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Warnings About The Perils Of Power — From Those Who Held It

NPR

Published October 27, 2017 at 1:20 PM EDT

President Dwight Eisenhower makes his farewell address to the nation in a television-radio broadcast three days before the end of his term in Washington, D.C., Jan. 17, 1961. (AP Photo)

Sens. Jeff Flake and Bob Corker and former President George W. Bush have decried the behavior of President Trump. But just how common is it for retiring or former political leaders to sound an alarm about the direction of their own party?

Here & Now‘s Meghna Chakrabarti talks with historians Ed Ayers (@edward_l_ayers) and Joanne Freeman (@jbf1755) about times in the past when outgoing political leaders have issued warnings to the nation.

Ayers and Freeman are co-hosts of the podcast BackStory, which is produced at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.