Plodding Through The Presidents

Season 1 Trailer

Introducing Season 1 of Plodding Through The Presidents with presidential history blogger Howard Dorre and his wife Jessica Dorre. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John & Abigail & Smallpox

We dig into the separate smallpox inoculations of John and Abigail Adams and the heartfelt and hilarious love letters this supercouple exchanged during their quarantines, along with some background on Lady Mary Montagu's bold introduction of the smallpox inoculation from Turkey to England.(A note: This is our very first episode, and we were still finding our rhythm and voice. You're welcome to start here, but you might want to start with Season 2 or newer episodes for a better sense of how we've evolved!)Sources:Founders Online - letters between John & Abigail AdamsTime Magazine: How One Daring Woman Introduced the Idea of Smallpox Inoculation to England by Thomas HagerThe Story of Smallpox in Massachusetts by Samuel Bayard Woodward, M.D.Inspired by my post "Love in the Time of Smallpox"Show notes and sources at plodpod.com Join our Patreon family at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents for exclusive bonus content! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jefferson's Broken Heart and Wrist

We explore Thomas Jefferson's dangerous liaison in Paris with the talented artist Maria Cosway and her monkey-like husband Richard Cosway - a love story that resulted in two broken hearts, one permanently damaged wrist, and one epic 4000-word love letter written as a dialogue between Jefferson's head and heart.(A note: This is one of our very first episodes, and we were still finding our rhythm and voice. If you're new to the podcast, you might want to start with Season 2 or newer episodes for a better sense of how we've evolved!)Sources:Founders Online - Jefferson's Head and the Heart letter to Maria CoswayMr. Jefferson's Women by Jon KuklaThomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon MeachamJefferson and the Rights of Man by Dumas MaloneJefferson: A Revealing Biography by Page SmithJohn Adams by David McCulloughRichard Cosway, “The Macaroni Miniature Painter” from The Art Amateur, Vol. 8, No. 2 (January 1883)Inspired by my post "Thomas Jefferson's Head, Heart, and Wrist"I won't link directly to the "don't say I didn't warn you" painting of Leda and the Swan, but it's up to you if you want to Google Leda and the Swan by François Boucher 1740. (Don't do it.)Show notes and sources at plodpod.com Join our Patreon family at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents for exclusive bonus content! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Scandalmonger's Revenge

  We dig into the rise and fall of James Thomson Callender, the pamphleteer who exposed the greatest sex scandals in early American history. His story is told through his attacks on Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. Sources:With the Hammer of Truth: James Thomson Callender and America's Early National Heroes by Michael DureyEliza Hamilton: The Extraordinary Life and Times of the Wife of Alexander Hamilton by Tilar J. MazzeoThe Rise and Fall of Alexander Hamilton by Robert HendricksonThe Reynolds Pamphlet – "The variety of shapes which this woman could assume was endless." Show notes and sources at plodpod.com   Join our Patreon family at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents for exclusive bonus content!   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Tale of Two Stepsons

George Washington and James Madison never had any biological children, but they each had a problem child stepson. We explore the lives of the "voluptuous" Jacky Custis and the debauchery enthusiast John Payne Todd and how they affected their famous stepfathers and mothers. Sources: My original (and unfairly harsh) article about Jacky Custis: George Washington's Disappointing Stepson Letters between Jonathan Boucher and George Washington - Founders OnlineLetter from James Madison to John Payne Todd - Founders OnlineThe Bad Boy: Payne Todd by William SealePayne Todd: Prodigal SonYou Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington by Alexis CoeDolley Madison's Son Payne Todd: The Final Blow by Feather SchwartzMrs. James Madison: The Incomparable Dolley by Ethel Stephens Arnett Show notes and sources at plodpod.com   Join our Patreon family at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents for exclusive bonus content! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices