Plot Synopsis

This live weekly program present portraits of people who have run for the presidency before 1996 and lost in the general election, yet have had great influence on America's political history, examining their impact, how presidential campaigns and their use of media have evolved, and make each relevant to today's politics. Each 90-minute episode originates from a historic place associated with that political figure: Henry Clay (Ashland Estate, Lexington, KY); James G. Blaine (Blaine House, Augusta, ME); William Jennings Bryan (Fairview Home, Lincoln, NE); Eugene Debs (Debs Home, Terra Haute, IN); Charles Evans Hughes (Washington, DC); Al Smith (Albany, NY); Wendell Wilke (Rushville, NY); Thomas E. Dewey (NY); Adlai Stevenson (Stevenson Family Farm, Libertyville, IL); Barry Goldwater (AZ); Hubert Humphrey (Historical Society, St. Paul, MN); George Wallace (Montgomery, AL); George McGovern (McGovern Center for Leadership, Mitchell, SD); and Ross Perot (TX).