With ever more alarming new unfolding in Europe and the fate of Britain hanging in the balance, Franklin Roosevelt decided to stand for re-election for a second time, breaking with tradition that a president serves a maximum two terms. Facing him was the former Democrat Wendell Wilkie, a political outsider who rejected isolationism just as Roosevelt did. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the prese
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Explaining History Podcast
For more than a decade, the Explaining History Podcast has helped listeners around the world make sense of modern history. What began in 2012 as a simple experiment—short, accessible episodes explaining major historical events—has grown into a long-running library of carefully researched, thoughtful explorations of the 20th and 21st centuries.
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