stephen a. douglas, we have a compromise that not even henry clay had the alchemy, the political alchemy to produce. well, all of this was necessitated, i suppose, wasn't it, by the regime crisis of 1850 coming from america's first imperial venture. this is when we become an empire and we haven't stopped since. the mexican american war of 1846-'48. but as i read these debates swirling around the dividends and consequences of that mexican american war, i thought i'd ask you this question. is it mischievous, counter factual, but nonetheless i think useful, would the topic of your book have been unnecessary if the whig party headed by henry clay, had won the election of 1844? you cite historian gary cornblitz's counter factual presentation of that of a different outcome in 1844. henry clay president, not james polk. and a very different scenario. well, before asking you to answer that question, would you remind us of the national real estate options presented at the conclusion of america's first empir -- i

but that was the climax of stephen a. douglas' career. stephen a. douglas was widely regarded as an almost inevitable president around 1850, a dyna c dynamic, brilliant illinois politician as i said. he was only 35 i believe at the time of this debate. and he was widely regarded as one of the most skilled strategists and tacticians in the senate and is writing the issue of popular sovereignty. the right of any citizens in if i territory to decide for themselves whether to be slave or free. he's riding this he believes to the white house. clay is exhausted, he's got tuberculosis. he's physically broken by the many months of debate. he can't keep it up any longer. he leaves washington, goes to new port, rhode island, to go swimming which is his favorite form of therapy and relaxation. preceded by women clipping his hair and snatching kisses as he passes through new york and philadelphia. he's 72 years old at the time. stephen a. douglas steps into the arena and here's clay. the founder of the whig party. here's douglas who is mr. democrat, mr. western

stephen a. douglass. >> appropriate to discuss douglass here in chicago. douglass basically is a father of chicago. there would be no chicago without douglas. douglas moved to chicago from jacksonville, illinois. let me start at the beginning. stephen a. douglas was a poor vermont boy, who came here to illinois, which was the frontier, and he became -- he was another self-made man, although he was well-educated, informally, and he made himself into what he considered to be a westerner. illinois was a predominantly democratic state, not a whig state. there was only one whig district in the state, which was around springfield, and douglas was the -- became very quickly, by his late 20s in and early 30s, the dominant political figure in the state. he created the convention system in order to control the party. he became a judge on the supreme court and then a senator. and immediately began setting himself up to run for president. he created the illinois central railroad through an act of congress, which wa

back in washington senator stephen a. douglas correctly saw the tactical error that clay had made. douglas rescued clay's compromise and shrewdly separated the measure into five different parts. this proved essential as only four senators voted for all of the bills. separated the measure out and different collections of senators voted for different parts of it. only four would have voted for the entire package. ultimately, much like the coach in philadelphia the legislation did finally get through. just not as clay had envisioned. in fact, all but one of the measures that made up the compromise of 1850 passed before clay returned from rhode island. despite the failure of the omnibus approach, clay had once again played a fundamental role in saving the union. as for its importance, his biographer, robert remini, who is by the way the historian now of the u.s. house, argues that the compromise of 1850 delayed the civil war for ten years and those ten years were absolutely essential for preserving the american nation under the constitution. had succession occurred in 1850, the country

a concubine to bizarre pressure. the election of 1860 another political slugfest this time abraham lincoln versus stephen douglas, douglas with the hot -- hypocrisy blaming that lincoln himself had once 3 operated a grocery store that sold hard liquor. lincoln's reply, that if that was the case then surely douglas was the best customer. in the election 1912. irrrlevant -- roosevelt called his opponent a fathead with the modern campaigns have seen their fair share as well. from 1972, senator. edward and a front runner for the democratic nomination that is until the manchester newspaper ran to pieces one article planted by the white house accused him of using racial slurs against french americans, the second implying his wife enjoyed smoking, drinking unladylike way. >> by attacking me my wife, he has proved himself to be a gutless coward. >> but it was reported at the time, but hh broke down and cried sending a message that he couldn't handle the heat and sending his campaign into details to -- tailspin. >> michael dukakis has opposed enable exercise is something that you find in the james bond a exercise books. and in 20

a concubine to the czar of russia. election of 1860 to the political slugfest. this time abraham lincoln versus stephen douglas. douglas accusing lincoln of temperance. timing that lincoln himself had once operated a grocery store that sold hard liquor. causing quite a stir. we could reply, that that was the case, then surely douglas was his best customer. >> and election of 1912 theodore roosevelt called his opponent taft if that had with the brains of a guinea pig. taft in turn called roosevelts followers number of neurotics. martin campaign seen a fair share of nastiness too. nomination. that is until the conservative manchester union leader newspaper ran two pieces. one article cited by the nixon white house. accusing him of using racial slurs against french americans. the second apply musk his wife enjoyed smoking drinking and cursing and unladylike way. it was also reported that the time cried. sending a message that he couldn't handle the heat. and sitting his campaign into a tailspin. in 1988 george hw bush let loose on mike dukakis. asserting he did support the military. stating that dukakis thought a n

a concubine to the czar of russia! the election of 1860? another political slug-fest. this time abraham lincoln vs. stephen douglas douglas accusing lincoln of hypocrisy on the claiming that lincoln himself had once operated a grocery store that sold hard liquor causing quite the stir. lincoln's reply? that if that was the case- then surely douglas was his best customer. in the election of 1912 theodore roosevelt called his opponent william howard aft "a fathead with the brains of a guinea pig, "taft in kind calling roosevelt's followers "neurotics." modern campaigns have seen their fair share of muskie of maine, then a front-runner for the democratic nomination, that is until the conservative manchester union leader newspaper ran two pieces. one article, planted by the nixon white house, accused muskie of using racial slurs again french-americans. the second implying muskie's wife enjoyed smoking, drinking, and cursing in an "unladylike" way. (nat: edward muskie (d) "attacking me by attacking my wife proved himself to be a gutless liar." reported he broke down and cried sending a message that he couldn't handle t

