powerful person in the 1950's and he wants to be president in 1960. the third ambition is richard milhouse nixon. and as the story begins, the ambitions are very small compared to jfk and to lbj. he is a typical american. there's no dynasty there. his parents are going up or down. his father is a conductor in ohio who moved to california to get away from the cold and the frostbite. he achieved on those very cold tally cards up north. richard nixon goes to school, he does well, he's a great student, he's in addition, he excels in debating at high school at duke university. he wants to be at the ironman. he gets accepted, but then they say no, we changed our mind. he ends up as assistant corporation or city attorney for the surgery of whittier, california.

and that appears to be as far as who's going to until world war ii, when he led john f. kennedy and lyndon baines johnson was in the navy. he comes out in 1946 as a great year for veterans running for office, young, ambitious, intelligent. so he runs in 1946. he is elected to the congress and the very best campaign and stumbles into what industry now knows as the alger hiss case. he was secretary of state, very promising cello in the new deal. and in 1948 another fellow named winston chambers testifies before the house un-american activities council, that i've only with alger hiss a communist, but that he was an espionage agent for joe stalin, soviet overmatch. most people think this is far-fetched, it can't be. richard nixon at first is one of them. and after listen to a little bit more of alger hiss, things don't add up.

his is ultimately convicted of perjury. nixon goes on to the united states senate in 1950 and in 1952 the vice presidency of the united states. he's 39 years old here it is. and he, by 1960, was to be president of the united states as well. there've been a lot of comparisons between 1960 and 2008. these things start out with primaries, as they often do. 2008, the primary seemed to go on and on and on forever. in 1960, it was very different. the primaries that started during the progressive era, before world war i, and over the decade lost popularity. by 1960, there was popularity and of their utility. so in 1960, richard nixon faces

no primary opposition. now, there's a reason for that. in 2006, the republican party took a beating in the congressional races. in 1958, the same thing happens in the gop. dwight eisenhower was president, but this is dell basically a democratic new deal nation. and in 1958, the gop had worn out its welcome and house races and senate races in gubernatorial races, eliminating a lot of potential opposition for the nomination for richard nixon in 1960. one fellow's reputation was made in 1958, whose supposed career started was nelson rockefeller. he's bold, brash, energetic, very liberal and he's very wealthy. and he wants to be president in 1960. but the more he campaigns, he

finds the less support in the republican party so that by december 1959, he pulled out of the race. and when he does this, what that does is to all the air out of the republican nominated process. it deflects any intention from the republican race because there is no race. it's much like what happened after john mccain secured the nomination in 2008 very early and then everyone focuses on the very hotly contested democratic race. and both john mccain and both richard nixon needed it in 1960. so in 1960, all the attention goes in the primary season to the democratic side of the aisle and that is really -- when we talk about primaries in 1960, we are talking floral, we're talking to. there are about maybe eight or nine officially.

most a beauty contest. some are not contested or they are contested by a lower rank guys. the only two which amount to anything in 1960 are in wisconsin and in west virginia and they are, jfk is out to prove he can be viable as a catholic nominee, as a young fellow. and he doesn't have to prove it to lyndon johnson. because lyndon johnson is mystery of backroom. he is the deal he's not going to go into primaries. and in any case, primaries don't count for that much. so he's not going to waste of effort. the fellow waste in this effort are taking a shot against jack kennedy and these two primaries, which are not new hampshire or any of those others, or california, but in wisconsin and west virginia. his hubert horatio humphrey, united states senator from minnesota, former crusading

mayor of minneapolis. hubert humphrey is really though not very viable. in national polls in 1960, even though he's going to be the democratic nominee eight years from 1960, he is registering a solid 2% in national polls. but when you are the only guy showing up against jack kennedy, all of a sudden the race become transferred to jack kennedy versus hubert humphrey, much as and 2008, barack obama first emerges as the anti-hillary candidate. and that hillary clinton emerges as the anti-barack obama candidate aired so in 1960, hubert humphrey is the anti-jack kennedy candidate and people, all ideological positions and coalesce around him. jack kennedy thinks he's going to win very easily in wisconsin. he gets surprised that polling

