History Podcast / EighteenSixtyFive

** Who was it that failed to ensure that Lincoln had sufficient security during his faithful night at Ford’s Theatre? [[spoiler: Stanton!]]

* RebelliousRebel: Johnson, despite being a Southerner, stayed loyal to the Union during the civil war. On the other hands, he hold many views that aren’t all that different from the Confederates. [[NotSoDifferent He believes that blacks are inferior to whites, wants the South to be granted amnesty as quickly as possible, and even allows former Confederate generals to resume positions of authority within the South]].

* BittersweetEnding: On the bitter side of things Johnson is acquitted and [[spoiler: grants fully amnesty to the former Confederate states]]. The Freeman’s Bureau fails to achieve its goals after Johnson botches Reconstruction, and civil rights for blacks and other minorities will have to be a dream deferred. Oh, and monuments are being built to the Confederacy, even in state that stayed loyal to the Union, such as West Virginia. One the sweet side, thank to Stanton’s efforts, Johnson’s attempt at reelection is ruined. On a personal note [[spoiler: Stanton achevies his dream of becoming a Supreme Court justice, but dies five days after being appointed]].

* {{Edutainment}}: Of a sort. Each episode is accompanied by a bonus episode that explores the facts behind the fiction of ''1865''.

* WonTheWarLostThePeace: Stanton and is fellow Radical Republicans feel this way regarding Reconstruction. True, the North defeated the South militarily, and the nation is reunited. However, not nearly enough is being done to protect the rights of African-Americans, and it will only get worse if the South receives amnesty, and thus Southerns are able to oppose Reconstruction from within Congress.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Averted. The creators have confirmed that any parallel to the presidency of Donald Trump were purely coincidental. The idea that became ''1865'' was actually first started several years before Trump took office.

* StylisticSuck: The production of “Our American Cousin” at the start of the podcast is deliberately over-the-top and melodramatic.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Andrew Johnson is a white supremacist who is not in favor of extending civil rights to blacks. John Wilkes Booth also shares these views

* InSeriesNickname: Lincoln refereed to Stanton and Wells, the secretaries of, respectively War and the Navy, as Mars and Neptune.

* CreatorCameo: Series creators Steve Walters and Erik Archilla voice Robert Todd Lincoln and Samuel O’Laughlen respectively. Executive producer Lindsay Graham voices Abraham Lincoln.

Secretary of War Edwin Stanton must guide the nation through these turbulent times, and ensure a smooth transition once Vice President Andrew Johnson takes office. However, Johnson stands oppossed to almost everything Lincoln stood for. Moreover, Stanton begins to wonder if Johnson might have had a hand in the assassination. Thus begins a game of cat and mouse as the two men fight to ensure their vision for the future of America. In doing so, Dtanton and Johnson must decide how far they’re willing to go, and what lines they’re willing to cross, to achevie their visions.

** [[Seward finally waking up]] certainly counts.

* BaitAndSwitch: The 1865 Twitter account loves doing this. It will begin a tweet that sounds like a summary of current events, only to reveal, via ending with “Welcome to 1865”, that it is actually talking about historical events related to the show.
* BittersweetEnding: On the bitter side of things Johnson is acquitted and [[spoiler: grants fully amnesty to the former Confederate states]]. The Freeman’s Bureau fails to achieve its goals after Johnson botches Reconstruction, and civil rights for blacks and other minorities will have to be a dream deferred. One the sweet side, thank to Stanton’s efforts, Johnson’s attempt at reelection is ruined. On a personal note [[spoiler: Stanton achevies his dream of becoming a Supreme Court justice, but dies five days after being appointed]].

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Averted. The creators have confirmed that any parallel to the presidency of Donald Trump were purely coincidental. The idea that became 1865 was actually first started several years before Trump took office.

* SuccessionCrisis: Narrowly averted. Lincoln is assassinated, and attempts are made on Johnson and Secretary of State William H. Seward. Seward is refutes comatose, while the attempt on Johnson never happens. The characters even mention that nobody knows what would happen if all three men had been killed.

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Stanton’s children Lucy and James both died in infancy. Their death still hang heavy on Stanton’s conscious even after several years.