Olympics Champions and Party Conventions: Pledging Allegiance and Endorsing Candidates

Gearing up for the Vice-Presidential debate – Tim Walz versus JD Vance? Then you might want to remember the first time running mates debated in a formal, nationally televised setting: Good evening, I'm James Hoge, editor of the Chicago Sun Times, and moderator of this third of the historic debates of the 1976 campaign. Tonight we have the vice-presidential candidates: for the Democrats, Senator Walter Mondale of Minnesota; for the Republicans, Senator Robert Dole of Kansas. Thank you, Senator Mondale, and thank you, Senator Dole, for being with us this evening. This debate is taking place before an audience in the Alley Theater in Houston, Texas. It is also being broadcast by radio and television to an audience estimated at some eighty-five million persons in this nation and overseas. That’s how the debate opened on October 15, 1976 … Walter Mondale versus Bob Dole … Two Senators …On October 1st, 2024, it will be Tim Walz versus JD Vance -- and the 12th time running mates have debated over nearly half a century. What were the top, most famous, most newsworthy, most notable, funniest, legendary, and otherwise best-of moments, phrases, and zingers from the first 11 Vice Presidential debates? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You might have heard Oprah Winfrey speak on behalf of Kamala Harris at the 2024 Democratic Convention in Chicago. You may also remember Oprah Winfrey endorsing Barack Obama in his 2008 presidential campaign. "I have found the answer. It is the same question that our nation is asking. Are you the one? Are you the one? I’m here to tell you, Iowa: he is the one, He is the one. Barack Obama!” Fact is—Oprah Winfrey has been on the political scene for some time – and on C-SPAN going back to 1991 when she testified in the Senate. In the latest episode of C-SPAN's podcast "The Weekly," hear about Oprah Winfrey's over-three-decades association with politicians. How is she connected to Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Wes Moore – and even Donald Trump? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Getting ready for the next presidential debate – Donald Trump versus Kamala Harris – on September 10? Here's a type of question which, is history is any guide, probably won't be asked "How can you or any president, whoever is elected next time, keep that pledge without running this country deeper into debt and passing on more of the bills that we're running up to our children?" That was Bob Schieffer of CBS News… a question for Democrat John Kerry when he debated Republican President George W. Bush 20 years ago. How frequently – or, actually, infrequently -- have debate moderators asked presidential candidates about the national debt? What have the candidates themselves said about the debt? And how much was the national debt when it was first mentioned in a debate – and how much is it today? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

History was recently made in Congress. For the first time, a member addressed colleagues on the floor – using Artificial Intelligence. From July 25, 2024, here’s Democrat from Virginia – Jennifer Wexton: I hope I can be a voice, even an AI voice, for Americans facing accessibility challenges and other disabilities because, too often, people only see us for that disability. In truth, we are so much more. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing this Disability Pride Month and in celebrating the strength and perseverance of the disability community. Why did Congresswoman Wexton need Artificial Intelligence to speak? How did AI pull it off? And what was did she sound like before AI cloned her voice? Find out in the latest episode of C-SPAN’s podcast “The Weekly.” Find C-SPAN’s “The Weekly” wherever you get podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For political history lovers, this August has been something special. What happened in the 2024 presidential campaign this month won’t soon be forgotten. But we also remember what happened in August 50 years ago. Richard Nixon’s resignation as president – and Gerald Ford becoming president. This week’s episode of C-SPAN’s podcast “The Weekly” is all about Gerald Ford. And his two big public appearances after becoming president. Both in August 1974. His first address to Congress as president. And his first press conference as president. What did he say about Richard Nixon? What did he say about a pardon and presidential immunity? And did he tell jokes? Well, yes – to Congress: “Only 8 months ago, when I last stood here, I told you I was a Ford, not a Lincoln. Tonight I say I am still a Ford, but I am not a Model T.” What are the parallels between a Vice President replacing a president in August 1974 – and a Vice President replacing the presidential nominee 50 year later? Find out in “The Weekly.