data that causes him to campaign in the wrong parts of the state and hubert humphrey turns out to do surprisingly well in wisconsin, which he was about to give up. he had no money, very minimal support, organization against the great kennedy machine in the great kennedy family. and he decides to go one of west virginia. and it's actually a good thing for jack kennedy that he does because west virginia is 97% protestant. jack kennedy's initial poll numbers were very strong in west virginia. but as more people come to the real efficient bedsheet, disguised catholic, his numbers fall like iraq. it looks like hubert humphrey can cause a great upset and pull it off in the mountain state. jack kennedy however responds with a great deal of real talk politics. he brings the family and to

campaign, hits all the hills and hollows of west virginia, shakes a lot of hands. and faces the catholic issue head-on. previously, i think even in wisconsin, wisconsin contains the highest percentage of catholics in the midwest. and so it was a red totally state under a safe state for him. he addressed massachusetts and got a very catholic state in wisconsin, somewhat less so, but still significantly catholic population. he's talking to catholic saint don't hold my catholicism against me. well, he was not given the same siege to protestants until he gets to west virginia, where he plays on the patriotism of his state, which is a huge number of people in world war ii per capita in into korea, a very patriotic. they respected his service in world war ii and pt 109 and he

says no one has my religion or my brother joe's religion when we went off to fight after pearl harbor and they respect that. and they also pay attention to something else he does during that primary win at joe kennedy's urging, daybreak and franklin d. roosevelt junior to campaign for jack kennedy. and franklin roosevelt senior, franklin roosevelt himself was very, very profitable in west virginia. they brought a lot of stuff and helps people out there. and the new deal really impacted west virginians to a great extent. so they bring in roosevelt, fdr junior as the hatchet man. and he brings that hubert humphrey's war record in world war ii or a lack thereof here at andy's basically seen in the crowd as a draft dodger and kennedy says i wish he would have brought that up. that was just terrible and i

disassociate -- like from the fact that hubert humphrey never served in world war ii and one thing leads to another and all the sudden there are allegations of involvement in jack kennedy's west virginia campaign, which are often the question. but there was some. and a lot of money is poured into west virginia. and even though jack kennedy is going to find out very, very nervous about how this election is going to turn out. so nervous that he flies to washington d.c. and kind of to hide out because you want to downplay that. it's not that important. i wasn't even there. he gets a call from robert kennedy, and do you want, do you want. and that basically is the end of hubert humphrey's campaign in the end of the primaries. one, two and over. but not the nomination. where has lyndon johnson then? he hasn't been a candidate.

he only announces his candidacy for the presidency of the united states one week before the democratic national convention starts. now, this doesn't sound like a great strategy now. but it does make more sense back then. in 1952, stevenson had captured the democratic nomination on the third ballot. and 48 of tom dewey had captured the gop nomination on the third ballot. and when to wilkie, 1940 on the ballot. truman in 1944, third ballot. we take it for granted that conventions are going to be cut and dry and you're going to wrap it up on the first ballot. this was not a given in 1960 and lyndon johnson is pounding on the back room deal being that he can go to his fellow senators

and they can go back home and twist some arms and he will arrive with enough votes in his pocket so that in the second, third, fourth, or fifth allocating the real jack kennedy. jack kennedy feels almost the same way. robert kennedy says, you know, if we don't win on the first ballot, we don't win it all. it was a very, very close for jack kennedy all the way to 1960, even in those primaries to the convention and to the balloting. there are a lot of promises made. the city would have to rent a very large hall, very much larger than this one to get all the people that jack kennedy promised the vice presidency to that year. [laughter] yes, your member senator governor in kansas or herschel loveless of iowa. they all thought they were going to be vice president and neither was friedman of minnesota. jack kennedy, the roll call is held, and by the time he is

over-the-top. but to show how close iran that was, i mean, there's no states that begin with the. so when you captured in wyoming, it was a very, very closely run thing. so then jack kennedy, for real confronts the issue, who is his vice president going to be? who is going to be the running mate? and that's barack obama could have chosen the super ticket in 2008 and selected hillary clinton, his big rival. and someone who would bring a great demographic edge to the ticket. you know, this was 1960 was the battle of identity politics. as 2008 was. in 2008, while a black man be elected president? or will a woman be elected president? in 1960, everyone remembers the

aspirations of catholics. but they're forgetting that lyndon johnson was facing the same thing. so it was the sectionalism, being a southerner. no southerner had been nominated since before the civil war. now we take it for granted. we've had jobs and we've had jimmy carter. we've had clinton, we've had the two bushes and some say we had al gore elected president. but it wasn't a given them. jack kennedy said i had to go to the primaries to prove that a catholic would be elected. lyndon johnson didn't do that. the lyndon johnson still had tremendous clout in the south. jack kennedy had weaknesses, both because of the catholic issue and because of the civil rights issue and because the south was trending back for the first time really to the republican party.

