57. Why is the capital of the USA in Washington? And who was America’s greatest President?

Full Episode description

Today’s episode comes from Washington DC, where we investigate why the capital was positioned there. And then, for our big question, we debate who wins the title of greatest US President ever! 

We are delighted to be joined by special guest Patrick Lau, who works for the US government in Washington, has a Masters’ degree in political science and is a history buff! He is also a former high school student whom Dad taught a long, long time ago!

At the end of today’s episode (after our outro theme song), you’ll hear the questions (see below) and then bags of outtakes!

Here are some questions to test your skills:

1. Why was the USA’s new capital city called Washington?

2. Why was the city of Washington built where it was built?

3. How many of America’s first 18 presidents owned slaves?

4. What was significant about the letter Jefferson sent to an African-American?

5. What did Patrick say makes a great President?

6. Why did James choose Abraham Lincoln as the greatest ever president?

Our website, where you’ll find links to our social media, is https://www.dadandmelovehistory.com/

For mature history lovers: read industry reviews of Dad’s World War II novels, A Chance Kill and The Slightest Chance, at paulletters.com. Available as e-books, as well as in paperback. Dad’s first wartime novel, A Chance Kill, is a love-story/thriller based on real events in Poland, Paris, London and Prague. The Slightest Chance follows the remarkable true story of the only escape from Japanese imprisonment by a Western woman during World War II.

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Podcast cover art by Molly Austin

All instrumental music is from https://filmmusic.io and composed by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Sound effects used under RemArc Licence. Copyright 2023 © BBC