Fight House: Cutthroat White House Rivalries From Truman to Trump

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 3 March 2020

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Some American presidents appear to do their jobs in a more organized way than others, but the White House has always been filled with ambitious people playing for the highest stakes and bearing bitter grudges. There is a myth that staffs all compromise and put aside petty differences for the greater good. But behind the scenes, staff members leaked stories to gain an upper hand in policy fights, tried to get each other fired, all while seeking the favor of the president.

Today's guest is presidential historian Tevi Troy, a former White House staffer and author of the new book Fight House: Rivalries in the White House from Truman to Trump. We discuss the dramatic clashes within both Republican and Democratic administrations as their heavyweight personalities went head-to-head.

Transcript

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0:27.3	Atop protected, thumbs conditions apply.
0:34.3	The History of North America podcast is a sweeping historical saga of the United States, Canada,
0:40.0	and Mexico from their deep origins to our present epoch.
0:44.1	Join me, Mark Vinet, on this exciting, fascinating epic journey through time,
0:49.2	focusing on the compelling, wonderful, and tragic stories of North America's inhabitants,
0:54.7	heroes, villains, leaders, environment, and geography.
0:59.6	I invite you to come along for the ride.
1:14.4	History is in just a bunch of names and dates and facts.
1:17.6	It's the collection of all the stories throughout human history that explained how and why we got here.
1:23.0	Welcome to the History Unplugged Podcast, where we look at the forgotten, neglected,
1:27.3	strange, and even counterfactual stories that made our world what it is.
1:32.0	I'm your host, Scott Rank.
1:42.8	Amity Shales, who is the author of Great Society A New History, said that
1:47.7	the White House is a dignified seat of government, but is also bullpened,
1:51.4	coqfite, and vipernest.
	...

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