you know, win jenny authored the first white house memoir it was a private printing. i don't believe there were more than 150 to 200 coffees. so really is quite remarkable that it survived at all and wasn't altogether obscured and lost over the years.

and in part we do have daniel mary to thank for that because that assistant librarian of congress helped put together an exposition in 1900 on the works of negro authors and that included paul jennings. this in contrast to solomon northrop, 12 years of slaves. there were 8,000 copies printed and sold in just the first month when it came out in 1853 and many thousands and thousands followed. i am grateful to dangle murray and the library of congress that jennings's memoir is still there. and i thank you for preserving our heritage and i thank you for your kind attention. [applause]

>> we are grateful to beth not only for the research that went into this story but also to highlighting a little bit of the library of congress history and our own story. part of the american story. we are not done yet. we have a question and answer period. i did not mention deliberately that this discussion is going to continue on facebook. where you can learn about your own remarks to the ongoing discussion we are about to start. i would like to ask those who have questions for beth to come to the microphone and i also will be able to assure you that we have until 1:00 until the signing starts.

let's start with one round of applause are excellent speaker today. [applause] >> will someone take the first step? i will ask the first question and i expect others to follow. i have an easy question. what was it like to be on the john stewart show? what preparation did you do mentally before you took that first step? >> the publicist at my publishers landed this i didn't know if until one evening when i got my house in virginia after being here in washington picking up my son who was a college student at american university bringing them home for the christmas holiday and when i got

back there were six telephone messages and 20 e-mails. you have been booked on the john stewart show and make travel arrangements. my son being 21 is a prime john stewart fan. i said i know you are not going to believe this but i will be a guest on the john stewart show and since it was not christmas vacation leaders will he coached me asking me questions as if i was on the show for that period of two weeks and i tried to get a grip on my nerves which i finally did the afternoon of the taping that evening. the experience would be fun for me as indeed it was. the entire thing was one of the most privileged and enjoyable experiences -- jon stewart is my

new best friend. i do feel i have him to thank for this vigorous book sale. >> wondering if you have a sense of his personality and if it was what you expected when you set >> the question was what sense i got of paul jennings's personality and i did get the ideal as time went by. there were a couple side note. he was an intelligent, courteous -- these are all descriptions that would come up. he plays the violin. he liked to read. he was steady and precise. he was patriotic. he had another side where he was able to express freedom.

i feel like he was the man about town in washington. he married three times. the last time at age 70. sylvia jennings alexander, is great granddaughter said franklin described him as a gym dandy. he thought he was hot stuff at times and if he had any extra money, and i think about -- in a gino 9 versus the ten-year-old boy and living and dying in northwest washington, dying at the age of 75, take one thing like the u.s. capitol and imagine how he saw it evolve over the years, burned by the british and by the civil war coming to its prominent -- as it

looks today. never did see the washington monument completed. that rose to one 1/3 of its planned height and for 25 years remained. >> i was about to ask how long it took you to save up and how long did he get a chance to enjoy it? >> let me say a little more about his wife and freedom. daniel webster advanced his purchase price. it would have taken him close to a couple years to pay that back at the rate of $8 a month and he worked for webster for four years but then he decided he wanted other kind of job. and he was a good network and what he did was get a letter of recommendation from daniel webster, found the original in

the papers of albert chapman. he is from orange county. he was a cousin of madison's. he was working as a clerk in the department of the interior and next thing you know jennings gets the job in the department of the interior. is easy for me to imagine him taking this letter of recommendation webster wrote for him, and paul jennings on the envelope but handing it over to his contact, working those connections who gets him a job in the department and he had a steady but low-level government job and these are coveted among free black men, hope to aspire to in terms of a livelihood. he worked in detention office under the department of the

interior for 15 years. >> a fascinating project. what about it and tells you to tell the story and bring it forward? of 20 years and i saw the opportunity to make a small contribution by telling a full restore a of the african-american heritage at these sites. it is important to tell this story. at the two presidential plantations it is all the more poignant and important to do so. i had that on going -- paul jennings became the focus of my study because of this memoir. i thought my question, it is a precious document and quite

interesting but when you finish it you feel like saying what about you? i wish you had included more about yourself. and the visitors who came to mind the earlier --montpelier were interested too. they never came out with a new edition and i thought i will bring that out, reminiscences themselves and a biographical essay with them. and i got more ambitious from there until it turned into a full-length book. >> he mentioned he died at 75. where is he married? in washington? >> he was buried in harmony cemetery which is southeast and that was ok except as the years

went by that burial ground became very much overrun with weeds. as some of you may know the burials were dug up in maryland except i don't know if there are other cases but paul jennings remains never made the trip. sylvia jennings alexander, paul jennings's great-grandmother remembered cousin pauline crying they lost grandpa paul. also -- barre in harmony cemetery, where remains are at this moment are unknown.

>> when i first met beth she was at monticello and she recalled the story to me a little earlier. i haven't seen her for a number of years. i knew she was working on this book and she came wandering down the hall and hour before the stock and i knew it had to be beth because she was carrying a decrepit back to the center. given more than how many years ago? >> 12 years ago. >> i said that must be beth. better check it out. then i saw the condition of the bag and said that speaks well to the credibility and quality of our products. in addition to thanking her and telling her we would like you to line up over here for the book signing and have a line around

wall, i would like to present beth with a brand-new bag that is in great shape. never been used. i will not take this one back. sentimental value. join me one more time in thanking beth for a wonderful talk. >> thank you. [applause] >> visit booktv.org to watch any of the programs you see here on line. type the author or book title in the search bar on the upper left of the page and click search. click share on the upper left side of the page by selecting the format. booktv streams live online every weekend with top nonfiction books and authors.

