+ Episode 8: William McKinley

In this episode, we spoke with American foreign policy experts Daniel Immerwahr and Richard Maass about President William McKinley and the rationale for and consequences of territorial expansion. Our conversations with our guests demonstrated the complicated ways race shaped those decisions and helped us see parallels between debates over immigration and citizenship in the 19th century and arguments over those issues today.

We’ve provided an episode transcript, primary and secondary sources, and other materials for those who want to dive deeper into the story of William McKinley and race.

Further Readings

Books

• Lewis L. Gould, The Presidency of William McKinley (University Press of Kansas, 1981)

• Margaret Leech, In the Days of McKinley (American Political Biography Press, 1999)

• H. Wayne Morgan, William McKinley and His America (Kent State University Press, 1998)

• Scott Miller, The President and the Assassin (Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2013)

• Kevin Phillips, William McKinley (Times Books, 2003)

Primary Resources

• McKinley on American Expansionism (The Life of William McKinley; v2, 1903)

• McKinley's First Inaugural Address (Yale Law School, 1897)

• McKinley's Second Inaugural Address (Yale Law School, 1901)

• McKinley's War Message (Santa Monica College, 1898)

Other Resources

• William McKinley Campaigns and Elections (Article, Lewis L. Gould, UVA Miller Center, 2021)

• William McKinley Presidential Library

• William McKinley Resource Guide (Library of Congress, 2021)

• William McKinley Tomb in Niles, Ohio (National Parks Service, 2021)

+ Episode 9: Theodore Roosevelt

In this episode, we spoke with scholars whose work illuminates the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt through the lenses of memory and rhetoric. Historian Michael Cullinane and communications and public affairs specialist Leroy Dorsey reflected upon TR’s outsized and legendary personality and how Roosevelt’s ideas about race and empire complicated his commitment to social and economic reform.

We’ve provided an episode transcript, primary and secondary sources, and other materials for those who want to dive deeper into the story of Theodore Roosevelt and race.

Further Readings

Books

• Michael Cullinane, Theodore Roosevelt's Ghost: The History and Memory of an American Icon (LSU Press, 2017)

• John Morton Blum, The Republican Roosevelt (Harvard University Press, 1977)

• Leroy G. Dorsey, Theodore Roosevelt, Conservation, and the 1908 Governors' Conference (Texas A&M University Press, 2016)

• William Henry Harbaugh, Power and Responsibility: Theodore Roosevelt (American Political Biography Press, 1997)

• Edmund Morris, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (Random House, 2010)

• Henry F. Pringle, Theodore Roosevelt: A Biography (HMH Books, 2003)

Primary Resources

• Theodore Roosevelt, The Rough Riders, An Autobiography (Penguin Random House, 1999)

• Papers of President Theodore Roosevelt (Library of Congress, 2021)

• Roosevelt's Inaugural Address (Yale Law School, 1905)

Other Resources

• Theodore Roosevelt Campaigns and Elections (Article, Sidney Milkis, UVA Miller Center, 2021)

• Theodore Roosevelt Foreign Affairs (Article, Sidney Milkis, UVA Miller Center, 2021)

• Theodore Roosevelt Home at Sagamore Hill (National Parks Service, 2021)

• Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library

• Theodore Roosevelt Resource Guide (Library of Congress, 2021)

• Opinion: Theodore Roosevelt would be the first to agree: His statue should come down (Article, Michael Cullinane, Washington Post, 2020)

+ Episode 10: William Howard Taft

In this episode we heard from historian Christopher Nichols and award-winning writer Dan Okrent about the presidency of William Howard Taft, our only chief executive to also serve on the Supreme Court. These guests helped up appreciate how Taft's judicial temperament influenced his presidential decisions on race, and frustrated members of his own party.

We've provided an episode transcript, primary and secondary sources, and other materials for those who want to dive deeper into the racial implications of William Howard Taft's Presidency.

Further Readings

Books

• Johnathan Lurle, William Howard Taft: The Travails of a Progressive Conservative (Cambridge University Press, 2011)

• Henry Pringle, The Life and Times of William Howard Taft (Farrar & Reinhart, 1964)

• Jeffrey Rosen, William Howard Taft (Macmillan Publishers, 2018)

Primary Resources

• Taft's Inaugural Address (Yale Law School, 1909)

• Taft's State of the Union Address (Project Gutenberg 2004)

• Other Primary Resources (Christopher Newport University, 2021)

Other Resources

• William Howard Taft (WH.gov, 2021)

• William Howard Taft National Historic Site (National Park Service, 2021)

• William Howard Taft Resource Guide (Library of Congress, 2020)

+ Episode 11 & 12: Woodrow Wilson

In this dual episode 11 and episode 12 we spoke to three historians about president Woodrow Wilson's momentous White House Tenure. Paul Behringer Adriane Lentz-Smith reflected upon Wilson's views on race and placed them in international context. Tom Knock offered a slightly more complimentary portrayal of Wilson's life and legacy, based on his life's work studying the 28th president.

We've provided primary and secondary sources, and other materials for those who want to dive deeper into the story of Woodrow Wilson and race.

Further Readings

Books

• A. Scott Berg, Wilson (Penguin Publishing Group, 2013)

• John Milton Cooper, Woodrow Wilson: A Biography (Penguin Random House, 2011)

• Tom Knock, To End All Wars: Woodrow Wilson and the Quest for a New World Order (Princeton University Press, 2019)

• Adriane Lentz-Smith, Freedom Struggles: African Americans and World War I (Harvard University Press, 2009)

Primary Resources

• The Papers of Woodrow Wilson (Princeton University Press, 1900)

• Wilson's First Inaugural Address (The Miller Center, 1913)

• Wilson's Fourteen Points Speech (US Embassy & Consulate in the Republic of Korea, 1918)

• Wilson's Second Inaugural Address (Yale Law School, 1917)

Other Resources

• Wilson's House in Washington D.C. (National Park Service, 2021)

• Wilson's Presidential Library

• Woodrow Wilson Research Guide (Library of Congress, 2021)

+ Episode 15 & 16 Franklin D. Roosevelt

In episode 15 and episode 16, we spoke to three historians about the transformational presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. First, historian Eric Rauchway provided a clinical overview of Roosevelt’s time in office, highlighting the role race played throughout. Then we talked with historian Jill Watts about the vital role played by Roosevelt’s “Black Cabinet,” and novelist Jamie Ford about the legacy of FDR’s Japanese internment policy.

We've provided primary and secondary sources, and other materials for those who want to dive deeper into Roosevelt’s complicated history with race.

Further Readings

Books

• H.W. Brands, Traitor to His Class (Penguin Random House, 2000)

• James MacGregor Burns The Definitive FDR (Open Road Media, 2017)

• Robert Dallek, Franklin D. Roosevelt (Penguin Random House, 2018)

• Jim Powell, FDR's Folly (Penguin Random House, 2004)

• Jean Edward Smith, FDR (Penguin Random House, 2008)

Primary Resources

• Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address (The Avalon Project, 1933)

• Roosevelt's "The Four Freedoms" Speech (1941)

• Roosevelt's Second Inaugural Address (The American Yawp Reader, 1937)

• Roosevelt's Speeches

Other Resources

• FDR Biography (FDR Presidential Library, 2021)

• Franklin D. Roosevelt (White House, 2021)

• Franklin D. Roosevelt (The Miller Center, 2021)

• Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial (National Park Service, 2021)

• Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum