The Lets Read Podcast - 49: Introducing American Elections: Wicked Game

Episode Date: October 8, 2019

American Elections: Wicked Game is a new podcast from the host of Wondery’s American History Tellers (Lindsay Graham) that will explore all 58 presidential elections, leading up to the big day in November 2020. From the inevitable election of George Washington in 1789, to Donald Trump’s surprise electoral victory in 2016, we’ll attempt to discover if there ever was a “good ol’ days,” or if presidential politics have always been played dirty. Listen now at: http://wondery.fm/AmericanElectionsLR

In November of 2020, citizens of the United States will cast ballots to elect their president. With feelings of political polarization at an all-time high, many are dreading another year of shouting, outrage, and animosity. Can we just go back to the days when political parties got along? Well, it turns out that those days never actually existed. Wanderie invites you to rethink what you thought you knew about presidential politics with American Elections, Wicked Game. From the unanimous election of George Washington in 1789 to Donald Trump's surprise electoral victory in 2016, each episode will explore the truth behind all 58 of America's elections, all the way through the 2020 election.

From the host of American History Tellers and American Scandal, Lindsey Graham will answer the question, was there ever a good old days, or did presidential politics always play dirty? You're about to hear a preview of American Election's Wicked Game. While you're listening, make sure to subscribe to American Election's Wicked Game. While you're listening, make sure to subscribe to American Elections Wicked Game on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening right now. You can also find the link in the episode notes. At the outset of the convention, Washington was hopeful, writing,

The sentiments of the different members seem to accord more than I expected they would, as far as we have yet gone. Because most delegates supported the basic premise of the new government. Three branches of government, a system of checks and balances. But the devil was in the details, and sharp clashes quickly emerged. Issues such as slavery, representation, and the disparate needs of details, and sharp clashes quickly emerged. Issues such as slavery, representation, and the disparate needs of the small and large states threatened the convention's success. It wouldn't be long before Washington's optimism gave way to dread. In early July,

Washington wrote to Alexander Hamilton, I almost despair of seeing a favorable issue to the convention, and do therefore repent having any agency in the business. A frustrated Washington lambasted the narrow-minded politicians who couldn't see beyond their local views and regional concerns. And no issue at the convention was more divisive than the question of the presidency. For many, the notion of a strong president who could veto the laws of Congress was tantamount to monarchy.

Washington took the opposite view. He held a firm belief that a strong executive branch was necessary to a stable government. But in spite of his political conviction during the debates, Washington remained largely silent. As the founders fought it out over the future of the country, Washington chose instead to listen and observe, to keep order, and do his best to forge consensus and compromise. And in the end, in spite of the vehement disagreements, compromise won the day. On September 17, 1787, after months of heated debate, the Constitution was born. An independent judiciary, a legislature with two houses that balanced the needs of the large and small states, and a strong presidency.

The issue of slavery was shelved in order to secure support from the southern states. The Three-Fifths Compromise, which allows slave states to count three-fifths of their slave population, helped achieve representational balance between North and South. The new constitution was imperfect, but it passed with 39 votes of the 42 delegates present from the 12 participating states. Rhode Island had refused to participate. Washington called the outcome of the convention a miracle. He would write that the new Constitution, despite its flaws, was nearer to perfection than any government hitherto instituted among men.

But not everyone shared Washington's zeal. Patrick Henry, the famous revolutionary hero who said, give me liberty or give me death, had refused to even attend the convention. He would say of the new government, the principles of this system are extremely pernicious, impolitic, and dangerous. For Patrick Henry, the Constitution was an invitation for monarchy. Still, despite fierce opposition, the convention's efforts were successful and the Constitution was sent off for ratification. It's not an overstatement to say that none of this would have been possible without George Washington. The South Carolina delegate, Pierce Butler, testified to Washington's impact.

Many of the members cast their eyes towards General Washington as president and shaped their ideas of the powers to be given to a president by their opinions of his virtue. James Monroe, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson, wrote, Be assured, Washington's influence carried the government. In late September 1787, shortly after the convention came to an end, Washington set out to make the long trip back to Mount Vernon. He carried with him a four-volume set of Don Quixote he had purchased in Philadelphia the day the Constitution was signed.

He was hoping to enjoy some light reading on the leisurely journey home. But Mother Nature had other plans in mind. When Washington tried to cross a bridge in the middle of a torrential downpour, his stagecoach slipped off the side. One of his horses tumbled over, plummeting 15 feet below and nearly pulling Washington to his death. But this wasn't the first time Washington had cheated the grave. During the Battle of Mangahela in the French and Indian War, his horse had been shot out from under him not once, but twice. After the battle, he ended up with bullet holes in his coat, but none in his flesh.

During the Revolutionary War, Washington had fought at the Battle of Princeton. He seemed to literally dodge bullets as he rode his horse dangerously close to the British lines, just 30 yards away. And during his lifetime, he contracted diseases from tuberculosis to dysentery, and each time he lived to tell the tale, a nearly unheard of feat at the time. Washington was lucky, and so was the nation. The Constitutional Convention of 1787 had been a success, and in the aftermath of the Constitution's ratification, the question of who would lead the new government, of who would be the nation's ratification, the question of who would lead the new government,

of who would be the nation's first president, was obvious to many, including Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton saw that a Washington presidency was essential to America's survival. He would write to Washington that if the first president failed, the blame will in all probability be laid on the system itself. Hamilton saw something else, too. A flaw in that system, a defect in the electoral process set up by the founders that could be exploited by Washington's enemies. In the election of 1789, Hamilton would put a scheme in motion to overcome that flaw,

rally support, and sway the election in Washington's favor.