you have a book called "assassinations, threats, and the american presidency." why did you get interested in this? prof feinman: it began when i was in college. i had to write a paper and i chose the lincoln assassination. i was fascinated by it. the following year, the kennedy assassination took place. ever since, i have been interested in it. i have done interviews with various groups, and lectures. two years ago, roman littlefield asked me to write a book. here i am semiretired. i figured, why not yucca assad me out and i said yes. they sort me out. brian: you start with andrew i was pleased to say us. jackson.

prof. feinman: he is the first president we know what that had any problems with assassination threats. there were three cases. there was the case of a young man who punched him in the nose in 1833. it is our first example. then we have booth, the father of the lincoln assassin, who writes a threatening letter to jackson in 1835. his handwriting has been authenticated. this is three years before john looks booth is born. -- john wilkes booth is born. it makes you wonder if it is genetic. brian: there were a lot of duels back in those days. andrew jackson have been involved.

do you have any idea ?how many ? >> six times. he was a meteor figure, a person who made people furious. he had a contentious time in office. that is what may be caused in his second term that we would have the situation of people threatening his life. in this case, it was only on paper. then there is richard lawrence who actually came to the capital after a funeral. jackson was there. actually went ahead and had two pistols on him and he assaulted jackson. miss fired, unbelievable.

then jackson assaulted him and stepped on him and kicked him down until others came along. he helped to subdue his own assassin. brian: summarize the amount of assassination attempts there has been. prof. feinman: there has been 16 presidents who have faced threats, although none eyeball to eyeball since reagan. i cover three candidates. long, robert kennedy, and george wallace. i cover candidates as well as presidents. it is a long list. i could have included andrew johnson who was supposed to be assassinated when lincoln was, but the person chickened out. you could actually add him to the list in theory.

brian: can you sum up what kind of person does it? prof. feinman: definitely mental illness is a key factor. that is not the case with john wilkes booth, that was purely politics. he was a confederate sympathizer he was furious at the end of the , civil war. most of them have mental illness and some of them joined that with the issue of political differences. some, economic issues. some, religious, as well. mental illness is the one that really draws people together, except for john wilkes booth. brian: james garfield? prof. feinman: i would argue that he is probably the biggest

loss. how can you say that with lincoln and kennedy? lincoln made quite a record for himself. kennedy had accomplished quite a bit in 1000 days. garfield, a brilliant man, very talented, only had four months before he was shot. medicine was not very advanced in 1881. 100 years later, ronald reagan was saved in 1981. in 1881, he would've been gone. i think garfield could have been the best president since lincoln until teddy roosevelt. he only lasted 2.5 months. he had the second shortest term in the presidency after harrison. brian: he say he was shot here

in town by a man named charles giteau. prof. feinman: he was definitely a lunatic, and unstable person. he claims he made campaign speeches for garfield, which he might have. you like to get up on soapboxes. he felt that won , he should get an ambassadorship to hungry or france. he actually went to the white house a few times and met with the president and the secretary of state and came with information. they humored him, they were nice to him. they said, we will be back to you, but they did nothing because he was not qualified for those positions. the fact is, there was no secret

service protection yet. they had been created in 1865. to deal with counterfeit currency. he was on lincoln's desk to be signed when he was killed, but it was signed by andrew johnson to create the secret service. it wasn't until william mckinley was assassinated that finally the secret service became the agency responsible for the president. in 1881, the story goes, there were two white house police officers. you would think they would check -- no. they were not there to check people going into the building. they were there to keep people off the lawn.

crazy. guiteau ended up going on trial, dancing and singing. he put on a performance that he was mentally ill, which i think he was. that did not prevent him from being executed. after his trial, he was executed in june, 1882. brian: recently, we were in buffalo at the history museum talking to melissa brown. let's run a little bit of this. >> the assassin who shot mckinley. he was around age 26 at the time. he was deemed to be an anarchist with sympathies toward emma goldman. but when you read the newspaper, it is very hard to get a true impression of who he was.

