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In this special tribute episode, we honor the extraordinary life and legacy of Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell — Olympic athlete, decorated Marine, master silversmith, and one of the most consequential Native American leaders in the history of the United States Senate.

Campbell’s journey was uniquely American: from a childhood marked by hardship, to representing the United States in the Olympics, to becoming a powerful voice for Native nations and Western communities in Washington. As a U.S. Senator from Colorado, he reshaped the national conversation on tribal sovereignty, cultural preservation, and the dignity of Indigenous peoples, while also embodying a rugged independence that defied political labels.

This episode is also dedicated to Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, a fellow Western original whose music, like Campbell’s life, celebrated freedom, wandering, and the search for something deeper than fame or power. Both men came to represent a uniquely American kind of spirit — restless, generous, and rooted in tradition while never afraid to push beyond it.

Through stories, reflections, and historical context, we remember Ben Nighthorse Campbell not just as a senator, but as a craftsman, a warrior, and a bridge between worlds — a man who carried the past forward while carving out space for a more honorable future.

This is a tribute to a life lived with courage, authenticity, and enduring impact — and to the kindred spirit of Bob Weir, whose music has long been the soundtrack for America’s long and winding road.

Questions or comments at , Randalrgw1@aol.com , https://twitter.com/randal_wallace , and http://www.randalwallace.com/
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Bob Dole: The Life That Brought Him There — Season Preview

How does a small-town Kansas boy, gravely wounded on an Italian battlefield, rise to become one of the most powerful and respected figures in American politics?

This season of Bob Dole: The Life That Brought Him There traces the extraordinary journey of Bob Dole from the moment his life was forever changed in World War II through his ascent to the highest levels of American government. Beginning with his devastating combat injury and long recovery, the series follows Dole through his early political career in Kansas, his elections to Congress and the U.S. Senate, his tenure as Republican National Committee Chairman, and his emergence as a central figure in Washington during some of the most turbulent decades in modern history.

Listeners will travel with Dole through the Nixon years and Watergate, the razor-thin 1974 Senate race against Dr. Bill Roy, and his rise onto the national stage as Gerald Ford’s 1976 vice-presidential running mate. The season continues through his 1980 and 1988 presidential campaigns, his pivotal role as Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and his leadership in landmark moments such as saving Social Security in 1983 and launching the historic McGovern–Dole effort to feed hungry children around the world.

As both Senate Minority Leader and Majority Leader, Bob Dole became one of the great legislative strategists of his era, and this series reveals how power was actually wielded in Congress from the 1970s through the 1990s—how deals were made, how coalitions were built, and how policy became law.

Featuring voices of friends and foes alike—fellow senators, staffers, journalists, and contemporaries—along with rare archival audio from news coverage and C-SPAN, this season offers an intimate, inside-the-room portrait of a man who helped shape a generation of American politics.

More than a biography, Bob Dole: The Life That Brought Him There is a master class in leadership, resilience, and the inner workings of the United States Senate at a time when history was being written day by day.

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Here is a little bit about our coming book projects:

16 Leadership Lessons From the Cold War

By Randal Wallace

What does it really take to lead in moments when history is on the line?

Drawing on five years of research from The Randal Wallace Presents Podcast, 16 Leadership Lessons From the Cold War distills timeless leadership principles from the men and women who shaped the American Century. From President Herbert Hoover through leaders like Robert Dole—and countless senators, diplomats, and public servants in between—this book explores how character, restraint, courage, and strategic thinking carried the United States through its most dangerous era.

Rather than abstract theory, Wallace brings readers behind the scenes of real decisions made under extraordinary pressure. These lessons apply not only to politics and government, but to business leadership, community service, and family life.

This is a practical guide for anyone who believes leadership is about responsibility, not celebrity—and that history still has something vital to teach us.

A Riddle in the Sand

A Novel by Randal Wallace

Roger Walker is midway through his second term as President of the United States when the world begins to unravel.

As war erupts across the Middle East, Israel is drawn into a deadly two-front conflict with Hamas and Hezbollah. At the same time, a shadowy Iranian-backed terrorist organization launches global “lone wolf” attacks designed to fracture the Western alliance. When prominent American businessmen are taken hostage, Walker must navigate a crisis that threatens not only global stability—but everything he believes in.

At the center of the storm is the one thing the lifelong bachelor president never expected to face again: the woman he once loved, now entwined in events that could cost them both everything.

In the spirit of Casablanca, A Riddle in the Sand is a modern political thriller infused with romance, sacrifice, and the eternal tension between personal desire and duty to nation.

An Ocean of Time

A Novel by Randal Wallace

When scandal destroys his political future, former Myrtle Beach mayor Cary Lockwood retreats to the last place he ever expected to start over—Key West.

Fresh off a devastating gubernatorial loss, Lockwood buys a crumbling historic guesthouse and bar on the corner of Olivia and Duval Streets—once owned by his late uncle, now his final gamble at redemption. As he rebuilds both the property and his life, Lockwood collides with a corrupt local mayor, a city full of eccentric characters, and a dangerous undercurrent beneath the island’s laid-back charm.

Then he meets a young woman with a past she’s desperate to escape—and a secret powerful enough to put both their lives at risk.

Set against the sun-soaked beauty of the Florida Keys, An Ocean of Time is a story of second chances, political intrigue, and the high price of love when the past refuses to stay buried.

These are the three projects we have on tap over the next year and a half. We hope you will want to join us.

Questions or comments at , Randalrgw1@aol.com , https://twitter.com/randal_wallace , and http://www.randalwallace.com/
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