S2E17 - Oh, how we wish the queerest president wasn’t one of our nation’s worst! So gay, so terrible, y’all. Trent and Marissa talk out Buchanan’s long-term relationship with Rufus King, the many scandals of his administration, and his chronic inaction in the lead up to the Civil War. Plus, gallons of oysters, Russian czarinas, slippery leather pumps, and a D.C. love shack! This is the end of Season Two, but we’ll be back in the spring with Lincoln and his (allegedly) beautiful thighs!

Email pardonme.presidentialpod@gmail.com to contact us or issue corrections (with sources, please)!

Produced and Edited by Trent Thomson and Marissa Macy Original music by Noise of Approval Graphic design by Darcey Mckinney

Sources

The Worst President – The Story of James Buchanan by Gary Boulard

Bosom Friends: The Intimate World of James Buchanan and William Rufus King by Thomas J. Balcerski

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3xLd0ePyZ4m0SF2Kw6Nmym?si=ea13bea683c9451f

https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/james-buchanan-why-is-he-considered-americas-worst-president#:~:text=Buchanan%20supported%20the%20theory%20that,wedge%20into%20the%20Democratic%20Party.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/president-james-buchanan-directly-influenced-outcome-dred-scott-decision-180962329/

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/topics/john-browns-harpers-ferry-raid

S2E16 - Tune in as Trent and Marissa break down the infamous Kansas-Nebraska Act and its bloody consequences. Signed into law by hot loser Franklin Pierce in 1854, it allowed the people themselves to decide whether or not to allow slavery in the territories. What could possibly go wrong? Well, just voter fraud, the beating of a congressman, broadswords, fleeing governors, killing sprees, the death of a political party, the birth of a political party… and the inevitability of civil war.

Email pardonme.presidentialpod@gmail.com to contact us or issue corrections (with sources, please)!

Produced and Edited by Trent Thomson and Marissa Macy Original music by Noise of Approval Graphic design by Darcey Mckinney

Sources

Franklin Pierce by Michael F. Holt

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-law-that-ripped-america-in-two-99723670/

https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/kansas-nebraska-act

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/caning-charles-sumner

https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/bleeding-kansas

S2E15 - Known for being one of our hottest presidents but also one of the worst, the story of Franklin Pierce is full of tragedies, horse accidents, drinking, bad timing, and fainting. President during a time of deepening political divides, Pierce made all the wrong choices and hung out with all the wrong people. Trent and Marissa talk through it all, including the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the Gadsden Purchase, why Nathaniel Hawthorne sucks, and more!

Email pardonme.presidentialpod@gmail.com to contact us or issue corrections (with sources, please)!

Produced and Edited by Trent Thomson and Marissa Macy Original music by Noise of Approval Graphic design by Darcey Mckinney

Sources

Franklin Pierce by Michael F. Holt

https://millercenter.org/president/pierce/essays/king-1853-vicepresident#:~:text=In%20March%201853%2C%20King%20became,reaching%20his%20home%20in%20Alabama.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/36KKuLl9HvQkT1zhcbUOV1?si=d03545ccaced4933

https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=eXjhS8pjy6RXMIHH&v=2X6-eGSd0LA&feature=youtu.be