Premier Collections:
Mr. President, Volume 2
Liner notes written by Ivan G. Shreve, Jr.

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“Here’s a story that happened in Washington a few years ago. Listen closely, and see if you can tell who the President was…”

The premise of Mr. President - a dramatic series heard over ABC Radio from June 26, 1947 to September 23, 1953 - was devastatingly simple. Each week, the half-hour show dramatized little-known incidents “of the men who have lived in the White House -- dramatic, exciting events in their lives that you and I rarely hear.” The uniqueness of the program lay in the fact that the President was never identified during the proceedings; the great man’s name would only be revealed in a brief epilogue at the story’s end. Faithful listeners were challenged to guess the Commander-in-Chief from the tiny clues frequently inserted into the scripts.

Created by Robert G. Jennings and written by a team that included Jean Holloway, Bernard Dougall and Ira Marion, "Mr. President" earned kudos from students and scholars of American history for its accurate and fact-based dramatizations. These plays benefited from the work of an impressive staff of researchers and fact-checkers, dedicated to unearthing information from the four corners of the globe. One program, for example, offered a true story about Grover Cleveland; the exact details had long been a mystery but, thanks to diligent research, the facts were finally pieced together thanks to an obituary notice found in a Paris newspaper. Another episode relied on eyewitness accounts preserved in Navy records that revealed details of a mutiny fomented by the son of a former Secretary of War. When originally aired, "Mr. President" was considered essential homework for the nation’s youth, with scripts from the show being sent out to schools in over a hundred cities throughout the country for educational use.

The show’s producers tagged character actor Edward Arnold to play the role of the weekly President since, according to Radio Life, they were looking for a thespian with “the aggressiveness of Teddy Roosevelt, the warmth and humility of Abe Lincoln, and the tenacity of Andrew Jackson.” Arnold, who had demonstrated marked improvement as a radio actor since the days of “Good News” and “The Charlotte Greenwood Show,” made no apologies about the fact that all of the presidents sounded like…well, himself. “They’re all Edward Arnold,” he once observed, “or else there’d be no guessing game on the show.” Arnold was ably supported with performances by many of Radio Row’s usual suspects, including Bea Benaderet, Gil Stratton, Hans Conreid, Lurene Tuttle and Herb Butterfield. Owen James handled the announcing chores and Dick Woolen was the show’s producer-director, with Basil Adlam providing the music.

Actress Jeanette Nolan, who made frequent appearances on the program, once commented in an interview that "Mr. President’s" studio audience often included a “know-it-all” in the front row. “We would hardly announce the first paragraph about the man and he was already knowing.” This ‘Quiz Kid’ aside, many of the stories broadcast were so devoid of specificity that American history scholars often found themselves stumped. When you consider that at the time of the show’s run there were only thirty-two men who had held that high office - and a total 214 episodes broadcast - it’s astounding how the show’s creative staff were able to generate so many stories. (By the way, thirty-second President Harry Truman was a big fan of both the show and Edward Arnold and often had the actor as a guest at the White House -- despite the fact that Arnold was on “the other side of the aisle.” Truman also respectfully referred to his Republican friend as “Mr. President.”)

To modern-day ears, "Mr. President" holds up extremely well; its charm and appeal is not that far removed from contemporary audio books. And, since the first Premier Collection of shows from the series was so well received, the First Generation Radio Archives is pleased to present a second volume of twenty shows, transferred directly from American Broadcasting Company 16” safety master recordings originally from the collection of writer Jean Holloway. Seventeen of the twenty broadcasts offered here have not been heard since their original broadcast and are, in fact, likely the only recordings of these shows still in existence.

Here is the complete content of this ten CD Premier Collection:

Battle Fatigue
A weary Mr. President finds himself challenged during wartime, from his advisors questioning his use of a general not quite battle-tested to granting a woman’s request to allow one of her sons to return home and assist her on the family farm. Nevertheless, he’s bound and determined to deliver a stirring address at the location of the war’s turning point.
Sunday, February 12, 1950 – 30:00 – ABC, sustaining
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Advise and Consent
Mr. President steels himself for war…but not with any nation or country. Instead, his skirmish is with the U.S. Senate, who has challenged the presidential prerogative to remove an individual from office and replace them with another.
Sunday, February 19, 1950 – 30:00 – ABC, sustaining
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The Loophole
A treaty with France presents a thorny problem for Mr. President: the United States is obligated to help its ally but is reluctant to be involved in a war with England. However, the First Lady inadvertently helps the Commander-in-Chief find a solution.
Sunday, February 26, 1950 – 30:00 – ABC, sustaining
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Quid Pro Quo?
Mr. President prepares to take heat from his critics when he insists on nominating a key political ally for the position of Secretary of State. Further complications arise when his nominee is challenged to a duel by a member of the U.S. Senate.
Sunday, March 5, 1950 – 30:00 – ABC, sustaining
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There’s Hay in the Barn
The Secretary of War is asked by the current occupant of the White House to run for the Presidency. But the reluctant would-be candidate would prefer to be Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Sunday, April 2, 1950 – 30:00 – ABC, sustaining
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Good Friday
With the war finally over, Mr. President is allowed the time to relax with and enjoy the company of his family; he’s even surprised and pleased when one of his sons returns home from the service. But the President’s youngest son is upset because of a recurring premonition that something tragic will happen to his father when he attends the theater with his First Lady that evening.
Sunday, April 9, 1950 – 30:00 – ABC, sustaining
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Dark Horse
A delegate travels to the Republican National Convention to back his candidate - and discovers to his surprise that his own name has been placed into nomination along with several other nominees. He doesn’t make the cut, of course, but with the help of a powerful patron he soon finds himself on the path to the Presidency.
Sunday, May 14, 1950 – 30:00 – ABC, sustaining
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I’ll Take Manila
After the war, a mysterious man of Spanish extraction has a chat with Mr. President, and urges him not to return the Philippines to Spain. The Commander-in-Chief is in agreement that the country should be liberated from their Spanish captors and annexed by the U.S., despite the unpopularity of his decision in certain quarters.
Sunday, June 25, 1950 – 30:00 – ABC, sustaining
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Yellow Peril
After a comedic motor trip in the country with his aide and chauffeur, Mr. President must face far more serious matters as he attempts to tackle the problem stemming from California involving anti-Japanese sentiment over immigrants.
Sunday, July 9, 1950 – 30:00 – ABC, sustaining
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Fairly Out, Fairly In
In the old country, taxes were assessed based on the number of windows in an individual’s domicile. But if the newly inaugurated President is to generate money for a war with France, a new system of taxation must be determined - particularly with the threat of an insurrection against the government.
Sunday, July 16, 1950 – 30:00 – ABC, sustaining
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Kissing Cousins
An overprotective Mr. President has grave reservations about his youngest daughter attending her first ball at the French Embassy…and well he should, since she soon falls in love with her escort: his own private secretary.
Sunday, July 23, 1950 – 30:00 – ABC, sustaining
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Mr. President Builds His Dream House
Mr. President insists that his family will live in the Executive Mansion, and so he must consult an architect about the extensive repairs and renovations. He also has his hands full disciplining his son and his friends for performing an inventive series of pranks.
Sunday, July 30, 1950 – 30:00 – ABC, sustaining
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Hold the Lion
The Emperor of Morocco presents a gift in the form of “the king of the beasts” to Mr. President, who in the meantime is having difficulty collecting a large debt from France.
Sunday, August 6, 1950 – 30:00 – ABC, sustaining
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There’s No Use Crying Before You’re Hit
A visit from a woman with news of an impending duel causes Mr. President to reminisce about a past event in his life, when he refused to allow his defiant daughter to marry an Army officer.
Sunday, August 13, 1950 – 30:00 – ABC, sustaining
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A Man, A Plan, A Canal—Panama!
Amidst preparations for his silver wedding anniversary celebration, Mr. President must address the question of the construction of the Panama Canal. Rumors are rampant that a few of his cabinet members have a financial interest in the French company that wants to tackle the project.
Sunday, August 20, 1950 – 30:00 – ABC, sustaining
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War and Peace
A long-running feud between his Yankee father and Confederate father-in-law plus some old-fashioned horse trading provides inspiration for Mr. President’s plan to establish an international arbitration commission with England.
Sunday, August 27, 1950 – 30:00 – ABC, sustaining
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A Different Kind of Loneliness
A widowed Mr. President follows a previous President - also a widower. He encounters criticism from Congress, the press and the public, both on his handling of a banking crisis and his “extravagant” spending on renovations to the Executive Mansion.
Sunday, September 3, 1950 – 30:00 – ABC, sustaining
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I Beg Your Pardon
During summer and wartime, Mr. President clashes with his Secretary of War over the issue of clemency for soldiers, none more so than the case of a newly-married Army deserter whose mother is pleading for his life due to extenuating circumstances.
Sunday, September 10, 1950 – 30:00 – ABC, sustaining
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Do or Diet
Mr. President finds himself sabotaged at every turn by the First Lady with regards to his mealtime regimen. Meanwhile, his new personal secretary has confused imperiousness with efficiency in his dealings with the White House staff.
Sunday, September 17, 1950 – 30:00 – ABC, sustaining
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Null and Void
The son of the President is experiencing troubles in affairs of the human heart - which provides a solution for Mr. President’s wrestling with the rebellion of a Southern state that has decided to nullify a law it feels is unconstitutional.
Sunday, September 24, 1950 – 30:00 – ABC, sustaining
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