Covering every hamlet and precinct in America, big and small, the stories span arts and sports, business and history, innovation and adventure, generosity and courage, resilience and redemption, faith and love, past and present. In short, Our American Stories tells the story of America to Americans.
About Lee Habeeb
Lee Habeeb co-founded Laura Ingraham’s national radio show in 2001, moved to Salem Media Group in 2008 as Vice President of Content overseeing their nationally syndicated lineup, and launched Our American Stories in 2016. He is a University of Virginia School of Law graduate, and writes a weekly column for Newsweek.
For more information, please visit ouramericanstories.com.
Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and the Story Behind America’s Most Famous Speech
The Woman Who Refused to Let Her Children See Defeat
On this episode of Our American Stories, before Devon Westhill became the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, he learned the meaning of perseverance from the woman who raised him. His mother faced poverty, long hours, and the weight of raising a family on her own in rural Florida. Yet through every setback, she refused to let her children see defeat.
Her story is one of grit and grace, a mother who built stability out of scarcity and taught her children that success isn’t handed down, it’s earned, day by day.
We’d like to thank our partners at Philanthropy Roundtable for sharing this story with us.
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April 14, 1865: A Police Chief Witnesses Lincoln’s Assassination
On this episode of Our American Stories, the week of April 1865 brought both the end of the Civil War and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. At Ford’s Theatre on Good Friday, a senior Washington police superintendent, largely forgotten to history, named A.C. Richards witnessed John Wilkes Booth enter the presidential box and fire the shot that would kill the nation’s leader.
Ford’s Theatre reenactor Mike Robinson shares A.C. Richards’s firsthand perspective and recounts the tragic events of April 14, 1865.
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How RMS Titanic Became the First Real-Time Maritime Disaster
On this episode of Our American Stories, after RMS Titanic struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912, two young men spent the next 160 minutes sending frantic distress calls across the North Atlantic to anyone who could hear them. Their names were Jack Phillips and Harold Bride. They kept working as the ship took on water, using one of the most advanced communication systems of its time to reach nearby vessels and call for help before the sinking became inevitable. After all, the fate of more than 2,200 people rested in their fingers.
William Hazelgrove, author of One Hundred and Sixty Minutes: The Race to Save the RMS Titanic, shares the forgotten side of history’s most famous shipwreck story through the eyes of her wireless operators.
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I Was Bored in Grad School, So I Joined the Navy and Went to Vietnam
On this episode of Our American Stories, while sitting in grad school, Hank Brown decided he’d had enough and signed up for the Navy. Within days, he was on his way to Vietnam, flying missions as a forward air controller during the early years of the war.
Former Colorado Senator Hank Brown shares his journey to the front lines of the Vietnam War and what he learned from it all.
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What a Young Soldier Promised God After a Vietnam Mine Took His Legs
On this episode of Our American Stories, during the Vietnam War, then 20-year-old Jon Hovde was nearly killed when his vehicle struck an anti-tank mine. Doctors didn’t expect him to survive, but that day Jon made three promises to God.
What happened next would shape the rest of his life and inspire the people back home who knew him best. Linda, from Jon’s hometown of Fertile, Minnesota, shares his story.
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The Forgotten Plot to Steal Abraham Lincoln’s Body
On this episode of Our American Stories, most people know how Abraham Lincoln died. The assassination in 1865, carried out by John Wilkes Booth, is one of the most well-known moments in American history. What people don’t usually hear is what happened after he died. A group of counterfeiters in Chicago came up with a plan to steal Abraham Lincoln’s body from his tomb and hold it for ransom. Their goal was to trade Lincoln’s coffin for money and the release of a master engraver who could keep their operation alive.
Louis Picone, author of The President Is Dead!, shares the forgotten tale of one of the most harebrained schemes in American history, one that almost succeeded.
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Butch Cassidy Before the Legend: The Real Story of the Wild West Outlaw
On this episode of Our American Stories, when people hear the name Butch Cassidy, they usually think of Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the classic 1969 film that turned two outlaws into near folk heroes. But long before the movie, a different reputation was taking shape in the American West.
Wild West historian and Our American Stories regular contributor Roger McGrath traces Cassidy’s evolution from a small-time thief to an organized bank and train robber.
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The Officer Known as the Guardian of the Golden Gate Bridge
On this episode of Our American Stories, Kevin Briggs’ job is talking people off a ledge, or more specifically, the Golden Gate Bridge’s ledge. Here’s Kevin to share how he has saved more than two hundred people from taking their own lives by asking a simple question: “How are you doing?”
Kevin shares the story of why he does what he does.
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Monocacy: The Forgotten Union Loss That Saved Washington, D.C.
On this episode of Our American Stories, in July 1864, the Battle of Monocacy became one of the most important Civil War battles that many Americans have never heard of. Fought near Monocacy Junction in Maryland, it ended in a Union loss. Even so, the stand there delayed Confederate General Jubal Early long enough to help save Washington, D.C., from a far more dangerous attack.
Mark Leepson, author of Desperate Engagement, shares the story of the forgotten Civil War battle that bought crucial time for the Union, helped Abraham Lincoln secure a re-election victory, and changed the course of American history.
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