so the first one to really occupy it was walter mondale on a full-time basis. to have young kids. >> i was glad when mondales moved in and used it very effectively. >> a vice president's house is really extraordinary. i like it better than the white house because it's more remote. >> it's beautiful, beautiful, maybe the most beautiful piece of property in all of washington. on a bright, sunny day you can see the washington monument from the residence. it's over 78 acres. it has the naval observatory on it, but it's gated and it's private. no one can say a negative thing about dan quayle, because he built a swimming pool out there. it was the destination if anybody had any business or wanted to come to washington where there were extra rooms, it was a family home. >> if you want public housing, move in there. i think you'll like it. >> i was a little jealous sometimes because it's less of a museum and more of a house. >> i thought it a cool place to visit when my dad was vice president. i think it's a perfect location for the vice president. i think it's majestic

. >> president reagan's challenge is former vice president walter mondale, a relative youngster at 56debate with walter mondale did not go well. >> to try and say that we were taxing the rich and not the other way around -- >> he seemed kind of out of sorts, slow. >> the system is still where it was with regard to the -- >> he stumbled and he fumbled. and that was because his debate preparation was too detail oriented. too many numbers, too many fax. >> did not do any of his homework. >> so he stunk. >> i thought boy, i'm glad i'm not in louisville, because somebody is going to have to deal with nancy reagan tonight. >> she wanted heads. she wanted bodies. she wanted it all. >> nancy describes her reaction in her memoir. there is no way around it. the debate was a nightmare. >> what have you done to my husband, i said to mike beaver back at the hotel. whatever it was, don't do it again. >> as she would say all the time, you need to let ronnie be ronnie. ju just let ronnie be ronnie. he knows what to do. >> the second one, he had rested up, he walked in and mastered it. >> i will not m

i still remember him long after walter mondale left government. i was working with him in minnesota and he would call for him and the accent was hard for a minnesotan to get through and i remember mondale, literally within a few days, howling with laughter when he took the call . and i'm sure that was a great mentor for doug to have when he first got into politics. doug then became the u.s. attorney for the northern district of alabama. and in 2017, the first democrat to represent alabama in the u.s. senate since 1997. the senate floor. it was about gun violence calling for bipartisanship and pragmatism and for the courage to seize the moment. and he actually quoted senator heflin saying our constitution itself came about through a series of great compromises. it was not written by ideologues who clung to their way or no. compromise and negotiation, the hallmarks of moderation aimed at achieving moderate centrist policies for our country should not be viewed as negatives. doug believed in a simple philosophy when he was here, never compromise your

floor of the senate that day, now president-elect joe biden escorted me in, former vice president walter mondaleescorted senator smith, mike pence, the current vice president swore us in and think about it, we held forth, soon to be vice president, kamala harris, pretty remarkable time and a remarkable day when what i hope will be a new tradition in the senate took place when we had on two locations six senators, 3 democrats, 3 republicans reading doctor king's letter from a birmingham jail. that document remains one of the most significant in american history and it is as important today as when it was written in 1963. in some ways more important for the moment we find ourselves in i know he will do this, senator brown, to carry on that tradition in my absence. on that day there was the day of the swearing-in in january of 2019 i was here to observe and pay my respects to those returning, those that were joining standing in the back by the cloakroom, senator tester walks up, says jones, what are you doing? can't get anything past tester. there were probably a few profanities as well. what do yo

ronald reagan knew his age would be brought up with walter mondale and he knew. he had that at the ready. douglas, hete with said he can compress the most words into the smallest ideas better than any man i ever met. [applause] >> sometimes it helps to go at the issue they are attacking for. some of us are old enough to remember the 1960's campaigns and the allegation was that is fromr was buying votes west virginia activity sheriffs, so jack kennedy goes and prepares to have a telegram from his father that says, dear, jack, do not buy one more vote than necessary. i will be dammed if i pay for a [indiscernible] there is a 100-year-old joke that still gets a laugh even from people familiar with the joke and that is when will roger said i belong to know organized political party. i am a democrat. and that always gets a laugh among people because it is clever. it is the wordplay, and it is perfect. let me go back to something. sensen had a very sharp of humor but he was a kindly man. you in off limits for political humor, joe, as a politician? joe: there is also re

now president-elect joe biden escorted me entered former vice president walter mondale escorted senatorh. mike pence, the current vice president, swore us in. and actually few now think of it we had a fourth soon to be vice president kamala harris. that's pretty remarkable time. pretty remarkable. it's also remarkable days when whatopng i hope to be a new tradition in the senate took place but we had once each year six senators, three democrats, three republicans reading senator document from jail. that document remains one of the most significant in history. it is as important today as it was when it was written in 1963. and in some ways more important. for the moment we find ourselves in. i ask and i know they will do this. m my colleague senator brown to carry on that tradition in my absence. there's also the day the swearing in of january 2019. i was search observe, to pay my respects to all those who are returning andse who are joining. standing in the back by the cloakroom's senator tester walks up. and says jones, what are you doing? you can't get anything past chester. there pro

gary hart, former senator from colorado talking about he and walter mondale were the last surviving ofhe committee but they unearthed a lot of assassinations in -- it is going to be put out. at the moment we are in donald trump likes to say i have hours nobody knows about, you don't know about. i can declare a national emergency. gary hart said we damn well better find out and talk about it. what are those secret powers? we are running out of time. alexander thoreau told me you want to see a real writer, go get nicholson baker and i did. i rejoiced in all of your books and getting to know you. 10 more of these interviews and we will get to know each other. >> guest: i have learned a huge amount from you and every time we talk i feel i'm getting closer to understanding myself and the outside world so thank you. i want to say one thing, one tiny victory is here is a redacted document that i dealt with for ten years and it is a very important document from 1949, a plan how to dc of somebody but it all blacked out. here's the document that mysteriously appeared in the mail, the same docume

now president-elect joe biden escorted me in, walter mondale escorted senator pence and we have a soon to be vice president kamala harris. it was remarkable in what i hope is going to be a new tradition in the senate took place when we had on two different occasions once each year six senators, three democrats, three republicans, reading dr. king's letter from a birmingham jail. that document remains one of the most significant in american history and it is as important today as it was when it was written in 1963. in some ways maybe more important for the moment that we find ourselves in. i have asked and i know he will do this, my colleague, senator brown, to carry on that tradition in my absence. also will on that day -- then there was the day of the swearing in this january of 2019. i was here to observe, pay my respect for all those returning, for those who were joining and i was standing in the back by the cloakroom and senator tester walks up and says, jones, what are you doing? you can't get anything past tester. there were probably a few profanities in there as well if you know