the south had broken loose on the 1952 and 56 elections when eisenhower took a bunch of states. and they couldn't fight even more under jack kennedy. so you have to play nice with lyndon johnson if he were jack kennedy. but does he? he makes the joe biden choice. he takes the safe choice initially. somebody who maybe can't hurt you, but someone that's not going to help you. he asks to offer the vice presidency and private to a senator from missouri named stuart simonton. simon didn't accept, but the courts made public jack kennedy will start rolling and says no, i really showed us the courtesy offer this to lyndon. he's not going to take it. [laughter] key senate majority leader. he lives for power. he's not going to be vice

president. this is -- you know, john bamberger who was from texas and was about vice president said vice presidency isn't worth a bucket of warm spit. and lyndon johnson certainly knew that when a cell at the reality for her. so when jack kennedy struggles down the stairs to lyndon johnson's sweet in the middle of the night to offer him the vice presidency, he was quite shocked when lyndon johnson except that. and everybody is shocked and everybody is upset on all sides of the democratic spec term. robert kennedy, who is always hated lyndon johnson and vice versa is outraged. kenny o'donnell, would've jack kennedy kennedy's closest advisers says, he betrayed every single person that has supported you in your first move of the nominee. and the labor unions are

outraged. the americans for democratic action, the liberal group was outraged. and i'm lyndon johnson said, his southern senators, his allies are just flabbergasted. they don't want to lose their ally. their man in leadership and the senate. and particularly upset our fellow texans, lyndon johnson's fellow texans. so everybody is mad. but, politics is politics. and jack kennedy tells kenny o'donnell, kenny, i'm 43 years old and i'm not going to die in office, don't worry. everybody kisses and makes up, lyndon johnson is used to a great effect in the south. they really don't know what to do with him and the rest of the country and he doesn't want to campaign and the rest of the country. but he goes out and is an asset to the democratic ticket.

the richard nixon decides for his part to go for that super ticket option. his inclination is to offer the nomination to nelson rockefeller. new york then, really was the empire state. at 45 electoral votes. it was the biggest states, biggest prize that way. and nelson rockefeller probably could've helped and carry into newark. the nelson rockefeller zito is such done that he does not want to take that number two spot. he turns them down. at this point, nixon makes a horrible choice. he selects henry cabot lodge, from the united states senate from massachusetts. then, the united states ambassador to the united nations is his running mate. it's kind of like a peace offering still to the eastern liberal or moderate

establishment in the republican party and it is a horrendous choice. for one thing, having lost the senate seat in 1952, and to jack kennedy, he has demonstrated repeatedly he could not carry his own state in the general election. he was also terrible campaigner, unable to inspire crowds. it doesn't come across all that well on television. and he's lazy. he's just plain lazy. he will take naps in the afternoon. and the people assigned to shepherd his campaign say, look, we don't mind and taking naps, but has yet to change into his pajamas every day? [laughter] so this is not a good choice. the campaign goes on and also he does something which is -- he goes off the reservation and speaking in harlem to a group

actually in spanish harlem. he makes an announcement that richard nixon will have a black man run his cabinet which is used to richard nixon. and richard nixon respond by kind of fleeing from the thing. and the whole episode has the effect of alienating both southerners and blacks. a win for nobody because of the way nixon has handled it and the whole thing was done so heartlessly. so the civil rights issue is very, very important. and the way that he loses both the white south and the black voting population of the north is very, very key to the election. and one of the keys to how that happen involves dr. martin luther king. now, as the south had been

trending republican under eisenhower, the black vote, which had historically been republican and had gone democratic starting with franklin roosevelt, was coming back to the gop. in 1956, blacks voted 40% for dwight eisenhower. and it looked like it could have held up that way in 1960. but towards the end, what happens is that, or to luther king is moved to atlanta georgia from alabama. he's arrested in a sedan and goes to jail for the night. it's the first time he spent the night in jail. and he would be out the next morning, not a big deal, except that not long before that he was pulled over for a moving traffic violation in georgia. and he had been released on parole. and when he was arrested for

