mr. silverman: thank you so much. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> you're watching "american history tv." all weekend every weekend on c-span3. to join the conversation, like us on facebook. this weekend on "the presidency," james rosebush, former deputy assistant to president reagan, talks about the 40th president. his personal life and personality. mr. rosebush is the author of "true reagan." what made ronald reagan great, and why it matters.

the richard nixon library museum thisosteds -- hour-long event. >> before we start the discussion, i would like to introduce someone will introduce our speaker. ken served in both the nixon and reagan white house is. he joined president nixon's campaign in 1968, in the midst of going to law school at columbia university, and served as a deputy assistant to president in. he then joined san clemente after he retired and helped research and write his best selling memoirs. he returned to politics in the reagan administration, where he served as a speechwriter and senior adviser. since then, he has been active

in many state and national campaigns. he's a supportive member of the nixon foundation board. [applause] >> thank you, jonathan. first i'd like to add a note relative to this setting. having worked so closely with both presidents, i think you would like to know first how much they respected each other, i worked very closely with president nixon and president reagan, and president reagan had an extraordinary and deep respect for president next and for his insight and depth of -- president nixon for his insight and depth of experience in foreign policy. he also looked to president nixon for political advice from time to time. i live in san clemente.

for obvious reasons. i worked with president nixon on his memoirs. i worked with him for four years and i sat for many hours with him as he prepared his memoirs. as he watched the 1976, and then later conferred with him as he watched the 1980 and 1984 elections, i can assure you that nixon saw ronald reagan as a political practitioner of the highest ability. he had great respect for president reagan's skills all around, as a communicator, as a politician. anyway, it is nice to introduce a former colleague of mine in the reagan white house. there have been hundreds of books written about president reagan.

i haven't read all of them. many of them were written from the inside. they say, what i saw, or what they say about reagan the man, or the real reagan, the truth about reagan. the fact is, there are only a very few people, and few of those books written by people who had close personal exposure to the president. frankly, we would fit in a pretty small room. jim has written one of those books. one of the few who can say he was there to observe the president personally. while he was the point man on the president's private sector

initiatives program, he also became at the request of one of our mutual friends, chief of staff to nancy reagan, which gave him more insight. i thought some of my strongest insights into president reagan came from mrs. reagan. she taught me a lot about how to deal with president reagan and help him to be a better communicator and help me be a better person to work with them. i'm sure you will hear that today. and so, jim had the benefit of not only working with the president, but working with mrs. reagan. he had the benefit of foreign travel with the reagans and assisted in negotiating trips to china, japan, korea, france, england, and germany. and he was very privileged to be at the very historic bilateral

meeting between reagan and gorbachev, the account of which in this book alone is worth the read. i will also observe that jim is very insightful regarding the president's communicating skills. jim is going to have to wait for my book for another view. in this book, there's an excerpt that many of the best speeches of president reagan, an element of research that is very valuable to reagan scholarship. jim was there, working with mrs. reagan, when she did the "just say no" drug campaign. it was not in the oval office, but the west hall of the white house. i also did a little personal

research into jim that he is not aware of yet. i have my own sources in the white house. i did find out that jim was asked to do a lot of things, impossible things from time to time, he was asked to pull a lot of rabbits out of the hat when he served the president and mrs. reagan. on the trip in april of 1984 to beijing, china, there was a very important state dinner given for the chinese premier. president reagan was the host for the premier. it was the reciprocal dinner. the premier had given a dinner before that and now the president was hosting the premier. it was at one of the brand-new american hotels. it was called the great wall hotel.

the reagans were hosting the dinner. what they wanted to do was to have an orchestra play american music for the chinese. the orchestra was all chinese and the conductor was chinese. turns out that the chinese orchestra knew only three western songs. they played these three songs and that was it. after they played the three songs, they stopped. jim, being partly in charge of the arrangements for the dinner, knew that this wasn't very good. he went over to the conductor, who speak only chinese. -- who spoke only chinese. jim did not speak chinese.

they looked at each other. turns out that jim spoke a little german and the chinese conductor spoke a little german, so they communicated somehow in german and jim said, i know you only know three songs. you need to play those three songs over and over again. jim, welcome to the nixon library. [applause] james: thank you, ken. thank you. i've got to know your sources. where did you find that out? i'm tremendously honored to be here at this beautiful library, which i have to say is managed even better than the white house. the floors are buffed to a high shine and the old organization really just sings. it is beautifully managed and i appreciate the invitation to be here. i was going to say how much i appreciate the introduction, but the story about china, i have to

add a few details. i want to say how important it is to me that my friend ken did this introduction tonight and i want you to know that ken was not only noted for having been an important part of both administrations, which is a tremendous part of history to participate in, but ken was two things. he had the confidence, directly, of president and mrs. reagan. he was sort of an untouchable. if you didn't like what ekn was writing in his speeches, you could never touch him because he had the direct confidence of the president and first lady. everyone knew it and he was commanded a tremendous amount of respect. the other thing you have to know is, just like ronald reagan, he never sought the credit. he always gave the credit to his boss.

that was just one of the great characteristics of ronald reagan that i want to talk about tonight. we have to start with the east room. i was used to sitting where you are in the east room, arranging what was going on, but coming into it tonight from this vantage point is a little unnerving. the east room, during the reagan time, was the scene of these grand press conferences, which you don't see anymore. reagan spoke to the american people more than any other president. he gave his oval office talks, more than any other president. he inaugurated the saturday morning radio address. and he gave these massive press

conferences that we haven't seen in a long time. he prepared for them in the family theater. on the ground floor of the white house, there were theatrical film screenings and that was where he practiced. he practiced for hours. the press conferences were officiated by helen thomas, the dean of the press corps. you remember that they could never end, begin or end without helen's ok. so, if you knew helen or watched helen, you knew you couldn't have a debate. she was the one who ran them. she was the one who would say, thank you, mr. president. ronald reagan had a problem with this. it had to do with the east room. reagan, being an honorable gentlemen, wouldn't really take

helen's comment as the actual end. if you remember, it was a contest on the part of every media outlet to get that last question. in truth, reagan, who was quite programmed and set apart perhaps too often from the casual encounter with a journalist or the media, they wanted to get him in an offhand comment. when helen would say, thank you mr. president, and he would start to walk off the stage, you would have at least a dozen questions being yelled. being the gentleman that he was, he couldn't quite get himself off the podium. it caused what we considered a very messy situation reagan it -- messy situation because it would put the president in the situation of not knowing what to do. after going through this are about a year, he came up with a solution. that was to shift the side of the room. previously, it would be the east wall to my right.

that is where the president was set up. he had to navigate, walking across the east room, to get back home, back upstairs. he called it the quarters, like truman did, living above the store. we decided to flip it and put the dais for the president on this side of the room so the cameras could see the president walking in and that was a very effective way to begin the press conference and it gave reagan am -- gave reagan an out. all he had to do, turn around, say good night, and walk off into the distance and back upstairs. that was one of the interesting things that happened in the east room. sort of emblematic of how the white house worked and how the

president is part of his communication ability. he said, it wasn't that i was a great communicator, it was that i communicated great ideas. he always linked himself with great ideas and the concept of america as less of a place, as he called it, as an idea. i recall the staging that we set up, occupying half the room, for the american ballet theater. we hosted a series of performances at the white house. there were tremendously interesting and fun, memorable occasions. the reagans hosted more state visits from heads of state than any other president.

there was always entertainment after dinner, as was the case with every president. we had people like sinatra serenading from the stage. it was really marvelous and the reagans loved planning it and being part of it. one night, we asked robert goulet to perform, but his performance took on a slightly different tack when perhaps before dinner he had a few too many beverages. when he got up to perform, and the entertainers usually would mix with the crowd, he fell into the lap of the lady sitting in the second row. it brings back a lot of memories. i have to say that, thinking about the relationship between our those copresidents we are honoring together tonight, i

ed correspondence between these two great leaders. i could see the importance, the important role that president nixon played in the development of ronald reagan as a great international leader. president nixon was not reticent to share with president reagan once he came into office his views on personnel, people that would serve him well. you see long letters passing between the two of them, largely on personnel issues, and on ni -- also on nixon's advice about reign leaders and heads of state. the largest contribution president nixon made to president reagan as a head of state, and working with other heads of state, was that nixon sent reagan on several official visits, representing president nixon to europe, where reagan had an opportunity to meet with

heads of state, foreign ministers, and the head of nato. this is including ireland as well. this was a country that the old reagans came from. i think this helped give reagan a deepening understanding of how he might handle these leaders later. this is a tremendous benefit that nixon accorded reagan as a future leader. he also sent the reagans to the philippines. that had its own interesting story as well. i like to think of these two leaders in this depict. it has given me an opportunity, writing this book and talking to audiences, to think about what true leadership of character really is. i've come to see that, and this relates to president nixon, that a great leader of character is a

person who has the ability to discern the future and lead a people to it and threw it. i think this is a characteristic that was shared by both presidents. they had the ability not only to discern themselves and the united states in its destiny to be the shining city on a hell -- on a hill and bring light to the rest of the world, share this unique system of ours, this american exceptionalism, which they both believed in, to help lead people through it. if you look at the top five residents in american history, where president reagan resides, with washington, lincoln, fdr, and kennedy, you can begin to see those that were in this top five, the ones that have both the ability to discern the future and lead people to it and

threw it, and also have the kind -- through it, and also have the kind of character which i've come to define as a belief in standards or principles beyond yourself. today, we have this crisis of leadership, not just in this country, but globally. reagan was a force of character. so many political leaders today are a force of personality. reagan was reticent to ever refer to himself in any context of leadership. he always expressed the responsibility for anything he was able to accomplish. he gave credit to the people. he always referred to that in a way that what he was able to accomplish was the result of what the people were able to do. he had that much love for america and americans. i thought i would just share a comment before i get into four

vignettes that illustrate the points that i bring out in this book and my personal relationship, as reagan himself told me and opened up the secrets in the mystery of his character. now today, we are talking and thinking about egyptair flight number 804. it made me think about something i discuss in the book, how reagan handled korean air flight 007, which was shot down by the soviets. this was a 747 airliner which had 286 people on board. including a u.s. congressman. it ventured slightly into soviet airspace and was shot down. reagan decided he would hold off on making any public statement. he came back from the ranch, to

the situation room, and everyone was clamoring to have him come out and make a bold statement immediately. and reagan, true to his character, which was not to always follow the advice of his advisers or bureaucrats either in the state department, defense department, he always listened to his own conscience. he was a brooding strategist. he had an idea that everything was happening for a purpose. he felt that in this case, there was a purpose to this, and the purpose was to allow him to turn this into a lesson about the defeat of any kind of control over what he called his god-given right to liberty. so reagan waits 20 hours to make -- 24 hours to make

any public statement. his advisers were very impatient about this. but when he did come out and make his statement, which was very definitive, this is what he had to say. dug this out of here, coming over to the library this afternoon. we're listening to what we think was a terrorist act last night. here's what reagan says about the korean air incident. make no mistake about it. this attack was not just against ourselves. this was the soviet union against the world. and the moral precepts among people everywhere. it was an act of barbarism, born of a society which disregards individual rights and the value of human life and seeks to expand and dominate other nations. he concludes this way. and by the way, reagan always communicated, and ken knows this

very well, but reagan always used the words of those that were already commonly accepted leaders, people who made his speeches glisten by not just reagan's authority, but their authority. he quotes from the scriptures, 96% of his speeches contain quotations or references to bible parables. 96% of the time. reagan loves to do this. it is a tremendous communicating tool. it is not as if i'm saying to you this is what i believe. let us have faith in abraham lincoln's words, that might might, andht makes

let us to the end there to do our duty as we understand it. if we do, if we stand together and move forward with courage, then history will record that some good did come from this monstrous wrong that we will carry with us and remember for the rest of our lives. who was this man? who was this mysterious ronald reagan who could stand up and talk about man's god-given right, that man is made in the image and likeness of god, that can put within historical context this mission and this destiny for this country, in a way that recent presidents and our current president don't frame the american experience in american exceptionalism. how can we raise of a standard of faith and character in our -- raise up a standard of faith and character in our leaders so that we will not lose this last, best hope of the world, as reagan always referred to america. here are four different vignettes from my experience

with reagan that illustrate where this man came from and how he came to the qualities and the faith that made him this effective leader of character. i've written this book from the standpoint of showing proof of what character does. today, millennials are not very much interested in history at all. only interested in history for its impact. how is history impacting me, or how will knowing history actually change the course of the future? that is why i say i've written this book for the future. today, i spoke at the bible college of l.a. speaking to these college students, not even born close to the time of reagan, yet they are so earnest about wanting to

understand what made reagan great. they also want to know how they can use this in their own lives. this is the standard we need to raise up. reagan always reminded us, not only that our best days were ahead, but that those of us in this room have the ability to start the world over again, or as he loved to quote from ulysses, come, my friends. it is not too late to seek another world, to seek, to strive, and to never give up. he was constantly telling the american people that we had the hope, capability, destiny, and responsibility to keep that light shining. how did i come by this? so, in early 1981, i was taking my first solo limousine ride, motorcade ride, with the president.

