Nearly eighty million were killed. Seventy countries were involed. Two nuclear bombs were dropped. The world was reshaped in its aftermath. World War II wasn't just an event in the lives of seven future presidents, it was the event. Steven Gillon argues seven future presidents were changed irrevocably by what they’d experienced from the moment Pearl Harbor was attacked to the moment millions of soldiers came back to the United States. They had seen death, lost friends and feared for their own lives. World War II would shape their politics and policy. He argues that even privileged men - like JFK and George HW Bush - insisted on going to combat because they could sense it would make or break their future. And they were right.

Steven Gillon's website can be found at https://www.stevenmgillon.com/

Information on his book can be found at https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/646653/presidents-at-war-by-steven-m-gillon/#:~:text=A%20nuanced%20and%20deeply%20researched,and%20future%2C%20presidents%20stand%20today.

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In under a week, the United States will have a new president. On this episode, former White House staffer and academic historian William Haldeman shares his new book that shows how presidents transform from merely an elected leader to someone whose mark is left for generations. He describes how six presidents - Washington, Lincoln, TR, FDR, JFK and Reagan - developed leadership skills over the course of their lives that could then be applied not only to policy, but to their use of the bully pulpit to make bold changes to the nation. From Washington's decision to leave office after two terms to Reagan's drive to win the Cold War, Haldeman shows how great presidents not only met the moment, but won outsized victories that contributed to freedom and democracy.

William Haldeman's website can be found at https://www.williamhaldeman.com/

He is on social media at https://x.com/potushistorian

Information on his book can be found at https://sunypress.edu/Books/M/Meeting-the-Moment

Support our show at https://patreon.com/axelbankhistory

**A portion of every contribution is given to a charity for children's literacy**

"Axelbank Reports History and Today" can be found on social media at

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From the publisher: In the nineteenth century, the complex cultural meaning of hair was not only significant, it could affect one's place in society. After the Civil War, hairdressing was a growing profession and the hair industry a mainstay of local, national, and international commerce. In Beyond Vanity, Elizabeth L. Block expands the nascent field of hair studies by restoring women's hair as a cultural site of meaning in the early United States. With a special focus on the places and spaces in which the industry operated, Block argues that the importance of hair has been overlooked due to its ephemerality as well as its misguided association with frivolity and triviality. As Block clarifies, hairdressing was anything but frivolous.

Dr. Block's website can be found at https://www.elizabethlblock.com/

Information on her book can be found at https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262049054/beyond-vanity/

She is on social media at https://x.com/ElizabethLBlock

Support our show at https://patreon.com/axelbankhistory

**A portion of every contribution is given to a charity for children's literacy**

"Axelbank Reports History and Today" can be found on social media at

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Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

If you've ever gone holiday shopping, you have probably gone into a bookshop to find the perfect gift for someone you care about. In this episode, we talk with Evan Friss about his astonishing history of how American bookstores were born, how they grew, and how they've at least tried to survive in a world where almost everything is done online. From chains to indies, he shows how bookstores became a critical place where ideas are exchanged, and how books themselves are marketed and consumed. From Ben Franklin to YOU, he shows how bookstores mark American progress.

Information on his book can be found at https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/679154/the-bookshop-by-evan-friss/

His website is https://evanfriss.com/

He is on social media at https://x.com/EvanFriss

Support our show at https://patreon.com/axelbankhistory

**A portion of every contribution is given to a charity for children's literacy**

"Axelbank Reports History and Today" can be found on social media at

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Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Considering the high profiles of Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Kennedy, Betty Ford, Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama, little is remembered about Pat Nixon. And that, Heath Lee argues, is the way she wanted it. On this episode, biographer Heath Lee discusses her book, "The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon: The Life and Times of Washington's Most Private First Lady," explores how Thelma Catherine Ryan went from a small mining town in the Far West to the most storied home in the world to become America's First Lady. She shows how Pat Nixon influenced her husband, and her country, in ways that are only just beginning to be recognized.

Heath Hardage Lee's website can be found at https://heathleeauthor.com/

She is on social media at https://x.com/HeathLee1

Information on her book can be found at https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250274342/themysteriousmrsnixon

Support our show at https://patreon.com/axelbankhistory

**A portion of every contribution is given to a charity for children's literacy**

"Axelbank Reports History and Today" can be found on social media at

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On this episode, we chat with David Greenberg about his epic biography of American icon John Lewis. We explore Lewis' background, early life, congressional career and of course, his march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Lewis was beaten, but not broken, and began a one-of-a-kind career fighting for human rights and decency among Americans. Greenberg not only explains what it was like to interview Lewis, but how he found so many new sources during years of research.

Information on his book can be found at https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/John-Lewis/David-Greenberg/9781982142995

David Greenberg's website is https://greenberg.rutgers.edu/

David Greenberg's social media feed can be found at https://x.com/republicofspin

Support our show at https://patreon.com/axelbankhistory

**A portion of every contribution is given to a charity for children's literacy**

"Axelbank Reports History and Today" can be found on social media at

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Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

From the publisher: "Stadiums are monuments to recreation, sports, and pleasure. Yet from the earliest ballparks to the present, stadiums have also functioned as public squares. Politicians have used them to cultivate loyalty to the status quo, while activists and athletes have used them for anti-fascist rallies, Black Power demonstrations, feminist protests, and much more.

In this book, historian Frank Guridy recounts the contested history of play, protest, and politics in American stadiums. From the beginning, stadiums were political, as elites turned games into celebrations of war, banned women from the press box, and enforced racial segregation. By the 1920s, they also became important sites of protest as activists increasingly occupied the stadium floor to challenge racism, sexism, homophobia, fascism, and more. Following the rise of the corporatized stadium in the 1990s, this complex history was largely forgotten. But today’s athlete-activists, like Colin Kaepernick and Megan Rapinoe, belong to a powerful tradition in which the stadium is as much an arena of protest as a palace of pleasure."

Information on Dr. Frank Guridy can be found at https://history.columbia.edu/person/guridy-frank/

Information on his book can be found at https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/frank-andre-guridy/the-stadium/9781541601451/?lens=basic-bo

His social media account can be found at https://x.com/fguridy

Support our show at https://patreon.com/axelbankhistory

**A portion of every contribution is given to a charity for children's literacy**

"Axelbank Reports History and Today" can be found on social media at

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Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Being president is a mixed bag. There are long days, high-stakes decisions, definitive elections and even the potential to be considered a dunce for the rest of history. But, there are also opportunities to help people in need, win the respect of the world, bring the country together, and, these days, make big bucks after their term in office. Their net worths soar after they sign book deals, honcho a film company or even endorse trinkets that seem fit for informercials. But as Megan Gorman shows in, "All The Presidents' Money," it wasn't always like that. Early presidents lived their lives out in debt. She shows how becoming president didn't preclude them from making mistakes with money that every American makes, and also how their ambition to earn big bucks foreshadowed their desire to run the country.

Megan Gorman's website can be found at https://www.allthepresidentsmoney.com/about-megan

Information on her book can be found at https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/All-the-Presidents-Money/Megan-Gorman/9798888450802

Support our show at https://patreon.com/axelbankhistory

**A portion of every contribution is given to a charity for children's literacy**

"Axelbank Reports History and Today" can be found on social media at

https://twitter.com/axelbankhistory

https://instagram.com/axelbankhistory

https://facebook.com/axelbankhistory

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify