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president's day in the united states. designated in the federal calendar is george washington's birthday, the proximity to abraham lincoln's birthday link the two and eventually expended the holiday to a celebration of all american presidents. this president today, we are asking viewers, who is your favorite president, and why? phone lines and split as usual for political party for you this morning. republicans, it is (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. t. that number, (202) 748-8003. if you do, please include your name and where you are from. otherwise, catch up with us on social media on x @cspanwj, on facebook at facebook.com/c-span. a very good monday morning to you. happy presidents' day. you can go ahead and start calling in now. as you are calling in, we take

you to an opinion piece this weekend encouraging americans to study washington and lincoln on president's day. they write in that piece, other presidents have of course done noble things and guided the nation through perilous times, but none was as foundational as washington and lincoln. they were of course not perfect men. they write, they succeeded despite their imperfections and because of their humility and trust in god. the nation's first president set the tone for the job and the nation's collective identity. the 16th made preservation of the union nonnegotiable and laid the foundation for modern america. there piece was published yesterday. each year beginning back in 1896, a member of the united states senate has read from george washington's farewell address. that reading taking place on the floor of the senate. it will happen tomorrow afternoon. last year, it was senator ben

cardin who read george washington's farewell address. these were the final words of that address. [video clip] >> with me, a predominant motive has been to endeavor to gain time to our country. to settle recent institutions come into progress without interruption to that degree of strength inconsistency which is necessary to give humanly speaking the command of its own fortunes. though in reviewing the instances of my administration, i am unconscious of potential error. i am nevertheless too sensible in my defects to not probable that i may have committed the errors. whatever they may be, i fervently besiege the almighty -- beseech the almighty to mitigate the evils. i shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence. after 45 years of my life

dedicated to service, they will be consigned to oblivion as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest. host: the farewell address of the nation's first president . yesterday, the nation's 47th president was at the daytona 500. the washington post writes yesterday he was relishing the attention at one of the nation's most watched tv events. that trip to the daytona 500, just a quick trip up the coast from mar-a-lago. he shook hands with drivers before nascar's signature race and reveled in the applause as fighter jets screamed overhead and some attendees were chanting his name. "this is your favorite president" donald trump told the drivers by radio. he said, i'm a big fan, i am a

really big fan of you people. there is the beast circling the track with president trump the daytona 500. this morning, we are asking you on this presidents' day, who is your favorite president, and why? that is our question for the first half-hour of "washington journal." a three hour program on this presidents' day. we hope you join us for all of it. we will start in california with perry on the line for republicans. good morning. caller: good morning, john. host: who is your favorite president, perry. caller: teddy roosevelt. host: why tony roosevelt -- why teddy roosevelt? caller: he is such a historical figure. him and his brother elliott watched the funeral procession of abraham lincoln from the second-story floor of the house they lived in new york when the procession went down i

believe 50 7th avenue. i always thought that was kind of a historical thing that a president should see another president as famous as abraham lincoln and in a very sad way but it was kind of like destiny for him to become president. just so much history with him. even after he left office, he was as big as life. everywhere he went, he was just somebody who was a true world leader in the white house and out of the white house. host: what do you think history will say or is saying at this point, it has been long enough for history, about his return to the white house, the bullmoose party. caller: yes, that was something else. of course, we know that he

almost was assassinated with his return. and there was another little funny story about how after his presidency he actually had to go to court. i forget what it was over, but he was told he could not stand up and speak because he was such a proper orator. actually, fdr actually i believe he was the assembly, actually was a witness. he said, how do you know this man? he says i think it was by blood and by relationship. kind of funny what fdr said because he was actually called to testify for his cousin. host: a teddy roosevelt fan. you mentioned fdr and teddy

roosevelt, both making the top five in the historians survey of presidents. this survey, the most recent one, done by presidential historians and coordinated by c-span, helped put that together, and have done it over the years four different times, most recently in 2021. top five in that historians survey. every him lincoln, george washington, franklin roosevelt, teddy roosevelt, dwight eisenhower. that is what more than 100 presidential historians said for their pick for presidents on a variety of presidential leadership criteria. we want to hear from you this morning, who is your favorite president and why? this is linda, also from california. caller: yes, hi. my favorite president and i don't see how there could be

another is franklin delano roosevelt. that is because of his vision for america. he was of brahmans heritage from back east. but he felt america needed to be a place without great differences in income, and money -- in money. there should not be a tremendously wealthy class and many, many, many poor workers. not fair for their family's future. he supported unions. he supported peace. he was intelligent. this was -- he was just what i think -- he envisioned america

the way my folks envisioned america and the way i was raised. actually, i was raised a roosevelt democrat. host: you say he supported peace, and yet one of the best-known things about him was his leadership of the united states during world war ii. caller: yes, it is ironic, but that is his intelligence and his breadth of thinking. yes. i agree. i am glad you added that to it. yes. even if he deliberately set it up, i still liked -- i loved his economic view. host: linda, thanks for the call. from california to massachusetts. mike come online for democrats, who is your favorite president, and why? caller: my all-time favorite was franklin d roosevelt. there were three things. one was his great support for social security.

i believe it was in the mid or late 1930's. then wpa, which helped millions of people get back to work when there was no hope during the great depression of the 1930's. and his greatest accomplishment was taking us from the great depression. by 1945, we were the world's number one economic and technological giant. and that is my feelings about franklin d roosevelt. host: mike, thanks for the call for massachusetts. jack in ohio, from columbus, you are next. caller: hello. can you hear me? host: i can. who is your favorite president? demino is next in california, republican. good morning. caller: hello. good morning. first of all, i have to say i am an italian american. my favorite president has to have been george w. bush because he showed the american people

that when you are president you are getting a little -- host: we will go to herbert in georgia, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. my favorite president is lyndon johnson. host: why lbj? caller: because he signed the civil rights bill and that cause president obama, which is another favorite, to become the first biracial president of the united states of america. by him signing the civil rights bill, it was very beautiful because this was america's foundation of three generations, the indian, european, and black, the first generations. i think we should have a part of american history. and i appreciate lyndon johnson for doing that. he went against his own people, went against his own democrats.

now you have these republicans who don't want to go against their own president for democracy. host: herbert, i wonder what your thoughts are of this recent gallup poll about a survey of americans, about the feelings of living u.s. presidents. and among those, barack obama, george w. bush, bill clinton, donald trump, joe biden. barack obama with the highest favorability rating. 59% of americans spotting to the gallup poll say they have a positive opinion -- a favorable opinion. 36% saying they have an unfavorable view. joe biden, just 39% saying they have a favorable view, 57 percent saying they have an unfavorable view. caller: you know, john, to be honest with you, obama was biracial.

he was white and black. he was biracial. that set -- host: i'm listening, herbert. caller: john, i like obama because -- yeah. host: herbert, you have to stop listening from your tv and just speak through your phone. easiest way to have a conversation. by the way, more discussion about barack obama. he plays a major role in a book by juan williams of fox news. his new book out just last month. new prize for these eyes. the rise of america's second civil rights movement. we will have that conversation in the last hour of "washington journal" today so stick around for that discussion and your calls with juan williams. back to your favorite president and why. from palm beach, florida, independent, good morning. caller: my favorite president is

andrew jackson because he ended the fed and there was no debts. no debts. no $34 trillion in debt under andrew jackson. he paid off all of our debts, sold off the assets, and closed down the fed. host: what do you think presidents have said about the national debt and their views of the national debt since then? it is more than $34 trillion. it is about 36 point $5 trillion and counting today, at least if you go by usdebtclock.com. caller: i don't know how to answer that. they don't care. the fed is the president's bank account. if we had to pay off the $34 trillion by selling off our assets, listen to this, we have 800 million acres of federally owned land. if we had to sell every acre, it

would cost $50,000 per acre to pay off the debt. that is pretty big. i don't know. that is just a little calculation i like to make. host: this again from usdebt clocl, the debt per u.s. citizen, $37,000 each citizen would have to pay. if you went by taxpayer, $323,000 per taxpayer to pay off the national debt. jack is in athens, texas, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead, sir. caller: my favorite president, i am a republican and it might seem strange, but my favorite president would be bill clinton. he was a smart guy and got a lot of stuff done. he did welfare reform. of course, he took credit for

it. just for entertainment alone, he was a pretty great guy. host: jack, what do you think about bill clinton since he left office? caller: nothing. i think they make a lot of money. i think he was just a smart guy, a really slick politician. newt gingrich did a lot of stuff while he was in office and congress did he took credit for it. that is all i got. host: that is jack in texas. if you want to learn more about bill clinton after he left office, he has a book about it. we aired a discussion about that book on c-span's book tv and you can find that conversation. it was a few years ago he sat down for that interview. c-span.org if you type bill clinton. you can find bill clinton and other presidents talking about

their books and their memoirs. this is built in new york, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. i was going to go with abraham lincoln, but we know they would have had to free the slaves anyway because they would be packing up. it would be a toss between robert kennedy and lyndon b. johnson. host: john kennedy? caller: john kennedy and lyndon b. johnson. john kennedy was not able to accomplish much that he would have, but lyndon b seemed to hold it up for him. even though we know he used the n word a couple of times, it was said, and he signed the civil rights act, he declared war on poverty. he had done so many things for the poor, and he also thought

about the environment. and also, he signed medicare, so lyndon b. even though he was a little racist my think he did a lot of great things. host: that is bill in new york. this is one of the headlines from the washington times today come up keeping the president in president's day. holiday increasingly becomes focused on retail instead of george washington. it is a focus on the history of president's day, and we are asking you this morning on this president's day, who is your favorite president, and why? this is rod in michigan, republican. good morning. caller: yeah, my favorite president is nixon. host: why nixon, rod? caller: back then, i was going to college and my birthday was on the front page. i said, what is that there for? i was number two in the draft and nixon called it off so i am

still alive and i am happy. host: rod in michigan. you know many people who ended up going to vietnam? caller: oh, many. one of our best people in my hometown died over there. i voted for mcgovern but nixon saved my life. that is why he is my president. host: shirly is in delray beach, florida, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i am going to say president barack obama because he was of course the first african-american president that this country ever had. he is the first. he was transformative. i want to say everybody voted for him. of course they didn't, but everybody voted for him. it showed the world that the country could go forward. and once the present president

is no longer here, we will have to go back to rebuilding our country. but he moved us forward. then we had to go backwards as life seems to make us do as a country. we move forward five steps, we go back 10, and that is my choice. host: that is shirly in florida. this is bernard, illinois, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. host: good morning. who is your favorite president, bernard? caller: president lincoln at mr. kennedy. host: and why is that? caller: because they were both good men. and i believe they straightened this country out. host: what makes a president a good man, a good president? caller: a gentleman who freed the slaves, mr. lincoln did. and mr. kennedy stood his ground. host: where did he stand his ground in particular?

caller: with the cuban missile crisis. host: that is bernard in illinois. also looking for your social media posts as well. here is a few of those who are watching and writing angn social media. key on facebook saying it is donald tru, st president since reagan. peace through strength and not already bought like most politicians. they hate him cae they can't control him. they never wanted the waste, fraud, abuse, and money laundering exposed. another quote from jim on facebook saying it is coolidge for his quote when he said his greatest accomplishment was minding his own business. the exact quote according to the coolidge foundation, perhaps one of the greatest benefits of my administration has been minding my own business. jamesal saying it is teddy osevelt, working group, made food and drugs safe for people to consume, protraedature by establishing the natural parks.

