This is the President

This is one of the saddest stories in the history of Presidential impressions. At the end of 1962, comedian Vaughn Meader was flying high off the success of the smash hit comedy album The First Family. Produced by former radio DJ Bob Booker, The First Family Album provided a comic look at the adventures of the Kennedy clan and their New Frontiersman in the 1960s White House. And then, in November 1963, tragedy struck - not only for the young President and his family, but to the career of Vaughn Meader. Special thanks to Bob Booker for taking the time to talk to us over the phone.

On January 2, Trump held a conference call with the Georgia Secretary of State and other officials about alleged irregulariets in the November elections. On the call, the president pressured the officials into coming up with election numbers that would flip the result of Georgia’s vote count and give Trump a victory and Georgias votes in the electoral college. Ok, sure - that’s bad enough - but did the president make it worse by cutting the cheese? Have a listen for youself. Will Fartgate prove to be the final undoing of Trump?

Although Nixon barely squeaked into office in 1968, the election of 1972 wasn't quite the same. Some people might use the term "blowout" - especially when Nixon won every state except Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. Ouch. But that doesn't mean Nixon turned into a sore winner. On the contrary, in this video he and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger exchange some choice words about the concession speech of Nixon's opponent in 1972, Senator George McGovern. Also - be sure to keep your eyes open by the cameo from a certain candidate in the 2020 election.

It was a picture that sent shockwaves around the United States when it was first splashed across the front page of newspapers from coast to coast on the morning of April 28, 1964. Before Watergate, there was Beaglegate - the time that President Johnson picked up his 10 month old beagle pups by the ears to "hear them yelp". But was this an act of animal cruelty? Or simply a proud doggy dad showing off? Using unearthed presidential documents, never before seen photos and - of course - plenty of LBJ phone calls - This is the President is here to dive into the real story on the day that LBJ picked up his dog by the ears.

It was a crisp fall night way back when in October 1969 in South Georgia. Future President Jimmy Carter, then a district Governor of the Lion’s Club, was about to give a speech to a group of local businessmen when he saw a strange shape approaching out of the sky to the west. It didn’t look like any type of plane that Carter had seen before, and it was too bright to be a star. So what was it? Carter had no choice but to believe - he was having his first UFO encounter. Rather than forgetting about his sighting, the - then Georgia Governor - did what any responsible citizen would do - he reported the sighting to the authorities. What followed on that chilly October night in 1969 would change his life and - quite possibly - the future of the United States of America forever.

Man oh man, who doesn’t love a good Top 5 list? Everyone else does it, so we here at This is the President thought it was time we jumped on the bandwagon as well. After a carefully hand-selected team of This is the President interns spent weeks combing through the JFK archives, these are the top 5 JFK phone calls that they emerged with. And good for them, because if they weren’t digging up some JFK gold, they weren’t coming back at all. We kid. We love our TITP interns. Anyhooo, since the tile of the post and episode pretty much says it all, we’ll keep the introductions to a minimum. You might have heard a couple of these calls before - especially any Silly Bastard fans out there - but there are also a couple of new tidbits. I found…I mean, the TITP Intern Team found, the call about JFK and the American Supersonic Transport pretty fascinating. I had always wondered that to myself - where the hell was the good old USA version of the Concorde? So as you’ll hear in the episode, we tried something a little different - releasing the podcast AND a video. There are a few extra easter eggs in the video, so be sure to give it a watch. And - hey - if you’re over by our YouTube channel - why not subscribe? Why do you hate us?

“God, please look over and protect P:resident Trump!” Never thought you’d ever hear those words did you? How about if you heard them uttered in the White House - before a cabinet meeting. But, of course, when President Trump is on the scene, disruption is the name of the game and - separation of Church and State be damned - he’s going to pray in the White House. Now how much of this whole born again evangelican business Trump really believes in - and how much of it is a show to get more votes - is something that His Orange Highness will ever know. But, just in case you needed reminding that there’s some prayer meetings going on in the White House, This is the President is here to explain it all to you. Along with Trump’s new found sense of Christianity (remember this is the guy who was stealing money from his own charities and grabbing the ladies by the pussy), we briefly touch on Trump’s connections with Pastor Kenneth Copeland, a member of Trump’s semi-secret evangelical advisory council who - no joke - claims that he personally talks to god and that Jesus Christ himself has blessed the Untied States of America. We know we don’t have to say it, but we will anyway - we promise that this episode is 100% Corona virus free! This episode also brought to you in part by our pals over at Stitcher Premium. Use the code PRESIDENT to get a FREE month of Stitcher Premium on us! That’s right your very own FREE Abe Lincoln from us at This is the President. Enjoy This is the President? Then have a listen to our other podcast , Comedy History 101. Like This is the President? Why not subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes! Hey - and while you’re there, leave us a comment or rate us! Don’t cost nothing!

