he never stopped trying to learn about the world from within that it. trying to see the world from with an aunt and the united states from without it. i think that lifetime of on the ground study of the world with a perspective from -- really helped to create the record and make him an electrifying figure. not only at home, but in the world. >> we have one hour left this evening in the contenders. this is the ninth of march 14-

week series. adlai stevenson is our focus. our guest is adlai stevenson the third, newton minow, and richard norton smith. we will take this call from sally in chicago. >> let me correct something. i was born and raised in chicago, but i live in california. i am calling because adlai stevenson 1952 -- it was my first were i was eligible to vote. i went door to door and did whatever i could. i was crushed that he did not win.

i thought he would contribute so much more on the world stage. i will never forget how disappointed we were -- you never saw such panic in your life. as was in the chicago tribune. i will let you go. i will get your response off air. thank you. >> i think we could talk to sally unlike. senator stevenson, if we could >> i would like to amplify.

i think they have done a very perceptive of jobs. getting back to 1952. he was also reluctant to run for president because he had been elected governor of a state which we loved and are deeply indebted to. he reached out and he recruited the best qualified professionals that he could find. it was a sacrifice to serve. they were reforming state government. he wanted to finish the job. he was also reluctant because eisen -- eisenhower would be very difficult to defeat. he was also not convinced it was

time for a change. remember, he started that 1952 campaign. he was drafted. he started the campaign at the convention with absolutely no program, no money, no staff. it went on to electrified the world. for him, i may be repeating, for him democracy was not a system for acquiring power. it was a system for informing people so they could make a sound judgment. he said trust the people with all of the truth.

he used to the campaigns and the into rum has leader of the party. he called it the foundations for the do frontier and the great society. in fact, i heard the lake and famous historian who was very close to do 10 always call attack attack. john f. kennedy, the executor of the stevenson revolution. those campaigns were substantive. he used half hour blocks of time. there are also aimed at the world. >> you talk about the 1952 and 1956 campaigns. your father lost books between those and a couple more states.

what did he not do as well in 1956? did he make mistakes? >> eisenhower is the enormously popular. these were years of economic prosperity and growth. eisenhower was popular. the war ended and -- that would come later in korea. what happened -- one of the things that happened, i would have never gotten reelected anyway. with the uprising in hungary and the invasion of suez by france, britain, and israel, these international crises that rallied the country as they always do behind the president.

from then on, they're just really was not much doubt about the outcome. >> i just want to go back to the 1952 campaign. it is accurate that he started out with nothing. in fact, there was a debate over to have the political headquarters. harry truman expected it to be in washington. it was in springfield. the story was told, you can't tell me if it is true or not, he did not expect it to be publicized which is revealing. one night to very shortly after the convention, he came back to springfield. conscious of the crushing responsibilities, he left to the executive mansion one night by himself without guard and walked to jackson and eighth street, knock on the door. the custodian recognized him.

he let him in. he sat by himself in the lincoln parlor for some. period reflecting. the interesting thing about that story is not only that it happened but that adlai stevenson did not publicize it. he did not expect any but to know about that story. is that accurate? >> none of us knew about it until years later. i read this and said is it true? he did not talk about it. >> you have to understand. this story -- it goes back to five generations. i tried it to record it. it begins with jesse who is lincoln's petrie. he was a constant presence in this family.

lincoln was an inspiration. woodrow wilson, former president of princeton that. my father was a graduate of princeton. wilson was an influence also. the enlightened internationalism of wilson heavily influenced my father. lincoln, who might never have been president without the lincoln douglas debates, lincoln was an inspiration and a presence in this family. >> our next call for our guest talking about adlai stevenson comes from oak island, california. jimmy please go ahead. >> thank you for taking my call. i am a world war ii veteran who

was part of the eisenhower army. i did not feel like at the time -- i was from north carolina at which you could see it was one of the blue states for adlai stevenson both times. we felt that adlai stevenson was a politician and more able to handle the political things. eisenhower was more of a military person. even though times were good, i was wondering what do you think -- how what the united states had changed in that eight years if adlai stevenson had been president rather than pork eisenhower? >> senator stevenson. let's start with you. >> dwight eisenhower has been

quoted and recently by a member of his family as saying that if he had known adlai stevenson was to be the democratic candidate, he would not have run for president. i think on the large international issues, there was probably not a good deal of difference between them. one thing my father really felt strongly about richard nixon, he was loath to just about by everybody in washington. his strength was at the grass roots. after that incident and eisenhower's retention of richard nixon on the ticket, i think that caused some doubts in his mind about eisenhower. he respected eisenhower.

dulles reluctantly made him an ambassador of the eisenhower administration so that in his travels run the world he could efficiently represent the united states. a difference between the democratic ex -- the democrats and eisenhower winning the of the party were the taft wing. if my father had been a president, you probably but have had the new frontier and the great society accelerated. medicare, federal aid to education, other social programs might have taken effect earlier. as it was, much of it did not take affect until after the assassination of kennedy when johnson very shortly -- i remember consulting my father.

