vicki alger. [applause] >> well, good afternoon. i'd like to thank lindsey burke and andrew for putting this wonderful event together. it was such a thrill to be here at the heritage foundation, and thank you all for coming to talk about this very important topic that actually touches every one of our lyes. and -- lives. and thank you for listening to and opening a discussion on my new book about the federal department of education, "failure." as i was traveling here, i recalled the words of a former democratic member of congress from illinois who was a former teacher and lawyer about his vision for the department of education. it would be a pure fountain from which a pure stream could be poured upon all the states. we want a controlling head by which the conflicting systems in the different states can be harmonized, by which there canning be uniformity. i -- there can be uniformity. i take the high ground that every child is entitled to an education at the hands of somebody and that this ought not be left to the caprice of individu

please join me in welcoming doctor vicki alger. [applause] >> good afternoon. i would like to thank lindsey and andrew for putting this wonderful event together. it's a thrill to be here at the foundation. thank you all for coming to talk about this important topic that actually touches every one of our lives. and thank you for opening the discussion on my new book about the federal department of education, "failure." as i was traveling, i recalled the words of a member of congress from illinois who was a former teacher and lawyer about his vision for the department of education. it would be a pure fountain from which the stream can be poured upon all the state. we need a controlling hand by which the systems in a different state can be harmonized and which there can be unanimity. i take the high ground it that every child is entitled to an education at the hands of somebody and that this ought not be to the individuals are the states so far as we have any authority to regulate. it's probably not who you think. the argument was made by representative samuel of

. >> here with a preview of the show is the mother abbess herself, melody betts, and conductor jay alger. melody, for people who don't know the show, please tell us more about it. >> the microphone. >> there we go. >> aha! well, we have a young woman who's on a journey of finding out her true life purpose. >> maria. >> maria. >> and i get the pleasure of helping her make some decisions to get her to a place where she's happy in life, and then in the middle of all that there's all these wonderful songs, and, you know -- >> [ laughter ] -- that people tend to sing along to! audience participation. >> yes. >> with or without notice. >> audience participation. there you are. goodness! and you really are -- without you, the show doesn't progress, does it? >> no, i suppose not! >> you'd be confused for the rest of the show. >> no one to talk to. >> "climb every one of the biggies. what's it like to tackle that song? >> that's a good word, tackle that song. what's it like every night? i would say -- well, first of all, it is a huge ordeal, and it's something that i actually think about and pray

it is a story about two men who lived out the horatio alger dream to the maximum. andrew carnegie became the richest man in the world, worth more than $100 billion. his partner was not far behind with a quarter of that. they created the modern steel industry from scratch. they led the united states from developing nation to position of leader of the industrialized world. question -- you say bitter partnership. how could they compress what you say they day? answer -- that is the interesting part of the story. at first they got along famously. carnegie the steel baron, frick his management genius. "f" is brilliant he wrote to a colleague. let's all get ahead. of a marriagehat between two immensely powerful personalities. this steel business was a wild and woolly one at the time. basis.d on a daily labor relations were bloodthirsty. bad things happened, feelings change. question -- one of the bad things was the homestead steel strike at one of carnegie's plans. days in- the bloodiest american labor history. a dozen men killed and a battle between pinkerton detectives.

in fact, the original horation horatio alger had a mentor. franklin did. i highlighted that.not have made it on his own. he needed powerful people to promote him. that still works in today's society. brian: why do think that your book made it to the new york times best seller list in july? is there one point, is it the title? >> this is my fourth book. i started this took six years ago. you have no idea what is going to happen. to me it was an intellectual problem that i wanted to solve. it's hard. why is this book popular? i do think it has to do with the political climate. i think that because we have donald trump, who journalists have labeled their white trash candidate, when he was on the primaries. his followers have an called the revenge of the lower class. we have an awareness of class that we see every day. in one way or another americans have been on his side. bernie sanders is also critiquing the 1%. he wanted to say, i am of the working class. the political climate has made people, i think, aware in a way that we have not been as aware of recently. to step back for

a guy named whitaker chambers going before the house american activities committee and saying that alger hiss is a member of the communist party, former secretary of state, undersecretary of state. and this is the beginning of the mccarthy era, communist in government issue. it's also the beginning of richard nixon's political career, because he's one of the few people who when this starts to happen says i smell a rat. i smell a rat. i do not believe hiss. they go after hiss and finally get him. but this is, again, one of the things which differentiates 1948 as starting so many different things. the campaigns start. in the spring, harry truman had made an interesting discovery. well, he kind of knew. part of it was something he knew. he knew he was really bad giving a speech off a script. i mean, really bad. he wasn't just franklin roosevelt. he was bad. when he was in the senate, he probably only gave like three speeches or something his whole career. could not -- he had very bad eyesight. and he had trouble reading from a piece of paper and just giving a speech like this. but he talks

