Originally recorded on 11-27-2024
In this episode, Matt and Alexis talk about the 1st President, George Washington, the "foundingest father," who was incredibly conscious that everything he did would set precedent for the young country he founded. Washington had as much ego, as much to prove, and as much interest in power as the 44 men who have followed him in office, but he balanced his unmatched service to his country with his desire to have a private life in a way that defines virtue in the highest office in the country.

Alexis Coe
Alexis Coe is an award-winning, New York Times bestselling presidential historian and senior fellow at New America, a bi-partisan think tank. Coe is the leading presidential biographer of her generation, known for her unique insights, engaging style, and ability to reach larger, more diverse audiences in different mediums.

Her books have achieved critical and commercial success. She is the author of, most recently, You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George of Washington. Her next book, Young Jack: A Biography of John F. Kennedy, 1917-1957, will be published in 2025, and her first book, Alice+Freda Forever: A Murder in Memphis, debuted in 2014.

In 2024, Coe went on a 13-stop cross-country discussion tour for New America. Her project, "How Should a President Be," is in anticipation of America's 250th anniversary in 2026.

Coe frequently appears on CNN, MSNBC, CBS, History, PBS, and other networks. She was a consulting producer on, and featured in, Doris Kearns Goodwin's Washington series on the History Channel. She is a frequent guest on NPR and hosted the podcasts No Man's Land and Presidents Are People Too!

She has been featured in and written for most major publications, including the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Best American Essays.

Coe has given keynote lectures and appeared on and moderated panels at Georgetown, the Library of Congress, West Point, the New York Historical Society, the National Constitution Center, the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library, and many more.

She curated the ACLU'S 100 exhibitions. While in grad school, she was a project-based oral historian at the Brooklyn Historical Society. She went on to be a Research Curator in the Exhibitions Department at the New York Public Library in Bryant Park.

Coe serves on the 2024 Honorary Committee of the Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film and has long served on the board of advisors for the University of Georgia's History in the Headlines series. She is a member of Biographer's International.

She is based in New York.

00:00 Introduction to Country Over Self
00:33 Meet Alexis Coe: Presidential Historian
01:56 Discussing George Washington's Legacy
04:14 Washington's Relationship with Power
05:32 Washington's Early Life and Struggles
06:49 Washington's Rise to Prominence
11:55 Washington's Reluctance and Presidency
18:35 Washington's Second Term and Legacy
22:52 Washington's Decision to Retire
24:08 The Impact of Washington's Legacy
24:59 Modern Parallels: Biden's Presidency
27:20 Washington's Family and Political Advantage
31:42 Washington's Toughest Decisions
32:37 The Whiskey Rebellion: Washington's Misstep
36:35 Rapid Fire Questions: Presidential Reflections
41:30 Strengthening Democracy: Proposed Changes
43:24 Current Projects and Future Aspirations
45:30 Closing Remarks and Farewell

To learn more about Country Over Self or to check out other episodes head to Countryoverself.com.

If you have an idea for an episode or want to reach Matt directly, please email podcast@countryoverself.com

Country Over Self is edited and produced by Culture Collaborative Media.

Originally recorded on 10-24-24

In this episode, Matt and Sean talk about the 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, and the Emancipation Proclamation, one of the most defining moments in American history. Although arguably not so much Country Over Self in the moment, the Emancipation Proclamation was difficult both politically and with the general population, and it took the shrewdness and communication skills of Lincoln to bring it to life and change the course of the Civil War and the nation.

Sean Wilentz
Sean Wilentz studies U.S. political and social history. He received his Ph.D. in history from Yale University (1980) after earning bachelor’s degrees from Columbia University (1972) and Balliol College, Oxford University (1974). Chants Democratic (1984), which won several national prizes, including the Albert J. Beveridge Award of the American Historical Association, shows how the working class emerged in New York City and examines the changes in politics and political thought that came with it.

In The Kingdom of Matthias (1994), Professor Wilentz and coauthor Paul E. Johnson tell the story of a bizarre religious cult that sprang up in New York City in the 1830s, exploring in the process the darker corners of the 19th-century religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening. Professor Wilentz is also the coauthor and coeditor of The Key of Liberty (1993) and the editor of several other books, including The Rose and the Briar (2004, Greil Marcus coeditor), a collection of historical essays and artistic creations inspired by American ballads.