>> governor bobby jindal is scheduled to reveal his plan for balancing the state budget. a bludgeoned 9 added million dollars in the red. it is mostly cloudy and 37 degrees at the airport. and 38 in mandan. you are listening to shreveport news and radio. >> we explore the history of literary history of shreveport louisiana starting at noon eastern on booktv. the union army's fell year from one dam blunder from beginning to end. a look at the 200,000 books of the nobel collection at the lsu shreveport archives. american history tv on c-span 3 at 5:00 p.m. eastern, a look at

the role of 9/11, what the founding fathers autograph collection at the museum and from the pioneer heritage center, medical treatments and medicine during the civil war. shreveport, louisiana next weekend on c-span2 and 3. here's a look at some upcoming book fares and festivals. 37th book fair will take place on march 2nd and third in arlington, virginia highlighting rare books, prints and maps and 75 book dealers. on march 10th and eleventh booktv will be live from the tucson festival of books and the campus of the university of arizona. this will cover numerous talks ranging from the great depression to forensic science. in late march booktv will visit charlottes ville for the festival of books.

in april the university of california will host the sixth annual literary art. the festival will feature keynote speakers of mclean and lisa c.. for complete list of upcoming festivals visit booktv.org and click on the book fares at the top of the page and fetus -- let us know about fares in your area and we will add to our list. e-mail us at booktv@c-span.org. >> up next jonathan hanson -- jonathan hansen presented history of guantanamo bay. the u.s. naval base and prison's guantanamo said its continued usage. it is a little over an hour. >> i want to thank everyone for coming. tonight is special because we have c-span's booktv filling and that will be on tv in a few

weeks and during the question and answer session, the last people to go to the mike for the questions will be heard. i just want to say this is sponsored by friends of belmont public library and we're thrilled to have jonathan hansen here to talk about his book "guananamo: an american history". his book details america's century long fascination with cuba from the founding fathers plans to expand u.s. commerce for control of guantanamo bay to today's notorious prisons for notorious combatants. many of you have seen his op-ed piece in the new york times entitled give guantanamo back to cuba. i'm sure people will have questions about that later on. jonathan is a lecturer at of social studies at harvard and author of the lost art of patriotism debating american identity 1890-1920. this is sponsored by friends of belmont public library. miriam mcnabb takes care of

publicity. also want to thank maureen o'connor, director of the library. [applause] >> thank you. i want to begin with a heartfelt -- heartfelt thanks to the friends of the library. people who appreciate the gift that is a book. not to say my book is a gift. only to say book lovers appear to be a fairly endangered species. so thanks to jenny and c-span and belmont and all of you for turning out on a school night. nice to be among friends and friends of friends and maybe friends to be. although friendship doesn't apply by agreement. i look forward to questions and

comments and criticism. come to think of it, skeptics, naysayers, enemies are welcome too. this is a public library. i begin with a riddle. what do sixteenth century indian chiefs and seventeenth century french corsair, 18th-century american colonist of delight teen century u.s. contraband slave trader, fugitive from castro's cuba and and hiv-positive refugees from haiti have in common? anybody? you get the full answer, you have to read the book. here's a hint. all stock guantanamo as a promised land. a land of second chance legally spring board that could bring them closer to their dreams of peace and thunder, freedom and opportunity, reunion and rebirth. the idea of guantanamo as a

promised land for its uneasily with a place we know post 9/11. this evening i will try to illustrate that by telling a story of one of the characters from that opening riddle, 18th-century american colonists. in this case lawrence washington, half-brother to george. first went to slay the appetite of those who expected to hear something about host 9/11 guantanamo. that is also a critical part of the book. like many here today i became interested in guantanamo in the spring of 2004 when the guantanamo and abu ghraib scandals were breaking over the media. the u.s. historian interested in political, legal and moral boundaries of state, i was curious about a place but beyond the reach of cuba and u.s. and international law. you may remember in the aftermath of 9/11 the bush administration defended the

denial of constitutional protection for guantanamo detainees on the grounds that guantanamo was simultaneously sovereign territory of cuba and hence outside constitutional jurisdiction and yet at the same time within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the united states and beyond the reach of international torture prohibition. cuba contradicted what i thought i knew about the subsequent occupation of cuba. i decided to take another look. what i discovered refutes the bush policy emphatically. the united states -- in one of the opening salvos of what americans call the spanish-american war. we retain the bay during subsequent u.s. population of cuba and forced cuba to leave the bay as part of the notorious amendment that brought formal

occupation of guantanamo to a close. in may of 1902. in short cuba has never been sovereign in guantanamo bay. it is u.s. lot or nothing there. the book pushes back against recent attempts by bush administration officials to justify their calamitous policies in guantanamo and elsewhere on the grounds that the terrorist attacks were so heinous and unprecedented that no other response could be imagined. second, the u.s. public unanimously endorsed such responds. feared that criticism of bush policy amounts to monday morning quarterbacking and forth, torture of prisoners at guantanamo and elsewhere is all that stood between america and another terrorist attacks. all of which is nonsense. criticism of bush administration policy at guantanamo and elsewhere has not emerged only recently. nor has it emanated largely from

liberals or outsiders. internal opposition to the policies unfolding in washington was immediate and unequivocal. the fact that many high ranking bush should illustration officials, many new to the challenge of national security chose to ignore the council, does not make it go away. if a unanimous call to protect americans at any cost did not drive u.s. attention and interrogation policies at guantanamo, what did? there are many ways to explain the debacle but all of them coalesce around politicization of national security policy at the expense -- anti intellectualism in american life. a leading authority on torture in system marcy succumb to torture when military influence overwhelms civilian political institutions. in the case of guantanamo the reverse seems to be the case.

the torture and abuse that occurred there is attributable to the transfer of national security policy out of the hands of seasoned military and national security in the clutches of an intimate group of pellicle ideologues. dick cheney and david rumsfeld and john you, i would be related -- delight to return to post 9/11 guantanamo in the queue and day. for now on want to acknowledge there's something new and indeed criminal about the bush did ministrations's attempt to write torture into law yet at the same time i want to question the widespread assumption that post 9/11 constitutes a historical anomaly, a fall from grace. does it indeed? the answer i want to suggest depends on one's historical perspective. let's stretch our gauges back before the american revolution.

to the expansionist dreams of an over populated and economically strapped british colony sandwiched between the appalachian mountains and the atlantic seaboard. only at the beginning can we truly understand guantanamo's abiding presence in united states history for what it is. namely a product of a nation's liberal political economy that is its universal, moral and political aspirations on the one hand and its appetite for land, labor, resources and markets on the other. our liberalism makes as generous. anyone can be part of the great american republican experiment at least in theory yet at the same time our liberalism makes us presumptuous, often predatory. what is good for us is good for you whether you like it or not. that paradox is visible in

american conquest of north america. it is in our interaction with latin american states. and contemporary involvement in the middle east and our continuing occupation of guantanamo bay. now for a little history. my story begins on july 18th, 1741, when admiral vernon led 62 ships with 3,000 british troops and 1,000 jamaican slave through the entrance of guantanamo bay. several hundred american economists, survivors of a much larger colonial -- joined the expeditionary force targeting spain in the war of jenkins year. vernon put an immediate liking to the day. not ten days before renaming along with two rivers and selecting the ideal spot on

which to build a new city. he was not alone in thinking of the finest harbor in the west indies and americans too are quick to report, begins to look on it as a land of promise already. so who were these americans? most of the 3300 colonists mustard into the british ranks had been struggling to make ends meet in a sluggish political colonial economy. at home a burgeoning population combined with conflict along the colonial frontier, access the land of broad a spanish monopoly on trade in the west indies throttled colonial commerce and industry. the result was a society characterized by frenzied geographical activity, nobility, or leaving a chance, these americans were desperately on the move.

lured south by a promise of a share in any. be taken from the enemy american colonists met with crushing disappointment on arrival in the in these. with the matter of days some 300 colonists were stricken with yellow fever, dysentery and malaria and scurvy claimed more lives than any spanish arms. and the inexplicable delays flood the campaign from the start. two month it languished in jamaica, british strongholds legal worsening the element of surprise, inviting further disease and introducing colonies to that particular brand of snobbery, british disdain. in this unhappy climate really stood out not only for british and colonial interests as one and the same. as well as a seasoned sailor, drawn to the more cultivated americans and one in particular.

lawrence washington. 23-year-old capt. in one of the virginia company's. british educated and immensely ambitious washington came to vernon's attention for his leadership in an unsuccessful assault in -- back in for royal vernon struck up a lasting friendship with young washington before they embarked for cuba and guantanamo. washington and vernon's conversation in the wardroom aboard vernon's flag ship, possible to imagine something of its content. washington likely confirm his impression that the colonies were about land. washington himself granted it was a vehicle of wealth and advancement rather than a means of subsistence. from the years 1657 when lawrence's father john washington first arrived at the

potomac, washingtons improved themselves speculators snatching up much -- several eligible bride's. a vocation accorded firsthand knowledge not only the virginia countryside but the frontier territory west of the appalachians. he was his father's sun. exposure to ravages of war do not distract him from the issue of the day. i hope we are secured he wrote from augustine to pour royal which of 5 return i will make use of as my dwelling. the lasting question consisted of 2500 acres from little hunting creek, virginia which augustine transferred just before he embarked in the indies. warrants would rename his

virginia estate mount vernon after his interlocutor. lawrence likely confided his hopes for the ohio country which judging from his activity upon returning to virginia was taught most on his mind. by january of 1743, the year his father died. lawrence carried on the family tradition. mary anne fairfax and working powerful political alliances, pursuing his iron interest back and forth. trans-atlantic -- paid off in 1747 but along with a group of prominent virginia and english investors he founded the ohio company of virginia eventually winning a grant of 200,000 acres near present-day pittsburgh, pennsylvania. those who tapped the resources

of ohio country had to figure out a way to bring its fruit to market. to impractical to carry it east over the appalachian mountains to baltimore, new york and philadelphia. better to ship it down the allegheny and ohio rivers of the lead to the mississippi river and the gulf of mexico. this has bigger questions about access to the french port of new orleans and also regional and hemispheric shipping lanes at the time largely in control of spain. here's where vernon must have cut in. had washington not already heard from his father the surveyor he would have learned from vernon that plans for developing the american hinterland -- the yucatan channel of the florida strait and the windward passage. the mississippi river drains into the gulf of mexico as everybody knows but the gulf of mexico as part of a regional

circulation system that governs access to its various parts. current in the gulf of mexico flow clockwise. it enters through the yucatan channel and exit through the florida straits. travel against that current is difficult in the age of sail and often impossible which meant ships access to the gulf of mexico through the caribbean this -- the caribbean in turn had many entryways but few deep passageways deegan none deeper and more convenient than north america than the windward passage on which sits guantanamo bay. in short cuba was the gravitational center, the country that controlled cuba would command trade and traffic not only in the atlantic seaboard and north american continent but the western hemisphere itself. after arriving in guantanamo with high hopes, what he found

exceeded expectations. it is not simply that guantanamo afforded ready access, nor that the bay could ignore the entire sleep or better protection from tropical storms than port royal. it was ideally situated for shipping throughout the caribbean all of which was true but put guantanamo over the top, and its native slender, and fertile plains. a fatal disagreement between the navy and the army doomed the exploration. surprising absence of spanish troops from guantanamo to the british army never advanced. after 29 days, need is the absence of the enemy or the establishment of a secure camp in do is turn halves army camp, to move.

vernon set off on the local country site on his own. he boarded a long boat and headed up to guantanamo river. he was delighted by what he found, exaggerated by his fear of losing it. i thought it the most beautiful prospect i ever saw. to go up a navigable river, all the way with lean trees on both sides appearing like a green fence. he crested a hill to come face-to-face with the west indies. and the river was the farthest navigable. occupied a rise along the river as beautiful a situation for a town as any with a fertile soil behind it. takes only a little imagination to wonder if that could have been the site of the original

mount vernon. glowing accounts of guantanamo began to sweep the colony as their unrealized campaign was over. in early autumn of 1741 newspapers up and down the atlantic seaboard announced almost accurately that admiral turner arrived in cuba and land forces were assured a village a small distance from the city. more detailed descriptions of guantanamo accompanied british transport north. the finest harbor i ever saw. a plasm 5 and that i have been in. a country laden with good and horses. a place as healthy -- wild hogs and indian corn in abundance. water plenty and pure, as good as any i have seen. these are some of the images that distracted beleaguered colonists anticipating a long winter. make the best here. one writer urged a friend.

make no doubt that we shall in a short time have possession of the whole place and first come first serve, now or never for a plantation on the island of cuba. unfortunately for the americans and their supporters, british land officers did not share for naps enthusiasm. colonial troops overheard the european protesting be asked to expose their lives to procuring settlements. this is one of the earliest instances of the use of americans describing colonists that we know of. the army's opposition was enough. to carry the day. as the odds of delivering his land of promise -- laverne consultants of with the thought that he understood the americans correctly. my inclination 7 entirely informal, he wrote, to what i

believe is the principal motive of all american officers engaging in service. the hopes of being settled in the west indies and in cuba to all other places. this left turn and vernon ready to go to higher latitudes. were reported to camp on fire. mr. wentworth having marched down and embarked on madison's ship, crew mates of vernon, completing self emulation. three weeks later on december 6th, he set fire to a fine new battery at the center of the bay and sailed out of guantanamo never to return. americans by contrast would be back. not these americans to be sure. not any time soon but soon

enough. before any power including spain would occupy guantanamo and exploit its riches. the original american recruits survived the expedition. massachusetts sent 500 troops and returned 50. verizon returned 20. astounding figures replicated throughout the colony. lawrence washington was among the fortunate to return to the colony's securing vernon's place in american history. a stubborn case of tuberculosis accompanied him home. late in 1743, by the end of the decade ultimately killing him on july 26, 1752, at the age of 33. it was left to lawrence washington's half brother george to transform mount vernon from the solemn epitaph to a bungled

military campaign in to the triumphant some elimination. the more mount vernon became associated with its new owner to further its connection to guantanamo bay receded. so that today guantanamo's place in american history is all but forgotten. guantanamo was there at the beginning and has been there ever since, reflecting and sometimes shaking aspirations and institutions of people who like to call themselves americans and of the american people to whom they have been so closely and controversially tied. so there's a taste of historical guantanamo. i would like to say a few words about where we are today. i always thought audiences should be suspicious when a story turned into contemporary affairs and they should run for the door when we move into the

future. given the subject and the occasion, tenth anniversary of the opening of guantanamo prison i hope you will indulge me just a little. we can debate at the end of the talk. the tenth anniversary of the opening of the guantanamo prison, safe to say guantanamo presidential is more public and political support today that any time in its ten year history. in poll after poll taken since president obama took office americans have overwhelmingly rejected the idea of closing the prison and transferring its population. in december of 2010, just before ceding its majority, democratically controlled congress dealt a near fatal blow to the administration's effort by prohibiting the president from transferring detainees to the united states, from

constructing a prison on u.s. soil and from repatriating detainee's without a signed a guarantee from the secretary of defense that freed detainees would not return to battle. something the secretary of defense in his right mind would ever give. all these provisions incidentally were enacted without parliamentary and virtually without any public notice. 13 days ago on new year's eve the president signed a new national defense authorization act which reinforced last year's legislation and then some. the president's apparent stipulation of the prison only confirms what politicians have been telling us for the last several years. we are all guantanamo now. how many of you noted the opening of the first military tribunal to occur on mr. obama's

watch? when guantanamo officials -- the alleged mastermind of the 2000 attack on the uss cole. 17 americans died. this is a capital case. the commission goes forward next week. should the guantanamo commission declared him guilty the president will find themselves in the awkward position of presiding over the first military execution. one can only imagine the headlines blazing across the media. guantanamo execution, obama put to death detainee u.s. torture. how has this come to pass? much of the responsibility belongs to the bush administration. he is no ordinary defendant. captured in the united arab emirates he was transferred to

u.s. custody and taken to afghanistan and poland where he was water boarded, friend with an electric drill and warned that his family would be treated the same treatment if he didn't tell his interrogators what they wanted to hear. after arriving in guantanamo in 2006 he retracted a confession given under torture about his leadership of the coal attack. strongest evidence consists of secondhand here say inadmissible in federal court. the convicted driver of osama bin laden told an fbi agent he heard them boasting about the attacks while at al qaeda safe house in afghanistan in april of 2001. the degree of coercion that produce that information is anybody's test. some of the responsibility rests with congress to maintain and exploit the fear that allow the american public to turn a blind

eye -- conservatives managed to convince rational individuals -- tried to accuse -- too dangerous and costly. notwithstanding the record of success of prosecutions and sentences in such cases tend to be far more severe than those meted out by the guantanamo military commission. in the case exemplifies the supposed inability of a federal court system to handle terrorist crimes, the alleged planner of the 1998 east african embassy attack was given a light sentence. after obama -- before obama shut the system down was given five months in addition to time already served. the charges on which the two were convicted were the same. material support for terrorism.

it is worth emphasizing that the sentence handed down in guantanamo by contract is nine months to australian david hicks. meanwhile in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, congressional democrats are only too happy to play along with equal opportunity blaming. we are accused of soft on terrorism and join the transfer of detainees but nearly reconcile themselves to the status quo. when this is -- compared to what presidential candidate referred to as straight talk over guantanamo. surely much of the responsibility rests with mr. obama himself. in august of 2007 obama told woodrow wilson center for international callers that as president he would jettison the guantanamo military commission.

trying to terrorists, guantanamo was the perfect failure. mr. obama vowed to close guantanamo and reject the military commission and adhere to the geneva convention. demonstrating to all the world that law is not subject to the whims of stubborn rulers and justice is not arbitrary. election campaigns are aspirational, the challenge confronting presidents is practical but mr. obama insisted a series of reforms carried out after he took office put the guantanamo commission on par with federal courts and military courts in terms of constitutional safeguards the logic alone refutes this and standards are equal, why do we need both? more of a military tribunal historically object of last resort rather than political convenience as they appear to be today. it exudes the width of an

administration cherry picking the venue which seems likely to produce a favored outcome. hardly the evidence of the judicial system be politicized. by allowing for a pilot review and admitting here say evidence and ignoring the sixth amendment safeguard of confrontation among other defects the commission virtually guaranteed that guilty verdicts would be mired in protracted appeal. in short the candidate got it right that the guantanamo commissions are unjust and unnecessary and not the path to swift justice americans deserve. mr. obama bears responsibility for the position in which he now finds itself in another way. those who cannot remember the past condemned to repeat it the philosopher george santayana was remarkably died out the history repeats itself but there is absolute -- evidence that those who ignore it -- why is mr.

obama failed to deliver on his promise to close the guantanamo prison? the president can't move forward because he has been unwilling to look back. there's no rigorous public accounting of the crimes committed there and noah count how they fit into more distant history. if i could repeat my history. post 9/11 guantanamo has not been the historical anomaly you like to believe. in selecting guantanamo as the place where prison holds detainee's beyond the reach of u.s. constitutional protections the boy should ministrations chose a site that was used that way before. in the 1990s under presidents bush 1 and clinton when as many as 85,000 haitian and cuban refugees were detained behind barbed wire and guantanamo bay, in two separate estimate -- episodes of to two years that policy dates back to the 1970s when u.s. immigration officials

first broached the idea of using guantanamo as a facility for haitian people on the same ground with no due process. united states process the refugees out of sight of prying journalists and human rights lawyers and so the record goes. it strikes me an american public, with the facts of u.s. activity in guantanamo would seem less likely to remain complacent. and informed public shut during the prison and military commission and thereby saving mr. obama -- from obama's notoriety. where does this leave us going forward? this is where you might run for the exit. in the face of these

developments, this impenetrable block on closing the prison i came to the conclusion that president obama truly wants to close the present the most realistic way to do so at this point would be to begin negotiations with cuba. the navy neither needs nor wants the base and only hold on to win as a goodwill gesture granted in to the state department and taking one. guantanamo is expensive. is the debate whether to shut or make permanent the prison is a mucu0@o cf1 o make permanent the prison is a much deeper failure of the personal implicates all of us left right and center, continued occupation of guantanamo itself. it is past time to return this colonial legacy to cuba. from the moment a government force cuba to leave the bay in

june 1901, the american presence has been more than a thorn in castro's side. reminds people the world over of america's long history of intervention. few gestures have a salutary effect on the current impact in american cuban relations over the bay. as i return one last time to historical window that preceded guantanamo. that came about as troubling as human activity there. in 1980 -- 898, american forces interfered in cuba have struggled for interest hu- independents transforming the cuban war of independence with the spanish-american war. american officials excluded the army from the armistice and excluded cuba from the paris

peace conference. and the there's so much natural a grand grief, in january of 1899 after the peace treaty was signed that the people haven't been able to celebrate the triumph of the eno of their former ruler's power. the declaration of war includes the assurance that they did not seek jurisdiction or control and contift ed to leave the government in control of the island to its people and this defies two centuries of america aspirations to q. clearly something would have to be done. cuba would have to remain -- remain independent and the u.s. would have to retain the naval base from which to exercise its authority. general leonard wood, u.s.

military governor of cuba, provisions that became known -- two were particularly odious to cuba. one guaranteeing the united states the right to intervene at will in cuban affairs and the other providing for the sale or lease of what would be the naeml rftation. robert no gomez, leading delegate to the constitutional convention remarked the amendment was rendered a facile people. anticipating the cuban missile crisis he warned moving bases on cuban soil withdraw cuba into a conflict not of our own making in which we have no stw ce. they got the message. it left cuba under the parliament for the new american president theodore roosevelt in october of 1901.

the more sensible cubans realized this and feel the only insistence is to seek annexation. withs in place who needed annexation. klystron and one journalist remarked little by little the island is falling into the hands of the americans. how did this look from cuba's perspective? imagine the end of the american revolution if they decided to remain here? the french refused to allow washington and his army to attend the artist at yorktown

and congress a seat at the treaty of paris, prohibited appropriation of tory property, occupied new york harbor, dispatched troops and other popular rebellions and integrated to the colonies in droves matching up the most valuable land. such is the context in which the united states came to occupy guantanamo. history excluded from american textbooks but it is a history that motivated the 1959 revolution, another story. throughout latin america and explained why guantanamo remains a similar hypocrisy around world. if president obama were to initiate the process of returning on, to cuba he might not only begin to put the

mistakes of last week in years behind him but rectify an age old grievance and lay the groundwork for new relations with cuba in the western hemisphere and around the world. obviously there is a long weekend talked-about. let me close with my favorite passage from the project. it remains for reasons i am at a loss to explain how of the book on the cutting room floor. it returns to the counterintuitive seem of people using guantanamo as a springboard to fulfil their dreams. this time you will meet one of the last characters from my riddled the grisly cuban fugitive. in this case from castro's cuba. cubans celebrate september 8th as the nativity of the virgin. a day of miracles and wonder.

going up the windward passage of santiago go to cuba the morning of september 8th. 1994, need all the help we can get. leaving cuba for good balancing the u.s. naval base at guantanamo bay. the previous month cuban president fidel castro opened cuba to emigration. in response to u.s. immigration officials established a temporary processing center at the naval base. cubans capable of making it to guantanamo could expect to meet -- end up in the united states. river had the president and castro were about to sign an immigration accord. the window of opportunity appeared to be closing. for the crew of the miracle in spanish, the day had begun early. they hoped to reach the beach north of santiago by 7:00 a.m. but first they had together little motorboats to water.

not one but two internal combustion engines, unreliable in cuba and their truck broke down. after convincing a passing motorist to ferry them to the beach they departed an hour late bidding goodbye to stricken friends and family. after dispersing to the small town just north of santiago, the site of an epic battle in the cuban spanish-american war people what were the odds of making it 40 miles down the coast? better than those of fellow exiles who attempted 90 miles across the strait where the prevailing winds and current threatened to drive them into the atlantic. it is an overstatement to call many of the vessels that left cuba that summer boats which is why these immigrants are known as raptors after the craft on which many of them took to the sea. it was a true boat.

howard by 11 engine heading directly into the wind and waves. difficult but doable. every minute mattered and she was already running late. the windward passage really tranquil is called in early morning. ..

immediately sprang into action, where is to anxious relatives back home, but this can take hours and sometimes days some. by among the last out judge loaded onto a tiny micro was a bird cage covered by a sheet inside of which pigeons' hesitated but a car ride it perverted moderates -- it provided modest food. but communication. homing pigeons trained by one of the passengers taking the givens into custody. but not before he tore the seat

of the cage, spurring the latch release the pages into the air. within minutes it took five minutes the disappeared over the mountain ramparts that lines the cuban southeast coast. some five hours later around 4:00 p.m. the two black specks data the sky. the boren note. we arrived safely at 11:00 a.m. at guantanamo naval base. thank you for listening. [applause] so questions are asked to lineup. batting the main and ask a

question from the floor. you have to come up. >> okay. i have a question. in your following of the republican primaries, shall we say, iowa and new hampshire this far, have you heard any questions at all about guantanamo? >> over the last several weeks i have heard no -- not much talk about autonomy. mitt romney, but two months ago or three months ago said that he was really dying to make it permanent. and so in that way he was just reflecting opinion, unit, a majority of republican opinion but conservative democratic opinion. but i have not read it time. as i say, this congress recently passed a new defense, national defense authorization act.

that makes it as tough as it was last year for guantanamo, president obama's to do anything to the present because by and large is simply withhold funds to bring transfer detainees. so there would have to go around congress, and i think that would create a political firestorm. so i have not heard a town about it. has anyone else? i don't know. i am sure that if you look carefully enough they're saying something about it, but it is mostly that they want to keep it -- [inaudible] i'm sorry, we cannot hear anyone from the floor. no. [inaudible] >> -- >> he wanted to increase the number of prisoners,. >> says part of the legislation.

they're going to use guantanamo now to house. it's interesting. several years ago there was an argument at the time of the surge that maybe it was imprudent for us to close one, given that there is a modicum of habeas corpus and a modicum of transparency, modicum, mind you. where else are we detainees, and under what conditions and how long. 3,000 detainees at the moment in bagram. who knows where else. being held in conditions that apparently are not as good, people say, at guantanamo. so in guantanamo is not a happy place. interesting. so romney wants to increase the number, and that is in very good company. >> the question. >> so, we had kind of take it as a historical inevitability that the u.s. is there, but if castro ever was there during his might,

did he ever tried to take over guantanamo? was never in jeopardy? >> that's a good question. >> and what is that defense like the tester actually never made into. >> so, once, has served both castro as having something to rail against. the american interest in having this in castro's side, but a way to smart. the united states has been looking for a cease to just rant to cuba and taken over. castro was way too smart to create a reason to do that at guantanamo bay. but to keep the americans from trying to stage any number of things bella let me read you a fantastic set of ideas about this. this is random. this is a quote, list a pretax. this is in 1961 are too.

