♪ >> hello everyone. and welcome. according to our visitors and viewers from c-span. i am jim kelly director of the billy center of global security analysis florida university. prior to be cosponsoring this webinar on lincolnomics with our partners with american finance in the cfa society of new york. this event is part of our centennial series celebrating 100 years of purpose driven business education. it is particularly timely since we are currently offering a course in financial history in conjunction with the museum of american finance. through the presentation please enter your questions by

typing them in the q&a section near the bottom of your zoom screen. who will be addressing as many questions as possible after the presentation. lastly, as a participant in today's webinar will be entered into a raffle to win a free e-book of lincolnomics. winners will be notified at the end of the week. now i'd like to turn over to president of the museum of american finance who will introduce our speaker. thank you. >> thank you jim it's always great to back with you. the cappelli school, our friends at cfa. and this is a third time i have had the pleasure to introduce john. the first time introduced him he had written ten books without whispery impressive. while the second time he was up to 16 and now we are up to 19 books. so congratulations on that, john. this book is particularly timely because in the heart of it you're discussing

infrastructure as we know congress is currently debating infrastructure built. in john, ponder several times throughout the book, what would lincoln do? john's prolific writing also includes more than 1000 columns and articles in places like the "new york times", the wall street journal, but most importantly of course our own magazine financial history and article based on a book will be out in the spring issue sometime next month. john has appeared on many media outlets from nbc to npr, cnn, cnbc, msnbc pbs. he is a native of illinois and during his childhood he visited many lincoln tourist destinations. and he continued on doing that as adults around the country visiting various tourist sites. therefore when you read the

book the several great appendices. one of them mrs. refused i don't shoot and miss the various lincoln tourist destinations. now john it has been a very difficult 13 months for this country. so please tell us what would lincoln do? >> thank you so much c for that generous interpret it is always a pleasure to speak at the museum of american finance. so much to our great sponsors from the school of business, center for global security analysis, cfa society of new york and all of you for attending this zoom session. on what i hope will be a revealing new look at abraham lincoln and infrastructure. the story starts in 1828. a young man is taking

transporting goods, hogs, agricultural produce from southern indiana on the ohio river down the mississippi to new orleans. on the way he discovers two things. he sees that people who are enslaved do not have the same canonic opportunity to advance their own station. and it is a moral evil. he also sees the importance of transporting goods to markets and having access to those markets no matter where you live. so if you are a rural farmer were ever in the country, you do not have to go through this labyrinth of what was then the interstate system for the nations large rivers to get there. this young man was abraham lincoln. took another trip out of springfield, illinois. 1828 is a really important

here though. that is with the erie canal opened. that gave new york city, which became of course with the greatest imports in the world, access to the markets west into the great lakes brit at the time chicago was not even a city it was a swampy trading post a very inaccessible because the only way of getting down to the mississippi river was through an ugly portage called bud lake. even in 1673, two explorers said hey there should be a canal here. if you connect the chicago river to lake michigan, the great lakes, the erie canal, new york city you can get to new orleans because internet to the illinois river, then the mississippi and onto the chosen city. that was on the first impressions that young abraham

lincoln had as the nation was growing in the 1830s, it was really a time that we don't really study a whole lot. because we mostly skip from the revolution to the civil war, there is a lot of history in between. one of the reasons i wrote the book was because i wanted to know, how did our country developed? what did we need to do to get where we are today? and eventually what do we need to do to get deeper into the future into the more equitable present. what was really important about that trip was a very huckleberry finn like trip for lincoln it changes worldview changes thinking. a change how he said things in public. one of his first really campaign planks in the 1830s when he ran for general assembly he is in springfield

illinois young man in his 20 failed it running two stores, tried surveying, was splitting wood was doing anything to make ends meet. he had some debts, a partner in a store left him high and dry, he had to pay off those debts. he did all of this while being very curious about the world and about markets and economics. things that would transform not only his life but the life of all rural americans and even people in cities. he proposed something very interesting. the first thing you said is we need to build a canal from springfield all the way to the illinois river which would facilitate a great newport and access to the markets in new orleans and further south. and also to create a canal that would later be called the illinois michigan cannot which would connect chicago it's only about 96 miles.