what is your advice? my father was taken back. he said, i guess you should take some time now to put your program and administration together. he said, this is my moment. within 100 days, the program was through congress. he knew timing. he was a real politician. that program had been developing since the 1952 campaign. it might have been accelerated a little had my father won in 1952 were 56. >> i think he has it exactly right, but i would add one thing. because adlai stevenson was so committed to getting rid of nuclear war, i think we might have had faster progress than

actually occurred later in dealing with the russians and dealing with nuclear disarmament. i think that was such a passionate belief that i think he would have given much more attention and persuasion to it then occurred. i think also we would have had more friends throughout the world then we ended up with at that time. >> it is interesting. it is hard to imagine -- that is what we are doing. we are imaginings. it is hard to imagine president stevenson sending not playing on the eve of a great summit. one more thing. i do think they had respect for each other. i think they also learned to discover the weaknesses of one

another. i suspect eisenhower over time grew rather resentful of the implication that stevenson was the only word smith -- the only great eloquence to persuader in american politics. he once said that if words are all that matter, the american people could vote for ernest hemingway for president. i think that was a criticism of stevenson. >> thank you for taking my call. in 1962, i was a high school kid living in a republican house will. but in the 1966 i had spent the time as an intern and was fixed forever. i remember there was a disappointment at the convention because there was not a contest that there had been in 1952. i was wondering if you could elaborate on how the decision was made to throw it open to the

convention whether it was for everybody to have a good time or whether it was at least in part to be able to dodge the animosity of all of the candidates who did not get it. >> if you could start and then senator stevenson, we want to hear about your role. >> i think adlai stevenson felt he had seen it firsthand how the vice president was picked in 1952. it was so casually done. he realized it needed much more attention. he was also under a lot of pressure. he did not like keith law for even though he had been in the primaries. he fought to jack kennedy -- he thought jack kennedy was very promising but very young get it to inexperience. he decided it would give a lot of excitement to the convention

which had been pretty much pre arranged as to his own nomination. he decided to open it up. i think it turned out to be as he predicted. it turned out to be an exciting contest. it introduced jack kennedy to the country. there were a lot of big things for it. >> the outcome of the presidential balloting was a foregone conclusion. to create some excitement, he decided to throw out the balloting for vice president. quietly, we were all rooting for john f. kennedy. my father adored hubert humphrey. i remember at the state house and the convention when the balloting was seesawing for vice

president and kennedy was running downstairs to kennedy's suites or the brother-in-law was guarding the door, running in jack kennedy was pulling up his trousers. he shook his hand and congratulated him. by the time i got back up to my father's sweet, i saw him lose. all of us were reading to jack kennedy. this brought kennedy to the nation's attention. >> let's move that for years ahead it to the 1960 democratic convention in las angeles. senator stevens, how would you describe the relationship between your father and jack kennedy in 1960? >> i think the relationship between my father and jack kennedy was close. i know my father respected

kennedy. i believe it was mutual. there was a circle or very protective circle around john f. kennedy, which is always fearful and resentful. in this case, concern that stevenson was a threat. people were pouring in from across the country. they were literally hint -- cameron on the doors on the convention to demand another nomination for their candidates. eleanor roosevelt was there. mccarthy gave a brilliant nominating address for stevenson. this caused a little anxiety in the kennedy camp. it probably cost a little interest -- thought on my father's part that may be if things deadlocked he could still win the nomination. he had felt that as a leader of

the party and as royalty, -- loyalty he should be neutral. the former secretary of labor who was also involved in state administration told me he was in my father's suite on the eve of the balloting. my father said when bobby kennedy calls, tell him i have gone to bed and i have left instructions not to be woken. sure enough bobby kennedy calls. he said i have to talk to the governor. you just tell him, this is his last chance. he better talk to me or he won't be secretary of state. he responded, i am sorry, but he has instructed me to tell you that he has gone to bed.

that was the end of any chances for secretary of state. it signifies something about the relationship not with jack kennedy but the very protective circle around jack kennedy. that would come back to create other problems like during the cuban missile crisis when my father was vilified. >> we are to get to that in just a minute. we are born to play two minutes of video here. we will start at the 1960 convention. adlai stevenson at the podium. >> i wanted to tell you how grateful i am. for this he moving well, of the 1960 democratic convention. [applause]

i have an observation. after getting in and out of the hotel and at this hall, i decided i know you will nominate. it will be the last survivor. [applause] >> the details of my participation have not been worked out, but i would drive the campaign were i -- or he wanted me to. i suspect that will be in the west and the east and everywhere in between. i hope so. >> what would you do about it? how would you go about it? >> i hope by the participation in the campaign i have not had much doubt that they would support the ticket. i hope they will supported vigorously in the same manner that i did. >> i hope it will fall you as

vigorously as you did in los angeles. >> i hope it will fall you as vigorously as they follow me at los angeles. >> we saw a little bit from the convention. and we saw a press conference after jfk got the nomination. >> i have the most extraordinary experience i had involving both adlai stevenson and jack kennedy was on may 29, 1960. it was jack kennedy's birthday. it was the day after the last primary in oregon. jack kennedy was flying from oregon to a family birthday party. bill blair, our law partner, had suggested that he stopped in chicago. bill and i would pick him up and drive him here to the farm. he would have lunch with adlai stevenson.