whittaker chambers going before the house on it -- un-american activity committee, and saying that alger hiss is a member of the communist party, former secretary of state, undersecretary of state, and this is the beginning of the mccarthy era. communist issues. it is also the beginning of richard nixon's political career because he is one of the few people who, when this starts to happen, says i smell a rat. , i smell a rat. i do not believe hiss. they go after him and finally get him, but this is again one of the things that differentiates 1948 as starting so many different things. the campaign starts. in the spring, harry truman made an interesting discovery. well he kind of new. part of it was something he knew. he knew, he was really bad giving a speech office script. i mean, really bad. he wasn't just franklin roosevelt, he was bad. when he was in the senate, he probably gave only three speeches in his whole career. he had very bad eyesight, and he had trouble reading from a piece of paper and just giving a speech like this, but he talked to a bunch of newspaper editors at the whit

lineup at 11 with a critical look at the involvement of the federal government in education with vicki alger. that all happens tonight on c-span2's booktv. >> booktv recently visited capitol hill to ask members of congress what they're reading this summer. >> well, i read constantly. i grew up in a small town, and the library was an important part of my life. the way i saw the rest of the world was not by travel particularly, but what books i checked out at the local public library. so all my life i've been a realizer and still want that book -- a reader and still want that book in my hand. i'm old-fashioned in wanting the hard copy. and i'm reading at the moment, i often read biographies, history, things that you might expect somebody who's interested in government, politics to read. but the one at the moment is douglas macarthur, a biography. he certainly predates my time, and i didn't know a lot about him other than he's been somewhat controversial, and this is a new book to me written by arthur herman, and i'm learning about douglas macarthur, the general and military leader. i'm just a

and the issue of communism on the inside, the alger hiss case, the rise of joe mccarthy, all of these things, and on the domestic front, the fact that the south, which had walked out of the 1948 convention over the civil rights platform, the dixiecrats, were showing every single sign -- this was key to the 1952 election -- of walking out again in 1952, over both civil rights and the issue of the tidelands oil, whether louisiana, alabama, and california, could own the oil that was right off of their coasts, or whether or not that oil was owned by the federal government. all these problems made truman vulnerable. truman could have run again in 1952. and virtually everybody right down to december of 1951 thought that he was going to. bob taft, senator from ohio, who had already run for the presidency three times, began his fourth presidential campaign moments after he lost the 1948 convention -- or nomination to tom dewey. taft was a honorable, eloquent, thoughtful senator. old-school, articulate, less conservative in domestic affairs than people have given him credit for, but clearly th

original correggio horatio alger had a mentor. he cannot have made it on his own.eded powerful people to back him and promote him. we know that still works in today's society. brian: why do you think that your book made it to "your times" bestk seller list in july? is it one place that you can point to? have 1, 2, 3, 4 -- this is my fourth book. i started this book six years ago and you have no idea what's and happen. i wrote it because to me it was an intellectual problem that i wanted to solve. it is hard. i'm a historian and i can figure out history. why is this book popular? i do think it has to do with the political climate. i think that because we have donald trump, who journalists have labeled as the white trash candidate, particularly when he was on the southern swing in the primaries. his followers have been called the revenge of the lower class. we have suddenly an awareness of class that we are seeing everyday. in one way or another, americans have been reminded. then we have bernie sanders on the other side. we have bernie sanders, who was also talking

it was a turning point because, of course, that's also the same year that alger hiss is introduced to the american people. >> we're going to get to that debate coming up but i want to show viewers what tom dewey had to say on communists in 1948 and get your reaction to this. take a look. >> the communists here in our midst. some people syria jeer at the p, calling it a red herring. some people get panicky about it. i don't belong to either of those groups. we must neither ignore the communists, nor outlaw them. if we ignore them, we give them the cloak of immunity that they want. if we outlaw them, we give them the martyrdom that they want even more. we will in the government we get next january keep informed and we'll keep the american people informed where they are, who they are, and what they're up to. >> richard norton smith? >> that's classic dewey. some would say setting up the straw men of the left and right and carving out the middle of the road for himself but that's very much what his approach was. it raises the fascinating prospect, i think distinct possibility under the "w