The Contenders

A look at the lives and careers of 14 candidates for the presidency of the United States who were determined to have made significant impacts on U.S. politics despite not having won the presidency. Most episodes were broadcast from a location of significance to the person being profiled, and featured interviews and discussion with a variety of experts.

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Created By
Status	Returning Series
Original Name	The Contenders
First Air Date	September 2, 2011
Last Air Date	December 16, 2011
Seasons	1
Episodes	16
Episode Runtime	0min
Language	English
Original Language	English
Production Countries	United States of America
Production Companies
Networks	C-SPAN

S01E16

The Contenders, Historians Retrospective

Richard Norton Smith, Carl Cannon, and Jean Baker participated in a roundtable discussion reflecting on the C-SPAN series, “The Contenders: They Lost the Election But Changed Political History.” They talked about the concept of the series, what was learned about each of the 14 candidates chosen for the series, and what themes emerged. They reacted to video clips from the programs. Also shown were a few clips, including George McGovern and Ross Perot, that were not included in the series. Topics included the historical context of the presidential candidates and their relevance to the upcoming 2012 presidential election.

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