Fail To The Chief

We've come to the end. Here I give you the canonical list and ranking of EVERY SINGLE LOSER of all time, including many who never even ran. Listen to find out more.  In this episode I talk about the could-have-been Presidents Adams, Adams, Agnew, Anderson, Barkley, Bell, Blaine, Bono, Breckinridge, Brown, Bryan, Buchanan, Burr, Bush, Butler, Calhoun, Carter, Cass, Cheney, Clay, Cleveland, Clinton, Clinton, Clinton, Colfax, Cox, Crawford, Crockett, Curtis, Dallas, Davis, Dawes, Debs, Dewey, Disney, Dole, Douglas, Dukakis, Eastwood, Ellmaker, Fairbanks, Fillmore, Ford, Ford, Forrest, Franken, Franklin, Fremont, Garner, Gerry, Goldwater, Gore, Greeley, Hamilton, Hamlin, Hancock, Harrison, Harrison, Hearst, Hendricks, Hobart, Hoover, Houston, Hughes, Humphrey, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Johnson, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kerry, King, King, La Follette, Landon, Lindbergh, Long, MacArthur, Mangum, Marshall, Marshall, Marshall, Marshall, McCain, McCarthy, McClellan, McGovern, Mondale, Morton, Nader, Nixon, Parker

Why have so many actors and celebrities been considered for the Presidency, despite having almost no experience? WHO CARES, THEY'RE CELEBRITIES YAY OMG Yes, it's not just Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan. Today I talk about all the celebrities who were thought about for Prez (and who were legally allowed to be, sorry, Arnold Schwarzenegger):  Robert Redford Clint Eastwood Sonny Bono Al Franken Jesse Ventura Oprah Winfrey Jerry Springer Shirley Temple Black Walt Disney Duane the Rock Johnson

As we close the corner on our presidential losers, I'd be remiss not to discuss the Governor of Minnesota, friend to Dwight Eisenhower, and NINE-TIME candidate for the Republican nomination, butt of jokes Harold Stassen. Hot take: he'd have been amazing?

Today I'm taking a look at three very different men with one identical last name - the Marshalls. Each one of them was critical to our nation, and might have become president under different circumstances. I'll investigate and rate each one: John Marshall, Federalist Chief Justice of the Supreme Court George C. Marshall, General and Secretary of State during WWII Thurgood Marshall, first Black justice of the Supreme Court

This time I lightning-round-rank the 3 titans of the Kennedy family... um, not counting 2024's brainworm bearkiller version. How would Bobby, Teddy and John John have been if they had become president?

There are a lot of myths in American elections. "As Maine goes, so goes the nation." "Missouri, the bellwether state." "The taller man wins." Let's explode them all. In this bonus episode, we dive deep and crunch numbers to see what's actually true and what's not. We'll cover: Does the Vice Presidential nominee usually win their home state? Does the taller candidate usually win? Who wins more, the Outsider or the Insider? What states and regions win the most?

He was a Louisiana progressive populist wannabe dictator who wanted to redistribute all the rich folks' money forever and ever. And he might have been president, had he not been gunned down before he even had the chance to run. But what if?

Yes, his name was Smedley. No, he didn't let that stand in his way. What would have this Marines Major General and hero of the Bonus Army do if somehow catapulted into the White House on the eve of World War II? Why, he would do what all Smedleys do, of course. 

Continuing with micro episodes, here's the Hero of the Philippines (and not, as it turned out, the Korean War)... Douglas MacArthur was a true strongman, and closer to the White House than we might think!

There tends to be a certain template that presidential candidates follow - and I don’t mean simply getting elected as Senators or Governors first. There are some larger commonalities at play that seem to align most of them, in many cases from an early age. From family background to profession to political choices to some truly strange coincidences, the road to victory (or second-best to victory) says quite a lot about who we are as a society. Don't forget to BUY MY BOOK: VOLUME 1: https://www.amazon.com/Fail-Chief-1788-1928-Thom-Woodley-ebook/dp/B08WLD5CMG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=L315PVLL3J2L&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.-E3QKrGDabl1MEQhDFXfDiAf1i3chIWZtimU1Wa5ACYPFPes6SrBW6IMznU-Z4JGEWKU1tG0ltvkfVA3c43iceQK2hPLcfFN0857atN47MRzgiQbWWejpf1lFZACDNIJD7vTrpkYx4dUBVumX4tDu9U_d5OEUtmqEquArUUCeaSG4W0E1qfdQofNZ5lUyb0Uz3nkRdznI_Wl4GH6dUOBHOZG-ywlhrBMLzx8lCFbde8.2vMeIvP6rFODd_nmPj5i_X_2gYO5TFb04RiDDLOA39A&dib_tag=se&keywords=fail+to+the+chief&qid=1729532703&sprefix=fail+to+the+chief%2Caps%2C92&sr=8-1 VOLUME 2: htt

