sarah clayton, little, brown's publisher through 2001 saw the company through a period of change with determination and style. carrie has been working beside me for nearly two decades. ..

>> in reading the book and talking about the book, i called it a great story. it feels like a dance. [inaudible] [laughter] [laughter] >> is beautiful. we hope you enjoy it. we have a great band here who will now play a classic composition from my book. [laughter] [laughter] thank you. [cheers] [cheers] [applause] [applause]

[music playing] [music playing] [music playing] [music playing] >> on book tv, nancy gibbs and michael duffy report on the relationships between sitting american presidents and their predecessors. the authors argue that the world's most exclusive fraternity is often marked by shifting allegiances. this is about an hour. >> good evening, everyone.

i have not had a chance to meet, but my name is john and i have the honor of being the director of the ronald reagan presidential foundation. it is my pleasure to welcome all of you here. in honor of our men and women in uniform who defend our freedom around the world, if you can join me for the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag, of the united states of america. and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all. thank you, please be seated. as i was preparing for the arrival of our special guest today,, not that it has anything to do with them, but i ran into some depressing statistics. while this introduction will start on the welcome it will end

on a high. the statistics i ran into was all about who is reading books these days and how often. some of the numbers concern me. don't hold me to this, but they are tough to swallow. one third of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives. 42% of college graduates never read another book after college. 80% of u.s. families did not buy or read a book last year. now, i have to presume that to the extent these people read, their reading habits are confined to 140 characters, blogs, web weblogs, instant messages, e-mails, and occasional traffic signs.

i think they are missing a lot. i say that because every once in a while a team of truly talented writers will get together and write a gift for all of us and they work that informs, educates and entertains all at once. that is the case with michael duffy and tran-threes's "the presidents club." we are here at a presidential library which happens to be the best in my unbiased opinion. i'm sure there will not be a better book with such unique and interesting insights on the modern-day presidency published for some time. i know this because for me the book passed the test on every page. i did not know the president

went and had no respect for president nixon. i do know that there was a presidential clubhouse across from the white house where only former presidents are allowed to stay. and i definitely didn't know that it was president reagan who taught president quentin how to salute. these really interesting discoveries. it is no wonder. nancy and mike are the two most talented and wonderful writers who have the experience, the awards, the role of excellence come in the reputations required to write just a wonderful book. ladies and gentlemen, with that, please join me in welcoming nancy gibbs and michael duffy. [applause] [applause] [applause]

>> thank you, john for that introduction. i want to start by saying that in the five years that nancy and i put this book together, we had many discovery moments the surprising things about them and we had covered, from reagan and bush and clinton and now obama. it was a real journey of discovery. we learned about eisenhower, kennedy, nixon, and ford. we, too, said wow, i didn't know that. for us it was a journey that continues because people kept telling us things we do not know. in some ways, ronald reagan was a bigger part of that story than

we would have gassed, because when we first meet him in 1947, long before his presidency, and as we dug deeper into reagan's relationship with the club, we learned that he had actually seen fdr when he was living in des moines, and he had gone to a truman fundraiser in kansas city when he was still a democrat. he would then be taken under the wing of tran-eights. i was struck with a relationship as we were coming up the driveway here we saw all the presidents here, as we were coming in the driveway, which reminds us that they have a part of the bigger club. i just want to advance the picture here that was on the cover of "time" magazine.

