Fake News 1968 Style

Don’t think that “Fake News” is solely President Trump’s domain. Oh no….

As we listen in to this weeks phone call, you’ll hear TITP fave President Lyndon B. Johnson bitching about news coverage - even suggesting that a reporter be taken out and shot at one point.

Granted, Johnson was having a pretty tough week. This phone call, taken from February 5, 1968, was recorded during a time when Johnson was under a bit of stress.

Just a few weeks prior, the USS Pueblo, and all it’s crew, were captured in the waters off North Korea (yean, that North Korea) and accused of spying. Then, just a few days before this phone call, the North Vietnamese launched the Tet Offensive, immediately dismissing any notion that the end of the war was anywhere near.

Here’s an interesting bit of trivia that didn’t make it to the podcast - the captured crew of the USS Pueblo later figured out that the North Koreans had no idea what “flipping the bird” meant, so they started doing it in every staged photo taken of them. Here’s a still taken from a propaganda film made by the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea of the Pueblo crew….

So take a few minutes in to listen as LBJ rattles on about the press, easily standing up to anything that President Trump has mouthed off about lately. And the best part - LBJ is talking to a reporter! It’s like getting to listen in to Trump talk to his favorite news reporters from Morning Joe!

Also, we catch up on some of the craziness in Washington and, of course, we go back and visit Trump in the Amazon.

This episode is brought to you in part by Blinkist. 

Blinkist is the only app that takes thousands of the best-selling nonfiction books and
distils them down to their most impactful elements, so you can read or listen to them in
under 15 minutes, all on your phone.

Get started with a FREE seven day trial. along with a 25% discount, for Blinkist today, by clicking here! 

And last, but not least, this episode is also sponsored by Words Over Chair Productions and Comedy History 101.

Like This is the President? Why not  subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes! Hey - and while you’re there, leave us a comment or rate us! Don’t cost nothing!

George HW Bush Has a Crack Attack

June 12, 1985 was vice presidents George H.W. Bush’s special day.

He was turning 61 years young, so the White House staff decided to suprise him with a cake and a couple of special presents.

Which unfortunately didn’t include the bag of crack that President Bush would so proudly hold up to American’s TV screens just a few short years later.

Those are just a couple of the memories that Harmon and I unleash when we talk about our newest dead president, George Herbert Walker Bush.

But that’s not all, in this episode, we also bring back a couple of favorite bits, Harmon’s Presidential Impressions and, of course, we go shopping for Trump products in the Amazon.

Want to share in the party as well? Be sure to watch the video!

This episode is brought to you in part by Blinkist. 

Blinkist is the only app that takes thousands of the best-selling nonfiction books and
distils them down to their most impactful elements, so you can read or listen to them in
under 15 minutes, all on your phone.

Get started with a FREE seven day trial. along with a 25% discount, for Blinkist today, by clicking here! 

And last, but not least, this episode is also sponsored by Words Over Chair Productions and Comedy History 101.

Like This is the President? Why not  subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes! Hey - and while you’re there, leave us a comment or rate us! Don’t cost nothing!

Ronald Reagan, Johnny Cash and Trumpy Bear

It was a fine spring day in May of 1988 when country music (and just plain music in general) legend stopped by the White House to pay his respects to President Ronald Reagan - on their agenda: drugs.

Not the taking, as Johnny points out in this conversation, but rather the stopping thereof.

And that’s only one of the few small conversation nuggets you’ll find in our presidential appearance this week.

Johnny didn’t come alone - no, he brought June Carter Cash with him as well. But what’s surprising is who WASN’T able to make the photo session. Be sure to listen to the podcast to find out who could have made photo history with Reagan in the White House.

Also in this episode, Harmon and I continue our feature “Trump in the Amazon” where we read Amazon reviews and questions about Donald Trump products on Amazon. Up this time - and we swear we didn’t know this was “a thing” before we did this - the Trumpy Bear!

This episode is brought to you in part by Blinkist. 

Blinkist is the only app that takes thousands of the best-selling nonfiction books and
distils them down to their most impactful elements, so you can read or listen to them in
under 15 minutes, all on your phone.

Get started with a FREE seven day trial. along with a 25% discount, for Blinkist today, by clicking here! 

And last, but not least, this episode is also sponsored by Words Over Chair Productions and Comedy History 101.

