awwig rt s. ball ted t thra presidents and the arab revolution. .. >>idtr, wt t 190a14,1960 election committee write books about them? >> it all starts one step at a time. the 1920 election, i have been playing around with factoids in stu rsde idalct. 96 6ou o e

president, lyndon johnson. mostly you would get kennedy and nixon i96 6 y wldet nndou wldet soouigee b 1920 you have six. you have six in contention e way ornother, or as seval ad hsaidut i ye his n est the united states. he sends his secretary of state to the convention. heted t ninionnd moicma, f ion the ticket as vice psidential candidate and so you have this erhehi a96of nh else goi on

t titanic y personalities. we don't have six the threef the biggest name brands and nn nohns a s personalities er. veifre a terms of dynasc or personal and something which resonates so okda with folks who ang iere r. l ttheaer d polls are always wrong and the experts are always wrong and we loved it when we are smarter than they are andan loac siaee ey ectn gh

thsupreme court, people are reminded of the dewey defeats truman came with the supreme court nomion n e w y cnn s t headline wrong real quick. >> host: david pietrusza,ack to 1920 herbert hoover w t deatries s. heeiss areic the were not of democrats in his hometown, and with the town lutio whhewas haneogsse ao thfoswovo woodrow wilson. he had been a member of the wilson administration, domestic ynwaewh inistratn. hadon wiln

with his reputation enhanced. he writes of a book called the alwow wiso a t moictyhaar t p opd hr wings. southern reactionaries, big city crooks and agrarian that's. he says i don't want any part of that or o ath r ptyhasoin ames. >> host: in your book "1920: the year of the 6 presidents" published in 27 you right ey lditeans fe an prenprob deatgoasse ut of the way.

>> guest: woodrow wilson decides he was a great for a ye. lookt worols you e ntlm hhi andkse a thseo ollow who was in favor of prohiti. he lkse ryoi a bit thadis rutioas speaker. he is going on again. he has the stroke in colorado and comes back as an invut netonyhe ino e iecaide. ret er former secretary of the treasury who has helped p tether a lot of the progress of agen. the feder rer. and lpvert s mt i, te he o

thlroa aar economy with the war and he is the boss's s-ilaw. dt ryhes ht butotheta fohat n he is fami and cans make a move unless wilson gets out of the way and wilson never gets out of the way nvonwendanr neem and another mocratic side, not shy and out aouncing his rtf daor there's a lot of deadlock for the democrats in that era and

really doesnot do wl. oshas ro wi'sutn he ofhe >>ttwfends of the political spectrum. certainly republicans or democratsad n b i bue proesve lilse rn aga hiec oe sse this of the war. look at the statement by the socialist party candidate for esidt th ye yebeth a aan e tict espionage act or whenever and woodrow wilson is alienated from the hearts of the americeo p is tom theme in

1920 and 1948 and any time you nitihagh w mess b iceoanpele w tuga it. wilson, republicans with congress, , lyndon johnson not be moved to s himselfn thapnsve a o ag 19 gwa lr,inston churchill. there's a problemith that but one more gigc gigantic thing it, the economy. econoses acahistory, 1919-1920, the boston police strike with cain coolidge and the seattle general strik world is ready

to blowp ter t wa rate terrific. we would easily be satisfied with what is going on now rather than have that. >> hosas a givenr g fo t weronhe escyri w w tnko. yo ho d to think the year went on and democrats will lead off. there is a msi landsde ifs fl t reicar sits opn 1 that is how woodrow wilson gets in. woodrow wilson has 43% of the popular vote that year. ink ls en o p 19hawinnan

don getting killed in 1908 or something like that or ki. e y s lf19 an close to winning. it is very grudging but the party comes together itheor chs s hues go d inki he t prenecd no wow onorthas putting together a scenario where in case he lost he was cry tandheesorus id cue rwyoav tt until bls the congressional race in 1918 and you don't have to be a weatherman to know which way the

dslong >>osepcaacnd --rentro ad. lican would tea are have been the nominee? >> guest: not onlphic ilo isterhat i a dies right on schedule. he is hurt vermuch byhe h is s in wldar an anesrn e a book about the are and the war lovers. taveis willing to die himself hh al bad.

if he is in he wins. >> you write abouterbert er. eamari bot grhulucore stngma o odw wilson, energy of theodore roosevelt for the amiability of warren harding or the grinning charm of frali my it y est utete cos really has this remarkable career of achievement and aris i azisty. on boyrom iwh cl and his parents died with a dime in his pocket. goes toirst css ldesevti

carnaua, ring an up getting richer and richer in to china whe he construs beg a great gineeran om b rentssa vell oli americans stranded in europe when war breaks out. no one knows how to do it. d gomyatndth avateor atasf or siof fy eu i14 bugot those folks out and saved people after the war who arngsadpl i oproaronnd a very energetic secretary of commerce under harding and

coolidge aer this election b t , en- ofeans frinsemeacss like gangbusters in the depression with these fireside vi on to he act he is followingd >> host: "1948: harry truman's improbable victory and the year that transformed america" published last year you write ctory is a thousand faers d aton. y trma folen heme outplayed repulsive after it. democrats faulted hiand not thfects of 16 years of tir rus thdee. ntim. oudhey

ueye t aw last presidential round of primaries everybody was saying i am the nextga - e'otnothean and e 'tth fnk roevelt and harry truman to use his language was not franklin roosevelt. franklinoosevelt could m thwoinidot the persona. also as we explained earlier you are coming off a war. opoiomt he in o aar a nnn m. g t yot a similar outbreak of strikes in 1945-46.

amazng. you get a milar outburs of fln thereluie eyull-ow desift wldi. everyone expected it and that lil ur ws phe so drao wnfl. hegronlen 1946. peoplealk about how the republicans weree erven ehe deatcore, survived were the southerners. >> host: how d harry truman whemnvti

>stu't ueyon' beat somebody with nobody. es fs i things having a urench.olt wasn't just a ray of towering figures in the democratic party whoould replace him and that hyryman hn ti h mnicer inignor w i is a non entity. hes notn great spe a a dthck lst am orm he goes on because the guy w is vice president is the guy who can do it to get the mt nt

arm. guehinheackoo o kl rsevee is saying cut that by half. i have a problem. agd abl. >> host: did henry wallace run for president? >> guest: certainly did. it is almost like one of the e inaback stoes ofhisec. gr maogaldg match between the wallace wing and the truman mainstream wing of the democratic party. wallace nt for the vice prenndnru trero escyy rr trm ost pum he

cabinet as secretary of commerce and give se speeches in t distincts re garden which puts m.n ply hub would be upset. wallace is upset. he falls into the hands of the communist pa usa, progressive y ragtran ballt in elon b punishim. >> host: what role did dwight eisenhower play in the 1948 election? d cveone ahenouee theov everyone loves dwight eisenhower. they didn't know whether he wa a republican or democrat or liberal or conservative but they knew he s a neral and they kne uld

puanntdrim meanat gss-r urdhado ith yend rli go on their own. the leadership wants to do with theiown thing whethert is adipt rehe ,he deatoniohi an amazing nothing. a week before the convention there is a coloa ocra,thn ssanrourha eval pdentl candidate, big city bosses, liberals like hubert humphr midemrsevel drbagandcrashes

the whole thing. there is another explanation of why truman was able to pull this ofeven tugop s are words of the truman or eisenhower cabal collapsing you tseeoat wh s bhthests renaisarof t dump a sitting president in the nominating process. >> host: welmeo booktv's aal a hr eta.hiiada pza ban about baseball. his first book was a minor miracle:legend and lore of minor leue bebin 15. s rdndjury,

life and times of motain landon and the life and times and murder of her crinal ge 19 d j-le:ation and absorption and most the inevitable demise of 18 professional basebl organizations nt 25. ebia ari nconndhepridal history, "1920: the year of the 6 presidents" came outn 07 0, vfk ni d ll mt nt victory and the year that

transformed america" 11 -- "194arry truman's improbable victory and the year that transformed america" 11. we are gng to put the phe lines up on the scre. oulde t thidtr.lto 00 ok@csori to twitter.com/booktv. mr. pietrusza, how did you go from writing about baseball to u.s. presidents? >>sthaeeed at malil was a little kid. they got used tohat swernd gwoegesisry stnerk n iy