we were thrilled to put it on the cover from a picture that had never been published before, it takes you into the modern club that really began a long time ago when they picked up the torch. >> it begins when a president is in need of some serious help. that is what it would take to bring together such an unlikely partnership as harry truman and herbert hoover. two men with nothing in common, no common free, no relationship of any kind, except for the fact that the world was a very difficult, dangerous and challenging place in 1945 when truman finds himself president. he is not one to stand on the ceremonies. he did not care that herbert hoover had left as the most hated man in america, with his

motorcade being pelted with rotten fruit. having been exiled completely. whenever anyone had suggested to fdr that herbert hoover could be useful, he is a great humanitarian relief worker before he became president, roosevelt would say i am not jesus christ and i'm not raising herbert hoover from the dead. [laughter] harry truman met 100 million people in europe. the continent had been so devastated. truman secretly mailed a letter to hoover, saying would you be willing to come in and talk to me? this picture was taken in may 1945. truman has only been in office for a matter of weeks. they are very suspicious of each other. huber thinks nothing is going to become of us. within a year, hoover has been

sent by truman 55,000 miles around the world. he met with seven kings and the pope. the mission was to move through two countries that needed it. in doing so, these two presidents form this partnership. that existed so far outside of the policy differences and political differences, because they both stay committed to what needed to be done. that laid the foundation and the philosophical premise for what presidents and only presidents can do for one another. this is why when the two men meet one another on the platform at eisenhower's inauguration in 1953, herbert hoover goes over to greet him and says i think we should form a presidents club. truman says gray, you be the president and i will be the secretary. [laughter] that was the foundation.

them teasing each other on the platform. except it turns out each successive president turns out to be more and more real. eisenhower in 1987 and office space and an allowance and mailing privileges to the former president, lyndon johnson grants them secret security -- secret service the secret service security details in the use of presidential helicopters and even a projectionist from the white house film library they were being treated at walter reed, if they wanted to watch movies at the white house library. richard nixon in the clubhouse, as john mentioned, which one reporter in history has stepped foot inside of. >> i asked the white house if i can actually could actually see the clubhouse, which is on jackson square. i called up the press secretary, jay carney, used to be my colleague at "time" magazine, and he said while building? i don't think we know anything about this. in 1969, richard nixon was

president and he is getting called constantly from the country of texas. they have suddenly exiled lyndon johnson -- he is being sent home. he is going crazy, he decides not to run for reelection. there is nothing to do. and he's constantly calling the white house and saying that i want to come up and do stuff. i need a plane and i need somewhere to stay. johnson was driving the nixon white house crazy. two such distraction that nixon said to him a house or building or an office or place to stay overnight. a young military aid was a colonel in the air force at the time, he got this assignment. i guess that tells you how i found out about this story. they basically take over a rundown townhouse on lafayette square. it becomes a secret place where presidents can be or stay the night until today.

it has recently been renovated. i did recently get inside. it is four stories, the nicest four seasons you have ever stayed in your life. you can check in only four people can do that. and i should just tell you that the thread count sheets is like a billion. [laughter] there is a luxury feel on the duvet cover for you wake up in the morning and you are not sure, you can look down at her toes and say oh, i used to be president of the united states. one of my favorite parts of the club, we love reading presidential biographies. we read on truman and lbj, and there are lots of great ronald reagan biographies. they are a treasure to sit down and curl up with. one of the things we wanted to do with this book is to pull the two men up together and look at the relationships. relationships are really interesting. one of the things we've

discovered by working with the reagan library and other archives is that these two men were friends and allies long before reagan was president and long after ike once. in 1965 and 1966, someone said when ronald reagan was beginning his career as an elected official running for governor of california, and immediately thinking of the presidency once he was elected in california, eisenhower in gettysburg, pennsylvania, is watching him. he is watching him, reading everything he can, he is really intrigued by reagan. he likes the optimism. he secretly begins to write letters to some of reagan's friends to help him cope with the charge, which in those days was that reagan was too much of an extremist to represent the republican party. eisenhower's letters to reagan, through the middleman, they are astonishing. there was a charge that he had

been too close to the john birch society in the early 1960s. it was a spurious charge but it kept coming out. eisenhower script whole has conferences -- he goes through several reiterations of us. he's doing it well. dick nixon is trying to seek the gop nomination. you have a very interesting process of eisenhower secretly helping reagan in 1966, 1967, 1968, while reagan was campaigning against richard nixon, he used to be ike's vice president. >> and he is planning to marry ike's granddaughter. so you have the full gossip tableau. this is a bohemian grove. >> this is the club picnic. >> you talk about this picture. the thing that enables us about

