This is backstory. I'm Peter Onof.

Well, I believe in God. I am Christian.

I am a person of faith. I am a Christian.

These days, American presidential candidates are practically required to proclaim their religious faith.

But for much of American history, presidents were reluctant to speak openly about their faith.

In fact, two of the country's most admired presidents, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln,

had no formal religious affiliation at all.

But in some elections, the faith of a presidential candidate takes center stage.

In 1928, the country's first Catholic presidential candidate lost in a landslide.

He's got a campaign stop in Oklahoma City, and they birthed crosses where his train is coming through.

The history of faith in the presidency coming up on backstory.

Major funding for backstory is provided by the Shia Khan Foundation,

the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation,

and the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.

From the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, this is backstory with the American History Guys.

Welcome to the show. I'm Brian Bello, and I'm here with Ed Ayers.

Hey, Brian, and Peter Onus with us. Hey, there, Brian.

In New York City, in 1832, a devastating cholera epidemic swept across the city.

When it first arrives in New York, there are about a thousand deaths in the first two weeks.

This is Auburn University historian Adam Jortner.

Over 2,000 people die in New York City before the epidemic is finished.

It sort of rips through New York City and onto Philadelphia and St. Louis and so forth.

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