and books. that is at the all new c- span.org. >> up tonight, a wrap up of our contenders' series. after that, our road to the white house programming begins with mitt romney and michele bachmann in iowa.

>> richard norton smith, it "the the contenders," 14 weeks -- what was your idea? >> first and foremost, it was the stories -- personal stories within the historical context of these 14 individuals. each of them had the unique experience and make it -- made a unique contribution to the story of the country. above all else, it was a chance to him, in some cases, remake

the appointments with some people who unjustly by and large had been forgotten. >> when you look back at the 14 week series, what is your broad thought about what you saw? >> because of the fantastic job done by a lot of people behind the scenes, the experts, and the folks who were brought together, i think we succeeded. >> jean baker, do you have a reaction to the series? >> none of my relatives work for c-span, so i just want to say it was absolutely spectacular. the combination of the stories across -- the stories, the folks who called in, the physical settings, and the relatives of the contenders -- i give it an a +. >> at the great-grandson of

hannibal hamlin called from texas. >> did you learn anything? >> yes. i learned a great deal, especially the early ones -- henry clay and james p. grant. my skepticism lasted about the first minute of the first show. i got an e-mail from jonathan martin from politico. be said you should watch it. i said, ok. there you go. this is relevant about every one that cares about politics today. every one of the contenders and everyone of the show's be as valuable insight to what is going on in the country today. >> gene is actually it -- absolutely right. the calls were an enormous contributing factor. it was because x-factor. we did not do it -- we did not know going into this that as we got further along in the

schedule, these people would begin to be real. people who define themselves as young people sharing -- cheering for wendell willkie are going mad for at least the vinson. it was extraordinary -- going stevenson.dlai 50 years from now, will people make the same calls to c-span about the current set of people? >> this is the first time we have heard any discussion like this. we started with a discussion among these three historians about the 14 people we work featuring who lost in a campaign over the last couple of hundred years. we will spend the next 85 minutes looking at some of the video and getting their reaction to what they hear in these

clips. first up, a number of folks appeared in the series who are relatives. we will get our group's reaction. >> i was born down on south street by the oak fish martin. -- but fish seaport. he raised his children here. he went to school here right around the block. when his mother died, he had to go to work. >> he was a large man. some called him a big bear of a man. actually, his brother was a heavyweight greco-roman wrestler in the olympics. he would put on a suit and it would become ruffled. he cannot keep his hair

straight. his wife would have to tell them when to get a haircut. he was not so worried about his outward appearances. what he was worried about what the idea. >> were you out on the campaign trail with your family posing for pictures? >> no. >> do you have memories of the campaign in 1948? >> not really. >> were you here on election night? >> yes. >> what is your memory of that? >> watching the returns and being sent to bed. the next morning -- it was relatively early in the morning -- i remember dad coming into the bedroom where john and i were and said, well, we lost." >> for him, democracy was not a device for acquiring power. it was a system for informing

the people so that they could make a sound judgment. he said, "trust the people with the truth, all the truth." what wins is more important than who wins. >> my father, to me, in my heart, he was not a racist. he was a politician. that does not make it right what he did. >> carl cannon, what do you see? >> i see one ripple continuity between these contenders -- wonderful continuity between these contenders and their families. the first show was henry clay. henry clay, i've learned, heard patrick henry speak in virginia as a young man. abraham lincoln gave the eulogy at clay's funeral. lincoln formed the republican party.

the report -- the republican party was saved in 1960 by getting it back together. john roberts is seen as this -- in this series as consoling charles evans hughes. that is so enriching. >> richard norton smith, we were watching the thomas dewey interview. the is not the interview of your dream. he was saying no, no, no. what was or at reaction? -- what was your reaction? >> a lot of people ask me about it. the last question -- he and his brother seemed to be so detached from the events that had engulfed their lives, everyone

thought there were going to live in the white house. it did not seem to really be part of their dinner conversation. the only response i have -- i recently did a project on gerald and betty ford and i talked to the four children. the remarkable thing is, in the summer of 1974, they may have been the only family in america that did not have the dinner table conversation about what would happen if they never discussed the possibility -- they never discussed the possibility that their wives may be offended. as strange as it may seem to people who are not involved in politics, there is a family dynamic. parents consciously decide to shield their children from all of this. >> jean baker, you wrote a book

on the stephensons. did you rely at all on the family? >> indeed. his sister, buffy, i would spend hours in her house. she was the beloved sister. this is bloomington, illinois. adlai moved to libertyville. i was struck by adlai iii comments about his father, who he adored. he told an antidote about giving his credit card and the clerk looked at the credit card and saw adlai stevenson. they said is that resonate with you? she said, nope. it is a cool name. after all of their

contributions to american political history -- >> hear are a couple of callers from the adlai stevenson show. >> the 1952 election was my first presidential -- in other words, i went door-to-door and did whatever i could. i was crushed that he did not win. but on retrospect, i thought he would contribute so much more on the world stage as a statesman and in a way he did. but i will never forget how disappointed we were. >> go-ahead, dave. we are talking about adlai stevenson. >> i just want to tell the story

-- >> hello, congressman. how are you doing? >> i just want to tell the story about adlai stevenson. this was madison, wisconsin in the 1960's campaign. i was a student at the university of wisconsin. he came to madison to give a speech at the civil war roundtable. afterwards, he was scheduled to appear with the governor. we had a large crowd of democrats gathered. they were over an hour late, and the crowd was very restive. finally, the two walked in. they went to the thought of the room. gaylord said, "folks, i am sari i am so late. i have to get the governor over to the mansion and get him to bed.

he has a long day tomorrow. i would give one of my short speech is." adlai stevenson said, "i will give one of my typically longer ones." nelson said, "you do, and i will leave without you." stevenson said, "go ahead, we will see who leaves with you." he was quick on his feet and clever in making the audience feels -- feel good. he was my hero. >> always an interesting surprise when a congressman calls. >> a woman's life was profoundly affected. she was one of millions of people who heard his voice come out of the dark, probably over the radio, in the first time the summer of 1952. that is why we did the series.

>> of the gentleman in the picture i remember for the vast wasteland speech in 1961. >> one of the eye witnesses -- jean bakerat, this is your subject, -- jean baker, this is your subject. how do you respond to the calls? >> adlai stevenson encouraged lots of young americans and to get into politics. these are the kinds of stories that are lost when we tell presidential history. we do not get the cracks and we do not get the other side. it is important for all americans to understand that adlai stevenson never got beyond 45%-46%, but his impact

on american history it was considerable. he believed that he was, as he told all of the people that said they were the shakespeare vote, -- he would say, you flocked the coat -- flocked the course. he was trying to educate the american people? it was less partisanship than we have today. who is trying to educate us today? >> that woman who called in was the perfect book and to an antidote told on the show -- bookend told on the show. eisenhower had a heart attack and at les stevenson was running again. -- adlai stevenson was running again. peake was grousing about running in the primaries. politics was changing. you have to run in the

primaries. the reason he ran again was because the young people kept coming to him and insisting that he run. there was a great groundswell of people who loved him. >> george mcgovern is very much alive. he is close to 90 years old. unfortunately before the run-up of the program, he fell. been some of you who saw it have seen some of the press. he spent about five days in the hospital out in sioux falls, south dakota. he fell right before he came in to where the studio was set up in mitchell, south dakota. unfortunately, we never got him on the show. here is a clip that was not on the program i think you might find interesting -- an interview that george mcgovern gave us before that night. >> this is the most corrupt

administration in american history. she said that on "meet the press." she was right. nobody believed that they figured it was just politics. open the door to china, which is good. i give them credit for it. i went to richard nixon's funeral. i figured he was president of the united states and did a lot of good things as well as bad. i was listening to all of the eulogies, including one by my friend, bob dole. i thought, gosh, even from

nixon's standpoint, it would have been better if i had one. i bet you he had the same feeling. the would not have been thrown out of office. historians would have talked about the opening to china, they talked with the soviet union -- detante with the soviet union, the was pretty good with civil rights. the only problem is he was perfect. that is a big problem. >> george mcgovern got 37.5% of the vote in 1972 >> i will tell you a quick mcgovern a story. he also attended mrs. nixon's funeral in 1993.

afterwards, there were reporters who ask them why. his initial response was the sort of think you would expect. they wanted to press -- why would you in effect honor a man sharing his grief who destroyed your career, etc., etc.? mcgovern had the classiest reply i ever heard -- you cannot keep campaigning forever. >> carl cannon -- why did richard nixon when so big? >> the country was doing well economically. we did not know about watergate. >> we knew about it. >> not in time. not really. but, you know, george mcgovern said on his first day in office he would bring all of the troops all from indochina.

people were not ready for that yet. he gave a speech to a small audience in the wee hours of the morning. >> 2 a lot 30 a.m. >> he said -- -- he had every problem you could have in a campaign. when i think of mcgovern -- maybe it is a function of my career -- he was equally quixotic. he did not know he was appointed be ronald reagan. i got to know him in iowa. you would be alone with him went i asked why he was doing it. at some point, he said winning is not the only thing. you have to have a message. you have to conduct yourself well. to me, that was sort of --

>> look at what he did afterward in terms of his programs. that is something which is probably bring up about all of these contenders. they lost -- that is their definition for the program -- but they contributed in marvelous ways. >> most of them after they lost as well. the continued contributing. as a third-party candidate -- he is very much alive. i understand he was watching the progress of the other night. let's watch. this is not seen in the ross perot show. let's watch mr. perot. >> let's put my life in perspective. again and again on complex difficult task, i have stayed the course. when i was asked by my government to do the pow project, within a year the vietnamese had sent people into canada to make arrangements to have me and my family killed. i had five small children.

my family and i decided we would stay the course. >> does anybody have anything else you want to raise all the problem of the people coming across my front yard? >> did you see the five men? >> i was asleep. >> who saw them? somebody did see them? >> of course, they saw them. they released the block -- the guard dogs. it is none of your business. it has nothing to do with the presidential campaign. if you want to know if on i am telling the truth, i have given you multiple reputable people. you are pursuing this logistical money. wait a minute. i find it fascinating you will pursue this story with a far greater -- you will pursue this story but not about the money wasted on saddam hussein. i am it will not waste any more time on trying to satisfy you on

every little problem you may have about it. >> carl cannon, how does that look in the present day? >> it was exactly like it was at the time. this was a compelling figure who was saying things no one had the courage to say, but he dropped out of the race. he gave a strange explanation. what he did was revealed he did not have the temperament for the presidency. he got back in in october and played the spoiler role, but ross perot had not held that press conference, it would of been a close a three-way race. we would have seen something we had never seen before because it had not happened since 1912. a close a three-man presidential race. >> i remember during the show we had a clip, where we said -- where he said we were over $3 trillion in debt.

the then talk to the media -- you are pursuing this story, but not that story? >> the justification, if you will, for his candidacy and the discrepancy between the age old state could desire -- stated desire of the american people. the reality of what we saw, which was someone seemingly about aunchanghinged question he found offensive. >> what did you think about him then and what do you think about him today? >> i am a great supporter of third parties, not necessarily his. but i do think one of the issues

that comes up when you look at a broad span of presidents and presidential contenders is the issue of temperament. surely this is on the horizon right now. one of these people -- what are these people going to do if they get into the provincial office in terms of their ability to deal with the media and make their case? third-party candidates are sometimes lose tenants because they do not have the discipline of the party structure -- loose cannons because they do not have the discipline of the party structure. >> remember herman cain a few months ago. he was accused of sexual harassment. the reacted kind of like ross perot did. this is not important.

nobody uses dispraise anymore, but the president of the united states does have -- nobody uses this phrase anymore, but the president of the united states does have his finger on the button. you have to be calm in times of stress. the herman cain issue was about his character -- his temperament. we have to know about it. we want to know about it. >> people talked about wendell willkie. someone who comes out of nowhere who suddenly burst upon the scene. for most americans, ross perot was an unknown commodity. that was reflected in the initial polls. is this, for example, a preview of michael bloomberg? you can see parallels between at ross perot running of the debt issue in 1992 and mayor

bloomberg challenging the two party system 20 years later. >> there was c-span, but no 24- hour cycle. it has changed a lot. he was on c-span in 1987. i did not see that. he said the greatest country in the world does not have the will to pass a budget. he was a compelling figure. i remember in 1992, i began hearing about ross perot -- just whispers. do you remember the movie they made "on wings of eagles?" richard krenna was of ross perot. there is a picture of the two of them. -- richard crenna. there is a picture of the two of

them. i remember seeing larry king and this guy with the years, the twang, and the unfashionable short hair cut. i said who is this? someone said, that is ross perot. i said this could not be ross perot. >> when he went on larry king and everybody got all excited, we looked at each other -- we had him on the national press club. we sold more tapes of ross perot's speech at the national press club than anybody who had ever been there. it was a couple thousand. today it would not be that impressive. >> one other footnote to this -- it is the nature of businessmen, especially -- a hugely successful, self-made men who set their own rules. they do not cotton to having one

of the reporter's telling them what is important. >> before we go to william jennings bryan, what role, jean baker, does peace-making itself make in politics? >> it has a big role, whether you are barack obama, who gets high marks for this, or whether you are william jennings bryan and you have this centurion voice. i never quite understood it -- and never quite understood this -- 20,000 people can hear you and, beyond that, another 40,000 or 50,000 would be there. >> [unintelligible]

we will restore bilateral as some. england will have bilateral as an because the united states have. defending the gold standard is the good thing. we will fight them. supported by the commercial interests and the toilers and everywhere, we will answer their demands for the gold standard by saying to them, you shall not pressed down on the balls of labor and the crown of thorns. you shall not crucify mankind. quite the gives a speech -- he had a wonderful voice.

the tape that you played was 1893, not 1896. the technology did not exist yet to record a speech in 1896. he was robust, he was vigorous, the had an amazing voice that could be heard by 10,000 people at a time without amplification. the sets it up so that he would give a speech at a time in the convention where you knew the majority of delegates were for him, but at the same time, no risky speech had been given yet at the time. they found his moment and he used it to great effect. >> what time the president would he have been? >> i think a very good one. his skill as an agitator, his skill as an orator, he could rally people to support his ideas.

he was probably not a very good administrator. as president, he would have been a very divisive figure. it would have been very difficult for him to work directly with congress. >> who is the greatest speaker that you have ever seen in your life or ever heard of? >> seen? >> seen them on television or could have been in the audience. who would you label as the >> said churchill. quick churchill. why? >> a combination of eloquence, passion, and the context. when you think of world war ii

and you think about britain and the survival and all that that meant to the survival of western civilized -- civilization, you think of winston churchill's speeches. >> jean baker. >> franklin roosevelt. >> why? >> at the time we needed someone who could make speeches that, in a sense, reassured the american people. franklin roosevelt used the medium of the fireside chat to great advantage. in the clips that you see, it is all roosevelt speaking. there is a certain emotional density -- intensity. from the audience's. of view, you cannot help but note that this is a person that has done -- that has connected

to the audience and responded to them. "we have nothing to fear but fear itself." i suppose it is an upper class, elite accent, but everybody in these clips seem as if they all came out with the same unspeaking a voice. >> not my guy. >> hubert humphrey. i will tell you why. when i was covering the white house for the baltimore sun -- i was covering bill clinton -- people said how eloquent bill clinton was. i get back to my office and i did not have a very good quote. i call william lee miller and said, " is bill clinton eloquent?" he said, "presidential eloquence

was put in place by lincoln." heber humphrey never made it to the white house -- hubert humphrey never made it to the white house. william lee said the way you measured eloquence at that time was a person said something that had never been talked about before, or something that was talked about a lot. when hubert humphrey told the democratic party those who said we waited too long for civil rights, we need to wait longer -- he said it is time to march forthrightly out of the shadow of state rights and into the sunshine of human rights. to me, that is the most elephant and -- eloquent think any contender has ever said. >> if you are just starting us, we are talking about a series of programs we did for c-span called "the contenders." it went on for 14 weeks from

september to december. this group sitting here all per dissipated in that initial 90 minute discussion we had about what the series would be. now we are back. before we go further, give me a 10 second biography. are you still teaching? >> yes. working on my syllabus. getting ready to have the students come in january. i am going to teach a seminar on american history. fiat am teaching seniors and freshmen -- an introductory class in american history from the founding to -- i hope we get to appomattox. >> richard norton smith, bring us up-to-date. >> i am teaching a graduate course at george mason

university on the american presidency. still working on the nelson rockefeller biography. in between, oral history project. >> mr. cannon? >> i am washington editor of real clear politics. i am writing a book. we have been e book that is out called "campaign 2012, the battle begins." >> how many words is the first one? "the publisher wanted 20,000 but it came in about 40,000 or more. >> if it is only $2.99 on amazon. go to amazon, google my name, and it will pop up. ,ou can get it for kindle computer. your

>> jean baker, can you get yours as an e-book. >> yes. >> richard norton smith -- the reverse of who is the best, who is the worst figure you can think of who succeeded in being president? >> gosh. succeeded as president? >> no, got elected. >> warren harding and h.l. mencken invented a phrase -- warren harding. h.l. mencken invented a phrase.

it is a lot better than anything harding ever said. mencken gave us the word "boviating." >> if you are in teaching your own witness. >> harding gave one great speech as president. he gave to birmingham, alabama and gave a speech that was the most forthright in terms of race relations of any president since lincoln. he went into the deep south and basically told people the time had come to outgrow segregation. it was a very courageous act. >> he also gave a speech in which he said "do not ask why your country can do for you." >> there is an embryonic. about him.

-- every audit. -- embryonic poem about him. >> i am a junior american studies major. i am excited to be here. how has president obama affected you in this pregnancy flow far? >> i went to siena. very good. one of the things that there is a great parallel between the two is working with a legislature that is seen as hostile, the partisanship smith states that every year he was in office, he only had control of the senate for two years. the other eight years it was eight years of republican

dominance here in this chamber and in the other house, the only served one term. i think the problem of dealing with the other party is something that smith had to battle with and undertake. that is something the current president has a problem with as well. the other thing he has -- a remarkable sense of humor. president obama as a very good sense of humor. he handles press conference is the same way. al smith is the same way. he could be funny on occasions, but not all the time because people would not taken seriously. he could play a very good statesman with a sense of humor. >> i am not sure that barack obama has learned how to make it all happened. -- how to make it all happen. >> one of the first things i noticed was the cigar.

al smith had a cigar in his mouth barack obama -- we have never seen him smoke. could a candidate smoke and get away with that? >> in this current campaign, herman cain's campaign manager did an advertisement on youtube smoking a cigarette. even a campaign manager smoking a cigarette now is taboo. >> franklin roosevelt was famous for his cigarette holder. >> she started by asking them to compare at barack obama and al smith. >> going back to that campaign, 1920 a -- 1928 -- al smith was a catholic. it had a lot to do with new york city. he with the urban candidate. the immigrant experience -- experiment.

instruct -- it struck americans as the alien and difficult to embrace. it was not just his catholicism. there has been an attempt by some to repeat history in suggesting that quality applies to president obama. >> house met sticks out in my mind for what he did not do -- al smith six out in his mind for what he did not do after his defeat. most of the contenders have been loyal supporters of the party and whoever it is who got the nomination after their defeat. some of them, of course, unsuccessfully tried again and again, as did william jennings

bryant but smith had some sort of vitriol and, therefore, did not play the game. the game is if you lose and you are a good democrat, and surely our smith was that, you support -- al smith was that, you support your successor. wendell willkie goes overseas as a republican to help roosevelt in the war effort. >> it was seen by republicans as much as a patrol as the democrats did al smith. >> when i think of his relevance to us today, i think it is the catholic issue. he loses in 1928. the loses for a lot of reasons. the economy is going great, at least he thinks it is.

he is a city guide. me there is a projectci -- city guide. there is a clip where he saw a course -- saw a horse and thought he was in the country. it was thought after 1960 that doctrinal issues were taken off the table. now, this year, we have two candidates from the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints. mitt romney is being attacked for his more monism. it is a cult. there are whispers. that goes back to the smith campaign. i am wondering if we do a show like this 20 years from now, will we be talking about mitt romney, not as a contender who paved the way for someone the

president in the future >> let me ask you a question you have been asked more than once. why did you stop the series in 1992? >> a number of reasons. first of all, we had x amount of time. we managed to extend 12 to 14. it was tough to do more than that. you need time to form perspective. the passions of more recent campaign to being what they are, be it seems that 20 years was a good cut off point. that took us up through prospero. >> who were the contenders that did not -- that the us up through ross perot. >> to the contenders' that did not make the show? >> al gore.

a young man said he felt very passionately about our oversight of leaving out [unintelligible] >> there is probably a finite constituency out there. >> our viewers ought to know that you can go to our website -- c-span.org -- and watched all 14 shows. if you missed them before, we recommend it to you who are interested in this type of thing. we now go to barry goldwater. >> hubert is sitting there try to listen to you reminds me of trying to read playboy magazine with my wife turning the pages i happen to think i am in a pretty

tough race. i am spending the money i legally can. that is the action. >> that is a stupid question if you don't mind my saying so. but i never said that airplane would not fly. >> people all over the country keep talking about legalizing gambling. i thought we already had it. it is called election day. [laughter] i now realize what it takes to become the president. apparently it helps to have a brother who sits at a gas station drinking beer all day. [laughter]

when i was campaigning in that razor-10 election in 1964 -- razor-thin election in 1964, i should have told everyone that dean is my brother. [laughter] >> more than the humor thing at, where has he ever worked in politics and whereas it not? -- where has it not? >> piven what wendell willkie said when asked about his religion, i think he said he liked to sleep in on sunday mornings. i think it is sort of -- i think the sort of contrarian stuff has disappeared from contemporary politics. i think we've gotten to this bitter, too serious, and

politicians worry about making the kinds of mistakes you can make, although it surely they have made a lot. but it has not been from their efforts at humor. >> as someone who spent part of his career working for a wood-be president, i know him for hiswoul -- would-be president -- bob dole. people are trying to homogenize and dehumanized the campaign process. i guarantee they tell candidates not to take a risk. do not take a chance. humor may offend someone. what you think is funny, other people may not think is funny. there are examples of that. be yourself because if you

cannot be yourself now, what are you going to do in the white house? >> who is the funniest man in politics today? >> obama. >> and bill clinton, when he came into office, the first year he gave a speech. he essentially attack bob dole and john boehner. he attacked his enemies. i ran into johnson -- george stephanopoulos and he said, "this is funny stuff, is it not?" i said no. eight years later, they did the funniest sketch of any president. he is running around, making hillary's lunch. jay leno said, "how am i going to follow this guy?"

i was at a southy breakfast. mitt romney walks in. as with the last campaign. -- of this was the last campaign. the massachusetts supreme court had issued a decision directing the legislature to legalize same-sex marriage. mitt romney walked in and did not want to address the think it yet. he said, i believe marriage is between -- i am a mormon, so i believe marriage is between a man and a one and a woman and a woman. the place a cracked up. you would not hear him do that joe today. >> joe biden still speaks that way. >> i will be the devil's advocate on that. i think these guys are still

funny. but we used it against them. >> rick perry has been funny about his mistakes. he has, to me, sean some humor -- shown some humor. he has the ability to laugh at himself. i do not see it so much in the others. as to the republican front- runner right now, i do not think he has a sense of humor. >> if it did not start with barry goldwater. abraham lincoln when accused of being too faced said, if you think i am two-faced, do you want to see the other? is at lincoln -- it is later in

life when at lincoln learns the lesson about self deprecatory humor. >> we ask you for your favorites and irrelevant at once. you called henry clay the best. >> one of the best. >> one of the best candidates? >> here is a bit from henry clay. >> if henry clay were standing here today, what would we see? what would he look like? what would he sound like? >> i do not think anyone could see henry clay and not like henry clay. he was not a handsome man. i always talk about his large mouth. the light of the ladies, as i said.

-- he liked the ladies, as i said. when he opened that mouth, a great oratory came out. a person of the opposite party onetime came to a party and said, "would do not like to meet the famous mr. clay?" the man said, "no, sir. i do not choose to submit myself to him." he have the charisma of charm. anybody who met him would like henry clay. >> why do you think this was one of the best shows? >> there was something about the

series before on the radio. this is a very cold medium because you do not have the still pictures. you have lots of stories and anecdotes. you also had the pictures of henry clay's home. you are able with or historical imagination to put in more than you can if there are clips and speeches and radio programs and movies, etc. of these people. i found myself using what i thought was my historical imagination about these elections.

trying to within the range of history to fill in the blanks. >> do you really think he is that ugly? >> i do not think so. he looked all right, but it must of been the voice. on that show they said he gave a speech in dayton, ohio that attracted 100,000 people who are these guys? there is no television, so there are no tv stars. he is newt gingrich, concordats in -- kim kardashian, and michael jordan combined. >> james blain was one of the best.

let's watch from the program. >> i think he was considered a very handsome man, very well dressed. extremely well spoken. beginning in the late 1850's, he started out his career in agusta as a newspaper editor. he got bit by the political bug. by the late 1850's, was immersed in the emerging republican party. he had lots of experience in the late 1850's and league team -- and late 1860's. beck gave him a lot of practice towards being able to -- that gave him a lot of practice toward being able to articulate his ideas as he emerged as a national figure. charismatic was another board attached to him. >> my understanding is that he had a terrific memory for names. he could really make you feel that he knew who you were, what your particular concerns were.

that made him a very powerful bigger. >> i don't know if he is handsome or ugly. it is the difference between radio and television. people listening to the radio in -- you are using a different set of imaginative muscles. you are called upon in a way that you are not when it is put in front of you. blaine, i would argue, is one of the most obscure to modern-day americans. therefore, getting a vivid word picture of who he was and why he mattered is