ephen davis discusses the fall of atlanta, highlighting the role of the four commanders who had the greatest impact on the atlanta campaign. atlanta fell to union forces on september 2, 1864, bringing general sherman's or-month-long campaign to a close. war,s on the civil american history tv's weekly programs. secretary of state john kerry and former secretaries of state kissinger, baker, powell, albright, and clinton deliver for the groundbreaking ceremony of the u.s. diplomacy center. the museum is dedicated to demonstrating the importance of diplomacy throughout american history. this is about 50 minutes.

>> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome under secretary of state, patrick kennedy, former secretaries of state -- [inaudible] [applause]

>> good afternoon. it is my great pleasure to welcome everyone here today for the groundbreakinger is mopeny for the new united states diplomacy center. we are celebrating the start of construction of the center, a state of the art museum and educational resource that will ill straight the department of state's 225-year history of supporting our nation's national security efforts. as undersecretary of state for management, my office has long supported this project. i also suspect that i was asked to officiate today because i might be the only member of secretary kerry's leadership team who has actually worked for every single secretary of state in attendance, beginning with secretary kissinger. [applause]

as a career state department employee, i have the privilege of representing the multitudes of civil and foreign service employees, americans and host nationals, who have carried out the vitally important work of diplomacy for our country. the men and women of the state department have done this essential work with skill, dedication, energy and creativity, and in many cases, uncommon bravery. two of those held in tehran during the iran hostage crisis are here with us today. bruce was the highest ranking officer, and john was a newly-ten youred one. their story will have a special place in the diplomacy center. the center's award-winning design was created by architectural firm of blyer, binder, bell. it will house the power neat exercise a global classroom.

the diplomacy center staff has already acquired over 6,000 artifacts which will be on display in the center and online. i wish to extend the department's appreciation to the board and officers for their selfless, farsighted, enthusiastic support. i am pleased that the chairman of the foundation is with us today. i would also like to particularly recognize the late bofd stephen lowe who was present at the creation of this effort and who is represented here today by his wife, sue, and his son, diego, and also to charles mac mathias of maryland, a staunch supporter of this effort. without their vision and commitment to the diplomacy center, we would not be having this ceremony today. and a very special and equally heartfelt thanks to all the private sector donors in the audience whose generosity and support for american diplomacy has brought us here today to.

finally, but certainly not least, a very special acknowledgment to ambassador elizabeth bagley who has been instrumental in bringing donors to us. without her efforts, we would still be in the long-term planning stage. in of you can personally bear witness to ore formidable powers of persuasion which she exercises with the utmost charm. laugh on behalf of all assembled here today to, thank you very much. [applause] it is now my pleasure to introduce ambassador elizabeth bagley, senior adviser to the secretary of state for special initiatives. >> thank you, pat, for that very generous and very diplomatic introduction. it is, indeed, a wonderful moment to finally put shovels in the ground to start building the u.s. diplomacy center. you, pat, has been there from the very inception of this prompt, and your stewardship over the past 15 years has made today's groundbreaking possible,

so thank you for your leadership. [applause] in commemorating this historic day, i would first like to acknowledge secretary of state john f. kerry whose boundless energy, perseverance and global statesmanship exemplifies the essence of diplomacy. [applause] despite grappling with daily international crises, your enthusiasm and steadfast support of the center has led to this very moment, and thank you. i also wish to thank former secretary of state hillary rodham clinton who, among other initiatives, championed the con -- concept of smart power using all the tools in our tool box and established the office of global partnership initiatives to promote and formalize public/private partnerships.

the u.s. diplomacy center is the perfect model for this visionary enterprise, and i'm proud and honored to have served on your team. [applause] secretary baker, your tremendous generosity and commitment to the center from the very beginning has been an inspiration to me and everyone else. thank you for your leadership and your unwavering support. [applause] i would also like to thank former secretaries of state henry kissinger and colin powell who have given their time and effort to promoting the center and to another former boss, madeleine albright, who first inaugurated the office of the u.s. diplomacy center in early 2000. so i thank all of you as well. [applause] there are a number of people who

have worked tirelessly to make the center possible. i know pat has mentioned them, but i will mention them again. i'd like to acknowledge the leadership of ambassador william harris on the stage and the board of the diplomacy center foundation, many of whom are here today, for your dedication to the cause and your unflagging support throughout these many years. and a special thanks to the u.s. diplomacy center staff led by kathy johnson for their ongoing advocacy -- bernstein for cochairing the ambassadors' program, and to the many individuals, foundations, corporations and foreign government partners whose generous support have brought us to this day. your donations to the center will make it possible for the american people, as well as visitors from around the world, to learn about the history, the achievements and the varied, vibrant and often dangerous work of american diplomacy, all of which would not be possible without the men and women of the diplomatic corps who advance and

defend america's national interests and promote our founding values. edward r. murrow, a renowned journalist and a former usia director, spoke of diplomacy this way, and i quote: the crucial link in international exchange is the last three feet, bridged by personal contact; one person talking to another. that is what our diplomats around the world do each and every day, engaging their adversaries as well as their friends, diffusing conflict, forging international coalitions to combat the scourge of terror -- terrorism and, finally, finding common ground and a path to peace. this is the mission of the u.s. diplomacy center, and to honor our diplomats by telling their stories and explain why diplomacy matters to every citizen of the world.

and hopefully, to inspire a new generation of diplomats and peacemakers. so thank you all for bringing us closer to bridging that last three feet, and i will look forward to celebrating with you on opening day. thank you. [applause] >> it is now my honor to introduce the honorable henry a. kissinger, the 56th secretary of state. [applause] >> the organizers are angry at this moment to see how long it will take me to place my first verb. [laughter]

ladies and gentlemen, a great privilege to be here with four other secretaries of state. we share common experiences of the indispensable role of the united states in working for peace and progress in the world. the privilege of working with the foreign service -- the most distinguished group of public servants that i know -- and we also know that we will never do anything more channeling in our live -- challenging in our life than to serve these objectives. i would say all of us except one have this.

but let me talk about diplomacy as a relationship. in foreign policy we read about dramatic encounters between secretaries of state and diplomats, but the essence of diplomacy is to build permanent relationships. it is essential to create confidence so that when the difficult issues come up and the close decisions have to be made, that it's a basis on which the minds can meet. it is essential for diplomacy to

deal with people before you need them so that they have faith in what you're saying when you do need them. it is imperative to outline the concept of what you, our country , is trying to do so as to prevent foreign policy from becoming a series of tactical issues. for all of these reasons, the diplomacy center is a great, imaginative idea. the it's a privilege to be here for this occasion, it's an honor to have been able to serve in this institution, to share the concerns of so many dedicated people and to realize that every

great achievement was a vision before it became a reality. and it is a great privilege to see how this vision has turned into reality. thank you very much. [applause] >> it is now my honor to introduce the honorable james a. baker iii, the 61st secretary of state. mr. secretary. [applause]

>> thank you very much, pat. ladies and gentlemen, washington, of course, is blessed with museums and memorials that are dedicated to a broad array of topics that have helped shape the history of this great nation. there are museums of american art, the jewish holocaust and our news industry. there are memorials that preserve the memory of the brave men and women who fought in the two world wars, the vietnam war and other major conflicts. and, of course, there are testaments to george washington, to thomas jefferson, to abraham lincoln and to other americans who helped make this nation great. but until now there hasn't been a center dedicated to one of the most important aspects of our nation-state, and that's its diplomacy and the diplomats who have practiced it over the centuries. since the days of our founding, the united states has really been blessed by adroit diplomacy. it was, after all, a successful diplomacy that allowed us to

strike the treaty of paris, diplomacy that made possible the louisiana purchase, diplomacy that formulatedded and implemented the marshall plan and diplomacy that made sure that the cold war ended with a whimper and not with a bang. throughout american history our nation has been strengthened and protected through strong diplomatic alliances and agreements. and so i think we should be very pleased that this diplomacy center is being built. for one reason, it will tell the amazing story of the brave men and women who have served on the front lines of american diplomacy. the stories of all of them. although too off overlooked, their tales of heroism are truly inspiring.

