Coffee With Jim

Celebrating the American story is more than fireworks and festivals. The nation’s 250th anniversary is a time for reflecting on legacy, what it means to be an an American and the future. 

For President Gerald Ford the bicentennial was an unprecendented opportunity to heal and unite the country after the tumultuous years of Vietnam, the Watergate scandal and President Nixon’s unprecedented abuse of power, and a decade of assasinations and riots. He tasked his cabinet and challenged congress to use the bicentenial as a catalyst for uniting the country. Ford saw his loss to Jimmy Carter by a mere two percent as another opportunity to bring the nation together. 

That was an act that Carter, media, and members of congress later praised for healing the nation. This was in stark contrast the election of 1876 or 2020.

Coffee With Jim is made possible through the support of listeners on Patreon. It is also made possible by Gilligan's Route 66 Tours, Enchanted Trails Trading Post & RV Park, Deanna Nelson State Farm Insurance, Two Lane America, RouteTrip USA and Roadrunner Lodge Motel in Tucuncari, New Mexico. 

Not many people know that the cornerstone for the American auto industry, and the U.S. highway system, is the bicycle. And not many people know that Henry Ford played a role in the establishment of Cadillac, that a tsunami of manure was resolved with electric buses, or that David Buick made his firt fortune with plumbing innovation. 

So, that is where this book would begin, the origins of the auto industry. This is a new-old-idea keeps popping into my thoughts. Like a Model T Ford pushed into a back corner of the barn for decades, there are project ideas that are shelved until there is more time to transform them into a reality. That project is Bathtubs, Birdcages & Chevrolet. 

Coffee With Jim, the Podeban edition, is where we share chapters from America's amazing story. Coffee With Jim, the Sunday morning virtual diner where we gather to talk road trips, adventure, and historic preservation, 

Jim Hinckley's America is sponsored by listeners through Patreon. It is also made possible by Deana Nelson State Farm Insurance, Enchanted Trails Trading Post & RV Park, Roadrunner Lodge Motel, Two Lane America, RouteTrip USA, and Gilligan's Route 66 Tours.