this sedan, it's a violation of his parole and the judges in rural georgia decides, you are going to prison camp for six months for a traffic violation. this is pretty outrageous that it was also pretty tough prison camp. the king family, particularly dred scott king, feared for martin luther king's life. it was an impression of what would you do? of richard nixon's black advisors said, you know, can't you intervene? make a statement and speak out. and he reacts very legalistically and says he can't interfere with the judge ascendance and all that. well, there's politics in this right is wrong for there's all kinds of things that can often hide behind legalisms. and nixon again, trying to win both camps, white south, blacks in the north, fall between two stools and doesn't get even. jack kennedy as advice to make a phone call, a simple phone call

to dred scott king extended his sympathies, a very human gesture, but one thought with peril because it could alienate the south. he does this and then robert kennedy, robert kennedy is very upset with that phone call. but then he is dispatched to go between a judge. and martin luther king is released the week before the election come a black neighborhoods in the north are flooded with 45 million pieces of literature alluding to these incidents and how the kennedys helped while richard nixon did nothing. and also, radio ads on black stations trumpet this message. and jack kennedy bumps his percentage of the black vote up. still not overwhelming. we think nowadays it's automatic? are going to vote 90% to 95%

democratic ticket. and nixon even after the still manages to hold out at about 30% of the black vote. but it's enough. it's enough in a very, very close eyelash type of election. as 1960 began, the candidate of the television age was not jack kennedy. it was richard nixon. why? because richard nixon's candidacy, his political life in television in 1952 after he been charged with having a slush fund and almost thrown out of the ticket, the republican ticket by dwight eisenhower, who he never had a good relationship with. he always had great problems in this election. he is saved by his checkers speech, which is the most widely watched tv program for a long

time in broadcast history. and then, he saved by broadcast by another debate rather with khrushchev, the kitchen debate in moscow where he stands up for american free enterprise against soviets in utilitarianism. he says your children will live under the freedom act at the convention. but, he's the guy who should win the debates in 1960 when they decide to move into a debate format. they never had one before. and how would you structure the things? well, you could say you could structure them by lincoln and douglas were you go around state lines and talk for hours on one topic. but instead they opted for the format we have today which is a series of debates, moderators, wide-ranging follow-up question. and jack kennedy, well, people

really didn't know how he would do. he didn't even have a reputation as a great orator. he spoke very fast and is poised to address very high levels and high pitch. how would he do? we didn't know. his record in the senate was kind of negligible. he had some success with labor investigations, but he would not say the workhorse of the senate. yet other activities he was pursuing both political and extracurricular. now, so, nixon is really nothing to gain except if he doesn't debate and that creates another issue and people say he's afraid. so it seems like he's going to wind and as we know, he didn't. it's really a question of one of the many ironies of the 1960 campaign, where richard nixon had always been healthy as whole life and jack kennedy had always been sick. jack kennedy had twice been

given the last rights of the catholic church. he was so sickly. but in 1960, doing pretty well. he was under control. his back isn't too bad. he's okay. richard nixon bang sissy on other car door campaigning in greensboro, north carolina aunties hospitalized, throws his 50 state strategy of campaigning in all 50 states. it was the first time any candidate would do into a dither. and he had to rush. when he gets out of the hospital to maintain this campaign. he makes himself sicker and this is just before the first great debate in chicago. kennedy is broad, healthy, confident, well-prepared, aggressive. richard nixon is sick, he's lost weight, his suit and shirt hang loose upon him.