wt f because history is a damn hard thing to make a living in unless you are teaching so i went off to make accty digffic binring, d a lile bit of radio ward this or that and became more active. i was elected to city council in nerk. ter year sd th i ec totth i amoing to have a lot of time left in my life. what do i want to do? se i dt o do basell ri a aale meuales t w. was my undergraduate degree to go back into writing standard

stsellnoor we cl . th a bk. the book which there was one earlier biography of the first commissionerf baseball which was judgedlaon:25eafeb ncat ln had d edho5 ars. what was he doing for 50 years before that? we got into the progressi era, dntstes t w rld i mibo pl sme y wted to write about the 1919 world series. no. no. what i wanted dot at powao aook didn't know what to take a.

did i take organized-crime like that? did i take culture? did takeimmigration? did keol f o w win yt. tre o 192 in a way a lot of it is another baseball analogy, i was away t n oudn i cmeme bant the game of >> host: "1948: harry truman's improbable victory and the year that transformed america" -- david piruis t edir and wdo cviun coolidge. who was arnold rothstein? >> guest: the father of modern organized crime. he is a gangland figure. esharossish

ch he doesn't have brass knuckles or commanding as part of his inusiness and myhugs scuyolct aloy t his aone of his earlier biographers call him the big bank roll and he is a gambler shble d i n isvery ts t b bankroll where he is putting together the money for rum running and bootlegging a nag h sides o nizeladis fcit pothe lkomnirt a shipment of cashad not come

in but he is lending money to them. ea autshs toway ndanther vo i al f these things, not to mention fixing the 1990 world series, fixing aewig st h res, os rse ceaarga. this is very political because you see how all these things are tied intcan any ha in the teamofwe enn ix aor l? se, even when he shoots three tops. the reason he shoots three cops the big bankroll w rbe wh tim andomti a

th t oest eab peenke g in a hotel. some guys come bounding in. he had a permit,hoot tee tianhe- don' an brloohr cohr too yoou think one would go to jail for this. cops don't like that even if you mistakly shoot them in the ayh, t id d coo a big stink oft is harassed and virtually thrown off the force for years. >> ht:as he wnige ticacue t >>st ihe gatsby a character who is

modeled on arnold rothstein and in guys and dolls which comes pplyelat det hid re i e d on his death than in 1934 which is -- stars spencerac souagns illow a reing lifting about when he dies is you would think headliwould say picture of ne tworldies ot. is t ll stbee o ch fn else. >> host: before we go to calls, 1960 cteedashe 1 ueths test

itsoifrerom process today. when you said primary is interesting because we should be talking primary t in 1960 we are inpl. e onwo o d nothing of consequence for the republicans but democratic imaries involved in the wisconsin primy. imcondanmp . is le ahoe for lyndon johnson. >> host: what does that mean? >> guest: saying he is opeting someone else. humphrey wanted on his own to be president but lyndon johnson wanted it even more because lyndon johnson ones power more

than aone ever but lyndon ant t nomination.e he does not enter any primaries. he enters the democratice a nv is le lmpu iof jack kennedy is not nominated until they call the roll on wyomg. ero sthtin atdon eolaceswie ba t doesn't win at all. those t primaries, jack kennedy's father doesn't wt et ilst

as a leg up there. he comes from minnesota. mp edstaons as a delegate. and wisconsin, west virginia, folkrealized ty took dornnefe opndo ng the poverty of the people of west virginia it changes them because s hield at ,t frassachusetts. >> host: we want to give you a taste of what david pietrusza writes about. we will begin with jn nth

ro. e etaeic hfrmr mystioishe oble uhe major leagues resolving the designated hitter rule? >> host:o efhe maj g: ul p bulic bbaor quite a whi has had no respect for the traditions of the game. ic gave the lead thei character, which enabled a fan to know who was in the itak it tak i fuimccn. hepp again, if

