga of the Presidents' Wives and Their Power, 1789-1990.

Dr. Lien-Hang Nguyen is the Dorothy Borg Associate Professor of History at Columbia University. Besides Hanoi's War, Dr. Nguyen is co-editor of The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War. She's now writing a definitive history of the Tet Offensive, the communist attacks in 1968 that changed the course of the war for the United States.

In 1968, an elderly Democrat President, with major legislative achievements behind him, who had served as Vice President to younger, more charismatic man, decided he could not win a second election. What lessons are there for Joe Biden from the troubled, truncated presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson? Adam talks to Kevin Kruse, the eminent Princeton historian, author of many books on postwar US political history, including most recently Myth America and Mark Lawrence, the Director of the LBJ Library in Austin, Texas, and author of The End of Ambition: The US and the Third World. Together they discuss how LBJ's legacy should be assessed today, and why he decided -- unlike President Biden -- not to seek a second full term. Leave us your best reviews wherever you get your podcast and please subscribe for more forward-thinking discussions of the American past. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Richard Norton Smith is a Pulitzer Prize-nominated historian and the author of numerous books, including On His Own Terms: A Life of Nelson Rockefeller, and Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation.  Throughout his career, he has been the director of five presidential libraries, those of Abraham Lincoln, Herbert Hoover, Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and, in keeping with today's subject, Gerald Ford.Richard joined Mark Updegrove to discuss his newest book, An Ordinary Man: The Surprising Life and Historic Presidency of Gerald R. Ford.

Marc J. Selverstone is Associate Professor in Presidential Studies at the Miller Center for Public Affairs at The University of Virginia and Chair of the Center's renowned Presidential Recordings Program, which has made available thousands of hours of audio from presidents stretching from Franklin Roosevelt to Richard Nixon.Selverstone is the award-winning author of The Kennedy Withdrawal: Camelot and the American Commitment to Vietnam and Constructing the Monolith: The United States, Great Britain, and International Communism, 1945-1950.

Elizabeth Varon is the Langbourne M. Williams Professor of American History at the University of Virginia and Associate Director of the John L. Nau III Center for Civil War History. Among her many books are Appomattox: Victory, Defeat, and Freedom at the End of the Civil War, Disunion!: The Coming of the American Civil War, and Armies of Deliverance: A New History of the Civil War.More than 150 years after the Civil War ended, the United States is still battling over the meaning of the war. Liz Varon shows how those debates got started even as the smoke was clearing from the final battles.

CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS and PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARIES. How do they really go together? Today, we take a deep dive into the LBJ PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY with Library Director MARK LAWRENCE live from Austin, TX. SPOILER ALERT: After Scott makes a huge discovery while cleaning out his desk, he has to go on an emergency expedition to clear his name which, as a result, forces Rebecca to close the show alone. Make sure you watch/listen to the very end! Oh, the drama! What in the NATIONAL TREASURE is going on here?!? Discover all the answers RIGHT NOW! YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/X_T6Hw-GGRI LBJ LIBRARY: https://www.lbjlibrary.org #HardiePartyofFiveAndAHalf #Podcast #MarkLawrence #LBJLibrary #ClassifiedDocuments #PresidentialLibrary #NationalArchives #Archives #Library #AmericanHistory #American #History #PresidentsDay #NationalTreasure #NicolasCage #FBI #FirstLadies #WhiteHouse #JFK #JohnFKennedy #President #LoveBIG #LaughLOTS #ASmileForYourEars   

Professor Laderman is a prolific historian of international affairs based in the War Studies Department at King's College London. His books include Sharing the Burden: The Armenian Question, Humanitarian Intervention, and Anglo-American Visions of Global Order as well as Hitler's American Gamble: Pearl Harbor and Germany's March to Global War. Laderman has also written for the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, and The Washington Post and has worked as a commentator for the BBC.

Chris Whipple is an author and Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker. He appears frequently as a political analyst on MSNBC, CNN, and NPR, and his previous books include The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency and The Spymasters: How the CIA Directors Shape History and the Future.

