division available at the kennedy filling station. there is the politics of hope, and he understood that, and i saw it every day. and the politics of personal relationships. you never went back to his office after a hearing until you had prepared the thank-you notes, because if you hadn't prepared the thank-you notes, you were in trouble, period, end of story. learn that at an early day. and that was remarkable about him. the attention to detail is available at the kennedy filling station, and that's what we saw today. the fun was available at the kennedy filling station, and we could talk about the christmas parties, but i think we'll just keep that in your own reflections. you know what we're talking about. and for me, vicki -- you know,

people make a difference in life when they have ripples. and when i look around this room at the deaspera, the extended family, and i see what everybody's doing, whether it's back in rhode island or whether it's up in baltimore or whether it's all over the country, you know, the ripples are what come from graceful passion, because graceful passion is about inspiring people to then govern and lead with that graceful passion. and i think, as i was listening last week, with the privilege of being 15 feet or so away from the pope, i couldn't help but think of senator kennedy, because i know he was in that chamber as well, and he was talking, as he listened to the message of humility and dialogue that the pope was talking about, that pope could have been talking about ted kennedy, because that's what it was about. so, i hope that young people who

maybe go into that filling station of cynicism, may be going and thinking, you know what, this isn't for me -- i think this oral history project is as important as ever, because when you go to the kennedy filling station and you learn about person and you see what he did and who he inspired and the simple humility that he brought to task every single day, the attention to detail, the emphasis on, again, graceful passion, i really believe that that is what will continue to bring us back. we've been through times like this in our history, and the historians in this room can go through that, and i came here today with optimism and i leave here with unbridled optimism, because i've been to the filling station over the last hour, and that filling station inspires me every single day, inspires

millions of americans across this country, and that's why we need to tell this story, that's why we need to make sure that every young person, regardless of what party they affiliate with, listens to this and learns from this, because that's how we govern in the united states, and i'm confident that we can get back to this order. i'm confident that we can build a stronger america, an america in which we listen, a leather apron society that is truly in the spirit of ben franklin and ted kennedy, a leather apron society that will produce an america that truly is an embodiment of our ideals. that search for the more perfect union is what civil rights is about. the most important dependent clause in the constitution, "we, the people, in order to form a more perfect union." that journey continues, and i have the privilege in my work of being able to continue that

journey. we're all -- we may play different instruments in this room, but we're all part of that same orchestra, and that is the orchestra of opportunity and inclusion, and we will continue as we live out senator kennedy's legend and legacy to make sure that that orchestra is playing in sinkny throughout this country. so, thank you so much for the opportunity, vicki, and thank you for sharing your husband with so many of us. [ applause ] wednesday night on american history tv on c-span3, programs about the civil war. at 8:00 p.m. eastern, the 150th anniversary of robert e. lee's surrender at appomattox. at 10:20 p.m., we visit the camp

sumter military prison in andersonville, georgia, for a ceremony honoring union p.o.w.s who died there. later, at 12:35 a.m., we talk to historian leslie gordon. the civil warr the 8:00 p.m. eastern wednesday on c-span3. wednesday night, book tv in prime time features programs on the supreme court and its justices. at 8:00 p.m., melvin urovski on dissent and the supreme court, its role in the court's history and the nation's constitutional dialogue. at 9:00 p.m., eren carmen on notorious rbg, the life and times of ruth bader ginsburg. at 10:05 p.m., linda hirschman on sisters in law, how sandra day o'connor and ruth bader ginsburg went to the supreme court and changed the world. and at 11:00 p.m., justice stephen breyer on the court and the world, american law and the

new global realities. that's at 8:00 p.m. eastern on book tv on c-span2. this holiday weekend, book tv brings you three days of nonfiction books and authors. on friday, back-to-back airings of "after words." at 7:00 p.m. eastern, arthur brooks discusses had i latest book, "the conservative heart: how to build a fairer, happier america." >> the biggest mistake i think that we make on the conservative side a lot, the one that trips people up the most, believe it or not, is the one that should be the easiest, which is to get happy. >> at 8:00 p.m., cornell west examines the life of dr. martin luther king jr. in his book "the radical king." >> martin understood that for not just christian, but for any human being who wants to reach a level of integrity, honesty and decency as a long-distant runner, you've got to kill something in yourself, fear.