Like This is the President? Why not  subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes! Hey - and while you’re there, leave us a comment or rate us! Don’t cost nothing!

Election 2018 Special: Ronald Reagan meets Mr. T

Did you vote? No? Then what the hell is wrong with you!

Go now!

Then, once you’re done voting you can settle back and listen in to the glorious sounds of our Election 2018 special!

Harmon did an excellent job of piloting the Presidential Time Portal (tm) to take us back to December of 1983 when two great titans of statesmanship met for the first time - President Ronald Reagan and Rocky III/The A Team star, Mr. T! Yes, this really happened!

Mr. T was at the White House playing - believe it or not - Santa and helping out First Lady Nancy Reagan with her Just Say No to Drugs campaign (of course, this was at the same time when the US Government was importing cocaine from South America but we’ll leave that for another podcast).

So step into the voting booth and back out again into the world of 1983 with today’s edition of This is the President.

Harmon and I will also be discussing some of our predictions for the election and what the outcome could mean for the future of the United States - and the world, the inner workings of the Mr. T doll by Galoob, Rocky III vs. Rocky IV, and, in keeping with the spirit of election day, reading reviews of Trump products on Amazon.

This episode is brought to you in part by Blinkist. 

Blinkist is the only app that takes thousands of the best-selling nonfiction books and
distils them down to their most impactful elements, so you can read or listen to them in
under 15 minutes, all on your phone.

Get started with a FREE seven day trial. along with a 25% discount, for Blinkist today, by clicking here! 

This episode also brought to you in part by Plowdypod - the think tank that answers the questions that nobody asked, like “Would you rather be Trump’s wife or Putin’s mistress?” Check it out and subscribe on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

And last, but not least, this episode is also sponsored by Words Over Chair Productions and Comedy History 101.

Like This is the President? Why not  subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes! Hey - and while you’re there, leave us a comment or rate us! Don’t cost nothing!

Making the President Funny

Especially after the events of the past few days, it’s hard to believe that there are people who are paid to make the president funny. Does the current White House resident, for example, really need people to write jokes for him when he’s hanging out with Kanye?

It turns out sometimes they do.

Which brings us to this weeks episode. This time around, we interview David Litt. Mr. Litt was a head speechwriter for the Obama White House and charged with the task of making the president a funny man. He’s recently written a memoir of his White House years, Thanks Obama: My Hopey, Changey White House Years and shared some of his thoughts on the challenges of writing for Kanye’s newest BFF.

But that’s not all! Oh no. Harmon and Scott will also analyze the Trump Kayne summit, Harmon expresses his love for Steely Dan and Scott helps to correct the historical record on the drunkenness of General (and later President) Grant.

Like what you hear? You can listen to the whole interview over at our sister podcast, Comedy HIstory 101.

This episode is brought to you by Blinkist. 

Blinkist is the only app that takes thousands of the best-selling nonfiction books and
distils them down to their most impactful elements, so you can read or listen to them in
under 15 minutes, all on your phone.

Get started with a FREE seven day trial. along with a 25% discount, for Blinkist today, by clicking here! 

We’d also like to welcome a new sponsor on board, The Political Research Digest. The Political Research Digest delivers fresh insights on the big trends driving American politics and policy today.

Each 20-minute episode explores one hot topic in the news with two political scientists who have just published relevant empirical studies. Hear about their new discoveries and get important insights that are lost in the daily news shuffle.

Download the Political Research Digest with your favorite podcast app today!

And last, but not least, this episode is also sponsored by Words Over Chair Productions and Comedy History 101.

Like This is the President? Why not  subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes! Hey - and while you’re there, leave us a comment or rate us! Don’t cost nothing!

The Justice Abe Fortas Pornographic Film Festival

Well, well….and how was YOUR weekend?

Our long national nightmare is now over and we’ve got a shiny new Bro-Judge installed on the Supreme Court. A “non-partisan” judge who starts waving around conspiracy theories at the drop of a hat (ie: let’s all blame the Clintons). Well, this is going to be fun.

But don’t worry - we here at This is the President will be right here by your side. In today’s episode, we wanted to take a look at another controversial Supreme Court appointment - this one from 50 years ago. It was the summer of 1968 when President Johnson decided to throw his weight behind nominating his pal Abe Fortas as the Head Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Let’s just say that the Senate was not amused - so much so to the point that they forced Fortas to testify before them. The first time in history that a judge from the Supreme Court was called in this manner - sound familiar?