Peter Baker is the chief White House correspondent for The New York Times, a political analyst for MSNBC, and the author of several books on the presidency, including Days of Fire and The Breach. Susan Glasser is a staff writer for The New Yorker and a CNN global affairs analyst. Their first assignment as a married couple was as Moscow bureau chiefs for The Washington Post, after which they wrote Kremlin Rising. They also co-authored The Man Who Ran Washington, a New York Times bestseller.The Divider is, at least for the moment, the definitive account of the Trump presidency. Sweeping across four years of nearly constant crisis and controversy, the book examines one of America's most enigmatic presidencies, which included two impeachments, dramatic international events, a constantly shifting array of advisers, and the insurrection of January 6, 2021.This conversation took place on December 13, 2022, at the LBJ Presidential Library.

Hosts Mark Lawrence and Mark Updegrove look back on 10 of their favorite "With the Bark Off" moments from an incredible year.Featured guests:Amity Shlaes on Calvin CoolidgeJohn Farrell on Richard NixonPaul Gregory on Lee Harvey OswaldNicole Hemmer on Ronald ReaganJonathan Martin on Donald TrumpPete Souza on Barack ObamaGabriel Debenedetti on the legacies of Obama and BidenAnthony Fauci on his own legacyAli Vitali on Queen Elizabeth II and female leadershipDarlene Superville and Julie Pace on Jill Biden's influence on Joe Biden's decision whether to run for reelection

John Farrell is a former White House correspondent and Washington editor for the Boston Globe and a former Washington Bureau Chief and columnist for the Denver Post. He is also a best-selling and award-winning author whose works include Tip O'Neill and the Democratic Century; Clarence Darrow: Attorney for the Damned; and Richard Nixon: The Life, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize that he discussed in an earlier episode of this program.His latest book, Ted Kennedy: A Life, explores Senator Kennedy's remarkable 77 years, rife with inconceivable triumph and unimaginable tragedy.

Grover Cleveland hardly ranks among the most celebrated or accomplished of American presidents. Like Chester A. Arthur, Benjamin Harrison, and other presidents of the late 19th century, Cleveland held office at a time when Congress dominated national political life and few Americans expected much of their chief executive. And yet closer inspection reveals a most remarkable president -- and not only because he is the only one to hold two non-consecutive terms.Troy Senik is a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush and a co-founder of the digital media company Kite & Key. Troy is also author of A Man of Iron: The Turbulent Life and Improbably Presidency of Grover Cleveland (September 2022).

Pete Souza is one of our nation's leading photojournalists—and few have risen to greater prominence. He has worked as an official White House photographer for Ronald Reagan and the chief official White House photographer for Barack Obama. Among many other distinctions, he won the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 along with colleagues at the Chicago Tribune, and last year he was inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame. His books include Obama: An Intimate Portrait, one of the bestselling photography books of all time; Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents; and his latest, The West Wing and Beyond: What I Saw Inside the Presidency.Mark Updegrove and Mark Lawrence talk to Pete about his unique vantage point on the presidency and the presidents he has worked with and captured for history. 

Journalist Ali Vitali is a familiar face on America's TV screens, having covered politics first for MSNBC and then for NBC News for nearly a decade. She reported on the 2016 race won by President Trump and then returned to the presidential campaign trail in 2020 to cover several Democratic candidates, including the record-setting four women who competed strongly for the nomination.Ali talked with us about the obstacles that female contenders have faced in running for the presidency over the years, how those challenges might be overcome, and the prospects for election of the nation's first female president. 

We attended the Women and the Future of Democracy event at the LBJ Library and felt so connected to the speakers and women around the world more broadly. We discuss our most sobering and valuable takeaways. You can watch the stream here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qxUpzbmQmsThe panelists and moderators were compelling, accomplished women who represent a variety of organizations that support democracy at home and internationally.Lauren Leader, Co-founder and CEO, All In Together https://aitogether.org/Cristina Tzintzún (sinzun) Ramirez, Executive Director, NextGen America https://nextgenamerica.org/Sheryl Cole, State Representative, Texas District 46 https://www.sherylcole.com/Pat Mitchell environmental advocate https://www.patmitchellmedia.com/Valerie Dowling director of the women's democracy network, https://www.iri.org/wdn/Naheed A. Farid, Former Member of Afghanistan Parliament @FaridNaheed https://spia.princeton.edu/spia-afghanistan-policy-labNatalie Gonnella-Platts, Director, Women's Advancement, George W. Bush Institute https://www.bushcenter.org/explore-our-work/index.htmlAdela Raz, Former Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the United States @AdelaRaz

Nicole Hemmer is a political historian and Founding Director of the Rogers Center for the Study of the Presidency at Vanderbilt University. She's also Cofounder of Made by History, a section of the Washington Post that offers historical context and analysis, and writes regularly for the New York Times, CNN and Politico.Hemmer talked to us about the partisan politicians, personalities and pundits who began remaking the Republican Party 30 years ago, forging a modern conservative movement that trumped the conservative coalition of Republican icon Ronald Reagan and led to the far right Trumpism of today's GOP.