His The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln (2005), was awarded the Bancroft Prize and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Subsequent books include The Age of Reagan: A History, 1974-2008, a reconsideration of U.S. politics since the Watergate affair; Bob Dylan in America, a consideration of Dylan's place in American cultural history; and The Politicians & The Egalitarians: The Hidden History of American Politics, a thematic collection of essays covering American political history from the Revolution through the 1960s.

His most recent study, No Property in Man: Slavery and Antislavery at the Nation’s Founding, based on his Nathan I. Huggins Lectures at Harvard, appeared in 2018 and was the recipient of the annual Thomas A. Cooley Book Prize for the best book on the Constitution, awarded by the Georgetown University Law Center. In 2020, the Library of America published the first of three projected volumes of his authoritative edition of the writings of the historian Richard Hofstadter.

Professor Wilentz has received numerous fellowships from, among other institutions, the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the American Academy in Berlin. Formerly a contributing editor to The New Republic, and currently a member of the editorial boards of Dissent and Democracy, he lectures frequently and has contributed some four hundred articles, reviews, and op-ed pieces to publications such as the New York Review of Books, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, the London Review of Books, The American Scholar, The Nation, Le Monde, and Der Spiegel. He has also given congressional testimony, notably before the House Judiciary Committee in 1998. His writings on American music have earned him two Grammy nominations and two Deems Taylor-ASCAP awards.

00:00 Introduction to Country Over Self

00:33 Meet the Historian: Sean Wilentz

00:58 Abraham Lincoln: A Giant Among Presidents

02:22 The Emancipation Proclamation: Context and Challenges

13:10 Lincoln's Political Strategy and Manipulation

20:40 Lincoln's Conservative Stance and Emancipation Strategy

23:11 The Emancipation Proclamation's Impact on the War

24:07 Lincoln's Diplomatic Maneuvering and Military Challenges

26:46 Lincoln's Re-election and the End of the Civil War

29:04 Speculating on Lincoln's Second Term and Reconstruction

33:50 Closing Thoughts on Lincoln and Presidential Legacies

37:58 Final Questions and Reflections on American Politics

To learn more about Country Over Self or to check out other episodes head to Countryoverself.com.

If you have an idea for an episode or want to reach Matt directly, please email podcast@countryoverself.com

Country Over Self is edited and produced by Culture Collaborative Media.

Originally recorded on 10-24-24

In this episode, Matt and Mark talk about the 41st President, George H. W. Bush, and his campaign promise of "Read my lips, no new taxes" during the 1988 presidential campaign, and how that promise clashed with the realities of governing that led to the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 and a balanced budget...and ultimately sowed the seeds of Bush's defeat in the 1992 election.

Mark Updegrove
Mark K. Updegrove is the president and CEO of the LBJ Foundation and serves as Presidential Historian for ABC News. From 2009 to 2017, he was the director of the LBJ Presidential Library, where in 2014 he hosted the Civil Rights Summit which included Presidents Obama, George W. Bush, Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Carter.

Updegrove is the author of five books on the presidency including Incomparable Grace: JFK in the Presidency, published in 2022 and the executive producer of the CNN Original Series, “LBJ: Triumph and Tragedy.” He has written for the New York Times, Politico, Time, National Geographic, the Daily Beast, and USA Today, and has conducted exclusive interviews with seven U.S. presidents. His next book, Make Your Mark: Lessons in Character from Seven Presidents, will be published in March 2025.

Previously he was publisher of Newsweek and president of Time magazine’s Canadian edition. He is married to Amy Banner Updegrove, the former publisher of Texas Monthly, and lives in Austin, Texas.

00:00 Introduction to Country Over Self

00:34 Guest Introduction: Mark Updegrove

01:05 George H. W. Bush's Impressive Resume

02:22 The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990

03:54 Bush's Controversial Tax Decision

06:47 Impact of Bush's Tax Compromise

09:57 Rise of Conservative Media and Its Effects

11:39 Ross Perot's Populist Candidacy

17:30 Bush's Legacy and the Clinton Letter

24:54 Rapid Fire Questions on Presidential Choices

30:50 Final Thoughts and Closing

To learn more about Country Over Self or to check out other episodes head to Countryoverself.com.

If you have an idea for an episode or want to reach Matt directly, please email podcast@countryoverself.com

Country Over Self is edited and produced by Culture Collaborative Media.