brian: what were the circumstances? prof. feinman: he thought emma goldman was fascinating. the fact is, he was a person who had this idea that his mission was to kill the president. somehow, get away with it, then go to great britain and kill the king of england, then go to vatican city and indeed assassinate the pope. the idea that somebody would think he could get away with it is unbelievable. brian: how long did mckinley live?

prof. feinman: he lasted eight days. he did not have the best medical attention. x-rays had not been invented yet. the bullet was not removed. he suffered for eight days but it didn't seem like he was going to die so vice president roosevelt was in new york in the adirondack mountains because he figured mckinley would be fine. there were certain number of hours before they could find him to tell him that he was president. there was panic for a while -- where is teddy roosevelt? brian: roosevelt would not have been elected president? when his vice president was assassinated he would not have , made it on his own? prof. feinman: he was a replacement vice president. this is something people don't realize. garret hobart was vice president under mckinley during the first

term and was very close to mckinley. he died of heart disease in 1899. there is no person to replace the vice president at that point. if mckinley had been killed before the second term, the secession would have been the secretary of state. teddy roosevelt was selected for the second term in it was just a coincidence that after six months, he was president. brian: roosevelt goes on to be president in 1904 and chooses not to run in 1908. taft is elected. we have video from something called the art of manliness from youtube. let's watch.

it is done in animation. >> while campaigning for a third term, theodore roosevelt exited a hotel in milwaukee. as a crowd gathered around the vehicle, he stood up. at that moment, a local saloon keeper longed through and shot him. the bullet entered his right breast, but was slowed by a copy of the speech he would make later and lodged in his chest . as the assassin was subdued, roosevelt assessed the damage. when he felt the wound, his hand came out bloodied. roosevelt refused to go to the hospital and amended that he proceed to give a speech to a crowd of 10,000 people who were waiting to hear him speak. when he arrived, roosevelt went

to the stage unaided. he declared, i have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a moose. brian: the impact of that on his person? prof. feinman: i think it undermines his health. he was always a bit of a character. she decided to go to the amazon with his son and got malaria and nearly died. when you think about it he was , always wanted to prove that he was strong and manly since he was a kid and had asthma. even in his 50's, he wanted to do things like an amazon river expedition. he was a courageous guy. a real colorful person, the most

colorful president we have ever had. brian: what happened to the man who shot him? prof. feinman: he was put into a mental institution, not executed. i don't know why. he stayed there until his death. no visitors at all reported. he was really in isolation. he said at the end of his life, he stated that he tried to kill a bull moose. the bullet was never taken out. prof. feinman: why not? it seems hard to believe because by that time, they had x-rays. they seemed to feel that it might cause more damage to remove it because it was not affecting him but i think it probably did undermine his health and then he went to the

amazon in brazil and that was really a crazy thing to do. brian: in those days, after he finished his speech, did he go back on the campaign trail? prof. feinman: he rested for about 10 days. the other candidates suspended their campaigns, but then he went back, yes. the man was amazing. he was also threatened when he was president in 1903. i uncovered this. i am not aware of anyone else knowing about this. a man wanted to see him one evening and the secret service was not protecting him. in 1901, the secret service begin protection. he said, i want to see the president. he was told to you have an

appointment? no. he leaves, comes back an hour later and asks again. he leaves, comes back at 11:00, a third time. now they are getting suspicious. they investigate him and discover he has a firearm. the theory is, he could have been hurt if he agreed to meet this stranger. he went to a mental institution for the rest of his life. brian: one thing i noticed about early presidential assassinations, they were tried and convicted -- how many died? prof. feinman: executed? booth was killed. lawrence was put in an institution. guiteau was executed. brian: how quickly did they do that yet but today, it takes forever to get a trial.

prof. feinman: in the case of guiteau, it was like, 7-8 months. the quickest execution is that of the man who tried to kill franklin roosevelt. five weeks. he was executed by the state of florida. brian: you say that five people were wounded in miami. prof. feinman: he was an italian immigrant who came to this country and was struggling to make a living. he even thought of shooting president hoover because this was during the depression. in 1933, franklin d. roosevelt is in miami at the park at the democratic gathering.

there are thousands of people there. the assassin is in the crowd, a short guy. he gets on a chair aims his weapon at fdr and is not by somebody -- thank goodness. unfortunately, he mortally wounds surmac, a man from chicago. he is famous for his statement that are me then you to fdr as he is on his way to the hospital. i think that is baby -- very patriotic to say that. better than me -- better me the new. the viceen killed, president elect, former speaker of the house would have been president. most likely, the new deal would have a record. brian: we have some video of an interview with him in 1933.

