on afterwords, former virginia democratic governor terry mcauliffe talks about his book, "beyond charlottesville: taking a stand against white nationalism." >> i think it's coming to people, wow, the president can say this stuff, i can too. if he can say it publicly, so can i. people used to wear hoods, and they used to do this at night. in charlottesville they came out, this was their big coming-out party, but they got hurt badly in charlottesville. >> watch booktv every weekend on c-span2. >> and now booktv's monthly "in depth" program with author and historian lee edwards. his books include "with goldwater," "the conservative revolution" and most recently, "just right: a life in pursuit of liberty."

>> host: author the lee edwards, who was russell kirk and why is he such a hero to conservatives? . >> russell kirk - - one day he woke up and said i want to write a book about all the conservatives that have lived and worked and made a difference in our history. no one had done that before. they express in irritable mental gestures. that was the disdain or contempt the liberals had were conservatives. russell kirk said, i don't think that's right. he put together this book

called the conservative mind which liberals said the words impossible. when they began reading the book - - there was and had been a conservative tradition in america since the founding. [indiscernible]. >> when he got through and published the conservative mind. liberal said, wow. >> wasn't a hit right away? >> it was. for depleting if you will. - - deep reading if you will.

it made russell kirk really the most important conservative intellectual in america. >> in many of your book, you indicate that 1946 was a key year in the modern conservative movement. why is that? 1944 and in 1945. the reader's digest picked it up and did a digest of - - extraordinary that some 16-17 million americans, which is the circulation of the reader's digest at that time. read that book. what's important about that reader's digest version is that two gis coming out of world war ii read it in the digest.

one was an arizona businessman who had come out of the wars. what am i going to do now? i don't want to go back into business. maybe i will get into politics. his name was barry goldwater. and he told me when i interviewed him years later that it made a difference in the way he looked at economics. the way he looked at society. the other g.i.was a sometime hollywood actor who had him a couple pretty good films and not so good films. he read it also. his name was ronald reagan. and then i interviewed him years and years later. he said the same thing. that barry goldwater. what a difference that one book have made in the way he looked at society. way he looked at economics. the way he looked at himself. >> what was america like in 1946?

>> it was a nation wanting to get back to what it called normalcy. the had fought a very tough war and won it. many people have died but hundreds of thousands had died. so the gis returning wanted to get married. they wanted to have babies. they wanted to buy a little house perhaps with the picket fence. maybe with a tire floating off the tree in the back. they just wanted to enjoy life once again after facing death during world war ii. and it was a time when we were in a political transition. the democrats to the republicans. that was the motto as a matter of fact of the republicans in 1946. which was, had enough. if you have had enough, vote republican and that's precisely what happened.

that elected the famous 80th congress. the so-called do-nothing congress which had done an extraordinary lot. for example, working with harry truman that brought about really the building blocks of the policy of containment. the truman doctrine. the marshall plan. nato. all that came out of that so-called do-nothing congress. at the same time, under bob taft's leadership in the senate, he was an ohio senator. they cut taxes. the cut spending at the same time and the country was better for it. at least as republicans argued. >> who was robert taft and what was his role in the modern conservative movement? >> robert taft was a brilliant senator from ohio. elected in the 1930s and took it upon himself to challenge the new deal. >> the son of william howard taft. >> yes, thank you.

president and chief justice of the supreme court. robert taft was a brilliant guy. always prepared to always knew what was happening on the senate floor. always willing to take on the democrats and the new deal. what would happen is that people looking around when a new bill came to the senate, it would turn to bob and say, what's this bill all about? they knew he had taken the time to read it and do - - he would be able to discuss it. he was conservative but he didn't call himself a conservative. we didn't have conservative movement and 46. bob said sometimes i'm a livable, sometimes i'm a conservative. but most of the time i'm a conservative. >> mr. edwards, when would you define the beginning of the modern conservative movement?

>> i think it really begins again, with that book. >> if there wasn't a movement at that point, when did that movement start? >> when did the movement start? well, that did not occur for another decade. when this extraordinary young man named william f buckley junior decided he was going to start a magazine. that he said, it's not going to be just a magazine. i'm going to do the same thing with this journal, with this magazine that the new republic did in the 1920s and 30s. which is to prepare the american people for the new deal.for progressive era. bill, looking at where we were in 1955, there was no movement. he said we desperately need this magazine. to bring about a conservative movement and to do for what we believe in, limited government,

traditional american values. free enterprise. all of those wonderful ideas. with that magazine, we can begin to create this movement. what's interesting peter, is that what was he going to call it? well, when bill wrote - - which had been four years earlier. 1951. he had said, talking about himself, i'm not conservative i'm an individualist. an individualist. by 1955 when he started - - he said this is a conservative journal and i am a conservative. both what had happened? in the interim. in 1953, russell kirk had written the conservative mind and had given our movement. a name.

the conservative movement and without russia, we would have called ourselves the individualist society which doesn't roll off your tongue terribly easily. but bill could see what the impact had been of just that one book. very easily abandoned the individualist and called himself and the magazine, conservative. >> in your autobiography, just right. you said you became a conservative because of communism. >> true. it really began for me in 1956. i was in paris. doing studying and going to classes but occasionally going

to classes. perhaps spending more time than that at cafcs and cabarets late in the night. and then in october 1956, i had just gotten out of the army and i was settling in. i was going to be a great novelist. another hemingway. and out of budapest, came of radio broadcast that the people of hungary had risen up against the soviets and said get out of town. miracle of miracles, they did. the soviets - - their tanks. they sent them back in and slaughtered thousands of young men and women. my age, i was then 23. and i was so stricken by that. i thought, what can i do? what can my country do? it was a very weak press release out of the white house which disappointed me greatly. we didn't do anything more than

that. and i resolved peter, at that point, that whatever else i did. i would help those who were proposing communism as best as i could. so i became an anti-communist because of the budapest revolution of 1956. >> so that was dwight eisenhower. >> yes. the republican party is one thing and the conservative party is another. and we can't judge the ups and downs of the movement faced upon the ups and downs of the party which is just interested in election. the conservative movement is an intellectual movement has become a political movement and is interested in principles and ideas. and that's where i come from and where most conservatives come from.>> so dwight

eisenhower and robert had collided from time to time. >> they certainly did. in 1952, bob taft came to chicago and the republican national convention with something like 500 delegates. he needed something like 600. thought he was going to get the nomination. he was opposed by eisenhower. the great war hero of world war ii. the great leader in the invasion of normandy and the rest of it. at the very last moment, people begin switching from him to ike. and one politician asked, why? why did do that? he had a marvelous answer but he said well, we loved bob tasked but we love the victory more. and they knew if eisenhower at

the top of the ticket, they were going to win. they were going to be harry truman and bring back a republican to the white house for the first time. so that was a grave disappointment shall we say to bob taft and a conservative. we said well, we have got to nominate a conservative.we think that will bring no the forgotten america. the silent majority. that did happen a decade later. >> back to your autobiography. i read and reread why not victory. we must recognize the enemy for what he is. and use our strengths to oppose communism wherever it exists. that was a crusade worthy of joining. what is why not victory? >> it's a little book written by barry goldwater in 1962. came out after the conscience

of the conservative which was an enormous bestseller. so 3 million copies. and his running for the presidency in 1964. it was his statement as to what kind of foreign-policy he would pursue. at the top of the list would be not just playing for a time. not just a combination, let's make a deal every now and then. we want victory. we want to end the cold war. that was a statement which he proclaimed vividly. eloquently. in 1962. and it had influence on ronald reagan. >> one was he first elected to the senate? >> 1952. coming out of world war ii, looking around for something to do and decided, it might even

be fun. that's what he said. didn't take politics to seriously but when it came to acting on principle, he would always pay attention to it. the constitution was his northstar. that was the most important thing to him. >> legislatively, what was he known for? >> he was known for a strong national defense. making sure that there would be sufficient weapons for our military if we were called into battle. and of course we were in the korean war and the vietnam war. probably his most famous and really long-lasting legislation came in his last year. 1986, when he was responsible for the first reform of the defense department for the first time since it was

organized in 1940. colin powell brought him in a couple years later with the persian gulf war. went to senator goldwater and said barry, i want you to know we were as successful as we were with the persian gulf war. taking saddam and his people out of kuwait because of what you did and sam dunn. the democratic to bring about the first reform of the defense department. >> we want to show video and this is from 1964. i think you will recognize it. >> i would remind you that extremism and the defense of liberty - - [indiscernible]. [applause] thank you.

let me remind you also, that moderation and the pursuit of justice is no virtue. [applause] >> lee edwards, were you there? where was that and were you there? >> that was 1964 at the republican national convention. barry goldwater had been nominated the night before and this was his acceptance speech. i think it can be fairly said, maybe the most famous acceptance speech and political history at national conventions. i was there. i had been director of communications for the goldwater for president

committee. i think i felt like dancing on the ceiling after we won the nomination. but, i have to say, i was not happy with that speech. i felt the use of the word extremism would have a kickback. a negative connotation in the minds of many americans and the it might very well have been a mistake. by the way, i had nothing to do with the composition of it. nor did other important little type in the committee. and we were disappointed. we were nervous. i think what's also important to say is that there was no spin doctors at the time. today, if somebody made a speech like that, immediately

following, everyone would move into a big room and there would be.his spokesman for the candidate. here's what that meant. here's what he had to say. here's the historical perspective and on and on. they didn't exist. those spin doctors and spin city didn't exist in 1964. so we left it to the media and the politicians to interpret it. didn't have a chance to say well, what's wrong with extremism. patrick henry, give me liberty or give me death. the idea that just a couple months earlier, martin luther king jr. from a birmingham jail talked about extremism. he said i want to be extreme in my pursuit of justice. here were possible alternatives and ways of explaining what barry goldwater said. but what people heard was,

extremism is no vice. that's what they heard. in the pursuit of justice got dropped out in the minds of people and of course our opponents whether it was lyndon johnson. >> winning that nomination was a fight for the republican party. >> it was the beginning of the transformation of the republican party into the conservative party, which is what it is today. it began in 1964. george had a funny line about that thing well, barry goldwater was right. he was just 16 years too early. in 1980, ronald reagan won the presidency with essentially, the same platform. and the same policies that barry goldwater was recommending in 1964. especially, why not victory.

>> this is a question you ask in your books, can conservatives - - [indiscernible] >> i think they can. the so-called do-nothing congress, did all those wonderful things. cut taxes, cut spending. of course in 1980, we had ronald reagan. one of the great presidents. not only of the 20th century but in american history. that did extraordinary things. restoring americans confidence in themselves. sparking a period of economic prosperity, the like of which we had not seen before in peace time. winning the cold war. that was uninsured in every accomplishment.>> back to just right, joining the goldwater team was like being called up from class aa harrisburg to play for the washington nationals.