and as a third thing which actually was pooh-poohed at the time because everybody thought it was going to be way too expensive, was a major river thing to connect the whole state to the rest of the eastern market at the time. that railroad was going to be called the illinois central. he worked with a fellow named steven douglas whose great rivals throughout life in politics to get this done. the illinois legislature passed a massive infrastructure plan and then promptly went bust. it was undercapitalized, the canal had to take some time off because they did not have the money to hire irish laborers to get paid almost nothing to dig it by hand. that was something that had to be done in order to open up chicago, the great lakes and the rest of illinois to the global markets. lincoln saw this early, he campaigned for it and he was

fairly successful in convincing people that this should be done. he wanted to put rural farmers and anybody who is not living near a big city or saltwater port on equal footing with everybody else how do you do this? you create transportation routes to infrastructure to get people there. so lincoln was fairly successful as a young assembly man. but what was more important was the introduce this concept based on henry clay's american system that if you build infrastructure would create economic progress. this was fundamental to the view of the world and the united states henry clay was a waiting abraham lincoln was an early wig they were very much into building infrastructure and tariffs to pay for them, internal tariffs. and they did this they called

the era of good feelings. i'm never quite sure why they called it that. the biggest thing at that time was to build canals all over the country. to connect these major rigid river systems course railroads took off in the following decade in the 1840s and then became this huge interstate system really took off because the canals can exceeded the growth. what happened when lincoln first proposes little canal out of springfield was that new that any place where the canal was at a conjunction with another river system in this case illinois, a lot of commerce and development would take off. and this is very little known but he was a nervous planner. he planned a town at the intersection of this canal

called here on as in lake huron. it course was never built. i saw the plans and doing reach or something of never did known about lincoln then of course he moved on to be a lawyer to make a little bit more money. he was a very successful lawyer and he kind of dropped out of politics until 1854. and when the interim, america's growing a rapid pace. opens up 1848 what happens, it creates this a major city on the other end of it. chicago is a dumpy little swampy area on lake michigan in what becomes a major shipping port. and becomes the easiest port in the city when the canal is finished for at least another decade. and by 1900 the population was

so explosive it becomes the fastest growing city in the world at the turn-of-the-century. that was facilitated by this idea that lincoln champion along with steven douglas. even more importantly the illinois central railroad which was really built to supplement what was going up and down the canals becomes the longest railroad in the world by 1850. not until the civil war. it became a major transit route during the civil war. so keep those two things in mind. these are two immense developments in the history of the country in the midwest links east in a market to western markets of the southern points. it's globalization in a very small sense but in a very growing sense. now what happens in the civil

war comes along? we know what lincoln says. we know about the house divided speech, we note the lincoln douglas debates. i started going to some of the material he said literally the first debate with steven douglas in 1858 he's running for a senator at the time against douglas. douglas had controlled the illinois democratic party and at that time there were not directly elected he became the senator. so what happened was in talking about slavery made another argument. this was during the first debate. he said you know, every man has a right to earn his own. i'm paraphrasing, to be on an equal footing with everyone. so this is lincoln's view of economic progress that you have a right to offer your

labor for pay that you have the opportunity to ascend the economic ladder. how do you move up? how do you avoid being this back a woodsman all your life doomed to farming? how do you do that? while this is part of the american system. it kind of grown up to learn in our history. but there's more to it than that. here is something even more exciting. this is another side plot and the whole lincoln story that really during his sort of i would not call exile but it's his estrangement from politics which would last roughly from the time he leaves the general assembly to more roughly 1854 when douglas passes the kansas nebraska act allowing for expansion of slavery in the territory. lincoln comes to this

realization that what is really important here other than ending slavery is we still need to pay attention to infrastructure per 1847 is only termed in the house of representatives. actually gives a very long speech one of his longest speeches ever on infrastructure. why is it important to have railroads? what is it mean to the health of the future of the nation? lincoln thought it was essential. in fact he was disparaging president polk at the time for fighting the mexican war and then collecting this huge national issue. keep in mind up until lincoln's era many of the founding fathers, many southerners thought their federal funding structure was unconstitutional. james monroe himself said in an annual message, even before the canal i like the idea it's

not in the constitution. that was used as an argument against for decades before the civil war. sit lincoln suggested in 1860 there is a secession of the southern states. incan has to go into washington by a secret route because there is an assassination plot attempt. he gets there in the civil war starts. in prosecuting the civil war lincoln's record is very well known. when he had embedded in someone's very basic messages were very foundational ideas on raising all boats the economic progress. where the favor? first of all the transcontinental railroad became a very popular idea in the 1840s. johnson, fremont herein for president against buchanan campaign on that.

he was one of the first republican republican party does not come along until the mid- 19th century 1850s. in the new republican party of course is against slavery and for the transcontinental railroad. lincoln had representatives illinois central as his lawyer knew the importance of it. so he favors that in one of his annual messages which were save the union speeches he mentions a whole bunch of other things. he is the first president to do a telegraph message transcontinental. he loves the telegraph as we know from history in the civil war he spent a lot of time the telegraph room by getting dispatches from the various battles. first years of the war very badly for the union. and of course lincoln's shot following generals. he's trying his troops were

the need to be. and most of them are the federal generals it turns out are the railroad engineers who became generals. they later become active in the transcontinental railroad. here's was even remarkable at the height of the civil war this god awful bloodshed 700,000 people lose their lives. the majority lose them in the camps to various diseases, they have no idea what's going on because it is not come along till 2030 years later. he's an advocate of medical research. he establishes pathology institute. i found the papers where he talks about using disinfectant and some of the union camps. he does not even know about germs he just hears about it. i saw later in the archives

for this except a really good idea. he's our innovator he wants to do new things. want to see see new ways of communicating of transporting goods, of getting us to where we need to be. in one of the biggest sort of fell swoops that he signs into law are three very fundamental laws. the homestead act which allows people basically framed the moral act establishes land-grant colleges and of course the pacific railway act, to laws actually which give the land for the trans cut metal railroad. that was 1862. the following year he also passes the national banking act. this is for the first time establishes green dollar is our national currency and establishes also income tax to pay for the war and during the

war the union increases there's a very small tax 3% over $800 to pay it is the first income tax repealed in 1873 i believe in it comes back in 1913. but it was first away of the national governments financing is expensive on that level. that was a very important development. so all this happens when the civil war gettysburg vicksburg in 1863 and then the war is over, lincoln loses his life in 1865 he's assassinated at ford's theater. but his legacy lives on. here is the most amazing part of the story, lincoln's view of economic progress this building infrastructure really

comes out of another part of his psyche in 1847 hit actually invented a vote. it was designed to lift up not a very big vote but is lifted up if it was in shallow waters he patented in 1848 and traveled on the illinois michigan canals. lincoln is the only president who is a patented inventor. it was had in the back of his mind being the innovator how do we do things better? how do we use technology? how do we really do the things we are really good at to make this a better country for everyone? those are the principal things i discovered that again the legacy lives on. he inspired a whole new generation of progressive politicians frank lloyd wright, james adam, social

reforms, the lincoln highway which was the first national east/west route goes through times square albany san francisco, was named after him and inspired by him. in fact i was born just off the lincoln highway the hospital where i was born a longer exists. it is called the crossroads of america. and of course there's lincoln all over my state he's on her license plate. we have all of this inspiration. the roads in this country were really terrible going forward from one part of the country to another. especially from the midwest to the west. in 1919 a young girl -- white eisenhower takes a convoy to explore the lincoln highway from one coast to the other. it comes to the undeniable conclusion they are just awful. some of the routes like

pioneer trails that go through mountains and deserts people are saying, how do we pay for this? how do we do this? the first idea was the lincoln highway that was 1913 the first concept of financing it was that it should be privately financed. soon entrepreneur was really the heir to the packard said we need somebody to do this. every 4 cents to a buck, you're not going to his private money. and i am not going to contribute. you're going to need federal funding just to do this. so they don't raise enough money. they get subscribers including woodrow wilson and again think he gave five bucks or something. this is terribly underfinanced but does not really happen until eisenhower becomes president in 1956 the interstate highway act and

creates the largest highway i tried inflation adjusted for today's dollars it would bid at least 600 billion-dollar project. now we face at least $6 trillion this proposal for the 2 trillion-dollar american jobs plan by president biden and we are looking at that now. so as with a lot of my stories this is like my fifth book on infrastructure history, finance, telling stories about the people behind these ideas and the principle here is very powerful that you do need to make these investments. this is how we link our cities, our towns, our farm fields from coast-to-coast.

i'll leave you with this one thing, we are very good at that lincoln really personified was this idea that innovation would not only lift our economic station for entrepreneurship, this new technology but also lift their spirits that this is aspirational. we still truly believe this new invention or this new idea is going to change the world. that is what i think makes us americans and that's part of the path forward. one of the reasons i wrote this book and i have to tell you one last sort of anecdote about it. i wrote backwards i started out with the era and the pandemic we are in now. i lost two friends i know lots of people who lost friends and my condolences if you knew

somebody who perished in this ugly thing. but it revealed something about better social infrastructure better educational infrastructure roads, bridges, tunnels, railroads. all of these things that come out of a huge infrastructure. it also builds their >> and their confidence and gives us something to hope for. it is aspirational. and with that i would love to take your questions. there's a whole bunch of stories in the book it was a pure joy to write living in the land of lincoln and people ask me how long did it take you to write this? i said well all my life. this is an ongoing story and

help all of you will contribute to this effort to realize what we need to do. and we are back to jim i think. >> yes thank you very much john. just to start us off, before i even ask a question let's encourage everyone to please enter your own questions in the q&a box. and keep going on that basis. the tariff was a main source of income back then, do think lincoln would be in favor of higher tariffs today say on china? >> i think the whole tariff formula proved to be not enough to do what we needed to do in terms of infrastructure. this is the whole argument during the 19th century tariffs were used to fund some infrastructure. but it was not enough. is it a good way to finance these things? i will leave that to the

historians, to the financial analyst. i would think what we do need is a broad-based sustainable way of financing this. whether it's public-private or through bonds or through carbon taxes so many proposals we get that discussion going you don't invest in your house, need to replace the heating the air conditioning all of these things wear out. if you don't do that you're looking at problems. so the house is our nation and it does need to be fixed, and upgraded, put a new technology we need to address climate change, all of these things. so we do need and that is the current argument, how do we do this had refinance? >> mention innovator in chief.

secondly lesser known story was a duel challenge believe it or not that lincoln had. and a little bit about that for the audience but again most people are not aware of those. >> whether to really good stories. they both happen at different times. but the inventors story was that for lincoln to get to washington he had to take this god awful route come through the great lakes, through the erie canal, down the hudson river and sometimes each of the overland routes. and often when he was on a vote in the great lakes it would get stuck and they would have to pry the vote loose with the physical labor. sweet came up with this idea, literally designed it on the ship where he had these polls pretty wish i had a picture of

it, would lift it up and they had these inflatable buoys that would float the vote up higher. it was a really clever invention he made a model of it. he had a friend construct to produce now in the system smithsonian it was a beautiful looking craft. not built as far as i know. be on the model stage. nobody used it there is probably not that much need for it. the dual challenge was lincoln had some issues with depression. one of his sweethearts died, that was ann rutledge. madly in love with her she dies and he is bereft. he gets very depressed. there is a mary owens before he meets mary todd who was very sprightly intelligent, politically savvy. new henry clay.

grew up with that whole culture and that louisville, kentucky. : : : >> . >> that that's what happened. he did not fight the dual if we would have lost lincoln i cannot imagine what this country would be like. good question. thank you. >> if you could one thing to spend infrastructure money on what would it be quick.

>> that's easy for me. that would be healthcare. because one of the things i discovered in writing the book backwards is there are massive inequities in terms of healthcare coverage with communities of color and the rest of the country. it is very and evenly divided in a county north of the city we have a plethora of really good hospitals but the south side of chicago is not the case there struggling to stay opens why was been the many to say how do they have a broad-based plan everybody gets decent basic healthcare. we need to come up with something as the covid crisis exposes these inequities.

it was horrible because some people didn't have access or go into the hospital they were afraid they could not pay for it. this is part of the social infrastructure argument lincoln would have embraced by the equal treatment clause at the very least we should treat everybody fairly and equally. of course they haven't and that's what they need to talk about talking about infrastructure. >> with lincoln be in favor of a line item veto to keep out of the infrastructure bill? >> i don't think he would've looked at that specifically he was a big picture thinker. the continental railroad how big of a picture was that? that spurned the robber baron

era and murdering them and putting them on reservations there is a lot of bad things that happened because of expansionist economic policies no doubt but how can you see that? i don't know what he would have thought to be honest about a line item veto but the question of his time wasn't government waste but not spending enough money on what mattered to the greatest number of people. that is a tough four night will pass on that but i think he would have looked at it eventually he was very open-minded to new ideas. >> lincoln and frederick douglass knew each other well tell us about their rapport and how that relationship valued policies. >> and murdering parlance i

thank you been friends and enemies. from what i could tell he welcomed douglas into the white house. of course douglas was an accomplished thinker and speaker and abolitionist. he wrote two autobiographies. he is amazing he opens the whole issue of slavery and economic equality and what we need to do. there's probably no better person if you want to understand and to read frederick douglass. that douglas was very critical of lincoln in the early years what we would consider to be a fairly regular basis at the white house.

but the list and feel he was doing enough the emancipation proclamation did not end slavery and totality. so that is one interpretation freeing on the other side all the pieces that needed to fall like equal education and funding infrastructure for every community, that word come later but coming later in the 18 eighties advocating for equal rights. and i think and has done more than any other president to advance equality i don't think too many historians were disagree to inspire the 14th

and 15th amendment and of course the great civil rights legislation in the sixties. but both men would agree there's more work that needs to be done. to make our lincoln convince folks that broadband is the new canal system? >> i don't think he would hesitate. so when he received the first telegraph messages buyer president. and his invention since the 18 forties and was really struggling to say it is global communications instead of pony express and the slow route you are sending messages that the speed of light.

and link above the idea. besides being in the telegraph room in the white house sending and receiving messages broadband everywhere. i think he would have loved the idea. >> if any of those ideas would apply. >> here's the great back story. and 1862 to establish the land grant colleges that we know state universities today. the first iteration they could

sell it or farm it or produced in common that was the concept of the landgrab. not a direct subsidy as we know today and the principal means in the 19th century for doing something big the federal government didn't have the income for one thing and then the states rights arguments they should be doing this first. they did have the ability to raise the capital and a lot of investments was foreign investment. the transcontinental railroad so lincoln was a focus on education because of the shortfalls of the area only one year formal education and the rest was self learned he became a lawyer and he studied integrate reader.

he was into math and all sorts of subjects so he would've embrace the idea of expanding the educational system one of many and there were other extensions of that in the 20th century establish universities and historically black colleges came out of that. native american colleges came out of that in subsequent iterations i think he would have loved. and the vermont senator originally proposed land-grant universities who knew lincoln as a young man and proposed the whole idea of the industrial university teaching two basic things of

agriculture so he had this idea for decades to try to get it passed 1858 but then it was be towed and then became law under lincoln but he was very well aware of turner he had a massive visitor at the white house during the civil war he was a famous abolitionist and ironically in the same town where he got his start with the fake college system and things like that. >> what do you believe president lincoln word have achieved if he was able to serve his second term? >> that is the most essential question to ask today.

the low hanging fruit is he would've completed reconstruction if he had lived longer he would not abandon not in the 18 seventies that led to the horrible jim crow era and lynchings and awful times in our history. lincoln what have followed through and witness the passage of the 13th 14th and 15th amendment and taking it a step further to ensure there was political equality with complete voting rights and generally we credit him for being the inspiration of the great society programs come civil rights of the sixties, i think he would be able to see that through and add to it. he was definitely the soul of all of those laws.

>> i'm curious how do you explain or interpret the transition between the canal system and the rail system? how long does that take and what are the stages of development? >> that's a fascinating question. and it didn't really take long in terms of history because what needed to happen for railroads to take off they had to mass-produce rail, they had to cut a lot of trees and to create the technology to extend rail over a long distance. and with that came improvements in the steam engine, braking systems, a lot of the business was centered in chicago with the ironic fact of history that the pullman car company was one of chicago's biggest industries.

from its inception and literally had to build all of these cars out of would. lincoln travel then pullman cars in his son who became a lawyer was president of the pullman company for a while. there is a horrible strike. so that was an important part. with every story there is incremental events how do you have a better real better steel or better iron? from the steel mills of chicago and pittsburgh and cleveland they all contributed with the advancement of the technology go from the canal of 18 thirties or 18 forties with the spikes and the golden

spike is driven into the transcontinental railroad. a lot of interesting things happen they had to reinvent how they build bridges for the iron era of most were made out of wood. in fact this is one great story lincoln was defending a company from rock island illinois and needed to get across the river and at that time right at the end of the steamboat era so they had a right to the river and no upstart technology and no railroad across the river so there is an incident where the steamboat either crashed or lost control and hit the bridge. since it was made of wood it burned to the ground. so the steamboat owner who underinsured his ship sues the

bridge company in bring on lincoln as the attorney to represent the bridge company and he makes an interesting argument he doesn't win a case it was a hung jury but eventually it is one with a compelling statement this isn't just a bridge it is an impediment to commerce or trade it is a public amenity it links chicago and the east and the country across the mississippi they belong to the public we should build more they are not stopping commerce or people from discovering land in the west we need it. was an important case about a whole chapter on it and i was just so fascinated how he was with the public good of infrastructure.

>> hr 40 possibly in front of congress dealing with reparations for descendents of slaves what would lincoln think of that quick. >> i think he would think thoughtfully. it is a complex subject we have to address those inequities in all systems education, healthcare, and the fact there is the environmental justice issue that toxic plants and refineries built in communities of color. there's a whole list of things i think lincoln would have fundamentally addressed because it spoke to his sense of fairness that equality is based on the ability to take advantage of an opportunity and if you are held back for whatever reason, it should be addressed. i think he would've talk to frederick douglass about it or

booker t. washington and all the people who talk about it today. i think he would've looked how do we do this? >> how were the canals financed? there was some speculation in the stock market so explain how this was financed. >> this is one of the interesting stories of american finance when they financed they floated some bonds which were horribly inadequate.

for those sections of the canal which in management theory probably not a good idea in today's age you hire one contractor. for the contract out for bid and in the best bidder gets the job. and they send notices out to ireland to say to promise the poor irish guys doing to be a navigator? that's what they called them a navigator digging it by hand. so at first it was an undercapitalized project then they got foreign financing and then to build the canals of course the land-grant system

is basically you get the land and you find the money to build it some money was raised for the transcontinental railroad mostly bonds but a lot of foreign investment. and it was a reverse while then so how do we enjoy a nature in the middle of the city? what does that mean had we produce our own energy or cleaner air and water and stuff like that? how do you localize that? what i discussed in the book is climate change affects everything and certainly effects of infrastructure we have to build bridges higher

in redesign water system. but that would be my next book, called the natural neighborhood. host: so to embrace the concept of public private partnership? thinking of the pandemic with the cooperation of the federal government and pharmaceutical companies is there any analogy back in that area? >> i think so. when a lot of these projects were done, what really provided the undergirding of the financial structure was

the fact they could solicit eastern european investors. the most the federal government could do it owned most of the land that was appropriated for native americans and they could say we will give you the land. maybe the states can help a little bit with loading bonds but it's not enough. it's never enough you have to find the rest of the money to do this. that was the story for all of the railroads that came after the transcontinental railroad and there was one side story originally a journalist named henry villard started off with the first newspaper syndicate and was a friend of lincoln but eventually he got so much

information on these railroad projects out west he became an investor from the famous house in manhattan of course he lost a lot of that fortune when the railroad stocks crashed that eventually he financed thomas edison. that's another great story. he would go back to german investors to say this railroad you are financing in kansas city, you might want to take another look at the paper and the statements. i can help you with this. he made huge brokerage fees and it says interesting as anybody else

>> we don't completely understand them and we won't but it's important to see what he saw and feel what he felt and to aspire to a better country. still a worthy goal in a moral principle that we can't abandon it is wonderful to have you back with wall street legends thank you very much.

>> i will be back >> jeff immelt reflected on his time as the ceo of general electric during a virtual event hosted by bare it e-book store -- barrett bookstore in connecticut. here's a portion of the program. >> i really wrote the book because i felt like it was a complicated story and that, you know, kind of proof equals facts plus content. and i felt that the context around ge that, basically, between the media and the company itself not defending itself that it -- the narrative around the company opinion didn't speak to the people i worked with. and what i really wanted to do was add more facts, ad a more complete -- add a more complete story about the good things we did and the bad things we dud. but basically get a complete story out there. and that's really what, you

know, what i tried to do, right in terms of running a company during a crisis or when things aren't good, you know, you have to make quick decisions, you have to operate the company better, and you can't allow people to point fingers, right? so i would have always focused on those three things. but that's not the reason why i wrote the book, booth. i wrote the book -- pete. i wrote the book really the speak to the thousands and thousands of really great people i worked with and allow them to feel a more complete way around the company, right? and that's really, that was really the context with which i wrote it. >> watch the rest of this program at booktv.org. type jeff immelt or the title of his book, "hot seat," into the search box at the top of the page. >> here's a look at some books being published this week. in how i saved the world, fox news commentator jesse watters reflects on his career and

weighs in on american politics. former prosecutor and cnn senior legal analyst ellie hoenig talks a critical look at former attorney general william barr's time in the trump administration in hatchet man. and in the how to raise a conservative daughter, clare boothe luce president michelle easton offered her thoughts on how to pass down conservative values to young women. also being published this week, columbia university religion professor hendricks jr. argues that conservative evangelicals do not uphold christians in christians against christianity. in three days at camp david, jeffrey garten looks back at president nixon's decision to end the connection between the value of the u.s. dollar and the gold standard. and journalist emily bass examines u.s. efforts to stop hiv and aids in africa in "to end a plague." find these titles this coming week wherever books are sold and watch for the many of news

authors to i appear in the -- many of these authors to appear in the near future on booktv. ♪ ♪ finish. >> weekends on c-span2 are an intellectual feast. the every saturday you'll find events and people that explore our nation's past on american history tv. on sundays, booktv bring you the latest in nonfiction books and authors. it's television for serious readers. learn, discover, explore weekend on c-span2. ♪ ♪ >> thank you for joining us. my name is andrew shaughnessy, i'm the director of the robert a. smith international -- of the jefferson studies at monticello. the new book, "the complete

victory," published by oxford university press, it's a splendid edition with color all straights and excellent maps and very useful appendices. the battle of saratoga is often a regarded as the turning point of the revolutionary war. it was a victory won entirelily americans -- entirely by americans. it's generally believed that the victory persuaded france to ally with the united states. kevin weddle has produced one of the most comprehensive accounts of the battle. it is of particular interest because he is a former army officer with 28 years of service. a graduate of west point, his service included two combat deployments and a professorship in military theory and strategy at the war college in carlyle,

pennsylvania. his previous book, "lincoln's tragic downfall," was awarded the william e. colby award. kevin has agreed to do this program in an interview format more like a conversation which will be followed by questions from our audience. and i'd be grateful if audience members could put any questions in the q&a at the bottom of their screen. .. i want to begin by asking you to discuss how your military backgroundou influenced your writing of the book.