a list of pretexts to justify u.s. military interventions, u.s. state department for national-security writing. a list a pretext to justify u.s. military intervention in cuba, and this included a number register potential actions undertaken at or near the naval base. as series of well coordinated incidents we plan to take place by hostile cuban forces. they try to make credible cure an attack on the naval base. of the fence to stage an attack. -acute in funding and said the base. suraya said the base. start fires, burning aircraft of were cells, capture sultans oppressing from the sea of the vicinity, cash and military groups, said avatars ships, we could blow up the u.s. ship in guantanamo bay and blame cuba. the blow of a drone vessel.

we can arrange to cause such incidents in the vicinity as spectacular result of to attack. the u.s. to follow up with an air-sea rescue operation. i've read here, this was an investor is unwilling to play hardball. these are can the liberals. the solutions having been opened yet. we could sink about flow of cubans on real -- on route to florida. we can foster a temps on lives of u.s. -- of refugees to leave unpublicized. exploding a few plastic bombs in carefully chosen spots and on and on and went. it makes for good reading. there you have it. yes. a lot of talk was aware of it. he tried to, you know, basically static.

yes, and ask questions, but according to the rules the guy in because of this stage. >> only on page 87, what is fascinating the luster of the united states relations is a jury is that your friend has. they're tainted, i would say. there is always some wish to take tennant to procure got to gain access to, get rid of those who are there and then on 87 of american interests and urge the purge of the interiors.

our dear mr. teddy roosevelt, then assistant secretary of the navy that is now on involved in these matters it -- machinations . >> plenty says then as now where people seemed to me, you don't have to be a lead tech to believe some much of this. the idea that we have guys, we will destroy and alleyways to cuba. part of the book one of the things i insist on, one of the arguments, a wreath at zagreb this argument from political autonomy is because my point is that, as i say, analysts say it again, we all sort of implicated. look at our standard of living in a world of gross disparity. that takes force. guantanamo is essential to american nation making the kid. naked nation -- nation making could hit hours, it's a intriguing. i said that this talk, the one

nation. a liberal political economy resumes growth and expansion. the great african american credit, the term the 20th-century looking at will or one and the race. he said, a proponent of democracy, wanted african-americans to be included as well as other people, women, you name it. on whose burden, whose back will fall the burden of rising votes amidst all people across the world. verdugo, marsh? where do we get those resources? in the world sustain a rising standard of living across the glow? i don't know. i have a file law who is a physicist who claims that may be through energy conservation we could do it, but he knows.

yes, there were arrows come on, what point is that one tunnel serves all of our interests community now like to admit. you know, it is technical sense. you want the truth. you can't stand the truth. there is an element of that. a lot of the wonderful people i met with in guantanamo and the military said that even though they did not have to. >> please. >> just a couple of points, made. i was probably at guantanamo before you were born, so i can envision the you're talking about. i was there in the fifties.

>> i guess i would like to say what is your solution to the present problem? it is i would say that turning the prisoners in the bay are to cuba is that a solution for our part of the figures there will do. as somebody once said in an attitude redder the prisoner of war? the idea is to surrender them. world war two when lee surrendered boston was loaded with time pressures of war. they did this to go home they stay here until the war was over and then they sent them back. well, the few prisoners that have been let go from cuba, evidently some sort of a history who've been back in the conflict again, cnn and the that you keeping average fell rose 11 go and taking it back in trouble with us again.

and don't think it's a solution. my second question is, your less of the "about the guys that sailed up to guantanamo, and there were there and what a wonderful thing, what is your point? they were cubans in cuba who saw a better way, and that is come to the united states. get out of cuba. when i understand a little bit of background i was there when customs predecessor was running things, and i concede that in my mind in the cuban who was not a part of his regime probably wanted to see him out. the illustration, i will say i was in guantanamo city. price of 1s t would europe doing. >> and do anything bad, i can tell you that. >> of the misplaced. >> it was. the kind of people who were there.

oh, but never me. >> the american for liberty, we were getting on the train that night, and a lot of the trains were opened, the weight. light passenger cars, but no windows. all open, good weather. there were vendors that would cops of the one doesn't satisfy you things to get your less money before you went. and one of these sargents, campaign ad on and in the army, he just ran down with the sword slashing of them. if he killed when it was no harm. that was the regina's to live under. in the last what would make, why did those people want us to be there? number one, we employed a tremendous number of cuban citizens in that base.

they used to come in in the morning on a night, and they were paid probably the fairest wages of anyone in cuba, so there are a lot of reasons that one of us there, but windy about the prisoners. >> so far questions. let me just go to the birds. so you would not know it from the advocacy that underlying cause of but that the goal of the book was actually roundness and baroness process why has to. everyone is welcome to there in the opinion, but not to their own facts. on the backs of fight anybody. and the advocacy of talk. the point was to cut against this notion of this. as the point of the beginning. what's the point of the result? people have been dying to get there forever. it has been this incredible

place possible rival. i went into the book coming talk to 12 men who set giving back guantanamo as the one thing that all cubans, americans, is the one thing that all cubans want. they interviewed nine, ten, 15 people who liked this, came to the unit is based here guantanamo. the end of these interviews i ask every single one, was the last word you want to tell americans and everyone of them here clearly different political affiliations. don't go back. that cut against this. it's a complicated place. people are political and good and bad. the places aren't. very interesting and complicated.

