yelling at these freshmen who are lined up against the wall with their chins tucked in like this. and that photograph is everywhere in the world. that story helped me get a job at the post. >> all weekend, every week and only on c-span3. >> all weekend long american history tv is joining our cable partners to showcase the history of south dakota. to learn more about the cities on our current turnover -- current tour, visit our website. we look at the history of p ierre. >> describe the state of south dakota. >> south dakota is an agriculture state.

it is our number one industry and today it is the foundation of our economy. i grew up on a farm. many people in south dakota, i think most are one or two generations or immediately off a farm or ranch. that is our strength. we have mount rushmore, the badlands. lots of things that bring tourism to south dakota. we are also a financial services locale. 1980's when the interest rates were skyrocketing and citibank was losing money in , they moved their credit card operation to south dakota, where it is continued -- where it continues to be based. other credit card issuers have followed. quite a few credit card operations.

of us thatt think way but we are. >> who lives in south dakota? >> we have 860,000 people. our demographic is not different than the nation. we have a few older people. our population may be older than our population as a whole. we are increasingly urbanized in a sense that people in the rural areas are moving to more populated areas. that is chiefly because farming and ranching is more efficient and larger scale now. instead of needing a farm every quarter section you need a farm every two or three sections. that is our major. >> describe the political makeup. >> south dakota's pre-conservative, predominantly

republican. have a sizable registration advantage over , and then the third most frequent registration is independent. about 50,000 democrats, 160,000 maybe. independence 100,000. politically you will see more republicans, both houses are over two thirds republican. i'm the 32nd governor of south dakota and south dakota has only elected five republicans. one progressive and for democrats since we have been a state. and south dakota has been a state since 1889.

125, 6, 7, 8. >> you mentioned agriculture is the biggest economic driver. how does that affect legislation? egge are focused on our economy. south dakota is a very much a hands-off state. we have a laissez-faire attitude and government. we don't regulate a lot. the u.s. chamber of commerce foundation sees our regulatory climate as the best in the nation for business. we rank as number one for reasonable regulations. whether you are in the a business or some other business, it's not that we don't regulate businesses, but we don't over regulate. >> you established the first office of tribal relations of any state. how does the south dakota government strive to work with

native people? >> we have nine tribes in south dakota. all our sioux indian tribes. some are dakota speaking, some are -- speaking. they're a three different dialects of the same language. those tribes are all separate in governments. one thing i have always been deliberate about is not treating all tribes the same. to one tribeterest may not be of interest to another try. each case, where i have interaction with tribal governments, and delivered about that, every year i go to visit at least three of the tribes on their turf. tribe ik i was at the met all morning with the trouble

president and with tribal council members, i visited their housing office, their transportation office and try to focus on what their challenges and opportunities are. -- each each tribe make tribe's different. >> you're the first child to be elected governor of any state. how does that influence you? >> i think being raised in a household where both my parents have a disability made me more tositive or empathetic people with disabilities. sometimesnk people see a disability as having that he their defining characteristic. i know from my own personal experience, everyone has to be treated as individuals. there are some that use it as a

crutch and let their disability be an advantage that they leverage. there are others who try to let their disability completely be ignored and want to achieve and work hard and do well in spite of those disabilities. i think people with disabilities have to work a little harder because of it, so they often become more determined and achieve because of that determination. according to a poll your the most popular governor in your state among your constituents. what do you credit this? pulling i think. that morning consult paul varies a bit. there are times when i'm popular in other times when i'm not as popular.

nice, but at the same time in some ways you can see it as a black mark. if you are especially popular, it means you're doing things that are popular not because they are necessary or appropriate. it's like the panda always gives candy to the child or grandchild. of course the parent is going to be popular, but he is giving candy to the kids all the time, is that a good thing? probably not. politics is complicated enough and legislative matters and policy decisions you have to make are difficult enough that we need a representative government, so in theory a pure democracy would allow all citizens to vote on everything, but that would also demand they spend the time and gain the knowledge and the background

sufficient to allow them to make an informed judgment. that is not realistic in today's complicated world. we have a democracy where we delegate our authority to representatives to study those issues for us. who's the judge person that reflects my character and my values and my style. if i find someone like that i will vote for them. i believe they would make a judgment that would be square with my attitudes and my values. i would like to believe i was elected to exert my values when i make a vote or veto a bill or initiate legislation. when i was elected, i was not elected to get reelected. i was elected to what i thought was right. -- first year would

year i was in office what i thought was right was not very popular. we had to cut the budget get our budget back into balance. some people are very unhappy about that. after a few years most people in south dakota see the medicine that we took quickly and all at once was necessary and appropriate. and now budget is in great shape. now we are growing at all those cuts have been restored. >> are there any eras you find particularly interesting or influential? >> one part that is interesting is the time when peter was governor and later u.s. senator. he was a progressive republican.

when he served in the 20's as governor, he was very instrumental in creating some of the tourist attractions and natural areas in south to coda that today are some of our jewels. he conceived the idea of taking all the small parcels of school and public land created when south dakota was freshly a state and in each township a small part of land was set aside. those parcels were all over the sage. -- all over the state. he would exchange or so or purchase or consolidate a lot of those parcels into one very large parcel in the black hills, which became the second largest state park in america.

we have a free ranging heard of 1000 buffalo where you can see elk and he was very deliberate and personally involved in laying out some roadways that led to run -- to mount rushmore. there are very scenic highways that don't shortest is between the park and mount rushmore. -- that don't go the shortest -- that don't take the shortest distance between the park and rushmore. two scenic drives, one leads through out of the black hills and very popular among rock climbers. another scenic drive is iron mountain road, which dives through deep valleys and pinetop

mountains. just a beautiful drive after he -- drive. after he served as governor and became elected u.s. senator he was instrumental in getting president coolidge to see the carving of mount rushmore in its infancy, which commit coolidge -- convinced coolidge to commit federal funds. i think peter was a very forward thinking governor and u.s. senator who had a great influence. >> what is life going to be like for you after public office? >> i have been governor for almost seven years now. i have one more to go and then i

am term limited. at the end 2018, i will be out of office. i will also be 65. i will be eligible for social security and medicare and i'm counting on you to continue to pay into those programs, because i will be relying on them. actually i'm not sure what i'm going to do. i have been in politics for over 20 years. eight years as lieutenant governor and eight more years as governor. and that's enough. i'm ready to go back to the private sector. i will have to do something. i don't have enough money in retirement to just loaf, that i don't have any debt. -- loaf, but i don't have any debt. my wife and i built a house out there and that's where my dad was born. that's where our kids were born. that's what i'm looking forward to, a little bit more peaceful and spending more time with grandkids.

>> this weekend we are featuring the history of south dakota together with our cable partners. our cities tour on c-span.org/cities tour. you're watching american history tv all weekend every weekend on c-span3. author kevin pollak talks about confederate general robert e lee's defensive positioning at the 1862 battle of antietam and takee used it to defensive. the battle was the bloodiest day in american history. ended as a union strategic victory. this part of