the last president to skinny dip in the potomac. and he drink a gallon of coffee a day. this is joe saying it is grover cleveland just for his name. this is dutton saying ulysses s grant and bill clinton. looking for your social media posts on facebook and x. in pennsylvania, republican, who is your favorite president and why? caller: donald trump. host: and why trump? caller: trump is a businessman. he is not a politician in the traditional way, and people were tired of how things were going for years with all of the politicians and we dug ourselves in a big hole and trump is trying to get us out of it. he is a businessman first. i just believe he is going to end up being the greatest president of all time. host: bill, i am not sure you

saw but it was recently that a congressman of florida, member of the house, a republican, introducing legislation to arrange for the carving of president trump's image in mount rushmore. what do you think about that? caller: that is a bit premature. time will tell. but i think she is jumping the gun a little bit on that. nancy pelosi wanted to put biden's head on mount rushmore. that was very premature as we saw how history ended up playing out. host: that is built in pennsylvania. this is carol in iowa, democrat. good morning. who is her favorite president, and why? caller: actually, i have three presidents. franklin roosevelt because he got a social security and i was

with that. then barack obama forget i still remember -- then barack obama. i still remember watching his speech, in two years, the black people. i felt their happiness because it was long overdue. and third, i will say joe biden. i miss him. history is going to show how much he did for us in the four years. he brought us through covid. he made so many executive orders that trump throughout the window -- threw out the window. we will have to recover from that and it will take four years. it will take another four years for and democrat to come in -- a democrat to come in. host: a reminder to turn down your television. this is ricky. good morning. who is your favorite president,

ny? caller: yes, my favorite president is john f. kennedy. my name is ricky mason from north carolina, and i believe john f. kennedy was the best president that this country ever had. host: and why, ricky? caller: because john f. kennedy at the time that he was president and as far as i can remember in the 1960's, he stood for the country and the people, and he cared for the citizens of the united states, where there was a lot of programs that was not implemented in the government, and the government to be at that time wanted the democrats and republicans to come together and make programs that would help the less fortunate people here in america, like social services, social security, and he put all of those programs and those

things and health care for children and all of this stuff that now that. mus man is in there trying to disintegrate all of these programs to help us here in america and not only in america but other concerned that the country with foreign people, helping them with aid with health care, food, and stuff like that when crisis appeared. even when martin luther king was protesting for the civil rights movement. host: ricky, you mentioned all of these different programs. john f. kennedy known for one of his most famous comments from his inaugural address, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. caller: right. exactly right. exact rep. good: and i like that quote -- exactly right.

and i like that quote. ask not with the country can do for you but what you can do for the country. the people would pull together for what the government could do for the country, what the government could do to help those programs, to help those situations be much better for all humans. john f. kennedy was one of the greatest presidents that put on these accolades and good things in place for mankind and our country. even when castro wanted to exterminate those cubans and stuff like that, john f. kennedy had those people exported here to the united states, so much that i believe if he was to live out his terms of life or what have you, he would have done greater more stuff that i guess

we cannot even think of, stuff that was needed in this country. host: that is ricky in north carolina. a few more from social media comments. this is andrew saying president obama is my favorite because he saved america from the 2008 financial crisis, expanded health care to tens of millions of people, streamlined assistance to small busess. this is john on facebook. it is fdr, it meant of personal wealth and certainly not a perfect human being. he did more to help the economy and the american class working people than any other president. darrell, north carolina, independent. who is your favorite president, and why? caller: good morning. my favorite president is abraham lincoln. as a descendant from african slaves with the condition of the human heart, it could be highly likely that i would not be free today. but then i would also like to add my second favorite president is donald j. trump. host: and why is trump your second favorite?

caller: well, because of what he wants to do for this country. i think his tactics may be seen as divisive, but i think his heart is that he wants to return america or get america into a much better place for all americans. host: that is darrell in north carolina, our last caller in this first segment of "washington journal." stick around. plenty want to talk about on this president's day, including up next we will be joined by presidential historian alexis coe. we will talk about her efforts across the country and ask americans about their feelings about fox news news analyst juan williams discusses his new book, "new prize for these eyes."

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weekdays catch washington today. just tell your smart speaker, play c-span radio. c-span, created by cable. host:'s c-span book tv viewers are familiar with alexis coe, presidential historian, senior fellow at new america. we began our program today asking viewers who their favorite president is ny. is a presidential historian allowed to have a favorite president? guest: i do not have a favorite president. i cannot pick favorites but you have to understand i see them on their best days and worst days. i read all their personal letters and diaries, so it is hard to feel that way but i do feel about them the way people feel about sort of distant family members who are a little bit difficult but you love them anyway. host: you have written about

them as well. you have written one book about george washington and another about jfk. what drew you to george washington and now jfk? guest: i love president to have been so mythologized it is hard to get a sense of who they really were and what they really did. i feel like it is a puzzle i want to put together to solve. what i usually find early in the process is many of the things we take to be axiomatic about the president are not at all and that is where it gets fun. host: on myths about america's first president, this being george washington's birthday, what are some of the myths about america's first president? guest: you heard one recently at the inauguration. when a prayer was given, there was a preface that included one of the greatest myths, which was

that washington kneeled to pray at valley forge. there is a painting that was painted decades later, but even without any sort of corroborating evidence, there is no one who said he prayed. there are no eyewitnesses. it does not seem likely because he did not believe that god would interact with people on earth. it is not what he would do, so that is one that comes up a lot, and of course that he could not tell a lie. he was a spymaster. he could definitely live. -- lie. host: "you never forget your first: a biography of george washington" came out in 2020. guest: "young jack" stops right before the presidency. host: why stop before his presidency? guest: because there is a spate

of books i feel every month about his presidency. i believe so many of them are excellent. however, his early years and particularly his time in congress, the training ground the founding fathers wanted presidents to go through, has been treated like a flyover. it is more like this happened and then we get to the presidency and one of the -- one of my goals as a presidential historian and one of the things i push back on his this idea of destiny. we all know nothing is a foregone conclusion. it is a series of efforts and decisions along the way that make a difference. i just wanted to slow down and focus and it has been great fun. host: you are a senior fellow with new america. guest: what is new america? it is a bipartisan think tank and a wonderful and encouraging environment in which my

fellowship project, which has been going on for a couple years, asks how should a president be? in 2024, new america, aided by some of the stops i went to, sent me on a discussion tour across the country. 13 stops. a few were virtual because i wanted to meet people in different places. i give talks all the time at universities and libraries, but not everyone goes to those talks so i talked for example on tiktok. it is a fantastic way to interact with a different subset of people. i also went to the ohio state university and spoke at the national security institute. it was a wide range of venues in which i got in amazing overview of how the country feels and we are about to turn 250 in 2026. that is america's 250th and an

important moment where america as this fellowship has three goals we think about. we want to feel pride in the founding, a reckoning for the way we have fallen short, and an aspiration toward a better future. i was trying to reconcile all those things and what comes next. host: we want to give you a sense of how america feels with our phone lines. they are open to talk to alexis coe this morning, presidential historian, and this effort with new america and the question of how should a president be. here are the numbers for you to call. it is (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8000 independents, (202) 748-8002 independents, (202) 748-8002 for democrats. -- (202) 748-8001 for democrats. independents, (202) 748-8002. host: when you say how should a president be, do you mean as a leader? as a person? what do you mean?

guest: all of the above. each tour had a specific focus. at the new york historical society one of my guests runs one of the smithsonian's in washington, d.c. and we talked about historical reckoning and i think one of the really interesting points was i would open the question up to people i was talking to and the audience and ask them about attributes but also specific situations, so how much preparation does a president need. should they go through congress? do we want outsiders? what are actual traits? empathy is interesting and often emerged as one of the major attributes people really liked but it is not quite what we think it should be. there's a disconnect between what we think we want in leaders and what we get as leaders, so that is where the fun comes in,

because complicity is not a liability -- complexity is not a liability. host: when you say authenticity, what was an example cited to you as an authentic president? guest: i started the tour in january 2024 and this came up quite a bit that one of the things i will back up and say, that the reason i wanted to do this project was not just the 250th. i am sometimes treated like a comment box for the presidency and i was experiencing so much cynicism, unprecedented cynicism . during his presidency but also during biden and that was interesting to me. so authenticity to them for example -- empathy was talked about as an attribute they wanted. biden was well-known for empathy, but not at that point. there was believe he was not empathetic because he -- gaza

was mentioned often and a couple times on the tour, while we see biden surrounded by family and we know he had a close relationship with both of his sons, he has never met one of his granddaughters, so that was something people would mention. there is this authenticity that you show up in every way and you are not empathetic just to a certain group of people. consistency is important, as well as not just campaigning as an authentic person but actually maintaining ties with the electorate after the campaign is over. host: do you think we are more cynical in general or are you finding more cynical about our leaders these days? what do you mean when you say the cynicism that you found? guest: i have often experienced a lot of questions by the presidency and the person we want to be president, but i

think there has been a sharper edge of late as i have progressed in my career, certainly different in the last four to eight years. it often feels confrontational and less about learning and having fruitful conversations and more about making points or snapback's. nothing that really moves the conversation forward. it does seem as if people have grown tired of the same old conversations about the presidency but they have to be willing to have more, so that is a challenge i feel i faced. host: we will let you chat with some callers. duane is up first, an independent out of illinois. good morning. caller: i thought i would throw harry truman into the conversation today and try to

inject a little humor into the conversation. i recall touring the truman's home in independence, missouri. for baby boomers, it would remind you of going to visit your grandparents house when you were a kid, that they were just ordinary people, but there were extraordinary things in their house. one of them was truman's official white house portrait. in light of mr. biden and mr. trump taking things that they should not have taken from the white house, i thought it was humorous that she took in official white house portrait. when she was asked to return it, she told him she was going to keep it. with all she had to put up with, she thought she deserved it, so to this day her official white house portrait quit which belongs to the white house, is in their home. i thought that was kind of

humorous and it reminded me what real people the truman's were. i guess i could call him my favorite president. host: thanks for the call. real people, authenticity. what do you take from that? guest: that was a great suggestion about how to spend president's day. it is this ill-defined holiday and a couple years ago i wrote an op-ed for the new york times and the headline was george washington would hate president's day. it is not like fourth of july where you have community gathering. i love going to presidential homes and libraries and museums because you get the intersection of the personal and professional. i used to host a podcast called presidents are people too and they are at the end of the day people with their own proclivities. there is a big difference between taking a portrait and taking sensitive materials that could put the country at risk

and also could deny people like me the ability to understand the presidency in retrospect. this is a problem throughout not only the executive branch but also congress. they love to declare their own papers personal, so i think it is an interesting conversation but i do think we view these places, these establishments like presidential libraries and museums, as a celebration or place of reverence. some of them are, but a lot of them challenge and embrace some of the darker aspects of the president's life and decisions and try to contextualize that. one example is monticello, thomas jefferson's's home, and

also's guest: fdr hyde park. an interesting discussion in an associated press story today about president's day. you are quoted in that discussion focusing on the monuments here in washington, d.c. and what they tell us about thomas jefferson, abraham lincoln, and george washington and the washington monument. explain what your concern was about how we relate to george washington and the washington monument. guest: that is not my favorite monument. i feel like thomas jefferson and abraham lincoln have superior ones because they have features. they have words. washington is this unifying figure, but he is just an obelisk. he is tall but it is sanded and you do not see any part of him or interact with it at all and i think that is a missed opportunity. we have talked a lot about monuments over the last decade, but i ascribe to frederick douglass's idea that monuments should exist in their original form but you can improve on them. when i look at washington's

monument, i think there's so much room for conversations about different parts of his life. the title he had longest was master. at 11, he inherited 10 slaves when his father died. that is something we have to talk about because at the end of his life that number swelled to over 213. that is significant because he could not have become who he was without them. when we call someone like washington or jefferson a man of his time, we have to remember all those people were as well. host: on monuments and memorials, i think the newest one is the dwight eisenhower memorial just off of the national mall. have you visited that one? what are your thoughts on that newest memorial? guest: i have not visited it, which is a tragedy to me. unfortunately when i am in tc

i'm hitting the archives and giving talks, but i think any addition is a wonderful starting place for a conversation so i am excited about it but i want to caution people when we emphasize these monuments and names on the sides of buildings and schools. i always tell people when they worry about washington being canceled, best of luck. i do not know how you do that. if you cancel george washington, you are canceling america. host: this is greg waiting on our line for democrats. caller: can you hear me ok? host: yes. caller: first time caller. i just started the program. how do you feel about the last two presidents and how they compare or rank with respect to empathy, which i feel is important? an example would be empathy or

caring for the common person, animals in particular, or just the common person. guest: that is an interesting question. animals are a significant part of the story we will get at one of the presidential libraries or museums because they are something that charms the nation. washington had many dogs and gave them interesting names. one was named sweet lips. i think the way that humans interact in general with the animal is telling about their person. as far as empathy, i would say the early days of covid are hard to get out of my mind. donald trump was very focused on his own experience as a president. every president enters office with an agenda. not all of them face a pandemic, but they have faced terrorist

attacks and other challenging issues and their presidency is buffeted by events outside of their control. it is not necessarily the attributes they have. it is how they react and their ability to grow. the story with every president that people love to tell that i often doubt is that they have some sort of evolution. i think that is rare. someone like kennedy i feel did have an evolution and his empathy grew as he experienced the world. it is really about where you start out. i am not sure it is as much about empathy as having a curiosity about people and the presidency is tied to power and that is important, but many of the people who a president serves cannot have that kind of power so there has to be an innate interest in them and their lived experience. i will not rate either 10 out of 10. host: on the animals side, is it

true that harry truman said if you want a friend in washington get a dog? guest: this is very true, yes. host: why are we are so obsessed with presidents' pets? guest: presidents for us -- we did not want a monarchy, but we are interested in monarchies. i am always fascinated by the reaction to a royal wedding and americans will get up early. the thing is when we evicted a monarch. we did not want one, but we do love a great story, so we like to know things about our presidents and an easy way to perhaps feel ok with them on a personal level even if you disagree with everything they are doing is with the caller said. they do not like the medium but they feel he messages good. it is to see them with a dog. when you do not see -- or a small child.

barack obama was so charming and seemed innately good when he would interact with children and that is something that makes them human, so presidents are people, too. that is lovely for people to see. otherwise they are always in suits and in front of a firing squad of media. it is an intense moment, so we do not really see them relax in a way that is candid. host: this is george in iowa, republican. guest: i want to speak with the guest as a reassessment of herbert hoover as a president and also his parallel with jimmy carter because both were despised in the presidency but both were great men in terms of their humanitarian work. hoover particularly before he

became president. he was not even a politician at that point. other than the fact that he was the vice president. and of course jimmy carter with his humanitarian work after his presidency. i am interested because i really visited the hoover library in west branch this past january before it was closed for renovations for the next year and a half. and the thing about it was it was right after jimmy carter passed away. i am interested in hearing about her particular parallels there and fact that everybody has talked about roosevelt and the way he got us out of the depression. the interesting thing is the things that got us out of the

depression after his initial work were things that hoover tried but was not able to do while he was president. i will quit babbling at this point and let her talk. guest: that was a good question. i do not think you were babbling. i went to go see carter speak in plains, georgia i think around 2015, 2016. it was incredible to see him give a sermon and to grapple with his grandson who had just passed away. he said, i am angry with god, and he talked about that. what both those men have in common that may be did not make for the best presidency, and this is true with grover cleveland, is that they were inflexible. they were stubborn.

and sometimes that can be a good thing and sometimes that can be a bad thing. with carter, it was a very good thing outside of washington because he is obstinate about certain -- and i think he did within the presidency for the many reasons he is not ranked as one of the top 10 presidents, i think that is adherence to a sort of moral standard changed the way the united states interacted with other countries. that is changing now, but it set the tone for decades of international outreach and relations. with carter, he was stubborn and a micromanager. and i think of carter, he managed the white house like tennis sign up for the courts. why would the president do that? that is not something he should be doing, but he had these obsessions. later, when he had this incredible career after the

presidency in which he eradicated guinea worms, he oversaw free and fair elections through the world, he was sent by many presidents to negotiate and listen to other leaders on behalf of the united states. i think that was an important attribute. it just does not always make for the best president. i think carter will be someone we think about differently in the decades after his death and that is true for every president. they go through a process and evolution after their death as far as public opinion. host: jimmy carter also known for his writing career. he wrote more than 30 books over his lifetime. i know you said you cannot have a favorite president. do you have a favorite presidential book? guest: now i have read profiles in courage so many times. carter rivals teddy roosevelt in terms of his prolific output of