he has certain physical characteristics, which are not designed to win a debate. he does not react well to heat, so we slept a lot, a lot. and he shifts his eyes about a great deal. [laughter] and aside from that, he starts out the first 20 minutes of this debate in a very cringingly. in the first, obama mccain debate, obama was criticized for agreeing safe, seven, eight times with mccain and that was said to be a sign of weakness. and richard nixon took this to extremes in the first part of that debate with jack kennedy. now, as i said earlier, this is still a democratic nation and big, big voter registration edge for the democratic party. jack kennedy, wherever he spoke, always emphasize the fact that

he was a democrat. he knew this as a winning pitch. so he starts out in his opening thing, and says i represent the body of wilson and roosevelt and truman and we have brought to social security and the tennessee valley authority and five for health care and rural electrification and all these good names. and mr. nick sent represents harding and coolidge and hoover, the party that brought you the great depression. and the moderator says, mr. nixon, how do how do you respond to that? i have no comment. [laughter] now, this is basically pleading the fifth amendment to being a republican. this is not good. last last mac and nixon pulled himself up for the rest of the debate in his body language is still very poor. he doesn't wear makeup, so he has the 5:00 shadow thing going

on which in nixon's case wasn't an shadow. the whole effect of the visual effect of nixon was as one of jfk's aides. he said he was looking like an escaped convict. i think richard janssen in the original fugitive years so he loses here that a lot of people think he does well. lyndon johnson is listening on the radio in texas in the cart and he thinks nixon is one. most people on tv thinks he's lost. nixon does well in the final three debates, but only first debates really count. you don't get a second chance to make a first impression even though richard nixon had been around for a while. the election, really knows the fine points of the election. he shows to be a very, very close election. all gear aside from jack

kennedy's pollsters in the primaries when they say it's going to be close and it is close. in the electoral college is now, but in popular votes it is. there is congressional quarterly study, which because of voting in the south, who was on the ballot in what state, says that richard nixon actually got more popular votes than jack kennedy. and even if you didn't, it was incredibly narrow. only in six states does jack kennedy get more than 52% of the vote for those renewing gland, one is georgia, one of new york. new york is only 52% and neither is the landslide states. it goes to the middle of the night. jack kennedy goes to bed not knowing whether he's going to win or lose. although before he goes to that, he gets a call from mayor

richard daley of chicago, who says, senator, with a little help from your friends in chicago, you are going to be president of the united states of america. now considering the polls that close, there's a not a lot they can do legally at this hour. ..

>> no class. so jack kennedy has attained his ambition. and ultimately, it will be a question of all three ambitions being fulfilled. but be careful what you wish for. jack kennedy achieves the presidency, travels to dallas, and then what happens there? lyndon johnson becomes president of the united states, inheriting not only the officer jack kennedy, but also a little thing called vietnam. and he must leave the presidency under a cloud, very bitter, sad

man. which enables richard nixon to make his comeback. and in 1972, when he runs against hubert humphrey, or in 1972 after he has beaten hubert humphrey in 1968, there is the watergate break-in. a very mystifying event. not so much the cover-up being mystified, but the original motive. and one of the theories is that they are breaking in to, and they're breaking into the offices of kennedy loyalist, now the democratic national chairman, to ascertain what he knows about richard nixon's connections to howard hughes and certain payments of hughes to richard nixon. because o'briant had worked also for hughes. obviously was not pulling for richard nixon. and in the 1960 election, one of

those things and they're a million things you can say swung the election when it is that close that one of them are allegations in an october surprise during the end, a loan to the nixon for enterprise hit out in california called the nixon burgers. from howard hughes, a very unsecured sort of love which not only derailed, helped derail nixon in 1960, but also when he ran for governor of california in 1962. so it wasn't the shadow of 1962, which caused richard nixon's downfall, ultimately. so there you have a question and a case of three ambitions, finally realized, hopes and dreams finally destroyed, and three great personal presidential tragedies. thank you very much.

[applause] >> if we have any questions, raise your hand, and then the c-span microphone will seek you out. >> i have a question. i want to know whether you read seen frost/nixon yet, no one, what you thought of it? and secondly, there's a scene scene depicted in their that ostensibly happen before the final day of taping in which mix and lubricated and calls across at his hotel the night before and kind of engages in a very rambling discussion of how they are similar and how they both have these resentments? and i was wondering if that was lies and/or whether you had any information that that was actually called in the movie? >> you're at my advantage that i am not a great movie person in terms of going out to motion

pictures. but richard nixon was certainly lubricated the night he told the press in 1962, he will never have richard nixon to kick around. he was really blasted then. in terms of the bitterness, one thing i really didn't touch on was the eisenhower-nixon relationship, where he had been on really, on thin ice all through the 1950s. not only was he almost dumped from the ticket in 1952, he was almost dumped from the ticket in 1956. and eisenhower offered him a number of other posts if he would leave the vice presidency. and altering that election, eisenhower stayed away from him. there was a very telling moment at the republican national convention in 1960, where eisenhower flies into chicago.