what happened is how many relationships go back long before anyone is in politics. >> this is the brahimi and grove in the summer of 1967. bohemian grove. richard nixon on the left, that some are nixon was giving a big speech about hoover. we really wanted to do is meet with reagan. reagan was actively seeking the 1968 nomination. he is beginning to contest some primaries and pick up delegates. he has the right wing of the republican party completely won over. he has people like william buckley saying there's no one else to vote for it except for ronald reagan. here is dick nixon thought he would have a chance. this combination and this newcomer from telephone now, who he had met just to go in 1947

when he was a young congressman. they had known each other for a long time. they had correspondents are much of the 1960s. by this time, they are on opposite sides. as we found throughout the story, these men would be friends, sometimes rivals long before either of them would reach the oval office. this is a picture, and most people probably cannot recollect the time -- but it was right after nixon sort of made his comeback after watergate. reagan as president. there is a great story between the two of them. he is giving him advice. he says i am yours to command.

he would write about how to conduct your first year. just as ike had said to him. >> so we have these partnerships, as with reagan and nixon. presidents are the same time often have a better chance of getting together and getting along regardless of political voyager. their relationship got off to a rocky start. 2008 campaign, which was bound to be a little hard on them. when obama was invoking a model of presidential greatness in position, it was not the last democrat to manage to win two terms in the white house. it was the last republican.

that's it was ronald reagan who was the example -- it wasn't the vision that obama agrees with. when he honored was the fact that reagan knew where he wanted to take the country and was able to do take the country with him. this drove him nuts. he would compare the presidency as a small, poultry missed opportunity. i guarantee that this is not a relationship that would get off to a great start. naturally, after obama wins and appoints hillary clinton as the secretary of state come he basically makes bill clinton signed a prenup. [laughter] all of them what money he is allowed to raise and where he is not allowed to display features and what he can and cannot do -- clinton goes along with it. he says it is hillary's turn now

and i will do whatever they need to do. but it really takes a while for these two men to find their footing at all. i think one of the things, of course that happens, and we see it happen too many presidents, once president obama has been in office for a while, he realizes that doing great things is big things is not easy. doing anything is not easy. then suddenly, the deals and compromises and the maneuvers and things that had dismissed as clintonian, which was not a component, suddenly were looking a lot more understandable. now we see what we see in the newest obama campaign video, which is directed by an oscar-winning director and narrated by tom hanks. stars appearing four times in 17 minutes, bill clinton. >> after the republican primary, where a lot of different people were running for president -- we talked about this earlier today. we are asked what they would do if they become president.

and they would say i would do what ronald reagan did. and then there was the 2008 campaign on the democratic side, there was a big argument about ronald reagan, which as nancy was hinting, obama basically said i will be more reaganesque than clinton ever was. an astonishing thing to happen. these men will come out of the office with huge stars, even when they are very successful. the thing that binds men from different parties and different generations in the club after it's all over, that make some friends when you least suspect it, is that they all come out of office with burdens and regrets. things they wish they could do over. even the ones that turn out well, but they have misgivings. this is a famous picture from 1961. mrs. john f. kennedy's first trip to camp david come the place named after ike's

grandson. it was not a cordial call. it was because -- how many days was that? >> unwanted. >> literally, eisenhower is taking kennedy to the woodshed and kennedy is new to office. he had re-organize the white house around his own decisions. he thought that eisenhower was very military, hierarchy was not going to work 31 in a much more personal kind of presidency. and then they had this day. and they said maybe that's not working so well. kennedy said i've been getting to figure that out yet. he changed the way the decision. interestingly enough, after they appeared before the cameras and kennedy really needed this picture -- he needed this

picture because they needed to convey the sense of authority and command to have the old general there. eisenhower did not criticize kennedy in public. >> in fact, the following weekend made the pilgrimage to see eisenhower. they thought okay, the bloom is off the rose with the kennedy administration. in eisenhower's thoughtless it is important that we support our president, especially in dangerous times. let's not become a partisan issue. >> which is very much what happened two or three weeks ago. i just have to bring this up. after george w. bush left office, the club had its protocols and traditions. he was off the grid and disappeared. he said the current president deserves my sound. it is a very classic decision. obviously his vice president did not take that approach.

