Amity Shlaes, James Madison, and David Willkie talked about the life and career of 1940 Republican presidential nominee Wendell…

Richard Norton Smith and Thomas E. Dewey, III, talked about the life and career of 1944 and 1948 Republican presidential nominee Thomas…

Historian Richard Norton Smith, former Senator Adlai Stevenson III, and Newton Minow, who had worked for him, talked about the life…

Rick Perlstein, Bill McCune, and Darcy Olsen talked about the life and career of 1964 Republican presidential nominee Barry M. Goldwater (1909-1998). They responded to telephone…

Juan Williams and Mick Caouette talked about the life and career of 1968 Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Hubert H.…

Dan Carter and Joe Reed talked about the life and career of George C. Wallace, Jr. (1919-1998) and responded to telephone calls and electronic…

About This Series

C SPAN's 14-part series The Contenders helps put America's present electoral politics in historical perspective. Reaching across time, political parties, and geography, The Contenders presents key figures who have run for president and lost, but changed political history nevertheless.