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vice presidential candidates and the National Guard That’s the topic of this week’s C-SPAN podcast “The Weekly.” So, we’re talking about Tim Walz, right? Nope. Dan Quayle. "Since 1980, I've been a United States Senator from Indiana - and very proud of it. Before that, I was a member of the United States House of Representatives -- and proud of it. And as a young man I served six years in the National Guard. And like millions of Americans who have served in Guard , I served ...and I’m proud of that" Why was Dan Quayle talking about the National Guard when he accepted the 1988 Republican vice presidential nomination? What was the controversy? How did he handle it? And -- any lessons learned by a 1988 running mate which might be helpful for a 2024 running mate -- also under National Guard scrutiny? Find out in the latest episode of C-SPAN’s “The Weekly.” Find C-SPAN’s “The Weekly” wherever you get podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re in the midst of convention season! C-SPAN recently brought you live gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Republican convention. Soon we’ll do the same for the Democratic convention. Which means it’s the perfect time to think about – Jimmy Carter. "My name is Jimmy Carter, and I'm running for President. It's been a long time since I said those words the first time, and now I've come here after seeing our great country to accept your nomination." That was the 1976 Democratic convention. Jimmy Carter would repeat versions of that signature line in more speeches at more conventions over the following decades ... In fact, Jimmy Carter had a presence in nearly every Democratic convention since 1976. But it has been an up-and-down relationship. Which conventions gave Jimmy Carter a victorious welcome? Which conventions gave him an awkward – even rocky – acknowledgment? And what did Jimmy Carter say to all those conventions all those years after he was president? Find out in the latest episode of C-SPAN’s podcast “The Weekly” – Which might make you think, what will they say about Jimmy Carter at the 2024 Democratic Convention? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Something seismic just happened in professional baseball. For over half a century, records from the Negro Leagues had been kept separate from Major League Baseball. In May 2024, MLB announced that statistics from the Negro Leagues would now be incorporated into the record books. Inspired by the long overdue correction, C-SPAN's "The Weekly" is incorporating the Negro Leagues into this week's podcast. It's C-SPAN's "The Weekly" annual baseball episode. And this year, following the death of legend Willie Mays, we're doing something special – we’ll hear presidents and politicians honor the towering baseball players who got their start in the Negro Leagues. Among the presidents and politicians and players in this podcast: • President Obama remarks on Willie Mays • President Obama remarks on Ernie Banks • President Bush remarks on Buck O'Neil • President Bush remarks on Jackie Robinson • President Bush remarks on Hank Aaron • President Clinton remarks on Hank Aaron • President Biden remarks on Satchel Paige • Sen. Chuck Schumer remarks on Willie Mays • Sen. Mitch McConnell remarks on Larry Doby • Rep. Hakeem Jeffries remarks on Jackie Robinson • Rep. Terri Sewell remarks on Rickwood Field • Rep. J.C. Watts remarks on the Negro Leagues What did the presidents and politicians say about these baseball legends? Which players got the Presidential Medal of Freedom? Which players got the Congressional Gold Medal? And which baseball great who started in the Negro Leagues ended up with a standing ovation in a State of the Union address? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During the 2024 presidential campaign, we’ve heard a lot about how old the candidates are. How did the last famously “old” president -- Ronald Reagan -- handle the age issue? With jokes! Like this: I remember when George Bush and I took office, January 1981 -- or as another Republican President might have put it: 4 months and 7 years ago. You know, I've waited 125 years to say that. That was President Reagan opening a Republican fundraising dinner speech. The date: May 11, 1988 … The age: 77. What were Ronald Reagan’s funniest jokes about his age? Find out in the latest episode of C-SPAN’s podcast “The Weekly” … It’s the best of Ronald Reagan jokes… about being old. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This summer, C-SPAN is bringing you live, gavel-to-gavel coverage of both the Republican and Democratic party conventions … featuring the presidential nomination acceptance speeches of Joe Biden and Donald Trump … If history is any guide, there will be at least one memorable line or phrase from each speech. Like in 1964: "So let us here tonight, each of us, all of us, rededicate ourselves to keeping burning the golden torch of promise which John Fitzgerald Kennedy set aflame” That was President Lyndon Johnson, accepting the nomination at the 1964 Democratic National Convention… He ran for president a year after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. And here’s his opponent -- Senator Barry Goldwater -- accepting the nomination at that year’s Republican National Convention “I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue” The latest episode of C-SPAN's podcast "The Weekly" puts all these famous lines in historical context – going back to 1960. What were the most iconic or meaningful or campaign-altering sentences and phrases from every acceptance speech since 1960? What were the quick but big rhetorical moments that affected every presidential campaign over the past 64 years? Find out in C-SPAN’s “The Weekly.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices