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>> kennedy unfiltered view of government funded by these television and more including charter. >> carter is proud to be recognized as one of the best internetvi building 100,000 miles t infrastructure those need it most. >> truck medications a public sg with these other television providers giving a front row seat to democracy. >> joining us n, author of, lessons from top president. so let go why you wrote the book. >> i think most of us have anert

people can't deep on exactly what was the cause them to be successful. the target audience is anyone who is or aspires to be a better in lessons from history likely applied any guilt in the lessons are timeless and apply across the board. ou are a lawyer by tre and have written now this is your fifth book. earlier books were focused on baseball. get into w about presidential history? guest: my first two books were about base.when i finished the , i realized i wrote everything . my third book was legal and might last 2 -- my last two were presidential history.

my mother got me presidential trading cards, where i remembered the presidents in order and when they serve. lincoln, the great hero. abraham lincoln, at i've been a student of presidential history my whole life. that has been my sole focus in terms of what i have written about and read. host: the book looks at eight different pren how did you pick those eight? guest: my choice for my eight greatest presidents largely from the c-span presidential ranking poll. th poles, 2017 and 2021, the top nine have bactlth. lincoln, onewa fdr, three. theater rooseveeisenhower, five. truman, six. jefferson, seven.

kennedy, eight. reagan, nine. i think truman i overrated and reagan is underrated. truman got had no idea how to get us out. he wasn deing with mccarthyism. he gets a lot of credit for bringing an end to world war ii. i think it was a no-brainer. there was no way w were not going to drop the bombs. the best thing that happened to harry truman was dave and mcculloch wrote a biography about him. i'm satisfied with my choice of the eight. closely tied to the c-span pole. guest: the most -- host: the most recent one done in 2021. it is done e time there is a change in administration. it was done in 2021, 2017, 2009. why are those presidents often

so widely regarded? guest: i in large part because throughout their presidencies, they abided by rait that cause them to be so successful. for the mostar in all lincoln, who were one and two, the consummate integrity, credibility. all of these presidents were extremely effective communicators. there is a wonderful historical record of each of them. it went about their lives and their presides them so worthy of emulation and study. these things d' ove time. host: we are talking with talmage boston about his book, how the best did it,fromur top . he will take your calls. you can start calling in now. mcgrath, your line is- democrats, your line is (202) 748-8000republicans, your line )

748-8001. independents, your line is (202) 748-8002. abraham lincoln, how to be the most successful, and esteemed -- leadermanable. let's lookt is quote from your book. bere the start of his first te in march of 1861, l shows a m of rivals for his cabinet. some of om opposed him at th republican conventionn 1860. despite being initially neyork senator williamcted skewered, who he chose th secretary of the

treasury and edwin stanton, s secretary of war, lincoln refused to take their sligs personally and chose them in his cabinet, believing he would need their skills to lead the country during his presidency, which he knew from the start would be tempestuous. he explained hisecision. these were the strongest men and i had no right to deprive the country of their services. what happened? guest: what happened, it didn't willm seward and edward stanton, it didn't take long for them to realize he is the smartest guy in the room and head and shoulders above the rest of us. not only in terms of his wisdom, brilliance and emotional intelligence. just every aspect of the way he respect, earned their respect very promptly. the ex chase, who never could get beyond his ownnsistently undermg

lincoln. he considered running against him for the 1864 election and dropped out. when roger became supreme court jue, lincoln named him a supreme court justice. heere it. the way he acted was matched byn generals. george mcclellan was in charge of the war. a distinguished west point grad but it didn't take longim to realize he's not real good at war because he didn't wanto$wen. lincoln knew it was going to have to be a hard war. he goes to the library of strategy and implements a war game plan and picks ulysses s grant. even though he had never been to

west point, he had less than one year of formal schooling, he devises a plan that wins the war. host:the apter is about esteemed leader imaginable. hodoes history remember that? guest: my book coaial of 24 leadership traits across these eight presidents. an average of three per president. i can make an argument that lincoln could have all 24 traits. he's head and shoulders above all of the other presis.lincolnd above every other leader in world history. and so,wa strategist, he knew how to handle people. he was an unbelievably eloquent speaker in the gettysburg address and the first inaugural address had the quote better angels of our nature.

