Jerryworld 2: Leatherhead

Fourth Reich Archaeology

In this episode, we start off with a geographical and cultural tour of Grand Rapids, Michigan - Jerry's real hometown - with a little narrative help from the words of Grand Rapids native, Paul Schrader, spoken by the great George C. Scott. The class-based and ethnic lines demarcating the city's neighborhoods, plus the Calvinist work ethic pervading its business community, shaped the man Jerry would grow into.

We consider Jerry's choice of the working-class South High School over the more affluent Central High, and run into his early anti-communist sentiments and actions. Jerry became a football star, and with that stardom came popularity. His popularity (and a little willingness to bend the rules) would eventually win him his first trip to the nation's capitol.

But it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for young Jerry - we'll also dig into Jerry's traumatic reunion with his deadbeat birth-father, Leslie Lynch King, and discuss how Jerry began balancing his budding sense of class-resentment with his instinctive political knack for maintaining good terms with all potential allies.

After graduating high school in 1931, it was off to the University of Michigan for Jerry, where he worked his way through school, worked his way into a popular fraternity, and worked his football team to back-to-back national championships. We'll explore the much-mythologized relationship between Jerry and his Black friend and teammate, Willis Ward with a little cameo from none other than George W. Bush.

Finally, we will follow Jerry's relationship with the man he'd later refer to as his "real father" forward in time and watch him put his conflict-resolution skills to the test.