James G. Blaine and the Mulligan letters on this week’s Whistlestop campaign history podcast.

Before Hillary Clinton’s Email Scandal, There Were the Mulligan Letters

Before Hillary Clinton’s Email Scandal, There Were the Mulligan Letters

Slate
Whistlestop
Bite-sized stories from presidential campaign history.
April 29 2015 12:02 PM

The Mulligan Letters

Slate's podcast about campaign history reminds us that Hillary Clinton wasn't the first front-runner to wrestle with a correspondence scandal. 

James G. Blaine. Library of Congress.
James G. Blaine.

Courtesy of the Brady-Handy Photograph Collection/Library of Congress.

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In this episode of Slate's bite-sized podcast about presidential campaign history, chief political correspondent John Dickerson brings us a disturbingly familiar story of personal correspondence coming back to haunt an early favorite. No, he's not talking about Hillary Clinton's emails. The year is 1884, the candidate is James G. Blaine, and the correspondence became known as the Mulligan letters.

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Recommended for fans of Slate's Political Gabfest and American political history.

This week's show is sponsored by the Great Courses and its series the Great Presidents. Get up to 80 percent off the original price by visiting thegreatcourses.com/whistlestop.

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John Dickerson is a co-anchor of CBS This Morning, co-host of the Slate Political Gabfest, host of the Whistlestop podcast, and author of Whistlestop and On Her Trail.