need to do and make the connections. finding the source of stability and trust and belief, the home in your community. that is crucial. jericho: i am sorry that we could not get to these questions. we have to do a book signing. if you ask us those questions there, we will answer them. thank you so much for coming here. [applause] it is a good idea for you to five. you might want to go get this thing. inc. you. -- tha about you. it is about food culture. in the meantime, we are pleased to have rain on us and author and historian whose most recent book -- it came out in november

of last year. professor brinkley, how has the book done? >> really well, i have had more fun touring on the book then any book i have ever done. it is in the news every day, what are we doing on our planet, hawaii is in utter devastation. people jumping into the ocean to escape the wildfire. talking about the environment, how did he get to the place where we have victories from the 60's and 70's. the clean air act, endangered species act, 50 years ago. it passed.

the idea is, when can we have a new biomet regulation. a new wave where the whole country galvanizes around the menace we have now of co2 in admissions -- co2 emissions. >> you have talked about jimmy carter, richard nixon, jfk, etc.. >> you have observed the last 6070 years of history. a friend of mine called the current period the great realignment. i want to get your take on the last 10 years in american history. >> the ark was from fdr in 1933 until ronald reagan in 1980. a time where people believed the federal government was your friend. whether it was world war ii, social security, the highway

system, the department of defense. reagan came in and it was a revolution that went to trump. it was more of a suspicion of the federal government, not to waste, balance the budget. and now we are in a time of neo-civil war. the age of reagan is over. they are morphing with biden people. you have a new world order going on with donald trump and how he has consumed so much of the oxygen of our country. we do not know where we are at. this divide, al gore and george w bush down the middle. the florida recount, hillary clinton won the popular vote but trump came president.

we have not been able to get out of that feud. i think the republicans are winning in the sense that they were able to get recent supreme court justices in. that has fueled an unraveling of the programs, roe v. wade, clean air and clean water act. we are now in an aero where americans think less government is more. libertarianism is going on right now. on the other hand, if biden wins, we may be living in the age of biden. trump is eating all of the media up, but trump -- but biden might be a two timer. >> what does that mean?

does this 50-50 have to break? >> it is not inevitable, but because we have been so defined as red and blue states, we know which will be red and blue in the next election. it is the same handful, arizona, georgia, virginia. there are others. there will be five or six states that will determine things. the electoral college as it is now structured helps of the republican party. democrats who have population bases, california and new york may win the popular vote but do not win the presidency because of the electoral college. that creates frustration because people wonder whether democracy is broken. >> what do you think?

>> i think the electoral college is here to stay for a while. you have to have a whopping majority in the senate to get rid of it, and if it is working for republicans, why would they want to do away with it? that is the rule of engagement. if you are the democrats, you have to make a defined strategy of winning the elect oral college game map. spending a lot of time in wisconsin, michigan, the midwest. i think pennsylvania they do well, but there is a corrosion in ohio. wisconsin you cannot tell. iowa is turning red, florida is red. the democrats have to keep virginia and put north carolina in play.

obama won north carolina, the democrats need to try to expand their attempts of winning. >> do you fear a separation? >> i do not, i think we are more united. on a local basis, people live day to day, we are doing well in our country, the economy is as good as anywhere in the world. we still have great universities, research centers. but there are warning signs that are threatening. and it is the public's lack of trust in government. we are dealing in the press. when i was on walter cronkite, he left in 1981. it is down to 16% or something. congress, low marks, supreme

court, polarized. presidents cannot get over 40%. there is a lack of faith in what government will. and yet we have a record voter turnout. it might just be that trump is going to be seen as a great disrupt there. he was expressing outrage for people who felt they were marginalized. that nafta had brought jobs to mexico and left -- akron and flint dotted. there is a lot of public anger and dissent, that things have not gone as well. people are worried, only new immigrant treasurer the american dream. others find it is hard to attain. >> you have taught at rice,

tulane, other universities. with technology. has education morphed, is a traditional four year college still a strong approach. ? >> in person education is essential. i do not want to deal with ai, with lots -- with bots. a lot of education is about human interaction. you want to be in a classroom with students discussing the book, arguing over a point of history. this is not just my belief, online learning we did during covid was disappointing. a generation lost. there are colleges that are

vibrant, expensive, there are problems of who gets in and who doesn't. but getting the privilege of getting to spend four years in an environment with others your age and learning about the world is the golden name in the u.s.. >> you mentioned the bookstore has been your favorite tour, the most nourishing book tour. what is the favorite book you have ever written? >> i would have to say the wilderness warrior about theodore roosevelt. that got me going at looking at the role of president and conservation. i love the national parks and all that roosevelt did. i have expanded from the national parks and monuments to national wildlife refuges,

national historic sites. on a preservationist -- that book brought joy to me, i am proud of the amount of research i did. theodore roosevelt, they are building a presidential library for him in north dakota which will open in 2026. it will be an event. it is beautiful up there, he became a rancher, it will be built along the little missouri river, it was one of the special spots in my life >> one of your first books was about jimmy carter. are you still in touch with the family? >> yes, he will be 99 this boebert. when -- this october. when he had brain cancer, and the more recent announcement of

him going on hospice. but he has a will, we write about presidents and their spouses, jimmy and rosalynn carter air -- are a unit. he works to make sure she is taken care of, that he is there with her. it is one of the great love stories of presidential history. they knew each other since they were children. their journey to america to gather is something special. i am of the belief, because i have love for them both, they are around for the -- for a while, i believe he will make it to his 100th birthday. as it is he is the longest

living president in american history. >> who is overrated, who is underrated? >> some of the people that have been underrated -- dwight eisenhower. he seems to have found a spot where democrats like him, liberals, moderates and conservatives. his two terms are a great time of prosperity, he dealt with things like the interstate highway system, st. lawrence seaway, little rock. good and honest government, he is going up in my estimation and scholars writ large. andrew jackson is taking a big hit.

he used to be one of the top five big presidents. a much more keen awareness of what the trail of tears was, what indian removal went -- removal meant. white fang, bloody side to andrew jackson and his disregard for black americans and native americans. he has been thinking -- sinking by scholars. donald trump has praised jackson. on the right, he is having a renaissance. but in the presidential scholar world, he is moving downward. i saw a documentary on calvin coolidge, he is having an upward revision because like

eisenhower, integrity matters. like jimmy carter. people will judge character as not just the defining thing -- some people said fdr would never let his -- he could make up stories. i am not talking about the moral right to tune. -- moral rectitude. but feeling it was honest and you were treated like respect. >> we appreciate>> good afternoe director of the john w -- library of congress. this center is one of the sponsors of this year's festival and are proud to bring beloved writers here.