A Man of Iron with Troy Senik

Here's Where It Gets Interesting

Sharon McMahon

Government, History, Storytelling, Education

4.9 • 15.1K Ratings

🗓️ 4 November 2022

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On this episode of Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, Sharon shares a conversation with former presidential speechwriter Troy Senik. Troy is now the cofounder of Kite & Key Media and author of the new book, A Man Of Iron, which is a sweeping biography of a nonconsecutive two-term President whose time in public service often flies under the radar. Can you guess who Troy will be talking about today?

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey friends, welcome. So happy you're with me today. Who would you guess this title describes?
0:11.2	A man of iron, the turbulent life and improbable presidency of Phil in the blank. Who does that sound like?
0:21.2	Would you have guessed Grover Cleveland? I'm chatting today with Troy Sennick, the author
0:27.5	of a man of iron. And I think you're going to learn some very, very interesting things about a
0:34.4	president who served two terms, but they weren't back to back. So let's dive in. I'm Sharon McMan.
0:43.0	And here's where it gets interesting. I'm really excited to be chatting today with Troy Sennick.
0:49.4	Thank you so much for being here. Thank you. Delighted to be with you, Sharon. I am so curious about what
0:55.4	made you choose Grover Cleveland as a subject of your new book. Sounds like a bit of a stretch,
1:04.0	doesn't it? There were two real reasons. One was a matter of historical hygiene. We have had 45
1:12.3	presidents. The numbers are all wonky because of Grover Cleveland. Because of Grover Cleveland.
1:16.3	That's right. You got to subtract one from everything. So Biden's really 45. That's the important
1:22.8	number to keep in your head out of those 45. 14 only 14 less than a third have had a full eight
1:30.4	years. And if we were to run through that list together right now, they would all be household
1:35.2	names with the single exception of Grover Cleveland. So I thought it was important for Americans
1:42.2	to get a new appreciation and understanding of them. And the reason that I thought that it was
1:47.2	important. Regardless of whether you agree with Grover Cleveland's ideology and the specific
1:53.7	policy actions he took while he was president, I think particularly for a moment like now,
1:59.6	where people are cynical and somewhat downcast about American politics. Not without reason.
2:06.3	That there is inspiration to be taken from Grover Cleveland because his entire career, I think,
2:12.2	is a rebuke to political cynicism. This is a guy who in the course of three years goes from being
2:20.4	an anonymous lawyer in Buffalo, New York to being president of the United States purely on the
2:26.3	basis of the fact that at a moment when corruption is it maybe it's high watermark in all of American
	...

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