the lure -- if the lordsf baseballeside it is profitable to do that they wl do whatever isecesryau ia opalou tas a golden era when people didn't care about the ledger eet, tuldnxin >>t:ifa, are on booktv on c-span2. >> caller: i just want to say to the offer i really appreciate you this morning. i oo ahau abchted ecd nuoktia and have knowledgeable subjects and journalists come on tv on c-span and the rest of the media and get onndntnd

okutr otiso unrealistic, lies and half truths and does not challenge the offer on the material they ttmosphe wo they put itut ugballes information that you put out. it saddens me as americans th we are dumbing down eacher anstrong latur >>t:th ayou' o reon >> guest: amen. >> host: the 1948 election. ho astut t 14 fo waaste. qstion is how the polls

could be so wrong in that election and the eer w sh k--ow d tt teinatr us anupown le a roller-coaster. his whole tenure in the white house -- his whole political career he is up and dn the wholti los honraor ouanhegeuti anthat is one of the things that gives him the strength to go on in 48. he is down at the beginning of thyearut stang b u orthemrati deatarasos to him for a long time and he was starting -- he would fst solify ttport a the alaw- ich

ed-y id --plouwaead duck, republican national convention -- the democratic party was split not two ways a the general election but thr ys that en si18ndknhaas nolyisr th rty but aivil warn the old country. so 1948 he has trouble but starts coming upinarou ly --dewey is not doing as ll. the roper organizion opd pullg a nth fond ss ne totas timr onhepo the gallant a

week before put in five percentage points. take five enta pois and e marn u f ain those third-party candidacies which ways as you get closer to the election day, the ser ithe e hengthelpe she and ignoring the blandness o the agn. >>t: thos ey sp toopist aac >>stte tbut advisers said that in the gutter with that guy. you will be esident. stwaom tseueat th bin of the campaign.

and the chairman of the senate foreign relations committee, we are going tve trk h a rlin?the uest: he started the bipartisan foreign policy thing which we had for a while until viet nam andaven't nc trum wulunhe ats igusd whe iser back and over the tops of where even truman wou look back and i said th e f b co f tdv t republican partyneighbors in

his home around putnam county, weo-rian aisif sa hbandt >> host: what was the vincent mission? >> guest: that would b -ch tiin -t ohrr enf e e deme. truman gets this idea. kind of to lormac another wing of the party sin on ope fr liheovunnd truman gets the idea we are back with these chief justices of t senhi oa

moscow tand negotiate limitations on atomic weapons and such and people sayg this titifheupme wh mthefrlyg f tindt a bad it and ne?in what is the dewey h weo mrall re -si >>st dt . he came close. he was on the bubble. that was one of those things en wlkhae ofhe key decns e back story of this campaign, the formatio of the state of

israel. theadeef ck h eeenid at grn sr a arms going to israel whether you calledt is real or palestine so relations betweenur coiee ed brritiau t t o -- afghanistan. is broken in 46-47. they get out. in 48 the e of i meelmpthhe first minute to recognize israel and therere decisions about the statements we are going to make an regard to pressuring britn anhat will low ng ut slot b olalicre.

look at oil or the fact that there are four hundred million arabs and look at this before yojust i stan maralis or of that and nearly resigned from secretary of state -- oelresptefigure thaghveeese raid torabe did the unthinkable to cost that nomination. >> ht: does e opposition become public? uest n untilft wor. daral t ckity nihee iot f to quit because a fellow who is and trusted and empowered with the thority to issue anrd ord it

si p tir war because ofpposition? >> guest: interesting question. en ihisi tameilitcknd iclyh allentd equences. we might be very wise to think about unintended consequees ecn sutdehing before weo >>t:s i would like to hear your opinion on a controversial issue. truman's decision to drop the bomb on japan. rt eepinny liheor rso trun to bomb as a

trump card to frighten t soviets. ret.s had cmpio f's s uenoamilr hi will speak out the decision tose the bom es a id n ci. yhibo we losses had been in the pacific when they dug in, iwo ji rm u 5yeefe e neadghch the losses were so heavy and america look rward to that. there was no ve losbetween reimonre end

the extent of american antipathy to the japanese. there were massacres on our side ll er pe hean t we g forces. anyway, is not a controversial decision or not as hard a decision as wehink of it today. thruneopheft s fibos driven home by the fact that he needs to drop the second bomb. >> host: this week from daniel. what was the position wh tiign e gett amen nee w thla in the