>> you like mr. roosevelt as a man? >> [indiscernible] >> would you shoot me? >> you are not a president. >> would you kill him now? >> yes, if you let me go. brian: how soon was he executed? prof. feinman: five weeks. after his death, they changed his charge to murder and convicted him quickly and the appeal was very quick. he was executed. his is the quickest execution. brian: what is usually the weapon of choice?

prof. feinman: it is always a gun, a firearm. often, it is a weapon such as the type used in the 19th century. i am not an expert on the type of guns. brian: i am not an expert how , often was at a pistol versus a rifle? prof. feinman: more often a pistol, yes. huey long is an interesting character. he was known as the kingfisher. he was controversial and some people thought he was a fascist because he had storm troopers around him, private forts. huey long was seen by some as socialistic.

some people thought he had a potential to be a hitler-type, so he scared a lot of people. he had a radio show and a lot of followers. he became a real thorn in the side of the u.s. senate. he kept attacking franklin d. roosevelt. he declared that he was going to run. he had not actually announced -- but he was on his way to run a for president in 1936 when he is assassinated by a medical doctor. he dies on september 10. the surgery about him is controversial. the way he was mistreated as far as medical care, there is a lot

of conspiracy theories that there were maybe people who just wanted him dead. some say dr. rice did not actually shoot him. his son spent his life trying to defend his father. we never had a chance to find out because the guards around long opened fire on rice and pumped and full of 61 bullets in baton rouge. there are still questions about what really happened. whether it could be by accident or not by accident. it is very controversial. brian: dr. rice was 25? prof. feinman: yes. brian: we have some video of his son and you will see -- this is from 2014.

>> my mother had always been a very vague about it. she told me that my father was killed in an accidental shooting. half a time, they are thinking he is the son of an assassin. >> the official version is this. dr. rice walked up to huey long, said not a word, pulled a pistol, and shot huey. all of the bodyguards had it listed guns and the emptied every bullet into rice's body. >> there are certain things that

don't make any sense. >> there was not an autopsy of either party. >> people have plenty of time to coordinate their stories. >> there is no proof that rice carried the gun. >> many people wonder why they would leave their home on a sunday night and walked into a situation that is certain death. brian: what was the impact of this? prof. feinman: there were some who thought he might be a threat to fdr. it certainly removed the threat. there are conspiracy theories that fdr may be engineered it, but not seriously, but definitely, removed him as a political figure to be concerned about as far as his impact on the election. this was in 1936. brian: what is the story with harry truman? prof. feinman: under him, there

were three possible people who could have become president. in 1947, it was said that a zionist gang sent letter bombs to try to kill president truman. the same gang had been involved in killing british figures in palestine. the letter bomb was prevented from getting to him and resolved without trouble. at that point, depending on the timing, we have the presidential succession act change. there have been three of them. the second one was 1886-1947, the third is the one now in effect. the second one was that the secretary of state would be next in line. there was no vice president. truman succeeded lincoln roosevelt. then it was changed to make it the speaker of the house and

representatives. it would have been joseph w martin junior who would have been president. there are two potentials there depending on the timing of the event they could have led to the death of president truman. brian: something we did hear on c-span, what were the circumstances and we will eventually show where harry truman was standing at the window watching these gunmen. prof. feinman: the much more known about threat is 1950 on november 1 when the treatments were not in the white house. we had to puerto rican nationalists who wanted to have an independent puerto rico and there had been a recent uprising in puerto rico a few days earlier which had been suppressed by the u.s.