books. i do not think i could write these researched, and it hated, cited books that fast at all, but i respect it and i think this is a moment in which we have to celebrate political courage, which is essentially what profiles encourages about and the political courage that carter example if i'd in every book is amazing. he wrote a book called peace, not apartheid. that was a challenging book tour. that was a long time ago. people still have a hard time bringing up the subject, so think about a former president going out with a book with that title. it is provocative and he was ready to fight that fight. i think about that a lot. host: profiles in courage i

believe published before jfk was president. guest: yes. he wins the pulitzer in 1957 and that has always been a subject of debate. i figured out the decision at the jury and executive lel and i think i substantiate that he did write it but there were other things that went wrong. it is an incredible feat. he wanted to write a second book. his thesis was turned into a book, so imagine a fresh harvard graduate, the son of an investor who had been a disaster in that role who then publishes a book that becomes a bestseller. then he goes to he goes to war. he gets into congress. he wanted to win a pulitzer. he was a man of letters. he loved literature. so this book was all his hopes and dreams in a lot of ways and also not. i would say the writing is

inferior to his first book because he was recovering from back surgery. he was on a lot of painkillers and it's not the most organized. his research was outsourced, but he did write it. he recited a lot of it but he wrote it. host: your book on j.f.k., when is that coming out? guest: next year, just around this time. host: with us this morning, for about another 20 minutes on "washington journal," alexis coe taking your calls. this is sally in virginia, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. story about john f. kennedy. when i was in fifth grade, i went on a trip to hyannis port and we were sitting out on the docks and john f. kennedy and his mother came out to go out to their sailboat and he was not yet president. he was a senator and he was the

most gracious, nice person. he came up to us and sat down on the dock with us and talked for about an hour about sailing and hyannis port and all the different things that kids would like to do. then he and his mom got on the dock and went off sailing and then waved to us and they saw us again coming off the boat and invited us to a football game that the whole family had in the courtyard in hyannis port. that is my story. i have always kept it with deep connection. host: who won the football game? guest: i do not remember, but probably kathleen. guest: that is a great story.

why love about that story, in presidential history mothers are very much maligned, either these thorns in the side of the presidents, they have to overcome the obstacle of their mother to succeed, and that is the story we hear about washington. my major contribution to washington studies is that was not true. that is the story we hear about kennedy and i love this story because he is going to sail with his mother. they were a, friendly bunch. there were nine children. he had lost his beloved sister and his eldest brother. he was the second oldest. they were always playing competitive games, touch football. this is well known. i really enjoy that story. hyannis port is where they would summer. they had two homes they would divide their time between, one

on cape cod and one in florida. it is nice to hear that story and that he would be interested in talking to 2/5 grade girls on his way to the presidency. they think about jfk and a lot of presidents that will not necessarily work for 18th and 19th century presidents as we now see charisma playing quite a role in a president and how the nation interacts and remembers them. jfk had it in ample supply and that was true from the time he was a young child. he was always witty. his mother would write down things he said that were very funny. he would listen to stories around christmas and saying, i know what happens to jesus, but what happened to the mule? but he would deliver it as a joke. he really knew how to talk to just about anyone. host: you talked about this when we chatted about american

history tv, but what is data history? guest: something i put as a placeholder in the introduction and it ended up being part of the book. it is usually presidential history. people -- when i was taking my washington book out to publishers, i maintained that if presidential history was written in a different manner, if it was interested in not just power and treated people around the presidency as more than one dimensional figures just to propel the story forward of the president, that other people would read it, people of color and women. traditionally, presidential history is consider the ram -- realm of men. most presidential historians are men. i'm the first presidential historian in over 100 years who is a woman to write a book on

george washington, which is hard to wrap your head around because there are so many books every year published about him but it is a for us, by us, about us kind of genre. i think that is unfortunate, but we see on father's day all the presidential biographies come out and are front and center in bookstores and libraries. it is dad history, the book you know will be a winner with your dad. they are usually around this thick. they are a size matters crowd for sure. they like these heavy tomes and the same kind of visual on the cover, usually the same five portraits of washington, including the dollar bill, which is a pretty severe portrait in which is j -- his jaw is tight. and the verbal coffin is the title. obviously i want a different direction but it is george

washington: a life. there is just not a lot to turn your head if you are not already inclined to read them. host: "you never forget your first" is the title of alexis coe's biography of george washington. caller: can you guys hear me ok? good morning. it is really inspiring as a fellow history person, fanatic, to hear you talk about the presidents, so thank you for doing this project. i wanted to say what i value in a president and i wanted to give background. my family has voted bipartisanly over the past lord knows how many years. my grandparents voted for jfk and then for johnson and then this kind of switch happened where they started voting for nixon and reagan and ever since

bill clinton was first elected they have been voting mostly blue and what the long history of our voting history has taught me is i value a president who takes the time to know their constituents and fully understand them, who shows no bias, and that is why i will be writing in chappell roan for president. host: ken is in arkansas, republican. good morning. go ahead. caller: alexis, this is a question for you on more current and recent presidents. my curiosity, and maybe you can explain this to me, is the separation of powers. it is a thing i have been questioning. in the past, we were told congress and the house had the power of the purse but it is

kind of obvious from what biden had done with the drawdown of the national -- he did that and usurped that, so i'm kind of wanting you to educate us on where that should really stand, what the structure should be. does trump really have the power to enforce musk to do these cuts to bring down the debt? which i totally agree with. and i think you should be authorized to do that under the powers of the presidency. could you comment on that? guest: it is an interesting evolution. we are all really concerned or excited about it, in your case. i think that is a story that begins with george washington before he was president. at the constitutional convention, george washington did not want to go. martha would not go with him.

she wrote -- he wrote these letters saying she would not leave the state of virginia because she hated to travel and she had just been away for the revolution. george washington, that was his second retirement. he had already retired from the british militia. had the monarchy given land owning white men like washington more slack, we might be a different country. he wanted to be at the center of his country's story and he did not care which one that was there so much to figure out. they have to write a constitution. the articles of confederation are not working. he is presiding on a platform and as everyone is fighting this out they get to the presidency and look at him and they think, ok, he gave up power after the american revolution, which allegedly king george said if he does that he is the greatest man who ever lived. people had given up power, but

they had often not, especially in that position. it was an incredible thing and he also was eager to do it. he kept writing to thomas jefferson and other members of congress asking, how do you want me to do this? i want to be home for christmas. when it comes to the constitutional convention, parties have started to form. people believe he will be in charge and this is a man you can trust, so why not just leave it to him to figure things out? it is incredibly vague as far as the powers of the presidency, including term limits. washington set these precedents and as time went on, when presidents have violated these precedents, in small and big ways, then there has been usually a response from congress . a lot of times the response has been just in words, but sometimes they have been efforts made. one of them is term limits.

after fdr got his fourth term, congress passed term limits based on washington's decision to leave after two terms. with fdr, we have expansion. he wanted to go to war. congress has to authorize a war, but the president can send troops abroad so there is already that tension. as time has gone on, the presidency has tested those limits more and it has been a real failure of congress not to respond in real time when a lot of those challenges have been. that is what we see now. there is the intention of the framers was checks and balances. we know that. so i think we will see a lot of these i am not a constitutional scholar and i'm not an attorney and i have not studied quite as much, but i do know these are in

the course and will can -- courts and will continue to be in the courts because there is a lot to suggest someone like elon musk, an unelected person who suddenly seems to be copresidents, does not have quite these powers. we do know the president does not necessarily have a lot of the powers that he is saying he does, so we will see how it works out. this is definitely the wild west of presidential studies. i cannot even call it history because it is -- there has been nothing like it before. this is truly the moment but i have a piece coming out today on msnbc saying we have been saying he is unprecedented but he is also quite precedented. everything you can say, someone has tried. the transactional presidency has always existed. he is just a spectacle about it. host: ethan and tennessee wants

to know the qualifications of a presidential historian. how do you become one? guest: i have a graduate degree in history. otherwise i would say it is just a proclivity. i spend a lot of time in the archives and looking at primary sources and interacting with the world of history. if you people have introduced themselves as history buffs. i think these relationships coexist. there are certain professional standards i have to adhere to and want to adhere to and recognize in various ways. any day now, c-span's presidential rankings will arrive to my mailbox and that is always a fun time, so those are the qualifications. but many people we regard as presidential historians do not necessarily have the qualifications. ron sure now -- chernow for

example i do not think does. so i think it takes a certain -- like the presidency, it takes personal attributes or qualities and then hopefully a lot of academic rigor because that is what matters. there can be different approaches, but everything has to be based on the same sources. we have to all be working off the same letter, for example, and quoting it as accurately as possible. once we do that, we can go wild with how we interpret it. host: alexis coe also with a history sub stack. she sat down for an interview in december about it. when i was looking recently, you called thomas paine one of america's first influencers. explain. guest: in pamphlet form, yes. he was really important to the american revolution.

he was able to make things go viral to speak in the parlance of our time. it was for his birthday. he was -- he wrote these galvanizing pamphlets that washington very much relied on and this is -- to talk about washington politics in a nutshell, they were the best of friends when washington really needed him. and then he next went to the french revolution and america inspired a global reaction, a sort of age of revolution. we had one of the least bloody, which was credited to george washington, but thomas paine got in trouble with the french during a time of a lot of unrest and was in jail and roach to washington and washington could not intervene.

james monroe was the ambassador and working to help him, but then thomas paine wrote an open letter to washington. he wanted to send it on his birthday and munro, -- monroe talked him out of it. paine wrote, one day people will figure out where you ever in apostate or decent leader? only time will tell. it was the first -- they were the first presidential tell all's, but they were very important to our country. host: let me try to get one or two more calls. this is in arizona, independent. caller: good morning. this is very refreshing this morning. i woke up and i saw you on c-span and i am so happy to be able to speak for the first time ever and i am very interested in

the type of president that we as a nation here in america should have. a president for humanity, a president that is not self-serving, who looks out for the people to protect and provide. the bible says when a wicked king rules the people mourn but when a righteous king rules the people rejoice. you fast-forward to today, to the present president. the people will rejoice when a ruler is righteous in his way of how he treats his people in the nation that he serves. so the humanity and kind as and

integrity be present in these next four years. i think that people would rejoice more. of course the president is not perfect, but at the same time if the people are at his forethought i think the people will rejoice and that is what i wanted. i am so happy for you to be able to do this. this is a first for me, but i thank you for this. host: you can call and once a month on washington journal. we hope to hear from you down the road. guest: that is a wonderful sentiment. a lot of people feel that way and certainly something that is important to the country, when a president has been effective, they can be a unifier. that is not all the time. we cannot win them all, but you should be able to win quite a bit. i like to say something that was important -- we regionally had a plane crash that we watched and

heard from president trump very quickly about it and before he had received too much information about it he declared who was wrong. the families were sold to cut -- discovering who had been a victim on the plane had died. it reminded me of ronald reagan and that his speech after the challenger crash when -- throughout the nation, everyone had gotten up early to watch this launch and school children had experienced for the first time seeing people they knew the names of blow up in front of them and a writer at the wall street journal said i think get the girl because he needed a more sensitive writer and she had not gotten a lot of time as a speechwriter at that point. she wrote this incredible speech and there are quotes in it. we are used to being dazzled life is tough. this is part of it, but we have

to move on and come together. that is an important point that relates to what the caller was saying. do you want someone who makes us feel ok? that is why i suggest people read presidential history. we want necessarily tell you that, but it will tell you things were never totally ok, so there is some comfort to be found there but i do think we need someone who can be less divisive. at the same time, donald trump as compared to the first election he won did win the popular vote. it was not a landslide, but he won, so we have to understand and try to reconcile that with our desire for unity and also look at the large number of people who did not show up and another caller who said he was going to write in a popular singer. i understand the humor in that, but if you want third parties, really start working for third parties.

