chernow: he was born in ohio. he grew up in a series of small towns in southwestern ohio, near cincinnati. point pleasant was right on the ohio river. the significance of that was it separated the free state of ohio from the slave running state of kentucky. ohio would freeze over and fugitive slaves would run to freedom. very important in terms of grew up that grant really straddling the world of both the north and south. he came from a fairly well-to-do family. his father was mayor of one of those three towns. his father was really the bane of his life. his father was really pushy and domineering. becauset to west point he wanted to -- no, he did not. his father wanted him to. his father saw west point as a free form of rotational education. >> how did he do at west point? mr. chernow: fairly well. his performance was lackluster. he was 21st in the class of 39. there was already considerable attrition before that. he became famous for two things at the academy. he was probably the best swordsman of his generation

chernow: it is quite a story. went down to city point virginia where grant has his headquarters. , who is showing increasing signs of mental instability, she throws a jealous fit. wifemagines that the young is flirting with her husband. she cannot figure out what is going on. julia grant was there. we all know what happens when you try to intervene in a fight. mary lincoln turns on julia grant. thaturns on her so angrily lincoln thought it was important . julia grant laid down the law to her husband. she said she refused to go to the theater if mary lincoln would be there. they went off to burlington, new jersey. we will never know. >> how to grant managed to win the republican nomination in 1868? hattie showed an aptitude for politics? mr. chernow: not really. it was kind of a great guessing game. no one knew exactly where he stood. in 1868 there was a failed attempt to impeach andrew johnson. he was not convicted. he needed to straddle both wings of the republican party. grant had a funny way of not campaigning

chernow's biography of alexander hamilton.: ron chernow, when did hamilton, alexander hamilton first get on your radar screen? ron: well, i started writing it back in 1998, brian. it seems rather comical because the reason that i chose to do

brian: here's ron chernow.video clip] ron: i know that you are all expecting me to stand up here and start snapping my fingers and breaking into rhymed couplets, but i'm afraid, i'm going to disappoint you. although, i have to say one side of me is dying to do exactly that and i'm going to do it. [laughter] "how does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgo-" no i'm not going there, lin. i'm not going there. i'm not going there. [laughter] [applause] "in the caribbean by providence, impoverished, in squalor, grow up to be a hero and a scholar?" someone save me. [laughter] no, i've told kind of like adam, i've had this fantasy about going on the stage, and i've told lin that i'd like to go on and just do the opening number . they could then pull me off with a hook afterwards, but for some mysterious reason, lin has decided not to throw on my unique theatrical talents. (video ends) brian: how hard was that to do? ron: i've never seen lin laugh as hard. he and his family w

i'm pleased to be joined on stage by ron chernow. ron is an award winning journalist, historian and biographer. he's won the pulitzer prize and the national book award for nonfiction. in 2015 he won the national humanities medal. his book on alexander hamilton was the inspiration for the musical for which ron worked as a historical consultant. the library is honored to have you join us today at the national book festival. [ applause ] >> it's worth noting that our co-chair of the festival was supposed to conduct this interview today but due to scheduling changes because of senator mccain's funeral, he was unable to do so. but i have david's questions here today and i just happen to be a big admirer of president grant and ron's books. i think we're going to have a fantastic time here today at the book festival. before we talk about grant, we need to ask a question about alexander hamilton. could we not? >> who is he? >> who is he? when lin-manuel miranda first approached you and said he wanted to create a hip-hop musical based upon yo

wednesday night on american history tv beginning at a eastern, pulitzer prize-winning author ron chernow, reviews the life of ulysses-esque grant. watch american history tv wednesday night and over the weekend. on c-span 3. >> c-span has unfiltered what content and you can watch it all on television online, or listen to our free radio app. and be part of the national conversation. through the journal program. or through our national video feeds. c-span, created by americas cable service companies. brought you today by your television provider. >> modern university is the cradle of the nation's future. (music) >> today, it not only preserves but transmits knowledge and values, it serves modern more as the center of research and innovation. it has been called the chief energizing and creative force in our entire social system. (music) >> the modern university is the cradle of the nation's the university, now has become a means of production. whereby one guy does a little bit, for the cia, it and this university is now a production for using that mechanisms of human oppression. 50% of the r