Download this episode to listen in on Fortas advising President Johnson on exactly what type of book he needed to take his oath of office on and how the Johnson’s walked away with a little souvenir after that fateful day in Dallas, Texas in November, 1963.

We’ll also hear from Senator Strom Thurmond with his opinions on Fortas and discuss the Abe Fortas Film Festival that Thurmond threw on the floor of the Senate.

ALSO - Check out our newest segment - Amazon Reviews of Donald Trump products!

This episode brought to you in part by Plowdypod - the think tank that answers the questions that nobody asked, like “Would you rather be Trump’s wife or Putin’s mistress?” Check it out and subscribe on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

We’d also like welcome our returning sponsor, The Political Research Digest. The Political Research Digest delivers fresh insights on the big trends driving American politics and policy today.

Each 20-minute episode explores one hot topic in the news with two political scientists who have just published relevant empirical studies. Hear about their new discoveries and get important insights that are lost in the daily news shuffle.

Download the Political Research Digest with your favorite podcast app today!

Oh yeah - let’s also not forget to mention  Words Over Chair Productions and Comedy History 101.

Like This is the President? Why not  subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes! Hey - and while you’re there, leave us a comment or rate us! Don’t cost nothing!

Of Playboys and Beer

As Harmon so eloquently puts it in this episode - hard to believe that so many bat-shit crazy things happened this week WITHOUT Trump.

Indeed, my friend, indeed.

The major batshit crazy thing that happened last week was, of course, the Kavanaugh Supreme Court hearings in Washington, DC. In just a few short hours, “Renate Alumnus”, “Devil’s Triangle” and “I like beer” soon became catchphrases around The Swamp.

Scott and Harmon take the time to discuss their impressions of what President Trump called a “trauma” and add in their thoughts, and try to come up with some catchprases of their own.

For comparison with the “trauma” of the Kavanaugh hearings, Harmon and Scott dial the Presidential Time Portal (tm) back to 1971, to listen in to a phone call between Richard Nixon and Attorney General John Mitchell. In this (surprisingly good quality) phone call, Nixon and Mitchell as they discuss their current pick for the vacant Supreme Court seat - Senator Howard Baker. Is Baker up to the task? Or is he just a playboy with a jackass record? Listen in and decide for yourself!

This episode is brought to you in part by Blinkist. 

Blinkist is the only app that takes thousands of the best-selling nonfiction books and
distils them down to their most impactful elements, so you can read or listen to them in
under 15 minutes, all on your phone.

Get started with a FREE seven day trial. along with a 25% discount, for Blinkist today, by clicking here! 

We’d also like to welcome a new sponsor on board, The Political Research Digest. The Political Research Digest delivers fresh insights on the big trends driving American politics and policy today.

Each 20-minute episode explores one hot topic in the news with two political scientists who have just published relevant empirical studies. Hear about their new discoveries and get important insights that are lost in the daily news shuffle.

Download the Political Research Digest with your favorite podcast app today!

Oh yeah - let’s also not forget to mention  Words Over Chair Productions and Comedy History 101.

Like This is the President? Why not  subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes! Hey - and while you’re there, leave us a comment or rate us! Don’t cost nothing!

Getting the Led Out with Dick and Beto

Things just keep getting weirder and weirder.

One week we’ve got a description of the president’s penis from a porn star, the next we’ve got a Texas candidate for Senate referencing the Clash. As the Chinese saying goes, “May you live in interesting times.”

And an interesting time indeed is what Harmon and Scott have on this latest episode of This is the President. We’ll touch on the highlight from the Texas senate debates, the onset of fall, the ubiquity of “Getting the Led Out” across the globe and wrap it all up with a look back at some recently unearthed Nixon conversations from 1972 where the president is discussing his vaunted debating skills.

This episode is brought to you by Blinkist. 

Blinkist is the only app that takes thousands of the best-selling nonfiction books and
distils them down to their most impactful elements, so you can read or listen to them in
under 15 minutes, all on your phone.

Get started with a FREE seven day trial. along with a 25% discount, for Blinkist today, by clicking here! 

This episode is also sponsored by Words Over Chair Productions and Comedy History 101.

Like This is the President? Why not  subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes! Hey - and while you’re there, leave us a comment or rate us! Don’t cost nothing!

