American History TV continues to reair C-SPAN's history series “The Contenders,” which features profiles of key figures who ran for president and lost, but changed political history. This week, we focus on the life and career of 1928 Democratic presidential nominee Al Smith. Nicknamed the "Happy Warrior," Al Smith never went to high school or college, yet was speaker of the New York State Assembly and four-term governor.

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American History TV continues to reair C-SPAN's history series “The Contenders,” which features profiles of key figures who ran for president and lost, but changed political history. This week, we focus on the election of 1916 and explore the life, legacy, and relevance today of Charles Evans Hughes, the Republican Party nominee in 1916, who served two terms on the Supreme Court, the second time as Chief Justice, two terms as Republican Governor of New York, and Secretary of State in the Harding and Coolidge administrations.

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American History TV continues to reair C-SPAN's history series “The Contenders,” which features profiles of key figures who ran for president and lost, but changed political history.

More Info »

American History TV continues to reair C-SPAN's history series “The Contenders,” which features profiles of key figures who ran for president and lost, but changed political history.

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American History TV continues to reair C-SPAN's history series “The Contenders,” which features profiles of key figures who ran for president and lost, but changed political history.

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Historians discuss the role of Henry Clay (1777-1852) in American politics. Known as the "Great Compromiser" but also as "The Dictator," he ran five unsuccessful presidential campaigns. Perhaps the most powerful politician of his time, he served as speaker of the House, U.S. senator, and secretary of state. This is the first of our 14-week series called "The Contenders: They Ran & Lost but Changed Political History."

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George McGovern died Sunday, October 21st, 2012, at the age of 90. In 1972, he ran for president as the Democratic Party nominee on an anti-Vietnam war platform and lost in a historic landslide to President Richard Nixon, garnering only 37.5% of the popular vote and even dropping his home-state of South Dakota.

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American History TV continues to reair C-SPAN's history series “The Contenders,” which features profiles of key figures who ran for president and lost, but changed political history. This week, we focus on the life and career of Hubert H. Humphrey.

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Peter Hannaford is the author of "Presidential Retreats: Where the Presidents Went and Why They Went There." He spoke at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library about the getaways that have offered the nation's chief executives solace, recreation and privacy.   

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50 years ago, on April 16, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” while being held in prison for his involvement in a city-wide civil rights protest called the Birmingham Campaign. King’s daughter, Bernice King, CEO of the King Center in Atlanta, joins Alabama’s governor, Birmingham’s Mayor and others for the unveiling of a historical marker aside the Birmingham Jail.

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