we were hoping -- bill and i had both concluded it was adlai stevenson impossible adlai to be nominated again. we were hoping it would come to some terms and adlai stevenson would support kennedy. we got in the car and drove out there. bill was driving, jack was in the front seat, i was in the back seat. jack kennedy said, the you think i should talk to him about secretary of state? bill was smarter than i was, he did not say anything. i cannot stand the silence. i said, i would not do that if i were you. he looked at me and said, why? i said, adlai stevenson will be offended. second, you should decide yourself you want if you are elective. came out here and adlai and nancy were here. they manage to get the two of

them alone in the study. the minute they came out i could see it had not gone well. we were getting back in the car to go back. i was dying of curiosity. i said, jack, did you say something about secretary of state? he looked at me with those eyes and said, you told me not to. i thought, what have i done? as soon as i got home i called him and i told him the entire thing from beginning to end. he said you did the right thing. i would have been very offended. besides, he should decide who he wants. then i decided i'd better try the kennedys. i called and they said jack had not arrived yet. i told bob exactly what i told adlai stevenson. i felt i had a clean conscience and had not screwed it up. >> can i ask you a question.

we saw that clip with the rather lame joke that stevenson said from the podium at a moment of maximum suspense. it was written that it was almost stevenson's moment and he threw it away. he was in a position with the right to remarks to have taken the convention a way. is that unrealistic? was that convention jack kennedy's no matter what happened? can you see a scenario in which stevenson at the peak of his form might have said something -- i have said something on fire? >> i think he knew it was not going to happen. they told him the illinois delegates were going to vote for kennedy. i think he knew at that point. we will see what adlai says if

he agrees with me. i have always thought that's jim mccarthy's speech was insincere. i thought he was working for lyndon johnson because he had never been that close to governor stevenson. i had just finished reading jackie kennedy's tapes, and she said jack kennedy said the same thing. there were two people who thought that j. mccarthy was making that -- that what toink attribute that motive to j. mccarthy. the gossip i hate to repeat at the time was that he was jealous of jack was because it was that catholic instead of this catholic getting the nomination. i think that is unworthy of mccarthy. number one, my father would have resented it. i don't think there was a chance of the convention of him winning

the nomination. he had encouraged everybody to go out and support candidates of their choice including richard j. daley of illinois. you make a pledge, you don't make it -- you don't break it. the domination was sewed up. there was a lot of tension. there was a lot of dynamism in the works. after the convention, my father campaigned strenuously. he campaigned all over the country for john f. kennedy. bobby kennedy's first of the campaign trail was right here at the home where we had a great rally on the lawn for bobby kennedy. >> now, he referred it to jackie kennedy's new book put out called historic conversations on

life with jfk. there were some audiotapes attached to this. she talked shortly after the assassination. they were just released. here is jackie kennedy talking about adlai stevenson and jfk. >> telling you he had to have the un. i could remember jack telling me about that. >> did that give him a lot of difficulty? >> it was unpleasant. he did not like it. he was not going to give him the state department. at the earliest times a we spoke of it, you new governor stevenson would get the un -- not state which he wanted. it is unpleasant to tell somebody that.

stevens said he did not have anything to say or something funny. >> why do you think he decided not to have stevenson for state? >> it was not just bitterness. look at all the people jack took who had been a against him and for someone else. they knew he felt that man had a real disease of being done able to make up his mind. stevenson irritated him. i don't think he could have him coming in every day and complaining about something as secretary of state. it would have been a difficult relationship. >> senator stevenson -- can we get your reaction? >> unfortunately, i really could not hear it. i knew jackie kennedy. i can tell you that i don't think she was political at all. in fact, she was a very artistic woman.

she was an intellectual who used to leave washington on weekends which were sometimes spent at bobby's, playing football. she would go to new york note with my father. from what i could see they had a very good relationship. he gave her and escapes from washington. i have heard about these comments -- not just these, but all of her comments that are critical just about of anybody. i do not know what kind of credibility to place on that. from what i could see, her relationship with my father was very good. in some ways, they were closer than some of the kennedys. >> could you hear the audio tape and jackie kennedy? >> i was with adlai stevenson

and jackie sometimes. i think they had a very good relationship. >> what about jfk and adlai stevenson >> i had a very important experience about that. i had a very minor role in the cuban missile crisis. i was involved a little bit. when it was over, there was an article in the saturday evening post written by charlie bartlett. in it there were some critical comments not attributed to any single person a bout what adlai stevenson had proposed which is actually what the united states did. we had closed our missile headquarters in turkey and

greece in exchange for a bargain that was reached bikey cuba. it was critical and i knew that adlai stevenson was upset about it. early one day the president called me at home. he said, will you tell your leader that i did not leak that story. there is a rumor around that i like it. tell him i did not leak it. i called the governor and i had his number. i got him on the phone in five seconds. he picked up the phone. he said i cannot talk to you now. i am on my way to the "today show" to be interviewed. i said give me one second. the president just called me and told me to tell you he did not leak that story.

the governor did not say anything. 50 minutes later i turn on the show and he did jfk holy about the episode and got it off his chest. later jfk wrote him a letter apologizing saying he did not do it but he made it clear that what adlai stevenson contributed to the cuban missile crisis solution was indispensable. >> we have about 25 minutes left and our callers have been patient. bill, thank you for calling. please go ahead. >> can you elaborate on the influence of richard j. daley, the mayor of chicago. the influence he had on stevenson's rise in illinois politics. >> it is the other way around.

my father got richard j. daley started in politics. as i mentioned earlier, my father recruited these extraordinary professionals. they came without the endorsements of political leaders and campaign contributors. there was one partial expression and that was richard j. daley who had been a state senator. he may be did have the endorsement of the cook county chairman. he served with great distinction and my father's cabinet as director of the department of revenue. he really was a pretty straight cabinet officer. later my father supported richard j. daley when he contested for mayor of chicago against an incumbent mayor of that city. this is incredible. the governor of the state siding with a challenger to be incumbent governor.

my father had a lot to do with the rise of richard j. daley. it was not the other way around at all. >> washington, d.c., go ahead, dave. >> hello. i just want to tell a story -- high, congressman. are you? >> i just want to tell a story about adlai stevenson in the 1960 campaign. i was a student at the university of wisconsin. adlai stevenson had come to madison to give a speech about the civil war roundtable. afterward he was scheduled to appear with the governor at the old park hotel. we had a large crop of democrats gather. they were over one hour late and the crowd was very restive.

finally, adlai stevenson was ushered up to the front of the room. he said, sorry we were so late. there were a lot of questions that the civil war roundtable. i have to get the governor over to bed. he has a long day tomorrow. , will give one of my typically short speeches. adlai stevenson but it can in and said, i will give one of my typically long ones. he said, you do it and i will leave without you. adlai stevenson go ahead, see who the crowd follows. i think adlai stevenson it shows adlai stevenson was on his feet and how clever he could be in making the audience feel good about it. he was my hero. >> a lot of talk this evening about the fact that adlai stevenson was the architect of the later great society.

would you agree with that? "i think he certainly defined in the 1956 campaign what most of the issues later became of what to the democratic party ran on and stood on for years. he set the agenda for the coming decade in that campaign. >> that was congressman dave ob. a longtime congressman from wisconsin. thank you for calling. richard, hello. >> thank you for letting me call. i would like to relay one of the anecdotes from the campaign trail. it was a favorite of the campaign team.

this is about a gentleman who came to him and said, mr. stevenson your speech was absolutely superfluous to which he replied, i was thinking about having it published posthumously. he said, the sooner the better. [laughter] >> you are in your dad's office over there. there are a set of books of his speeches. they were best sellers, correct? >> yes. incidently, my own book is here. a black book which i tried to record a american politics as we knew it over those five generations including the humor which enriched our politics and could be used to very good defect. you could use it to denigrate an opponent without being mean spirited.

the memories and the experience i try to record over these five generation starting with lincoln and ending in china and an epilogue on the life cycle of nations and empires is aimed to recall what we are doing tonight, the values that created this country and contrast them with those that are undermining it today. >> we talk a little bit about this. the cuban missile crisis, adlai stevenson was u.s. ambassador to the united nations. >> it did not happen in a vacuum. one year earlier, talk about the strained relationship with the white house. one year later, one year and a half later in the fall of 1962, you have a situation in which we have irrefutable evidence that

the soviets are in fact installing offensive nuclear missiles on castro's cuba. what transpires is a great paradox. i cannot think of a less sound bite political figure it then adlai stevenson. if you go on youtube to that he is immortalized by a glut of the great sound bites of the 20th century. >> we will listen to it right now. >> let me ask you one simple question. do you the night that the u.s.s.r. has placed and is placing medium and intermediate range sites and missiles in cuba? yes or no. don't wait for the translation, yes or no?

>> mr. stephenson, will you continue your statement please. he will receive the answer in due course, do not worry. >> i am prepared to wait for your answer until freezes over if that is your decision. >> one of the great sound bites of the 20th century. afterwards, one of the kennedys -- maybe it was the president or he was allegedly to have said, i did not know he had in him. >> you mentioned the bay of pigs earlier. he was fed a great deal of misinformation which he relayed to the security council. it came out this information was

false. he felt very embarrassed. it was the kennedy administration that was embarrassed. nobody doubted my father's integrity. the bay of pigs proposal by the kennedy administration was exactly what my father had proposed, mainly trading off obsolete bases in turkey for withdrawal of the missiles. the kennedy administration insisted on keeping the deal secret. my father did not want it to be secret because he did not want to embarrass khrushchev. he wanted to give them an opportunity to retreat. that did not happen. khrushchev was embarrassed just as my father feared. he fell. he was succeeded by a group from which he emerged brezhnev and the hard-liners and the cold war escalated. the kennedy administration had to be tough instead of

compromising and giving crucial of an easy way out. >> one of the goals of "the contenders" is to figure out how they changed their parties and american politics. after we take this call we will move into the topic area. please go ahead. >> thank you for having me i was just curious as to whether or not you have heard of an organization -- if adlai stevenson had ever attended the conference before? >> thank you for your call. go ahead. >> this adlai stevenson has got to a bill gerber conference. i don't know about my father. i don't know how far back echoes. i don't know what the implications are. bill barber conferences were occasional meetings of very senior meetings at which they got together to discuss problems

facing the world. there was nothing sinister about them. this adlai stevenson has been to a couple. i don't know if my father has or if they even existed. >> we are here in the stevenson barn. there is a new eight said it about adlai stevenson. there is a photo that we looked at before this started. this was in 1945 -- the you information. you remember that photo around the table. >> i do. i don't have it in front of me so i am not sure. you have john foster dulles, you have governor stevenson, nelson rockefeller.

you have the secretary of state who was about to be fired. >> was adlai stevenson's role in the founding of the un? >> do you want to take that? it had to do with a proprietary concepts. >> he was also a delegate to the conference in san francisco. the united nations was adopted or approved. but by 1945, we were living in london where he was the u.s. delegate to the commission which laid the foundation -- and actually started putting the building blocks together including the location in new york. he represented the united states at the commission were great men from all over europe and canada, they used to assemble at

our home at night because we had access to the commissary. an extraordinary group of people. he was in on the birth of the united nations. incidentally, he died 20 years later just a couple of blocks from our home in london in 1945. i was 65 and is still serving the united nations and his country. >> we want to talk about adlai stevenson and his effect on the democratic party. here he is in 1952 talking about the democratic party kurt >> i have been hardened by the conduct of this convention. you have argued and disagreed because as democrats to care and do care deeply. but you have disagreed and argued without calling each other liars and thieves, without spoiling our best traditions. [applause]

you have not support our best traditions and any struggles for power. you have written as a platform that neither contradicts nor even aids. you have restated our party's record. its principles and its purposes and languages that none can mistake. nor am i afraid that the democratic party is old and fat. after 150 years, it has been old for a long time. it will never be indolent as long as it looks forward and not back. as long as it commands the young and the hopeful during the dreams and xi the visions of a better america and a better world. you will see many people express concern about the continuation of one party in power for 20 years. i don't to be little this attitude.

but change for the sake of change has no absolute merit in itself. the people are wise -- wiser than the republicans think. the democratic party is the people's party. not the labor party. not the employers party. it is the party of nobody because it is the party of everybody. [applause] >> i think adlai stevenson's contest tradition to everybody -- he hoped campaigns would educate people and he succeeded. he succeeded in teaching all of us that politics was something all of the should be involved i recently that the governor of indiana mitch daniels.

i said, i am sorry you are not running for the presidency. he said, why do you say that? i know you are a democrat. i said i learned from my boss adlai stevenson that the best people in both parties should run, not the worst people. i believe that. i think adlai stevenson taught that to all of us. i think that is a legacy to be extremely grateful for. his contribution is enduring today. >> i think is starkly he is a bridge between the new deal and the new frontier. he holds the banner of liberalism in the 1950's -- a difficult era. it is an interesting brand of liberalism. he believes in american exceptional was on every bit as many of the right to do today. it was an exceptional was some debt was about ideas and ideals. it was leading by example.

it was not an exception allows some enforced by military force. he brought a whole generation of young people who were inspired by his words, his example, his approach, his very unorthodox approach to politics. >> we only have a few minutes left. kerry chill from minnesota, we want to hear from you. >> in 1952, i was 13 years old. i was privileged to meet adlai stevenson. he came to the hotel where my mom and dad owned the hotel. i was privileged to wait tables on him. we kids grew up at the hotel. after meeting him, i admired him the rest of my life. i am now 72-years old. i am still just so admiringly

this wonderful democratic person. i am so thrilled that he was a man of morality and he was a band that fought for the working people. we need more adlai stevensons in this world right now. i am just so happy that i met him. >> thank you for that call. let's let you talk to an adlai stevenson. senator? >> the question we are left with is, adlai stevenson adlai possible today in this money drenched, corrupt, dysfunctional politics? would he even compete? could he compete for president of the united states going from

stand it to stand, raising money for jingles on television, the half-hour blocks of time would be impossible. i am not sure he would be possible today, lead and -- let alone a franklin roosevelt. that is why we have created the stevenson center to try to address these systemic weaknesses that might make an adlai stevenson possible. we try as i do in my book to recall all of these lawyers and history that created this country and contrast them with our politics today. can a politics as corrupt as ours be expected to purify tax reform itself? i think that is the issue we are left with. i don't worry about the american people. i have enormous faith in the american people. we are left with a process that

represents everybody else. >> senator stevenson, if you have to go to a store or sure your name, do people react? >> some of the old folks -- i was in the store -- i was in a store the other day and i saw a young woman looking at my credit card. she was looking at my name. she said -- i said is that name familiar to you? she said, no, but it is cool. i think we are forgotten. i think our politics are largely forgotten as well. this has been a wonderful program to be able to recall other politics. >> please go ahead with your question or comment. >> i would like to ask the group to reflect on an event played in the governor to talk live. i recently reviewed several hours of the events of november