Fear and Loathing in Crazytown

So legendary reporter Bob Woodward’s book about the Trump presidency is released on September 11 - do you think they’re trying to tell us something?

I didn’t ever thank we’d get an actual President Trump phone call on this podcast - at least, not while he was in office, but, sometimes history works in mysterious ways.

In this episode of This is the President, Harmon and I will be discussing some of the best parts of the recent Bob Woodward/President Trump tape that was released recently. We’re almost on top of the news cycle!

But presidential hatred of reporters and The Washington Post is nothing new, as you’ll hear when we listen in on what President Nixon has to say about journalists as we take the Presidential Time Portal back to 1972.

We’ve even updated our opening song with brand, spanking new Trump sound bites.

This is one episode you don’t want to miss!

This episode is brought to you by Blinkist. 

Blinkist is the only app that takes thousands of the best-selling nonfiction books and
distils them down to their most impactful elements, so you can read or listen to them in
under 15 minutes, all on your phone.

Get started with a FREE seven day trial. along with a 25% discount, for Blinkist today, by clicking here! 

This episode is also sponsored by Words Over Chair Productions and Comedy History 101.

Like This is the President? Why not  subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes! Hey - and while you’re there, leave us a comment or rate us! Don’t cost nothing!

Omarosa Unhinged

Hey everyone, we're back!

What'd we miss? Anything? lol. 

Well, turns out we did miss only one of the first times that President Trump has been actually recorded on tape,, which is kind of the premise of this here podcast.

Whoops. 

So we're playing catch up now, which is why we've brought you an episode packed with nothing but Omarosa goodness. Things are really starting to get ugly in the Trump White House, as everyone  has turned to covertly taping each other in order to save their own asses.

Really, who could blame them?  

Also,  just for the record, I have to reiterate that, until a few episodes ago, I really had no idea who Omarosa was. I've never seen an episode of The Apprentice, other than bits of the celebrity one with Meatloaf. 

Also, Harmon and Scott discuss the state of the missing presidential portraits at the US border and attempt to do English/Scottish accents. 

This episode is brought to you by Blinkist. 

Blinkist is the only app that takes thousands of the best-selling nonfiction books and
distils them down to their most impactful elements, so you can read or listen to them in
under 15 minutes, all on your phone.

Get started with a FREE seven day trial. along with a 25% discount, for Blinkist today, by clicking here! 

This episode is also brought to you by Words Over Chair Productions and Comedy History 101.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes! 

Nixon and Trump Want Cash

I think we're now through the looking glass people.

We've now got the "President" on tape talking to his personal lawyer about funneling cash money into a private corporation to buy someone's silence. And the worst part? Nobody seems to care. 

The even worse part? THIS EXACT SAME THING HAS HAPPENED BEFORE. Nearly 50 years ago, President Nixon was discussion the very same issue with his own personal lawyer, John Dean. Only this time an actual amount of money was mentioned - $1,000,000 in 1972 dollars, which is almost $6,000,000 today. Whew. That's a lot of greenbacks. 

And we all know, they are only two organizations who routinely turn to cash to organize their business transactions: the mafia and drug lords. Which one was Nixon and which one is Trump. Listen to the tape and YOU make the call. 

In addition, Harmon and I will be discussing the brutal heat of a New York summer and Harmon will also give details of where you can see him at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival throughout August. 

This episode is brought to you by Words Over Chair Productions and Comedy History 101.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes! 

Trump Korea Nixon China

This past week, President Trump finally had his day in the diplomatic spotlight when he hosted North Korean leader Kim Jong Un  and declared that North Korea was "no longer a nuclear threat."

Of course, there was no verifiable proof that the North Koreans had done anything along those lines, but really that's no longer a surprise coming from the Commander in Cheeto. 

So we thought this was a perfect opportunity here at This is the President to look at a similar moment in history - when President Nixon announced on July 15, 1971 that he would be scheduling a meeting with the leaders of the People's Republic of China to normalise relations between the two countries. 

But this wasn't a sudden event from out of the blue. Nixon's team had been working on this proposal for months. In addition, the Ping Pong Diplomacy incident helped move detente between the two nations quickly forward. This episode features a pair of Nixon phone calls from April, 1971, including one where Nixon mentions the Ping Pong incident, and another from the same day between Henry Kissenger and Nixon where they discuss the China diplomatic moves and Nixon's love of classical music is on full display. 