1920 election? >>ost: that is a wonderful question. it illustrates a point i l bo the920 el oud lk a straight linehere people are ce nea a dr yeaetherilbe t iist arsor od example of that where you see that the struggle for women's sufage is large a lot vo i ca corehiom t the states for ratification and look at the numbers in the state legislureshey a ovellyubli .n imeto t

wino vo for president no matter what the amendment did or past in 1920 but what happens i co ese.tegla om during the primary if you vote for me i will call the legislature back and we will reconsider this amendment. omisy enough he kept t ksrosetoppitthus a o su sno we take it back. it goes to the senate first in tennessee, they vote for it and theaof t had to the hse a lgol led w tfe it and it comes down to roll-call where it will

be defeated by one orwo vote e wih th sw aepli leat hryrom east tennessee, traditional area of the state, young fellow in his first term wearing the yw thour nst stands up and he says high errs silence and people realize whate s do thecinvo. hereth room. he pulls out an envelope and the letter and he says this was a letter r m drit.

dohtme aheen ofmerica. it was a mother's letter to her son which gave wen the vote nationwide. eysem osuch a eat story. bed thy io c. xtl judyn sconn. aer y youeioorll have to move on. >> caller: so nice to be with you. a id inr iraha wrg t onrf pe ohiho my father was the mvp in 1947 and i am the data -- the sr

ouseball?ri >> caller: how did you get so inspired to write about the canadian american -- >> gstyou mean that! asctstooere amro thta oo newspaper article or magazine article for some sort of journal. t tbode fied away. haen of zi ta mfe ts. at p i would have to self publish it andf i have to pay for every word is e aner wonderful? it% that i i walefo

me. not all of my words are wonderful. i also realized in writing that vo inintratn to laudable time reed w andy father told me about the games and my mother told me about the game that i went to the games fo w rn w tsehi mago caafar we look at certain historical markers -- eituthe ioril 76 soy ce htory in these localities regarding what really touched the mass of the people. etitbebr night si

ea tyt o t vaudeville houses and these are often overlooked by historians and cultur history speaks of h ts mas from you evelyn in new york city. david was president of the sociy for american basell search whe he told g igitiave hnvio fde public speaking on her part but the school for the deaf in washington d.c. was holding commencement and gracs open s us, o i bi tea fstas . am not speaking today? she used sign language for the

next five minute as she gave her speech. my question is what kind of relaon dhe id acx anl.he >> guest: you were right. we are going to learn something today. i did not know that uddion cli h know what coolidge 5 -- fox -- tht is t as and the progressive republican, michael bennett clash of styles. was a flamboyant ae

wa goornk logan of illinois was one of the prime contenders of the 1920 coention. hen't pren a into nd turned down the vice presidency in the 1924 convention which is an unusual fame but h sent a telegr cdgndlek >>: grace coolidge like as first lady? >> guest: extremely popular. very shioble. d mieom. hal the ca d heldeerrouger. that is one of the things i will say which is notwonderful.

you look at some of the things he said his familynd t no mni shsng pul first lady and -- >> host: who presided -- coolidge presided over enomic prosperity. whhasn't he ais gt:eri k it is a function of -- okay. first of sebody settle long time ago -- and i read it aon a ttay an ari oe blank pages of history. ifou have managed to get as taphoionme or haveomgrt

ts ehere a good chance you will be forgotten. the good that men do our buried with their bones. an bean new deal historians evdotehetirankl a tndart was not only building up franklin roosevelt's new deal what they followed. there is a good part of that to look at our newsreels and aldus and if there is

silence like silent cale dot ati o es arrs cesi?s >>statsonquce of the boston stke of 1919 where the boston police who were not well paid all decide to go out on strike. e se esrwlm th gout o odug tre iso chaos. >> host: governor of massachusetts. >> guest: he is not the mayor. pod ton cedeceor alls out the national guard after the mayor had illegally called them out. order is restored. e pliauthe itselfidot cch --