Journalist Gabriel Debenedetti is the national correspondent for New York magazine, where he writes about politics and national affairs. He's also written for Politico, Reuters, the New York Times Book Review, the Economist, and the New Republic, among other publications. Just this month, he published his remarkable first book, The Long Alliance: The Imperfect Union of Joe Biden and Barack Obama.The Long Alliance delves into one of the most consequential political partnerships of recent times – the sometimes contentious, often close relationship between America's forty-fourth and forty-sixth presidents. Gabe joined us to talk about how two men from different generations, with contrasting political styles, led the Democratic party through challenging moments of recent history, and continue to shape the nation today.

It's September 4th. In 1948, a heated Texas Senate primary comes down to a very mysterious box of ballots found in Jim Wells County — which conveniently put Lyndon Johnson ahead by just a few votes. Jody, NIki, and Kellie are joined by Mark Lawrence of the UT-Austin and the LBJ Library to discuss what we know and don't know about the “Box 13” scandal — and whether it truly changed the trajectory of LBJ's political career. Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.com And don't forget about Oprahdemics, hosted by Kellie, out now from Radiotopia. This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Your support helps foster independent, artist-owned podcasts and award-winning stories. If you want to support the show directly, you can do so on our website: ThisDayPod.com Get in touch if you have any ideas for future topics, or just want to say hello. Our website is thisdaypod.com Follow us on social @thisdaypod Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia

Tim Naftali, who teaches history at New York University, is one of the nation's most accomplished scholars of American foreign policy and the Cold War. His numerous books include studies of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Soviet foreign policy, and U.S. counterterrorism policy. He's held teaching positions over the years at Yale University, the University of Hawaii and the University of Virginia.But Tim Naftali is also one of the nation's leading experts on the Watergate scandal, which erupted in 1972 with the attempted burglary of the Democratic National Committee Office in Washington's Watergate complex. As Director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum from 2007 to 2011, Tim was responsible for conducting numerous interviews with key players in the Watergate affair, redesigning the Library's exhibit on the topic, and opening new archival materials connected to the scandal. Tim joined us to talk about Watergate and its meanings half a century later.

Kate Andersen Brower began her career as a journalist, working as a producer for CBS News and Fox News before moving on to cover the White House for Bloomberg during the first term of Barack Obama. She's currently a contributor to CNN and has written for The New York Times, Vanity Fair, and The Washington Post. A bestselling author, she has explored various aspects of life in, around, and out of the White House. In this episode Mark Updegrove talks with Kate about three of her books: The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House, Team of Five: The Presidents Club in the Age of Trump, and First in Line: Presidents, Vice Presidents and the Pursuit of Power. 

When it comes to writing about American politics, few authors are as accomplished or as versatile as Jeffrey Frank. Jeffrey is an eminent journalist, having served as senior editor at The New Yorker and deputy editor of the New York Post's Outlook section. His work has also appeared in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Guardian.Jeffrey has published four novels that dissect the social world of elite Washington. In 2013, he turned to presidential history, publishing Ike and Dick: Portrait of a Strange Political Marriage, a bestselling account of the partnership between President Eisenhower and his Vice President, Richard Nixon.Jeffrey joins Mark Lawrence to talk about his latest book, The Trials of Harry S. Truman, the first study in many years to tell the story of the Truman presidency.  

When we think of how our presidents make decisions, we often imagine them sitting around conference tables with their cabinet secretaries, engaging in detailed deliberation and weighing competing points of view. But where did this practice come from? When did the cabinet originate, and why does it function as it does?Lindsay Chervinsky, a scholar of 18th century America and the U.S. presidency, is among the first historians to delve deeply into these questions. A senior fellow at the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University, Lindsay has published in the Wall Street Journal, Ms. Magazine, CNN, The Washington Post, and USA Today. She joins Dr. Mark Lawrence to talk about her writing on the early American presidency.

