welcome back to mount vernon. my name is doug bradburn. i am the president and ceo of george washington's mount vernon. it is my delight to have these live opportunities to talk about the story of george washington. last wednesday, we were in our museum. this is what we call our education center here at mount vernon. it focuses on the life of george washington. really a grand sense of his biography and why he matters and how he impacted the age he lives in and why his legacy still matters today. last time, we were looking at his youth, a youth that is oftentimes enwrapped in romance and myth. it is hard to get at because it is a period that is least documented, but it is an interesting period to understand george washington in the context of the 18th century. of course, he is most known to americans and perhaps to folks around the world as the great military commander, the general who led the americans through the american war for independence, through eight long years of war. his identity as a warrior is a crucial one. we think about who

mount vernon is paid for entirely by private money, run by the mount vernon lady's association.rutherford b. hayes has a state library out in the middle of ohio, every other federal library is fund by taxpayer dollars plus the private donations. what is it about george washington today all paid for by private money? >> paw he's george washington. it's as simple as that. we wouldn't be here. we wouldn't be having this discussion. i think you can make a good case there would not be an american republic if it were not for george washington, and certainly making the point that his -- his presidency's about restraint. there's assertiveness, but ultimately it's about walking away from power. it's about not confusing yourself with the office or the country of which you are a temporary steward. and that example alone, it seems to me, is -- is likely to generate the kind of venation a and, yes, final support that mount vernon has earned over the years. >> why is this the most successful single presidential site in the united states? >> because of the mount vernon lady's association. [ ap

come to mount vernon, tour the museums. they're always changing displays. get engaged with the local history site, whether it's a fourth or cemetery, whether it's the home of someone. become a friend of one of those historic sites that is in your neighborhood, in your county or whatever. so you could start feeling like you could learn from experts and share your ideas with people. >> richard what do you tell us where you are at this moment in your research and your writing on gerald are furred? >> the research and writing is indifferent places. writing a finish that chapter which was the longest chapter, it took me an obscene amount of time because it kept rewriting it. i have a lot of new material. i have written 600 pages thus far, and have 400 to go. i take have another year and a half or so. the book will appear in 2021. >> why should we care about a biography? >> that's a fair question. why? gerald for like reagan, in some ways made a career very shrewdly on his part, being underestimated. to most people, for example historically he's kind of a quota o

to mount vernon to prepare for the arrival of the army. he's not going on a vacation. so, you know, they say that 90% of doing a job is showing up. washington showed up. that has an impact. and the other thing he did when he was there, you know, he wasn't like the kind of general, and it wasn't an omar bradley. he wasn't a soldier. he's not going around shaking hands and trying to be one of the guys. but he's doing what's expected of him. he's not trying to go into people's tents and sort of be one of the guys in the middle of their adversity. he's doing what -- you know, he's trying to find them food. he's trying to find them clothing. he's writing letters. he's getting the local authorities mobilized to support the foraging of this army. so he's actively seen as trying to make life better for the army, and he's not the one they blame when they don't have shoes or clothes or gunpowder or guns. they blame the continental congress. they blame their states. they blame the politicians who clearly, you know, are either corrupt or incompetent i

mount vernon was going to go to the first son. not only was he the third son, he was the son by the second wife. so he thought he would have to make his own way. that is why he learned to survey, went out on the frontier, and franklin believed the same thing. they both believed what made america special and different from europe is there was a frontier, that people would not be trapped and controlled by a few landowners. they could go on to the frontier, they could make their own way, they could make their own fortune. franklin did that by experience, by leaving boston where he was trapped as an indentured servant, and making his own way. washington too went to the frontier and began surveying land. that is the time he wrote down these maxims, and he borrowed them from a french maxim, and he wrote them down by hand. the first one is every action done in company ought to be with the same sign of respect to those that are present. respect, that was a key one. that was number one. it goes on with all the rest. both viewed the future

welcome back to mount vernon. my name is doug bradburn.

--s is our education here education center here at mount vernon. it focuses on the life of george washington. it gives a grand sense and -- sense of why he matters. last time, we were looking at his youth, a youth that is often times and wrapped in romance -- apped ined -- enwr romance and the myth. tocourse, he is most known americans and perhaps the folks around the world as the great military commander, the general who led the americans through the american war for independence, through eight long years of war. his identity as a warrior is a crucial one. we think about who was george washington, how did he think of himself and his time, and why does it matter today. george washington as a military commander is still studied regularly in the great military disciplines in this country at west point, the naval academy, as well as the were college because -- as well as the war college because washington was a fundamental figure in the establishment of american leadership in arms. the united states army dates its own birth to his service. congress'sn

this forum was held at george washington's mount vernon.

was he concerned about at mount vernon his labor force, his forced labor force. to me to be honest and understand him and his anxieties and priorities, you have to be there the whole time and the material is there and i wanted to smoosh a bunch of micro histories into one biography because it can be that way. and to do the thing he did, and made them planters which is misleading, there are plantation owners for forced labor camp and they were all cash poor, and choice lands which happily continued to do or british subjects, the promotion that he wanted, he was not an idealist, we are not talking thomas paine. the things, if he wanted to the person lafayette thought he could have. there were people in virginia who had to leave under duress. i just think let's look at him clearly and when we do that, let's talk about how it was a kind of a dick move for martha. he (is invulnerable position and the same problem existed that he didn't want to see and be responsible for which was separating families forever. >> host: how many people were enslaved throughout? >> guest:

and thereafter with mount vernon brought even more money into the project. so we thought he is going to have to make his way on the frontier. franklin also had left boston where he was an indentured servant, fled illegally, went to the frontier or the founding period of pennsylvania and made his fortune on what was to him sort of a frontier. and became a regular sleep wealthy as a picky also invested some in frontierland, but the more important thing was they both conceived of the frontier as essential to what made america different. you can see this in their writings. you can see this in the writings of of the people at the time. they believed that what made americans levers of liberty, what made them open to the improvement is they could always go to the frontier and start over. they could invest but they could also move there themselves like i daniel boone. it was the option of the frontier keeping the openness of the west that made america different than europeans. jefferson would pick it up. the yeoman farmers and the frontier with the american future.

that it's not making enough money so therefore it's not needed all all that the only hospital in mount vernon are very overpopulated who are area i definitely do think that it has the hospitals are or are they are in the areas that give them more income. and not rich i rarely in the south side i remember in a. range that's considered good or a bad area. you know where. people get shot at warners or and. i guess knows and you almost become immune to it in. a mirror into the fact that ok they're going to close down the only hospital and people using. it status aid but i wonder when all of visitors out over we're all just involved right back to business as usual. i hope that we come out of this being kinder gentler to each other and that the hospitals as their main focus on follow me here and not just there and that we no longer each other and bridge or or or you know black vs white. because we're all dying from it it doesn't it's really. so what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have it's crazy. let it be an arms race in his own experience dramatic to follow only. exists i don't s

that it's not making enough money so therefore it's not needed all all that the only hospital in mount vernon are very overpopulated who are area i definitely do think that it has the hospitals there or are there in the areas that give them more income. and not rich i rarely in the south side i remember and i'm not rich that's considered or a bad area. you know where. people get shot at warners or and. i guess news and you almost become immune in you get a mirror image of the fact that ok they're going to close down the only hospital and people use a. status aid but i wonder when all of this is out over and we're all just involved right back to business as usual. i hold that we come out of it as being kinder gentler to each other and that the hospitals this there and focus on follow me here and not just there and that we no longer and each other and bridge or or or you know world black vs white. because we're all dying from it it doesn't it's really. we go to work so you can stay home. and i'll show small seemed wrong mom told stahl just don't call. me. yet to shape our disdain comes to educa

i'm sure many of you have been down to mount vernon. they've been doing a really terrific jobs over the past couple of decades of telling the slaves who contributed to mount vernon and worked their way through the museum. no surprise, seems to be number one in every survey extra everyone does. he received 907 points out of a possible 100. he's ranked one and two in almost single one of them. his lowest score is on fourth place is that's relations with congress. 53 books about our 16th president. one that we chose was a snapshot in time to find out about what abraham lincoln did between election day and march when he was sworn in to-to-get to washington, which he had only been in for a shore time >> he had to finance his way to washington. we tell this story. he had a yard sail in springfield, illinois to sell his belongings. he couldn't bear to sell the family dog so he gave it away to somebody who was interested in taking it on. okay. so let's do the fun ones. the bottom five. 39th place. john tyler from tidewater, virginia. our featur

we were down on our publication date at mount vernon and i'm sure many of you have been down to mount vernon. they have been doing a terrific job in the past couple of decades of telling the whole story of the slaves who contributed to the operations at mount vernon as people worked their way through the museum. and finally, number one in our survey, no surprise, because he seems to be number one in every survey everyone does is abraham lincoln. he received 907 points out of a possible 1000. he is ranked one and two in almost every single one of them. his lowest score is fourth-place and that is relations with congress. our featured biographer is harold holzer, he has written -- is it 52 books he has done? 53 books about our 16th president. the one we chose for the book is "a snapshot in time," chapter in which you will find about what abraham lincoln did between election day and watch when he was sworn in, how he organized himself to get to washington, which he had only been in a as a one termme congressman, how he went through the process of selecting his cabinet. there is a wonderf

further along the potomac, a goal of tourists for over four generations lies peaceful mount vernon, a gentleman's estate, a quiet shrine. it is best described by the man who lived there, no estate in united america is more pleasantly situated than this. [music] and now gaze down at williamsburg, a town begun 100 years before george washington was born. [music] its capital building still seems new. a million visitors a year come to see the 18th century colonial village as it looks estored. but we cannot linger. there's so much more to see. music] there's shenandoah and vistas down the blue ridge along its skyline trail. nd suddenly when least far west of reat north carolina. you reach this gunfight on a mountain top by coming up a sky ride almost a mile long. and down to skin the hay again ast the wondrous great smokies . around the bend in gleaming sunlight, discover atlanta, gateway city to the south, a lively city full of sports, fine foods and lovely southern belles. but city sights lose scale for us when matched against wild nature's drama. behold stone mountain. [music] mark and

so you can actually see it if you go to mount vernon, and i've done a podcast on this and an article as well. so if you're interested in more of that information, i can definitely share it because it is a fascinating document. >> and we don't have much record of what washington thought during the convention because he didn't speak very many times during the constitutional convention, correct? >> that's right. he only spoke once at the very end, and he really preferred to listen during the actual debates. but it's also really important to note two things. one, he was there every day, and he voted with the virginia delegation. so people knew who he was voting, and his opinion was very powerful. the second is that after the end of each session, a lot of the delegates would go to dinner, they would go listen the music, they would go to the theater, visit local philadelphia families, so they were socializing together almost every day. and you can bet that they were talking about what they had discussed earlier. and so i think he was probably having more private conversations about his opi

mount vernon acquired it then. historians did not even know about it until 2012 and the notations are rare because washington was not a scribbler in his book like adams or jefferson. you can see it. if you go to mount vernon and i've done a podcast on this and an article is also if you are interested in more of that information i can definitely share it because it's a fascinating document. >> we don't have much record of what washington thought during the convention because he didn't speak very many times during the constitutional convention, correct? >> that's right. he only spoke once at the very end and he really preferred to listen during the actual debate but it's important to note two things. one, he was there every day and hank voted with the virginia delegation. people knew how he was voting in his opinion was powerful for the second is after the end of each session a lot of the delegates would go to dinner or go listen to music or the theater and they would visit local philadelphia families so they were so

it's not making enough money so therefore it's not needed although that's the only hospital in mount vernon are very overpopulated who are area i definitely do think that because the hospitals are or are they are in the areas that give them more income. and not rich i earlier in the southside i remember in a. range that's considered or a bad area. you know where. people get shot at warners or. i guess knows and you almost become immune. you get a mirror image of the fact that ok they're going to close down the only hospital and people using. it status a but i wonder when all of this is out over 'd we're all just involved right back to business as usual. and i hope that we come out of this being kinder gentler to each other and that the hospitals this is their main focus on follow me here and not just there and that we no longer and each other and bridge or or or you know black vs white. because we're all dying from it it doesn't it's going to. good food descriptions sound appetising even for the owners so how to choose the pet food industry is telling us what to feed our pets really more ba

all i'm sure many of you have been down to mount vernon. they have been doing a great job over the last couple of decades of how the slaves have that have contributed to mount vernon. the and finally, number one in our service survey, no surprise, he seems to be number one in every survey, is abraham lincoln. he received 907 points, at a possible thousand. he's ranked one two in almost all of them, his lowest score is fourth place. and that is on relations with congress. harold hoser, is our featured biography. he's written 53 books about our 16th president. the one that we chose is a snapshot in time. it's chapter which you will find about what abraham lincoln did between election day and march when he was sworn in how he organized himself to get to washington which had only been in for a short time. as a one term congressman and there is a wonderful human story in this book. we did nothing to help presidents financially, so he had to finance his way to washington he had a yard sale in springfield illinois to sell his belongings. he could

if you go to mount vernon and i've done a podcast on this and then article as well so if you're interested in more of that information i can share it because it is a fascinating document. >> we don't have much record of what washington thought because he didn'tspeak many times during the constitutional convention . >> he only spoke once at the very end and he really preferred to listen during the actual debates but it's also really important to note 2 things. one, he was there every day and he voted with the virginia delegation so people knew how he was voting and his opinion was very powerful . the second is that after the and of each session, a lot of the delegates would go to dinner. they would listen to music or go to the theater. they would visit local philadelphia families so they were socializing together almost every day and you can bet they were talking about what they had discussed earlier so i think he was probably having more private conversations about his teams and working with the virginia delegates to try to get certain things past. he just prefer to work in smaller groups

to the back talk about the presidential rankings at a quorum last spring at george washington's mount vernon. watch american history tv now and over the weekend on c-span3. ♪ ♪ >>> election 1976, a case study. your host is political analyst richard scannan. >> with me here in washington today are mr. steven hess of the bookings institution and professor howard penniman of georgetown university. now, this is the first of a series of programs that are going to extend over the full period of the campaign until beyond the election in november in our bicentennial political year. what we want to do is to bring a picture of the american electoral process. we will have special programs dealing with the parties and the media, and the campaign technique and polling and the rest. but what we are really aiming to do is to give you a picture of the way in which we select our american president. and how 215 or 220 million americans can provide every four years a process by which leadership can be developed and transferred over these 200 years of american history. who what we hope to do is bring you discus

to the back talk about the presidential rankings at a quorum last spring at george washington's mount vernon. watch american history tv now and over the weekend on c-span3. ♪ ♪

. >> reporter: in march, as choir gathered for rehearsal in mount vernon, washington, outside seattlewas spreading. the cdc says choir singers were just inches apart during a two and a half hour rehearsal. they shared snacks, too. no one in the group showed any symptoms of the virus. but, by the time it was over, it had become a superspreader event. 53 of the 61 attendees were infected. three were hospitalized. two lawsuiter later died. >> it's really shocking how contagious it is. >> reporter: in boston, the annual leadership meeting for the drug maker biogen also became a hot bed for the virus. those infected went home to families and friends in at least six states. the massachusetts department of public health estimated 99 people got sick at this superspreader event, including employees and others. >> it's very difficult to be able to trace steps that -- that they've come in contact with. >> overall, superspreader events, mostly, occur when people are in close contact, indoors. often, with poor ventilation, like religious services or nightclubs. these scenarios usually involve peop

mount vernon had to close on march 14 to all visitors. it was really a historic moment. for anyot been closed kind of extended period since

about the president's historical rankings at a forum recorded last spring at george washington's mount vernon the book is available on paperbook and e-book. watch over the weekend on cspan 3. >> this memorial day weekend on american history tv on c-span3, saturday at 10:00 p.m. eastern on real america, the 1967 film "discover america" promoting tourism and domestic travel in the u.s. >> saint augustine in florida, stands the oldest house in the oldest town. here we find the ancient stones of the spanish fortress from a vanished time. nearby the spot was centuries past, once ponce de leon sought the fountain of magic youth. >> and we'll fit a national landmark in mobile, alabama. >> they said listen, we want to get back home. we need you to go and yoesnegot with timothy mayer whatever it makes to get us out of here. they went to work for him. every friday when it came time to get paid, their money went for food, clothing and shelter. they came to the resolve that they were just going to have to stay in this community. they didn't understand the language, the customs, but they made a way out of

we were down on mount vernon, and they have been doing a really terrific job of telling the whole story of the slaves that contributed. and no surprise because he seems to be number one in every survey, is abraham link con. -- lincoln. his lowest score is fourth place and that ask on relations with congress. our featured biographer is harold holzer, is it 52 books he has done? 53 books about our 16th president. it is what they will think about what app ra habraham lincoln diw he organized himself to get to washington which he had only been in for a short term. he went and we did nothing to help president's financially. he had to finance his way to washington. he had a yard spring in springfield, illinois to sell his belongings. he could not bear to sell the family dog so he gave it away to someone who was interested in taking it on. >> john tyler from tide water, virginia. he argues he establishes success. and everyone treated him as such and it was not accomplished as that at the time in the constitution. he got pretty low scores. his highest score, 28th in international relations. tha

in a normal year, mount vernon does not close. we are open 365 days a year. last year we welcomed one million visitors. that included 350,000 schoolchildren from all over the nation. our busy season is right now. mid-juneid-march and is our hundred days. it is the busiest time of the year, with buses lined up outside mount vernon, as thousands of schoolkids and families come. geter week, we typically between 5000 and 7000 visitors a day. george washington's experience provides an endless catalog of lessons and perspective encourage we can draw upon -- perspective and courage we can draw upon. the smallpox epidemic was a big part of the 18th century world. he himself had survived smallpox, which gave him lifetime immunity, but he also practiced inoculation with the troops in the army as well is his own family. because smallpox, when it hit you, with devastating. over 30% of the people who got smallpox would die. that is tremendous. inoculation brought that way down. that is await washington was practicing the best practices possible to ensure the survival of t

the closure has had a challenging impact on mount vernon's operations. we love to teach people here at the place. all the virtual work we do is important, but there is nothing better than coming to mount vernon. we rely on the revenue generated from ticket sales, sales on our food, and our shops. we have a challenge to sustain our mission through this time of no revenue. it is a difficult time, particularly as we do not know how or when it will end, and how it will look on the other side. a lot of history sites have not been the first thing on people's minds, but they are a crucial part of the cultural strength of our nation. so we need to remember them and be generous to them if we are able. it is critical that we continue to connect with the public because our mission is to teach, to educate people everywhere about the legacy of george washington and his age. we have great teacher connections, teacher programs. we teach families and students and researchers of all kinds all the time. so that had to continue. we wanted to make sure we continued to provi