Presidential

The Washington Post

The Washington Post's Presidential podcast explores how each former American president reached office, made decisions, handled crises and redefined the role of commander-in-chief. It was released leading up to up to Election Day 2016, starting with George Washington in week one and ending on week 44 with the president-elect. New special episodes in the countdown to the 2020 presidential election highlight other stories from U.S. presidential history that can help illuminate our current moment. Hosted by Lillian Cunningham, the series features Pulitzer Prize-winning biographers like David McCullough and Washington Post journalists like Bob Woodward. [When you're done, listen to Lillian's other historical podcasts: Constitutional and Moonrise]

#18 in the Top 100 government All time chart

16 Listeners

1 Comment

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Best episodes

Top 10 Presidential Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Presidential episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Presidential for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Presidential episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

George Washington: The man, the myth, the legend

Presidential

01/10/16 • 49 min

Who exactly was our first president? Bob Woodward, Joel Achenbach and Julie Miller kick off our first episode of Presidential.

12 Listeners

Introduction: Welcome to Presidential

Presidential

01/05/16 • 3 min

Preview the Washington Post podcast, with clips from upcoming episodes and an overview of the series by host Lillian Cunningham.

5 Listeners

John Tyler: Ghosts and the vice presidency

Presidential

03/13/16 • 32 min

When Vice President Tyler took over the White House, he set a precedent that would forever shape the office. This episode features experts Barbara Bair and Joel Goldstein, as well as descendants who talk about the ghost who haunts the Tyler home.

4 Listeners

Lyndon B. Johnson: Power

Presidential

09/04/16 • 39 min

The LBJ Presidential Library's director, Mark Updegrove, helps us examine how Johnson worked his will--at times darkly--to get some of the most transformative legislation of the 20th century through Congress.

4 Listeners

Zachary Taylor: War heroes and conspiracy theory

Presidential

03/27/16 • 29 min

Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank joins historians Catherine Clinton and Joseph Uscinski to talk about military hero Zachary Taylor and the assassination theories that swirled around his death in the White House.

4 Listeners

Thomas Jefferson: On food and freedom

Presidential

01/25/16 • 43 min

Jon Meacham and Annette Gordon-Reed are among the experts who take us through the best and worst of our third president's complex and controversial legacy.

4 Listeners

1 Comment

Herbert Hoover: Dealing with disaster

Presidential

07/31/16 • 39 min

Herbert Hoover entered the White House with an array of high-profile experiences leading disaster relief. So why was his handling of the Great Depression considered a failure? Biographer Charles Rappleye guest stars.

4 Listeners

James K. Polk: Getting it done

Presidential

03/20/16 • 36 min

They Might Be Giants singer John Linnell and historian Amy Greenberg are guests on this episode. Through hard work and strategic lying, the 11th president managed to accomplish everything on his agenda. But is being effective the same as being great?

4 Listeners

Millard Fillmore: Teaching the obscure presidents

Presidential

04/03/16 • 39 min

Should we teach the presidency of Millard Fillmore? What do we lose if we don't? Historians Jean Baker and James McPherson, along with Washington Post education reporter T. Rees Shapiro, tackle these questions in our 13th episode.

4 Listeners

William Henry Harrison: Great song, horrible death

Presidential

03/06/16 • 30 min

Washington Post humor columnist Alexandra Petri, along with Barbara Bair and Dr. Philip Mackowiak, deconstruct Harrison's transformative presidential campaign and debunk the myth of what killed him after only 32 days in office.

4 Listeners

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FAQ

How many episodes does Presidential have?

Presidential currently has 60 episodes available.

What topics does Presidential cover?

The podcast is about History, Podcasts and Government.

What is the most popular episode on Presidential?

The episode title 'George Washington: The man, the myth, the legend' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Presidential?

The average episode length on Presidential is 39 minutes.

How often are episodes of Presidential released?

Episodes of Presidential are typically released every 7 days, 2 hours.

When was the first episode of Presidential?

The first episode of Presidential was released on Jan 5, 2016.

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Comments

Liam Heffernan

@thisistheheff

May 19

I love this show. Granted, I'm a sucker for anything about US history, but the pacing, the expertise of the guests and the production value is superb (especially considering this was made in 2016 when podcasting was still a vastly under-resourced industry). If you're looking for anything in this subject area, start with this show.