has been rocky. i broke the story that runs -- that call to make preibusevious --reince called trump asking him to act down on immigration. at 8:00 eastern and pacific on c-span's q&a. weekend, american history tv is featuring cincinnati, ohio. it is known as the birthplace of american astronomy. it has the home of one of the telescopes in the western hemisphere. learn more about cincinnati all weekend here on american history tv.

>> i would like to welcome everyone to william howard taft national historic site. the significance of this house is this the birth and boyhood home of our 27th president. and our 10th chief justice, william howard taft. the house was built around 1840, that is the time we like to use here. his parents were alphonso taft and louise taft. they came from the states. when alfonso left vermont he came here to cincinnati, ohio in 1838. he begins to work with a law firm, becoming a lawyer here in cincinnati. this is where he started to make money. were prominent

would laterwho leave downtown cincinnati and moved to the top here at mount auburn. mount auburn was once referred to as cincinnati's 5th avenue. when the prince of wales came to visit he would stay in a home up here in the mount auburn community. this is where the well-to-do got first established. trying to get away from all the pollution and the slaughterhouses, thus getting the name pork-opolis. trying to get to that cleaner, healthier air, so to speak. william was born in this house september 18, 1857. he would be the second child born of alfonso and louise taft. they grew up in a loving home, hard working, education was very important here.

whenever they were done with their homework, that was when they were granted the opportunity to go out and play with their friends as a reward. the family actually lived a very simple lives. they didn't dress lavishly. they wouldn't attend a lot of social functions. they also participated -- alphonso taft would create the house of refuge in 1851 with his first wife fanny. this was to help young teenage children get back on the right track in society. louise taft, his second wife, she is one of the ladies credited for creating the free kindergarten movement for cincinnati. that is in the 1870's. that stemmed from where she taught her son william howard

taft as much as she could hear at home, and then she said it was time for him to be in a public school system. william howard taft saw his family during the time he was growing up. he saw that his father was a very hard-working man to accomplish everything he wanted to accomplish in life, as well as his mother being very influential in education. as i said family life was instrumental not only to william but his siblings. that would follow william howard taft throughout his career. he tried to wallow in the -- try to follow in the footsteps of his father, alphonso taft, becoming a lawyer here in cincinnati and also serving as secretary of war president teddy roosevelt's administration.

27th president of the united states from 1909 through 1913. getting out of the political arena for a little bit and becomes a professor at yale university. in 1921, he would get appointed as chief justice of the united states. we are now in the nursery room. this is the room where william howard taft was born september 5 -- september 15, 1857. he would be the second sibling of five from alfonso and louise taft. the taft children would spend a lot of time growing up in this space. we know william had to share the space with his siblings. his brothers would also be here in this room. once william is old enough to move to a larger bed. you can imagine a crib here were -- where his younger brother

horace would be fighting to get out and get closer to his older brothers, willie and henry. underneath the main bed would have been a trundle bed, this is where a german nanny would have slept. she would have cared and watched over the children for alphonso and louise taft. here we are in the parlor. this is where i will point out some of the taft family members that have been influential in william howard taft's life. first i would like to point out here in the oval portrait here, alphonso taft, this is william's father. born in a small town in vermont. grew up and attended yale university. in 1838, he would tell his mom and dad it is time for him to

pack up his bags and head out west. he would become a lawyer and later a judge in the ohio superior court. then he advanced on to become secretary of war under president ulysses s. grant's administration. for a brief time in 1876. the last position he would take up he would be ambassador for , austria and hungary in the early 1880's. then as i move to this portrait of the taft family members, this louise taft, the second wife to alfonso. louise was a very beautiful lady. she was originally born in boston massachusetts. at the age of three, she would later relocate to middlebury, massachusetts, her and her family. in the blackstone river area. she grew up and became a schoolteacher. on the back we have a silvia howard, grandma taft. her ancestors were of irish and scottish descent. she would provide her expertise

to the daughter-in-law on how to bake reds and repair mints ties and prepareads mince pies. she was later married to this gentleman here. this is grandpa taft. grandpa taft was a self-taught to judge when they lived back in townsend, vermont. the parlor room is a room where the tafts would gather whenever they have important guests coming to visit the taft home. basically there was a general jacob cox, friend of alfonso , taft and the taft family, he was once invited to have dinner here at the family home. he would actually send a letter to alfonso, asking if he could bring a young brigadier along with him. his name was james a. garfield. imagine that. president coming

here to visit the mount auburn home in cincinnati. we now move to the library. this is where the family would gather and have quiet evenings, spending a lot of time in particular space. i try to imagine seeing grandma and grandpa taft sitting here on an old horse hair sofa couch, possibly reading the cincinnati inquirer newspaper. some things that has happened in the events of history, the civil war has already ended four months prior to september. also it is the same year president abraham lincoln was assassinated by john wilkes booth. people in cincinnati where devastated to hear this news. just to my right we have the secretary desk.

this belong to alphonso taft, william's father. this was the desk he probably while he was an attorney, possibly downtown in cincinnati, which we have been fortunate enough to have acquired back here in the caps on. mantle have a slate fireplace. we put this marble finish back on it as it originally had won -- worn when the taft's had installed it. this was very typical back in the victorian era days, since children had to wear cloth diapers. it was more of a convenience for the parents to put boys in a dress. when they needed to go to the bathroom all mom had to do was , raise up the dress, pop in the two safety pins, and then the

boys could go to the restroom. over in the bookcase i will , point out shakespeare's dramatic works. these are original books, which they would time to read and discuss. also down in the lower bookcase level there are smaller books you see, black books that represents the skull and bones. alfonso taft is one of the cofounders of this elite society at yale university. the books in the right-hand corner, these are books that william howard taft at his -- and his younger brothers would have used while attending woodworth high school, such as the anatomy and physiology book here. we know the books are original books. alfonso taft would have had many more books that would have covered all the wall space here in home. most of those books he donated to the mercantile library downtown in cincinnati.

is america's house. it belongs to everyone. just learning the history, they cover every political post you could imagine you over five generations of taft's have served in public service not only to help the communities here in cincinnati and the state of ohio, but also internationally. i hope visitors would come here to visit the william howard taft national historic site and get the upbringing through their public service life and possibly reflect on how things might be in their own very home today where they can have a child who comes here and they can look at that child and say you will be the next president or next chief justice to serve for our country.

>> throughout the weekend, american history tv is featuring cincinnati, ohio. our cities to her staff recently traveled there to learn more about its rich history. learn more about cincinnati and other stops on our tour at www.c-span.org/citiestour. you're watching american history tv. all weekend, every weekend on c-span 3. authors davidext, and jeanne heidler talk about their book "washington's circle. " explore the roles of politicians like james madison, alexander hamilton, thomas 1790's.n the 1780's and they seek to understand the

first president's leadership style. this hour-long program was hosted by mount vernon. jeanne and i are delighted to be back here at mount vernon. it's always a delight to come back to the home of george washington which is a monument to him. they have preserved his home and the ground on which he walked. it's always a pleasure to be in the company of good people who are dedicated and diligent and the good people here at mount that admirale trait with a gracious hospitality that makes everyone who comes here feel warm and welcome. has smoothed the logistical edges of