Fail To The Chief

Informações:

Synopsis

Fail to the Chief is the podcast where comic historian Thom Woodley talks about the men who became President... almost. Romp through the losers of presidential history, laugh and marvel at how different life might have been, had America made different choices.

Episodes

  • 1984. Walter Mondale, the Loser of 1984.

    24/06/2022 Duration: 41min

    Comic historian Thom Woodley looks at Walter Mondale, the landslide Ronald Reagan reelection of 1984, and growing up in the 1980s in general. 

  • UPDATE! and 1992: Ross Perot

    14/09/2021 Duration: 27min

    Fail to the Chief THE BOOK? Yes indeed.  Also? Ross Perot. In lo-fi style. Because you've been waiting.  Order the book today: https://www.amazon.com/Fail-Chief-1788-1928-Thom-Woodley/dp/1736697706/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=fail+to+the+chief&qid=1631577684&sr=8-1

  • 1988. Michael Dukakis, a.k.a. Zorba the Clerk.

    05/05/2020 Duration: 36min

    Thom Woodley takes you on a tour of presidential losers of the past. In this episode, the George Bush vs. Michael Dukakis election of 1988. 

  • BONUS: 1980. John B. Anderson, the Best Candidate You Never Heard Of,

    17/03/2020 Duration: 29min

    Thom Woodley digs into the losers of presidential history - in this case, the independent candidacy of former Republican Congressman John B. Anderson (IL-16), who lost to Ronald Reagan but might have been the architect of a much better future. 

  • 1972. George McGovern's McGovernment.

    04/03/2020 Duration: 44min

    Thom Woodley takes you through the history of the disastrous 1972 presidential campaign of liberal icon and Nixon opponent, George McGovern. 

  • 1968. Hubert Horatio Humphrey, the Happy Handshaker.

    04/02/2020 Duration: 43min

    Thom Woodley discusses the losers of presidential history - this year, the big Democratic loser of the chaotic year of 1968, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, who lost to Richard Nixon in the midst of the Vietnam War. 

  • 1968. George Wallace, Segregator-in-Chief

    21/01/2020 Duration: 30min

    Rerelease of a 2015 Episode. Just in time for MLK Day, it's our episode on George Wallace, the 3rd party candidate in the 1968 election. Why wasn't he elected president? And how would he have been in office?

  • BONUS! The 5th Era of American Politics Review

    14/01/2020 Duration: 33min

    In this episode, we explore ALL of the losers of the 5th Period in American Politics (1932-1968), Alf Landon, Wendell Willkie, Thomas Dewey, Adlai Stevenson, Strom Thurmond, Henry Wallace and Barry Goldwater, and find out where they rank among the losers of all American history.  We also talk about some notable other losers of the era: Henry Breckinridge, Cactus Jack Garner, Estes Kefauver, Averell Harriman, Bob Taft, Douglas MacArthur, Nelson Rockefeller and the classic perennial candidate of them all, Harold Stassen.   

  • 1964. In your heart, you know Barry Goldwater's right.

    07/01/2020 Duration: 40min

    Amateur historian host Thom Woodley re-releases his 2016 episode on Barry Goldwater, the very conservative-libertarian Republican losing candidate of the 1964 Lyndon Johnson presidential election. 

  • NEW: 1952/1956. Adlai Stevenson, the Thinking Man's President.

    03/12/2019 Duration: 47min

    This is a repost as there was an error the first time I posted! Comic historian Thom Woodley digs into the record of Adlai Stevenson II, Governor of Illinois and two-time nominee of the Democratic party, who lost big to Dwight Eisenhower. 

  • 1948. Henry Wallace, the Secret Soviet Spy candidate?

    05/11/2019 Duration: 35min

    Join comic historian Thom Woodley as we talk about Henry Wallace, former Vice President and the 1948 candidate of the Progressive Party... and also maybe, just maybe, a secret Soviet asset. 

  • 1848. Lewis Cass, our first Ugly-American President

    29/10/2019 Duration: 32min

    Comic historian Thom Woodley (@thomwoodley) takes you on a tour through the rogues gallery of presidential candidates who didn't quite make it. This episode, Lewis Cass (Democrat, 1848), who lost to Zachary Taylor. 

  • 1948. Strom Thurmond, Dixiecrat.

    01/10/2019 Duration: 37min

    Thom Woodley takes you on a tour of the 1948 presidential election, in which 3rd party Democrat Strom Thurmond runs on a platform of segregationist views - and later goes on to rebuild the Republican party in his image. 

  • 1844. Henry Clay (Part 2) [RE-RELEASE]

    17/09/2019 Duration: 27min

    Re-release of this 2015 episode; comic historian Thom Woodley takes you through the 1844 election where historical great Henry Clay was defeated by dark horse James K. Polk. 

  • 1944/48. DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN (not so much)!

    03/09/2019 Duration: 43min

    Comic historian Thom Woodley investigates the losers of presidential history - this time Thomas E. Dewey, two time Republican nominee, the gangbusting man on the wedding cake who lost to FDR and Harry Truman. 

  • 1836. The Devil in Daniel Webster (re-release)

    20/08/2019 Duration: 29min

    Thom rereleases his episode on presidential loser Daniel Webster, the only man to turn down two separate vice-presidential offers (either of which would have led to his becoming president). 

  • 1940. What if Wendell Willkie Won the World War?

    06/08/2019 Duration: 48min

    Every episode, comic historian Thom Woodley dissects one of the losers of presidential elections. This time, the discussion is on Wendell Willkie, a proto-Trump figure: businessman who never served in office, former Democrat, famous for speaking on a controversial issue. What would have happened had a completely nonexperienced man had beaten FDR and been at the helm during WW2??

  • 1836. Hugh Lawson White, Legislative Dracula

    23/07/2019 Duration: 25min

    Every episode, Thom Woodley delves into a different Loser of American presidential elections. Enjoy this re-release of diehard conservative (and possible Nesferatu) Hugh Lawson White of Tennessee, one of 1836's Way Too Many Whig candidates. 

  • 1936. Landslide Alf Landon

    09/07/2019 Duration: 41min

    in this episode, Thom Woodley discusses the very boring Kansas governor Alf Landon and his landslide loss to Franklin D. Roosevelt. 

  • BONUS: The 4th Era of American Politics

    02/07/2019 Duration: 23min

    It's July 4th, 2019, and Thom is going to quickly recap the 4th period of American history (from McKinley in 1896 through Hoover in 1928), and its presidential losers: William Jennings Bryan, Alton Parker, Eugene Debs, Charles Evans Hughes, James Cox, John W. Davis, Robert La Follette, Burton Wheeler, and Al Smith. In addition he discusses some might-have-been-also-rans: Silver Dick Bland, Champ Clark, Charles Fairbanks, William Randolph Hearst, Leonard Wood, William Gibbs McAdoo, Hiram Johnson and Irvine Lenroot. 

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