government and they were furious because they think they had lost one of their sisters or other relatives so they decided they were going to kill president truman and this caused the most gunplay ever as far as -- it went on for about three minutes and a secret service agent was killed. truman was looking from blair house looking at the window and was told by secret service agents, get away from the windows. he was watching -- his fascination at the event occurring. brian: the video includes a man named stephen hunter, who has written a book about this. house issee, the blair right across the street from the white house. let's watch. >> the point, here he is, loading his gun. nobody has seen him yet except the men he has shot. the secret service and white house police at that aren't are so consumed with the man

shooting at them. at that moment, harry truman comes to the window. he was in his underwear. he was taking a nap. he heard the shots. he came to the window -- the window was open and he looked out. there is a moment, a scary moment when the assailant was loading the gun. he was a very good shot. harry truman was right up there. brian: any other examples with harry truman? prof. feinman: not that i know of except the one in 1947, and the 1950 case. brian: you can say anything you want, i am skipping abraham lincoln and john f. kennedy because we care so much about it. you deal with it but i want to jump to robert kennedy's. where the details of that?

prof. feinman: he is the brother of john f. kennedy, he was attorney general and a senator from new york. he saw the presidency in 1968. the year earlier, we had had th. the year earlier, we had had the six-day war. robert kennedy had backed israel against jordan, serial, and egypt. , on exacter anniversary of the six-day war, he is going to be shot and wounded. he will last about 26 hours. he is actually shot on june 5, the exact opening day of the six-day war one year earlier. his assassin is here on surround irhan, a palestinian arab christian who had been born in palestine income to the united states and had all kinds of mental issues but he was a strong believer in the idea of an independent palestine and he was resentful of what israel

had done taking over new territory. so indeed, he was working at the ambassador hotel and he was in the kitchen and the question still arises, why did robert kennedy go through the kitchen pantry as he was leaving the rally? it is still hard to understand why. there are some that think there was more than one gunman. that has not been proved. it is still a very perplexing story. brian: you say that he has has applied for parole 14 times over the years, most recently in 2011 but has been denied and remains in prison. prof. feinman: it is true. he is the only attempted assassin to be in prison that long. the two women who tried to kill president ford were released. the difference may be because robert kennedy was killed. i have to believe that is the case.

brian: david frost interviewed him and here's a minute. [begin video clip] >> i noticed an advertisement announcing a parade that was planned to be held that evening in los angeles on the miracle mile to celebrate the israeli victory of the year before and there was to be an anniversary parade for the jewish community in l.a. that incensed me. i said, i have nothing else to do, i'm going to see what they are up to. i heard that there was a big party up there at the ambassador. then i decided to go down there and check it out. that is what led me to the ambassador, the party that was going to be held and i went down

and got myself in trouble. [end video clip] brian: did he plead insanity? prof. feinman: yes, but it did not lead to anything. he also claims that he did not remember being there. different stories at different times. he is obviously unstable. brian: how long was the trial? prof. feinman: i don't recall exactly but the trial took a few months. it cannot drag on for a long time. brian: george wallace? prof. feinman: george wallace was paralyzed for life in 1972 in maryland at a shopping center by and assassinate her who had read up on another assassin's particular somebody who wanted to get noticed and again, mental illness.

even more serious than his shooting in paralyzing of wallace is that he stalked richard nixon. this would have been earlier than may 1972 -- this would have been before the watergate scandal. spiro agnew would have become president. so the thought comes to mind that he could have been president and then maybe be facing impeachment instead of richard nixon. brian: he was the youngest of all of the assassins at age 21. you say in your book that he has been released. prof. feinman: yes. brian: 2007.

where is he? prof. feinman: he has to stay within the state of maryland and i think he has to report to a parole officer. he didn't kill wallace. he shot him and paralyzed him, but yes, he was released around the same time the women who tried to kill president ford were released. brian: we have a background viewing of the assassination attempt here. [begin video clip] >> as always seems to be the case, there was no inkling of trouble. governor wallace heading countered heckling -- had encountered heckling earlier in the day, but the crowds here seemed receptive and friendly. he had just finished speaking, was shaking hands, 145 shots -- when for or shots were fired, five two of them recorded by abc news. [gunshots] [shouting]