Ok, remember in our other episodes where we talked about a drunk President Nixon? This time we really mean it. We’re 99% sure he’s sloshed in this episode. “So what,” you say. “What does this have to do with what’s going on today?” Fair enough, but the reason that the president was getting loaded, my dear listener, is because he was under investigation about a little thing called Watergate. We thought it would be the perfect pairing to start of with the beginning of President Trump’s impeachment trial in the good old US of A. The date was April 30, 1973. Nixon had just broadcast a nationwide address declaring that he had fired two of his most trusted advisors and was getting to the bottom of all this Watergate hoo-haw. After the speech, Nixon sat waiting for the calls of well wishers. Which didn’t really happen, because he had told the White House switchboard not to put any calls through. Or did he tell them to put calls through? Even the President himself didn’t know. In today’s call, President Nixon recieves praise from none other than Hobart D. Lewis, the Chief Executive of Reader’s Digest and dammit Nixon’s “god bless America” added to the end of the speech was just ok by him. During their conversation, Nixon also takes some time to wax emotional about the Watergate break in and what happened - or, more precisely, what didn’t happen there. Was the president drunk? You make the call! Also in the episode, Harmon and Scott make their Trump impeachment trial predictions (HINT: He’ll get away with it) and Harmon returns with his Congressional impressions.

In the immortal words of David Byrne - “Well, how did we get here?” This week, in a historic vote, the US House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald J. Trump. But guess everyone already knew that, huh? Still, we wouldn’t let the moment go by without putting our very own This is the President spin on the moment. Tune in to hear Scott and Harmon discuss the House vote, listen in to Harmon do his latest impressions of House Republicans AND - stop the presses - Harmon reads the personal email he got from President Trump just a few hours after the vote. And let’s not forget the Presidential tapes! As you might have guessed from the title of the episode, our special guest this week is none other than President Richard M. Nixon, who, himself was nearly impeached as well. Nearly, because he saw the writing on the wall and got out of office while the getting was good - complete with his presidential pension in tact. And today’s tape is just one of the many reasons why Nixon knew it was time to go. In this tape, from March 21, 1973, you can listen in as the president discusses paying off blackmail with White House Counsel John Dean. No quid pro quo here!

And the hits keep on comin’! It’s almost like we can’t keep up with the Impeachment Circus that President Trump has brought to the stage in Washington, DC. And that’s ok - because, as you know by now, here at This is the President, we’re all about looking to the past - never forward. Well, maybe forward, just a little bit. Or backward. It gets a little confusing in this episode. We start out simply enough, with a little bit of a visit to the videotaped deposition by President William Jefferson Clinton way back in 1999. Diiizzzammm. That was 20 years ago! But we don’t just stop there. Oh no. It just so happens we stumbled upon a very interesting interview from that very same year from a failed business and bankrupt casino owner by the name of Donald J. Trump. And what does Mr. Trump have to say to the (then) sitting President Clinton? Well, let’s just say that he has a few choice words of lawyerly advice for the cigar lovin’ former Arkansas governor. But don’t just take our word for it - tune in! This episode also brought to you in part by our other podcast Comedy History 101. Check out our latest episode on the History of the Oldest Jokes in the World! Like This is the President? Why not subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes! Hey - and while you’re there, leave us a comment or rate us! Don’t cost nothing!

Ahhh, the 80s. The days of neon, Rambo movies, big suspenders, bigger hair and back when you could buy good old fashioned crack across the street from the White House. So, President George HW Bush would have you believe back in September of 1989. That was when the Prez held up a big back of crack - “as innocent as candy” - in front of a nationally televised audience to announce his version of the War on Drugs. But what they never mentioned at the time was that the dealer behind the sale was an 18 year old high school student (African-American, of course) who had to be lured to Layfayette Park, across the street from the White House, in order to make the sale. Now, we’ve covered this Bush Crack speech before here on TITP, but I discovered a new twist. I’ve usually only watched the first part of the speech. So, one day while nosing around, I played this video and let it keep running. That’s when I noticed that the Democratic response to the President’s speech was none other than one of our current candidates for the 2020 election, Senator Smokin’ Joe Biden. And - it turns out - Senator Biden has a bit of personal familiarity with crack. This episode also brought to you in part by our other podcast Comedy History 101. Check out our latest multi-part episode all on Dolemite! Like This is the President? Why not subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes! Hey - and while you’re there, leave us a comment or rate us! Don’t cost nothing!

Something sneaky is going on in sneakytown. At least that’s what the head of the newly established Peace Corps, Sargent Shriver, informs President Kennedy in this episode’s phone call from April 2, 1963. JFK established the Peace Corps as one of his highlights of his New Frontier program. The idea was that young and idealistic Americans would travel around the world, helping out upcoming economies and cultures with good old fashioned American knowhow and - at the same time - spreading a little of those wholesome American vibes at the height of the Cold War. Only problem? Certain other US government agencies - some of which may or may not have had to do something to do with the President’s death - were trying to use the Peace Corps for nerfarious purposes. What does JFK have to say about this? Tune in to find out! ALSO ON THE SHOW We analyze some of the meaning in Trump’s letter to the President of Turkey, Harmon reviews the new Joker movie and also introduces a new nickname for his penis.

Man oh man, things just aren’t looking good for the President, are they? Impeachment is looming, his trusted legal advisors are deserting or getting fired in droves, and all he’s left with is the support of his trusted base. Trump 2019? Sure. But also, Nixon circa April1973. We’ve already briefly touched on these tapes in our First Impeachment Special, but these phones calls are the gift that keeps on giving, so we wanted to make a return visit. The background: On April 30, 1973, in light of the looming Watergate investigation, Nixon fires two chief aides, Haldeman and Erlichman. He then goes on national television to plead his case and tells the American people that he’ll get to the bottom of this Watergate business. Afterwards, Nixon fields phone calls from a number of supporters, congradulating him for his performance. Nixon decides to celebrate the occasion by - what it sounds like - having a drink. Well, more than one drink. In fact, towards the end of night in this series of calls, he’s slurring his words and - as you’ll hear in this tape - noisily chewing the ice in his glass. At least that’s our take on this. What do you think? ALSO ON THE SHOW Harmon disloses what object in the Smithsonian almost brought a tear to his eye and we review more Trump products in our segment Trump in the Amazon! Hey - also, we’ve revamped the This is the President YouTube channel and we’re starting to stock it up with lots of presidential goodness. So be sure to head over there and click the SUBSCRIBE button so you get updates about the latest presidential goodness.

April 30, 1973 was a busy day for President Nixon. First he had to fight off a looming impeachment by broadcasting a heartfelt speech to the “real” people who supported him. Then he had to take phone calls from well wishers. A lot of phone calls. Oh yea, and let’s not forget to mention the scotch. Plenty of scotch. As a matter of fact, there’s going to be so much scotch in this episode, you’re almost going to be able to taste it. In today’s call, we’ll hear President Nixon talking to future President George H W Bush, so this is like our version of a presidential two-fer Tuesday. ALSO ON THE SHOW Harmon discusses some of the discoveries he made on his recent trip to Washington, DC and we continue with the battle of the robot voices. Hey - also, we’ve revamped the This is the President YouTube channel and we’re starting to stock it up with lots of presidential goodness. So be sure to head over there and click the SUBSCRIBE button so you get updates about the latest presidential goodness.

Oh man - JFK has been dead for a while now but he keeps bringing the hits - as least presidentially phone call wise! The date is March 13, 1963. After reading about the devastating loss of the US Hockey Team to that most neutral of countries, Sweden, JFK picks up the phone and dials his good friend David L. Hackett, who is in charge of all things sporty for the president. JFK goes off about the loss of the hockey team in a most politically incorrect and - let’s face it , “unwoke” - way as possible. But you didn’t come to hear us write about this - why don’t you have a listen for yourself? Hey - also, we’ve revamped the This is the President YouTube channel and we’re starting to stock it up with lots of presidential goodness. So be sure to head over there and click the SUBSCRIBE button so you get updates about the latest presidential goodness. This episode also brought to you in part by our other podcast Comedy History 101. Like This is the President? Why not subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes! Hey - and while you’re there, leave us a comment or rate us! Don’t cost nothing!

We’re always happy when presidential tapes get a bit of play in the news. Unfortunately, it seems that whenever a new presidential tape is discovered, the president in question doesn’t always have the nicest things to say. Which is exactly what happened just a few days ago when a recorded phone conversation between President Nixon and then Governor of California Ronald Reagan was released by the National Archives. And it wasn’t too pretty. The story got quite a lot of play in the national news media so, of course, we here at TITP felt like we had to cover it. We’ve tried to give you a little bit more background of the call and play more than just “those” sound bites that you’ve already heard a thousand times. And - if by some chance, you haven’t heard the clip yet - get ready for a doozy. Sure, we might not be hitting the heights of the president talking to an Aquanaut on helium gas, but - as far as racist presidential phone calls go - this one is right there at the top. ALSO ON THE SHOW - Harmon and Scott discuss the current “least racist president ever” and they both come to an agreement that watching the Democratic debates is a waste of time .

Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t think we’re overstating that today we’ll be presenting you with one of he greatest presidential phone calls of all time. And believe, me, we’ve listened to a lot of them. Sure - even as we point out here on the show - they can’t all be winners. When you’re dealing with United States presidents and found audio, you never know what you’re going to get. But we think you’ll be pleasantly suprised by todays call - and it might even merit a relisten or two. Even more interesting, the phone call in this episode is the polar opposite from our last episode. While last week we tuned into President Nixon calling the astronauts on the moon, this week we have President Johnson calling aquanaut Scott Carpenter at the bottom of the ocean, some two hundred feet down! The date? September 26, 1965. The occassion? Aquanaut Carpenter had just broken a record for being submerged the longest with the Navy’s underwater experimental laboratory, Sealab II. The thing is, though, the aquanauts in Sealab II were breathing a very special mixture of air to help with conditioning themselves to the underwater conditions and dives. Their atmosphere was composed of a large part of the gas Helium. And if you’ve ever sucked up a balloon to make yourself talk funny, I think you can see where this is going…. So grab a balloon, take a deep breath and hit that play button!

Fifty years ago today was a glorious day for all mankind. Sure, we put some guys on the moon. That was kinda cool. But for listeners of This is the President, it’s an even more special day. Because once man had landed on the moon and walked on the surface, what was the next step? A phone call from the president, of course! Which, naturally, leads us to the most long distance presidential telephone call in history. It all happened on July 20, 1969, a few minutes before 12AM Eastern Daylight Time. Nixon was introduced to the astronauts by CAPCOM (Capsule Commander - like the NASA terms?) Bruce McCandless II. The call was short and, in all honesty, not the most exciting call we’ve ever had on the show but for the sake of history and completeness, we feel like it had to be done. As we mention in the podcast, there was a “contingency plan” prepared in case the astronauts never made it back from the moon. First they would call the astronaut’s wives, then NASA would shut off all the communications to the trapped astronauts and then the president would read a speech written by White House staffer William Safire that you can hear in the video on our site. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the longest distance presidential telephone call you will ever hear. ALSO ON THE SHOW - Harmon and Scott discuss some of the latest diatribes from the current president, Harmon revisits his Trump impression and a plane tries to land on Harmon’s balcony.

We’re quite sure what the crossover between This is the President listeners and the Alex Jones Show audience is, but it’s a pretty good bet that if you fall into one of those demographics, you probably know what a False Flag attack is. Sure, we all know how batshit crazy Alex Jones is, but sometimes - SOMETIMES - he does bring up an interesting tidbit or two. A False Flag attack, for those of you not in the know, is when a government either launches an attack on its own forces or simply invents an attack, all the while claiming it was done by another country. For example, famous examples in America include (at least to the False Flag theorists) the explosion of the USS Maine (Spanish-American War), the Lusitania torpedoing (WWI) and Pearl Harbor (WWII).; Lumped in with all the above was the Gulf of Tonkin incident (1964), which lead to the widening of the Vietnam conflict into a full scale war. It all began on August 2, when a number of North Vietnamese patrol boats launched torpedos at United States Navy destroyers. The conflict further escalated on August 4, when more North Vietnamese patrol boats engaged the US forces…or, at least that’s how the story goes. In this episodes phone call, we’ll listen in on President Johnson as he gets the latest news from the front on August 4, 1964. Were US forces really attacked? YOU make the call!