The

The There are few things more nostalgic than a train.

The sights and sounds of steam, a smokestack, and rails brings us back to a bygone era in American history.

So why am I talking about trains today?

Something that I usually never talk about?

Well, our guest today, Edward Siegel, has written about a unique side of the history of the train.

He's written about the train's impact on American politics. And believe it or

not, it has had a very important impact on American politics, especially presidential politics.

The book is titled Whistle Stop Politics, Campaign Trains, and the Reporters Who Covered Them.

And it's chock full of anecdotes about presidents and the campaigns they ran

while touring the country in a locomotive. So make sure you check out the book. Again, it's called

whistle stop politics, campaign trains, and the reporters who covered them. So Edward, thanks for

being on our show. Good to be with you today, Richard, and looking forward to the conversation.

So let's just start off.

How did you even get interested in the history of trains specifically in relation to campaigns,

especially presidential campaigns?

Well, early in my career, I was the press secretary for a member of Congress and also

worked on his ree-election campaign.

And he wanted me to find ways to generate as much publicity as possible about his

re-election campaign because he really did not have an opponent at the time.

And I'm a recovering political science major, and I certainly knew about campaign trains and Harry Truman's underdog campaign train tour around the country in 1948.

I did some research, and it turns out there was a set of workable Amtrak tracks in the Congressman State, Oklahoma, and he liked the idea of doing a reenactment of Truman's campaign train.

...