We’re continuning to dig into other would-be Julius Caesar presidents of American history. The men who never were nominated, and maybe never even ran, but who could have been either the great Man of the People who'd lead us to glory.... or terrible Imperators who tore us apart. I'll be posting a bunch of these throughout this week. Today - red-scare master himself, and secert alcoholic windbag, Joseph McCarthy. 

We’re continuning to dig into other would-be Julius Caesar presidents of American history. The men who never were nominated, and maybe never even ran, but who could have been either the great Man of the People who'd lead us to glory.... or terrible Imperators who tore us apart. I'll be posting a bunch of these throughout this week. Today - the REAL Pres. Roosevelt. Eleanor. 

We’re continuning to dig into other would-be Julius Caesar presidents of American history. The men who never were nominated, and maybe never even ran, but who could have been either the great Man of the People who'd lead us to glory.... or terrible Imperators who tore us apart. I'll be posting a bunch of these throughout this week. This week, famous aviator and Nazi sympathizer Charles 'Lindy' Lindbergh. Yay. 

We’re continuning to dig into other would-be Julius Caesar presidents of American history. The men who never were nominated, and maybe never even ran, but who could have been either the great Man of the People who'd lead us to glory.... or terrible Imperators who tore us apart. I'll be posting a bunch of these throughout this week. Today - the Model T of presidents.... CEO (and rabid anti-Semite) Henry Ford. 

We’re continuning to dig into other would-be Julius Caesar presidents of American history. The men who never were nominated, and maybe never even ran, but who could have been either the great Man of the People who'd lead us to glory.... or terrible Imperators who tore us apart. I'll be posting a bunch of these throughout this week. Today - the man who inspired Citizen Kane, legendary megalomaniacal newspaper publisher and 'yellow journalist,' William Randolph Hearst!

We’re continuning to dig into other would-be Julius Caesar presidents of American history. The men who never were nominated, and maybe never even ran, but who could have been either the great Man of the People who'd lead us to glory.... or terrible Imperators who tore us apart. I'll be posting a bunch of these throughout this week. This time it's wannabe politician, Mormon founder and assassination victim Joseph Smith!

We’re continuning to dig into other would-be Julius Caesar presidents of American history. The men who never were nominated, and maybe never even ran, but who could have been either the great Man of the People who'd lead us to glory.... or terrible Imperators who tore us apart. I'll be posting a bunch of these throughout this week. Today, one of the original 'robber barons' and the progenitor of a famous political family: John D. Rockefeller, CEO of Standard Oil. 

We’re continuning to dig into other would-be Julius Caesar presidents of American history. The men who never were nominated, and maybe never even ran, but who could have been either the great Man of the People who'd lead us to glory.... or terrible Imperators who tore us apart. I'll be posting a bunch of these throughout this week. This episode - war criminal, slave trader, Confederate General, and literal Grand Wizard of the KKK - Nathan Bedford Forrest. 

We’re continuning to dig into other would-be Julius Caesar presidents of American history. The men who never were nominated, and maybe never even ran, but who could have been either the great Man of the People who'd lead us to glory.... or terrible Imperators who tore us apart. I'll be posting a bunch of these throughout this week. In this case - the 2nd-most-famous Union general and the guy who (gleefully) burnt down Atlanta, but turned down being President: William Tecumseh Sherman. 

We’re continuning to dig into other would-be Julius Caesar presidents of American history. The men who never were nominated, and maybe never even ran, but who could have been either the great Man of the People who'd lead us to glory.... or terrible Imperators who tore us apart. I'll be posting a bunch of these throughout this week. This time, it's awful Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Roger B. Taney - the conservative racist responsible for helping to kick off the Civil War.