[laughter] when he finally broke the cover three weeks ago and made some very gently constructive criticism of obama's tax on energy policy, he said but, i don't believe our president, our country should criticize our president. the public role of the president supporting the current one continues. this is a great picture. >> this is an amazing moment. again, we argue about whether eisenhower does or not. johnson is the majority leader. still, a democrat and a republican. the night of the kennedy assassination, johnson is on the phone to eisenhower. he said i've needed you for longtime enemies you more than ever. the next day, eisenhower drives to the white house to see president johnson. he sees kennedy's body lying in state.

and he goes to see johnson. he writes out in a legal pad and here's what you need to do. you need to call a joint session of congress and here's what he needs a because the world is watching. the country is, tightest. everyone wonders what's going to happen next. his basic advice is you need to promise to do everything in their power to push through committee's agenda. this is not because eisenhower liked committee's agenda. throughout johnson's presidency, eisenhower plays this extraordinary off-camera role where johnson will call him up and say, can you make up a cover story for why you need to be in washington so that you can come and see me? i don't want everyone to think it's an emergency. just come up with some other reason why you need to be here. i really need to talk to you. to the point that there are

meetings that in the white house about vietnam that eisenhower ran. johnson like attendant. eisenhower ran the meetings. it was extraordinary. at one point johnson says, you are the best chief of staff and a half. >> it is really amazing. that relationship is very interesting. johnson actually was very close with ike. every time he ever had or attended a reception with them, just so he can have physical evidence of a relationship with a man he learned was the master. this is from the chapter on all three men and a funeral. which is when reagan since these three guys to the funeral in october 1981. a version of the plane, just like one in the other room --

26,000, i think, none of these guys like each other. there was not a lot of lowlifes between other of them. on the way back, nixon peels back naturally. carter and ford, who fought like ferrets in 1970 anger. they have something in common. they became friends. they both wanted to raise money for their libraries. they realize that they are both out of office a little bit before they would've liked. they looked around the club and they knew that reagan was president, and they thought, you know, we might be stronger together than we are apart. the next 25 years, ford and carter, across the party, do 2425 different projects together on budget deficits and arms control. on middle east policy. they joined forces.

they were put together. they went overseas about 15 times together. they would promise by 1985 to give the eulogy of the other depending on who died first. which is really a measure of friendship. in 2006, jimmie carter and roslyn carter were in the front row in tears. they had fought very heavily in 1976. the club was not like a fraternity, but the bond was special. do you want to take this one? >> you call this beauty and the beast. [laughter] >> it is more like a movie that hollywood can never make. >> you know, when clinton takes office after the 1992 election, it had only happened once before in american history, which was what lincoln's inauguration. there were five former living president. that all want attention in varying degrees. no one more so than richard nixon. he is practically jumping

up-and-down. he says listen to me. he's calling on clinton to talk to him in the calls are not coming back. he writes a very timely op-ed about very great promises for the clinton presidency. then he writes a tougher op-ed and he privately send the signal that i do take my calls or else. [laughter] finally, clinton called him and realizes that nixon is still incredibly shrewd about the world. he has an extraordinary sense come like a chess master, what was going on in the former soviet union and in china. but clinton, they become great late-night phone buddies. it isn't just to talk about foreign policy, he wants to talk about how to organize today and how to use his time.