>>. [laughter]. yes it was. >> what were you doing at the time and how did you get the call? >> i was in washington d.c. doing pr work and then a press secretary to a senator. in 59-62 and then went to work for a small pr firm. then came the draft committee and i immediately volunteered as a press assistant and i was. except it at that. in november 1963, i was hired as a news director of the draft goldwater committee and that afforded me an opportunity when they formed the president committee to become the director of that. although i have to say, if i may, i was doing some travel with the senator.

being a traveling press secretary. but we did a really, somebody to be officially director of communications. so they hired a gentleman. unfortunately, within a week, he had a heart attack. it had to resign. we looked around and there was lee edwards in the corner but she was too young and too inexperienced. they hired another veteran and he worked for about two weeks. turned out he was an alcoholic. and also a skirt chaser. so he had to resign. they looked around and said, there's edwards. he's too young, too inexperienced, but he's here! he's here. okay. we will give you a chance. to that's how i became the director of communications of the goldwater for president committee. but i did a pretty fair job through the convention.

>> that's how liberals saw conservatives i thought. how rockefeller and scranton saw the goldwater delegate is not the storm troopers would unleash - - on those who opposed him. >> from early on the republican liberals like rockefeller and others were determined to paint goldwater as some sort of extremist. as a wild cowboy out of the west. what was at stake of course was the republican party. who was going to control it. the eastern establishment had controlled it since forever. and here along came barry goldwater. the west, southwest, the south. and they said no, we are not going to give up to these

people. that means tarring and brushing. barry goldwater by painting him and extremist, so be it. as it turned out, we had done our homework with the help of clifton picking up delegates in the various states of our time. in those days, it was not so much the primaries that made much of a difference. what did matter is what happened at state conventions, county conventions and even local conventions. and we had steadily lined up delegates as early as 1963 for the convention. so we knew going in that we were going to win the nomination. that meant that barry goldwater would say whatever he pleased and really let the people know what was at stake here. >> what do you remember thinking about nelson rockefeller?

>> i think probably what i remember is somebody who had a checkbook. who would write out checks to do things. to win however he could. whether it was to persuade delegates or to engage in tough love. tough tumbling and a primary. i think most of all, he was for us, a young conservative. which is what i was at the time. a big government liberal. if you thought there was a problem, all you have to do was spend money and that would solve it. so is it what is the difference between him and a liberal democrat? none whatsoever. so we are not going to go that route. it did turn out that he was

something of an anti-communist, i'll give him a plus for that. when it came to domestic issues, he was a big government gone. very happy to do so and we were tired of that. not only young conservatives like me, but the older conservatives who had been around for decades were bloody well tired of it and we said it's time for change. >> what does it mean to be a conservative today, lee edwards? >> i think it's a very exciting time. people are the some conservatives are a little bit wary. we are fighting too much. arguing too much. we are disputing too much. like hatfield and mccoy. i think that's great, because that means these are signs of vitality. of life. not of a movement that cracking up or on its last legs. people are fighting and

debating and arguing so strenuously because something of value is of concern and that is the conservative movement. which is the major actor in american politics. at the same time, we have an opportunity to accept change. i think that's part of what it means to be a conservative today. not to be so resistant that we won't allow anything to happen. even burke said change is inevitable. it's a question of being prudent change and that's what i as a traditional conservative are looking forward. the right kind of leadership and discussion but i welcome what's going on now. all the various strands and strains of conservatism. that's good. coming out of that will be a bigger and better and i think, more relevant conservative movement in the years ahead. >> i want to visual quote. barry would just go absolutely

crazy if you were watching this today. he would be yelling at the television. he would think it's embarrassing, the situation we have with donald trump. it's not the republican party or the country we knew 25-30 years ago. that was susan goldwater on march 21, 2016. >> yet, ..

and make him understand we don't need a potty mouth. >> how did you become known as a conservative historian or the historian of the conservative group? >> i don't think i am. i think the movement is george nash. he wrote a marvelous book many years ago called intellectual history and that is the bible

we wanted to know what happened in the 40s, 50s and 60s george nash is a marvelous painstaking historian so i count him as the historian of the conservativehi movement. i had written some biographies and some histories so maybe i aman coming up and making my way up. itsi in this race. i did not start out to be a historian i really started out all those years ago as i say to be a novelist. that doesn't work out so well. i wrote three very bad novels which never got published thankfully because they would have been an embarrassment. i had have it with just worrying about campaigns and

all of that i want to go to the academy i want to teach i want to write. i went back to school and got phd and that's where have been these last 20 or 30 years. i guess i have also picked up a little bit from churchill i love that one line where they said what is history going to say about you mr. churchill i know because i'm going to write it. i think what i'm trying to do in a small way with my worksg is to paint a picture of the conservative movement sometimes from the inside sometimes a little bit from the outside so that people 20, 30 years from now would be able to refer to my books and understand that.

>> what are some of the books that are contained in there. there are 109 books. and some of my favorite books are in their my own biography goldwater. it's a pretty good book. bill buckley has it at yale. i think what we tried to do with eight or nine different categories and we took these books and put them into various states and what we did was to take about and to boil it down to just a page to page and a half. to make them pick up the whole book. and read it.

as one of the hardest things i have ever done. i have to read a book and then condense it down into three or 400 words and that really is not easy. that takes an amount of concentration and focus to do that. i cannot do it for more than a couple books in any one day. it took us a while to come up with the 109 books. >> i think you talk about your best selling book which one was that. it was really my first book. so easy to write ach best seller at first i have to say the first biography of ronald

reagan. and then of course he is elected governor the year following. i said i think he is going to be a contender and 68. i'm going to write his story now. which is what i did. it was the first political biography. and wanting to find out a little bit more about this actor. there was my book the paperback sold a hundred hundred and 75,000 copies. which was wonderful. it should have but did it.

