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captioning performed by vitac i was stricken with polio when i was 39. after a long and painful illness, i was told that i would never walk unassisted again. months of therapy followed. i was fitted with leg braces and i was able to stand with the aid of crutches and a cane. but when i was in private, i had to rely on a small wheelchair that i designed using an old kitchen chair and bicycle wheels so i would allow me to navigate around the narrow doorways of my home. it was then i decided to dedicate myself to finding new treatments and a cure for polio.

it was then that i heard about a resort in georgia whose mineral waters could aid victims of polio. at warm springs, my therapist taught me that by locking my leg braces, i could take short steps. i could by swiveling my torso and grasping a strong person with my left hand and holding the cane with my right could walk. but warm springs needed assistance. in 1926, i purchased it. my former law partner and a few like-minded friends created the georgia warm springs foundation. for many years, warm springs was the only such facility devoted to polio patients. and then i returned to public life first as the governor of new york and 1932 as president of the united states. warm springs foundation continued to raise money.

in 1938, it became the march of dimes. and we asked american citizens to send their dimes to president roosevelt at the white house and it was a smashing success. that first year we raised $1.8 million. i would like to read you a short excerpt from the "new york times" about the history of the march of dimes. the organization focused on the rehabilitation of victims of polio and led to the development of polio vaccines. regrettably, i did not live to see a vaccine. but on april 12th, 1955, the tenth anniversary of the day of my passing the march of dimes announced the successful research of the vaccine. millions of people would be vaccinated and polio would virtually disappear from the

earth. now, many of you are probably wondering how a man of my day could ever become president. in my day, handicap people were shunned, they were locked away in sanitariums or darkened back bedrooms. and, of course, there were no access or accommodations for those with disabilities. that would not come until 70 years later with the passage of the americans of disability add which was signed by a republican president. when i was president, i did not want to be pitied. i wanted to be known as the president who happened to have a disability and not the disabled president. and so, i went to great lengths to show that i should be identified as an individual and not by my disability. of course, i went to certain lengths to convince the people

that i was capable and so i would not allow myself to be shown in a wheelchair or helped in and out of automobiles. when i spoke before large crowds, special ramps were built to allow me to walk assisted to the lectern. i never once publicly acknowledged my disability with one exception, and that was my final state of the union address in 1945 which i gave seated. and i said to the congress at the time, i hope you will pardon my posture of sitting. but i think you all realize it is not easy for me to carry around ten pounds of steel around the bottom of my legs. i was your president for 12 long years. a time of great national crisis, the great depression and the second world war. and i think i can say that i'm pretty pleased with how things

turned out. but i must confess that it was the march of dimes which gave me the greatest personal satisfaction. oh, and one more thing. after my passing the congress honored me by pasting my image on the dime. not so much as a reminder of me, but a reminder of the millions of americans who sent their dimes to president roosevelt at the white house to help end polio. and i can think of no greater example of the true generosity and that unique american spirit. god bless you all. ♪♪ >> good morning. my name is maureen nunn and it's

an honor for me to be here today to portray a longtime friend, pat nixon. my mother, helene, and pat ryan -- that was her last name, maiden name -- met and taught high school together in california. and then as you know, pat married a wonderful, handsome young attorney from yorba linda and became pat nixon. my mother and pat remained the closest of friends until they both died in the year 1993. so, again, i was so fortunate to have known her. and pat and dick, as i called him, and the two daughters, trisha and julie were just wonderful. we enjoyed so many great times of them outside of the public eye. pat nixon said about herself, i'm an ordinary woman and i've had extraordinary circumstances and opportunities. but you know what, she was

really, really humble because she was as comfortable as meeting people that you read about in history books as she was about engaging in a conversation at a grocery store. so, it's just an honor and a privilege for me to portray her and very fitting today to portray mrs. nixon and to be among our five most notable presidents of the united states. thank you so much for being here today. president washington, president lincoln, president theodore roosevelt, president calvin coolidge, and president franklin roosevelt. i have pinch-me moments of sitting here, is this really true? and thank you so much for being here today. first of all, welcome, president washington. it's an honor and a privilege to meet you. so, the first question i have for you is, as the first president of our nation, i would like to ask you, why did you decide to elect a president instead of naming a king?

>> well, i said one king george is enough. and i frankly didn't even want to be president. the last thing i ever wanted to be was king. it might interest you to know that before i was inaugurated, the senate passed a resolution that my title should be his highness george washington, president of the united states and defender of its people. i finally put an end to that instance. mr. president. >> as most of us are aware, the president takes an oath of office during his inauguration. so where did the first inauguration take place? >> well, washington, d.c., was then known as the federal city and the seat of government was new york. and when i became president, i

had to borrow $600 because i was land rich, cash poor, to go to new york to be inaugurated on the 30th of march in 1789. martha was so upset that i was giving more time to this country. she said, you go. i will come with the children when i'm ready and have them ready. she came in june. i went in march. [ laughter ] >> that is really interesting. i had no knowledge of this at all. so historically over a dozen of our nation's presidents have served during times of military conflict at home or abroad. and general washington served as acting commander in chief of the continental army. but not all of us are aware of

president theodore roosevelt's service overseas. so president roosevelt, what was your -- president roosevelt, what was your involvement in the spanish-american war. >> well, the spanish-american war is what we consider one of america's tiny wars. you see, during the spanish-american war, i volunteered and coordinated the first volunteer cavalry. what became to be known as roosevelt's rough riders. it was a mix of new york socialites, harvard graduates and western cowboys that i met during my time in the west in the dakota bad lands and further into arizona. we participated in the assault on the santiago heights which was quite the undertaking. now, i served as a lieutenant colonel and i was made a bona fide colonel before the assault

on the san juan heights. it was a war that many historians would consider to be an act of american aggression or imperialism. but like president washington said during his term, the only way to preserve the peace is to be ready for war. >> very interesting, yes. so while both president theodore roosevelt and president george washington served in instances of combat, both president lincoln and president franklin delano roosevelt navigated conflict at home and abroad as president. president lincoln, before we discuss your role in the war between the states, can you define for us what it means when a state secedes from the union? in your opinion, when did the civil war actually start? >> oh, my. the word "secede" is an interesting word.

i am a strong constitutionalist, which i'm sure everyone here is also. and the word "secede" is not in our constitution. so to me, this was an insurrection, this was a rebellion. these states, in my opinion, were still part of the union. and it was my duty to bring them back to the union. so i would not say they seceded. i wouldn't say necessarily they went as far as treasonous because they really didn't want to take over the whole united states. they just wanted to be left alone. but according to my constitution, our constitution, i could not allow that to happen. what was the second question you asked? >> when did the civil war even start? >> there is some controversy about that. before i became president, seven states had decided to secede from the union. and i was sitting in springfield and i really couldn't do much

about it. buchannan was still president. when i was sworn in march, all of this hit me at once. in this time period between december and march, the southern states that seceded were taking over forts, armaments, depots, and we were pretty much just letting them walk in and chase our soldiers out. well, it had to come to a head somewhere. i did not want to be the aggressor because i felt that was not our position. we were to defend the united states, not, you know, conquer them. as the newly elected president, when the issue of ft. sumter came up, it was in the charleston bay in south carolina. they had petitioned me to turn it over to them and i could not allow this to happen. that wouldn't be a very strong president right off the bat.

and in southern carolina in the confederacy, if they were to back down, it would make them weak. it pretty much came to a head there. sadly on april 12th, around 4:30 in the morning, general of the confederate states had decided he had enough. he fired on the fort. our general anderson who was there at the fort held back until about 7:30. and i believe as soon as he fired that first shot, it was no longer a rebellion, it was a civil war. so i would say at 7:30 in the morning on april 12th was the beginning of the civil war. >> thank you so much. thank you. president franklin delano roosevelt, welcome. you served as the commander in

chief during world war ii in what's considered the largest military conflict globally. can you talk about your relationships with foreign leaders united under a common cause? >> yes, and thank you for having us here today. my relationship with the foreign leaders was much like my relationship with the congress. it was political. we had to find common ground. we were unified in fighting against fascism in europe and the far east. but my allies which were great britain and the soviet union and the united states, we all had different ideas of how to run different governments. so that took a bit of tricky navigation. of course, my relationship with winston churchill was very good. we -- i often thought of him as a brother in some cases. we had a common background and as a matter of fact we found out later that we were eighth cousins several times removed. winston's mother was an american. >> yes. >> general stalin was -- he was

a bit of a cipher. he was paranoid. he was convinced that we were going to sign a separate peace with germany and so that was a bit of tricky business. we did have differences. we had differences with great britain. they wanted to keep their empire. as you know, america was a british colony at one time and we were not interested in imperialism. but that being said, the main issue was to fight fascism and to come out with a peaceful world and a good and lasting peace. >> thank you. thank you for working so hard to do this. president washington, while the people of the nation would have asked more of you, why did you choose to only serve two terms as president? >> i wrote to my good friend henry knox when i was heading for new york.

i said, i'm like a convict, going to his execution. i'm leaving the serenity of mt. vernon to an ocean of difficulties. and i didn't even want the first. and then i had the second. and the only reason i gave in for the second administration, the second term was because of the french revolution. i was really concerned about what was going on in europe and wanted to keep america out of entanglements with europe. so i allowed myself to be re-elected again but knew that i was the one that was like the

great roman general who after winning great battles, went home to his farm. and so this is what i wanted to do, go back home. i did not want any more part of government. >> and you held true. >> i held true, yes. >> okay. all right. president coolidge, good morning, and welcome. you were given credit for a booming economy at home and no visible crisis at all abroad in 1924. would you say that the state of the union's economy after only a year and a half of your administration was the reason that you were re-elected? >> well, as i was vice president under warren g. harding who had died suddenly in august, 1923,

the economy was starting to improve slightly. however, my policies really did not begin to be affected until much later after i was elected, that is, in 1924, after -- of course, assuming the office. however, i believe that my policies were at a time when america was eager for great prosperity and the purchasing of great commodities and goods were available, electricity and airplanes, automobiles and radio. these were all very new technologies and people were eager for a new age. some say the jazz age and such. and i was quite flattered to be eached on many newsreel films at the time in theaters.

so i would say that the country was eager and for lowering of taxes and lowering of spending at the same time. so i would say that that contributed to the great prosperity that we had. >> thank you so much. lowering taxes, yes. president franklin roosevelt, you were elected to four consecutive terms as president. how were you allowed to do so and a follow-up question, aren't there term limits to the president's tenure? >> thank you. in 1939, which was one year before the presidential election of 1940, germany invaded poland and the second world war began in europe. we were in the process of building up our defenses and frankly i was not looking forward to a third term. i was going to take a leaf from general washington's book and

wanted to return to my home in hyde park. i said to the national convention, if you want to draft me, i'll run. but i would rather go home. well, they drafted me. and so i accepted. i might add that in 1944 i ran for my fourth term and i think the american people in their wisdom realized it's never a good idea to change a horse in mid steam. as far as prohibitions, at the time i was president, there were no constitutional prohibitions against serving more than two terms. that was a tradition began by general washington. there were attempts in 1880, ulysses grant thought about running for a third term of president. although he did not receive the nomination. that went to james garfield. and my cousin theodore took four years off and attempted to run

for a third term in 1912 unsuccessfully, i might add. that all changed in 1947 when congress decided that two terms should be codified in the constitution and after that process going through the state ratification in 1951, it became the 22nd amendment. presidents are now limited to only two terms. >> thank you. thank you. so over the course of nearly 250 years, several attempts on the president lives have been made. some successful and some not. have these attacks successfully prevailed or failed, this nation could have seen history unfold a little differently than it did. so president lincoln, to you, had you survived the attack at ford's theatre and you were allowed to carry on your plans for reconstruction, how would you have healed the nation? >> during the war and a year and

a half before it actually ended, we were already thinking of reconstruction. we had come up with the proclamation of amnesty and reconstruction and the high points of that was that the -- we would have full pardon to those who were in rebellion. the states that wanted to come back to the union had to sign an oath of allegiance to the united states and that they would also have to start plans to deal with the former enslaved peoples, to bring them back into society or to bring them into society. so those are the plans that we had started way before the end of the war. you said something about ford's theatre? is there something i should know? [ laughter ]

