particularly hurtful. hamilton then suggested that washington talk with general knox. a very, very dangerous game now was underway. both knox and washington had an inkling what was going on in philadelphia and now they were being drawn in. it seems to me entirely likely, probable, that general knox and general washington did in fact talk. their headquarters were 12 miles apart, washington was in newberg, knox at west point. i'm sure they did. they probably shared letters. the one from morris to knox, the one from hamilton to washington. these two men then replied to the men from philadelphia. knox replied first. to governor morris.

he told governor morris "i consider the reputation of the american army as one of the most immaculate things on earth. we should even suffer wrongs and injuries to the utmost verge of toler ration rather than sully it in the least degree. i hope to god that the army will never be directed that against the enemies of the liberties of america." a few days later, washington replied to hamilton "the fatal tendency to involve the army in political matters would be productive of civil commotions and end in blood. i stand as citizen and soldier." citizen and soldier. well, the nationalists had been

rebuffed by knox and washington and so they quite naturally turned to a man with whom they knew they could deal. general gates. general gates at his headquarters at ellison house, very near the encampment was surrounded by a young staff of majors, lieutenant colonels. an interesting sidelight, in talking about the events at newbergh it has been suggested general gates was unaware of what was going on and the machinations were the work of his junior officers. i invite you to visit the headquarters, a lovely house, but small, eight rooms, four up, four down. in ellison house at this particular moment, general gates, three senior staff,

several gods, co several guards, the ellison family was there, too. hard tore imagine that he wasn't aware, in the study of history when all else fails, when all your analysis and looking at documents fail i invite you to apply common sense. when you visit ellison house and someone says to you that the general could not have known what was going on, is ludicrous. what are the people in the corner doing, what are they talking about, what are they writing? he knew well. he knew well. so now, at ellison house that begins the plot. the plot. on saturday, march 8th, 1783, there arrives a messenger from philadelphia to general gates, colonel walter stuart. he was inspector general in the northern army, washington was

very unhappy and spent so much time in philadelphia didn't seem to be attracted to newbergh, new york, but finally arrived and when he arrived he went first to the commander in chief to pay his respects and then went to general gates. general gates later wrote to a friend that colonel stewart as arrived with information from some of our friends in philadelphia, those friends could only have been of course, morris and morris, hamilton, madison and others. perhaps making overturns to general gates. that was saturday. the next day, sunday, was a very busy time at ellison house, because the staff was busy writing, in particular colonel john armstrong. armstrong was writing an address to the army at newbergh. we know he was write it the original is in his handwriting. it was copied that night and on

monday morning was taken to the temple of virtue, where every morning the adjutants arrived to get their orders on. this morning, among the daily orders was this address. it is anonymous, began "gentlemen, a fellow soldier whose interests and affections bind him strongly to you, whose past sufferings have been as great and whose future fortunes may be as desperate as yours, would bear leave to address you. will congress address our wrongs or will they trample on our rights? if peace comes, and we put down our swords what then? the address went on to rally the officers and declared at the end we will meet tomorrow, tuesday, the 11th at the temple of

virtu virtue. washington cancelled the meeting. washington knew that by simpling cancelling the meeting he was running a grave risk. so he cancelled the meeting called for in this anonymous address but then called his own meeting. there would be a meeting but he would be in control. there would be a meeting on saturday at noon, the 15th of march at the temple of virtue. and in this general order summoning the meeting, i, command neer in chief, will not attend, the matter is not sufficient importance. washington had never in the whole course of the war ever addressed his officers as a group. never. he met with his staff, certainly but never called the offices, it would be inappropriate for the command near chief to behave like that. i leave it to the senior office

near command. the senior office near command was general gates. and then they swung into work, having issued this now on monday, they know washington and his staff they had best prepare for this meeting on saturday. as soon as washington's general order comes out, another anonymous address comes saying look, the general is with us! he, too, has called a meeting. wrong to be sure, but trying to draw washington in now. washington was cautious. the fact of the matter is, at this particular moment, he could not trust his army. could not trust his army. but there was one thing that washington did know, that generals may plan but it's the line officers, captains, majors,

men who command who control the troops. he in conjunction with his staff, colonel brooks, secretary jonathan trumble begin to layout a plan, they will call all the officers together, lieutenant, captains, majors, and speak to them directly. they must also prepare an address, a speech. several days now spent in writing what i probably the most important speech ever given in american history. all in secret because washington announced he's not coming to the meeting. noon, saturday, 15th of march, about 300 officers crowd in the temple of virtue. building by the way reconstruction building is there

on that historic site. general gates entered the room, everyone snapped to attention. convenes the meeting the officers take their seats and then from outside comes the noise of thundering hoofs it is general washington's body guard, in a moment they are literally standing in the doorway, 6'2" beautifully attired is general washington to the utter shock of everyone. washington entered the room, the officers stood again. he went to the front of the room and general gates stepped aside. washington then reached in his pocket and pulled out a sheaf of papers. here i must explain to you why this sheaf of papers is so important. as bob mentioned for some time, i was the director of the

massachusetts historical society. and on occasion i would wander through the shelves and stacks, i had the keys to everything, and just browse in this incredible archive. an in that incredible archive, carefully preserved in a lovely red, leather binder is the speech that washington took from his pocket on the 15th of march, 1783. in his own hand. in his own hand. was the speech. that of course was the event that prompted me to want to write about this event. so washington lays out his papers and says to the officers, " "gentlemen, you must excuse me, the meeting is so important i committed my thoughts to paper."

he then began to address them. it was a short speech, not more than 8 to 10 minutes. gentlemen, by an anonymous summons an attempt has been made to convene you together how inconsistent with the rules of propriety, how unmoment and sub veer receive of order and discipline, let the good sense of the army decide and then he few more remarks. thus much, gentlemen, i have thought it incumbent on me to observe to you to show you upon what principles i oppose the meeting which was proposed to have been held on tuesday last. and not because i wanted a disposition to give you every opportunity consistent with your own honor, and the dignity of the army, to make known your grievances. if my conduct heretoforehas not convince you had to i have been

a faithful friend to the army, my declaration of it at this time will be equally unavailing and improper. but, as i was among the first to embark on the cause of our common country, as i have never left your side one moment but when called from you on public duty, as i have been the constant companion and witness of your distresses, and not among the last to feel and acknowledge your merits, i have ever considered it my own military reputation with that connected with the army. as my heart has ever expanded with joy when i have heard its praises, and my indignation has arise n when the mouth of detraction was opened against it. it can scarcely be imposed i am

indifferent to its interest. he then concluded and let me conjure you in the name of our common country, as you value your own sacred honor, as you respect the rights of humanity, as you regard the military and national character of america to express your utmost horror of the man who wishes under any pretenses to overturn the liberty of of our country and opens the gates of civil deluge our rising empire in blood, by thus determining and thus acting you wille pursue the direct road to the attainmen of your wishes. you will defeat the designs of our enemies who are compelled to reason from open force to secret artiface. you will give me one more

distinguished prove of patriotism and patient virtue, rising superior to the pressure of the most complicated sufferings. and you will by the dignity of your conduct, afford occasion for posterity to say when speaking of the glorious example you have exhibited to mankind, had this day been wanting, the world has never seen the last stage of perfection to which human nature is capable of attaining. shakesspears, henry v. washington fine tished his speech, there was silence. silence. dead silence. he thought he had lost them. he thought that he had lost them.

for that one terrible moment, he stood there, not with his army, but in opposition to it. fearing this, he reached in his pocket once more. and took out a letter from joseph jones, congressman from virginia. and here the document becomes all important. i mentioned that the document at the massachusetts historical society is written in washington's own hand. large letters. the official copy of the speech, the one written by his secretaries in the papers of washington in the library of congress is written in the hand of his secretary, jonathan trumble, a fine hand but it's a normal size hand. friday night i think washington

did an all night ever. after the speech was written by him and by secretaries, he sat down and recopied the speech in large letters in his own hand, so he could read it. kind of an early version of a teleprompter. but now as he read joseph jones letter, he began to stumble over the words. he reached in his pocket and brought out his glasses. the officers were stunned, they had never seen the commander in chief with glasses. two weeks before, two weeks before washington had received these glasses from david rittenhouse in philadelphia. as soon as he received the glasses, he had written back to rittenhouse, something that may

be familiar. he was having a little trouble adjusting to glasses, wasn't quite comfortable with them. but now, for the first time in public, in order to read jones letter, he took his glasses out and as he did, he looked out at the officers and he said to them, "gentlemen, you must forgive me, my eyes have grown dim and my hair has grown gray in the service of my country." not a dry eye in the house. he went on to read mr. jones letter, finished the letter, put everything back in, including the glasses and walked out. as soon as he reached the door, general knox leaped and offered resolutions in support of the commander and chief, spontaneous

of course. it had been so carefully planned. the resolutions were offered and voted on unanimously, oh, i do wonder what must have been going through colonel armstrong's head, they did not vote for the resolutions. they were carried to congress to assure the body that the army, while distressed, was loyal. at almost the same moment, that the resolutions arrived from newburgh, news arrived from paris, peace. peace. not the final treaty, that would take a little longer, but that stubborn king, george iii had acceded to the independence of the colonies of the states. the war was essentially over. news was sent back to newburgh,

to general washington and he issued an announcement of cessation of hostilities. not the end of the war, cessation of hostilities. that announcement was made at the temple of virtue on april the 19th, 1783. eight years to the day of lexington and concord. as soon as the army heard the news, the cry was universal "discharge, discharge" they had not been paid and they won't be paid for quite a while, but they want to go home. the army peacefully and carefully dismantled and returned to their homes. washington had one more mission, one more errand to do. december the 23rd, 1783, he journeyed to annapolis, maryland, continental congress

was meeting at the state house in annapolis. he entered the chamber to return to the congress what they had given him in june of 1775. june of 1775, they literally had given him his commission as commander in chief of the army. on december the 23rd, 1783, general washington returned and in a very solemn, but brief ceremony, he literally returned to the congress his commission. and then left the chamber, no longer general or commander in chief, but simply as mr. to finish this hollywood set, he then rode home to mount vernon and arrives home at mount vernon christmas eve, 1783. a few days later, from mount

vernon, he writes to a friend how good it is, how good it is to be in retirement and to be a private citizen, and to never again have to be called to public duty. on that he was wrong. i'm not suggesting that in march of 1783 there would be a grand coup, that is a strike at government, there wasn't much government to strike at in march of 1783. but imagine for a moment if the army had indeed taken up arms or marched or issued strong protest, that bright line that stands in our republic between civilian and military would have been crossed and it could never have been redrawn again. revolutions are not uncommon but the ones that succeed are very uncommon. i can't explain why some revolutions work and others

don't but i know why our's did. our's worked because we had george washington. thank you all. [ applause ] should i take easy questions? okay. yes, please. >> i'm a little confused because i always thought our revolution was against the british, and you just indicated it was against the french. >> no, no. the french were allies. >> paris. >> peace negotiations, the place for peace negotiations, british, french, americans and spanish were involved, took place in paris. where else?

>> well thank you all very much you were very kind, thank you. [ applause ] american history tv on monday for 24 hours of america's first ladies including interview with aeleanor roosevelt. >> i think like everything else that we started out expecting that the united nations would solve every difficulty just by being the united nations. >> tour the white house private quarters with laura bush at 5:00, ladybird johnson at 8:00. nancy reagan reminisces at 8:30. at 11:30, the only first lady at her final campaign rally, hillary clinton. president's day on cspan 3. each year time magazine select as person who had the most influence on events during

the previous 12 months. if the same question were posed in 1862, who would time select as the person of the year? american history tv will be live next saturday from richmond, virginia as historians including james mcpherson ponder that question and present their candidates for person of the year, 1862. the museum of the confederacy and library of virginia host the all-day forum. during date we'll open phone lines and take tweets, so you can question historians about their nominations and propose your own candidates. live coverage begins at 9:30 a.m. eastern to 4:30 eastern on cspan 3. in july, 1959, then vice president richard nixon and soviet premiere nikita khruschev engaged engaged in debate. over the next hour-and-a-half,

timothy naftali talks with eyewitnesss in a conversation held at the national archives. >> pleasure to welcome you to the william g. mcgowan theater. we have a discussion of one of the most famous events. cold war, was on july 24th, 1959 an impromptu debate between richard nixon and nikita khruschev in moscow, has been known as the kitchen debate. the two leaders were debating the communism versus capitalism as they toured in moscow. they stopped in front of a model kitchen that allel americans could afford. while there, they continued their discussion through interpreters, with cameras rolling. we will hear more what they had to say to each other and significance of the exchange in a few minutes.

tonight's program is being held in conjunction with our new exhibit in the lawrence o'brien gallery, "what's cooking uncle sam" the government's effect on the american diet. showing until next january, i urge you to come back, many times and enjoy it. before i turn the program over to our moderator, tim naftali, i would like to tell you two upcoming programs. tomorrow night at 7:00, screen six gold medal winners of the student academy awards in the categories of alternative animation, documentary, narrative and foreign. the national archives and foundation for national archives is hosting the screening in partnership with the academy of motion picture arts and sciences. invite to you join us for our annual july 4th celebration on the constitution avenue steps. the program features keynote address by the honorable royce lamberth, chief justice for the

district of columbia. our annual reading of the declaration of independence. john palmer will be the emcee, it starts at 10:00. the national archives float in the national independence day parade starts at 11:45. >> to learn more about these and our programs, copies are available in the lobby and sign-up sheet where you can seef it by regular mail or e-mail. another way to get more involved in the national archives is to become a member of the foundation for the national archives, the foundation actively and generously supports education and outreach programs. and you will find membership applications also lobby. finally i would like to invite you to visit our archive shop, either physically or virtually, where you will find assortment of products and publications relating to the national archives and holdings.

a special line on the special exhibit "what's cooking uncle sam sam" the number one item in the shop, president nixon and elvis in many forms. tim naftali director of the richard nixon museum. he taught history at several universities, including university of virginia, he oversaw a team of researchers who transcribed and an oh take itted meetings recorded by presidents roosevelt, truman, eisenhower, kennedy, johnson nixon. a popular writer, his work amend on slate.com, the new york times, foreign affair and has appeared on national public radio history channel and cspan.

he's the author or co-author of four books including two involving the cold war, and nikita khruschev. his most recent book biography of george bush, undergraduate degree from yale, please welcome tim naftali and tonight's panel. [ applause ] gooding -- good evening. join me in welcoming the three members of our panel to the stage. [ applause ] you will be