The course of American history changes when the staid, conservative William McKinley is shot and killed by an anarchist assassin, and the improbable Theodore Roosevelt becomes President of the United States.
Transcript.
Transcript provided by listener Josh.
Playlist:
Fanfare
Opening Theme
“There’ll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight”
Composed in 1896 by Theodore August Metz. Public domain.
Symphony No. 3 in E♭ Major (“Eroica”)
Composed in 1804 by Ludwig van Beethoven. Public domain.
Performed by Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Public domain. Source.
Closing Theme
Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are
© and ℗ 2016 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.
Great podcast. I am enjoying it immensely.
At the very end of this episode (which I listened to last week…so it could be another episode), you said something like “I can’t believe I am saying this, but Teddy Roosevelt has become president.” I could not tell in what way you meant that. I have always had a positive sense of Roosevelt, so I was surprised at your take on his becoming president. We (Americans) have done a lot worse. A lot.
I did not mean that as an expression of disapproval. I meant that Republican Party leadership of the time saw Roosevelt as useful in the vice-presidential role, but never intended him to be President. To some of those people, a Roosevelt presidency must have seemed a frightening prospect, and that’s the point of view I was trying to express.