22, 1963. the route that afternoon walter, cry continuously referred to adlai stevenson visiting dallas a few weeks earlier and being accosted and warning the president not to go there. i researched that and it seemed an airport event -- a woman struck governor stevenson over the head with a placard. the panel canif reflect on that. any regrets from the governor not stressing the -- >> you talked about this earlier. >> very briefly. he had gone to dallas for a united nation event and had been confronted by some angry people including the woman with a sign.

i think he was spat upon and he was struck. he left with a vivid sense of potential dangers that the president might encounter. >> did he call the president and warn him, or was that just a thought? >> i don't know the answer to that. i am sorry. >> senator stevenson, you know the answer? >> my recollection is -- somebody said he was asked if he wanted this woman prosecuted, he said no, i want her educated. my recollection is that he did not warn the white house. he deeply, deeply regretted it afterwards that he had not. i am sure had he called and described this experience it would have had no effect.

he felt very guilty for not having done more or anything to try to prevent the president from going to dallas per >> we have time for one more call. i want you to think about, what have we not talked about tonight that we needed to bring out. we will take this call from philip in fort worth, texas. >> good evening. this is one of the great series that c-span has done. i appreciate it. i grew up in the 1960 election -- i was 12 years old. i was just becoming politically aware. i grew up during the 1950's. while i am a conservative and have always been so, i doubt mr. stephenson and i would have agreed on much, i have been exposed to his speeches, his rhetoric, and a lot of things he said. i am of the opinion that he is one of the last really great political speechmakers in our age.

we were speaking a moment ago about jingles and things like that. i saw him making the speech, he was taking some of it from his notes in the pre teleprompter days. it was not coming off of the paper. he knew what he was saying. it was coming from his heart. i always admired his speechmaking abilities. i just don't see that in our political process today. he had something to say. he took a little time to say it at times. he was a man who knew what he wanted to say and said it well. >> he took great effort in those speeches. he worked on those speeches himself hour after hour. he was criticized by politicians for spending so much time on the speeches. in some ways, that is his legacy. as we wind up the program, i have to say what of the biggest surprises in my life is when he

died so suddenly. adlai stevenson iii called me to say we were, executors' of his will. i did not know anything about that before he passed on. to me that was a very touching thing to our relationship. i think as we wind up the program, he was one of the -- even though he did not win, he won the hearts of millions and millions of americans. he won a great place in history. >> he raised standards. one question i think of what to ask senator stevenson. at the end of his father picked -- at the end of his father's life, it has become folklore that ambassadors steve a son was contemplating resigning from the united nations had encouraged to do so by his

liberal friends who were opposed to lbj's be not policies. what is his sense of his dad's intent? >> first, i think these labels conservative and liberal can be very misleading. -- of misleading. when i served in the senate, we wanted democrats or republicans, we were not left or right, we were for the country. we were products of the enlightenment. ideology did not play much of a role. to your point, he did not tell this to me but i did hear from a very close friend that he was planning to to resign from the

united nations at the end of the year. that was largely because he was very uncomfortable advocating policies that he did not support. by that i mean vietnam. he died in june of 1965 before he could resign. i think he was planning to resign. quietly with no protest, that would not have been his way at all. because he really could not continue to advocate policies that he did not support. >> that will have to be the last word. adlai stevenson ii is buried in bloomington, illinois. adlai stevenson iii, thank you for being with us today. richard norton smith, this has

been "the contenders." >> their decency, their fortitude, their faith. trust them with great decisions. i say it is time to take this government away from them who only know how to count and turn it back to men and women who care. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> we will be at the goldwater institute to talk with historians and take your calls about the campaign of perry goldwater. it is live friday night here on c-span. you can see tonight's program again this sunday at 10:30 a.m. eastern. for more information, go to our website, c-span.org.

you'll find speeches and historians appraisals. >> the economy and in a beat -- added 80,000 new jobs and the unemployment rate dropped in october. next, a look of that report with kevin brady and keith hall. this is almost an hour. >> led to reopen with a few statements. first of all, chairman casey could not be here. i am pleased to stand in for him this morning. i would like to welcome a commissioner hall and jack taliban who is joining commissioner hopper at the table

for the first time today. thank you for being here. he previously served as a commissioner for employment from 1998 to 2011 in other senior positions at the bureau of labor and statistics. we have got several reports including today's employment report which has shown a mixed economic picture. the data are better than a few months ago but not strong enough to bring down the employment -- unemployment rate. the 2.5% increase in gross domestic product was stronger than the growth during the first half of the year, showing movement in the appropriate direction. real disposable income declined in the third quarter indicating

that consumers are continuing to feel the pressure of stagnant wages. the manufacturing index of 50.8% marks the 27th consecutive month of expansion in the manufacturing sector. but in the sector, so important, decelerated from september. employment numbers show, a the economic growth is not strong enough to make headway, cutting into the unemployment rate. more than nine quarters into the recovery, unemployment remains at 9%. more than 42% of the unemployed have been out of work for six months or more. we need to move from the discussion of the jobs act to passing legislation that will help create jobs and strengthen

the economy. before i turn to the reports, i want to highlight a few actions to bolster the economy. we should provide new incentives for small firms to hire. chairman casey has introduced legislation to create a one year tax credit equal to 20% of the increase in employee wages. we should extend and expand the payroll tax cuts which is set to expire at the end of the year. this will boost demand, and strengthen our economy. we must support our state and local governments which have been forced to lay off hundreds of thousands of workers including teachers and first responders. the house should take up legislation already passed by this legislation to crack down on china's currency

manipulation. we need to support manufacturing companies and workers in our country. there are a number of other things we could say but i want to wrap it up and ask mr. brady for a statement. >> commissioner hall, thank you for spending your morning with us as we you review the employment situation. u.s. have the job of bearing bad news. many americans have system -- sought a sustained recovery. we do not shoot the messenger in washington. i would like to begin with hope for our economy is following in anemic growth. its crew and an annual rate of

2.5% in the third quarter. the economy is marginally larger than it was when the recession began december 2007. unfortunately, the outlook looks ripe -- less rosy. the balance of this year and next has been lowered by the fed as well as economic organizations. the turbulence for a potential crisis could precipitate a double dip recession. it is a threat to which could have been afforded at four economic policies from the white house not resulted in a slow recovery. equally troubling is this jobless recovery. after the recession ended, there are 6.4 million fewer jobs than when the recession began. 5 million americans are unemployed. the present policies are not

working. by comparison, the reagan expansion which followed a 1981 recession outperformed the obama economy biometrics including economic growth and job creation. the differences the reagan expansion happened in an environment that encouraged americans to work and save. president reagan worked favorably. in contrast economy now confronts policy had wins. every step of the way, president obama and democrats have increased uncertainty. the americans and american businesses face. this has discouraged businesses from making investment that would create millions of jobs and cause a rapid fall in the unemployment rate. instead, they should create a political environment to

incentivize people and businesses to invest. then they should get out of the way. this is the first hearing since president obama proposal would require new borrowing from foreign entities, creating debt for future generations of working americans. the stimulus is not paid for. it will add billions more to the national debt and is wrongly focused on tape -- creating taxpayer-funded jobs. the first stimulus failed. we still have 1.3 million fewer american jobs than when the original stimulus began. that is 1.3 fewer americans working than when the stimulus began. and now is enough. americans deserve a fresh start. americans need to grow jobs. private business investment

drives the job growth. businesses make investments based on the outlook for the long term. the proposal seeks to spur investment with temporary reductions and does not encourage businesses to increase their investments. rather than taking more, our nation craves a simple tax code that increases the incentives for americans to work and save and to invest. this requires a permanent reduction of both capital -- it should help and not hinder american businesses who wants to invest. as i have proposed, washington should lower the tax date and allow firms competing successfully overseas to bring home their profits better stranded abroad so they can invest in america.

new expansions and financial stability. repatriation is be free market stimulus of nearly one trillion dollars that will create up to 3 million jobs, increase federal tax revenue, and boost the economy between 1% and 4%. that is the stimulus we can get a high. i urge president obama to join republicans in supporting a bipartisan tax reform their results in a permanent reduction in the tax rate. i have seen the benefit of such a plan. for senator kennedy and then reagan. they trusted the american people. they put their faith in the marketplace which is nothing more than the judgment of the american people as to where to invest. this fuelled the economic booms of the 1960's and 1980's.

they spawned a new industries and kept our nation first in research and development, president obama has a real chance to be a game changer. all he need do is follow his presence at -- price -- predecessors. we're ready and willing to work to create real jobs along the main streets across america. i look forward to hearing your testimony. >> commissioner hall, and thank you a very much. it collects, processes, and

disseminates data to the american public. other federal agencies, state and local governments and labor. doctor hall served as chief economist for the white house council of economic divisors for two years under george w. bush. he was also the chief economist for the department of commerce. he also spent 10 years at the u.s. international trade commission. he received his degree from the university of virginia, and his ph.d. in economics from purdue university. >> said. -- thank you. put that thing closer to your -- yeah.

put it -- do the best you can. [inaudible]

-- and in management consulting services. employment continued to trend up over the month. since the recent flow, the industry has added 344,000 jobs. health-care employment edged up in october following a gain of 45,000. the increase of 29,000 was in line with the recent trend. construction employment was down by 20,000 in october of setting a gain in the prior month. other industries changed in october. the government continue to trend down.

state government lost 16,000 jobs over the month. employment in state and local governments have fallen since the second half of 2008. turning now to measures of our survey, the unemployment rate was unchanged at 9%. the jobless rate has held from 9% since april. in october, there were 13.9 million unemployed persons. little changed from the prior month. the number of persons jobless for 27 weeks declined to 5.9 million or 42% of the unemployed. there we go. i knew there must be a switch.

the ratio at 58.4% was little changed. those working part-time for economic reasons fell to 8.9 million. the labor force participation and 64% was unchanged over the month. in 2011, the participation rate was at 54%. outside the labour force, people looking for work, the number of discouraged workers was down from 1.2000001 year earlier. non-farm payroll employment continue to trend up. the unemployment rate was little changed. my colleagues an ironclad to answer your questions. >> anything else?