you have this strategist to organize the war effort, the highest moralist who could bring about t slavery and be prepared to bring the country back tog when unfortunately he was assassinated. these were the most difficult years of our history. 700,000 to 800,000 people were killed. millions were wounded. e a leader in that kind of situation is unique in history and at every juncture, lincoln found a way to move it forward and bring about the d relt. host: that is, according to c-span's presidential historian survey, every year that we have done it, lincoln has come in at number one, head and shoulders across the board. let's hear from our audience. clarence is calling from miami, florida on tnt line. good morning, clarence. caller: good morning. i wanted to ask mr. boston abo■f

the eight presidents in your book. i find the suez canal crisis in 1956 so interesting because you have an american president who fought alongside britain and france in world war ii, going against britain and france. can you speak to why eisenhower opposed the anglo-french israeli invasion of e? and can you speak to the reaction among the american people since it isn't that far off from world war ii? world war ii was just over 10 years ago. was there any blowback to ike standing up against britain and france and standing up against his own secretary of state? can you speak to that? eisenhower stepped up in the suezsi had told the leaders of england and

france not to do it for fear of fight engaging in that type of aggression, they would trigger an onslaught from the soviet union and thereby disrupt every aspect of what was going on in the middle east as well as disrupt the balance of power in the cold war. last thing eisenhower wanted was world war iii oanthat mightr iii. that's why he took such strong action. because of t w responded, getting the united nations to expose sachem's- sanctions, denying the country's request for oil and denying the requeste the british pound, sohea cee-fi.

eisenhower brought up all the pounds and told the british prime minister if he did not get the troops out of the suez, he would drive the pound down zero. an incredible example of playing hardball when somebody goes directly against your wishes. within a nano second, the troops have left the suez. people understood you have to do what it takes to avoid world war iii. you have to show that we are the strongest nation in the world and therefore we get to make decisions. end eisenhower was the former supreme allied commander -- who was the former supreme allied commander and someone who has frequently -- tas to preserve world order, for the most part people were understanding. it's a good idea when you are pursuing international action to get the approval from the united nations. and of course, he had gone that by getting the sanctions eisenhower was a master

organizer. him in organiodung world war id throughout his presidency. he also knew how laball in ordee quick results. he did not want that situation to prolonged and therefore more complicated. deal with it quickly, achieve the desired results and move on. host: let's hear from patrick in falls church, virginia,al on the democrats line. good morning, patrick. caller: hello. i would t know will okt what's going on now in our country compared to germany in the late 1920's, early 1930's, because the comparisons are there. thank you. assume you are talking about the

2024 presidentca our current president and our most recent former president, presid biden. we are in a unique situation. never before has 70% of the american people said we don't want either one of these guys. never before from my perspective , particularly during my lifetime have we had recent presidents who are so devoid of leadership traits i write about in my hope and, to your question in terms of what was going on in germany in the 1920's and930's, my great hope is that the american courts will continue to enforce the rule of law and that our congress will finds to be more and more responsive to what the a responsive to what the american people on so many fronts. this is the time when president taftrmartilarly

in recent years with executive orders, i don't think they have the rpect. hi disapproval rating where there was mf leadership which something hitler's rise on expect that to happen. i'm hoping the election in november somehow the country will survive and four years from now wil have a new wave of younger leaders greater leadership and skills the coyrent di direction. we haven't one great president after another after another. it hasn't happened. thereidre gaps in between great presidents we have to rely on

our course in congress the balance of power and hope this hitler's reign of terror in world war ii. >> something in yourook is how past presidents, what they■8 wod say about present-day politics. >> in clong chapteresidt came bd at the situation, fory t say? day?through all and what about

thomas jefferson who, after john adams presidency when the j sedition act, congress passed a law that anybody who criticize president added or federalist policy could and werened by exercising their freedom of speech and freedom of the press the nation, jefferson was coming into and over his eight years he brought, h those laws. so he's here today and see that love of says look, stop complaining about it. think of what you can do to break down these walls today. listen to other points of view, engage in civil discourse, be