he wanted to know if he was using his parallel, which president clinton was not, he was kind of a mess, and he was calling a convincing how i do this? which nixon loved, not only because he liked being back in the game, but he said 25 years later, this is still an impossible challenge. >> when we went and interviewed clinton about this, he said one of his most prized possession in being president was a letter that nixon sent him a month before nixon died in march 1994. he had just gone to russia. russia was undergoing huge change. he had gone with clinton's and destruction instruction on many foreign trips in this book. many secret missions. this was one of them. at the end of the trip, nixon right along seven page letter that has never been released. only pieces have been released. he asked clinton if he could see it and he said no.

he said it is an amazing letter it's hardheaded and smart. and he quoted something. i said how do you do it, how do you know? and he said i reread it every year. when nixon died in 1994 and clinton -- the clinton white house announced the death of him. he said that often find myself wishing i could pick up the phone and call him for advice. >> it was a truly extraordinary thing that we got to witness as father and son in the white house. what are the chances of that and politics is complicated -- family is really complicated. yet, the only thing more extraordinary than the fact that president herbert walker bush

got to see his son elected president is he actually serves as the surrogate father of more than one president. it is a friendship that developed between president clinton and the entire bush family come to the point that they now have a nickname for him. they call him their brother from another mother. [laughter] >> he has been asking about this a lot. when the two men meet in the oval office, this is the worst father and son carrying on the presidency since the early 19th century -- both men are overcome. they can speak. this is later in the day, and it is quite an emotional moment. a lot of people have asked how much did bush two, bush to, how much did he listen to the first

bush. it was a difficult time for the president. it was the younger man who would call the father up and say, turn off the television come you have to start watching something better. he was criticizing him just as any father would do. his son had a lot of advisers. he really only had one bad. that would be the rule. that would be the role he would play which is probably a choice that most fathers would make. it was really simple when you think about it. this is not to my god. i don't know what the opposite of that is, but we have a lot of that in this book. this is one of the areas. >> again, these relationships tend to follow twisting paths.

if you look at eisenhower and truman, two men, architects and away of the postwar world. they have very closely and effectively work together as they are trying to figure out america's role as the surviving superpower. the idea of permanently stationing american troops in europe and then the selling of the reluctant congress on the idea. it took a lot to get this idea to be accepted. they were so effective as partners through those years, immediately following the war, but in 1948, truman even says to eisenhower, you know, if you are thinking about running, i will get out of the way. i will only get out of the way, i will be your vice president if you want. so you have these men who start out with very warm relations, who by that time, eisenhower does run for president. it comes apart badly. it comes up are mainly over the fact that truman concluded that

eisenhower was failing to stand up to and challenge the most extreme elements in his party, and especially senator mccarthy. truman was furious about this. he called eisenhower a moral coward and started campaigning across the country, saying that eisenhower was unfit for the office. anyone who would not stand up to mccarthymaccarthy did not deserve to be president of the united states. on inauguration day, he was still angry and actually refused to pick him up. they barely spoke throughout the presidency. truman does not step foot back into the white house. these relationships, again, it is never that simple. the two men do find themselves again together, mainly at funerals. particularly in november 1963, when they share a limousine back from arlington cemetery. the burial of president kennedy.

and they start talking about their own burial plans. in that sort of shadow of their mortality, small things fall away. the big things come back. truman says to eisenhower, and would you like to come in for a drink? they end up at blair house talking and reconciling. a friendship that turns into a fugue turns back into and reconciliation, because ultimately what they have been through but that time, it was much more important than the fights that they have had. >> guthrie had a happy ending. this one, not so much. but you have to togas. >> i don't know that there has ever been to political combatant skills that were more important than fighting for stakes as high as richard nixon and lyndon johnson. the remarkable thing, do you remember that in the 1960 election, johnson had decided not to run for another term. all he wanted was to redeem his presidency, leave the office as

a peacemaker. he was determined that there should be some kind of a breakthrough. richard nixon had his own reasons for worrying that if there were rakers in vietnam that he did not stand a very good chance of winning that election. shortly before election day in 1968, johnson discovers that richard nixon's allies have been secretly sabotaging the peace talks. he calls this treason. what does he do about it? this is 1968. we have seen bobby kennedy assassinated, martin luther king assassinated, we have seen the democratic national convention turned into a war zone. i think part of johnson's calculation was what it would do to the country to have an outgoing president accused -- a major party candidate -- accused of sanitizing peace negotiations at the most delicate moment. it was an extraordinary moment of confrontation.