my proudest writing never mated into the buck. by regime battista, right, interesting. i spoke to file sets but since you earlier. tens of people who were there, and there were great stories. i hope you read the book because i'm not as apolitical as a sound, i suppose. a great story in there of a young kid who comes down to guantanamo with his parents at 19. to make a long star really short the friend from cubans ends up running guns off the base and to help the cuban resistance movement against this terrible dictator, the analysis government and everyone knew about battista. and then this is the forecaster lands, and eventually it goes up to join castro. ruin coulson the gray in a blur of castro, but when he landed him put a for several years, maybe even at cell 1960 kestrel

is basically. is to be a book. then finally, that the recidivism. began release any of these does this then they go back in the fire in the war. he says that fighting the war? it tells us that? the american government. greta they get that? intelligence with iraq american intelligence the bonanza of the shake your head. but on the on the record is with me an idea. there's no evidence that all of those two will actually lead back. you can call them recidivists

because recidivists have been, right, they have been convicted of something. these people were never convicted of anything. a lot of them at -- i don't that there are some bad ones there. the last one, the prisoners to know what to do, this is crucial. i mean, people all across the political spectrum, it's hard said -- here are the ones from the right, and during the primaries, the permit process, but recognizes that is absolutely ridiculous to say that we cannot close the present, bring those detainees here, try them in federal court. release the laws we can hold up to the war. this is a problem. a war that has no lending, when will terror and, at the dozen 55, that's a long time to be detained good net charges. so is complicated.

as thing many of your points are fair and we could have a good debate. >> you said that the navy, people in the navy talk to to not want to hold on to guantanamo. is it an active navy base in the project was a very good question i want to "several people. so this is from general barry mccaffrey. general jack sheehan, and then another person who is the head, the commander of public works while i was there. here they say, this is on 356. after is rise to power guantanamo strategic and relevance as universally a knowledgeable. guantanamo, really close, low

military purpose of ford says g. jeter advantage of those u.s. marine corps general jack sheehan. your not going to attack cuba. guantanamo is once important as a political icon. of the judges a naval facility, they're people who disagree. today, jeff it to doug jesse johnson, nothing to the navy. fontana disappeared every ship would fail. the navy would say $60 million per year. feel like they're taking one for the team. there is stalker using it. a lot of evidence. but a very straightforward man.

as a fourth tragedy of what happened. this great secret place anymore. >> but it is not a ship repair. it's a port of call. >> not really. it wasn't until 1994 during the second of the mining operations when the move across florida. it was something called the fleet training group. >> because that was my question. i don't know the importance of the passes to the movement of the being a large and panama canal up the east coast port. >> the essential. that is interesting. things that they can get along without it. >> from florida then they have a poseidon based in charleston. but the ports along the east coast are savannah, norfolk : new york, new jersey. >> right. >> you're missing one. >> baltimore.

>> that's right. anyway, i can't think of it. >> may port. >> a point. yes. but also, of those, working in pot is as much as bases, floating cities of naval ships. less dependent on any one place. >> so whatever monetary affairs of communication that have taken place based in guantanamo is not even done by satellites or other means a linchpin in the convoy system the fleet training for 1994 which is important.

>> is will someone to get up and get on tv. and knowing to walk away and assigned bucks. thank you very much. [applause] >> every weekend book tv offers 48 hours of programming focused on nonfiction authors and books. watch it here on t2 -- c-span2. >> host: donna lynn is to do as a booth. jim lately is the communications director for the institute. first of all, what is the heartland institute? >> guest: a free market libertarian think tank based in

chicago and illinois. we covered just enough domestic policy and our mission is to discover, promote, and send out to the public free-market solutions to social and economic problems, and we have been doing that for 20 years. >> host: iphone did you? >> guest: the late great patent. in the kaytoo institute and really a giant in the free-market movement. but a president has been justice dances into 84. >> host: let's begin with this one by herbert wallboard, the school choice. >> one of the issues is the idea of school choice, having money follow the parent and having -- when that happens, student achievement rises. and so one of our senior fellows and board members is very interested in this topic and very knowledgeable about this topic and also a fellow of the hoover institution and has written two books on school choice so can get the public and

politicians the facts about why and how school choice works for parents and students. >> host: the other book that he has written about it is called advanced and achievement, and this book, or is this one go? >> well, this book, as was suggested as beyond just what can be done in a general sense to raise its even at talks in more detail about how the structures you need in place to make sure and stews can achieve more. more of a follow-on, like more detail. >> another one of your fellows is the obamacare. >> yes. a policy favre. but treatments. he is our server to os fellow. he is rare prolific. will the turnaround rather quickly, and it explains, as the title would suggest, obamacare is a disaster both economically

and for our entire health care system. >> the benefits of being headquartered in the midwest and the downside? >> the downside is that we are not in d.c. where everyone gets as much attention and the reason to get on, but we do come. we have an officer in washington d.c., but our headquarters are in chicago, and the real advantage of that is it takes us away from, you know, the kind of hurricane policy here in washington d.c. we were founded to concentrate on state legislatures and state issues. you're the first the national thing based think tank. we examined space policy and informed the state legislators. we also do things come in as us go. we do look at national issues, but we also like a state-by-state issues, and that is a unique niche for us as a think tank.

>> host: the patriots still box. >> guest: very popular. we have mistreated around 50000-70000 copies of this book, and is popular among the tea party groups. a compilation of a series we have called the ten principal series of booklets to talk about the ten free-market principles to improve a certain policy area like tax policy your health care policy our energy policy, and it really, for the tea party movement, we like to of ourselves intellectual support for that party movement across the country. we love freedom. various big government. they want free markets, they might not have because they're not scholars like we have no really have all the details of what they believe that the belief. that is what the ten principal series is about and what it became. >> host: a new book