Fail to the Chief

Nov 05 2024 102 ep. 28 mins 246
Fail to the Chief Podcast artwork

Fail to the Chief is the podcast where comic "historian" Thom Woodley talks about the men who became President... almost. Romp through the losers of presidential history, laugh and marvel at how different life might have been, had America made different choices. FailToTheChief.wordpress.com

  History  Comedy
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FINAL EPISODE: Ranking ALL of the Presidential Losers

Nov 05 2024 57 mins  
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, Cle

The Presidency: HOLLYWOOD EDITION!!!

Nov 04 2024 31 mins  
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

The Man Who Would Be President 9 Different Times: Harold Stassen

Nov 01 2024 14 mins  
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?

Marshalling the Presidents - John Marshall, George Marshall and Thurgood Marshall

Oct 31 2024 12 mins  
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

President Kennedy (Robert), President Kennedy (Teddy), and President Kennedy (John Jr)

Oct 30 2024 17 mins  
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?

Tipping the Sacred Cows of American presidential elections

Oct 28 2024 27 mins  
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? W

BONUS! President Kingfish Huey Long and the Sharing of the Wealth

Oct 26 2024 7 mins  
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?

BONUS! President Butler... SMEDLEY Butler. (WTF?)

Oct 25 2024 8 mins  
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.

BONUS! Presidente Generalissimo Douglas MacArthur

Oct 24 2024 6 mins  
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!

BONUS: What do all the Losers have in COMMON?

Oct 22 2024 30 mins  
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-