mr. babbitt: there is a lot more, a lot more. and then i met greg and take, but that is -- kate, but that is where i will leave you. >> we had asked eric to speak to this effort that build and ended up not coming to fruition, but was crucial for it happening. now we will cross our fingers that the magic of technology is on our side. [indiscernible] >> ok, you should never do that. sorry, guys. >> i cannot remember anymore. >> [indiscernible] am happy to share my contribution to the reconstruction national monument beaufort, south carolina. i received a call from the secretary of the interior, bruce babbitt. he read my book on the reconstruction. i responded that i found this washington that a politician was reading a long, -- scholarlyme tome. but he pointed out that out of all of the national monument site, none was devoted to reconstruction. i flew down, had dinner with him, and over the next couple of months, prepared a report on possible venues for such a site. obviously, reconstruction took place in numeral places, but i con

mr. babbitt: there's only one guy who can answer that question. first of all, i think the andnstruction experience the presence of the military make buford a little eight typical -- a little atypical. black and white people, those segregated in my childhood, were no strangers to each other. so when i went and sat down with the leadership to discuss this partnership -- we may not have been best friends, we may not have gone to school together, but we knew each other and we trusted each other. askede answer that you thiss the answer that country is asking for and that sit down and to have conversations, to forget the twittering, forget the name-calling, and actually sit down and have honest conversations about what we are creating and what we are going to leave for the next generation. and buford, being a diverse little southern city, we have had the ability during the nine years i have been mayor, to do this on a regular basis. it was not a change the agenda for our city council meeting. that is the way we run our government and that is the way we

mr. babbitt: there is a lot more, a lot more. and then i met greg and take, but that is -- kate, but that is where i will leave you. >> we had asked eric to speak to this effort that build and ended up not coming to fruition, but was crucial for it happening. now we will cross our fingers that the magic of technology is on our side. [indiscernible] >> ok, you should never do that. sorry, guys. >> i cannot remember anymore. >> [indiscernible] am happy to share my contribution to the reconstruction national monument beaufort, south carolina. i received a call from the secretary of the interior, bruce babbitt. he read my book on the reconstruction. i responded that i found this washington that a politician was reading a long, -- scholarlyme tome. but he pointed out that out of all of the national monument site, none was devoted to reconstruction. i flew down, had dinner with him, and over the next couple of months, prepared a report on possible venues for such a site. obviously, reconstruction took place in numeral places, but i con

mr. babbitt: a powerful suggestion. >> john oliver has covered that. [laughter] he did an episode of monuments he wanted to see and one of them was robert smalls. in charleston,g: they are trying one thing, too low. to take -- in this case, it's a big monument, john calhoun. publictead to invite the to come in and do a contemporary interpretation. what it was then. this is what we think it means now. history -- i need not tell you all -- is not like chalk on a blackboard. you need not erase it. you can look at it differently. i think the mayor has been very, very clever to engage his community. let's not tear it down, but let's be honest and put more interpretation to it about how we see it today. >> [chatter] >> we continue our coverage of this weekend's american historical association meeting in d.c.. you're watching american history tv on c-span3. welcome kate masur. she is a professor from the university at evanston, illinois. we followed your panel discussion just a moment ago. what was your take away from what you turn with former governor habit

president of the united states babbitt does thank you so much yes some said he wouldn't last until christmas with the american economy booming and his health reportedly good mr trump is holding steady but he's unpredictable nature has had his supporters cheering his opponents cringing here's a look back as an eventful year. it was an audacious first week in office. but gratian had been a central tenet of candidate trump's campaign within days of his inauguration president trump issued the first of what became known as muslim bands his supporters welcomed the move but thousands of people turned out at airports across the country to protest the executive order legal challenges against the travel ban came almost immediately even after trump signed a second and then a third ban later in the year courts prevented them from going fully into effect the supreme court will ultimately decide their fate this year. shortly after the election the number of illegal crossings at the u.s. mexican border hit an all time low according to u.s. border officials throughout the year the government stepped up raids and arrests of suspected undocumented persons in the u.s. . the wa