>> the founding member of the young americans freedom. how did that come about?ou >> there was the republican party which was still in the hands of the liberal establishment and in that same year was when barry goldwater published the conscious conservative. he sold 3 million copies. i was the press secretary for senator. and there were those conservatives in various areas and we said what we need is a conservative youth group to influence the republicans. let's put that together.y.

they got bill buckley's cooperation. and something like 90 of them showed up in september of 1960 to find the first conservative youth group. it stood for limited government based upon the constitution it stood for free enterprise. a non- system. it stood for traditional american values because it we talked about in that statement which was our founding document about god-given rights. we acknowledge that there is a god.

communism was the leading most dangerous enemy of the day and that was something that was to be said. those were the ideas of the young americans of freedom. only 300 some words. it still stands out very well as the best single short of conservative principle. there was a presidential election in 1960. where were you all on richard nixon. >> he was not our firstwa choice.

our first choice wasn't barry goldwater. there was just enough of the pragmatism in us to say if we can have barry goldwater richard nixon is not a bad second choice. after all he was responsible for getting him back in the he is somebody that understands politics were to work for him and we did. many of the young conservatives of the day worked as volunteers naturally we were downcast when he lost to john kennedy. at the same time we said from 1964 we are going to run barry goldwater.

as early as 1962. it was our first rally in new york city. did you ever feel deep down that you have a chance of winning. i was privy to the polls into the surveys and i remember in january of 1964 after tragically john kennedy had been murdered in assassinated by a communist we took a poll and we ran goldwater versus johnson scranton we had 23% of the people against the 77 percent. the only one i did better that

did better than us. was richard nixon and he got less than 30%. it was clear that the american people would not want another resident you would've had three presidents in one year. goldwater knew from the beginning that he could not win. he knew it. young conservatives like me big tim employed himke and said you gotta do it. he admitted that later. the only reason why he was running was because he wanted to keep faith with the young conservativeswi like you and me. >> we talked a little bit about the young americans for freedom. here's video from 1991 that we want to show you. >> we have a republican administration but a

burgeoning welfare state and for those that we coexist with today after 11 years of a republican administration. our hero, our model our dream. he did so much for the conservative movement that it's hard to quantifyti and we summed him up in the little biography. by reason of his wealthh and his social standing he could've been at the playboy of the western world but yet he chose to be the st. paul of the conservative movement for

something like 60 years. and to do that to make that sacrificeve is something that we can never forget. and he deserves all that one can possibly give because the point of the fact we talked earlier about starting that magazine that became the genesis of a movement he succeeded in the national review did become that important i think at the same time going back to my point i think he would say there is a conservative movement and the republican party. it's true that they picked the republican party. the democratic party has become not less but more

liberal. i won't say that we are stuck with the republican party but it remains our political instrument but at the same we don't measure our success only by who wins or loses. >> how else do you measure it. you measure it by what happens in the culture and education one of the things which i think you can see happening more and more now is the young conservatives are now all over the place when it comes to social media. we see more and moreo young people say i want to become a professor and i want to see if i can possibly match wits with

the not so prominent universities. i look to an awakening because frankly here in america and i think that's can happen because conservatives will make contributions and culture and also i think in terms of we haven't talked much about this yet the importance of faith that were not just believers in reason but also in faith. we think the reason and faith are the two wings on which the constitution is flying high. and i think where we kind of keep our balance also between reason and faith. i see young people not just coming to washington dc and getting into politics.to

for example there are 65 state think tanks now. a lot of young people are going to work for the think tanks. and making a difference there. and the state legislature in tee state capital. there are signs all over the place of a renaissance of a conservative renaissance. >> good afternoon and welcome to book tv once a month we invite one author on to talk about his or her body of work this month it is author lee edwards. we've talked about several of his books he has written well over 20 so when i cannot go through the full list hopefully we will be able to show you a lot of the book jackets as we go if you live in the east and central time zones for those of you in the

mountains and pacific time zones. if you don't want to make the phone call or the lines are busy and you can't get through. work in a cycle through all of our social media sites in other ways to get a hold of us and make a comment that we can read on the air we will cycle through those as we go but we have mister edwards for another hour and 15 minutes and we will begin taking those calls in just a few minutes. before we leave them to read a quote from 2000 that he made. when he looks at a glass he is mesmerized by its reflection of donald trump were shaped a little differently he would compete for miss america. but whatever the depth of self enchantment it has to say something so what does trump say that he is asked

successful businessman and that is what america needs in the oval office there is some plausibility in this though not much. the greatest deeds of american presidents and harnessing the energy. it has little to do with the bottom line. >> we desperately need him right now. to take on mister trump. and that needs to be done byp. someone like bill buckley at the same time, if i were sitting and bill were there he would say let's take a look at some of the things which have been accomplished during these first couple of years i think at the same point he might say all right are those victories insufficient to balance off what we do have with not a

very inspiring national leader. i think that as a kind of debate that we would have. >> promilitary less regulation conservative justices how to be handled that.

better than any of the other candidates in 2016. he was appealing to that limited government grassroots element of america same thing if you jump ahead to 1980 these are all themes that begin with goldwater. all of those head been vetted it serving a populist

movement. we can see this arc of populism coming to the present. they used it to win the nomination and then the election although barely of course. was this the best use of the conservative. as vice president and the nominee for 1988.d >> my opponent was raising taxes in the congress will push me to raise taxes and i will say no no push and i'll say no. and they're saying read my lips.

i don't know whether or not he regrets the same that are not. certainly we held him to account. we had been devastatingly scorned. frankly we made them pay for it. again the populist string. there was.