if you want a more humanitarian president, work toward that. citizenship is challenging and active and we are not used to that as americans but it is going to be necessary if that is the kind of president you want to see in office. host: just over 39 years ago, ronald reagan ending that address to the nation with these words. the crew of the space shuttle challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. we will never forget them. the last time we saw them as they prepared for their journey and wave goodbye and slipped the bonds of earth to touch the face of god. time for one more call. this is mary in michigan. caller: good morning. i am from snowy northern michigan -- lower michigan. i was wondering about -- where does the money come for the

presidential libraries? is it all donated? who does design for the contents, upkeep, and security? i was wondering because i had read where president trump received $20 million from a store done by abc news but it had to go for his presidential library. it could not go for anything else. i want to mention i have my favorite presidents and that and i think the older you get the more you remember and that. but for me a lot of it was the likability and what their wives and children did. i remember a lot of their mothers. a lot of these men, 47 men or whatever, if it was not for their lives -- wives and

families they would have never been president. my book club, we are the unofficial pete buttigieg fan club and we have congress, senate, and a governorship in 2026 and my 92 and 95-year-old ladies who have been in book club forever are hoping pete buttigieg takes one of those prizes, so thank you very much. host: i know we are a little over time, but give the final words here. guest: watching pete go out, as we call him, watching him go on fox news -- i saw someone call for him to have an opposition briefing every day and i thought that is actually brilliant because he is wonderful to

watch. if you look at clips from him when he was in college, he is just a fast thinker. he is articulate and no-nonsense. versus we have politicians who seem authentic, so i understand that very much so. there's a lot of opportunity. the current speaker of the house, the reason he is in office is because the first time he ran he ran unopposed, so i think it is a wonderful idea to look around. the money is always a central issue here. aoc has said she probably will never be president because no one would give her enough money to do so. that is true. president libraries with the exception of mount vernon, usually they have some ties to the government and get funding from the government and that allows some oversight.

they do very much rely on -- at mount vernon you have the ladies of mount vernon who tend to be conservative and do not necessarily want to tell the stories so they dictate what the experience is. millions of people a year experience presidential history appear in the obama library is more a community center. it is being built still. i have never seen a presidential library with a giant slide in it or a basketball court. that is incredible. there is constant fundraising and costly running out of money. it is not a comfortable position and every president does not get a presidential library for this reason. it is hard to raise money but i think they are wonderful centers of learning and something if you live near any sort of presidential home, museum,

library, go today. it would be a wonderful moment to interact with his history and this day. host: alexis coe is a presidential historian and senior fellow with new america. appreciate your time and happy presidents' day. guest: thank you. host: coming up a little later this morning on the washington journal, we will be joined by juan williams. we will talk about his new book, "new prize for these eyes." after this break, we will return to our question about who is your favorite president and why. phone numbers for republicans, democrats, and independents on your screen. go ahead and start calling in. as you do, we want to show you interviews, new members of the 11h congress have been sitting down with c-span to talk about their live careers amount why they ran for congress.

it is 9:30 p.m. tonight that we will be showing several of those. wanted to give you a little bit of a preview so you tune in later this evening. >> after graduating, i worked in finance for several years, first as an investment banker. i got to really see and experience the private sector. i got to work along -- long hours once again. i got to see a little bit of what the real world was like, how our financial system works, and the plumbing of the global economy. i think it provided a strong foundation not only for what i am doing now but for a general understanding. >> the most formative experience in my own life was serving as the caregiver to the person who would become my husband during his battle with cancer. for anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer, particularly if you have been

diagnosed in your 20's, you know it is like a punch in the gut. you never expect a hear that word at such a young age. from those first moments after his diagnosis, andy and i knew how lucky we were. we knew how lucky andy was to have health insurance that would hopefully save his life and we both knew how lucky we were to have flexibility with our jobs that allowed him to focus on the full-time job of trying to get better and me to focus on the full-time job of caring for him and eventually when he found out his cancer was terminal, to walk him to his passing. i decided to run for office because i do not believe that in delaware are state of neighbors or here in the united states that that time and ability to get care should be a matter of luck. i believe it should be the law of the land. >> and 2016, we lost my little brother to a fentanyl overdose. fentanyl that was here and

should not have been. he was 20 years old. it was tragic. i tell people it is like losing an arm and having to go through life without something that should be there that is not. that is why i am here. >> tell us more about how you felt when that happened. >> the hardest part was the shock. this was unexpected and it hurt that way. having to see my mom and dad and what that did to them, losing a son or daughter is different than losing a sibling and as a father now i understand that, but it was shocking and then you have to figure out how to move forward and you can either stop and just feel bad for yourself or do something about it. i wanted to do something about it. host: it is about 8:30 here on

the east coast. we began this program asking you who is your favorite president and why. phone lines for you to call in, republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. go ahead and call in as we show you headlines from the national papers. keeping the president in presidents' day. holiday becomes increasingly focused on retail instead of george washington. the official designation of the holiday in the federal registration -- register is george washington's birthday. here's another one. presidents' day is not just for mattresses. the history of presidents and presidents' day. we want to know, who is your favorite president and why? there is the numbers on your screen. this is deborah in north