Harmon and Scott also discuss some of the motivations behind North Korea's appearance at the bargaining table and how the Master of the Deal might be getting mastered behind his back and the 1980s.  

This episode is brought to you by Words Over Chair Productions and Comedy History 101.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes! 

JFK Dinner Party

Did you ever record your own family while they sat down to dinner to eat? It was kind of a thing in the 1970s. It was also kind of a thing back in the 1960s as well. But, in this case, this wasn't an ordinary family dinner. 

That's because this dinner was held at then Senator John F. Kennedy's house in Washington, DC. The occasion for this January 5, 1960 dinner? A sort of celebration and look forward to the 1960 presidential campaign, for which JFK had just declared himself a candidate.

In addition to the Kennedys, the party featured Washington Post honco Ben Bradlee, his wife Toni Bradlee and James Cannon, a reporter for Newsweek magazine. 

Luckily for history (and This is the President), Cannon brought along a portable tape recorder and recorded the dinner conversation for posterity. There's a few interesting tidbits here, including Kennedy's take on his role in politics and a denial of having Addison's Disease (which he did, in fact, have). 

In addition, of course, there's lots of other goodness from Scott and Harmon, including their takes on the Korea talks, the Royal Marriage Conspiracy and the Oldest Pub in London. 

This episode is brought to you by Words Over Chair Productions and Comedy History 101.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes! 

The LBJ and Yuki Singers

Once upon a time we had a singing dog in the White House. No, we're not talking about the current occupant - the singing dog in question was named Yuki and he was owned by President Lyndon Baines Johnson. 

Yuki, a terrier mix, was found by the president's daughter in Johnson City, Texas on Thanksgiving Day in 1966. LBJ's daughter, Luci, presented Yuki to the president as a a gift and the two became inseparable. LBJ danced with Yuki at his daughter's wedding and even wanted to include him in family photos, before the first lady put her foot down. 

The excerpt of LBJ and Yuki singing comes from an odd record entitled "Dogs Have Always Been My Friends" an album full of dog stories from LBJ. 

If you want to read more about about this singing duo, the Presidential Pet Museum has everything you ever wanted to know (and more!). 

Also in this episode, Harmon and I discuss our Rosanne Barr conspiracy theories, the lack of presidential portraits at the US border and Donald Trump's lack of a diaper changing partner. 

This episode is brought to you by Words Over Chair Productions and Comedy History 101.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes! 

The History of the White House Correspondents Dinner

She said what? Oh no she didn't! 

As the opinions continue to roll in about Michelle Wolf's appearance at this years White House Correspondents Dinner - amid calls to drop the whole ceremony entirely - we take a look at the White House Correspondents Dinner. Beginning in 1920, right up to the Trump jokes of 2018, we'll run through the entertainment and delve into some of the traditions of the WHCD. 

This is a special episode as Harmon and I will be co-branding this podcast as an episode of both This is the President AND Comedy History 101. You're not subscribed to CH101? What are you waiting for??

Harmon is out in New Zealand, but you can still to pick up a copy of Harmon's new book, Meet the Deplorables, now available on Amazon. 

This episode is also sponsored by BLACKBX. Running a restaurant, bar, pub or retail business? Offer your customers fast, free and secure wireless while gaining awesome customer insights.

Get started with a FREE trial today. 

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes! 

1968: LBJ's Worst Year Ever

To put it mildly, 1968 was a bad year for LBJ.

The Tet Offensive, the North Korean seizure of the USS Pueblo, assassinations of MLK and RFK, a supreme court battle, riots in the streets during the 1968 Democratic convention and a duplicitous Richard Nixon were just among the few issues he faced in that fateful year. 

In this special episode, we're joined by noted scholar and author Kyle Longley, author of LBJ's 1968: Power, Politics, and the Presidency in America's Year of Upheaval to discuss what made 1968 such a not-that-great of a year.  We'll touch on all of the bad points of LBJ's 1968, Kyle's pick for best LBJ phone call and what LBJ and the current president have in common. 

Harmon is out in New Zealand, but you can still to pick up a copy of Harmon's new book, Meet the Deplorables, now available on Amazon. 

This episode is also sponsored by BLACKBX. Running a restaurant, bar, pub or retail business? Offer your customers fast, free and secure wireless while gaining awesome customer insights.

Get started with a FREE trial today. 

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes! 

I'm the President, Ask Me Anything

Jimmy Carter, the first Social Media President? Sure, why not? Because on March 5, 1977 Jimmy Carter did something that no other Chief Executive had done before him: host his own Ask Me Anything. 

With CBS commentator and anchorman Walter Cronkite sitting next to him, President Carter fielded 42 questions (selected from over 9 million calls) from United States citizens ranging from the gasoline tax to Uganda to the Yankees playing an exhibition match in Cuba - with no screening and no prepared notes. 

It was a one of a kind event, as Walter Cronkite noted in his introduction: 

This is a unique occasion, in the sense that it marks a new approach to communication between the President and the people of the United States. It is indeed historic--unique, historic--and we must also say an experiment since the President has never taken part before in this sort of a broadcast.

The event was so unique, in fact, that it never happened again. Which is kind of a shame because it seemed like a good idea. Such a good idea, in fact, that Reddit would popularize this type of Q&A session over 40 years later. 

The event made headlines which, in turn, made it ripe for parody. Which is exactly where the newest and hippest late night program to hit the American airwaves in years would step in. For it was exactly a week after President Carter's broadcast, March 12, 1977, that Saturday Night Live aired a hilariously on target parody of Carter's chat session. With Bill Murray playing Walter Cronkite to Dan Ackroyd's on target Jimmy Carter (even if he would refuse to shave his moustache). the skit perfectly skewered the events of the week before, tuned, naturally, to the hippie generation.  

Also in this episode, we discuss the latest staff shuffles in as President Trump continues to drain the swamp, discuss the possibilities of taking TITP back to the 1800s with reading presidential telegrams, and Scott shivers in the aftermath of The Beast from the East. 

Be sure to pick up a copy of Harmon's new book, Meet the Deplorables, now available on Amazon. While you're there, also be sure to check out LBJ's 1968, just published by Cambridge University Press. It's got two of our favorite subjects: LBJ and 1968, so you can't really go wrong. 

This episode is also sponsored by BLACKBX. Running a restaurant, bar, pub or retail business? Offer your customers fast, free and secure wireless while gaining awesome customer insights.

Get started with a FREE trial today. 

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes! 

Jimmy Carter and the Miracle on Ice

Do you remember where you were when the Miracle on Ice happened? Were you even alive?

Jiminy Xmas - it was thirty friggin eight years ago. But, for those of you who were around, it was a moment you'd never forget.

It was February 22, 1980 in Lake Placid, New York that the underdog USA Olympic hockey team, comprised mostly of amateur players, beat the seasoned and professional Russian hockey team. Take that commies! 

In today's previously unreleased phone call, we get to listen in as President James Carter phones up to the locker room in Lake Placid to congratulate the team and invite them down to the White House.

And the best part? Not only did the US of A win, but so did our way of life! Just look at the trailer for this made for TV movie that came out in 1981! Steve Guttenberg is supposed to be in here somewhere but I don't see him anywhere. 

In addition, Harmon and Scott return with their first "Whether or Not Weather Update" for the first time in over a year, we go through a few classic US hockey team coach Herb Brooks "Brooksisms", and you'll feel the thrill and excitement of being a real New Yorker when you hear the construction outside Harmon's apartment.  

Be sure to pick up a copy of Harmon's new book, Meet the Deplorables, now available on Amazon. While you're there, also be sure to check out LBJ's 1968, just published by Cambridge University Press. It's got two of our favorite subjects: LBJ and 1968, so you can't really go wrong. 

This episode is also sponsored by BLACKBX. Running a restaurant, bar, pub or retail business? Offer your customers fast, free and secure wireless while gaining awesome customer insights.

Get started with a FREE trial today. 

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes! 

Nixon's 1973 Super Bowl Spectacular!

Super Bowl Sunday is this week!

So we decided to get into the spirit by taking the Presidential Time Portal back to 1973 to hear President Nixon's predictions about the impending match up between the Washington Redskins and the undefeated Miami Dolphins. 

In our phone call this week, the president talks about the upcoming Super Bowl VII - as well as his 60th birthday - with Laugh In hosts Dan Martin and Dick Rowan. Just a little over four years before this phone call, Nixon appeared on Martin and Rowan's show and uttered the show's catchphrase "Sock it to me", for which he received a sum of $210 dollars (Almost $1500 in 2017 dollars) which went straight into the Elect Nixon fund. 