you can read about it in newton and chernow and others.but it is part of the theme of the federal government using the military to back up the strength they are trying to exert with its citizens. it is a federalization model, something that someone like jefferson would have abhorred. other questions? there must be more, it's alexander hamilton. >> was hamilton-related -- hamilton a naval commander in the great lakes? >> i have no idea, i have never looked into that. i know there are several descendents of alexander hamilton who took on great leadership roles in the military. it is incredible when you read about it. but that particular leader, you would have to look it up or ask a descendent. yes, sir? >> i may be dense, but what did washington die from? >> he had gone out on his horse that day in virginia and it was a cold, rainy day, and he got sick from the wet clothing and, of course, what do you do in 1799 when you get sick and have a doctor? they bring in leeches and do bloodletting. that is not going to do better, it is going to make

in this session, ron chernow will discuss his biography of ulysses grant. if we are lucky, certain other popular founding fathers. [laughter] >> one thing i learned from the story of president grant was how people can evolve and through persistence and hard work and knowledge and overcome their imperfections. it's an incredible story that reminded me a person of goodwill can learn from their mistakes and reach their potential. i hope you enjoy this session. it's my privilege to introduce the deputy director of national outreach at the library of congress and our session moderator, colleen --. [applause] >> thank you. welcome to the 18th annual national book festival. i am pleased to be joined on stage today ron churnow. in 2015, he won the national humanities medal. his book on alexander hamilton was the inspiration for the award-winning musical for which ron worked as a historical consultant.the library of congress is honor to have you join us today at the national book festival. [applause] >> it's worth noting that our cochair of the festival, david ruben

you can read about it in both newton and chernow and others. but it shows -- it is part of the whole theme that the federal government is going the use the military to back up the strength that they are trying to exert with its citizens. okay? it is a federalization model, something that someone like jefferson would have abhorred as a political opponent. other questions? there must be more. it is alexander hamilton. >> was lawrence hamilton realitied to alexander hamilton? and was he -- related to alexander hamilton and was he a commander in the great lakes in the war of 1812? >> i never looked into that. i know there are several desc d descendants of hamilton who took on great roles in the military. it is incredible when you read on this. but for that particular war of 1812 weld have to look it up or ask a descendant. >> i may be deputies here but what did washington die of? >> he had gone out on his horse that day on his planttation in mount vernon. it was a cold rainy day. he got sick from the wet clothing. what do you do in 179 when you get

chernow's biography of alexander hamilton. ♪ brian: ron chernow, when did hamilton, alexander hamiltonget on your radar screen? ron: well, i started writing it back in 1998, brian. it seems rather comical, because the reason that i chose to do alexander hamilton, aside from the fact that it was the most extraordinary personal story among the founding fathers, was that he seemed to be fading into obscurity. people were coming to regard him as a sort of second tier founding father. most americans knew he was on the $10 bill, maybe that he had died in a duel with aaron burr, but that was about it. it seems comical that i felt as if i was lifting him out of obscurity. now his name is on the marquee of a broadway show. brian: where were you at the time? what were you doing? ron: i just finished writing my biography of john d. rockefeller, "titan," and what happened -- i had done a series of books about moguls of the gilded age. and i found that when i would go out to give lectures, people in the audience would start shouting out, "do vanderbilt next. do carnegie next," and i really felt tha