i was there to, basically i thought we were going to a speech, and i thought i would start briefing the president on his speech. he didn't want anything to do with that. he wanted to use this opportunity, which ended up being about 20 or 30 minutes, to explain the roots of his character to me. i was responsible for running his favorite domestic policy program, a little initiative in which we looked for private sector solutions to public problems. in the case of public education, public housing, garbage collection, anything that had been done solely by the taxpayer and the government, we felt it was important to create -- the first time we coined this term, public-private partnerships, or to see how the private sector could do this better than the government working alone. this was so close to reagan's

heart. he wanted me to know where his character came from. another similarity with nixon, he talks about his mother. it is often asked of me, would president reagan have assumed this high office if it had not been for nancy reagan? she certainly contributed, but it was another woman, his mother, who made him read the bible, made him recite the bible, made him act in morality plays based on the bible. she had him accompany her when she went to minister to the poor and sick in local hospitals, people never even owned a house while reagan was growing up. reagan goes into a context of his mentor, his minister. he was expected to marry the

minister's daughter. he considered going off to yale divinity school with one of his best friends in high school. he went to a church school. he drove 100 miles back to eureka college to teach sunday school. 25% of his life was spent in and around the church and he developed this spiritual context based on the scriptures. when reagan talks to me this urinaryegan -- i had an had an extraordinary level of curiosity. we had to really learn our client. why they acted the way they did. as if -- we had to

understand it in order to serve them in the best way we possibly could. this was reagan and early 1981 opening himself up to me and showing some of that inside he never, ever talked about. there was a famous interview he gave to w magazine. it was a friend of ours and she was determined to make a new story and determine to find out about that quite interior reagan never talked about. when you talk about clearing brush and cutting what up at the ranch, that is all you talk about, what you think about when you are cutting the wood in clearing the brush? and he says, the wood. [laughter] >> that is much as he would reveal about himself. to histhat it was detriment because he was being portrayed by the media in a way that did not even resonate with me in terms of knowing something

about what was going on inside. but, now i know it was his genius. because if he talked about his faith. if he talked about his belief system, he would have never made a movie in hollywood, and he would have been marginalized in the political world. so he kept it quiet. and there was a nine-year-old boy who attended one of my speeches, and he said to his parents on the way home, and they reported to me that he had it all figured out. he said, now i know. if reagan had talked about what was going on inside, it would be into he was a knight going battle without his armour on. i thought, that is exactly what was going on with reagan. he kept all of this inside. if he had exposed it, it could have worked in the opposite direction. now, this is the first book, as nancy reagan says of my book, this is the book that ronnie

could not write about himself. this is the book we need to have to rebuild the inside so we know what a leader of character is thinking on the inside for the future. like so many other president have not be billed about them. the second vignette has to do with his arrival at the brandenburg gate in that famous speech where he gives the six most iconic words of the last century. you know all them. mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall. what happened? one of the brilliant, young speechwriters went to germany and did what we call today focus groups. he talked to the people and small groups and set the president is coming. what do you think you should say? they said, he should call on gorbachev to tear down the wall. they loved it. they said it was vintage reagan. he had the credibility to say

it. reagan loves it. and the speech goes around to the state department and every single speech is whited out. said, back to reagan, he what happens to it? it came back again. even his own chief of staff and on personal staff whites it out? he gets to that iconic brandenburg gate out of an armored van, not the limousine, and he says to his personal aide , jim cohen, he says some of the boys at the state department will not like this? here is reagan listening to his own heart? to his own advice? not only does he say those six iconic words, but read the rest of his speech? because reagan talks about his opposition to any walls that would separate a man from his god? a man from his right to live

free? reagan was a free demand, and evangelist -- an evangelist for freedom and for fledgling democracies? he believed it was a role in america. by building up the u.s. presidency, this was not for his own embellishment. this was to consolidate the power of the united states and its authority based on its values, it's principles, if possible a form of government. he believed that if that light went dim, we would have turmoil, and that is what we see today. another vignette had to do with our discussion at -- between the president and myself in front of a roaring fire in the villa on the shores of lake geneva at the first bilateral meeting between reagan and gorbachev. reagan had decided that he would approach gorbachev in this initial meeting on the basis of

their shared faith. he had been tutored by a woman .amed suzanne massie distinctly different than the briefing that he was provided by the state department. reagan ontoring russian culture, as opposed to soviet policy. this was a wonderful thing for reagan and he began to appreciate to a greater extent, the russian culture. suzanne massie was an expert on gorbachev and she explains to reagan that she believes that gorbachev was a man of some faith. also being influenced by a christian mother. reagan sees an opening. he is going to develop a relationship with gorbachev based on shared values.

i encountered that is a whole other evening of stories to tell you. that was reagan's approach to this meeting. so we are waiting one night for the gorbachevs to arrive in reagan and i are sitting in front of this fire, just smalltalk. said,laxing, and i turning to a series note, mr. president, what do you think will really bring the death nail on communism and the teller is him -- on communism? he said, the way it will be accomplished is through the people's on desire to know freedom. the people's on desire to know god. well, that was a little bit startling for me, but another revelation about that mysterious

interior of reagan. even while we were pursuing this three-part strategy an assertive am a, economic sanctions, and aggressive diplomatic moves with the soviet union, and by the way, i did not run out after say, there is a new strategy. we had to support that three point strategy and policy. that was the right thing to do. reagan is revealing to me that he sees this whole fight and whole struggle and a different context. humanityhe march of into its inevitable music of progress and the ultimate achievement of freedom and prosperity. this is where he sees is going. yes, he has to handle incidents like the korean airline downing.

but he sees it in a larger context. so, this was another indication to me that reagan was this brooding strategist, although he never explained himself or labeled himself as a strategist, nor did he ever say, by the way, folks, this is my strategy. he always told us what the outcome was going to be. that is why he could say that he was the eternal optimist. that is what he gave us hope. that is why he gave us confidence. and it was all based on his belief system. waslly, the fourth example the day i was with him when he was going in for surgery. that dayd not know at that -- we thought it would be an outpatient procedure. he decided to stay the night.

so the president asked me what i go back to the white house and get him a change of clothes? and, so i said, i would be happy to do anything that the president asks me to do. so i went out and got in one of those small, chrysler sedans that was part of the white house to 1600ol, raced back pennsylvania avenue, and went into the family orders -- quarters, and went into his closet. i had never been into his closet before, but i passed it many times. it was in between reagan's bedroom. it had hand-painted bird wallpaper. the president used to say, he would sit in bed with a slingshot and try to hit the birds on the wall. [laughter] ands: that is pure reagan her nancy reagan to have had the birds painted on the wall,

right? so, i go to the closet, which is very different than nancy reagan's closet. on i drew the doors back this closet, and i stand there, and i think, ok, i have to figure out something to take them to ear. wear.t ended hit me. -- and it hit me. this is a man of simple, midwestern tastes. i thought, if only everyone could see --and singing there was one black suit, one brown pair of shoes and so forth. one brown belt, one black belt. i stood there and i thought, here is a president that has absolutely no vanity, no sense

of person. he is a very and personal person. he had no enemies. he saw no one as an enemy. he did not have an acute sense of anger or needed to prove himself. so, i completed my errand and went back to the hospital, never, ever imagining that i would have this experience of anyway, itt of -- was in a way looking into reagan's sold by looking into the closet. i get back to the hospital and he was getting ready to be wheeled into surgery. mr. president, one more thing, my daughter, claire, drew you a get well picture. had, who was born

right before we went into the white house, one day, by the this was a state dining room story. the other side of the white house was crawling around on the rug. shehad eaten something that threw up on that rug. her legacy is that he was one person who made them have to take the rug out to be cleaned. but that was in the state dining room. clear draws a picture for the president. and she says, mr. president, get well, i love you. and she drew a picture. i give it to the president. doctors were saying, come on, come on, we got to go. no, jim, can you hand me a piece of my personal stationery? gold-embossed

stationery only the president was allowed to use. and he wrote out in his hand, thank you so much, dear claire, thank you so much for your get well wishes. i love you, too. president -- the another little insight that is a mosaic in my experience and i hold in my heart about ronald reagan. so we wheeled down halfway to the operating room, and my responsibilities were over. the doctors take over. and i turned left, and i thought i was going to go home. and i opened spinning doors, and there were at least 500 cameras, lights, and reporters. for the first time in my experience with the reagans, i could actually say i understood them. and it was the perfect moment

because 500 analysts wanted to down -- 500 journalists wanted to know what was going on on the other side of the door. by that to really explain the heart, the soul, the spirit, the strength of ronald reagan from the inside out. and it is -- and his critical important to be that kind of leader we look up so much to this day. that little letter that claire wrote played in every major newspaper in the world that afternoon. and what did you do? it began to explain and illustrate the heart of ronald reagan. i want to take your questions and hopefully provide you with some answers, and we will have a little discussion here. but i want to share with you, time,aybe one, if i have a brief passage from one of my very favorite speeches that the president gave.

and i think it is illustrative of his personal belief systems. it had to do with a speech he gave at an into castle from the 14th century. it was at a gathering of high schoolers college students for a meeting on the subject of democracy. and as i say, everywhere reagan went, he was a freedom fighter. he wanted to support anyone else who was fighting for freedom and democracy. what reagan says, and i decided to stand out of the audience because i thought i could stand up next to the president any time. but i wanted to gauge the reaction of the audience. and there was so much enthusiasm, and i think they took this speech very seriously. i could imagine myself there thinking, how many of these young people are going to be

freedom fighters? peopley of these young are going to participate in reuniting germany? and i imagined many did take up this charge. your is what he said -- future way to. so take up your responsibility and embrace your opportunity with enthusiasm and pride in germany's strength. understand that there are no limits on how high each of you can climb. let us ask ourselves, what is at the heart of freedom? and the answer lies, the deepest hope for mankind. and the reason there could be no wall, again wall. you look up reagan's references to walls, he talks about walls a lot. answer lancer -- and the lies for the deepest hope for mankind.

the reason there could be no walls for those around who are determined to be free. at the mostis made enduring, powerful image of western civilization. we are made in the image of god. the image of god, the creator or. that the future which your creation. my young friends, believe me, this is a wonderful time to be alive and to be free. remember, that in your hearts are the stars of your feet. -- the stars of your fate. remember not to let one moment slip by. he who has done his best for his own time has lived for all times. i believe that reagan did his best for his time, and he lives

for all times. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, jim. that helike to announce will be available in the lobby to sign your book and meet everyone of you. so, books are available for purchase in our museum store. i would like to ask the first question. is what we are seeing with donald trump anything like the ronald reagan revolution in 1980? james: well, it is a revolution, that is for sure. [laughter] james: there are two similarities, one similarity between trump and reagan. i am asked this question because we are deeply -- our whole way of life is convulsed by this disruption starting in 2008. it should be no surprise to republicans. it should be no surprise to members of congress that this is happening.

in itself,ngress that body that reagan referred to as a great deliberative body has had an 11% approval rating. what should they be surprised that the american people are not satisfied? reagan was a citizens' politician. trump thinks of himself as a citizen's politician. the comparison stops there. they are like parallel universes. of thes the product social networking, social media platform of the last decade. he made it. he helped create it. he acted in it. once we be surprised? -- why should we be surprised? reagan is the product of the founders.

having been a young boy suffering under the complexities of an alcoholic father. he had to rise out of that in the way president lincoln could not. those of the values he brought. selflesscompletely person, whereas, i think trump comes out of this promotion -- self-promotion. is anot saying this product of where american cultures today. we have to decide the best path we can take for america at this time. -- asideknow one thing from what happens in the political -- what happened and the political results, i do know one thing, and that is with all of the leadership training going on in the world today, there are

even -- they are even at the elementary level. there is one component. iwe have lost the element of character. another question? >> we have a question towards the back room. >> you mentioned the president indicated his philosophy on a wall. what would he be thinking of a wall on our border? james: did everyone here that? on the subject of walls. i think the subject is fascinating. when you say reagan wanted to tear down walls, and trump wants to build one. how would reagan feel about that? this is reagan what he said in his own words. and his last address in the oval office, when he talked about the shining city on a hill, he's

had, i don't take i explained what i meant when i saw it. skill, if you's go back to his first job of being a sports broadcaster, you know when he was reporting on those chicago cubs baseball games, he wasn't even there. he wasn't even at the ballfield. he was in an isolated room with a microphone. he was getting telegraphed. the plays. he had to turn it into a fiery, exciting game. a theater ofe it the mind and make the audience believe that he was actually there. so reagan is talking about a shining city on a hill in his last address to the american people, and he says, ice it as a city -- he says, i see it as a city with no walls and with its doors open for all who can enter and enjoy our way of life. so i know that reagan, having been a two-term governor of

california with the agricultural economy, he knew the dependence, especially at that time on immigration. he would have supported anyone to enjoy the fruits of democracy. at the same time, he was an unforgiving and fierce opponent of anyone who would threaten our way of life. because after all, that is why they want to come here in the first place, to enjoy that. he was definitely a person, but remember, he always talked about these things that were happening on a day-to-day basis, whether it was immigration, or -- any of the issues that came up, whether they were on the side of terrorism, or the economy. he always reflected on them and a metaphysical context. he saw it in a long-term way. another question? i want to thank you for

stepping up to the plate and being a stellar example of american exceptionalism. youso feel strongly that communicate the powers -- james: thank you. that is very humbling. i really appreciate. another question? >> there is one here. >> i would like to know, but it president reagan not try to groom a successor to carry on his revolution and his legacy? james: i am so glad you said that because i think about that all the time. you see, and corporate america, for example, so often there is a crisis, whether it is a public

are privately held company. leaders don't seem to invest enough time in their successors. i think -- every american should neither party stronger then they found it. very few presidents do that. i am not sure reagan did that either. remember, it was very hard for him to establish relationships on the basis of sharing his personal values. he was so private about it, that when a member of our cabinet said to the president going into a meeting monday, mr. president, i think he should start every meeting with a prayer. reagan says, i already have. so reagan was a person who did it all. for example, in every oval office address, he would be -- sometimes people would say, why are you slumped down? he was slumped down in his chair. well, is he ok? well, yes.

that is how he handles every oval office address. he prays first. but he does not go out and tell you to pray tell you how to do it. he does not tell you to be a sunday school teacher. that was a part of his genius, but also not actually grooming future leaders. that is why we have to do it. it is falling on our shoulders. we have to find out what made reagan great and we have to go out and be the champions of it and demand it, not only of ourselves. the young people were asking a similar questions and i said, the or you could really train others with character, believe, and faith, you have to have it yourself and have to know what you believe in. but i am with you. part of your responsibility is, not only lead the institution -- leave the institution better, but to train people to take over. the american, political system

does it in some ways support that. another question? >> how influential was nancy reagan in the administration? james: now we are getting around -- getting around what people want to talk about, which is nancy reagan. i give serious talks about ronald reagan and his is, it always gets around to, tell me about nancy reagan. of course, nancy reagan was a person who was, in a way, and i say, reagan was uncomplicated ly uncomplicated. she is a much more controversial figure. ploy to aed as a certain extent by the media, who

would have liked to watch this now, diminish the authority and the power of her husband by making the public try to think that nancy reagan was more powerful than she was. ronald reagan was stubborn and a movable on what he believed. and to get him to change his view, yes, nancy reagan brought in people of barry did positions -- varied positions to help modify the president's view. she was never really in a position of power to change his -- theyause there were were so embedded in his character that he was stubborn about. it. nancy reagan was the taxpayer's best deal because she worked so hard but american taxpayer, she

took care of her has then -- and she took care of her husband. i give her tremendous credit for that. having been a person who traveled millions of miles with her and spent millions of hours with her, and knew her very well, i could say she never wanted to be in a position of power. she wanted to do the best job she could for the taxpayer, but also primarily, for her husband. she wanted this to be his story and his success. >> what was the funniest thing that happened to you while you were serving reagan? james: where do you want to start? [laughter] james: you learn a million lessons from the reagans. i learned so much from them. among the funniest thing that happened, i can think of two of them. these were all lessons i had to learn.

i told nancy reagan i want you monday, up in the family kitchen cooking over a hot stove with an apron on. because i wanted to show that nancy reagan was a human. that she was like everyone else. we all cook in front of a stove. she said, absolutely, i'm not doing that. i said, yes, you are. you are definitely doing that because i want to bring up the white house press corps and cameras, and i want to show you doing this. it will show your humble side. she said, no, i'm not doing that. i said why not? she said because i never cooked a meal in my life. [laughter] james: so, the point is obviously that i had to learn, was that unless you are authentic, it is not going to work, right? these are all foibles -- you say funny things that happen to me, well, ha ha, but i remember a time we went to switzerland. this was actually, i think this is a part of the gorbachev trip. i will tell you two things about

this. one was a little scary. so, i go to geneva. whenever we traveled with the reagans, we wanted to show their interest in the culture of that country. not like some presidents who yelped through six countries in a day, shake your hand, and leave. we wanted to show their interest in the country. we were also part of a big global anti-drug abuse campaign, as you know. so, i thought going to switzerland, like any other country, we would go and find an effective drug treatment center and celebrate their successes, right? so, i go to geneva and i ask the staff at the embassy, which were usually put it our disposal, i said find for me the best drug treatment center in geneva. well, they came back and said, no, no, you can't do that. if i said, yes, i want to do that. they said, you can do that. -- they said you can't do that.

i said why can't you do that? they said swiss officials said that there is no drug problem in geneva. well, it's strange. those of you who have been to geneva, you know there is a park called needle park. having known this, not by personal experience, but by observation i knew that there , were drug treatment centers. i said to the embassy, get me a car and driver and forget everything else and i will drive until i find one. and i did. and i found a wonderful drug treatment center up in the hills. it we went and had a wonderful time with them. day, i wasas of that put on a blacklist by the swiss government. do not let this guy in this country again. wereast story, when we arranging these bilateral meetings between reagan and gorbachev and nancy reagan and raisa gorbachev. the first meeting, fell at the venue, the soviet compound. so, we pull up.

the motorcade pulls up into the soviet compound. usually, well, this is always the case. stop, motorcade came to a the lead secret service agent would radio the other agents that he was going to get out, and it was ok to lock -- ok to unlock the doors. otherwise, you were locked inside the armor garver secured -- locked inside the armored car for security reasons. immediately i think, oh, there is trouble. i see raisa gorbachev, not where she is supposed to be. as we pull up in the car, she is standing at nancy reagan's door and she is wearing a white a black tie, like this. and i thought to myself, just nancy reagan and myself in the backseat and i thought, what is she doing? .o, before, and it was an error

i'm sure some secret service agents were fired over this. but for some reason, the lead agent unlocks the car door. open, andthe door graphs nancy reagan, and races her into the house, into the compound. and the lead secret service agent and i were supposed to be in there with her. the door slams shut like that. and we are left outside. all we could think about -- of course, we are going to lose our jobs. how are we going to explain this to the white house press corps? and this story would dominate what good the president was going to achieve on his side with gorbachev. and it would have, believe me. so, in what seemed like an eternity. we are pounding on the door let , us in, let us in. no, we could not gain entrance. we went back to the limousine. we were trying to figure out what to do about this. a member of my staff came up and

said, you know, this sounds far-fetched, but there is a novel that just came out about a soviet first lady being replaced by a look-alike who looks like nancy reagan. and could it be that they took nancy reagan inside and they're , going to replace her with a soviet operative? [laughter] james: someone who looks just like nancy reagan? ok, it's laughable now, right, but it was not then. we were like, that's just fantastic. that could never happen. but those were the days of the big lie theory. we go back not amador and we say, let us in. and they go, mr. rosebush, what are you doing here? you are supposed to be inside. ah ha!

that's how they handled it. we go to be predetermined site for this bilateral meeting between the first two ladies and i will never forget the look on nancy reagan's face. it was like, where have you been? [laughter] james: because raisa gorbachev spent the whole time lecturing her about the values and the supremacy of the soviet state. so, i think i will stop with that. thank you all very much. lobbyes will be in the design your book and meet with everyone. before you go as a parting gift, it is appropriate to give mr. rosebush a leather bound copy of one of president nixon's books on leaders. it also just happens to be available for purchase at the store. thank you very much. we will see you on memorial day. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016]

on american history tv, tonight at 8:00 on lectures in history -- >> she focused on her role as a mother, which was driving her support for suffrage. her support to say that women are different than men. women can really do society better than men have done. >> boston college professor on the new roles women assumed during politics -- on politics during the 19th century. sunday morning at 10:00 on road to the white house rewind, 1960 republican and democratic national conventions. >> resolute without --

strong without being arrogant. that is the kind of an america that will help build this world. come for us to leave the valley of despair and climb the mountain so that we may see the glory of the dawn. former vice president richard nixon accepted the gop nomination in miami beach. monday evening, just before 7:00, supreme court justices share stories of the current supreme court food traditions. >> whenever the justices have a birthday, the chief brings in some wine, and they toast the birthday and saying happy happyay -- and sing birthday. we are missing our chorus leader

because she told them than most of them cannot carry a tune. >> and katherine will talk about culinary customs dating back to the 19th and 20th centuries. for the complete schedule, go to www.c-span.org. coming up next, immigration attorney renee redman discusses asylum in united states. she argues that prior to the refugee act of 1980, the application process for asylum or refugee status was based on one policy rather than internationally accepted criteria that limited those status. this 50 minute lecture is part of a two-day symposium on the history of her ration. speaker is renee redman. we have had two people who went to some obscure school in ann