But, Nixon being Nixon, there was no shortage of controversy to presidential football phone calls. As we uncover in this episode, in January 1972 Nixon also made a phone call to Don Shula, the coach of the Miami Dolphins. The interesting part, though, is that rather than placing the traditional post Super Bowl congratulatory phone call, in this case Nixon made the phone call BEFORE the 1972 Super Bowl - at 1:16 in the morning on January 3, 1972. Even more tantalizing - although the phone call has been logged in the presidential daily diary - THE TAPE RECORDING IS MISSING! 

Harmon and Scott will also discuss the upcoming State of the Union address, the current president's appearance on Saturday Night Live, and try to figure out exactly what sexual practice is called a "Cuban Grinder Sandwich". 

BONUS: If any listener manages to get "Cuban Grinder Sandwich" listed in Urban Dictionary, send us the link and we'll read your name. And maybe give you a copy of Harmon's new book, Meet the Deplorables, now available on Amazon. 

In addition, we're welcoming a new sponsor onboard - Dennis Miller. Yes, THAT Dennis Miller. Maybe you’ve seen him on “The O’Reilly Factor.” Perhaps you remember him from his days as an anchor of the “Weekend Update” segment on “Saturday Night Live.” 

So wherever you may know him from, now you’ll have the chance to see Dennis Miller
live at the Silver Legacy Resort Casino in Reno, Nevada on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018.

Tickets start at $49.50 and can be purchased at the Silver Legacy web site. Enjoy 20 percent off a hotel room on the night of the show with the purchase of a show ticket. What a great Valentines Day idea! 

Use offer code TIX18 when purchasing.

This episode is also sponsored by BLACKBX. Running a restaurant, bar, pub or retail business? Offer your customers fast, free and secure wireless while gaining awesome customer insights.

Get started with a FREE trial today. 

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes! 

The Jimmy Carter Jonestown Massacre

Have you ever heard the phrase "Drinking the Kool-Aid"? Do you know where it comes from? Do you really?

It's an image that few Americans who were around at the time can forget: bodies - some piled on top of each other - sprawled around a crude tin-roofed building in the middle of the South American jungle. A mass suicide of over 900 church members who willingly (and some not so willingly) drank cyanide laced punch at the request of their leader, the Reverend Jim Jones.  The place was officially known as the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project or, as most people called it, Jonestown. 

The evening news of November 18, 1978 carried the shocking images around the globe and soon Americans began asking themselves the familiar question - how could this have happened?

In this episode, we'll be taking a look at some of the background to the Jonestown Massacre and, as this is a podcast called "The is the President", the US President's response to tragedy. In this case, a press briefing from President James "Jimmy" Carter on November 30, 1978. We'll also play a portion of what is known as the "Jonestown Death Tape", a harrowing real-time recording taken by Jonestown leader Jim Jones as he exhorted his followers to their deaths. And we'll try to set the record straight on the drink involved - despite the ubiquity of the phrase, the drink mix used in Jonestown was actually "Flavor Aid" and not "Kool Aid." 

If you'd like to read more about the goings on in the Guyanese jungle, Jonestown, the Rev. Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple, there's an excellent website maintained by San Diego State University that contains pictures, recordings, and a treasure trove of primary source documents.

On a lighter note, Harmon and Scott also discuss the merits of Philadelphia's cheese steaks, the James Bond movie "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," and the possibility of President Oprah.  

WARNING: This episode contains graphic audio of people in extreme distress. 

In addition, we're welcoming a new sponsor onboard - Dennis Miller. Yes, THAT Dennis Miller. Maybe you’ve seen him on “The O’Reilly Factor.” Perhaps you remember him from his days as an anchor of the “Weekend Update” segment on “Saturday Night Live.” 

So wherever you may know him from, now you’ll have the chance to see Dennis Miller
live at the Silver Legacy Resort Casino in Reno, Nevada on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018.

Tickets start at $49.50 and can be purchased at the Silver Legacy web site. Enjoy 20 percent off a hotel room on the night of the show with the purchase of a show ticket. What a great Valentines Day idea! 

Use offer code TIX18 when purchasing.

This episode is also sponsored by BLACKBX. Running a restaurant, bar, pub or retail business? Offer your customers fast, free and secure wireless while gaining awesome customer insights.

Get started with a FREE trial today. 

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes!