churchill was asking fdr to bring the program and scientists over to the united states and fdr agrees to that and within two months time, two balloys is gone and the manhattan project was born out of that. we know they're discussing this at springwood from churchill's memoirs and through margaret daisy dairy entries of that day and she sets the mood up here at top cottage. she doesn't necessarily spell out the words that were said, she talks about the visit which occurred at about 4:00 o'clock that afternoon at spring -- at top cottage and she said the p in mr. c seems attractive. they had the weight of the world on their shoulders. we all waited for them to speak. we may never know the exact words that were set up here but if there was any place to have a conversation of that magnitude this was the place to do it. the press was not allowed up here. there was no telephone. no outside communication whatsoever. this was the place to keep a secret. this is a place where you're dealing with the stresses of the presidency and everything that's going on in washington. the only president to

fdr had every intention of doing that. he was going to design the building and tooms was the guy standing behind him making sure that everything was going to work but he designed it not only to meet his personal interest in the dutch influence of the building but also the physical need. he was in a wheelchair and so he designs this in such a way that he can use this place that he doesn't need assistance. there was a ramp on to the porch which he would have been helped up but once he got into the building he would enter through a sliding door for which somebody in a wheelchair was important because sliding doors didn't what side you were on, you slid the door open. most sliding doors would have the track at the bottom. this particular door, it was reed to the floor so it created a small bump. the hallways were wider, it was one flat surface all the way through, all hardwood floor, no thresholds or seals between the doors, no obstacles in the way. even going into the kitchen was the double sung doors and you pushed the door

and people knew that fdr was not last much longer. and it might well have been that had both men lived a bit longer, that their collaboration, not willkie's becoming a democrat, would have been productive and positive and benign. >> thank you. that's all the questions we have for you today. >> that's enough. thank you. >> wonderful time. thank you so much. and as a reminder to everyone, the book is titled the improbable wendell willkie. thank you for coming in. >> thanks. >> tonight, fox news anchor brad behr on the life of ulysses grant. that is toinltd r tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span3.

. >> paul sparrow, the director of the fdr library. today we're going to talk about fkr's leadership and -- fdr's leadership and one of the major skills he had was picking the right person for the right job at the right time. particularly true among his military leaders. he put together an extraordinary team during world war ii, and sometimes ignoring seniority and protocol in the process of doing it. one of the questions we're going to ask is about the relationship between fdr and dwight eisenhower and specifically what was it about eisenhower's leadership that allowed fdr to select him for these incredibly important roles. joining us today to answer that question is dawn hammond. welcome. >> what a delight to be here with you today. >> so what do you think? what was the quality of eisenhower that made roosevelt choose him first for the his inveighs of south africa -- invasion. what was it about eisenhower that really attracted fdrsome. >> i think it makes sense to point out that eisenhower had an amazing relationship with general fox

. >> the director of the fdr library, today we're going to talk about fdr's leadership and one of the amazing skills he had was picking the right person for the right job at the right time, particularly among his military leaders. he put together an extraordinary team during world what are two sometimes ignoring protocol about how to do it. we're going to look at fdr and dwight eisenhower and what was it that allowed fdr to select him for these incredibly important roles. joining us today to answer that question is the director of the eisenhower library. dawn, welcome. >>ly, paul. thank you so much. what a delight to be here with you today. >> so what do you think? what was the -- eisenhower presented that made rows vilt choose him for the invasion of south africa and then the invasion of -- >> i think it makes sense to point out that ice haur had an amazing relationship with general fox connor and fox connor took him under his wing and helped him develop some of his mirlt less arons or his military knowledge. fox corner mentions general marshall and marble introduced eisenhower to fd

. >> s paul sparrow, the directorf the fdr library, today we're going to talk about fdr's leadership. and one ofdr the major skills he had was seeing the right person for the right job at the right time. particularly true among his military p leaders. he put together an extraordinary team during world war ii and sometimesti ignoring seniority d protocol in the process of doing it. one of the questions asked is about thehe relationship between fdrtw and dwightizeen a hour, ad specifically -- dwight eisenhower, and specifically what was that allowed about eisenhower's leadership to select him for that role. and joining us today is the director of the eisenhower library, dawn. welcome. >> thank you so much. what a delight to be with you today. >> so what do you think? what was the qualities eisenhower presented that made roosevelt choose him first for the invasion of north africa and then the invasion of normandy at d-day? what was it that attracted him? >> it makes sense to point out that eisenhower had an amazing relationship with general fox connor, and connor helped him develop some

so let's talk about fdr's court-packing scheme. so, john, we'll start, what were the circumstances that head fdr so frustrated with the court? and talk about why did he try are, what did he try to do to change it? >> well, i think you have to go back a little bit before his presidency and remember that we're in the great depression. the stock market crash in the tall of 1929. concern in the fall of 1929. and coincidentally, during that term president herbert hoover had three supreme court appointment opportunities. and he made great appointments. no denying that. and it's the luck of the draw whether a president gets vacancies and the chance -- president trump got three, president hoover had three. franklin roosevelt elected in 1932, inaugurated in '33. during that first four-year term got zero, as you mentioned, paul. he had a supermajority in both the house and the senate, and there was an attack of legislation on the problems of the depression. the volunteerism of the hoover area was replaced by the new deal. and the new deal ra

let's talk about fdr's court packing scheme.t set the scene, what were the circumstances that made fdr so frustrated with the court and talk about what did he try to do to change it? >> i think he has to go back a little bit before his presidency and remember we're in the great depression. the stock market crashed in 1929 and coincidentally during that term president herbert hoover at three supreme court appointment opportunities . he made great appointments, no denying that and it's the luck of the draw whether a president gets vacancies and presidents of three, truman got three. franklin roosevelt inaugurated in 43, during that first four-yearterm got zero . he had a super majority in both the house and senate and there was an attack of legislation on theproblems of the depression . the tort bid, volunteerism of the hoover arrow was replaced by the new deal and the new deal ran into a supreme court roadblock. in the course of that four year term not only did roosevelt have no chance to appoint justices but the nine s who were there down major reforms really lost. the national industr

and we will go on to fdr took note of hugo johnson speculation. the new deal political climate have become less favorable after the 1938 off year elections. on november 9 the country had a new deal six new senators and 11 new governors. whom reflected the new progressivism that gave connecticut's first gop governorships since 1930. suddenly if they are made in unexpected decision to remove the everlasting cns controversy of the 1940 presidential landscape. we now know that what happened where several secret telephone exchanges between willkie and if they are resulting in the final buyout of commonwealth and southern. on august 5 team, 1939 before newsreel cameras at the first national bank and to wall street when david william told handed wendell willkie a check for $78.6 million roughly equivalent to 1.4 billion current dollars. when does -- when does "time" magazine all but announced this respective candidacy as president if willkie was closed as a roosevelt dared to run again for a third time. intel is warp speed solution in may and early june

he was a famous financial adviser to fdr.s strange just the way things turned the whole thing could be settled long before it went down in defeat if the plan of being carried through. roosevelt was going to appoint robinson to compromise, maybe appoint two justices not go for the full six, as i keep coming back to this, he was adamant that he was going either his way or the highway. >> i have two more quick comments about the appointees. he was of course brilliant, and sort of in his career i think most closely to the t's traditional restraint model and with the court packing is about. should be by large made by our elected representatives, and the supreme court to get out of the way of a national government and state government and had ample power in our system. it's also charming and fascinating character. the other person i think we all forget that roosevelt elevated stone to be chief justice. stone was already an associate justice he was a republican he was a coolidge appointee to the court in the 1920s and roosevelt did

no president had more of a significant impact than fdr. some helped change american democracy for the better. he got to appoint no supreme court justice in his first term. we'll get to talking about that later. the role of the supreme court has changed over the years and certainly today plays a central role on our political process. the court has always been political. joining me today is professor of law at saint john's university and fellow at the robert h. jackson center. a biographer and writer of a popular news letter and website. and acclaimed posthumous book. the last insider memoir. also with us today, the ralph blumenthal, a distinguished expert in new york. and a periodic contributor of "the times." and a author of five books. he actually has a very direct connection to fdr and his administration. we'll talk about that. give us a little bit of your background and specifically your work on justice robert jackson. >> thank you, paul, for the opportunity and really the privilege to be at the roosevelt library and homestead in every

c-span.org/history. >> paul sparrow, the director of the fdr library. today we're going to talk about fkr's leadership and -- fdr's leadership and one of the major skills he had was picking the right person for the right job at the right time. particularly true among his military leaders. he put together an extraordinary team during world war ii, and sometimes ignoring seniority and protocol in the process of doing it. one of the questions we're going to ask is about the relationship between fdr and dwight eisenhower and specifically what was it about eisenhower's leadership that allowed fdr to select him for these incredibly important roles

we were cautiously optimistic that we could be to the 21st century what fdr was to the 20th century,t we could harness the power of this fdr moment to create a 21st—century social safety net to modernise american infrastructure. you know, the totality of the president's agenda includes the bipartisan infrastructure investment and jobs act and the build back better act, and we've passed part one of his agenda — the bipartisan infrastructure investment represents the largest federal investment in passenger rail since the creation of amtrak, the largest investment in roads and bridges since the creation of the interstate highway system, the largest investment in public transit and rail and clean energy and clean water and internet access, so the bill will do an enormous amount of good for an enormous number of americans. but i think it's fair to say that right now, the american people do not feel they are witnessing a 21st—century fdr new deal moment. it just doesn't feel like that. well, we only passed the legislation a few days ago and... and you've only, if i may interrupt, you've on

c-span.org/history. >> paul sparrow, the director of the fdr library. today we're going to talk about fkr's leadership and -- fdr's leadership and one of the major skills he had was picking the right person for the right job at the right time. particularly true among his military leaders. he put together an extraordinary team during world war ii, and sometimes ignoring seniority and protocol in the process of doing it.

of course my parents and grandparents were fdr democrats, but i don't think the new deal solution tothe depression but if we were to say why was fdr having an affair with lucy mercer, with his daughter being the go-between, donald trump never did that with his daughter. imagine so a lot of the special treatment trump got was we had a different culture and technology and a very and powered left and a different attitude about the media and i can say that about some pretty gross things about presidents whether it's jfk and a staffer and lbj exposing himself. we focus on these negative attributes and then we throw out this agenda that helped as he yu say traffic the middle class i don't think that was a persuasive argument. >> it isn't that he lies that he tells the truth. [laughter] the word evil in referring to the deep state are there not instances of evil in their activities, for example this directive by the attorney general to call in the fbi to investigate parents who criticize critical race theory, good question. >> i think that is at the heart of what the radical socialism is. i

c-span.org/history. >> paul sparrow, the director of the fdr library. today we're going to talk about fkr's leadership and --

if we were to say, fdr, i was not alive, of course, my parents and grandparents were fdr democrats, buti do not think the new deal was the solution to the depression, but if we were to say why was fdr having an affair with lucy mercer with his daughter anna being the go-between, donald trump never did that with his daughter, could you imagine that -- a lot of the special treatment that trump.was that we have an interconnected different culture and a technology and a very empowered left and a different attitude about the media and i could say that about some pretty gross things about residence. lbj exposing himself. >> what about clinton. hello. i did not quite get the idea that we focus on these negative attributes of him and then we fill out this agenda that helped , as you say, trafficking of the middle class. back it's back this fundamental argument. their argument was he was so toxic we have never seen anyone like him and public life. we can nullify this. i do not think that that was a persuasive argument. >> trump's problem is not that he lies, his problem is that he tells the trut

he's doubling down on this fdr-like notion that he has a governing majority, fdr controlled at one .80%joe biden has nothing of the sort, he has the slimmest majority of any sitting democrat president in modern history but he's doubling down on the notion that he's fdr when in fact is not. aoc, i love that she is the standard-bearer of the party, is hope she continues to be.he she didn't pay attention in virginia, our fox news analysis says the number three issue, almost tied with covid, was education, and that 72% of voters in part based their vote on critical race theory. she can call it woke. a normal person like myself who has a child, a daughter, calls it wanting control of your child because the parents deserve that, not the government, and certainly not terry mcauliffe. >> sean: i really want to thank you for the book that you sent me, that was so nice of you, i guess i will just have to bind my own "let's go brandon" w t-shirt. not getting it from travis. >> the patriot awards next week, i will see you in person, i will deliver it on the show. >> sean: i'm waiting. thanks, guys,

fdr is still fdr. he went to big and bold and we have these programs because of that so if the only way that you become the talking point in the future is if people start saying you know what biden did so he wants to get all this stuff done. 1.2 or 3.5 trillion, those are numbers we've never heard of, he gets it and he wants people to be talking about him. remember what biden did. it's kind of replace the talk of the new deal. he forgets barack obama may have been the first black president but he will be the most progressive president i don't think that it's alarmist to suggest that at his age he is probably a one term president, and i think he recognizes that and i think anybody with eyes and ears and a pulse gets that,y so he's going to do as much as he can and as quickly as he can. >> the impact of this will be profound. >> absolutely. one of the things i like to say isnd you have to understand why are they doing all of this and the thing is in the isolation you can explain one or two things it's be

if you want to describe as fdr -like, then it's fdr like. anytime you spend a trillion dollars is a lot of junk inside of it. we found salmon recovery, wildlife crossing safety research, money for healthy streets to expand tree cover and more food and beverage services on the amtrak train. once americans learn about this, is this what they believe want? >> the description is its junk. were making investments in a bunch of things and we have a very diverse country. there are many things that are important to aspects of the american population that you may not think is important. overall, this bill is an investment in our infrastructure bringing down temporary inflationary pressures and creating jobs all at the same time while investing in our environment. bill: the first trillion might be the easy one, joe manchin is one of your main skeptics, here he is from thursday morning. >> the only thing i would say, the rush to this, i truly believe we need to slow down, i truly believe that we need to wait and see if inflation is transitory. >> that

built up their political party and people like washington and jefferson and jackson and lincoln and fdr are great presidents and you can see using the standards wipe andrew jackson is a great president. billy knew modern democratic party out of his personal following including something like presidents of character maybe it is not going to mean that jackson is great president. and no presidents and fdr according to them had achieved this level of greatness and to close this would be lyndon johnson, and ronald ragan and johnson ultimately failed because his civil rights with the democratic party drives at southern democrats eventually to the republicans and reagan failed to because he's not really interested in pumping the republican party, he's more interested in protecting his personal popularity. an alternative way would be why moderates lead to the best presidents and you're all familiar with that now. the ee argues that it is muscular moderation that does not mean simply doing what is popular at the moment and i would be spineless central is him and muscular moderation it and boldly

a. >> a collective amnesia if we were to say fdr, my parents and grandparents were fdr democrats but i don't think the new deal was the solution to the depression. but if we were to say why is fdr having an affair with lucy mercer, with his daughter being theng go-between, donald trump never did that with his daughter.. imagine. the special treatment he got his death we have an interconnected different culture and technology and very empowered left and attitude about the media. i can say that about presidents whether it's jfk bedding a staffer or lbj exposing himself. i didn't quite get the idea that we focus on these negative attributes of him then we throw out this agenda that helped trafficking into the middle class so this gets back to the fundamental. he was so toxic we've never seen anybody like him so therefore we can mollify this and i don't think that was a persuasive argument. >> he said privately trump's problem is and that he lies, his problem is that he tells the truth. i didn't hear you use the word evil and referring to the deep state. or they're not instances of evil

it is an insult to fdr and absolute insult to both his memory and anyone my age that is limited number of years, that i have and can honestly say this is the most absolute going toward communism in america bills that you people could ever ever put forth. >> your political rhetoric is broken down so first of all, even difference if you are right in one thing and fdr get a big much bigger majority do you think that is supposed to zero margin 50/50 in the senate and house and so there is a difference and maybe that's why it looks different but then on top of you saying that please don't say anything badad about r you said this is going toward communism which is ridiculous on multiple levels however, i think i will use this to say that this bill really is making sure that american families putting in a benefit from the federal government in the last administration i think that you nksupported donald trump administration that only big thing that he did was a giant text at work in 6 percent of the money went to the top 1 percent of the many trillions of trillions in debt in this bill is actu

the new deal was the solution to the depression, but if we were to say, why was fdr having an affair with lucy mercer with his daughter anna being the go-between. donald trump never did that with his daughter. can you imagine if ivanka was doing it. and so the special treatment trump got was we had an interconnected different culture and technology and empowered left and a different attitude about the media and i could say that about some pretty gross things about presidents, whether it's jfk bedding a staffer or lbj exposing himself. >> what about clinton? hello. >> and i didn't quite get the idea that we focused on the negative attributes of him and then we fill out this agenda that helped, as you say, trafficking or the middle class. but that gets back to this fundamental never trumper versus-- their argument was he was so toxic, we've never seen anybody like him in public life so therefore, we can nullify that message. >> remind me of a hannity said to me privately, trump's problems is not that he lies. trump's problem is that he tells the truth. another question, i did not hear

fdr isstill fdr. he went big and bold and we have all these government programs because of it . the only way you become the talking point in the future is if people start going do you know what biden did? he's got to get all this stuff done. 1.2 trillion, 3.5 trillion, he gets it. he wants people to be talking about him ad infinitum as remember what biden did and replace the talk of the new deal with remember when biden passed build back better? that's going to be the new talking point on the left and if he gets the fact that barack obama may have been the first black president but he will be the most progressive president and he wants to cement that. i don't think it's alarmist to suggest that at his age he is probably a one term president. and i think he recognizes that and anybody with eyes and ears and a pulse gets that. he's going to do as much as he can as quickly as he can. >> the impact of this will be profound. >> absolutely. i think one of the things that i like to say is you have to understand what i call the big y? why are they doing all ofthis ? the thing is it in i

you wrote the book on fdr's first 100 days.ad in your book and others, he would smack right at the big industrialists who he thought should be the target. let's listen to the way joe biden talked about gas prices today, and i'm picking a part of this where he was particularly defensive about it instead of aggressive toward the oil companies. >> it will take time, but before long, you should see the price of gas drop. i want to briefly address one myth about inflated gas prices. they're not due to environmental measures. combating climate change is not increasing the price of gas. it's increasing the availability of jobs. >> i would submit for voters who don't already believe joe biden, voters who are swing voters, who could vote for the republican governor of virginia or for joe biden. i would submit that him saying that is basically saying, my environmental policies are the problem. he's phrasing it in this defensive language that coming from a politician, they're simply not going to believe. and he does have the option instea

it could be fdr used rich people.'s a narrative that gets out there and that he uses it again and again. you don't want an enemy like with whack the dog. you don't want people to get hurt. you don't want to wear. you want to take down the temperature. but disinformation, misinformation, there is a lot of problems up there. >> you cite a couple of enemies but different presidents use and i guess maybe the most brilliant being, ronald reagan's. you say, ronald reagan put his supporters against the government itself, announcing in the first line of its first inaugural address. government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem. this was ingenious because it allowed reagan to avoid taking responsibility for just about everything, if this administration messed up he could just not along and say i told you so. jonathan, that is possibly the politically most effective enemy of president could've picked. >> yes, that worked very well for reagan. i agree that you need a president to be seen as fighting fo

ultimately they felt fdr was preparing the 9 cents for those events where there is some debate amongher or not he was doing it consciously and explicitly like was he purposely working for the devil because that's what he wanted to do or was he naÏve just not really aware behind the decisions he was making. roosevelt was a problem so let's talk a little bit might even general goals were growing and power all try to watch my language, i confuse the terms they use for themselves at 20s and 30s they called themselves fundamentalist to the 1940s today they tend to call themselves evangelical same group, same people many of them are exactly the same just trade them from the 1930s to the 1950s. what they believed is the way they were reading their bibles they thought you could see signs the bible had laid out, especially in the old testament but also the new testament a series of events that would tell us when we were living near the rise of the anti- christ. it's kind of hard to track. it's kind of like loose morals the rise of the evolution of about women's suffrage and not in the rights

maybe they don't want fdr. maybe they want stability. i think there's a bigger issue, and maybe the autopsy will get t but how do you make a message that connects? the last year has been drift in terms of messaging. it's been all over the place, and it's been about infighting and even if they pass not just the one bill they passed on friday, but the social spending bill, it's not clear this is what the public wants. there was a disconnect evident in new jersey and virginia, and so many other races around the country. >> when i talked to voters in the south again and again and again, and glenn youngkin did manage to pull this off without alienating trump voters. >> glenn youngkin did -- republicans right now appear to have a containment strategy for trump, an uneasy containment strategy. they don't want to purge him from the party and that should be noted. they're keeping him inside because they want his movement to come along. donna called this a wakeup call. my question is as a reporter, to what end? is this an alarm clock or siren? we