ultimately, johnson decides not to challenge nixon about it. that election was very close. four years later, you understand all the resons that johnson had to keep nixon very happy. during the transition, he showed him where the tape recorders were in the white house. [laughter] it was one of the reasons that we got the clubhouse, wike overstreet of johnson's birthday party, wike sent a jet down to the ranch with briefing papers every week. he really wanted to keep johnson in the know. >> ladybird grove cement they created a special force for her to pay her much to johnson. >> in january 1973, nixon's men called johnson said you might want to call your friends in the senate and just tell them to back off on this watergate

investigation. where else, you know, we will reveal the fact that you were illegally surveilling and eavesdropping on us back in 1968. to which johnson said well, if you do that, i will say what i learned when i was illegally wiretapping you back in 1968. you know, that was an extraordinary moment. the reason it didn't all blow up is because two weeks later, nixon is inaugurated for his second term. two days after that, lyndon johnson died of a heart attack. at that moment, that rather perilous moment of the administration, harry had died in the previous month, and truman died, nixon was all alone. >> this next picture is something that shows you have george h. w. bush is feeling.

not all presidents that along with president of the other party. jimmy carter has been a challenge for all of them. it is in carter's nature to be in my way or the highway kind of guy. he also has other challenges. he left office at the age of 56 or 57 years old. in september, jimmy carter becomes the longest living ex-president in american history. thirty-one years, eight months, 24 days surpassing herbert hoover's record. that is not an easy burden to bear. carter worked very hard at his second career. he really invented the modern post- presidency. he wasn't happy for a year. he said i will write some books, and he starts doing tradable stuff, he has done a huge amount of things. at home and overseas in the last 31 years. he also has a way of -- and all the presidents have turned to him except bush, clinton and

obama have sent him on foreign missions of some kind. he is normally given to tendency to go off script. this is the kind of classic moment at the funeral of credit scott king in 2,052,006 and 2006. carter used as a chance to gently criticize the other man's son. every club needs a black sheep. he said his presidency could have been superior to other presidents. [laughter] clinton would also send carter or overseas. the first and second time, he was not sure if it would turn out okay. you think it will be okay, don't you?

>> the last thing we want to talk about is how the club works to unite when the presidency is in crisis. they all recognize in politics today, which don't work very well, that one thing that has to work -- one thing that always has to be functioning and powerful and effective is the presidency. >> this is where we see them -- most willing to put self-interest and party interests, political interests aside. and they join together, make common cause across a larger purpose. we see it with truman and hoover again. where, of all people who completely reorganized the executive branch, why on earth would truman signed off on herbert huber turn what became the hoover commission. this is a guy who everyone assumed was just going to dismantle the new deal superstructure of government. what truman knew about him is that hoover had been president in moment of national crisis and

he knew that a president needs the tools to be able to meet a crisis. especially in a postwar nuclear age. truman trusted covert. he trusted hoover. it was a great gift that they gave each other. to organize and rationalize the executive branch in way a way that presidents would be able to function better. the fact that hoover strengthened the presidency in moment that it was occupied by democrat who made no difference. in the course of gathering information for the hoover commission, he found out so much that is wrong and wasteful in government, that if he had let any of it be known during the 1948 election, it is very easy to imagine. reporters later said it is amazing. hoover do not leak any of the scum he kept it to himself. his larger goal is to make sure that the presidency itself was strengthened for all the

presidencies that followed. >> we see it again when hoover and eisenhower advised richard nixon not to challenge the results in 1960. as close as that race was come as many accusations as there were, funny business, and phone calls within 15 minutes of each other, eisenhower and hoover both say to nixon, it would not be good for the country. sit down. >> we see that as well. >> we need a smooth, peaceful transition of power within the central model that america represented around the world. this was not a time to be having a prolonged battle of wills. >> we talked about joe -- gerald ford a little bit.

