The Great American Authors

616 Episodes

Reverse

BOB CAUDLE 1930 - 2025 The Voice of Our Childhood A Tribute , and a tribute to the Pro Wrestling greats that made Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling, great fun!!!

2025-11-2201:19:01

Send us a text On Sunday, November 15, 2025, I woke up to the news that legendary Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling Host Bob Caudle had died , peacefully, in his sleep at the age of 95. I can’t explain it but this one was like losing a lifelong friend because in a way it was. Bob Caudle’s voice is as familiar to me as any on Earth, he has been a fixture in our home for my entire lifetime, each Saturday for my entire childhood straight through to early adulthood I heard him say "Welcom...

The Great American Authors Special Season Preview

2025-11-2122:13

Send us a text Join us starting November 25, 2025 for a Christmas Holidays Special 16th Season as we venture into new territory. Over the end of November and through out December we will spend 16 episodes looking at the Great American Authors, From F. Scott Fitzgerald to Stephen King and all points in between. We hope you will join us as we take a little break from American Political History and take a deep dive into American Literature, its history, and learn some writing tips from some of t...

HULK HOGAN (1953 - 2025) , JIM LOVELL (1928 - 2025) , and ROBERT REDFORD (1936 - 2025) : Tributes B

2025-11-2001:13:36

Send us a text In this episode we look back at three people it is almost hard to imagine not being around. Hulk Hogan, if you are kid in my age range, middle 50s, was as big a star as ever roamed the Earth. He was the catalyst for Professional Wrestling's leap into mainstream society taking it from a cable television novelty, to starring in, what is still today, the largest indoor sporting event in all of history with an attendance of 93,173 to see Hulk Hogan wrestle 7ft 4 inch, Andre t...

POPE FRANCIS (1936 - 2025) , An American Pope, Leo 14th, Charlie Kirk (1993 - 2025) , and Connie Francis (1937 - 2025) TRIBUTES A

2025-11-1701:11:47

Send us a text In this episode , we look back at three men who worked tirelessly for their religious beliefs and trying to make this world a better place in their own way, Pope Francis, Pope Leo 14th, and Political Activist Charlie Kirk, plus a rock star from the 1950s and 60s, Connie Francis. Pope Francis became the first Jesuit Priest to rise to the Papacy. The first from Latin America, and the first in centuries not to be born in Europe. He had a daunting task as the Catholic Church ...

DAVID GERGEN : An Eye Witness to Power (1942 - 2025) A Tribute

2025-11-1343:49

Send us a text For decades the one thing that never seemed to change in Washington D.C. was constant presence of David Gergen. He was an aid to Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. He was a political analyst for PBS and CNN. David Gergen seemed as permanent a fixture as the Washington Monument in Washington D.C. He wrote to extraordinary books Eyewitness to Power, and Hearts Tinged by Fire, which came out when he was 80 years old. I became a fan ...

VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY, 1941 - 2025 : A Tribute

2025-11-1001:12:16

Send us a text Last week, former Vice President Dick Cheney passed away, he was 84 years old. There has been no more powerful a figure in the history of politics in the modern era. He transformed the Vice Presidency into a power center all its own. In this episode, we will look back at his life, his love of the outdoors, his life after the White House and his life long battle with coronary heart disease. Dick Cheney is also a heart transplant recipient. The family of our host, Randal Wa...

THE REST OF 2025 : A Housekeeping an Announcement Show

2025-11-0605:33

Send us a text In this brief update we want to fill you in on our special non-political season to carry our show through the holidays, and some tribute episodes we have planned to look back at some of those we lost this year but have not had a chance to look back at as the season progressed. We look forward to 2026 for the return of Bob Dole in our final two seasons looking back at his life and career. Thanks for tuning in and please join us for an exciting special season over Nov...

Episode 402 BOB DOLE 1993 - 1995 The Last Man Standing (Part 39) The Announcement for President (B) Season Finale

2025-11-0601:03:16

Send us a text In our season finale we zoom in on the fight over a Balanced budget Amendment on the 1995 Congressional agenda. You will hear Senators go round and round , from Pete Domenici, to Bob Dole, to Paul Simon, to even South Carolina’s own Senator Ernest Hollings. All this debate rages as Bob Dole inches closer and closer to filing for President of the United States. We will take you right there, after an emotional moment between Bob Dole and President Bill Cli...

Episode 401 BOB DOLE 1993 - 1995 The Last Man Standing (Part 38) The Announcement for President (A)

2025-11-0301:12:29

Send us a text In this episode we start to move you through the big moments of 1995 as we get closer to the kick off of the 1996 Presidential Election. Bob Dole has not totally made his mind up yet and its clear to his wife and staf he needs to make the definitive move. We will relive these moments as Bob Dole makes up his mind to run for a third time for President and we watch several of the more important accomplishments of the Republican Congress make its way through the system. ...

Episode 400 BOB DOLE 1993 - 1995 The Last Man Standing (part 37) A Look at Newt Gingrich and Bob Dole too

2025-10-3001:03:05

Send us a text In this episode we set the stage for 1995 as Newt Gingrich becomes the biggest star in politics as he becomes the first Republican Speaker in 40 years. We will look back at his rise and watch him consolidate his position. Plus this also marks the move by Bob Dole to seriously look at his own run for the Presidency. Questions or comments at , Randalrgw1@aol.com , https://twitter.com/randal_wallace , and http://www.randalwallace.com/ Please Leave us a review at where...