>> governor wallace's wife bent over him. later, she said he seemed to be conscious. it produced so much confusion that details are still not clear. one campaign worker provides a description of the assassin. ingram said he was trying to shake hands when a man cap shouting, hey, george, hey, george. doctors say there were three wounds. in the leg, arm, and chest. [end video clip] picture ofhave a ethel kennedy holding george wallace's hand in the hospital. how unusual is that? prof. feinman: i found that at the alabama archives and i said, this is an interesting photograph because it is not showing just that he is recovering but also that despite political differences, party

lines are not an issue when it comes to threats about the candidates. i think it was very gracious of her. we have that great photograph, yes. brian: how many other items like that you have in the book? did you find a lot of new things? anything? how much new research were you able to find? prof. feinman: back to the lincoln situation, he had andrew johnson as his vice president to be killed by another conspirator. if he had been killed, it would not have been the secretary of state. it would not have been the speaker of the house, it would have been the original law of 1792 that said the president temporary of the senate would be next in line and that was senator foster of connecticut.

i picked him up out of the doldrums and made him someone famous. he was a republican senator. i don't know what kind of president he would have been. i think that andrew johnson was a tragic figure. lafayette foster probably would have been better. there is also the story that andrew johnson was a second term vice president. lincoln decided to replace his first term vice president for political reasons. he wanted a southerner on the ticket. had he not done that, hamlin would have been president, so he is another one of those not well known people. these are people that have been able to show would have been president if circumstances had been different. brian: this is from nbc news, this is a report about robert preston flying a helicopter onto the white house lawn during nixon's term. [begin video clip]

>> the chase came to an and when the helicopter landed on the south lawn. police said the pilot had to be forcibly subdued. for several hours, the aircraft was examined by police. they determined that despite the shot fired, it could be flown away. it had been stolen around midnight from an army transportation squadron. during the joyride, the craft was reportedly flown with considerable skill. the pilot was identified as robert preston, a helicopter mechanic who was unhappy over flunking out the flight school, charged with unlawful entry. his day ended in the psychiatric ward. [end video clip] brian: what happened to him? prof. feinman: he was in prison for a while but not long.

and posh life, was he just wanted to land -- prof. feinman: i think he was ruled mentally disturbed and wanted attention. from what i can gather, i don't think he was threatening nixon. brian: here is a 50 second clip. what did he do? prof. feinman: he wanted to hijack a plan -- tried to hijack a plane -- did not succeed, he ended up killing the pilot and i think injuring the copilot then was killed but he wanted to hijack a plane or have the pilot take the plane with him in it and hit the white house in richard nixon was not even there , but he wanted to actually attack the white house. when i first came across this, it wasn't talked about much at the time, it got covered more later by history channel having

a show about it, and sean penn doing a movie, the assassination of richard nixon which, when it first came out, i went, what? i didn't know much about it. the point is, had he been able to somehow accomplish that, that would have been september 11, 27 years before september 11. that is what is astounding about it. brian: here is from stephen sondheim's broadway musical. [begin video clip] >> hello, mr. bernstein? lenny? how are you doing? my name is -- we never met. you are a renowned composer and conductor who travels the world enjoying one success after another and i am an out of work tire salesman.

i want to take two minutes out of your schedule to listen to this tape which you just opened in the mail and if you cannot listen to it now, maybe you can listen to it ♪ tonight, tonight. ♪ [laughter] i love that song. [end video clip] brian: what happened to this guy? prof. feinman: he was killed by a police officer in the baltimore airport. he was killed. he left a tape behind for a columnist to make clear what he intended to do. he really wanted attention because he had a miserable life economically and wanted to blame

richard nixon. this was during the time of watergate. brian: i got the feeling that gerald ford may have had the most attempts. what are the stories about -- prof. feinman: most attempts ever would be lincoln and barack obama but gerald ford had two women 17 days apart in 1975 indeed threatened his life and they were both in california. the first on september 5 in sacramento. a follower of charles manson obviously not all their mentally and used drugs she was unhappy because gerald ford had not done good things on the environment. and just generally did not like the standards he was taking that she had a weapon on her but did not actually withdraw the weapon so she did not actually directly threatened -- she had on her but she was not the kind of direct

threat that 17 days later, when we had, indeed, sara jane moore fire a weapon in san francisco and a former marine knocked her hand and saved ford from any harm. ford had been approved by the house and senate -- nelson rockefeller of new york to be his vice president in rockefeller was from the liberal wing of the republican party and had a problem getting confirmed because many republicans and seven democrats did not want him and now twice in 17 days, oh, my gosh, we have rockefeller as president? after that, the reagan wing of

the republican party was battling for the nomination, and what happens is, when ford finally defeated reagan, the reagan wing made it clear, we will not back unsc jump rockefeller intake -- we will not back you if you take rockefeller -- and he lost a race to jimmy carter and after-the-fact ford said he thought if he had kept rockefeller he might have won the election and i think he might have. brian: alan cohen. newsust -- of wchs interviewed limits we give room. queaky frome. [begin video clip] >> i actually said to myself, are you going to use this gun? and i said, let's just go. ford had his hand out and was

waving and had just come from breakfast with businessmen and he looked like a car dealer to me. but at the same time, i had ejected the bullet in my apartment and i used the gun as it was. >> the chamber was empty but agents found for bullets in the clip. she claims she was given the gun for protection. she used to to take a stand on the environment. >> i said, i have to talk to him. and i thought, that is foolish, he will not stop and talk to you. [end video clip] brian: where is she today? prof. feinman: they were both released in 2007. we don't hear anything about them. they did not harm the president, only threatened.

brian: so you get a pass if you don't actually kill the president? prof. feinman: they were in prison until 2007. this was 30 years. it seems to make a difference. i think they would think 32 years in prison and he did not kill anyone would probably be harsh enough. brian: here is jailed for talking about the assassination attempt. -- gerald ford talking about the assassination attempt. [begin video clip] >> approximately halfway to the state capital, i noticed a person in the second or third row in a brightly colored dress who appeared to want to shake hands or speak or at least who wanted to get closer so i hesitated instead keeping moving as i normally do and as i

stopped, i saw a hand come through the crowd in the first row and that was the only active gesture that i saw but in the hand was a weapon. [end video clip] brian: he was a talk about the intruders and you list them all who try to get in. what they tried to do harm to the president? prof. feinman: some want to do harm. i think there are a couple cases where the bill clinton, a couple on barack obama, and also under george w. bush. a lot of them had just looked for attention or just mentally disturbed and they don't know why they are there. a lot of times, they are confused. they are definitely threats. the one most ongoing is under

barack obama last year when omar gonzalez was able to get over the fence and into the white house. nobody has been able to do that. that has led to improvements on fencing in the need to change the secret service and bring it up to par because these things are scary. brian: i did not remember this but you say, talking about the man who climbed the fence during ford, twice in 11 days and apparently again in 1976. didn't make the publicity that the recent -- prof. feinman: no. brian: why? prof. feinman: the secret service is not like to tell us more than they have to. they don't want us to know every case and i think i understand

why because that could make things much more concerned about the safety of the president so i think that afford has always been reported everything to the news media if it can be avoided. they try to avoid it did i generally agree with that. brian: you point out that in the first instance he was on the ground unimpeded for 1.5 hours. you say that was an easily -- easy to find? prof. feinman: no. a lot of things are hushed up. brian: leoard, who fired a gerald ford -- prof. feinman: sara jane moore fired -- brian: are they the only two women that you found? prof. feinman: the only other case would be a woman who boarded booth.

she was the first woman executed by the u.s. government there is she directly involved in the events but she was involved in the conspiracy although some people have said she was a victim and should not have been executed just like dr. samuel -- still not clear. did he know booth? different stories at different times and different viewpoints. there is still confusion about it. brian: one more on gerald ford because we get to hear sara jane moore talk about what her mission was from an abc documentary. [begin video clip] >> her motives were confused, her purpose was not. >> i knew that that was the only shot i would have. he looked right at me. after i fired, he stopped. cold -- and i did have time for a second shot. i had not practiced for a second shot. >> one-shot might have done it if it was not for a man who almost wasn't there.

vietnam veteran oliver simple just happened to be downtown. >> i had never seen him. everybody started pushing everybody. for some reason i looked down and i had seen sara jane moore and i yelled -- the bitch has got a gun. [end video clip] brian: out of prison? prof. feinman: yes. in 2007, both of them. brian: this book took how long? prof. feinman: i have been thinking about it but it was two years ago that i was asked to write this book. it is a little bit more than a year and it went through several dress and i had a number of people helping me who were helpful. then all of the other stages of the point where it finally got published in august so basically two years.

brian: where do you teach? prof. feinman: florida atlantic university in the history department. brian: if i was in your class, what would i learn about? prof. feinman: i teach courses from -- i teach courses on the u.s. from from kennedy to nixon. the new deal. also, the u.s. since 1945, 1900-1945. and also, the american presidency and will be teaching a class in the spring on the american presidency. brian: where are you from? prof. feinman: jamaica, queens, new york. i like to joke i was born in the same hospital as donald trump. i then lift in nashville county and then moved to south florida. brian: what is you get your education? prof. feinman: queens college, city university of new york, and

then their graduate school, my dissertation advisor was arthur's messenger junior. junior. he sponsor me for my dissertation and then i had to take it to john hopkins university press but i got it published in 1981 under the title, twilight of progressivism. the western republican senators of the new deal. brian: when you make speeches about assassination attempts, what is your audience want to know? prof. feinman: they are most interested in kennedy conspiracy theories and lincoln. they always focus on those two. they don't care as much about mckinley and garfield and i think that is sad because i think our field is a really tragedy and even mckinley is but somehow it is a john f. kennedy -- maybe robert kennedy -- and abraham lincoln.

brian: we haven't talked about ronald reagan, bill clinton, george w. bush, and barack obama. what would you i to say about those? prof. feinman: john higley was the person who shot president reagan and he was not wearing a bulletproof vest. a short trip from the white house. the secret service agent was not either, and they were both wounded. the thing is, john ably was stalking jimmy carter so if he had killed carter, walter mondale would have become president and maybe, it if he had come in -- maybe ronald reagan would not have one. who knows? that is possible. barack obama in 2008 had to conspiracies against him by

young people, young men, in denver, colorado. the plan was to try to kill him at the convention as he accepted the nomination. that manchurian candidate idea, from the film. also, in tennessee. they have been constant threats against him. the omar gonzalez thing wasn't directly against him, but he was in the building. brian: the gonzalez thing was what? prof. feinman: he is the man who leapt over the fence and got into the white house one year ago and the only person to get into the white house and that is alarming but that indicates the security broke down and apparently one of the secret service agents was asleep. book, what would you devoted to? -- brian: if you had more time and a bigger book, what would you devoted to? prof. feinman: a different

topic? brian: no, on this topic. is there more? prof. feinman: an interesting idea would be possibly the might-have-beens, which included a few people we know well. foster, hobart, hamlin, martin. he will be interesting to go further into that. i am not sure what i will do. i could do a good job on that in the future. prof. feinman: the question everybody asks me when i'm interviewed. maybe, why do you like such a morbid subject? it is fascinating. brian: on that note, ronald

feinman, author of "assassinations, threats, and the american presidency." thank you. prof. feinman: thank you. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> for free transcripts, or to give us your opinion on this, visit us at our website. they are also available at c-span podcasts. >> if he likes this q&a program, here are some others you might enjoy. scott miller on his book on the assassination of president william mckinley, former abc news correspondent and tonkin on

her 41 career covering the white house, and a former secret service assignment guarding jacqueline kennedy. find those interviews online at c-span.org. here on c-span this morning, "washington journal," is next. and any will report on wasteful spending, and a news conference on capitol hill. the house returns for mistakes thanksrecess -- from its giving recess. on today's "washington journal," we take a look at the u.s. role in nato, and the many challenges that organization faces with former ambassador hurt poker. kurt volker, and alberto

fernandez. lankford joins us to talk about excessive spending from the federal government. ♪ host: good morning, it is monday, november 30, 2015. thomas returns -- congress returns today. the senate is scheduled to hold a vote today at 5:30 p.m. paris forobama is in a united nations summit, whose goal is to reduce a global treaty to reduce climate change. putting the spotlight on the u.s. and its role in the world when it comes to cutting greenhouse gas omissions. for the first 45 minutes this morning on the "washington journal," we