a very close associate of stephen douglas. really, politics was in his blood. he never thought of doing anything else but in politics. he became a lawyer because he wanted to get involved in politics. he came to nebraska because he knew that the democratic party was very weak here. >> let me go back to the way he was able to capture the imagination of the country. have you received nomination and he lost all three times? >> henry clay received the nomination. this was a little bit different 100 years ago. there was a lot more voters, and a lot more media. more money involved. clay had a pretty small country. america was not just a country, this was a modern campaign. >> as you write in your book, for 14 million americans of voted in that election. that was 80%. >> they voted in colorado. that is the highest percentage of voters. we have never had that a high percentage of voters again. >> can you touch on his senate bid in 1894? >> cher. he started out to get the populist and democratic nomination. the populist was an insurgent movement in american politics rapi

politics, you always wanted to go into politics, his father, a judge in illinois, a very close associate of stephen douglas in the 1850s and his father helped write the illinois state constitution in the late 1850s. so really politics was in his blood, i think, and he never thought of doing anything else but politics in a serious way. he became a lawyer because he wanted to get involved in politics. he moved through nebraska, the democratic party weak here, and he thought there would be an opportunity for a young man to rise quickly within the democratic party of the state. >> let me go back to the way he was able to capture the imagination of the country. three times getting the democratic nomination, has that ever happened where you receive a nomination and lost all three times? >> the person you profiled the first time, henry clay, received before the whig party, a nomination, and twice for the whig party, but of course, a little different in 100 years ago. this was a lot more voters, a lot more media, more money involved. this was really, unlike clay, who had a fairly small country in terms of populati

a transmitted case in kentucky. then we will get action. >> mr. douglas olberhelman and mrs. diane olberhelman. be here.ure to >> the honorable steve green and mrs. dorothea green. >> mr. stephenee. >> her excellency, chan heng chee. >> ms. chia yong yong and dewi muliana. >> the honorable casey mace and mrs. anne milligan mace. >> mr. loh chin hua. >> the honorable bob casey and mrs. terese foppiano casey. >> mr. ong peng tsin. >> professor chua nam hai. >> lieutenant colonel wong shi ming. >> the honorable patrick kennedy and ms. betty swope. >> ms. sherrilyn ifill and amali ifill-knobloch. >> mr. craig robinson and mrs. kelly robinson. >> mr. charles scharf and mrs. amy scharf. >> mr. stefano pessina and mrs. ornella barra. >> mr. matthew doherty and mr. dean thorp. >> the honorable peter welch and ms. margaret cheney. >> the honorable daniel russell and mrs. keiko russell. >> amy tan and louis demattei. >> mrs. rosalind brewer and mr. john brewer. >> excuse me? i have been to singapore. i think the prime minister is chinese. >> is this your first state dinner, then? >> no. i have been to probably five state dinners. thank you. >> the honorable jacob lew and ms. shirley gat

a transmitted case in kentucky. then we will get action. >> mr. douglas olberhelman and mrs. diane olberhelman. >> the honorable steve green and mrs. dorothea green. >> mr. stephenellency, chan heng chee. >> ms. chia yong yong and dewi muliana. >> the honorable casey mace and mrs. anne milligan mace. >> mr. loh chin hua. >> the honorable bob casey and mrs. terese foppiano casey. >> mr. ong peng tsin. >> professor chua nam hai. >> lieutenant colonel wong shi ming. >> the honorable patrick kennedy and ms. betty swope. >> ms. sherrilyn ifill and amali ifill-knobloch. >> mr. craig robinson and mrs. kelly robinson. >> mr. charles scharf and mrs. amy scharf. >> mr. stefano pessina and mrs. ornella barra. >> mr. matthew doherty and mr. dean thorp. >> the honorable peter welch and ms. margaret cheney. >> the honorable daniel russell and mrs. keiko russell. >> amy tan and louis demattei. >> mrs. rosalind brewer and mr. john brewer. >> excuse me? i have been to singapore. >> is this your first state dinner, then? >> no. i have been to probably five state dinners. thank you. >> the honorable jacob lew and ms. shirley gathers. >> the honorable dennis heck and mrs. paula hec

a transmitted case in kentucky. then we will get action. mr. douglas olberhman and man. diane olberh >> the honorable steve green and mrs. dorothy green. >> mr. stephen ng leung.u >> the honorable casey bates ed anne bates. >> the honorable bob casey and mrs. therese casey. >> mr. ong tsing. >> lieutenant colonel wong qi ming. the honorable patrick kennedy . >> [inaudible] >> mr. greg robinson. mrs. kelly robinson. >> mr. charles sharp. mrs. haylee sharp. >> mrs. ornella barra. >> mr. matthew doherty. >> the honorable peter welch. >> the honorable daniel russell and mrs. keiko russell. [inaudible] mund brewer and mr. john brewer. >> excuse me? i have been to singapore. is this your first state dinner? >> no. i have been to probably five state dinners. you. >> the honorable jacob new. >> the honorable dennis hecht hecht.. paula >> mr. raymond o'connell. >> is this your first state dinner? >> yes. usually, i am on the other side of the rope. good to see you. courtridge. sopervile. >> the honorable shawn casey and mrs. casey. >> the honorable edward markey. susan blumenthal. >> major jeremy haines and mrs. chelsea haines. >> what is your connection to t