you've got to kill something in yourself, your obsession with position and status and wealth. >> followed at 9:00 p.m. by former senator john dan forth, author of "the relevance of religion: how faithful people can change politics." >> religion does point us beyond ourselves, and for faithful people, the me, you know, what's in it for me, the me is not central. >> then at 10:00 p.m., senator claire mccaskill talks about her book "plenty ladylike," a memoir about her experiences in local, state and federal government. >> i don't think we do anybody any favors by trying to dress up politicians as if we are not real human beings that have made major mistakes and had major problems in our lives. >> saturday evening at 7:00, a panel discussion on national review founder william f. buckley jr.'s run for new york city mayor in 1965. and at 11:00 p.m., winston groom discusses his latest book, "the generals: patton, mcarthur,

marshall and the winning of world war ii." >> one of the first questions i'm usually asked when i do a tv or radio show is why did you choose these three men from the second world war? and the answer is that they embodied, i believe, super characteristics of courage, character and patriotism. >> on sunday night at 8:00, author david petrusia looks back at a turning point in world history in 1932, the rise of hitler and fdr. and at 11:15 p.m. eastern, alyssa katz discusses her book, "the influence machine: the u.s. chamber of commerce and the corporate capture of american life." >> there's a reason that i chose the chamber of commerce as a subject for my book, and it's because this single organization really sums h how we got here to this place. >> this holiday weekend, watch

booktv on c-span2. each week, "american artifacts" takes viewers into archives, museums and historic sites around the country. next, senate historian emeritus john ritchie takes us inside the dirksen senate office building. we learn about the building's construction, its place in congressional history and the building's namesake, former republican leader everett dirksen. >> once upon the time, the entire united states senate could operate out of a capitol building, and that was in the 19th century, when the demands on the government were a lot smaller than they are today. but as demands on the government grew and as government services grew, more public letters started coming in, more staff had to be hired, more space had to be acquired, and eventually, the three senate office buildings were constructed. the richard russell building, the everett dirksen building, and the philip hart building.

right now, we're in the dirksen building. we're in the large multipurpose hearing room that's had various layers of history to it. the first senate office building opened up in 1909, which is now known as the richard russell building, and that was because the government was growing. this was in the progressive era. there were more and more services coming out. but as all the senators were all in one building and all the staff were in one building, and there was sort of a small community of senators and staff that existed in that building until 1958, but steadily, the demands on the government increased. people started writing in, social security became an issue. so many other federal issues directed affected citizens. and so, they wrote to their senators and the senators hired more staff and they tried to find some more places to put them. at one point, the russell building was absolutely crammed with people. they actually had people working

in the attic, in the basement, bathrooms were converted into offices, hallways were set up as offices with desks out in the hallways. people were squeezed in just about everywhere, and it became pretty clear by the end of the 1930s, after the new deal had so increased the size of the federal government, that they were going to need another office building. and especially because they needed more space for committees to meet. committees were partly in the capitol building, partly in the russell building. they were in large rooms but without a dias, as you see here. they were at a large table which the senators and the witnesses and staff and others would sit around the table. there was very limited space for public to attend the hearings. and they certainly weren't set up for televising. and so, there's a lot of reasons why the dirksen building was built, but it actually took a long time to be built, because the initial plans were started

in 1941, and then world war ii intervened. and so, as a result, they didn't build the building when they needed it. they waited until 1950s. but in the 1950s, there were a lot of arguments. it was going to be very costly. they were going to have to buy up the property, the houses that were on the street here in washington right across from the capitol building. and there were a number of members who thought that it was extravagant and they shouldn't bother with it, and they delayed this. so, constantly, during the 1950s, the building was delayed until finally in 1956 it became so obvious that they needed more space, they were about to add two more states, which meant there were going to be four more senators. there was no space in the russell building for four senators to have more offices. and so, finally, they gave the go-ahead, and this building was constructed. and it was opened in 1958. it's not anywhere near as elaborate as the richard russell building across the street. it's a much more functional

building. it's sort of a neo-neoclassical building. it has far fewer columns and fancy decorations. it's a pretty straightforward building. it's not as comfortable a building as the russell building. it's not a building that ever appealed to the senators the same way that the russell building did, but it served its purposes, and its chief purpose was to be a place for the committees to hold hearings that could be televised. this was 1958. television was in its prime. there was a lot of interest to televise the proceedings of congress, activities. they couldn't go on the floor. there was no c-span on the floor of the chambers at this stage, but the hearings of the senate were being televised, and they needed better situation, better equipment. the capitol building, interestingly enough, had direct current at this time, rather

than alternating current. the u.s. capitol building had actually first been wired for electricity by thomas edison. edison believed in direct current. and sometimes, if you're sort of ahead of the curve in terms of technology, you become obsolete faster than everyone else. and so, until 1960, the u.s. capitol had direct current, which meant you couldn't plug anything into the walls. it really didn't serve the purposes of televising. as a result, the radio-tv gallery, where the radio and television reporters operated, petitioned the senate to have a role in the construction of the new building. and so, actually, there were television correspondents and representatives of the television network serving on the board that helped to design this building, and as a result, you have large committee rooms with paneled walls, and part of the panel can be lifted up, and there is a section in the back where television cameras and

lights can be set in and not interfere with the hearings or with the people who are trying to attend the hearings. and the whole design of the committees were set up differently. the table that they used to sit around was replaced now with a dieus like this one, in which the senators would sit at the dius, the witness would sit at a table facing them. it made for much more interesting televising. and this is, of course, the way we think of congressional hearings today because this is what we're used to seeing whenever they're covered. so, this building then opened in 1958. 14 of the committees were established here, and there was a plan to have the chairperson of each committee occupy the office immediately next to the committee room. it all looked great on paper, except of course, the chairs of the committees were some of the most senior members of the senate. they had long operated out of

very nice offices in the russell building across the street. many of them really did not want to move across the street, some of whom did move across the street didn't care for the space as much as they had liked the russell building. and so, very soon, the practice of having committee chairs occupy the space immediately next to the committee disappeared. as sometimes happens some chairs do like to be next to the committee that they spend most of their time with, but most of the other chairmen find it fine to work out of some other space. the dirksen building provided a lot of other services for the senate as part of the enormous growth of the institution. the basement level had two very large cafeterias, for instance. there was also an underground parking garage. there was a large area for a telephone switchboard because of the communications demands that were growing on the senate that operated out of this building

and because senators were also sending home to their local tv networks film of their interviews and their statements and others. there was a recording studio built into this building down in the basement in a windowless room with a phony window with a capitol dome behind it that looked very distinguished as if it was a senator speaking from his or her office, but fact of the matter, it was another service that the building was able to provide. >> i suppose the only time we never had a public debt was in the days when andy jackson was the president of the united states. but other than that, i have no recollection that we have been without a debt but never with colossal proportions as the debt we have today. >> when the very first computer was installed, it was installed in this building, and it was

designed to send, or to prepare letters to constituents. so many people continued to write in to senators, not only asking for something, but also giving their opinions about things. and senators always wanted to respond to anybody who wrote to them. and so, the first computer was acquired in the 1960s and installed in this building to be able to send, you know, mass mailings back to constituents. this is probably the most functional in many ways of the buildings, even though it has the smallest number of senators occupying the building. it is set up in the central section because of all of the committee activity, and of course, those are the things you're familiar with from watching televised hearings. >> i have reviewed in detail my 1973 work product -- outdoor recreation: a legacy for america.

it continues to represent my philosophy and my commitment to recreation, to preservation and to multiple use of the resources of america. >> initially, televising was not gavel to gavel. before the days of c-span, the major networks would come to film, and they were only going to show, perhaps, a minute or two or at the most three for an evening newscast. so, they didn't want to spend a lot of time and effort and a lot of money on film. they would only film the highlights of the hearing, and that meant when certain senators spoke, the lights would come on, and when they stopped speaking, the lights would go off. in 1972, i attended a hearing in the russell building in which senator kennedy walked in the door -- this was senator ted kennedy. and as soon as he came in and

sat down, the television lights came on. and when he asked his questions, the lights were on. and as soon as he left, even though another senator was speaking, the lights went off. it must have been dispiriting for the senator speaking at the time, but that was the reality of the situation. today we're used to gavel-to-gavel coverage, and you can watch it almost any time. there are a lot more highlights that become available of those hearings. the biggest hearings that that he place often are in the senate caucus room in the russell building. it's just a large space. but many of the hearings that we consider that sort of led up to those big blockbuster hearings took place here in the dirksen building. far more hearings, for instance, about the vietnam war took place in the foreign relations committee's hearing room here in the dirksen building than did the big, spectacular hearings

that they held when they moved into the caucus room. and you see that played over and over. and quite often, the staff of these investigations could often be here in the dirksen building, even though the actual, the big hearings would be held in the russell building. and one of the most important hearings that the senate conducted in the 20th century was the investigation into watergate, into the presidential campaign of 1972. while those hearings took place famously in the russell building, the staff forged right here in a series of rooms down a back corridor here in the dirksen building. and it was in there that one of the pivotal moments of the watergate hearings took place, and that was when republican and democratic staff members were interrogating some of the white house staff, and one of the people they were interrogating was a man named alexander butterfield, who the committee had determined visited the white

house chief of staff on a regular basis. every day he was in to see the white house chief of staff. and the question was what was he doing while he was there. and there was some question about whether or not anyone had ever recorded any of these meetings. and so so, it was actually the republican staff member of the committee who asked alexander butterfield if there had been any recordings. and the question was asked broadley enough that to be honest about answering it, butterfield had to admit that the white house had a very elaborate system of tape recording, that any time the president spoke in the oval office or spoke on the phone, tape recordings were being made. and this was a bombshell. it just changed the nature of the watergate investigation. much of the effort then became to try to open up those tapes to make them available for the

committ committee, and the president, of course, dug in, tried not to make those tapes available. this is president nixon. eventually, the supreme court ordered that he had to turn over the tapes to the special prosecutor, and it was the revelations on the tapes that eventually led the house of representatives to begin impeachment hearings and led, eventually, the president to resign. but all that started in a very nondescript, little windowless room when staff were doing what staff are supposed to do, which is preliminary interviews of witnesses before they go before the public. of all the types of hearings that are held in this building, and there are hundreds of hearings being held all the time, that, in fact, in the mornings when i would come to work, i would see long lines of people sitting on the floor or standing or leaning against the wall trying to get space in the hearing rooms, but probably the hearings that get the most attention are nomination hearings, and particularly, supreme court nomination hearings.

a supreme court appointment is a lifetime appointment. the addition of any one member on the court will affect that court. it's going to affect things for decades to come, and so, there's a huge amount of public attention on to supreme court nominations. of the current nine members of the supreme court, only one had his hearings in this building, and that was antonin scalia in the 1980s, and that was in one of the large hearing rooms in this building, in the dirksen building. >> do you have an opening statement that you'd like to make? >> no, i don't, senator, except to express my honor at being nominated by the president and the fact that i'm happy to be here and look forward to answering the committee's questions. >> this building then opened in 1958. it was meant to be built as inexpensively as possible at the time.

and in fact, as soon as it was built, it was inadequate for its purposes in a lot of ways. one of the things they discovered right away was there just weren't enough elevators in the building. that may seem like a relatively small issue, except that when the bells go off and senators have to vote, they have 15 minutes to get from here to the capitol building across the street. there is a little subway that links them under ground so they can be shuttled back and forth, but if they're on their office on the fifth floor, they've got to get the elevator down to the basement to take it over. and as a result, there were problems early on when the senators couldn't get over to the capitol fast enough to cast a vote. no senator wants to miss a vote. and so, they actually had to add in extra elevator banks into the building, and it's still a building that's relatively slow and difficult to move around in. down in the basement are absolutely plain, windowless offices. it's like operating out of a

tunnel and that's where brand-newly elected u.s. senators spend their first four, five months in office, because that's known as a swing space. the senators that they are replacing were probably much more senior, and as a result, had much nicer offices. and the freshmen senators coming in aren't entitled to move into those really nice offices. the middle-level senators who have been here for a few years are waiting their turn to move into those offices. so, when an office is emptied out and cleaned and painted, it takes a little while and then another senator moves in, and that office has to be emptied out and cleaned and painted. usually a senator who takes their oath of painted. usually a senator who takes the office in january does not get to move into their regular suite until april, may, sometimes june of that year. so after winning an election to the united states senate, and

feeling like you're on top of the world, you show up, and you're immediately escorted down to the basement into one of these offices. when hillary clinton was elected a senator from new york, she was still living in the white house, because her husband had a couple months left to his term which was going to end later in january of 2001. she would leave the white house in the morning to go downstairs to a basement office with no windows. everybody starts out the same. there are numerous committee rooms in this building, but the room we're in right now is really the room designed for the most special events when the dirksen building was constructed. it was originally an auditorium, a 500-seat auditorium with a stage that was sloped down. this is where people would come to make announcements, large meetings would be