Episode 399 BOB DOLE 1993 - 1995 The Last Man Standing (Part 36) Under New Management (D) A New Whip

2025-10-2749:24

Send us a text As we open this episode , we will see Bob Dole truly become the last man standing from an era of political figures who had dominated the scene for over two decades. There would be two Senate leadership races as George Mitchell retired as the Democratic Leader and Alan Simpson faced a challenge in his position as Bob Dole's number two man in Republican leadership. Both races would be decided by one vote. We will hear Senator Tom Daschle describe the situation that unfolded...

Episode 398 BOB DOLE 1993 - 1995 The Last Man Standing (Part 35) Under New Management (C) Speaker Elect Gingrich

2025-10-2348:39

Send us a text All eyes were trained on one man as the lame duck session began. It was the soon to be new Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich. In this episode we introduce you to him and watch those first moves from the new star of politics in 1994. Questions or comments at , Randalrgw1@aol.com , https://twitter.com/randal_wallace , and http://www.randalwallace.com/ Please Leave us a review at wherever you get your podcasts Thanks for listening!!

Episode 397 BOB DOLE 1993 - 1995 The Last Man Standing (Part 34) Under New Management (B) The Shelby Switch

2025-10-2059:18

Send us a text The power switch was swift as all eyes fell on the Republican leadership in the hours after the Republicans swept to to power in both houses of Congress. There was a push for moving the Contract with America's agenda to the forefront, talk of downsizing the staffs in Washington, and both leaders were busy ironing out what exactly their agendas were going to be. Then came an even bigger piece of news. That Senator Richard Shelby arguably the last Southern Conservative Demo...

Episode 396 BOB DOLE 1993 - 1995 The Last Man Standing (Part 33) Under New Management (A) The President is relevant Here

2025-10-1601:10:58

Send us a text When the sun rose on November 9, 1994, Washington D.C. had had a seismic shift in the politics it had known for nearly a half century. Even the House Speaker Tom Foley, of Washington State, had lost his seat in Congress. There is hardly words that can describe how brutal the night before had been for the Democratic Party and its President Bill Clinton. The Contract for America had nationalized the election and every congressional candidate had run on the platform in the R...

Episode 395 BOB DOLE 1993 - 1995 The Last Man Standing (Part 32) Election Night 1994

2025-10-1301:10:09

Send us a text It is election day 1994 at last, and this is the coverage of that historic night. For the first time in 40 years the Republicans will take control of Congress. It is a clean sweep too, the Republicans would win in every category and level of government. They would win the control of the House, the Senate, the Governors Mansions, and the State Legislatures, it was a total and complete victory. Bill Clinton was clearly on the ropes and the spotlight would move down Pennsylv...

Episode 394 BOB DOLE 1993 - 1995 The Last Man Standing (Part 31) The Mid Term Elections (C) Clinton VS Dole

2025-10-0901:21:14

Send us a text As we close in on election day in 1994, both President Bill Clinton and Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole, hit the campaign trail as the de-facto heads of each party to try and pull their candidates through all across the country. We will look at them both as they have rallies across the country from Seattle, to Denver, to two national radio addresses. The stakes are sky high as both of them fight hard for their two teams as the balance of power in both houses of congress t...

Episode 393 BOB DOLE 1993 - 1995 The Last Man Standing (Part 30) Lindsey Graham for Congress 1994, A National Leader Emerges

2025-10-0701:21:22

Send us a text In 1994, our host Randal Wallace, was active in the leadership of the Lander University College Republicans. That year the long term Congressman from the Third Congressional District of South Carolina , Butler Derrick, decided to retire from Congress. That made the race for Congress a wide open one to fill the seat. It was then that he got involved in the Congressional campaign of a one term State House member named Lindsey Graham. It was a political friendship that...

Episode 392 BOB DOLE 1993 - 1995 The Last Man Standing (Part 29) The Mid Term Elections (B) A Big Names in a Big Year

2025-10-0653:10

Send us a text In this episode, we will give you a taste of the dramatic races from all across the nation. Two Bush brothers were on the ballot, we had a barn burner for Governor in South Carolina, and the House and Senate had close races too. It was a dramatic campaign in an historic year at the polls. Questions or comments at , Randalrgw1@aol.com , https://twitter.com/randal_wallace , and http://www.randalwallace.com/ Please Leave us a review at wherever you get your podcasts Thanks ...

Episode 391 BOB DOLE 1993 - 1995 The Last Man Standing (Part 28) The 1994 Mid-Term Elections (A) A Team

2025-10-0253:34

Send us a text In this episode we kick of the 1994 Midterm elections. As we look at Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole and Senate Republican Campaign Committee Chairman Phil Gramm, begin their march to the majority in the United States Senate. We will listen in as Bob Dole deftly answers questions about the year's most controversial Senate race in Virginia between Chuck Robb, the son in law of former President Lyndon B. Johnson, and Oliver North the former aide to Ronald Reagan. We w...

Episode 390 BOB DOLE 1993 - 1995 The Last Man Standing (Part 27) A Farewell to the Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell D - Maine with Speeches from both Dole and Clinton

2025-09-2947:04

Send us a text In this episode, we look back with a great deal of respect to a very formidable adversary for most Republicans like me, in Senator George Mitchell of Maine. He was the Senate Majority Leader for most of the Bush Administration and the first two years of the Clinton Administration. He was most likely the single biggest factor in making George H. W. Bush eat his no new taxes pledge during the budget negotiations of 1990. He decided to retire in 1994. This dinner was h...

#box-pro-ellipsis-176385873218363{-webkit-line-clamp:2;}The Great American Authors