Presidential

3,542
History #73

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]

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Recent Reviews
  • Nancy8758
    I want to love this podcast!!
    I so wish I could listen to this podcast. It’s actually really interesting. I just can’t with the person hosting. The vocal fry. The frequent giggling for no reason. The glottal attack in the middle of words like “certain” (cer-in), “important” (impor-int), “Martin” (Mar-in), etc. It’s like being at a middle school slumber party where someone is talking about presidents. I know it’s a me problem. I’ve tried really hard to listen. I guess I’m just sensitive to how some people talk.
  • The Reviewru
    Now would be a good time for an episode
    As a huge fan of this podcast, it has the rare chance to look forward instead of backwards. What can we learn from previous assassinations and attempts about how the influence elections? We want to hear from you, Presidential!
  • Dinee74801
    Good overview of them all.
    I’m up to Harrison and enjoying so far. The content added by each expert is a good addition. I like the format with each prez getting the same amount of time whether they served one term or 4. Just enough to make a listener go find out more if there is one you’re really interested in….or want to go on a blind date with.
  • badyouthpastor
    Lots to learn
    I learned so much about some of the obscure presidents. I walked away with a greater respect and appreciation for the men who have held the office.
  • TGSFTW
    Stories that weave together
    Each presidency does not stand alone. They are all woven into each other. To understand the complexity of the office of the President, let alone the history the of the United States, it’s vital to start from Washington and continue to the present day. This podcast really lays out context in a very human way.
  • Bobbybottleservice
    Missed opportunity
    I’m at the John adams episode, was hoping to learn about John adams, instead 3/4ths of the episode is about why there isn’t a John adams memorial. They brought on a US memorial expert to break down the process of getting one. I DO NOT CARE. The episode began with commentary on how no one knows anything about Adams. I still don’t but at least I know the host of this thinks he should have a memorial. Weird focus, just tell me about his life and presidency. Abigail adams got a cursory mention as being profoundly important to understanding John and his presidency, why not spend some time on that??? Cool I have a new opinion now that there should be an Adams memorial thanks
  • MMichelleJ
    Perpetuating Propaganda w/ a Woke Twist
    It’s amazing to me that anyone believes that any President is actually a good person trying to make real change. Presidents for years & years & years have been bought and paid for. They are actors portraying a character (said by 2 Presidents themselves). They are the front for a corrupt system, as are “reporters” & Presidential researchers. I mean the host championed LBJ as a civil rights hero but failed to mention he used the N word in private conversations all the time. I won’t listen to the Trump or Biden episodes. I can already guess what will be said, per the usual re the media. They both are equally awful human beings that have continued to lie to the American public while helping their own and their buddy’s bank accounts grow 💰 😉
  • Lantoga
    Presidential
    I want to listen to the podcasts about presidents but all that comes up are national parks.
  • Vanellope87
    Not as informative as I thought it would be
    I only listened to the first 2 episodes, while there were some interesting facts the second episode really only talked about a monument. I was hoping to learn more about their time in office.
  • bloopitydoopity
    Great Ended With Bias
    Great podcast until the Trump episode. Whether you like the guy or not, in the very first episode you stated you would give an honest report even if the president was not necessarily good or bad. You ended by spending 10 minutes bashing Trump in an hour long episode. Otherwise its a decent podcast
  • Jackrabbit49er
    Solid content, OK production
    Overall this is a very informative podcast. The only outlier is the Trump episode. It was published just 3 days after the 2016 election, so it can be forgiven for being so different. However, since the Biden episode follows the general format of the series, an updated Trump episode would be great. Some of the interviews have audio so poor that you have to adjust the volume between interviewer and interviewee.
  • ShipShore
    Thank You!!!
    A friend recommended this podcast to me and I have not been disappointed!!! Case in point: I’ve listened to the Harry Truman segment 3 times. Kudos for bringing the incomparable David McCollough to provide insight. Anyway, Lillian Cunningham knocked the ball out of the park with this series.
  • John VerValen
    There seems to be bias here
    The episode on Trump was all about tearing him down, but with Biden you start from his childhood and build him up and ignore the fact that he is a racist and that he has a problem with telling the truth, but you excoriate Trump for his falsehoods. I guess your liberal bias is showing through. What would be nice is if you were to become the journalist you say you are and just stick to the facts and present it without your thumb on the scale.
  • Cool Firework🧨
    Love it
    Monroe was very interesting. Actually, this whole podcast was very interesting. Now go listen to it, get informed and interested about the US presidents, and stop reading this review.
  • Jamey1559
    Exceptional
    Absolutely loved this podcast. It was interesting and informative and appreciated the telling of facts we might never have heard before were it not for this podcast.
  • OgilBrad
    Very informative, but a few glaring oversights
    As a life-long Presidential hostory geek, I have loved this series. I was, however, disappointed with the lack of any mention of the AIDS pandemic in the Reagan episode. His response (or lack of response and reasons why) to this crisis are still felt to this day as the far right continues to play politics with lgbtq rights in dehumanizing ways.
  • ByeFelicia777
    Not great
    The structure jumps all over the place. The narration isn’t great, it sounds kind of like a high school project presentation. The worst though are the many episodes that don’t discuss much of anything about their presidential impact on the contract. I would love it if they would redo it with better structure. Some background about their life before being president and after, but focus more on the facts of impact on the country/world.
  • kayyserasera
    Thank you
    Just finished listening to this podcast and I loved obsessing about the presidents over the course of the last two weeks as I took in each president. I now have all the presidents names memorized in order, and feel like I have a better grasp of American history as a presidency can reveal a lot about what Americans are concerned about at any given time. It’s given me some hope that while the world is changing a lot, in many ways, America isn’t all that different from its beginning. I saw a lot of reviews grumbling about audio quality which might be more of an issue if you’re listening with headphones, I listened on a stereo speaker and didn’t notice anything too off putting. I also think the host over all does a great job of bringing out the relateable, human qualities of every president, regardless of their politics. I found myself having a greater respect for US Grant (definitely want to read his autobiography now!), Benjamin Harrison, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter-all presidents I knew virtually nothing about before this podcast.The format and content was just what I needed from a podcast like this-those complaining about the content may just want something a little different, and that’s OK. And don’t let the haters hate-I loved the blind date question!!
  • Ltsgthi
    It was a show that was recorded……
    People asked questions and made a show about presidents. Some story’s had interesting information and others where empty boring conversations. If you like pod that is kind of ok, this is your jam. The last episode about Trump was very confusing.
  • 3D49
    wtyyuuhzzEugsayzyGeq
    Y tugging stwwxd
  • FinanceAppLover
    Highly enjoyable, but wish host was woke
    I really enjoyed all the episodes, but I do believe Cunningham sometimes treaded toward certain tellings of history that are problematically traditional. I wish she would have found ways of telling more woke understandings of certain presidents and periods in history. At times, it felt like she was even sanitizing history a bit.
  • krrb1135
    Presidential
    I’ve enjoyed every episode of this podcast and feel sorry that it has ended. Narration is important along with content. The narrator is eloquent and steady in her delivery and so easy to listen to! I found the historical content to be excellent.
  • Chaene12
    Entertaining & Informative
    I love this show. It’s got a few things you know, a few things you didn’t know, and excellent book references for each president for those who want to deep dive. It’s entertaining & keeps a good pace, good balance. Great show.
  • emjohns88
    Interesting, when you can hear it
    This podcast chooses specific events or themes from each president and shares some of the lesser known information. The audio mixing, however, is terrible. Music is too loud, but then the historian interviews are inaudible. Not great for listening while driving.
  • BOOM002
    Biased. Psuedo intellectual
    ..
  • Hgttfg
    Audio quality is lacking, not the content expected.
    The quality of the audio on any ‘experts’ that were interviewed was horrible. And I was looking for biographical podcasts on each president, not one specific, nonsensical, issue like the John Adam’s episode. Yes, he needs a monument. But who cares?
  • Lstokley
    Love!!
    I have always loved history but knew almost nothing about the presidents. I have learned so many amazing things about each president that I never knew. This podcast is amazing and I love learning about more obscure presidents
  • Jules5168
    Grievous omission
    Not even a passing mention of the AIDS epidemic in the Reagan episode… truly horrible oversight.
  • Ulac
    It’s above surface level
    It’s not bad but you get almost nothing about each president. There’s surface level, then there’s this podcast in a helicopter hovering above surface level, not even scratching the surface. I know nothing about US presidents so I can’t say I’ve gotten nothing out of it, but you don’t get much.
  • Kdkdjgsjjal
    Love this podcast
    This podcast is fascinating! It’s the history class i wish I could have taken in high school or college! Listening for the 2nd time because I enjoyed it so much!