struggling families than the democrats plan which is basically a rerun washington correspondent jessi chernow has the story. >>they support families but they stimulate the economy. a second round of stimulus checks is high on senator bill cassidy is priority list we know a young family with 3 kids is going to spend that money cassidy's legislation would send more money to families including adult dependents like college students and individuals with disabilities the extra expense of children in covid is has not been fully appreciated under the bill a qualifying family of 4 could potentially receive $4,000 600 more than they received in the cares act single and married taxpayers with no children would receive less compared to the first $1200 stimulus checks if you're somebody is 50 years old you paid your bills, you're the may not be quite as if you are is just starting off in life you're 29, you have 3 kids this plan differs from the proposals in both the house democrats and senate republican packages that have already been introduced they keep the checks at $1200 but handle dependence differ

chernow is author of the biography "grant", which was voted one of the 10 best books of 2017.recorded the program in september, 2018. >> welcome, everybody. i'm head of government relations and public policy at wells fargo and i am very pleased to be with you today. we are pleased to serve for the eighth year as a charter sponsor of the boost

susan: let's return to ron chernow for a minute.video clip] >> during the administration of john adams, the country lurched into a period of reaction in the medium, rampant fear of foreigners. congress enacted the alien and sedition acts, which made it a crime for journalists to write about the president in a scandalous or malicious fashion. at this dark moment, jefferson with his prophecy "with a little patience, we shall see the reign of witches passed, their spells dissolved." let it be known that john adams not only lost his reelection campaign in 1800, but his jeffersonian opponents reigned supreme for the next quarter century. susan: however, we heard thomas jefferson was not above using reporting to go after washington's policies, and he also had some difficulties himself reporting about his own private life during his administration. what are the lessons of thomas jefferson? patty: thomas jefferson is an idealist. the famous quote of given the choice of government with no newspapers, or newspapers with no government, i would

the radiation that is released in a nuclear power plant all we're looking at an apocalypse this is chernow bowl on steroids do you think it's definitely going to happen or do you think crisis could be averted no i don't think crisis can be averted.

. >> tonight on american history tv beginning at 8:00 eastern pulitzer prizewinning author ron chernowry saturday night american history tv takes you to college classrooms around the country for lectures in history. >> why do you all know who lizzy borden is and raise your hand if you had ever heard of this murder, the gene harris murder trial before the class? >> the deepest cause where we'll find the true meaning of the revolution was in this transformation that took place in the minds of the american people. >> so we're going to talk about both of the sides of this story here, right, the tools, the techniques of slave owner power and we'll also talk about the tools and techniques of power that were practiced by some slaved people. >> watch history professors lead discussions with their students from topics ranging from the american revolution to september 11th. lectures in history on c-span 3 every saturday at 8:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv. find it where you listen to podcasts. >> c-span has unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court and public po

to make it the sit in are they going to cover it up like they were trying to do in trump noble or chernow bill or are they going to clean it up and they made the decision to cover it up and that was a dramatic and disastrous mistake for them because now he is a millstone around their necks going into november what's your overview of the bolton book so it's interesting my father's day gift was for me to sit home yesterday read that damn thing so i read about 400 of the 600 pages it is very damning it is a full blown indictment on the president you know bassett or both it goes very far in chapter 8 in discussing full blown criminal activity and so i call chapter 8 of that book the orange jumpsuit chapter i think the democrats are sort of basket or bold for not making that testimony of vailable during the impeachment but i say otherwise the republicans to quote president trump donald trump could have shot people on 5th avenue and they still would have acquitted him don't ask me why history will have to judge that and resolve that but ambassador bolton i think is correct no matter what he had

i love seeing my friend ron chernow and there are some very good historians on the show, joe wallace -- joan wallace and others. in some areas it is some plastic -- in some areas it is simplistic. where i speak of at the beginning of 1864 and met 1864, and where is order 11 picking up? grant had issued an order banning jews from the western theater of the war, sorted -- sort of instituted a pogrom. jews from paducah had to hightail it out of town before lincoln overturned the order. active playing grant, lincoln, ike. as the jews of today said when they saw this lincoln, 'oy.' [laughter] valerie: on that note, i see we are out of time and i want to fork you, harold holzer being such a terrific partner in the series. and thank you for watching this evening for a question, your attention and your membership support. we value you at the new york historical and are happy to present these programs to you. >> learn more about the people and events that shaped the civil war and reconstruction every saturday at 6:00 p.m. eastern only on american history tv. here on c-span3. >> american histo

i love seeing my friend, ron chernow. i wish i saw more of him. and there are some very good historians on the show, joan wallace and others. in some areas, it is a little simplistic. where i speak of at the beginning of 1864, mid 1865, and where is order 11 picking up? the status of jews in the united states? grant had issued an order banning jews from the western theater of the war, sort of instituted a pogrom. jews from paducah had to hightail it out of town before lincoln overturned the order. so, you know, i think the actor playing grant is very good. playing lincoln, ike, that is another story. as the jews of today said when they saw this lincoln, "oy." [laughter] valerie: on that note, i see we are out of time and i want to thank you, harold holzer for being such a terrific partner in tonight's program and the whole series. and thank you for watching this your questions, your attention, and your membership support. we value you at the new york historical and are happy to present these programs to you. >> you are watching american history tv

i love seeing my friend ron chernow i, wish i saw more of him, there are some good historians on the show and others. i think in some areas, it is a little simplistic, as i speak at the beginning of 1864, mid 1864, and where is order number 11? the status of juice in the united states, issuing an order banning jews from the western theater of the war, sort of instituting a pogrom. jews from paducah had to migrate out of town before lincoln overturned the order. i think the active playing grant was very good, the active playing lincoln, is another story. the one >> on that very happy note, i see we are out of time. i want to thank you, harold holzer, for being such a terrific partner tonight and in the whole series. thank you to all of you thank you for watching this evening, for your attention, your questions and your membership support. we do value you, the new york historical and are so happy to present these programs to you. next, on the civil war, historian harold holzer and valerie paley, of the new york historical society, talk about artifacts future to join publication. the ci

wednesday night on american history tv beginning at a eastern, pulitzer prize-winning author ron chernow, reviews the life of ulysses-esque grant. watch american history tv wednesday night and over the weekend. on c-span 3. >> c-span has unfiltered what content and you can watch it all on television online, or listen to our free radio app. and be part of the national conversation. through the journal program. or through our national

chernow is the author of the biography grant. it was voted best book by the new york times. we reported the program in sete

. >> next on american history, tv pulitzer prize-winning author neuron chernow recalls the life of u.s. president, run is the author of the biography grant which was voted one of the best books of 20, 17 held at the national book festival in washington, d.c. this is 45 minutes. >> welcome everybody. i'm david, head of public policy at wells fargo. i'm very pleased to be here with you today. we are still pleased to serve for the first year, and even prouder to what the book festival grow into the popular and impactful event it's become. you wouldn't be surprised to see as move the needle on the best seller list. it is important to keep this free event. the library of congress real purpose is learning and opportunity, which matches our goal of allowing the community to succeed. learning to love books and learning is part of what this session is about. if we're lucky, certain other fanning font thirds will be discussed tonight. one thing that i learned from this story is how people can of all, and through persistence and hard work overcome their imperfections. it's an incredible story tha

jesus christ, he thinks on ron chernow. how did you handle it? >> i just rolled with it. yes, i like my rap musical, to. >> how many of you that somebody walked up to an airport or something and they're convinced your some of the person? i used to be somebody who nobody pays attention to anymore, which is filled donahue. such quickly become filled donahue. nobody but you really cared when his show went off the air because i think a good treatment. >> a great jim baker story. baker ran for attorney general in texas in 1970, early time he was on the ballot and your loss. he was on his way out to his ranch outside after the election to lick his wounds. he studied at of this truck with gas and an old my walks up to me and says, anybody ever tell you you look a lot like jimmy baker? baker said yeah, sometimes. doesn't that just take you off? [laughing] >> we will never be tiktok by this terrific panel. please join in thanking this wonderful panel. >> that's a great story. [applause] c-span is unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court and public policy

. >>> up next, ron chernow recalls the life and leadership of ulissyss. grant. we recorded the program in september of 2018. >> good afternoon. welco e

i would say in ron chernow's book he describes it as a special place, i mean, it was like a bankers, to the governments come to the elites. it wasn't a retail bank. it didn't have branches around except for a few in new york city. that was the history. what i found on the first day that you went to report, you were given a video of the history of jpmorgan, and the first thing you learned was our motto, doing first-class business in a first-class way. that was important to me. i am a researcher and i want to make sure i'm in an institution that has the highest standards of integrity, and i found them. >> i might add it to look at jpmorgan chase website today, there was a tremendous amount when it said click on about as come there's a lot about his jpmorgan going back as well, and they have model but it is close. -- motto. talk about the developing country crisis, debt crisis, and you with it in the midst of it. the bank was changing and it was an iconic leader named lou i wanted to go international. of course what international economist, one of the recent picture you went there begin

. >>> american history tv beginning at 8:00 eastern, pults zer prize winning author ron chernow recalls the life of ulysses s. grant. watch american history tv tonight and over the weekend on c-span3. >>> up next a confirmation hearing for u.s. postal service governors and other judicial nominations to the d.c. superior court. during this meeting members of the committee asked nominees questions concerning the health and safety of postal workers amid the coronavirus pandemic. >>> this morning we will consider two nominees for the governor of the united states postal service, don lee moke and william zolers. we'll consider three nominees for the judicial system to be associate judges in the superior court of d.c. we do have brief introduction of each. donald lee moke served as president of the airline pilot's association and captain with delta airlines for 31 years. he also served as an officer in the united states marine corp. thank you so much for that service. william zolers serves red stone llc, he's the chairman and ceo of yrc until 2011, prior to that served in senior leadership po

although i think his presidency has been vastly underestimated and -- ron chernow has done a great servicein changing that historiography for us. i absolutely agree that it almost made him lincoln's inevitable successor three years before the 1868 election. >> absolutely. next question. did the styles of these two men, grant and lee, at all influence how they led their respective armies? >> that's an interesting question. i mean, lee -- lee was certainly not aloof from the battlefield. he slept in -- in the tent, although you know, he was very well attended. as was grant who had endless supplies of cigars sent by admirers. neither of them rode very much on to the battle front. they watched from the rear. they directed troops. they were both -- their presence among their men on horseback didn't tire their respective armies. grant was a terrific horseman, and lee looked so terrific, he didn't have to be a terrific horseman, but i'm sure he was perfectly adequate. so i think their styles were they both worried about tactics of battles, and they both worried about strategy. lee was usually on

up next ron chernow, recalls the life in leadership of union general and 18th president ulysses-esque grant. at the book festival in washington d.c.. mister chair now is the author of the biography grant. which is voted one of the best books in 2017. we recorded the program in september of 2018.

and, ron chernow can pick up george washington and write it again, though they have been many before. i don't do that. i'm not that i suppose, confident. i have had a history of picking topics that i think have been overlooked. that was in the scopes trial, when i wrote a book about the scopes trial, everybody had heard of the scopes trial or most people had come it was a fairly famous trial and american legend and people had seen the movie or seen the play, but no historian had ever written a book about the scopes trial. so no historian had brought to the looking over the archival material. same with the return of george washington. i looked at a narrow period in washington's life after he resigned as commander-in-chief and before he became president and that was sort of a forgotten period, so i could be one of the first to write on that. i could hit it new and fresh. and if you look at my other books, they had that same pattern. so, here were these two legends, these two indispensable people who i had covered for years teaching every year, teaching your time if your kids go to georg

