go >> when was he vice president? sglun der lyndon johnson from 1965 through '69. and subsequently walter mondale was offered the job by jimmy carter. mondale in many ways as a result of what he had learned from humphrey is the first modern vice president. he had his own office in the west wing, not across the street. he was a deputy president, he wasn't off with the space program or reinventing government or whatever else presidents give their vice presidents to fill time. >> can i add one other thing about hubert? we could talk about him the whole 90 minutes. the happy warrior thing with him was genuine. and billy graham told me this story. and if you ever hear billy graham imitating hubert's sing song voice, he's quite good

actually. billy moves to minnesota to set up his ministry because that's the state that hats cleanes the government and most transparency on nonprofits. so billy is swimming in the y and he said when men swem and they're all together, suddenly he's there after the lap, he's resting on the pool and hubert looms over him also in the all-together so he can make the picture in your mind if you'd like and reaches down and insists on shaking hands and says, hell, i'm hubert humphrey, i'm running for mayor and i'd really like your vote. and -- >> jean baker, barry goldwater on november the 11th. >> do we really need to? can i say one more thing about hubert? >> we're stalling. >> barry goldwater. >> okay. yeah. the beginning of modern conservatism, but also unlikely politician. some of these people seem to have absorbed it in their water

or soup or whatever. here's barry goldwater and he should have been head of the department store in phoenix. and yet gradually he take this is path that i think is true of some other politicians that they get into community affairs and then as you know, he's elected to the senate and he certainly is a man of principle. he has given us one of our perhaps worst quotations we all know. extremism. and he was the victim of a really dirty journalistic advertising trick by the joon son c joon son c johnson campaign. i do think that's an unfair political ad. >> the problem is in some ways he set himself up for that.

lbj broke the '36 record. but goldwater barely carried his home state of arizona and he took four or five deep southern states. georgia that had never voted for a republican, alabama, mississippi, i believe he took south carolina, louisiana. >> do you attribute to him will t the new southern strategy? >> gold barry voted against the civil rights act. and he voted against 9d act.new? >> gold barry voted against the civil rights act. and he voted against 9d act. you could say a man of principle. he he had been successful in deseg agree greats his family department stores, but he was such a believer in state's rights and so constitutionally opposed to what he saw as

feder federal coercion. the other thing with gold water, later on he became every liberal's favorite conservatism because he called jerry falwell name, he was outspoken with pro gay rights. he said you don't is to be straight to serve in the armed forces, you only have to shoot straight. >> that was after he left the senate. >> even while he was in the senate when president reagan nominated sandra day o'connor to be in the court and he said he would nominate a woman and he took that literally, his own promise. and jesse helm spoke against her and she wasn't sufficiently solid on the rights to life movement for helm. and goldwater was in arizona, a friend of mine went out there, and he runs out there, where are you going. he said like goldwater had his hair on fire. he said i'll going back to washington and i'm going to explain to jesse helms that i'm most conservative man in the

senate. well, in some ways he wasn't anymore. and farwell made a statement that any loyal american should oppose o'connor's opponent, aunen fortunate choice of words. and so he's a transition figure and you can see through him and his career the change, the he have evolution of the rep party. >> he's also a crank i didn't guy.i didn't guy. bob dole used to tell me if goldwater was pis schlpissed of something did you or said, he'd take his kacontai cane and let . >> these programs are 14 in number. they're every friday night at 8:00 and 11:00 east coast time and 5:00 and #:8:00 on the west

coast. they were people that ran for the presidency and lost and the next one is on november the 44th, addie llai stevenson. how often did he run, who did he run against and hhow badly was be beaten? >> he ran twice against the great military hero dwight eisenhower. so i don't really think there's anyway that addie llai stevenso could have won those elections. americans like military heros. we have a few generals that did not win, but eisenhower is an unas saleable character and i'm not sure adlai stevenson ran the most efficient campaign at least in '52. he handled the media poorly.

he would still be governing these lovely speeches and you would see at the bottom of the screen that this is a program that's supported by the democratic national committee. he never could change his rhetoric and couch it in the necessity of television time. >> he'd be cut off in the middle of a speech. because the speech -- people who traveled with him were driven to -- he had great speech writers, too, by the way. people that stephenson brought into the process. but -- >> but still, these were not -- he lost, what, in the high 40s. the second time, eches he was i lower 40s. >> he managed to lose to a president during a recession. that's not easy to do.

you're right about ike, he was hea mard to be hard to beat. >> the number that stands out is how much the electorate group. something like 11 million voters more than just four years before. in part that's a reflection on the dewey-truman choice, but people were given these two spectacular candidates to choose from. >> i would like to play up on the independent. this is addie what i teach son's contribution to modern american -- >> and then i have another one. >> it's complicating in new group of independents. we all know that they're, what, i don't know the statistics. >> say a third. >> are independent. they're not assigned. they don't choose any party. and adlai stevenson who begins in this primitive campaign in

illinois to try to encourage independents to support someone who is an intelligent candidate. >> that's a perfect transition for me. his legacy is he's obviously intellectual. ike knows it. he beats him. so what's the moral? the moral is voters don't want an intellectual. so eisenhower begins dumbing down his speeches. >> did he have to? >> going to -- >> but also what he -- how he thought that stephenson played, his lesson is people don't want the in-it letellectual. so he would make smaller words literally in his own hand. and the culmination is the great "saturday night live" skit. because then and you have series of republicans who campaign that way to this day. the skit where reagan is in the

room and his aides leave and then he's brilliant and knows great details of policy. so stephenson's jokes about egg heads notwithstanding, both parties decide that's probably not the way to get elected. >> i need to move on. how well do you know tom dewey? >> i spent some of the best years of my life -- >> you wrote a book. >> summer of 1980, i left washington, d.c. and moved lock stock and remmington typewriter to rochester, new york for one year where the dewey papers were housed. and spent a year every day from 9:00 until 5:00 in a carroll going through boxes of paper and then going home and writing all night. could i could not do it now. i wouldn't attempt to do it. >> why? >> because i'm about 30 years

older. hopefully 30 years wiser. but it was a remarkable story. multiple stories. because you had the whole racket busting era, very colorful 1930s when dewey was the nation's leading crime fighter. i mean, he has a unique background for a presidential candidate. in 1939, with hitler about to invade poland, the gallup poll comes out and it shows tom as e. dewey the 37-year-old district attorney of new york county leeilee i leading franklin roosevelt. obviously suctibsequent events intervened and they turned to wilke. but dewey could woo go on to be three turn governor of new york along with al smith generally regarded as one of the best governor of the century. he was one of those people who i think would have been a much

better president than he was a canned cat. candidate? >> do you have any remembrance? >> it's seared in to our collective dna, the "chicago tribune" who headlined dewey defeats true map oig. they tattoo you with your headline and you're supposed to never assume facts again. >> let me ask you -- >> dewey did not defeat truman for our reefrared readers who than us. >> you're the washington bureau chief of real clear politics. >> editor. >> but do youyou do a lot of hi stuff. what makes you think that people want to read about history? >> well, history is fascinating. and people know it. it's got to be presented right. but they want to know about their world today.

these things we've been talking about, they all have echos. he's not one of the 14, he's not on the list, bob dole, but if we had 15, he might have been. >> oh, no, another candidate for the 15th. sorry. >> so dole gives a talk 1996 where he's nominated and he says he's not against the teachers, but he's against the teachers unions. he's attacked for this. it's not that long ago. 1996. this year, 2011, we have documentary movies by liberals about the teachers unions. we have a secretary of education who feels much the same way. he's more diplomatic than that. people care about history because it not only tells us where we've been, but if you listen really carefully, it tells you where we're going. >> do you have any who are abmo dewey? >> i would say mainly as the gang buster. i'm impressed with the number of and significant of the nicknames that some of these contender s

and winners get. you may have another nickname, but as far as i'm concerned, this was an effen effecp effect violated one ever those laws to move beyond your pay grade. i'm sure richard doesn't agree with that. he's an interesting man, but there's something about him that is not an effective american politician and had he been elected, he would have been one of this group that i think would have done the worst job. >> i'll tell you where i disagree. go if due iewey had won, and will t part of the series. we may speculate as to how history live been different. had dewey been elected in '48,

you would never have heard of joe mccarthy. dewey ran a machine in new york. and remember, dewey took part in the first nationally broadcast political debate it in the oregon primary against howard stassen. and the debate was over one topic, should the american communist party be outlawed. and surprisingly, dewey, the prosecutor, took the civil libertarian position, you can't shoot an idea. >> what year did you publish your book? >> the book was published in 1982. >> and what's it called? >> thom as e. due i oig i oig a his times. >> james buchanan, what reyear rear did you do the stephenson book? >> 1985. >> how much years have you taught history? >> since medieval times almost.

>> what has happened to the students and their interest in history? >> students are just coming back. and i don't want to be one of those has raising parental types that say that we have significant historical amnesia. but i do think that students think that the past is over. in fact i've had them tell me that when they're think about what they're going to major it. it's over, it's gone. on the other happened,you turn to history and find that it's the most consuming thing in their life. >> how many years have you taught at george mason? >> five. >> and what do you sense is the attitude about history is among

your students? >> i guess i'm lucky. i have found obviously there are exceptions, but i have found students to be particularly interested in the subject of the presidency and one of the -- we actually cover all the presidents in 14 weeks. we do everyone. and it's interesting because a lot of these kids -- i always ask them why are you taking the course. and a number say, well, you know, i know a little bit about the people of the monuments on the mall, but i want to know more about, you know, james garfield or calvin coolidge or i want to know the hidden corners, the nooks and crannies of american his her wilher twiller. >> we go on to wendell wilke, from elwood, indiana, and also a one worlder. what did that mean back then?

>> he wouldn't have been a conservative republican today, would he? >> was he a conservative republican back then? >> he was a corporate republican and he was engaged in a national debate, we used the trfraz phras warfare, although wilke grew up on a farm and roosevelt and never saw any irony in that that would plot to punish capital wrists. but the point was who is going to run the economy, government or big business? and it's a conversation we're still having. >> what did he look like? >> he looked like a bear. he was a larger than life figure who had a charisma.

harold ickey has famously said that wilke's candidacy who sprung out of nowhere -- >> he flefrp hnever had a job. >> he had been a democrat until the new deal. but he said the candidacy sprung from the grass roots of every country club in america. i mean, there's never been anyone like wilke. it's hard to imagine there ever being anyone like wilke. he was beyond a dark horse. >> did he ever have a chance of winning? >> oh, no. i suppose of all the people who took roosevelt on, he and dewey probably had the most difficult issue. although -- >> and what was the issue?

>> isolationism versus interventionalism. and as we remember, the united states was not committed and roosevelt was working hard on all working hard on all kind of changing public opinion but also public policies. and wilk, as it turns out, really was an interventionist and ends up with this book about one world about which i'd like to ask you all about. i have never read "one world." is a pre-u.n.? >> it's the book woodrow wilson would have written. one of the things that runs a lot, they are in the series because they were nominated. not just because they ran, but they were nominated by a party to run for president. his greatest service to the

country came after 1940 when he became an emissary for fdr and traveled around the world. and foreshadowed the realignment of pretty call parties. >> also roosevelt outlived him. wilke died in 1944. >> he was only 52. >> it's somehow appropriate. he burned out. e he lived his life like that. and somehow it wasn't a surprise. >> october 14th, al smith. >> in many ways a father of the modern democratic party. >> where was he from? from new york state. he was a governor. raised in the shadow of the brooklyn bridge and tammany hall.

and yet classic. tammany hall politician who outgrew his origins. the last republican candidate to carry new york city was calvin koolage. four years later, al smith is the democratic candidate. >> meaning? >> herbert hoover. and al smith begins had this process of forging an urban, immigrant, catholic -- >> he also starts an uncomfortable conversation. it's not settled until 1960. that is can catholics be fully respected and integrated? there's openly anti-catholic enwin do used against smith. not used against kennedy. k kennedy dealt with this issue,

but smith is the pioneer. he's the one who -- >> john kennedy ran against the ghost of al smith. >> the other reason al smith, besides the womanism charge, these are good times. and in terms of the series, we talk about the biography, the personalities. but it's really important to have the context of prosperity. it was good times. although there were these areas in especially farming, where folks in america weren't doing so well. >> we also know things about hoover that we didn't know then. al smith is running against a guy who is personally credited with saving millions of lives in europe after world war i. it's an eisenhower type thing. he's a heroic figure. >> but think about al smith was and it's relevant to today. al smith, in addition to his

faith, was seen and heard as an alien figure. if you listen to smith on the radio, this wonderful accent, this was a chance for people to vote against new york. this was a chance to vote against all that they thought was alien and un-american and somehow vaguely -- he was beaten very badly. he got 87 electoral votes. and hoover broke open the south. it's not eisenhower, but herbert hoover. >> october 7th is charles evans hughes. >> i think of him in the context, and i'm not sure that you two will, of women suffrage. charles evans hughes was a progressive on women's suffrage. >> and ran against woodrow

wilson. >> ran against woodrow wilson. there were four or five states during this period that had women's suffrage. so the idea was to go and use their vote, get those states to support charles evans hughes. there was an uproar. the wilsonians were furious about this. you just simply didn't do that. in any case, in didn't work. and wilson is going to end up being the person who is pushed and pushed toward women's suffrage in 1920. but the other thing about the hughes campaign is just how close it was. i think we think of wilson as being somehow triumphant, but this is a very, very close election. >> you know, hughes is actually one of the unusual figures in this list in that his race for president is arguably one of the less distinguished chapters of

an extraordinarily distinguished and useful career. he had been a great grov nor of new york. then he got on the supreme court. e he left the court to run against wilson in 1960. was secretary of state throughout the '20s. and then his great impact was, of course, when he went back on the court and almost single handedly thwarted franklin roosevelt oos attempt to pack the court show iing he had not lost his political moxie. >> charles evans hughes, governor of new york. al smith, governor of new york. fdr, governor of new york. what is it about new york in those days that you don't see any of that now? >> i'm writing a piece about this now. i'm from california. when i was a kid, california eclipsed new york. this happened over a gradual period of time. in population, so that's a fact.

but in other ways too that new yorkers were reluctant to admit. and what's happening now is maybe texas is doing that to california and these it things change. but hughes, because he was a new yorker, he brought with him his attitudes about gender and race. he's the racial moderate and if he defeats wilson, washington is not resegregated. wilson went along. hughes would never have gone along with that. and the civil rights movement might have moved along faster and in a different stream. of all the 14 on our list, he's the one you start to wonder if he'd had been elected how american history would have gone for suffrage, civil rights, would hughes have avoided that? he's the one you could write novels about. >> did he have a beard when he ran? >> he was a very chilly, aloof,

full of rectitude. yes, he did have a beard. calvin coolidge when hughes stayed at the white house as his guest, coolidge would send the white house barber up to justice hughes' room to give him a shave. >> a crafting -- as i remember, wilson had to stay up all night and he was irritated. >> california decided the race. >> there are two guys. one of them by the name of -- i don't know if he's a guy, but norman thomas ran. and then the one that's on our list we're going to focus on is eugene debs of indiana who ran at least four times. what do you think? >> i think of a guy, a principled guy who is at the forefront of the labor movement.

and i think of him as a labor leader. runs on the socialist ticket. he's a guy who wants to break the trusts and wants to give the working man power and we are in a time now we're talking about public employees. there was no such thing. he was talking about people worked with their hands for a living in very dangerous things and he fought for the right to organize. his day came, but not in his time. >> he was also outspoken on world war i and was thrown into jail by woodrow wilson, the great champion of self-determination. and was ultimately pardoned by the even unlikelier character of warren harder, who was a kind man. >> yes. >> and in fact, one thing he wanted debs to come visit him, it was rht