  • janwayne50
    The changes through history
    I loved how you humanized every president and how they were each a product of their time. I loved the questions asked and the unbiased and global look at each man. What I loved most was the line of how who we are now has been traced from who we were.
  • jlm188
    Worth listening to, but not great.
    Historians writing about subjects that have already been covered extensively have to come up with a new angle. But the new angle should still reveal information that is worth learning. Many of the episodes here lack much information- and there’s a lot of wasted airtime on clumsy approaches to investigation - like the “if I were set up on a blind date” question. The question yields more comments on how funny or clever that question is than information we actually want about these presidents. The narrator also seems immature and ingratiating - but that may be due to youth and inexperience, as she appears to be intelligent. The show would be better if the creators focused more on the content than on the conceptual approach to the delivery.
  • 1WhiteBuffalo
    Biased view points =Washington post
    audio could use some twerking. Im sire is aware of that problems now... I like the concept of this podcast. So for that amd her efforts a star. Everything else thumbs down.
  • Alex Dunlap
    Love Presidential
    I think this is an amazing podcast to learn about American presidents at a surface level and gives the listener an opportunity to dig deeper into topics they are interested in. I know there was an immense amount of work that went into organizing the guests and making the show interesting and Lillian nailed it. I’ve listened multiple times through. As we got into the more recent presidents there was some obviously politicking - but eh that’s just what to expect these days. Didn’t detract from an otherwise great listen.
  • lborg714
    Why so biased?
    I just want the facts about the presidents...not your idea of who should/should not have won. 🙄 Clearly a biased view on the presidents.
  • lstebbins
    Love it!
    Really really enjoyed this phenomenal podcast about the Presidents!
  • Ineedmats
    Loved it. Where is the First Ladies series?
    Overall I loved it. There was a little too much dead air at times and other times it felt rushed. It would be nice (as much as I don’t want to ever hear of him again) to do an after episode for 45 but like in a couple years. Please, please do one on the First Ladies. Whether the person who took that role was the wife of the President or not. Heck I’d love a whole podcast about Elenor Roosevelt.
  • JenDread
    Well researched
    I’ve learned so much Thank you
  • Numba1_Yetay Fan
    Boring
    Just boring.
  • sodbeisnanofnxns
    Annoying narrator
    The narrator is a pseudointellect and her voice makes me want to blow my brains out.
  • greek2.0
    I love it
    I love it though some things could be changed.
  • Dimenysys
    History through the eyes of a SJW
    Literally the entire episode of Woodrow Wilson is about how he was a “racist”. Hot garbage, this is history for blue-haired feminists in their freshman year of college.
  • :^)
    Outstanding and unbiased look at our presidents
    This podcast is great journey through history and a wonderful in-depth look at our presidents. Lillian Cunningham does a wonderful job of talking politics without getting political. She presents each prez in a fair and thoughtful way so we can learn who they were as people and better understand the decisions they had to make. Well done!
  • about to delete ya
    Could have been good.
    The John Adams episode was literally about there not being an Adams monument. I learned absolutely nothing about his presidency, which is then reason I listened in the first place. Deleting this podcast because it didn’t live up to expectations.
  • nicole.leonida
    Great podcast
    Each episode was fantastic, so much information! It was nice to hear about the Presidents as people.
  • DugB1018
    Good, but it includes odd errors.
    For some reason, the podcast host and guests refer to some early Presidents as “Republicans.” Jefferson is an example of this error. The first Republican President was Lincoln. The “Democratic-Republican” party is the forbearer to both of the major parties that exist today (after the Whigs came and went.) A podcast based upon providing historical information should not include errors that could easily be corrected with a simple Google search. The podcast is enjoyable otherwise and provides some interesting insights into many leaders who have been mostly forgotten.
  • Kel_by_the_sea
    The Obama episode is very moving
    Great content and great production.
  • Steen73
    Love it!
    I love history, and this is a great podcast for that. Love the host, the guest experts, and the biographies.
  • ealove
    Great Content, Audio is Problematic
    This is fascinating content (on a road trip, my whole family including my young teens were loving it), but the audio (especially in the first episodes) is real, real bad. Levels and quality are maddeningly inconsistent.
  • Jacob Barker
    Enjoyable walk through our nations leaders
    I have really enjoyed listening to this podcast and learning! I like that this provides a slightly different view of history than we may normally read about. And I also appreciate the deferment to experts demonstrated by the host! Thank you!
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