>> that would be hard to talk about. something happened to you that night. >> stay away from the theater. >> okay, i'll have to ask mary about that. she's very strong-willed. >> she wanted to go. >> she wanted to go. you don't say no to mary. >> general grant, you invited general grant to go too, didn't you? >> we'll find out. >> interesting. she did not go to the ford's theatre that night. and you had asked her to go. >> general grant? >> general grant did not go. >> why are we bringing up these memories. >> let's shift to president theater roosevelt. just four years after you left the white house in 1909 as a third-party candidate under the

progressive bull moose party. the progressive bull moose party. you were attacked in milwaukee, wisconsin, on october the 14th, 1912. can you please tell us about that event? >> sure. while i was campaigning in milwaukee for my -- what would be my third administration, my third term as president, i was shot within a five foot distance. i was standing in an automobile outside of a hotel that i was leaving preparing for a speech that i was going to give at 8:00 p.m. a 36-year-old resident of milwaukee had been following my movements in the city. he was known to be a mental patient, a schizophrenic and he had decided that progressivism was something that this country didn't need. he liked the more literal take of the democrats and

republicans. while i gave a few remarks to the crowd, he walked up to the automobile and fired. luckily, i, of course, was carrying my glasses case. glasses cases are a little different these days. this one is made of steel. the glasses case that i was wearing or had on my person stopped the bullet almost entirely from piercing the skin. now it lodged itself in one of my ribs, but i was not taken to the hospital. i stood and gave the speech that i was going to give that evening from the automobile, 60 pages. of course, those were the times where speeches were long-winded. [ laughter ] >> shrank was arrested and i, of course, sought medical treatment the day where doctors advised me at this point, it was a little late to remove the bullet. so i spent the rest of the time with fragments of the bullet in my chest. but the glasses case has been

displayed since my presidency at my place of residents. it takes more than that to kill a bull moose. [ laughter ] >> that's great. that's wonderful. thank you very much. president franklin roosevelt, one can say that you suffered from an attack on your life of a different kind. can you elaborate to how your paralysis caused by polio limited your presidency and what was your relationship with the press that it was just such a heavily guarded secret? nobody knew about it. >> i would like to think i didn't limit me at all. i could not walk unassisted. i needed a cane. and when in private, i used a wheelchair to get around. but i did not allow that to limit me in what i wanted to do. i think it's rather interesting that when i was depicted in

cartoons and newspapers, including several republican ones, i was shown chopping wood, jumping over fences, and in one broadway play, i was even depicted tap dancing, which i think is rather ironic. my disability, polio, was not a huge secret. i had just run for vice president in 1920 when i could come down with polio in august of 1921. my slow recovery was covered by all the major newspapers of the day. i was a public figure. a lot of people didn't realize the extent of my disability. when i decided to run for president, i wanted to be a president who happened to have a disability and not a disabled president. >> well said. >> disabilities in those days made people uncomfortable. they were -- people felt pity for the disabled and sometimes even scorn. i did not want people to pity me. i went to considerable lengths

not to show my disability. i wouldn't allow myself to be photographed in a wheelchair and when i spoke and i had to walk to a lectern, i had special ramps built so i could walk assisted to those. i want to point out that a hundred years ago when i was striken with polio, it was a completely different world. and now i'm delighted that the changes that were made with the american for disabilities act which has made access for disabled people so much easier. i just wanted to point out that the governor of texas, greg abbott, has been in a wheelchair since 1984. and tammy duckworth who was an iraqi war veteran who lost both of her legs in that conflict is now the senator from illinois. and so it just goes to show that if you're determined, you can accomplish anything. >> thank you.

that was beautifully said. thank you so much. going back to you, too, here you are shot, but the show goes on. 60 pages. you didn't let anything deter you. i can see the resilience for all of you. the show goes on, literally. great. president washington, back to you again, can you recall any instances of interaction between the native tribes and the newly formed united states early on in our nation's history. >> oh, yes, oh, yes. if you have the privilege of reading the state of the union addresses that i gave, the first one i did not mention the native americans. but all the rest of them within the first five minutes of the state of the union i shared the situation as it was on the frontier. i shared the situation as it was with treaties that i could make

but congress did not follow through. now, we had several, several things. i loved the native americans. they were my guides. they saved my life during the french and indian war, i tried to get the colonel to use only indian guides on our battle. but he didn't -- he said, i will -- i am an englishman. i will not take the advice of savages. that was his words. i loved the native americans and when i became president, i said that we want to do everything we can to make every inhabitant of this great country secure and dwell in peace.

and that is also -- and i added -- for the native americans. now, we had two major problems on the frontier. one, the native americans who did not want to abide by the sovereign nation and the others -- the other was the english-speaking who did not want to abide. and so in 1794 in august, there were two great events on the frontier. one, i had to reconstitute the army. put anthony wayne, general, with 3500 troops to put down an indian uprising, which he did. but in the same month, i secured

a militia of 22,000 from four states and i dressed up in my uniform that hangs in the smithsonian today and i rode out to look at the troops. they saw the commander in chief coming. there was not one shot fired. that was a whisky rebellion. you might have heard of the whisky rebellion because they refused to pay taxes on whisky. we put down both rebellions in the same month of the same year in the second administration. so, yes, i had some problems, but we tried to resolve them the best way we could. >> sounds like you worked very hard to do this too. >> oh, it was always on my mind.

always. >> thank you very much. president coolidge, speaking of relationships, you had unprecedented relationships with the native americans across the american frontier. how would you say that the individual states reacted to your relationships with the native americans and you're helping them achieve citizenship for indigenous populations? >> that is a very complicated question because it has often been a situation between the states and the federal government which was actually written into the constitution as a system of checks and balances as some have seen it. at the time of the 14th amendment was ratified by congress in 1865, the native americans, called indians in those days, were specifically determined to be not citizens

because they were living on reservations or sovereign nations, as we recognize them. and if they did not pay taxes, they were not citizens. well, the indian citizenship act of 1924 had rectified that situation and stipulated that all native americans or indians would become united states citizens. however, we have a 10th amendment to the constitution which states that the states do have certain leeway to interpret federal laws which has always been a problem one way or the other. it wasn't until about 30 years later that finally the federal courts determined that the seven finally three states remaining which was denying the voting rights to native americans,

would be non -- be enforced, that is. they would become citizens after, i believe, 1957. after my time, of course. >> thank you. thank you so much to all of you. i have learned so much myself. i had no idea of. i really appreciate your sharing. i have some personal questions, though, just right from me. not in a book, not any place else. president lincoln, let me start with you. why did you decidee#rçnw to gro beard? >> that is rather interesting. while i was nominated -- or as president in november and i had to wait out until i was sworn in in march, a young lady, 12 years -- no, 11 years old, from westfield, new york, had sent me a letter. she had seen a photograph of me -- it was probably a drawing, that her father had brought home

and it was clean shaven and she looked at the picture and said, he's got kind of a long, thin, sad face. i bet you if he were to grow whiskers, all the ladies would like it. they would bug their husbands to vote for me because women couldn't vote at the time. and then i would be president of the united states. she sent me that letter and suggested it. and i had also returned a letter back to her and i had thanked her for the suggestion. she had also asked if i had any daughters because she had four brothers and they could be a pain sometimes because she wanted a pen pal. i said, sadly, i have only sons, no daughters. and i wrote, do you think maybe at this late part of my running for office that if i were to change course, that people would think this was a silly affection for something to just get me to win the vote? so i told her i would think

about it. well, obviously, i was elected. and after i was elected, i wanted to take -- to train into washington and i wanted to go through some of the towns that voted for me and thank them for their votes. we stopped at westfield, new york, and i walked out the back of the caboose and i said, is grace in the audience? and they were all astounded. grace, why would he want to talk to this young lady? she was in the crowd. she came up, i stepped down. i gave her a kiss on the cheek and i said, see, grace, i grew these whiskers for you. i was the first president to have whiskers in washington. and i like to kind of say, because of her, she changed the face of washington. [ laughter ] >> tell me her name again. >> grace bedell. >> and the fact that you took

the time to read her letter, to correspond back to her and ask if she were in the audience. oh, my goodness. what a great story. thank you for that. and going onto president coolidge. you are often -- you were often received to as silent cal. how did you get that nickname? >> yes, there was a story behind that. ironically, i gave 163 speeches which at that time was an all-time record for 20 years. yet, i'm regarded as silent cal. because there was a dinner at the white house when i was seated next to dorothy parker. and she made a wager that she could make me say more than five words. and i turned to her and i said, you lose.

>> that was it. how do you feel about that? silent cal. >> as president of the united states, it was my duty to inform and to coordinate with the congress and the people of the united states and i specifically regard natural rights as being immortalized, as it were, in the constitution. and that the ultimate goal of the constitution was to minimize the rights -- the rights of the ruling class. which i did state on one occasion. and to the rights of the people. >> president roosevelt, you were

famed for your radio broadcast to the american public. who was your goal behind implementing these fireside chats? >> in the beginning, our first fireside chat occurred eight days into my first term. and the united states was facing economic collapse. the banking system had all but failed. and so we put through a series of reforms with the congress to put banks on a holiday, to shut them down for a few days while they were able to reorganize. and then to add what is now known as fdic to guarantee those. i thought it was important that the american public should know what was going on. and so i went on the radio on march 12th at 10:00 eastern time on nbc and i started by saying, my friends, tonight i wish to speak to you about banking.

for the next 17 minutes, i spoke about how our banks worked. why people needed to keep their money in the banks, and the speech was successful. because within two weeks, half of those people who had withdrawn their money, put them back in the bank and we were able to save the banking system. contrary to popular belief, in my 12 years as president, i only gave 30 or 31 fireside chats. and i only addressed the nation directly when it was something that was important, such as the recession in 1938 or our efforts to prepare our defenses before the beginning of the second world war. i think my favorite fireside chat occurred -- excuse me, on the night of d-day. june 4th, 1944, in which i led the nation in prayer. it was my way of connecting with

the american public as individuals. and i had been told that people would gather around their radios at home and they felt as if i was speaking directly to them. and i was. that was my intent. i should mention, i would be remiss that my wife eleanor actually communicated probably more effectively with the american public. she wrote a column called "my day" until 1962. and i often felt that she was a much better communicator than i was. >> thank you, both. thank you, both, for keeping in touch with the american people. and also to pray. very, very important. thank you for that. president washington, if you don't mind a very personal question. can you tell us a little bit about your teeth? were they actually made out of wood? >> no, i had bad problem with teeth. there are many mythical stories

about my life and one of them was that i would crack walnuts with my teeth when i was young. [ laughter ] i can't imagine doing that. but people have written that i had. but i have had terrible problem with my teeth. when i was president, i had one tooth and everything hooked onto that one molar on the left side of my mouth. and during the administration in 1796, that was pulled. now, you've heard about wooden teeth. i have four sets of dentures that still are available. this is one of them. i thought you might want to see and maybe the general public would like to see it.

it is -- it has springs. it is very uncomfortable. >> it looks like it. >> but this is an actual -- one of my -- i have four. one set that i had was lead. and i didn't wear it often. but when i did, people thought it looked like wood in my mouth. that's where you get the wood. >> this is unreal. >> the only wooden thing that i had was six years of age when i was given a wooden hatchet of which i barked a beautiful young english cherry tree that the original story in this book, an actual first edition of "the story of george washington" says that i barked a tree.

we don't even know if it survived. that's the original story. but today you hear that i chopped it down. i was 6 years of age. i had a toy hatchet. it was wooden. [ laughter ] >> should history being listening? >> history should be listening, yes. >> thank you so much. and, president theodore roosevelt, after the loss of the 1912 election, you undertook one of the biggest adventures of your career. what was the goal of the expedition? can you tell us about the hardships endured along the way. >> it's a wonderful question. i partnered with the smithsonian who had interests in the species and habitats of south america and the south american government wanted to put

together a small party to chart an unknown extension of the amazon river. what we refer to as the river of doubt. now, ron don is the name of the south american colonel who led the expedition, my coequal, if you will. now it was rather simple. a lot of people say i took off to the south american rainforest because i was disheartened by the defeat in the election. but 19 men put together four canoes and went into the amazon rainforest and the expedition took us six months. we traveled over 630 miles. 16 of the 19 men who went on the expedition returned. i almost lost my life to tropical fever. half of the species we documented were unknown to man.

americans had no idea what an anaconda was. one of the gentlemen lost one of his toes while bathing in the amazon river. we lost several dogs' tails to the river. my son was able to undertake the journey with me. many people would say that the effects of the fever and fatigue from the expedition, i was well over 200 pounds, which was heavy for the time, and was in my late 50s. the oldest man in the expedition. rather difficult undertaking. now, i will say the most interesting part of the expedition was our encounter with the green anaconda, undocumented until this time. the last time someone had written about it was in 1832, a french explorer that documented

it was a common small snake similar to what you would find in the garden. that's not what we encountered. the snake that we encountered weighed 440 pounds and was 16 feet in size. it's been documented since our expedition, that those creatures, can travel 32 miles per hour an the water. we were going into unknown territory to discover all of what we could and bring back as much as we could. >> and you were gone for six months. >> six months. we steamed into brazil and traveled by land across into paraguay and up the river we went. the only reason we survived was we made contact with a tribe unknown to anyone in the region, unknown to the world, and they were able to guide us down a small segment of the river that were made up of rubber trees. and luckily, the local farmers maintaining and gathering crop, if you will, from the rubber trees understood who we were and

what undertaking we had just recovered from and were able to get us back to civilization, if you will. >> i want to thank you so much, too, because in the books that i've seen that you may have fis >> it is relatively the size of a hand, if not smaller. and they're not necessarily predators, if you will. when they attack, it's only because they're in a panicked frenzy. >> and their mouths can open hugely. >> similar -- yes, their jaw can just unhinge. >> like your teeth. >> like your teeth. no springs in the piranha, george. we found out towards the end of the expedition we could bathe with them relatively nearby if your movements stayed calm and collected. >> you wouldn't loose a toe. >> you wouldn't lose a toe. unfortunately the gentleman that lost the toe was the chaplain we

brought with us on the expedition. >> i have one last question for each of you and i'll go chronologically. what do you think is your most important lasting legacy as president of the united states? what is your most important lasting legacy? and i'll start with you president washington? >> it's uncharted territory, it was the beginning. i remember taking the oath of office and we had to borrow a bible from the lodge next door. being a mason, i -- at the end of my oath of office i stooped and kissed the bible and said, so help me god. and that has been in the oath ever since. we didn't know about a cabinet. we didn't know about the army, the banking system. all this had to be new.

so we formed lots of things, but i found the best people, thomas jefferson, henry knox, james madison, others, to be in my cabinet. to help me navigate these uncharted waters. >> and god bless you and thank you so much. thank you a million times. president lincoln, same question to you, what has been your lasting legacy as president of the united states? >> i think a lot of people would say ending or being part of ending the civil war. but i don't think that was the main, because if we would have ended the war, the issue that was underlying the whole civil war itself, slavery could have popped its ugly head out farther on down the road. so i believe it was pushing, very hard, to pass the 13th amendment. to abolish slavery.

much of the world had already abolished slavery. and to me it was a slap in the face to our declaration of independence, all men are created equal -- >> yes. >> -- and it was a scourge on our country and i feel that had to be eliminated. and thankfully congress did pass the 13th amendment. so i consider that the high point. >> thank you so much. a million thanks to you, too. president roosevelt, your lasting legacy? >> that's a rather difficult question. as many people would recall i was the environmental president, but i would say my lasting legacy was on the faith in the office and role of the president that i derived from mr. lincoln's presidency. as a young man, six years old, i watched from my grandfather's new york mansion window mr. lincoln's funeral procession proceed by.

