The Contenders is a 14-program series that was produced and aired by C-SPAN in the fall of 2011. It looked at the lives and careers of 14 candidates for the presidency of the United States who were determined to have made significant impacts on U.S. politics despite not having won the presidency. Most episodes were broadcast from a location of significance to the person being profiled, and featured interviews and discussion with a variety of experts.
Selection of subjects The list of persons profiled was selected by C-SPAN producer Mark Farkas and historian Richard Norton Smith, who was a consultant to the series. Smith described the objective of their efforts as follows:
To give viewers an alternative school of American political history, in particular. It has famously been observed that the winners write the history books, and there's a lot of truth to that. But that means that we are deprived of... It's like the dark side of the moon. There's another whole story line... and even more, on the biographical level, there are 14 people in this series, many of whom I guarantee viewers may never have heard of. And all of whom I can pretty much guarantee they will find interesting to fascinating, and certainly surprising.
Programs Original air date(Links to video of program)Featured candidateFeatured locationIntervieweesSeptember 2, 2011Historians' PreviewN/ARichard Norton Smith, Jean Baker, Carl CannonSeptember 9, 2011Henry ClayThe Ashland Estate,Lexington, KentuckyJames C. Klotter, Avery Malone, Alicestyne TurleySeptember 16, 2011James G. BlaineThe Blaine House,Augusta, MaineElizabeth D. Leonard, Paul LePage, Neil Rolde, Earle G. Shettleworth Jr.September 23, 2011William Jennings BryanFairview,Lincoln, NebraskaMichael Kazin, L. Robert Puschendorf, William G. Thomas IIISeptember 30, 2011Eugene DebsEugene V. Debs Home,Terre Haute, IndianaErnest Freeberg, Lisa A.W. Phillips, Bernie SandersOctober 7, 2011Charles Evans HughesUnited States Supreme Court Building,Washington, D.C.Paul D. Clement, Bernadette A. Meyler, Robb W. Patryk, David PietruszaOctober 14, 2011Al SmithChamber of the New York State Assembly,New York State Capitol,Albany, New YorkJohn J. Evers, Beverly Gage, Sheldon Silver, Alfred E. Smith IVOctober 21, 2011Wendell WillkieRush County Historical Society,Rushville, IndianaRichard Lugar, James H. Madison, Amity Shlaes, David WillkieOctober 28, 2011Thomas E. DeweyThe Roosevelt Hotel,New York City, New YorkThomas E. Dewey Jr., Richard Norton SmithNovember 4, 2011Adlai StevensonAdlai E. Stevenson Historic Home,Mettawa, IllinoisNewton N. Minow, Richard Norton Smith, Adlai E. Stevenson IIINovember 11, 2011Barry GoldwaterThe Goldwater Institute,Phoenix, ArizonaBill McCune, Darcy Olsen, Rick Perlstein, November 18, 2011Hubert HumphreyThe Minnesota History Center,St. Paul, MinnesotaMick Caouette, Juan WilliamsNovember 25, 2011George WallaceThe Alabama Governor's Mansion,Montgomery, AlabamaDan T. Carter, Peggy Wallace Kennedy, Joe L. ReedDecember 2, 2011George McGovernMcGovern Center for Leadership,Dakota Wesleyan University,Mitchell, South DakotaScott Clark Farris, Jules Witcover (Note: McGovern himself had been scheduled to be part of this program, but fell and injured himself on the way into the building where the program was being filmed.)December 9, 2011Ross PerotWashington, D.C.Carolyn Barta, Douglas BrinkleyDecember 16, 2011Historians' RetrospectiveN/ARichard Norton Smith, Jean Baker, Carl Cannon
See also They Also Ran
References
External links