in 1998, he tried to rescue clinton from impeachment. he tried to get him to admit that he lied and work toward away from impeachment. he could not convince clinton of that. but he worked hard to make it happen. this is a meeting at century city. most people don't know that they actually ever met. they met twice. first in 1983 when president reagan invited all the governors to the white house. both bill and hillary clinton, there is a picture of them. this is not the place to make a mistake about that. that picture is -- and this is the other picture, which we found that in the "time" magazine archives. it is a great story. century plaza, i would say late

november, 1992. bill clinton is in his postelection, pre-inauguration tour. he places her courtesy call on robin -- ronald reagan. at one point, clinton asks the question. president reagan says the person you have to do is get to camp david and get out of the building, you know, it is good for the soul to get out into the mountains. it was advised that president clinton did not take until we realized a year or two into his presidency that he needed to get out of the house. the other thing that president reagan had been watching resident clinton doing her campaign and found that a little wimpy, as john was to kind of say, it was not a sharp, crisp salute. that president reagan had been in the military. he had also played many roles of military opposition.

clinton, as i understand, asked him how to show them how to salute. the two men actually had a brief saluting clinic there in the century plaza. they reminded me that it was eisenhower who taught kennedy had to press a couple of buttons on the phone and make a getaway by helicopter. it was johnson who taught him where his tapes were. johnson had a scheme of that. it is not just in matters of the men who are commanders in chief passing it on. this was one where a former president had a particularly keen understanding of the public perception walt and how it played in media, but also with private ones, their importance. clinton would learn that. and he would come to salute every time he got off the helicopter. just as president reagan had done.

when president clinton was leaving office, he said, you did not used to be such a great speaker. because clinton had given a horrible speech one time. i would say 1988. the democratic convention. and he said, do you have any tips? the presidents club functions on levels that tied and sometimes levels that are just very practical. >> ultimately what struck up was the ultimate -- of all the the rules and rituals that for souvenirs from the clubhouse itself, the thing that makes it most real is this notion that the office itself is more important than the individual. more important than the individuals who occupy it. he kept hearing this again and again, particularly when one administration gives greater weight to another. in january 2009, resident bush summoned the entire club membership to the white house to meet the new guy. and he says that that time to president obama, we all want you

to succeed. those of us who have been in this office now that the office transcends the individual. what michael and i took away from all of this research was seeing how these are men -- fiercely ambitious. they played a men's roles in our countries history. they all are haunted by how history will remember them. they have very good, strong, wide and broad agendas themselves. over and over again we saw them set the genocide and move past them and find a larger interest that brought them together to just work together. it is a very hard job. it is not java can be complained about whether they can whine about. they all fought them in many cases, much of their lives to

get the job. once they do it, jefferson called it a splendid misery. truman used to refer to the white house is a great white shell. it is also a very difficult job. even once you do it successfully can be burdened by it. there are very few people they can talk to about it. the one thing that they want one another to know, is basically that i get it. you can call me. i understand and i get it and i know how hard it is. i will not give you a hard time. that is what we saw here, and that is what we saw all through history, and i think it is a model may be that many of us can take back with us in whatever realm we are in. thank you very much. we are happy to take your questions. [applause] [applause] [applause]