when i was secretary of state, i knew i could count on my state department colleagues to respond with speed and skill to any challenge, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, even as the world shifted under their feet. the diplomacy center will capture this trademark quality in an exhibit entitled "diplomacy is everywhere, 24/7." the exhibit will emphasize a simple reality: no matter what political upheaval or crisis the world faces, diplomacy never sleeps. american diplomats are and will be hard at work managing a myriad of problems. there's, of course, another big reason that this center is very important. it will explain why diplomacy matters to every american citizen. such an understanding of the purpose and practice of state craft in a democracy like ours extremely critical because the people are the ultimate arbiters of our foreign policy.

during tough times like today, as crisis brews in the ukraine, the entire middle east burns, tensions rise in the far east and terrorism grows stronger, not weaker, diplomacy is going to play an important role in peacefully resolving many of the challenges that we face. as a result, the better educated americans are about this nation's diplomacy, the more effectively our leaders can engage on the world stage to find sound solutions. and so, ladies and gentlemen, i look forward to returning to washington for the grand opening of the united states diplomacy center. it will remind us of the great diplomats in our past, and it will remind us as well of the importance of diplomacy in our future. thank you all for supporting

this very important project. [applause] >> it is now my honor to introduce the honorable madeleine k. albright, the 64th secretary of state. [applause] >> and the shortest secretary -- [laughter] thank you very much, undersecretary kennedy and ambassador bagley, and as i look out at the audience, there's so many friends and so many colleagues and so many of you that have really participated in what is america's great gift, our diplomacy. and i'm delighted to be here. i served as secretary of state at a time when america was

working to articulate a new foreign policy strategy that, after the end of the cold war, would reflect what our position was as the world's sole remaining superpower. and we all are unbelievably, as you will listen to us, very clear about how much, how honored and grateful we were to serve as secretary of state and to sit behind that sign that said "united states." and i speak for henry and myself as two immigrants who made it. and so i think there's no way to really capture what it's like to represent this amazing country. we knew at the time of the end of the cold war that it wouldn't be possible to leverage our strength and solve every international crisis, but we did have a newfound responsibility to take the lead in resolving the most pressing issues of the day, and that's why i

prioritized the promotion of core values such as democracy and human dignity as well as the development of a robust civil society around the world. i also devote a considerable amount of energy to strengthening our humanitarian assistance efforts and to insuring the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons with the former soviet republics. america, as the world's indispensable nation, does have a duty to engage on issues essential to the peace and prosper the city of all global citizens -- prosperity of all global citizens, and i was very proud to listen to president obama today in estonia really saying how we had to defend our allies and our values. the promotion of our core american values still rings true today, and they are featured in one of the center's main exhibits entitled "diplomacy is our mission." and this exhibit will showcase the heart and soul of diplomacy, the work we do to encourage peace and prosperity, democracy and development through examples that illustrate our tireless efforts on issues such as civilian security, good governance, energy, the

environment and gender equality. in other words, the usdc will present the state department as an operational organization. our people are not stuck in offices or forts, they are out in the field every day participating in provincial reconstruction teams, meeting with activists and doing hands-on work. and so through the usdc the american public will be able to see what its government is doing around the world and how it connects with what happens here at home. the concept of the museum was originally proposed to me while i was secretary of state, and i just thought it was a no-brainer to think that we needed to do this. and we hired a museum curator to renovate an exhibit space within what we had renamed the harry s. truman building, and it was viewable only to employees and other cleared visitors to the building. and we thought why are we keeping these amazing artifacts

to ourselves? we should be sharing them with the public and using them to inform visitors about the fundamental role that the state department has played and continues to play around the world. and i immediately said that this was great, that it would be a museum and an education center that would do exactly that. and this day has been a long time in making, and i believe that what we started in 1999 was one of the best initiatives that we took. and i applaud everybody that has been involved with this, and i think that it really is time to the share what diplomacy has achieved and is achieving every day for americans. and so it's a story that deserves to be told, and the u.s. diplomacy center is the ideal place to tell it. and as a professor, i am going to get my students over here to really watch and do the simulation. so i'm delighted and very honored to have been there when we started this project, and i

will be there when it's over. thank you very much. [applause] >> it's now my honor to introduce the honorable colin l. powell, the 65th secretary of state. [applause] >> thank you, patrick, and thank you, ladies and gentlemen. it's a great pleasure to be with you this afternoon on this memorable occasion. another memorable occasion was my first day as secretary of state. i was sitting in my office, and one of the senior members of the staff came in and closed the door and said, sir, i have to ask you something. a lot of confusion in the building. i said, what's wrong? he said, well, what do we call you? do we call you general or mr. secretary?