bush lost as he should have i think. >> if someone were to pick up one of the books which one would you recommend.. i did something like 200 interviews.

if you want to understand what happened in 1964. if you want to understand the conservative movement it's all there in one book. he really despised lyndon johnson. he felt like he was just a kicker and did not want to get in with all of that. he knew that running against them. going to be accused of all terrible things but at the same time i'm in a offer a

choice and not a neck up. nixon he initially admired campaigned heavily for us in 1964. nixon turned around in 1965 after nixon announced he was probably going to run he liked reagan and respected him but they never really personally hit it off. it's interesting, i don't know why that was.

they felt that maybe reagan had not worked their way up as goldwater have in the political system all the said he was governor and then president. there were some very mixed feelings with regard to ronald reagan. >> lets you take some calls let's see what america wants to ask you. the paperback biography of ronald reagan. the conservative movement though you mentioned populism. i believe from the very beginning and has not reallyio

been a uniting movement. you mentioned barry goldwater not appreciating ronald reagan people believe a man is not enough credit. he published the national review. and he did not care for him. he wasn't a conservative at all. by the conservative movement. >> you've a lot on the table there. will get an answer. you sound pretty connected.

i've lived in europe. the decline of western civilization. and i do not see anything positive for us after president trump finishes his presidency there is only so much one man can do. i think to his administration. can you tell us why you're connected. i have intellectual intricately i've just gone out to meet people. >> a lot on the table there. i think eric needs to have a have a little bit more faith

with the right principles and ideas both as a movement in the nation if you look at where we come from that marvelous document. with the ability of people like madison and jefferson their spirit is still with us. their gift is still with us in the constitution.. that is what ronald reagan did as president. the experiment that trillion

dollar experiment can conservatives govern. do they have the right ideas. with regard to the two bills. what is your next book can be. that's always one that comes along. it's called unsung heroes. i'm writing a series of the process -- profiles. as a matter of fact i'm going to add to that the gentleman is right. in many ways.

will tom winter be winter be included in that book. they did a wonderful job. it was by the way ronald reagan's favorite newspaper and so that those who were not as conservative as ronald reagan they snuck it past the guards at the gate. >> hi glenn, how are you doing. two things if i may

historically how would he say the impact was on the conservative movement and bringing it up to today. i recently saw t a prominent conservative on book tv promoting his latest book of freedom of the press. he was talking about how california has changed so much the ronald reagan would not be a late able to get elected dog catcher today. very far left is the culture were stuck. >> we will leave it at those three issues. overall the culture.

>> phyllis was an extraordinary woman. she really was the first person to create the conservative point of view. they trained women at the local level. speak up for traditional values. i think she was absolutely one of the most important women of the late 20th century in terms of american politics. >> what about the issue of abortion. phyllis came along.

that's when they introduced the profamily movement. and frankly of the republican party. and that something by the way that mister trump should be given credit for. i think ronald reagan if he ran in california might surprise a lot of people. such a master communicator. he could have reached out i think probably by now the people of california had not have a conservative alternative and how many years? who understood some of the basic values.

because i think that not only in terms of his charisma he would've been able to articulate conservative principles in a relevant and upal killing way today. the wonderful statement of his. politics is downstream at culture. so happens that the heritage foundation which i'm a fellow and then we looked around and we realized that yes there is a culture war going on.

we must get involved in it. and we had been up to here since then. it's absolutely vital to talk about education was coming out of hollywood and by the wayhe what is coming out of nashville is the counter to what's coming out of hollywood. i think we would be looking at what mr. burke called the little platoons of society all of those are a part of what's going on in the culture war. in because the other side if you will has been so terribly vocal and they've got a bit of a head start on the conservatives. they seem to be winning the race. i think i see signs.

have a great awakening one based upon faith. i see all of those signs and i'm encouraged by what i see. and i'm looking forward to enjoying the beginning anyway such a great awakening. i actually share a common background with president trump i'm looking to help him unite the country. but i do have a problem that i would like dr. edwards to address and thank him for his serviceo in the 2016 campaign when he was running for president he said he could shoot someone on fifth avenue with all of the shootings going around around the

country and the chaos how would you say those words are resonating today. they never made sense to me then and they don't now. and they are her w -- hurtful. i would like to help them change and understand the words are very powerful. so cheese very carefully whether it will be in a positive or negative way. it's a very elegant statement. and i think you're absolutely right. he is a new yorker. he is from queens he is from new york and he has the tendency to hit back whenever he has hit without thinking through what he is saying without calculating perhaps the ultimate impact of them. all you can do is to hope and maybe pray that people around him will persuade him to be a little bit more careful because certainly the goodness about shooting somebody on

fifth avenue is not what you want.. thank you for taking my call. and thank you mr. edwards for your continuing interest for so many years. i met barry goldwater in oregon park of all places. he was barbecuing hamburgers and later in the decade in 1968 i briefly met then governor reagan and i was impressed with both of those gentlemen. i wonder if you have any thoughts on a candidate for president following perhaps the second server. along the lines of the senator. of arkansas and jim jordan.

did you have any thoughts on the up-and-coming future canada. >> you sound like you had been an activist republican over the years. r if you can give us a sense of your involvement in politics and then a sense of what you think about president trump am very interested and engaged in politics. i was a huge fan of william buckley right after i got my first television.

that's when i met the then governor reagan. and it was strange to be living in the state where we have so few conservative voices that are articulate. i hope dr. edwards is right that if thinking my governor reagan. >> think you for calling in. working to get an answer from lee edwards. we will show you some video of a somewhat you may not have heard of.