and, ron chernow can pick up george washington and write it again, though they have been many before. i don't do that. i'm not that i suppose, confident. i have had a history of picking topics that i think have been overlooked. that was in the scopes trial, when i wrote a book about the scopes trial, everybody had heard of the scopes trial or most people had come it was a fairly famous trial and american legend and people had seen the movie or seen the play, but no historian had ever written a book about the scopes trial. so no historian had brought to the looking over the archival material. same with the return of george washington. i looked at a narrow period in washington's life after he resigned as commander-in-chief and before he became president and that was sort of a forgotten period, so i could be one of the first to write on that. i could hit it new and fresh. and if you look at my other books, they had that same pattern. so, here were these two legends, these two indispensable people who i had covered for years teaching every year, teaching your time if your kids go to georg

the chernow calls on the distinguished congresswoman from the district of columbia for her five minutesof questions. welcome, miss norton. norton. ms. norton, are you there? ms. norton? mr. lynch, are you there? >> i'm here. >> ok, great. sorry about that. eleanor, just speak up a little bit. >> i'm sorry. i punched the wrong button. thank you very much. thank you for this annual hearing. it is very important. what fitara says, i am quoting it now, cios have a significant role in the decision process of the management, government, and all the processes related to information technology. they have a major role to play in an agency overall. our is now baked into design and implementation. this question is for ms. harris. -- ceos that do not report to agency heads. if they don't, they are likely to play that key role -- who doesn't him and why why don'tsn't, and they report? the testimony of one of you mentioned one third do not report to the agency head. i would like to know why. people ared reporting, but i don't --erstand what the what determines what this committee has long said would

edna medford, ron chernow, richard norton smith, douglas brinkley, robert caro and others who are well-known contemporary presidential historians. our idea was to bring together presidential biographers featured in the book to talk about something other than the pantheon of presidents who are on mount rushmore. jeffrey rosen has written a biography on william howard taft and was interviewed by brian. as you know, in addition to his work here, he is a professor at gw law school, which made him particularly interested in the work of taft, who went on to become the chief justice of the supreme court. we had as a journalist, which he soul, andheart and author of six books. michael gerhardt wrote a book called "the forgotten presidents" and brian will talk to him about a number of them. in our book, he has a chapter on jimmy carter. robert strauss is an area journalist. his presidential biography is my favorite title of all the biographies. "worst.president.ever." i'm sorry, but it is your only president, james buchanan. he is from the southern tier, not philadelphia, but he is our state's claim

ron chernow wrote a biography of grant after his success with hamilton so there became a new wave of people talking about it and reassessing grant. my friend rutherford b. hayes has not had that biography. [laughter] grant also, when president obama liked to say i am a writer, he was a best-selling writer and he is writing his memoir now, he would look at all of the other presidential writings and the one that stood out was grant's memoir, which grant wrote with the help of mark twain. it is not about his presidency but nevertheless, it is an enduring book, the memoirs of grant, that live on forever. the stocks of these presidents rise and fall. i was once director of the eisenhower center. we always thought ike was going to go up, up, up because the fiscal conservatives like him, and the liberals like him because the industrial military complex speech, and brown decision with earl warren, and the fact of like ike. he is fifth. it was always truman holding that spot. now you see eisenhower coming straight up. and also part of it is because we have a new appreciation of ike as a perso

and i talked to ron chernow, a historian, and he made exactly that point, that one of the differencesow is that the killing in minneapolis that set off the unrest happened at a time of particular economic -- excuse me, of particular political dysfunction in this country. that the system's not working. you don't have democrats and republicans coming together in rooms in the capital right now to talk about what do we do about this they barely talk to each other the president and the speaker of the house can't even stand to be -- literally can't stand to be in the same room with each other. and so you have a shocking situation, and i mean that in terms of multiple shocks, at a time the political system doesn't seem to be able to come together very well and i will add in a footnote that there were three big stimulus packages that passed congress since the -- >> yes >> -- unrest started >> i was just going to say the same thing and yet, congress did come together to put together three big stimulus packages in the trillions of dollars, presumably because politicians understand one thing. vo

. >> next on american history, tv pulitzer prize-winning author neuron chernow recalls the life of u.s. president, run is the author of the biography grant which was voted one of the best books of 20, 17 held at the national book festival in washington, d.c. this is 45 minutes.

chernow's biography but, there's a lot of romance placed upon hamilton in the revolutionary war. he was in a to george washington. george washington had many aids through the war. he was an important aid and washington recognized his genius. hamilton had his close group of friends. but he wasn't indispensable to george washington by any stretch of the imagination. he is responsible for winning the american revolution, which is what you might think watching the play. george washington's relationship with hamilton was interesting, and it was testy. washington lost his temper with hamilton and hamilton, being a prideful man, basically resigns. washington tried to apologize. hamilton refused and left the army. hamilton had to beg washington to let him back to be a part of the yorktown campaign. there was no sense of like, i've got to have my right hand man. that's ridiculous. george washington was going to win yorktown whether hamilton stayed in er was on the dark or side of the moon. that said, hamilton clearly has to be recognized as a man of great valor and as a hero of the war. t

chernow's grant. and also, another book by joan. it's one of the finest books written about grant.t does not just tell the story of grant, it tells the story of grant's reputation at the same time. it is a wonderful book that i would highly recommend. susan: earlier, you referenced theodore roosevelt as our most prolific writing president. both him and woodrow wilson who was our only president from the academy, you say that their first books were their best. why? craig: i think because they were young and passionate and they had a lot of energy. but i also think they were really thinking of themselves as writers at that time. and being a writer and a politician are not always the same approach. they don't always require the same skills. a writer looks for complexity, and says, what is the core of this problem? what is the back story of this problem? a politician needs to simplify. because a politician needs to get popular support. so when roosevelt and wilson were working on their first books, they were thinking as writers. roosevelt started his first book actually while he was a s

chernow,ord, ron douglas brinkley, robert caro and others who are well-known contemporary presidential historians. the three panels today, the idea was to bring together three of the presidential biographers featured in the book to talk about something other than the pantheon of presidents that are on mount rushmore. jeffrey rosen has written a bow graffiti on william howard taft and was interviewed by brian. as you know, in addition to his work here, he is a professor at gw law school, which made him particularly interested in the work of taft, who went on to become the chief justice of the supreme court. we know him as a journalist in his heart and soul, and author of six books. michael gerhardt wrote a book called "the forgotten presidents and brian will talk to him about a number of them. in our book, he has a chapter on jimmy carter. an area journalist in kentucky, and authored a presidential biography titled .worst.president.ever." more from robert strauss about why he is the worst president ever. the organizing principle for the book was the second resource i mentioned, a survey

for george washington, we chose ron chernow's biography. he won the pulitzer prize for it. george washington came in second place in hours, 868 points out -- second place in ours 868 , points out of a possible 1000. his lowest score and i referenced this before, 13th place among the presidents for pursued equal justice for all. 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 w

well, ron chernow wrote a big biography of glant wright after his success with hamilton so there became a new wave of people talking about and rae reassessing grant. and biography. and barack obama would look at all the other presidential writings and the one that stood out was grant's memoir which grant wrote with the help of mark dwaytwain. and it is an enduring book, mec memoirs of grant in a kind of live on forever. so i was once director of eisenhower center and we always thought ike was going to go up, up, up because fiscal conservatives like him and liberals like him because you the industrial military complex speech and the brown decision and the fact of his general i like ike. and it was always truman holding that fifth spot and you are seeing eisenhower come straight up and part of it is a new appreciation of ike as a person being the supreme allied commander in world war ii on d-d d-day. >> and while we were talking about lincoln, i'd like to hear your thoughts on why it is that abraham lincoln at number one is book ended by the two worst. is that circumstance of history, cha