American History Hit - The Queen & US Presidents

Episode Date: September 12, 2022

We had plans today to release the first two episodes of American History Hit but due to the news of the death of Queen Elizabeth II last week, we’ve decided to take some time and do something a little different.You’ll hear those episodes on Thursday September 22, until then here’s a special mini episode looking into the Queen’s historic meetings with US presidents who served during her 70 years on the throne. As she reminded George W Bush in 2003, "unlike in the United States, the British head of state is not limited to two terms of four years, and I have met no less that seven of your predecessors".Elizabeth’s reign saw her meet thirteen of the last fourteen presidents, from dinner with Kennedy, to touring Buckingham Palace with Nixon. Dancing with Ford, to watching baseball with Bush Senior. Dining with Obama to banqueting with Trump - she’s likely to have met more American presidents than anyone else in history. American History Hit will officially launch on Thursday 22nd September.Senior Producer: Charlotte Long. Producer: Benjie Guy. Mixed by Charlotte Long.For more History Hit content, subscribe to our newsletters here.If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts, and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today!This episode includes music from Epidemic Sound Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Want to explore even more history? Sign up to History Hit, where you will discover history from around the world. From the American Revolution to prehistoric Scotland, there is plenty to discover. With your subscription, you'll unlock hundreds of hours of exclusive documentaries, with a brand new release every week, exploring everything from the ancient world to World War II. Just visit historyhit.com slash subscribe to bring the past alive. Hi there, I'm Don Wildman and welcome to American History Hit. Well, we had plans today to release our first two episodes of the podcast,

but due to the sad news of the death of Queen Elizabeth II last week, we've decided to take a pause and do something a little different. You'll hear those episodes of American History Hit on Thursday, September 22nd. Until then, here's a special mini-episode, looking into the Queen's historic meetings with 13 U.S. presidents who all served during her time on the throne. Hope you enjoy it. Before sailing for England, we had to have this chance of seeing at least something of the country

with which the whole British Commonwealth has so many friendly ties. The concept so simply described by Abraham Lincoln as government by the people of the people for the people is fundamental to our two nations. On Thursday, September 8th, Elizabeth died at the age of the age of the people for the people. It's fundamental to our two nations. of 96, after 70 years on the British throne. A few moments ago, Buckingham Palace announced the death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. Our current President Joe Biden, who just last summer had afternoon tea with the Queen,

said she was more than a monarch. She defined an era. Elizabeth's reign saw her meet 13 of the last 14 U.S. presidents, from dinner with Kennedy to touring Buckingham Palace with Nixon, dancing with Ford to watching baseball with Bush Sr. dining with Obama to banqueting with Trump. She's likely to have met more U.S. presidents than anyone else in history. Elizabeth lived through World War II, the Cold War, the assassination of John F. Kennedy and 9-11. In fact, she was on the throne for around a third of the entire time since the Declaration of Independence was signed.

That's what can happen when you live nearly a century. She made her first state visit to the United States as Queen in 1957, attending a dinner thrown by President Eisenhower and his wife, Mamie. In 1961, the Kennedys went to Buckingham Palace in London during his European tour in the first year of his presidency. The one U.S. president, the Queen, never met during her time on the throne, was Kennedy's successor, Lyndon Baines Johnson. Richard Nixon also visited the Queen at Buckingham Palace in 1969,

and she danced with Gerald Ford at the White House in 1976 to the unfortunately timed song The Lady is a Tramp. The next time the Queen attended a state dinner in 1991, band members were apparently ordered not to refer verbally or musically to that song. Then in 1977, in her silver jubilee year, she hosted Jimmy Carter on his first overseas trip as president at a dinner for NATO leaders at Buckingham Palace. Carter reportedly shocked the royal family after breaking protocol

by greeting the queen mother with a kiss on the lips. My goodness. Then there was Ronald Reagan, the president rumored to be the late queen's favorite because of their mutual love of horses. They met at Windsor Castle in 1982 and toured the grounds on horseback. Elizabeth made her third state visit to the U.S. in 1991,

where she toured the Alamo and met George H.W. Bush at the White House. She met President Clinton and his wife Hillary on the Royal Yacht Britannia in 1994. She lunched with George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, in 2001. And later that year, the day after 9-11, the Queen broke centuries of tradition by ordering the U.S. national anthem to be played outside Buckingham Palace during the changing of the Guard as a show of solidarity. Obama first greeted the Queen in 2009 at the G20 summit in London

during the global financial crisis. and Trump in 2018 when he was invited to Windsor Castle. Most recently she met President Biden and the First Lady Jill in Cornwall England during the G7 Summit, where they later joined her for tea. Biden said after that Queen Elizabeth reminded him of his mother. Over the years, we have enjoyed some of America's most spectacular musical productions and any number of what we call films,

which you might prefer. critical movies. As well as the presidents, she met Hollywood stars like Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, and Marilyn Monroe. Coincidentally, both Marilyn and the Queen were born in the same year, and they met when they were both 30 years old in 1956. The high point of the trip, however, was a Royal Command performance for the Hollywood Movie Queen met the Queen of England. You know, it's tricky for Americans considering the life and death of a great monarch.

We did, after all, revolt against the very notion, creating a nation specifically designed to prevent the rise of such a figure. But dare say you'd be hard-pressed to find any American these days who doesn't hold Queen Elizabeth II in the highest regard for her qualities as a leader, her tenaciously determined love of country, her constancy, her unflagging dedication to her people. For me, I never had too many thoughts about the queen, but my mom liked her.

My mother was coincidentally also named Elizabeth, and they were of the same age. And like the queen, my mom saw the Great Depression, the rise and fall of global fascism, World War II, the dawn of the nuclear age, the fight for civil rights, radio, television, blockbuster films, jazz, rock and roll and hip-up.

These two women, both dying in their 90s, bore witness to it all. When our mothers die, we lose a big part of ourselves. maybe the real value of British monarchy, why it remains a fascination for us still, is our inherent need for that parental connection, even if it's the function of a government we once overthrew.

So that's it for me, for now, until we launch with two great episodes for you on Thursday, September 22nd, on the Secret City which built the atomic bomb and the Declaration of Independence. Looking forward to it. Thanks for listening to American History Hit with me, Don Wildman. This podcast includes music from Epidemic.

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