Oval Office: An Insider's View
Are we more polarized now than ever before? Which forgotten president deserves a second look? How has the presidency evolved since America's founding? What's turning minor disagreements into full-blown culture wars?
I just had Bill O’Really on my podcast to ask him these questions… and a lot more.
Most people don’t know this…
Before he was lighting up TV screens, he was a high school history teacher in Florida.
Fast forward a few decades, and O'Reilly is now the author of a ton of bestsellers on presidential history and has rubbed elbows with more presidents than a dollar bill.
We talked about his new book Confronting the Presidents: No Spin Assessments from Washington to Biden.
To kick it off, I asked him:
“In all of your research, who did you change your opinion the most about?”
His answer? James K. Polk—a name that might not ring too many bells, unless you’re a history buff or once lost a bet on obscure presidents.
Forget Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase—Polk managed to add the entire Northwest and a sizable chunk of land from Mexico. All this, while sticking to his promise of serving just one term.
Bill and I then dove into how the presidency has changed over time. Back in the day, he said, many presidents treated the office like a one-time gig.
They weren’t in it for the power and prestige - not as much as today.
Guys like Calvin Coolidge and Polk had a checklist, ticked off their goals, and then rode off into the sunset. Compare that to today, where the allure of Air Force One and a lifetime of Secret Service protection can be harder to resist than a 24-hour news cycle.
When we moved on to recent presidents, Bill didn’t hold back. JFK, he said, had a vision, especially with his cautious stance on Vietnam. But, says Bill, he lacked courage.
Lyndon B. Johnson? “Unbelievably corrupt” and “massively incompetent.”
Even Richard Nixon, the man synonymous with political scandal, got some credit from Bill for having a strong foreign policy vision, even if his domestic record is still wading through Watergate.
Naturally, the conversation turned to the current political climate, which Bill describes as the second most polarized time in American history, after the Civil War.
The culprit? Social media and a lack of journalistic standards.
If the 24-hour news cycle was the match, then social media is the kerosene-soaked rag, igniting every minor disagreement into a full-blown culture war.
Regarding the upcoming election, Bill was cautious about making predictions.
He estimates that there's a significant "middle group" of voters who could be swayed by events in the coming weeks.
Throughout our conversation, Bill emphasized the importance of understanding presidential history to make sense of our current political situation.
His book aims to provide a candid look at each president, highlighting both their accomplishments and their flaws.
He also had some surprising things to say about Obama, Trump, Biden, and Kamala. (Especially Obama.)