mutu respectful. it's amazing how it wor ways once you start showing respect. i go s through all eight presidents and because of where they were coming from during their lies and particuy during the presidency have stl be timeless.i believe wou here's reagan, the eternal opti as easy as it is because missing today, don't eve' optimism. don't ever lose your belief in american exceptionalism. we can come back. wil come backd after the disasters jimmy carter presidency. doubled hisid inflation, high aa , l economic, long gas lines, hostages we couldn't get out of iran, national malaise. that's what inn many ways we hae right now. along came reagan andal within four years revive the economy, restored america's self-confidence, went on his war to winning the cold thank goodness gorbachev came in an5

which obviously facilitated all the progress i wases made in his second term they'll made end of the cold war but you can look at all these presidents and it's not hard to say now, they would feel very strongly about what we need to do today and it sure would be a wise for all ofs to now to think about that our optimism, the future whenever reasonably the future will be bright once we getlace e wherewithal to bring the country back. >> host: let's hear from brady calling from data. >> maryland on the independent line. good morning, brady. >> caller: good morning and thank you for taking my this is a subject i have thought about a long time because i grew up in the '70s and broadcastingio president reagan, two things that i think change every thing in this country started with reagan when he got rid of the

fairness doctrine. ntn time everyone and broadcasting was required come yet to present both sides any controversialhe s doctrine and created ae s where everyone had their own truth. i don't watch fox, i do watch fox because of what to say but alha then i go to seeing in to find out what they say versus what they don't say. but we are in a divided country bu their own truth and that i think is the worst possible danger t >> host: brady, , do you have a question for thomas? >> caller: yes. how do we get to a point where cisions based on a common truth versus having this new

world civil war where everyone is fighting diligently underside without any sense ofe understanding the other s we ge? >> guest: i think everybody needs to te responsibility for figure out where the truth is. i don't think there's anything, for the part with some notable exceptions, in terms of absolutes truth. there are different slants that are well justified based on everything that we know that in support of conflicting beliefs and in terms of the way the rateor the most part, and this is obviously not true ohich does a great job of being neutral, but so many of the networks, it's all about money.anto attract advertisers. the advertisers have political persuasions. they are targeting their products to a certain segment of the population, and that's why

you have one network that's extreme right and another nk that is extreme left, don't have balance in the middle. we ah new generation we have higher educational achievements. we read more, we think more and. i don't know that we listen more it up to each of us to figure out withonflheting viewpoints where do i think the truth really is? and i think truth yet to listen to the conflicting viewpoints. you have to weigh the eoth sidee ying here is the news tonight, america. you can believe every word that co o mouth. it's notit that way anymore. i don't think that's nrily bad. i don't like partial news. i like complete news. you make a good point, one network brings up all kinds ofck

ignores and vice versa. when that's going on you can draw the conclusion this is not an impartial, fair and balanced asitizens to evaluate thesej different media sources and come to come in her own minds, what we regard as a happy medium truth that can allow us to make decisions. i think your question also calls to mind that's why 70% of the american people don't know who to vote for this election. the networks on both sides have so slanted their perti the two presumptive nominees that it's hard to evaluate a quote complete truth on either one of them. that's theca going to have to make, and it's not an easy choice but a more proactive approach to fng opinions is where we are now. >> host: another chapter looked at president theodore roosevelt. he came across as numberr in

all four of our presidential historian surveys. information, expand once to make a power and broker resolution of the conflict. like theodore roosevelt heresan. no present at ever attempted to, iol labor strike him break up a monopoly, me an grated effort to preserve nature, apply but equally to rich and the working poor, assert americaer over world order. and he advanced these causes i many instances despite them cone leaders of his own republican th reason his predecessors failed to pursue such a thise ot except for lincoln's expansion of presidentlowers during the president, would be the instrument for moving the needle in pursuing the nation's