even until my final days i was obsessed with the fact that abraham lincoln was for the people. before my 1905 inauguration, the evening before, john hague presented me with a ring he wanted me to wear at my inauguration. that ring had three hairs from yourself, i wore that ring until the end of my days. when i bring up mr. lincoln in regards to my greatest legacy would be the square deal. a square deal for every man and woman in the nation. that all of us should act, treat and respond as equals. large business, small business, national or immigrant, we are all americans. and it is the start, the turn of the century where we started to believe and fight for equality

amongst the population. >> wonderful. >> it is. i should take a moment and applaud all three of you. a big applaud for all of you. so president coolidge, what would you say your lasting legacy? >> well, that would be a number of things, but following in my esteemed colleague here, theodore roosevelt, as a republican, i was in favor of women's rights, women's suffrage, as the new law had just passed. i had spoken out against the lynchings in the south. and also had signed the indian citizenship act of 1924. but also there was the kellogg pact between several nations which had denounced war as an instrument of national policy. and i believe that that set the

foundation for a future united nations. but my lasting legacy would be, by 1927, 98% of all workers in the united states paid absolutely no income tax. and the 2% --. >> if we could only have that back. >> -- i lowered that taxes from 50% to 32% and yet tripled the revenue from that class as well. time of great prosperity. so i would say that the prosperity in income had risen by 30% all across the country as well. >> thank you so much. just not enough thanks to all of you. just you really changed the course of history in the united states and added to it. so frank roosevelt, yes? >> well, i served three terms and was elected to the fourth term. and every term there was a new crisis. the first term in office was the

great depression. and establishing a safety net for the american people, such as social security. my second term was knowing that we needed to prepare for a war that was going to happen. and my third term was fighting that war. and, of course, i had my own personal issue withñ 2 helping to establish the march of dimes, to fund treatments for polio and to find a cure and vaccine for polio. but i think my greatest legacy, it's hard to imagine now, 80 years later. but 80 years ago, the united states and great britain and other free loving countries was surrounded by evil forces that wanted to destroy us. it's like "star wars" with the evil empire and it's not science fiction. that was the world we were facing in 1940, 1941.

and to be able to come together with a coalition and use america's great industrial might and the strong will of the american people, as well as all free loving people to defeat the powers of the fascism is tyranny and build a nation of peace and prosperity, that is my greatest legacy, i think. >> there's not enough thanks. and there's not enough knowledge. i've really just been so privileged to be here today. and you have made just huge contributions to the history of the united states. it's very fitting here on president's day. so god bless you all. and god bless america. and may we continue to also learn the lessons of history that you have worked so hard. so again god bless you all, and thank you so much for being here today.

>> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. next alaska senator, dan sullivan speaks with -- >> every weekend on cspan3 explore our nation's past, american history tv on cspan3 created by america's cable television companies today we're brought to you by these companies who provide cspan to american viewers as a public service. american history tv on cspan3. exploring the people and events that tell the american story every weekend. coming up this weekend, saturday at 10:00 p.m. eastern on reel america with the announcement of the academy award nominees we feature three films that were nominated for or won academy awards, with these hands from 1950 and why man creates from

1968. sunday at 2:00 p.m. eastern cleveland sellers recounts the 1968 orangeburg massacre where south carolina state troopers fired on students protesting segregation. and 6:00 p.m. eastern we visit the national museum of the u.s. army. and at 6:45 p.m. eastern lonnie bunch and ken burns discuss the challenge of telling america's story. exploring america's story. watch american history tv this weekend on cspan3. today senate majority leader, chuck schumer holds a news conference and the agenda and accomplishment of senate democrats. live coverage begins at 11:00 a.m. eastern on cspan3, online or listen on the free cspan radio app. >> today, facebook, google and

twitter ceos testify on combatting misinformation before a joint house energy and commerce subcommittee virtual hearing. watch online or listen on the free radio app. today, president biden holds his first initial news conference since taking office. watch live coverage beginning at 1:15 p.m. eastern on cspan, online or listen to the free cspan radio app. next alaska senator dan sullivan speaks with the atlantic council about the state of u.s./china relations. this runs just under an hour. >> welcome. i'm paula dobriansky an atlantic council board member and senior fellow in the future of diplomacy project at harvard university, center for science and international