Dr. Jill Biden has been called President Biden's greatest political asset and, in the course of their 45-year marriage, has been her husband's closest and most trusted advisor.

Craig McNamara is the son of Robert S. McNamara, who served as U.S. Secretary of Defense under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson during the 1960s. From his childhood, Craig cherished his father. But he also struggled for years to understand the elder McNamara's role in the decisions that led to the war in Vietnam – an experience that forever distanced father from son.Now a businessman and walnut farmer, Craig McNamara is founder of the Center for Land-Based Learning, an organization devoted to educating young farmers in the business of sustainable agriculture. Craig joins Mark Lawrence to talk about his remarkable life and especially his complicated relationship with the man he called ‘Dad.'

On today's episode, we go slightly beyond the presidency as we talk to George Steven's Jr. about his new memoir, My Place in the Sun: Life in the Golden Age of Hollywood and Washington.The son of famed film director George Stevens, George Stevens Jr. grew up in the highest reaches of Hollywood, on the sets of classic films like Giant, Shane, The Diary of Anne Frank, and A Place in the Sun. But yearning for his own place in the sun, he ventured to Washington to work with legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow at the United States Information Agency, producing films for John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, before going on to work for other presidents in other capacities.The founding director of the American Film Institute and the creator of the Kennedy Center Honors, Stevens describes his remarkable life and unimaginable brushes with history.

Since its publication in May, This Will Not Pass, written by Jonathan Martin and his New York Times colleague Alexander Burns, has received thunderous attention. Martin and Burns dive deep into the corridors of Washington power to provide insight into the end of the Trump administration, the big lie around the presidential election of 2020, the insurrection attempt on January 6, and the dawn of the Biden administration. Mark Updegrove talks to Martin about the explosive revelations in the book and, more broadly, the political polarization and party dysfunction that have become the hallmarks of today's Washington.

Coe's first book, Alice + Freda Forever: A Murder in Memphis, appeared in 2014. More recently, she published the book that we'll be discussing today, You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington, which appeared on the New York Times bestseller list. Coe has contributed to The New Yorker, The New York Times, and TheNew Republic. She has also hosted the podcast No Man's Land and Presidents are People Too! and worked as consulting producer for the forthcoming History Channel program on Washington.

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

Fredrik Logevall is the Laurence D. Belfer Professor of International Affairs and Professor of History at Harvard University. Dr. Logevall is the author or editor of ten books including Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam, which won the Pulitzer Prize for History. Most recently, he's published JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956, the first volume of what will be a monumental two-part biography of John F. Kennedy.

A huge milestone in the pandemic: Austin's 7-day average of daily new COVID-related hospitalizations has dropped into Stage 1 range for the first time in almost two years, since the opening weeks of the pandemic - meanwhile the Travis County Sheriff's Office reports no new cases among staff or jail inmates this week, for the first time since last June. At least four separate tornadoes were part of a very active severe weather event across the Austin area last night - so far, no deaths have been reported though some parts of the metro, including Round Rock, saw significant damage. Austin city leaders say new Texas laws regarding transgender youth, abortion restrictions and curbs on voting access have cost Austin millions in lost convention business, both via cancellations and future losses. Austin Code Enforcement have taken down signs asking drivers on West Oltorf Street, placed there by concerned neighbors, to slow down. Texas women's basketball gets a Sweet 16 opponent: it's Ohio State, and they play Friday night. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be in Austin on Wednesday to take part in a Women's History Month discussion at the LBJ Library. And we salute Anderson High senior Aseel Rawashadeh, who has won an 80 thousand dollar prize in a national science competition with a new, natural formulation designed to control mosquitoes.

Barack Obama made history in 2008, becoming the first African American to be elected to our nation's highest office, as our 44th President. When he took office in January 2009, he brought a small coterie of close and loyal friends from his home state of Illinois to join him at the White House. Among them was Tina Tchen, who would become a White House insider and a close aide to Barack and Michelle Obama.  Tchen began her White House tenure in 2009 as the Director of Public Engagement before serving as Assistant to President Obama and Chief of Staff to the First Lady from 2011 to 2017. She talks about what it was like to be behind the scenes in the West and East Wings during the Obama administration working closely with President and Mrs. Obama, and what their legacies will mean to history.