i don't like ranking or assessing whole presidencies or whole presidents. getting it down to policy areas makes it a little bit better. on some kinds of what you call administration, i might call governing within executive branch settings. i would give him a mixed report card. "a" on some things, lower grades on other things. the one thing that i do think and have argued in print that the nixon administration was very good at was developing a white house office that when the system worked, it worked extraordinarily well in bringing together diverse strands of information including everyone that should have been included in the policy discussion into that discussion, and that putting that information before the president. to the extent he gets a lower grade is that that system wasn't enforced, so it didn't always operate.

>> i'll pretend that nixon is a senior and i'll grade him pass/fail. i give him a pass on the civil rights policies but a fail on the rhetoric, even though there were some instances during his presidency where he did speak out movingly for civil rights. there's one in particular at the death of whitney young that i think was pretty important, but i guess i'm in love to some extent with presidential rhetoric and i would have liked at least that one great 1350esp on civil rights. >> my concern when we turn to rhetoric, to say ahh, this is what the president thought that we know enough about the speech writing and the policy related speech writing in the nixon white house that we have to be a little bit careful about drawing too many inferences from that. we know for example that three senior speechwriters, which included pat buchanan, ray price, bill sapphire, were assigned to speeches based on a

specific policy topic and the ideological intensity that the president wanted in that speech. so that would be an "a" in terms of management though we may want to question the purpose to which it was used. >> i'm thinking about lbj's speech before congress, about voting rights. we give him credit for that. we don't give richard goodwin credit for that even though he was one of the people who -- >> i'm arguing that's a mistake we as scholars make. we ought to be careful about extending that very far. >> thank you all. i'm afraid we have to end it there, but the conversation can certainly continue. >> throughout the weekend here on american history tv on c-span3, watch personal interviews boo historic events on oral histories. our history bookshelf features some of the best-known history writers. revisit key figures, battles and events during the 150th anniversary of the civil war. visit college classrooms across the country during lectures in history. go behind the scenes at museums

and historic sites on american artifacts. and the presidency looks at the policies and legacies of past american presidents. viewer our schedule at c-span dlo c-span.org/history. >> all weekend long american history tv is in shreveport, louisiana, to explore the rich history of this southern city founded in 1936. you're watching american history tv, 48 hours of people and events, telling the american history. >> the louisiana hayride! ♪ ♪ we're gonna have a wonderful time at the louisiana hayride tonight ♪ >> it would start off with a big

roar and the first thing they'd ask is "anybody here from texas," and of course a roar would go up in the auditorium and then who is here from arkansas, mississippi, alabama. >> good evening, everybody, from the municipal auditorium in shreveport, louisiana, we present your own folk music show, the louisiana hayride. >> it was like magic when you walked in this building, the vibes for that saturday night were so exciting. the louisiana hayride is actually known as the cradle of the stars. and it literally was the "american idol" of its day. the louisiana hayride embraced young talent. all of the great stars that were here that became so famous all

over the world from the louisiana hayride have never been equalled. it actually started april 3rd, 1948. it was a live show broadcast in this wonderful building on this stage and it was broadcast by kwkh. horace logan was the producer, frank paige was the announcer along with norm and several others. and it just became a regular saturday night radio show. this building, it's kind of hard night in the '40s and '50s, this building was packed with people that would drive hundreds of miles to come to the louisiana hayride. the show was very loose. >> you know, folks, i had a pleasant surprise tonight. an old friend of mine dropped in

to visit with me and i talked him into coming out on the stage and singing a song for you folks. he said if you like his singing, he'll come back next saturday night and sing all the songs you want to hear. it's been a long time since he has been on the show. come out here. hank williams. [ applause ] >> hello. thank you, horace. >> the engineer, bob sullivan, said the louisiana hayride wasn't produced. it just happened. this is the hallway in the great municipal auditorium with a lot of the portraits of the stars of the louisiana hayride. of course, here is the man in black, johnny cash, who began here with his first record on sun records back in the early '50s. here is his beautiful bride,

june carter. they both performed on the louisiana hayride many, many times. june is part of the great carter family whose mother maybelle and her sisters, the carter family, played here on the hayride many times. of course, here's little old elvis. of course, elvis didn't have sideburns back then. he was a little teenager coming from memphis. kind of sandy headed and cute as he could be. of course, stole all the hearts of the fans of the louisiana hayride and became famous from the louisiana hayride stage when he was still a teenager. and down here is, of course, the great hank williams. hank williams was actually the first really big star of the louisiana hayride.

he was the greatest back then and is still the greatest. he left here after he became a big hit. went to the grand old opry. unfortunately, he had a drinking problem. he was in really poor health. he was fired from the grand old opry and came back to shreveport, and horace logan immediately said, hank, you'll always be a member of the louisiana hayride and we continue that. he will always be a member of the louisiana hayride. this is the back door entrance where the entertainers would come up the steps. this is actually where i made my first entrance into the municipal auditorium at the hayride. we all came in through this back door and would either go into

one of these dressing rooms or go on stage. there was always a crowd back here of singers, musicians, songwriters. everybody visiting before the actually. this is a larger dressing room, fancy with its own shower and facilities. they put some photographs in here of elvis and however this was not elvis' dressing room when he first came here because as you remember, he was not a star. he was a newcomer and a teenager. he mixed and mingled with everybody and became good friends with a lot of the entertainers who were performers and singers on the hayride. he loved all the girls, of course. >> he is only 19 years old.

he has a new distinctive style. elvis presley. let's give him a nice hand. [ applause ] ♪ ♪ why, it's all right, mama ♪ that's all right with you >> there were always just literally dozens of musicians, and it was very lively. and, of course, the stage was all set and the music was playing and the person who was coming on would be waiting about right here. the engineer's booth was right over there. bob sullivan, the engineer on the hayride, and the announcer's podium was over here. so it was just a lot of mingling around back here.

but i guess the most awesome thing that when you came out here, the roar of the crowd in this building was just enormous. >> okay, thank you. nice to be back to the hayride in shreveport. >> you can hear the music playing. it seems to never end in this building. and all of the great artists that performed here, it seems to me their presence is still in this building. the last regular saturday night show was in 1960, and the people that owned kwkh just decided to close it. i guess, you know, there are

many opinions on why shreveport did not develop its music industry and nashville did. a lot of it had to do with leadership. the people in nashville, they were very smart people. very kind and loving toward the music community. shreveport really, as far as i can understand, never embraced their music community. it was something that the leadership here did not understand as a value for economic development, for cultural development. it was something that was absent from the mindset of a lot of people here, and it still is. we've had a big battle fighting for the louisiana hayride. we actually created a shreveport

historic music district plan to revitalize the neighborhood and restore the old buildings, to create a music grounded atmosphere here. but that will give shreveport what it should have had a long time ago, a music presence. >> all right. elvis has left the building. [ applause ] >> i told you absolutely straight up to this point, you know that he has left the building. he left the stage and went out the back with the policeman, and he is now gone from the building. all weekend long american history tv is featuring shreveport, louisiana. learn more about shreveport and find out where c-span's local content vehicles are going next online at c-span.org/localcontent. you are watching american history tv all weekend every

weekend on c-span3. hi there, i'm mark farkus, i head up the lcv project. it stands for local content vehicle. they have thof the purpose is to collect programming from outside of washington, d.c. how do we do it? we staff each one of these with one person, with a small video camera and a laptop editor so they are able to roll, record, produce, and edit things from the road. that's what we're doing with lcvs. why do we want to do these? get outside of washington, d.c., and collect programming for all networks. we're doing what we call an lcv city tour. we descend on cities, one do history programming and historic, the other book tv programming, bookstores catching up with authors, third community relations events. community relations work with cable partners in each one of these cities.

the last thing that's important to know is all this not only goes on the air but it gets archivedened our website, the c-span video library. we're also doing extensive social media. wul s you'll see us on facebook. you'll see four square which is location based. you will see us on twitter as well. it's a chance to get out our message not only on air but also online and through social media as well.t we want it get outside of washington, d.c., get into places we don't normally do programming and make a commitment to getting outside the beltway to produce programming for all the c-span networks. there's a new website for american history tv where you can find our schedules and preview our upcoming programs. watch featured video from our regular weekly series as well as access ah tv's history tweets. history in the house and social media from facebook, youtube, twitter, and four square. follow american history tv all weekend every weekend on c-span3

and online at c sp-spaspan.orcs. owen lovejoy was a u.s. congressman from served from 1857 until his death in 1864. he was an abolitionist who used his home as a stop on the underground railroad. coming up, owen muelder of the underground railroad freedom center at knox college in illinois talks about owen lovejoy. the u.s. capitol historical society hosted this 40-minute program. >> good morning.

first of all, let me do a sound check. can i be heard? very good. welcome. i'm good more than. i'm don kennen, a vice president of the united states capitol historical society and it's my pleasure to welcome you to today's lecture observing african-american history month. we are pleased to be joined by the illinois state society of washington, d.c., and the knox college alumni association of washington, d.c., in presenting today's lecture. i want to acknowledge and thank rod ross for all of his assistance in planning the event and, rod, are you -- there he is. thank you very much, rod. i want to invite everyone to attend our second african-american month lecture at noon on wednesday, february 15th, in room 121 of the canon house office building.

you can find further information about this and other upcoming events at the back table or by going online to the society's website at www.uschs.org. later this year, the u.s. capitol historical society celebrates its 50th anniversary. we are proud to have survived for five decades as a nonprofit and nonpartisan educational organization on capitol hill. that's no mean achieve am. but our 50 years of existence pales in comparison to the proud history of knox college of galesburg, illinois, which later this month celebrates its 175th anniversary. i'm pleased to introduce the president of knox college who will in turn introduce today's

speaker. teresa amott is the 19th president and the first woman president in the history of knox college. she came to knox college after a distinguished academic career at several institutions including bucknell, harvard, the university of massachusetts, wellesley, gettysburg, and hobart and william smith colleges. professor amott. [ applause ] >> thank you, thank you very much. and thank you for that wonderful mention of knox college's 175th anniversary. it is a great honor to join you today for this lecture by my wonderful knox college colleague owen mue lder. i would like to think the illinois state society, the d.c. knox club for their sportsmanship of tsponsorship

of the event and also thanking our alum rod ross, class of 1965. retired reference archivist at the national archives and records administration. of course, one of course, one never really retires from a devotion to the discovery and the preservation of our nation's storied past. thank you, rod, for your service in this very important effort that the societies join you in carrying out. one of the many gifts that -- well, yes, let's thank them all. [ applause ] thank you. most fitting. one of the many gifts that a liberal arts education gives its graduates as lifelong respect for the power of historical perspectives, for the power of the historical imagination, for the inspiration that a meticulous examination of the historical record brings to the present and the future. i want to thank you all today

for coming to be part of that important effort of discernment and inspiration. at knox, we are very proud of our abolitionist beginnings. we were founded as was noted earlier 175 years ago. our founders then imagined into being at a time when this was an heroic effort, a town on the prairie in gailsburg, illinois, distinguished by the presence ol students of talent and promise, irrespective of means of race or color or creed. to this day we honor those commitments in many ways on our exprairiptional lincoln studies center, home to two of the nation's most renowned lincoln scholars, rodney davis, and two-time lincoln prize winner douglas wilson. the most recent book together

"the lincoln douglas debates" has been hailed as the most complete record of those debates. instructive perhaps in this campaign year. the fifth of those debates i'm very proud to say was held in 1858 on the knox college campus. i'm delighted to introduce yet another example of how knox college has served and been inspired by the past. owen muelder, class of 1965 -- '63, thank you very much. >> sorry. >> yes, can't read my own handwriting. owen has been the director of the nooks college underground railroad freedom center since 2004. he has lectured across the country on the anti-slavery movement. his first book "the underground railroad in western illinois," available in the back, describes

the central role of the founders of knox college who were part of an important web of individuals across the country, fighters for freedom. it has been described as an essential text for understanding that struggle for freedom in the midwest. his second book entitled "theodore dwight weld and the american anti-slavery society" also recalls this important collective effort that brought many people together in small and sometimes unrecognized ways to make great and enormous changes which we celebrate this month. he will speak to us today about a distinguished 19th century member of this house who represented the proud state of illinois. i give you owen muelder, a true son of knox, class of 1963.

>> thank you, president amaut. and i thank the united states capitol historical society, the illinois state society of washington, d.c., and the knox college d.c. alumni club. in the early evening of november 7th, 1837, an ugly, drunken crowd of violence-prone anti-abolitionists gathered together in the city of alton, illinois. by 10:00 that night, they had turned into a crazed mob. a few hours earlier, this troupe of troublemakers attacked people barricaded in a warehouse belonging to elijah p. lovejoy. the crowd had learned earlier that day that lovejoy had received a new printing press that would make it possible,

possible for him to resume the publication of his anti-slavery newspaper "the observer." lovejoy had moved across the river to illinois from st. louis in 1836, believing that he would be safer as expressing his anti-slavery views in the free state of illinois, rather than the slave state of missouri, but alton was a pro-slavery community in a free state. its character was much different than the yankees owen lovejoy had grown up with and his brother elijah p. lovejoy had grown up with, in maine. lovejoy soon came to recognize, however, that there was real danger and he was courting very real problems for himself even in alton. he had written a letter earlier to his mother saying "it is harder to fight valiantly for the truth when i risk not only my own comfort, ease and

reputation, and even life, but that of a beloved one as well. i have a family that is dependent upon me, and this is the bitterest ingredient to the cup of sorrow i am called to drink." lovejoy's abolitionist stance so outraged the majority of alton citizens that mobs had on three previous occasions stormed his newspaper office and destroyed his presses. on this moonlit night, however, lovejoy and his loyal group of friends, including his brother, owen, were determined not to let that happen again. when the mob made its first attack on the building that ehd one man in the crowd was shot to death. the rioters retreated for a while and consumed more liquor. they regrouped and charged the warehouse again. this time, bringing with them the building was set on fire, and when elijah lovejoy emerged from the structure, rifle in hand, he was shot down.

as he lay dying, his brother, owen, swore that he would thereafter dedicate his life to the abolitionist cause. as word of elijah lovejoy's martyrdom spre aanti-slavery ca in the united states was galvanized. few other events in the anti-struggle would trump in significance the murder of elijah p. lovejoy. scores of newspaper editorials across the north registered their outrage at what had occurred in alton. what was at stake, these assault on freedom of speech and freedom of the press. the death of lovejoy also brought about the fame of a very famous american abolitionist, wendell phillips, later known as

abolition's golden trumpet, later established his a famous d speech defending lovejoy's stand. shortly after the killing, owen lovejoy returned to east to help compile a publication about his brother's death, which was issued by the american anti-slavery society. he told abolitionist comrades there that elijah had done more by his death than living and unopposed he could have done in a century. the offices of the american anti-slavery society on nassau street in new york city remained owens' headquarters until his brother's memorial volume was released in the winter of 1838. owen lovejoy returned to illinois in the spring, where he attended the episcopal church convention in rushville. he then went to jacksonville where he hoped to be ordained as an episcopal minister, but the day before his ordination, the bishop asked lovejoy to sign a pledge promising not to discuss

the topic of abolitionism. lovejoy refused to accept the condition and so was not ordained. a few weeks later, however, following an anti-slavery rally in jacksonville, owen mounted a horse planning to ride to knox county. he had designs on finding a church that would accept him as their pastor, close to galesburg, founded as id amaut mentioned, by abolitionist george washington gale, who established the colony on northwestern illinois. the community and school immediately became an anti-slavery stronghold. the town eventually became the most noted abolitionist underground railroad community in downstate illinois. before owen lovejoy left jacksonville, however, a friend suggested to him that he head a bit farther north in illinois to princeton. the congregationalist minister