The Contenders
Original air date ( Links to video of program ) Featured candidate Featured location Interviewees
September 2 , 2011 Historians ' Preview N/A Richard Norton Smith , Jean Baker , Carl Cannon
September 9 , 2011 Henry Clay The Ashland Estate , Lexington , Kentucky James C. Klotter , Avery Malone , Alicestyne Turley
September 16 , 2011 James G. Blaine The Blaine House , Augusta , Maine Elizabeth D. Leonard , Paul LePage , Neil Rolde , Earle G. Shettleworth Jr
September 23 , 2011 William Jennings Bryan Fairview , Lincoln , Nebraska Michael Kazin , L. Robert Puschendorf , William G. Thomas III
September 30 , 2011 Eugene Debs Eugene V. Debs Home , Terre Haute , Indiana Ernest Freeberg , Lisa A.W . Phillips , Bernie Sanders
October 7 , 2011 Charles Evans Hughes United States Supreme Court Building , Washington , D.C Paul D. Clement , Bernadette A. Meyler , Robb W. Patryk , David Pietrusza
October 14 , 2011 Al Smith Chamber of the New York State Assembly , New York State Capitol , Albany , New York John J. Evers , Beverly Gage , Sheldon Silver , Alfred E. Smith IV
October 21 , 2011 Wendell Willkie Rush County Historical Society , Rushville , Indiana Richard Lugar , James H. Madison , Amity Shlaes , David Willkie
October 28 , 2011 Thomas E. Dewey The Roosevelt Hotel , New York City , New York Thomas E. Dewey Jr. , Richard Norton Smith
November 4 , 2011 Adlai Stevenson Stevenson Family Home , Libertyville , Illinois Newton N. Minow , Richard Norton Smith , Adlai E. Stevenson III
November 11 , 2011 Barry Goldwater The Goldwater Institute , Phoenix , Arizona Bill McCune , Darcy Olsen , Rick Perlstein ,
November 18 , 2011 Hubert Humphrey The Minnesota History Center , St. Paul , Minnesota Mick Caouette , Juan Williams
November 25 , 2011 George Wallace The Alabama Governor 's Mansion , Montgomery , Alabama Dan T. Carter , Peggy Wallace Kennedy , Joe L. Reed
December 2 , 2011 George McGovern McGovern Center for Leadership , Dakota Wesleyan University , Mitchell , South Dakota Scott Clark Farris , Jules Witcover ( Note : McGovern himself had been scheduled to be part of this program , but fell and injured himself on the way into the building where the program was being filmed . )
December 9 , 2011 Ross Perot Washington , D.C Carolyn Barta , Douglas Brinkley
December 16 , 2011 Historians ' Retrospective N/A Richard Norton Smith , Jean Baker , Carl Cannon
Programs
The Contenders is a 14-program series that was produced and aired by C-SPAN in the fall of 2011. It looked 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.