as the motor day before a million or two people, everyone has a chance to see him and cheer him, and who does he ride in a limousine with? the chairman of the republican national committee, senator from kentucky, and dirksen. richard nixon is waiting for him at the hotel. he doesn't get to ride with it. and even election day, eisenhower flies, helicopters and to gettysburg to vote. comes out of the booth. the reporter state who did you vote for? eisenhauer points to his watch where there are little, tiny pictures in the face of the watch of his grandchildren. and he says i voted for them. he won't even didn't say he voted for nixon. and you can see why nixon was so insecure, because he was always fighting for his political life. and then, and i think by the 1960 election, increased that

bitterness and the question of vote stealing in chicago and texas. you know, historians may debate this, but if you're richard nixon, you've got to be thinking about this all the time when you say this is not going to happen to meet again. this is the way the game is played. i'm going to play. and he ultimately plays it very badly. yes? did you have your hand up? >> yes. you have a very amusing and ago toward the end of the book about richard nixon on election day 1960 would you care to share that with a? >> yes. richard nixon is, of course, the ultimate control freak, the button-down canada, the man who is running everything himself. unit, not exactly a free spirit. but on election day he goes off to vote and a little tract house in california and then gets in the car and goes to see his

mother, and such. and at some point just kind of, he instructed the driver to pull over. and the driver is pulled out of the car. nixon gets in behind the wheel and speeds off. he teaches the press. he ditches his entourage. he has two guys with them. his military guy and with the attaché. and a los angeles police sergeant, okay, imagine like joe friday in the back seat. [laughter] >> and he just wants to get away from everything. and he starts driving south from orange county, heading south and south. and bob finch, the press secretary doesn't know, no one knows where he is. where is the vice president? welcome he likes to go for a ride. we know where he is. finch has no idea where he is. he stopped for gas. he keeps going down. and somebody in the car says, mr. vice president, we are almost in tijuana.

tijuana, i haven't been there in 20 years. have you ever been there? no. let's go. [laughter] >> so election day the leader of the free world is like, you know, heading for tijuana. and he asks at the border was a good place to get some mexican food? [laughter] >> and they tell him. old heidelberg. so nixon, nixon spends his lunchtime at all heidelberg in tijuana getting mexican food, having some surveys the. and then he heads back and heads back across the border and the people at customs are like asking the usual customs questions to ask them, are you all citizens and nixon says, i am, but i don't know about the fellow in the back. [laughter] >> and he keeps driving north on economic and he gets near san juan, capistrano.

and this is one of my favorite catholic voices. let's stop. and he goes in -- this is in 1960. the first catholic president elected, which candidate spends the day in the catholic church? richard nixon. nuns are waiting to them, whatever. so that was richard nixon's excellent adventure, election day 1960. [laughter] >> so any other questions? yes? >> i'd like to know your opinion on the future of the national political convention in the light of everything being a done deal. do you think they're on the verge of becoming obsolete, or is it just too big of a commercial for the parties not to put on? there is no drama anymore it seems. >> wow. i guess i will preface whatever answer i managed to come up with by saying i am a historian, not

a profit. so it's always dangerous to predict, you know, history does help you get some perspective. it really helps you analyze things after they've happened. but we almost all a brokered convention this year. i mean, it didn't happen, but if the superdelegates have broken the other way, or if they had not come if they had just split, i mean, it could have been a first ballot or second bout thing. you could've had some tremendous tension. but you haven't. the whole -- if you get a feel which is so fractured, and if the thing is not strong -- it is now very compact, primary situation, so you get like mccain wrapping things up very quickly. and if things stretch out and you do have a fractured

convention and you do have for -- no front runner, then you can have an interesting convention. or you could have a big fight over platform, such as 1948, the civil rights with the democrats, or democrats in 1968. you can get some drama, even in the 1960 convention there was some drama over the platform. and richard nixon had flown to new york to kind of keep nelson rockefeller, which kicked off the conservatives which led to an aborted nomination for barry goldwater that year. and ultimately, help him win the nomination in 1964 and killed the whole direction of the republican party to this day. so you never know where these things, even though they seemed all -- one of the advantages i had in his book over theodore white who did the making of the

president, is i've got, you know, 40, 50 years of being able to see what turned out. he didn't have that advantage. he couldn't know the significance of goldwater, the republican convention or eugene mccarty at the democratic, or the hubert humphrey would turn out to be this, or that all three men would turn out to be president. he just didn't know. so the answer is, who knows? yes. >> you present a very balanced book, so what i'm going to ask is not in the book which makes me think it never happened, but i'm going to ask anyway. the theory has always been, and nixon says it in his book, six crises that he did not challenge the election in illinois because of his magnanimous nature. magnanimous nature and richard nixon are not synonymous. i was always told that the reason he did not challenge

chicago's votes is he was approached by the downstate republicans, don't open that box. we may have been out cheated. and it's not a question of magnanimous, but it is just don't go near it, let it go. and he doesn't address that. and you don't address it, which makes me wonder if it ever happened. >> i -- i think even -- i think one of the things, not so much magnanimity, but that he realized the mechanisms were not there to effectively challenge these things. we see -- what's going on in minnesota? how long does it take to count these things? and i'm not sure, did they -- state senate election claims they were counting until like last week. i mean, so particularly and statewide thing where the stakes

are so high, these recount mechanisms were not in place and could have, tied up the presidency for ever. who knows? i would just hazard a guess that chicago republicans or democrats, are better at stealing votes than downstate republicans. and are probably more votes to steal. now the theory is spreading, and i think it is apocryphal. summary said to nixon don't challenge only because we stole in kentucky. you know? i'm not sure where that comes from. i can never -- one of the things i worry about is as a historian, if you see something like that see anylmost like a throwaw documentation for it. where if you do think, the thing about chicago is the interesting thing about vote fraud in chicago in 1960 to me was the allegations of it, and the investigations of it, we're

beginning in october. that the stories were appearing in the chicago tribune, admittedly a republican newspaper, that day he was really gearing up to steal the election that year. not for jack kennedy. but there was a local grudge match where the state attorney like the district attorney of cook county was up for reelection. he was a former democrat, former daley ally. and he wanted to get this guy. big time. he wanted him out. and he wanted the governorship and all that other stuff. and if you gets to the presidency in the bargain, then so much the better. that was already -- that is a texas thing. one of those little things about texas and illinois is this. every mistake a losing candidate makes gets magnified, and everything the winning candidate or military campaign or does, tends to be not important

because you want. so when the allies were off laying in a beach and, that's not important here because you win. and nixon in the last week of the campaign flies out to alaska to keep the 50 state pledge, and all historians go, that's the dumbest thing. that's like, why is he doing this? aside from keeping his word which is like something you don't associate with richard nixon, but it's like, okay. jack kennedy is having the same problem. he wants to be in california, and he is stuck by his campaign people in new england, which is stupid. if -- alaska had been projected for democrats, richard nixon takes it, now if he doesn't lose -- or if he doesn't take alaska and he takes illinois and texas, say there is no fraud, and he doesn't get alaska's three electoral votes heeded loses an

electoral college by one vote. so the wheels are always turning in richard nixon said. anyway, i think that's about it for our timeframe. i thank you all very much for coming and for some great questions, and for a warm response. thank you very much. [applause] >> i should say, anyone who wants to buy a book, some of his other books will be there. >> david pietrusza is the author of several books including 1920, the year of six presidents, for more information on the author visit his website. >> brinegar is the co-author of making your case. mr. garvin, what's it like to write a book with a supreme court justice to? first of all it is an honor but

we had quite a few debates as we went along. the reason we wrote a book together is we have a very similar philosophy of writing. and advocacy. but when we got into the book we had some disagreements. so there were four debates in the middle of the books which are kind of fun. we have just done the odd io book. he would recession, i would read a section. but in the sections in which we had disputes, we would have our arguments back and forth. so is a lot of fun working with them. i would say he is -- just as clear as not all the way the public perceives him to the. in my view, he was surprisingly humbled to work with, and he acquiesced a good bit of a time when we disagreed. >> how did you get hooked up with him? >> originally i was interviewing all the supreme court justices

on their views on advocacy and on writing. and i have written a number of books on the subject. so i invited him to collaborate with me and he accepted that it was as simple as that. >> what are you from, and do you teach also? >> i do teacher i teach around the country. i have a copy called law prose, inc. and we do continuing legal education seminars for lawyers around the country. i teach at smu law school as well. but mostly what i do is teaching on the road, teaching lawyers. >> so if a layman picks up this book, "making your case," what will they learn? >> they are going to learn how to persuade, how to speak credibly, how to write credibly. in fact, there have been business people already write reviews of the book about how it could make them make better business -- help them made better business presentations. and how anyone in any kind of

argument can at least be sure that he or she has a cogent, logical argument. that's what the book is all about. >> bryan garner, along with justice khalil, "making your case: the art of persuading judges."

>> public monuments sculptor james kelly interviewed everyone he could find who had known president abraham lincoln. to create a realistic statue of the 16 president. mr. kelly never completed his lincoln sculpture, he kept thousands of pages of notes. these notes were discovered in the new york historical society and edited by william styple. >> in the opening scene of gone with the wind, scarlet o'hara tells the tarleton twins, war, war, war. if either of you say that word once more, i will go inside. ladies and gentlemen, the

sesquicentennial of the war has begun. last month at harpers ferry, was commemorated the 150th anniversary of john brown's raid, the official start of both the national and the virginia sesquicentennial commemoration. regretfully, unlike the centennial of 1961, there is no national committee to coordinate the observance of those four years and their lasting impact on america. two years from this very month will be the sesquicentennial of lincoln's grandview at bailey's crossroads in fairfax county, the events which led julia ward howe to return him to willard hotel and awakened the early morning hours to write her in mortal battle hymn of the republic. lincoln at the crossroads of lines is a organization that has been working the past two years to commemorate president lincoln's grand review of 70,000 soldiers. that so inspired julia ward

howe. tonight we are meeting to celebrate both the life of abraham lincoln and the vision of julia ward howe and her in mortal battle hymn. you are the true believers in the mystic chords of memory of the union president lincoln referred to and in the invasion of it expressed in julia ward howe's battle hymn of the republic. in the early 1990s, a virginia state highway marker was placed along route seven to denote president lincoln's grand review. the armored guard was under the review of captain of the fifth new york. a resident of bailey's crossroads at that time, was the late refugee from world war ii europe whose family had fled the ravages of europe after 1945, to come to america to start life anew. upon moving to bailey's, he came across information which told

him the story of lincoln's grandview, and of mrs. house in mortal battle hymn. house had come he thought. that this great man, this great event, this great hymn of the soul of america are lost on all but forgotten here in northern virginia. now his widow, maria, has formed lincoln at the crossroads alliance to awaken northern music to its audit. of lincoln's grand review, and her in mortal battle hymn of the republic. tonight we will hear from judge frank williams will deliver a few appropriate remarks about this young lawyer on the prairie state of illinois. mr. but bill stiefel tell us about his new book, "tell me of lincoln," and also give us a first person account of the grandview that he has discovered. mr. doug jamerson and his music

ensemble will continue their delightful musical serenade later in evening. we will perhaps be joined by sarah epstein, who will delight us with a story of for great, great great grandparents and how they helped mr. lincoln here as president-elect or and it is a frosting on the desert, as he wishes as it was, maria elaina may have a wonderful announcement to close the evening. and now, allow me to briefly introduce the honorable frank williams recently retired chief justice of the rhode island supreme court who will deliver a few appropriate remarks about this magnificent young lawyer from illinois. judge frank williams hails from rhode island, where he served for seven years as chief justice of the rhode island supreme court. while serving in that high position, the president of the united states also as chief justice williams to serve on the military commissions review panel with the rank of major

general. judge williams is acknowledged to be one of america's leading authorities on the life and time of the young prairie lawyer from illinois. he has served as founding chairman of the lincoln forum, president of the u.s. grant association for 12 years. he served as president of the lincoln group of boston. and for nine years as president of the abraham lincoln association. judge williams is the author or editor of over 11 books on mr. lincoln, the latest of which is lincoln lesson, reflections on america's greatest leader. co-authored with william petersen and published by the southern illinois university press this year. judge williams is currently working on an annotated pickle out of the of all of the lincoln titles published since 1865. he should have that completed this weekend. [laughter] >> and at the same time, is writing a book