Finally a quote that's actually true! Yes, Teddy Roosevelt did say that the best advice he'd ever heard about dealing with foreign affairs and potentially hostile foreign powers is to, "speak softly and carry a big stick." Speaking softly and carrying a big stick will mean that, "you will go far." When he was Governor of New York at the very end of the 19th century, he sometimes said in letters to other politicians, "I have always been fond of the West African proverb: 'Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.'" And he used it in speeches when he became President in 1901, and it was soon referred to as his "motto." In fact, both his domestic and his foreign policy have been called "big stick ideology" both at the time and by historians since.

FDR became governor of New York and later President for four terms despite having contracted polio. Professor Matthew Pressman from Seton Hall University joins us to discuss how the press and the American public were told about his disability, and how they reacted. We also learn how the Roosevelt campaign and administration tried to control public knowledge of FDR's condition by managing how information was obtained and used. We examine whether the famous "gentlemen's agreement" between the FDR administration and the press to suppress information about the president's condition was true. A fascinating episode about a complex historical issue.

"Quotes" supposedly from the Founding Fathers seem to rear their misattributed heads in the United States every year in the weeks surrounding July 4th. And Americans are often treated to a number of false quotations from the George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and the rest of the boys to give them inspiration for the rest of the year. You often hear, "the best government is that which governs least…" attributed to Thomas Jefferson (primary author of the Declaration of Independence and the third US President). But did TJ ever say it, much less coin it? Was it Thomas Paine? Or was it someone else? The Professor explains all

When was the Declaration of Independence signed? July 4th? August 2? Later? Why did John Hancock sign so prominently and hugely right in the middle? Did he have signature envy? What price did the signers pay for their patriotism? And how did the story of the signers' sacrifices get so out of control by the mid-20th century? Professor Buzzkill puts his John Hancock on this episode, and answers all these questions.