priorities. if congress fails to make some was not supposed to happen. talk about his approach. >> guest: theater roseville is probably our highest iq photographic memory, hee books, remembered having a read. he wrote more bks present or use off the charts brilliant. he could see for the most part our federal government was nrkis nott addressing many of the issuessed. so if you just filed his predecesso i the conventional wisdom, we would be stuck in the status quo.osevelt made a quotes republicans that i do like the status quohinkhings need to be e to make america better. that took a certain measure of courage. as we on the theodore roosevelt washly courageous later when we talk about the rough riders and the spanish-american war, where he was he was courageous.er do, for example, when you're

into his presidency he said with his national coal strike, coalmy ongoing conversations with the coal company owners. they are makingwi no progress. winter is approaching. half the country is going to freezeo death so somebody's got to find a way to solve this coal even the north american present at ever engaged in, persisted in trying to solve a labor dispute before, theodore roosevelt jumped in, brought the two sides together, did what great mediatorsou brainstorm possible areas where they can find common ground on which to forward. he finally got them to agree to binding arbitration and they agreed to be bound by the results. strike is over, nobody freezes sust one example. the tru over going on and had been going on for causing the rich to get a a whole lot richer and everybody else to fall farther and farther down. he said this isnig for the first time he used the

sherman act to pure these monopolies. i can, of course we all know what he did to expand the national parks and the wilde refugees. just saying lookinground, what needs to be better in this country? and this about it? no. i'm the president of the united states. i'm going to move forward. all these presidents, all of thre concerned about their place in history. when historians look back and what are they going to say this president did?re roosevelt had a record. the fact he is ranked fourth in a situation whe wasn't a war, there wasn't a great depression, allse things that typically cause presidential stature to rise, he didn't have any of that and yet he is ranked number four. andy also,eep in mind, the youngest president we've ever had. he became presint 42 after mckinley was killed. so to do all this at that younge when he was 50 years old, in

other words, l when he is 30 years younger than the people, president b now, it's just a testimony to his incredible achievements in expanding the presidency in very positive ways. >> host: a q on acts. just curious how many serve in ? >> guest: washington did, jefferson didn't. lincoln served as a militia person and the black hawk war but never saw combat. theater rosevle in the military. franklin roosevelt during world war int sretary ofta the navy, you could say sir. of course i have supreme a commander. dung world war ii and then inhe military because he was ave moe military was to make military films

wari. but with the exception of jefferson and arguably lincoln, they all serve military. >> host: and you look at, there's 24 traits you said of thesetraits. what was some of the most common like it come up with these eight? >> guest: well, i didn't want to repeat any traits. i did want the reader to read about washington's integrity in chapter one and then lincoln's integrity in chapter three because you're basically talk about the same thing. it's good to have high integrity. it's good to have a moral compass and high credibility. so many of them have high levels of integrity. in terms ofn traits among the three, number one, they were all g persuaders. some of them were great eat orators.ecause they were others were great persuaders because one-on-one or in small groups that's what hese their personality and their

firepower to bring about the desiredesults. number one, great persuaders. number two, they all, that all had self-awareness, which means they knew their and they knew their weaknesses. they were alwayss thinking was how can i use strakes and in areas where thewa week they brig in people who are strong. any areas wre will week to make sure wasn't can be a problem. accredited important trait for a leader to know, to be self-aware and know his accordingly. weaknesses andd third and finally, all eight. of them were direct and efforts of great american middle, middle way, the middle, the 70% today who don't know who to vote for. hiing inow terms of what can i i say ando that will satisfy ther the extr? that's no way t you've got to identify whether people are in order to do that you've got to have a high awareness of public sentiment in

all components ofociety. you do that, as franklin roosevelt did, you have c press conferences were not afraid of any questions that are going to be asked. obviously you s on top of the public opinion polls. you travel the country and you don't just talk. and roosevelt case because of polio and all the responsibilities needed him to be in washington he sent a in all of the country. she comes back of his what people in their zone or think. people in michigan are thinking. he put the people in rhode island are thinking. always information gathering and state of mind that when he ci need to go, he knows he'ser got to move thee public sentiments to agree with him on where thinks need to go. that was really, that chapter d roosevelt and how he went about moving -- >> weak back live to the u.s. senate where lawmakers about to vote on a judicial nooverage on c-span2.