>> michael duffy and nancy gibbs have been very gracious to answer a few questions. we have microphones, please wait until the microphone gets into your hand and then we will start right over here. >> the situation with the first lady -- is their situations with the first ladies like there are the presidents? >> a lot of people have asked seriously about that. what i think we all have seen is that first ladies are especially aware if you're trying to raise children in the white house. it seems to be mainly girls. lately it has been. there were the johnson girls, nixon girls, then chelsea clinton, now obama and his

girls. in any event, it is a wonderful challenge trying to do it in the bright lights of the white house -- it would be especially challenging. hillary clinton talked about how helpful jackie kennedy was about raising children in the spotlight. lucy johnson told us that there is -- there is a reason why first families don't criticize each other. it's not that we are all such wonderful people. it is that we understand how difficult it is. i think there is something of a kinship among the first families. there is a marvelous picture that we saw appeared in the library of 61st ladies together. certainly, i think there is a bond between them because they have a very unique experience. having said that, the infrastructure of the presidents club is unique to president. i will suspect it won't be long before it is no longer an all

male club. for the time being, we have not seen any equivalent of anything but the presidents themselves. >> the photographs of 16 or 17-year-old president clinton shaking the hand of president kennedy -- is there any evidence that [inaudible] [inaudible question] >> suspect that have yet had a chance, -- >> in presidents office, president clinton's office is a sign picture from lyndon johnson. it had to be 40 years old macro story is great. clinton just reviewed the robert caro book in "the new york times" on monday. which we thought was an excellent idea and we supported it as a club offer. [laughter] in 1972, clinton is task by

george mcgovern to run texas. as lost causes go, it is one of the great lost causes. [laughter] who is the only ally that they had? lyndon johnson. except for he was not sure either. the day comes when the government goes to the ranch, right after the convention just before they realized that tom eagleton might not be the best vice presidential candidate. bill clinton, the cochair of texas and mcgovern, and taylor branch, who would eventually be part of the clinton administration, flipped a coin about which one of them -- quentin says that taylor comes

back from the meeting, which do not go well, by the way. a signed picture for clinton of lbj. that is as close as clinton got two leading lbj. what is great about the american presidency is that we all remember a motorcade going by. ronald reagan, on the back of the train somewhere in iowa -- i think it was the morning. i would not count on it. everybody has their creation stories that clinton never met lbj. he told us that he thought, as all presidents do, because history will be kinder to him. [laughter] >> that is what they all hope for, right? [laughter] >> so the presidents club, it is involved with with american democracy. are there some all models?

>> yes, i think what is amazing about the presidents club in america -- i read a story in "the new york times" yesterday about how, you know, it was inevitable that sarkozy would be defeated. he was not a typically bad president. sarkozy was none of those things. that reminds me when we get back to the big picture -- there is nothing in common about any of these guys. they are all different. it is a classic american story. we have president that don't begin to fit in the same mold. if you added reagan and nixon and johnson and kennedy, i mean, this club makes her own makeup and our own widely different backgrounds. it is a quintessentially american thing. i don't think that it the clubs we would have in france or

england, they probably didn't even exist. you have to create them because they all came out of clubs. [laughter] there is no club that would have all these in america. they are just too different. that is why i think it is so remarkable about this. is that they have created their own. that, too, creating your own association is quintessentially an american thing. >> back to you. >> when you were doing your research, did you have a chance to talk to all the living presidents and what was their take on your book? >> we were able to talk to president carter and the first president bush. i interviewed, the second president bush as it happened, before we were working on this book. i had happened to ask him about his view of his predecessors. and i was asking him questions before i knew there was a club. we are very grateful to hope they were willing to give us --

you know, this is a pretty intimate group. i think there are lots of things that they will not talk about, and i would even argue as a citizen that is how it should be. but we got a lot of help from them and from people who have served multiple presidents and had had a chance to compare the weight way that they function and who they relied on and when they reached out -- and how this little inner circle works. >> we have time for a last question. thank you. >> the security levels, or they such that the president cannot discuss certain levels of information with other presidents? >> well, i think if you were going to tell anyone outside the tightest circles that exist, a former president would be among