>> how would you characterize the state of the labour market today? >> the first thing -- there is continued job growth. since the labor market trough in february 2010, we have had continuous growth if you take out the temporary effects of the consensus workers being hired and fired. we have had steady growth. it has not been strong. my best characterization is that we seem to be growing at about 125,000 a month. that is growth but it is not enough to start making headway.

it is close to keeping up with the population which means it is not strong enough to start lowering the unemployment rate. as we know, prior to losing jobs, the manufacturing sector had added jobs for nine straight months and has been a source of strength for the recovery. in your view, how important is the manufacturing sector to employment in other sectors? why'd you believe the growth has slowed or stopped in recent months in manufacturing? is it typical to see strong growth in a couple of months where there is no growth and then a resumption of the earlier? >> the manufacturing sector has strong links to other sectors. in particular, if you look at

wholesale trade, management of companies, services to businesses, a truck transportation, those are probably the top industries related to manufacturing. this importance goes beyond manufacturing. i am not sure i can tell you why growth has stopped. it did start to pick up again this month. i think the more remarkable thing is that it has been growing at all. job loss in manufacturing has not recovered at all. the fact that we have had some growth is encouraging. in terms of the fluctuation of growth, that is not uncommon. in any industry. i think what you're seeing is some variation in the growth.

it is not strong but it is consistent. >> the fact of the matter is the growth is slow. it is that 9%. there are things i could be done, that should be done to try to stimulate the economy. if you look at different sectors, we are now more than two years into the recovery. unemployment is too high. during the recession, construction and manufacturing were hard hit while education and health services added jobs throughout the recession in every month but one, march. in the past year, what are the sectors that face weakness in employment? have any showed a new strength in the past year?

>> government employment. a number of other industries have had little growth or a little job loss. for example, utilities, information services, construction and other services. those are all industries that have had flat over the past year. the industries with the biggest growth, professional and business services. education and health services as you mentioned. that has grown by 400,000. then in places like manufacturing, a couple hundred jobs. the leisure and hospitality.

the strong growth is not widespread but a number of industries have had -- we are having a little growth and a couple of industries. >> thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. if you're one of the americans out of work, today's numbers are disheartening. the commissioner -- get this rate of 80,000, how long would it take for us to return to the unemployment level before the recession? >> never. to keep up with population growth, you probably need 130,000 jobs. you're not even keeping up with population. over a long time, you might even see it edged back up.

>> he made comments where we are averaging less than the 130,000. if we look at the past 12 months, the answer would still be we are never in going to get back to the point before the recession. >> that is right. can i ask you about the number of workers in the workforce? it has hurt his -- hit 3-year lows. -- 30-year lows. to expect that to continue? is and that's one of the indicators of restoring the health economy? >> i would not want to speculate about -- it is a valid point. the labor force is probably 4

million below what would be under normal times. to get growth, we're going to have to see confidence in the economy. we need to see the labor force start to grow -- grow again. >> i know the votes are coming, i would like to cut my time short. >> in our response to the october jobs numbers. this is about 10 minutes. >> could morning, everyone. today's report understood --

underscores the need for immediate action on the job skills that are gathering dust from the democrats-controlled senate. there is not free any reason for senate democrats to delay action any longer. the house has been working all year on our plans for american job creators. it is time for the senate to do their work. all of those bills have bipartisan report. some are even backed by the obama administration. i urge the president to call on democrats to bring these bills to a vote. as long as they are stalled, i think it is unacceptable for the white house to be anything less than 100% engaged in the legislative process. >> once again, we see that the

unemployment figures in this country are way too high. unemployment at 9% is unacceptable. that is why we're here trying to tell harry reid, join us and bring these measures to the floor for a vote. if they do not pass, fine. what is harry reid and the democrats are afraid of as far as our agenda? the bills on our agenda are real concerns and the address real issues that small business people are facing. i was in my district and i held in the event. the kinds of issues we raised our the issues that these bills confront. just yesterday, we had four bills having to do with access to financing for small businesses. that is what small businesses want. what small businesses want is

less red tape in washington so they can continue to invest and create jobs. allow these votes, these bills so that people can see that washington is working for their interests. >> i took my investment in the market, took the risk on my credit card. today, whether i could do that, i could not. if you watch what has transpired. the card continues to grow. unfortunately the backside is growing because the senate is not acting. we added four more bills to help small businesses get capital. small businesses get capital.