students for the democratic society. it has two -- its national and local leaders. college and university campuses across the nation. this was presented by the national education program.

they linked to world communism working within our networking within our nation for our overthrow. we do not challenge freedom of dissent on college campuses or anywhere in america. wrought areas for improvement. and we support efforts towards changes beneficially affecting the future of american youth. this documented a is a total revolution of change. the description of our american educational system. and that our economic system and finally our system of government. let the revolutionaries themselves tell it like it is in this film communist on campus. the national leader of sds. this is mark read 1868.

he had been named chairman of that colombian chapter. he visited fidel castro. >> we have closed on for university buildings. we've had massive meetings of 80600 people respectively. they paralyzed the university. one of the leaders of the student nonviolent court meeting committee has educated all over america.e, >> the black students of columbia university joined by members they will stay here until the university is willing and where to to go into the community alone.

if they don't want to deal with the brothers here. there can deal with the brothers on the street. we both patricia california to answer too. and figure out who walter jed is. >> walter judge was an extraordinary man who was medical missionary who worked and treated those patients and then became a member of congress and then became an advisor. two presidents. very close to eisenhower. was once considered as a possible running mate for eisenhower in 1952. after retiring became what he called a missionary for freedomir a radio program that

was sponsored by the american security council. it wound up on 1,000 radio stations. he was one of the best heard americans for the 60s, 70s and 80s. and then finally slowed down and gave me an opportunity to say dr. john because of your insights particularly into china which remain such a major issue right now let me write your book which i did. but not before he went over every line of my book in my manuscript we got get together sitting on two chairs in the kitchennd and he went through every single one he did not change that much i'm happy to say. he was a scientist. he was a surgeon. and he wanted things to be

just so. it was my second biography. to tie this into what patricia was asking about. what have been one of those people that should have been president in your view. if he had been the vice president who knows. 1956. it could've been. he would've been a very formidable candidate. he gave the keynote in 1960 at the republican national republican national convention and stampeded the convention. t i was at 11 straight conventions over the years. in science began appearing walter jed for vice president. he really stampeded that convention.

>> who is the youngest conservative that you are looking at.mp i think some of the names mentioned are definitely on the left. and there are others as well. by reason of their intelligence. the first principles of the family.po one of the reasons why i am optimistic because i see great opportunities there. high heritage has this marvelous intern program we bring in about a hundred 50 college students every year and we had two or three that work in our particular little annter there.

and coming to work and working with these young people at stimulating and keeps you going. i'm excited still about going to the office every day. and being able to mentor these young men and women. >> hello peter and mister edwards. i've two questions. i was working at the gym. my question is a short comment. they asked him there. the republican party left me.

are you concerned about this party right now. my second question isen are you concerned that you are a dying party. 73% were democrat. 94 percent of blacks were nidemocrat. your party is supported by white old people. we will get an answer in just a few seconds. i read all the books. i used to read william buckley i am hispanic i'm an immigrant emma american citizen. i have read william buckley

and very active in politics and i'm very concerned aboutne the situation with donald trump. i've seen some new people h rush here. i never liked him. i'm surprised he stood up to donald trump. h he has a backbone and many other people don't. the republican party. you're selling your soul. i'm in a make a prediction 2015 i was on spanish radio. he is can we president i made

about and i won. i'm in a make another prediction. the republican party is can be sorry that they ever backed donald trump. we hope and pray that he doesn't talk any more stupidity. anymore stupidity. the republican party has to wake up.t:ha the gop has sold its soul. and that is one possible scenario if you look at the elections coming up there other possible scenarios. it depends upon who the democratic nominee it depends on the economy.

i think it's really important to hear not to get so caught up in the fate of the republican party. it's been conservative more or less. most of the time. thanks in large measure to the conservative movement. that may change. who knows there may be a third party which comes along.in i would say if the republican party were in four or eight or 12 years. if it were beginning to fadet

that would not be the beginning of a one-party country here in america. p and it might be very interesting to see what kind of shape and content it might have. that would be my prediction there. if you want to participate in our conversation this afternoon. if you live in theon east and central time zones. we will also scroll through the different way of getting a hold of us. this is from mike in illinois. a what is the best conservative future for healthcare. >> i think it is one in which she would have elements of the following. health savings accounts at which you would be able to set of side money to pay for your

health care but then to use itt for other purposes if you want. i would be healthcare in which, you would be able to cross state lines the previous conditions would not affect whether or not you're supposed to head healthcare or not. good healthcare would be one in which we would be competition. if you look at healthcare in both canada i don't pretend to be a specialist. we have that one payer system that the weights involved. sometimes it's weeks before you can see your internist.

we believe in choice. the right kind of the healthcare program.. and then at the same time maintains what we have presently. >> from our facebook page. reagan was a traitor who started trader who started the depp spiral gopop is responsible. that is the national debt multiplied seriously the reason why that was run up

there. he was going to help to win it. we went and they lose. he said about that by building up the military and what happened of course was that the soviets said we cannotnn possibly compete with the united states in an arms race. we just can't do it. we don't have the means.e he sued for peace you have to ask yourself what price is peace. was it worth running up the national debt as much as ronald reagan to end the cold war which includedud conflicts hot and cold affected the people on every continent in which tens of thousands of americans died and that at

long last into do it at the bargaining table and not on the battlefield. >> i want to complement c-span and your wonderful program. you have different points of view on. i'm calling in and because i don't know where else to ask the question. i am a liberal and i grew up in california but i transplanted to the midwest. i'm concerned about the midwest being conservative considered flyover state. i'm worried about the erosion of the power of congress when it takes that the senate too ratify treaties. they can pull out of treaties for instance i'm not sure all

of these are treaties but the iran deal. the mid range missiles the paris climate control. why does the senate also had to ratify when we pull out of treaties. >> i want to ask you why are you a liberal? my parents were conservative by the way i was interested to find out that eisenhower was wanting both the democrats and the republicans wanted to recruit the president. they say the democrats are tax

of spin. i think i'm a liberal because i believe in compassion about some of our social problems i don't think the business model works for everything, i took a carriage ride around independence square visiting the american philosophical society. i was surprised to find out that benjamin franklin have a fire insurance company and if you didn't pay the premiums they would not save your house from burning. we don't believe that we should have competing fire hoations now. i think we shouldn't have competing healthcare. >> thank you very much. >> what did you hear from kathleen. it's a wonderful question. i wish congress would speak up more and take a more active

role as it should under the constitution. it is the keeper of the purse. he used to be many years ago that they would submit the budget and that the president would react to it but we got into the habit not so many years ago of the president producing is a question of leadership. the power is there. if congress wants to a can challenge the president. if the president does not implement a treaty which has been approved and passed by minor understanding the senate can take action and demand that the president do so. but that would requireth some very large cojones on the part

of the senate to be able to stand up to a president and that is what has been lacking. a question of leadership. >> when kathleen talked about her political philosophy she was a liberal purse partially because she was compassionate. it has been an ongoingn problem. it appears as those republicans don't give a damn and they're the only concerned about the bottom line of facts and figures and dollars and cents. on that as a fault of communication on their part of the republican party.rt some presidents had tried to address that. and they can be guilty of that if they are too libertarian and only concernedso about the golden individual. what about the community what

about larger entities as well. what's interesting to me that is it in this debate that's going on among conservatives about the future of conservatism they are talking just about that point. i think you will see conservatives beingth more understanding and more concerned about feelings than perhaps in the past. i'm can't fuse about can fuse about the definitions. i have a good education. it conservatism is an economic thing.

it seems to those extremes. >> before we let you go. what he think about the recent attention that has been given to your city? >> i don't know he would be scared. he didn't come before he was going to. we have a lot of problems. i just get no compassion from trump. that was dave in baltimore. in his latest book which is really quite a remarkable piece of work george well

talks about conservative sensibility. what is the essential thing that conservative is trying to conserve.er i his answer is the constitution.ns and the wisdom which was expressed in codified that is number one. number two you know we have to keep coming back again it seems to me to the basic ideas pro-life anti- gun. it's really a question of choice is in it. with regard to the second amendment.am should you be allowed to have

a gun or not. it's a question of choice. we would say conservatives the family as a building block of civilization. they cannot declare themselves to be gay or lesbian. you can't say that that is more important or more necessary than a basic nuclear family of a man and a woman. i think people just keep going freeto basic ideass enterprise he said yes freedom is important he is that freedom is important but what is also even more important is what you do with that freedom.

what are you were taking my individual freedom and responsibility. >> we want to talk about the importance of 1994 we want to start by showing just a little bit of video from 1994. >> this is not just a platform or a set of ideas or a brochure there will be all of the legislative language everything would be developed by the 27th of september. literally people will be able to take the ad out of tv guide a month after the event but two weeks before the election. they will be able to keep it. and on january 3 they will turn to c-span and with an hour or two they will know that these guys are different and they are keeping their word and its real or words politics as usual.

>> that was from 1994. now working to show you some video two years later. >> that video is not quite ready. the video that we wanted to show you was bill clinton saying the are of big government is over. >> a little premature. in talking about that area a big government being over. it was reduced and limited during the 1990s famously with welfare reform. it was vetoed twice by bill clinton. and then he finally gave in and said let's have welfare reform. and of course there was three or four balance budgets during the 1990s.

and a republican congress. if you are going to bring about reform in this country. ear to break the deadlock that we had right now. the demands of leadership on both sides in which they come together and cooperate together and work together. it is a divided nation. to me the contract with america in 1994. evidence of the populist strain. because they went out and tested every one of the ten items pulling surveying and all of the rest of it to make sure what to the grassroots think about the balance budget. to me it is another tramp or

victory for populism i'm talking about constitutional populismlk i keep coming back as does the movement to the essential founding document. >> you talked about democrats and republicans getting together to do something. it would only get you 60 to 70% of what your original goal was. this is what politics is all about. when to take your principles and apply them and see exactly where they can lead you. you don't want to give up more g than you should give up to save with your principles.

a lot of folks today or at least they are scared of being primary on the left. they are perceived as a compromise. i think the candidate has the right financing organization platform and he is charismatic enough he is not to be defeated. he's can you be able to overcome a challenge from the left or the right and sometimes depending on the congressional district that's what you want. it's the best that you can hope for. nt you will be able to get that conservative. there are so many opportunities out there. i get a little bit frustrating. the promise that there still is in this country. and that is why i am a reagan

conservative i'm an optimist these things are possible and reagan proved that it was possible. trauma after trauma whether it was watergate, vietnam. were never gonna be able to get back on track again. reagan was able to restore that confidence. we are suffering at that time. cut taxes. a. of economic prosperity. and reagan said no were not. we when they lose. to me to do all three of those. i think we could learn a lot at that kind of leadership.

>> you are on with author lee edwards. >> in 1964. my question is to take issue with your comment. trump is the first republican who talk back to democrats the way that they talk to republicans. i'm delighted that he does it. >> think you. this is from the wall street journal.

he was writing about the title as you can't blame trump for baltimore. the boorish manners tends to obscure the hard to reality -- i think that is true. they were about 63 million americans who last time we have an election agreed with his analysis of donald trump people like somebody who hits back. and i think that's one of his strengths. sometimes you can overdo things also. speaking as the conservative and someone who wants a little bit more balance perhaps i wish she would be a little bit more careful some of the time. >> how did the heritage foundation come about and what was your role. >> the heritage foundation was a miracle.

in that it was the idea to unknown congressional staffers it was the idea that there should be a conservative think tank. it was the idea that we wanted to produce timely concise research and get it to people before the debate occurs and people said that's interesting idea but i'm not interested. so ed and paul tried for years to get somebody and finally they met the best damn beer in america as far as we are concerned.

i'm sorry to say and regret to say we have nothing to do with the formation. i said why did you do it. we are $250 investing in this untested idea by two unknown congressional staffers number one have a business plan they knew how they were to spend the money. and secondly they wanted to make a difference right away. to make a difference right away. that's why i put up the money and i'm glad i did.ri ed has never been an out front

guy. he always presented himself as the have of something but what is important is the organization. what are its elements. what is it learn about how to be a better and more efficient organization. let's be as much like a business as possible. because of his business training. he was able to realize was very much upfront and so forth. didn't see it that way. put the focus on the organization not the individual.

they tend to be old white men. who is the have of the heritage foundation. the current president is an african-american woman. and she's marvelous. charismatic principle reaching out to various groups she is making a difference with the african-american community already in my association with conservative movement. she is going to be an extraordinary game changer for us already is. >> i've been watching since it originated in 1979. i did not realize he was up to

20. twenty plus. not quite retired. bill buckley's career over many years. they go clear back to the original programs. in mister beckley who once had the university of chicago professor and mister edwards in any case. particularly interested in the respect of president trump and his judicial nomination which are up to about 405 recently.

we still only halfway through his first term. i believe that response to one or two of the comments. and mister edwards comment about president trump has been right on. with everything that he has said. sometimes i wish he would just delete back to where i was. it seems to me with the long-term impact. especially if he gets reelected and it tends to vote with them again. a very long-term impact on the

protocol.em i think we got the response. >> i think he's absolutely right. with the appeal and then down from the as well. it will be probably close to several hundred federal judges and what is important about that politically of course is that the republicans in the majority in the senate has approved those moving them along. they deserve every credit. in the long-term impact of that over the next 20 or 30 years is considerable and

probably comes close to measuring what ronald reagan did back in the 1980s and we know they have made a difference as well. see donald in south bend indiana.>> >> hi. i have originally called. >> and 57 years old. i remember the reagan era and one of the things that really upset me was the thing about the welfare queen. i have no proof at the time when he was talking about it that it was not true but i didn't really believe it. and then eventually it was proven incorrect. and it was proven wrong. the reason why i am a democrat is because, two be a

conservative it's ev -- easy to be a conservative and a republican. you guys use slogans to get your base going to be democrat gifted sit down and think things out. and that takes time where some people just don't have the timees. >> we work and were working. were taking care of families and everything and then we have to come home and digest all of the stuff. >> what you do in south bend.d. >> i am a proud union member. i'm in an lac member. and that is another thing.

we are one -- we are running a little short on time. ronald reagan was a union member.on the first union leader to be elected president it was have of the screen actors guild. and of course he was a democrat for most of his life. he always felt that when he switched to the republican party. he have not left it. he was comfortable in it. in terms of the welfare queen i'm not trying to be

argumentative. but the point of fact was reagan was correct. someone had worked the system through many different addresses and names and she did drive aer big fancy car and if anything i'm not saying that he underplayed but she was somebody who did as a matter of fact i believe convicted. there is a new book out we had

covered it on book tv. and it's called the queen. it's about that story. we are to look up the queen. and you can watch that program online. because it has erred you can watch any book tv program that we had watched online at book tv.org. before we say goodbye to we ask our author what their favorite books are one of the books that you list as your favorite along with russell kirk l frank baum the wonderful wizard of oz. how did that fit in. >> we love to talk about it. this was the first book i ever read. and number two i was just enchanted by it. it was magical.

it was so inviting i wanted to move there. can i buy airplane ticket. how do i can i possibly get there. and also to me and as i learned later that have a happy ending. unlike the grimm brothers in their grim details where people are always dying and being gobbled up and so forth. the wizard of oz ends with everybody happy everybody achieving their goals of getting a brain and the heart. >> that is just made up stuff. he never had that in mind at all. i did some steady on that. he was trying to tell a wonderful story. some people have read into it more than was really there. he wanted to enchant young people and he did so i'm happy to say that i was one of those fortunate people who did. i did begin this wonderful world of books.

and as thomas jefferson said i cannot live without books. t >> we also want to show our viewers what lee is currently reading the last time only. the conservative sensibility. it's the latest book. paul was our last last month and in depth. lee edwards has been our guest this month on in-depthpt and we appreciate your time. thank you so much peter great to be here. book tv television for serious readers. here is some programs to watch out for this weekend. our guest on afterwards is the former virginia the lead --

the events that led up to the tragedy. casey pipes former adviser to president george w. bush talks about the post- white house years of president richard nixon he contracted polio as a baby and talks about growing up with a disability and becoming a disability rights activist. we talked to warren farrell. to create a white house counsel on boys and men. .. .. >> president trump recently in el paso and dayton to memorialize the victims of this past weekend's mass shootings, we wanted to show some book programs from the booktv archives dealing with gun violence. first, dave cullen from an interview in 2009 on the school shooting that too