i said, by all means, it's mr. secretary. now drop and give me ten. [laughter] he almost did, i had to stop him, you know? [laughter] another question i have always gotten for many, many years now has to do with the connection between my time as chairman and my time as secretary of state. i say, is the leadership challenge the same, was it the same? and the answer is two different organizations, two different cultures, two different histories, two different but complementary jobs that the military and the department of state do. but there's one thing they have in common, they are manned by volunteers, they're manned by people, and our foreign service and our civil service and our foreign service nationals, people who volunteer to serve their nation both in the

military and in the department of state. they want to have a vision, they want to have a purpose. why are we doing this, how does this serve the interest of the american people, how does it serve the interest of freedom and democracy armed the world? how do we help the world? they want to be taken care of. they want to make sure they get all the resources needed to get the job done. and above all, both of these -- soldiers and statesmen -- want to make sure that they are serving the country to the best of their ability. they're people of courage, people of competence, people who want to make sure the american people are safe and that we're trying to bring safety to as many people in the world as we possibly can. if you walk out the front of this building and go down the hill, first memorial you'll come to is the vietnam wall. if you continue across the mall, you'll then see the korean war memorial, and then up the reflecting pool at the other end you'll see the world war ii memorial. and in the distance you'll see the marine memorial, you'll see

the navy memorial further up the mall. you'll see all sorts of recognition to those men and women i was privileged to serve with as soldier and as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. and you can do this all over this city, but you will never see anything, until this moment, until this program, that pays tribute to the men and women of the department of state, the dip lo to mats, the foreign service officers, the political appointees, all of the others -- civil servants and foreign service nationals -- who do such a great job for this department . what do they do? the diplomacy, we do everything we can to prevent wars. we do everything we can to stop wars. we do everything we can to

rebuild. we execute treaties, negotiate treaties and get them ratified. treaties that reduce arms and bring up piece to a level of action for different parts of the world. we spread our values throughout the world without lecturing just by showing ourselves as a successful nation in demonstrating our value system. negotiationsade and treaties which benefit us. we focus on human rights on , health, the environment. we talk to friend and adversaries, and we work with adversaries to make sure they do not become enemies. this is vital work. this is work that is in the best interests of the nation. we talk about all the ambassadors and other diplomats we have, but my favorite foreign service person is the young, first tour, consular office, somewhere in the world --

this is america to the rest of the world. the person at the window. when somebody comes up and asks for help, or says, i want to go to america, it is that young person in their first tour who paves the way and gives a face to the american people to the people wanting to know more about america, wanting to come here. so we should be so proud of what these men and women have done over the years. it is only fitting, proper, and timely they get this kind of recognition through the u.s. diplomacy center. where we can demonstrate all they have done and let it take its rightful place among all the other monuments and memorials and tribute that exist throughout this city. so i express my thanks to all that worked so hard on this. i express my thanks to those who have contributed, to those who have put all their energy and devotion into this center. and i also look forward tom cog back when we open this place and

i can be one of the first ones through the door. thank you very much. [applause] >> it is now my honor, to introduce the honorable hillary rodham clinton, the 67th secretary of state. madam secretary. [applause] >> well, welcome to all of you and i think on behalf of myself and all of our colleagues, we are so greatful to you, especially those who have been carrying the mission of the center for so many years since 1999 and those of you who have

supported this mission by your very generous contributions to the creation of the very first united states diplomacy center. it is wonderful to see undersecretary kennedy. i think he is a time traveler because i have never been at an event with him where he has not served with everyone there. [laughing] but his, his unflappable professionalism and counsel is something that we have all very much benefited from. i also want to thank ambassador bagley. as pat kennedy said in introducing her, many of you have experienced first-hand elizabeth's ability to set her mind to a mission. that's why i encouraged her to take on this diplomacy center, to build on all of the good work

underway since 1999 and launch this campaign to enlist the private sector and i'm very grateful to her for this extraordinary success. it's wonderful being here with all of mycolleagues and particularly secretary kerry. none of this would be possible without secretary kerry's leadership and we all thank you very much, mr. secretary, for that. now the diplomacy center is, as i think you have heard from each of my colleagues, a labor of love for all of us. how, henry kissinger has written the book on diplomacy. i'm sure he will have another book out just in time for the opening of the center. he has got one coming out this fall, so henry get started on the next one.

so that we can appreciate that. jim baker has been the real champion of this center and its realization and you know, jim, it is wonderful once again being with you and susan and thank you for the championing of this center and for your very strong words of support. as madeleine said, she was present at the creation of the diplomacy center. i was looking to see what pin she was wearing, whether it was optimistic pin or a pessimistic pin. it is an american pin. so that is particularly appropriate for this day and this dead case -- dedication, and i thank her for really conceiving of this idea. and colin powell who has been in this unique position, really only general marshall, because he served as both secretary of defense and secretary of state, has anything comparable to colin powell's service as chairman of

the joint chiefs and as secretary of state, bring as very unique perspective which we heard here just earlier. i thank all of them for their insights and their extraordinary commitment to our country. we are here in large measure to honor all those who have served, from the very beginning, even before the treaty of paris which might not have been possible without good american diplomatic efforts, keeping our friend, the french, involved on our side and staving off some of the other challenges that came our way. right now nearly 70,000 diplomats and development experts are serving around the world. you heard briefly about some of the exhibits that will shine a spotlight on the crucial work of diplomacy and development. and, it will also highlight how that work has changed, from benjamin franklin to john kerry and beyond.

that is an important part of the mission of the center. because, we want people who come to this center to understand what diplomacy is all about. what it has accomplished but how it has evolved. it is clear in today's world that we communicate differently. we have a lot of ways understanding what is happening in other parts of the world. but nothing substitutes for the professionals who are there to assist, every secretary of state, every president, in understanding what the backstory is, what's happening, sort of below the surface, to try to break through for those piece treaties or for breakthroughs in trade or human rights. for the united states that means we do have to build strong relationships, not only with governments but also with publics. this has been one of the major changes in the last decades.

i kid in my book about how it would have been so difficult for henry to sneak away from pakistan to china when everybody in the world has a cell phone. so you have to think differently about how to achieve the same goals, how to convince others to work together on behalf of a world of peace, prosperity and progress. so 21st century statecraft is harnessing new technologies, public/private partnerships, diaspora networks. we did build a digital division to amplify our messaging across a broad range of platforms from twitter to facebook, being flickr, tumblr and beyond. by 2013 more than 2.6 million twitter use easier followed 30official feeds in 11 languages and our diplomats, particularly our ambassadors but up and down the ranks were developing their own facebook pages and their own twitter accounts.

they were going on local television. they were engaging in every way they could imagine. they were meeting people civil society but community activists, volunteers, journalist, students, business leaders, labor leaders, religious leaders, and we do encourage more such contacts. in fact that will be the center's exhibit entitled, diplomacy is connecting people. i think the visitors, particularly young people, will be able to interact in real time with the department's social media feed, learning about cultural and educational exchange programs, even having the chance to stand behind a podium and engage with the media as an official department spokesperson for a few minutes. we hope that will encourage some to consider a career in diplomacy. so today, we take a major step forward. we still need some help, and i would be remiss and elizabeth would never forgive me if i did

not mention that. because we want to be able to move this exciting project forward. i think at a time when there are those who wonder about our role in the world, this center sends an important, indeed an indispensable message, that diplomacy and development are at the heart of america's leadership and that that leadership remains absolutely essential for everything we hope to see happen in the world, not just for our country and for americans, but for people everywhere. thank you very much. [applause]

>> it is now my honor to introduce the 68th and current secretary of state, the honorable john f. kerry. mr. secretary. [applause] >> see, i'm only one who knew the secret there. thank you, pat kennedy. ladies and gentlemen, and, members of the diplomatic corporation, thank you so much for being with us here today. the entire state department, usdc team, many of whom have literally been working for this day for about 15 years, to the diplomacy center foundation, and the many private sector partners you know who you are and we'll recognize you a little bit later, it is your generosity that has brought us to this point and we're all unbelievably greatful for to you for that. so that today we get to break ground on on groundbreaking

american diplomacy. both colin and jim talked about the array of monuments around the city that honored those who have served and given their lives and of course wars. those who are part of the diplomatic corp. understand that there is the same kind of sacrifice and challenge for people that leave their families and pack up their kids and go away. many cases on accompanied tours. many people who work unbelievably strong hours, extraordinary risks on a daily basis, particularly more so in today's world. and so today we commit to telling the story of power that comes not from the muzzle of a gun or the belly of a b-52 but from the force of diplomacy and it is a force.

diplomacy ends wars, saves lives, resolves frozen conflict, opening markets, creates jobs, brings dignity and respect to lives all around the world. spreads freedom, lifts up millions of people who get to touch opportunity for the first time. witnessing what we witnessed in tunisia where a fruit vendor saw none of that opportunity and chose to self-i am mow late -immolate himself and ignited what for a while was called the arab spring, reminds all of us of the power of the ideas that bring us all together in which we will celebrate in this center. i'm very privileged to be here with 56, 61, 64, 67, and 65. [laughter]

and i'm extraordinary grateful to the protocal office in arranging them in chronological order so i could almost get it right. hillary clinton, my immediate predecessor, and i served in the senate together. in fact i was privileged to work in one way or another, i wasn't in the senate when henry was secretary but we worked together on a number of different issues. but hillary clinton came to the state department to rebuild the alliances and restore our place in the world at a time where people were questioning it. and to help to make an opening in burma and across so many miles breathe new life into old partnerships and gave meaning in every corner of the globe to the notion of personal diplomacy. colin powell, revered, still, by everyone i have met in the state

department and outside of it is retired. legendary stories told of a secretary who picked up the phone to the talent not just of undersecretaries and assistant secretary is but desk officers and line officers and a man who knew war so well that he valued diplomacy so much more. who's exhaustive personal engagement after the 9/11 attacks was absolutely essential uniting a coalition of allies and partners to wage war on terror. madeleine albright, whose purpose and passion ending blood shed and brutality in kosovo and bosnia and working to heal old wounds in northern ireland, to this day, epitomizes moral leadership and continues to inspire american diplomats wherever they serve. james baker, a tough, texas poker player and deal-maker extraordinaire which i can attest to because he negotiated with vernon jordan the debate rules for george w. bush and me.

[laughter] we're still talking to each other. that's diplomacy. actually my campaign folks were caught in a squabble with the bush folks, which is not unusual and jim baker and vernon jordan, got together had a great lunch. perhaps had a martini, i'm not sure. took them half an hour, the rules were done and say good-bye and remain great friends. he made the lonely decision to touch the third rail of american foreign policy and plunge headlong into the peace process at a time when there was very little support for it. and his work to build a global coalition to confront saddam hussein, ahead of operation desert storm to this very day is the gold standard by which modern coalition building is judged, which i will personally use as i go out in the next days to work on the isil issue.

and henry kissinger, the man who as we've heard literally wrote the book on diplomacy, the secretary whose exploits and expertise gave us the vocabulary of modern diplomacy. the very words, shuttle diplomacy and strategic patience and whose special insight into history has been an invaluable gift to every secretary who has sat in that office on mahogany row ever since the day that henry left it. join me all of you, in thanking five of our six living former secretaries of state. [applause]

they all look so great. it makes me, i'm sort of thinking 2016, ok. so we're here obviously and i will be very brief to salute diplomacy and to break ground on the first-ever museum to tell the really remarkable story of american diplomats, who have been daring in breaking new ground themselves from the earliest days of jefferson and franklin and john jay through the secretaries that are here now that i just talked about some of their exploits. but even as we celebrate a greatest generation of diplomats, it's time to focus on what they're going to say about the next generation. will we allow our country's foreign policy debate to be stolen by a false choice between force without diplomacy or diplomacy without force? or succumb to the easy appeals of those who promise americans

that the united states can step aside or that we can afford to think of active leadership not as a strategic imperative for america but as a mere favor, that we do for other countries? we have seen these moments before. opposition to wilson's league of nations. the isolationism that followed the first world war. deep-seeded retuck lance in congress to pass the marshall plan to win the peace after so much had been given to win the war. a shortsighted rush to cash in a peace dividend after the berlin wall fell, to pull inwards, when the cold, hard, post-cold war truth was that a more complex world needed america more than ever than the bipolar world that had preceded it. we have been here before actually. and here we are today living in a world smaller and more interconnected than ever before. in the blink of an eye we've gone from an era where power

lived in hierarchies, to an era where power lives in networks and many of those networks formed and created by people under the age of 30. now we're wrestling with the fact that those hierarchies are unsettled by the new power. the world where mobile devices represent a lot more than your ability to put a picture on facebook or instagram. but, are instead powerful, powerful new instruments of change that make hierarchies uncomfortable because you can communicate with everybody all of the time. anywhere, at any time. and we now see young people across the globe who see the opportunity that other people have, i run into this. i know, my, former, my colleague, former secretaries of each of them commented about these changes that exist today

and it's a world where a clash of ideas is as real as ever from the nilism and the destruction of isil to the opportunity and the freedom of the civilized world. that's what this center is going to be about. one thing every diplomat here today knows, that on that battleground, american leadership and engagement should not be up for debate in the first place. iraq, syria, ukraine, gaza, south sudan, north korea, just to name a few. i'm not saying that we can or should do any of it alone. that's not the proposition but the world i think most people understand will not do it without us. i can tell you for certain, most of the world does not lie awake at night worrying about america's presence. they tell me they worry about what would happen in our

absence. so as we write the next chapter of american diplomatic history, as we think about how tomorrow's diplomats will fill the exhibit halls of this museum, we have to remember engagement and leadership, not retrenchment and isolationism, are the american dna. it is doing the difficult work that makes america's values real in the world which ultimately defines us as a country. i pick up on colin's comment about the person behind the window. when i travel abroad and have the opportunity like my pretty -- predecessors did to have meet-and-greet with our personnel, i tell them they're all ambassadors, every single one of them, particularly the people behind that window because they may be the only american somebody walking into that consulate ever meets and the impression of our country will come from that young foreign service officer. i think this center will remind

us, all of us here, as it should and as each of these former secretaries do with their presence here today, that we're an exceptional nation, not because we say we are but because we do exceptional things. and today we celebrate a tradition of american diplomacy that has done those exceptional things, that has brought us to this important moment and today we will all commit to keep that tradition strong. thank you. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, the secretaries will now proceed to the construction site outside for the groundbreaking.

the audience is welcome. after discrete pause. to travel outside into the heat, or you can watch the shovels being turned on the screen that will appear behind me. thank you all very much. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please remain seated at our seats as the participants and the press depart for the groundbreaking ceremony. thank you. >> tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern, oregon state university professor marissa chapelle discusses the civil rights movement in the 1960's and the programs that were part of lyndon johnson's war on poverty that takesly program you inside college classrooms across the country for lectures ranging from the american revolution to 9/11. you are watching american history tv all weekend every .eekend on c-span3

>> each week, american history america" brings you archival films that help tell the story of the 20th century. >> to the white house in washington comes the final verdict on the fateful tragedy which engulfed the nation. u.s. chief justice earl warren is the bearer of the sad epilogue, the report of the assassination of president john fitzgerald kennedy created by president johnson, which was headed by the chief justice .imself the report is the official conclusion of the events surrounding this dallas, texas a, a day that started in a holiday atmosphere, induced by the visit of a young president and his beautiful wife, a day of love and ovations.

but three quick shots shattered , november 22, 1963. at parkland memorial hospital, theident kennedy died, fourth u.s. president to perish at the hand of an assassin. to a stunned people, it was unbelievable. the dallas police arrested lee harvey on his wall. they found the assassin toss weapon, and they were convinced they had the criminal -- they found the assassin's weapon, and they were convinced they had the criminal. and, a dallas nightclub owner with a nationwide tv audience >> today the warren report attempts to unravel the dark twists into which the national tragedy was thrown. bookstores the world over are besieged.

but quiet reins at the aesident's grave, where solemn procession forever passes. this station will never forget. >> next, on the civil war, author steven davis discusses atlanta.of he highlights the role of the four commanders who had the impact on the atlanta campaign, john bell hood and joseph johnston, and join leaders william t. sherman and thomas. atlanta fell to union forces, bringing general sherman's four-month long campaign to a close. this hour and 15 minute event place at the lovett school in atlanta. >> it's now my privilege to dr. davis, a native atlantan.