we have barry goldwater, jim demint and others but we also have unsung heroes of the conservative movement. one of them is my friend nor can block well and most americans haven't heard of him that he is a person that we stand on the shoulders deeply with in the unsung heroes is a man named tom ellis that was a peer of jesse helms in north carolina and in my opinion, tom ellis almost single-handedly elected three of the best senators in the 20th century. john east in 1980 and laurence faircloth and tom is still in active lawyer in north carolina. they were told ronald reagan and the team in 1976 -- by the way before he got to north carolina he lost four or five primaries. he lost the florida primary, the north primary and things were looking really, really dark. so, he wants to come into north carolina and tom ellis said we don't want you here. we will handle the campaign. we will take care of it. however if you insist on coming and we have to do four things come and he said tom ellis told him he is for things. you must attack forward, kissinger, give away the panama canal and dÉtente. reag

trilling sees a 234u conservatism on the rise that is 15 or so years before the candidacy of barry goldwater, and yet trilling sees, in 1947, a new conservatism on the horizon, and attaches conservatism to the chambers. intregging connection to be sure. >> what was lionel's involvement with communism? >> this is difficult to characterize perfectly. he was never a member of the communism party, but there was a time, maybe 16 months, maybe two years, 1932, roughly, when he was emotionally very invested in the destiny, political destiny was soviet union. it was not public acts, did not go to the neatings or write anything on behalf of the party, but felt this emotional affiliation, and that you sense in the book reviews and writings at the time. then, as would many in his generation, there's break with that, and he is self-critical and critical as a party, and goes to a period of l really extended disillusionment, i would say, from 1932 to 1941-42, reluctant, when the second world war begins, when american involvement because he feels it might be a reassertion of american capitalism, and even i

like a reminder of the party's wild lerch to the right 50 years ago this year when it cheered barry goldwater and booed new york governor nelson rockefeller. >> and warning of the extremist left is dang h danger to the party. [ chanting ] >> that was a bad day at black rock. the hero this time around is rand paul. the one getting the bum's rush is today's version of the east coast establishment favorite, of course, jeb bush. >> i heard jeb bush the other day, and he was talking about people that come into this country illegally, they do it for love. and i said say it again, i didn't get -- that's one i've never heard of before. i heard money, i heard this, i've heard sex, i've heard everything. the one thing i never heard of was love. i understand what he's saying. but, you know, it's out there. >> well, it was just like that 50 years ago, the right wing taking flight with goldwater just as it's taking flight today with rand paul and ted cruz and mike huckabee, blasting off against the moderate center, as well as the democrats. where's the thinking in all this? the republicans on the right gi

. >> in 1964, there was an election, and the republican candidate, barry goldwater, had uttered a controversialase, where he said extremism is no vice and moderation is no virtue. there were organizations like lan, and oxford picked it up and thought it would be good for their debate that they were holding in december, and so the invited born president malcolm to come over to participate in the debate, and he agreed. he was really interested in extending the organization and getting the word out about the changes he was interested in making in his life and also as politics, so he jumped right on it. tell me more about that. what did he hope to get? >> he wanted to use the bbc to get his message across to the black and asian and brown dais --diaspora, and he knew it was a ready opportunity to expand his message outside of and hee filtered domain, knew he would have a better shot outside. tavis: what do we know about what his preparation was, but what do we know about what his preparation included for this appearance? >> well, thankfully, because of the center in harlem, we have got a lot of docu

he was, as a young man, campaigned for barry goldwater. >> oh, wow. >> lives in santa rosa, california. a he's a bit of an oddity. >> as a college student, i was begin "conscious of a conservative", and yipped know the labels well, but, boy, that turned me around and gave me a foundation that remains today. >> peter's a wonderful man. he'd love to be here. sends my regards. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> bob brown. >> never thought i'd see this. >> hard to believe it was over 20 years ago. >> thank you so much for inviting us. >> great privilege to have you. >> [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> have they asked you to speak? >> have on occasions. >> good. >> always remember you have a winner here. >> so good to see you. >> will you sign it to my mom? >> oh, sure. what's her name? >> janet. >> where does she live? >> she lives in denver. >> denver? >> yeah. >> good, delighted. >> she says so many wonderful things about you. >> that's nice. i think denver had less snow than we did this year. >> yeah, i believe that was the case. >> amazing. >> yeah. >> i tel

he campaigned for barry goldwater and he lives in santa rosa california. >> you tell him as a collegestudent a friend of mine gave me a copy of the conscious conservative. i didn't know the labels that well but that just turned me around and gave me a foundation that remains today. it was a great book. >> he was a wonderful man. >> give my regards to him and thank you very much. >> thank you sir. >> thank you. i never thought i would be signing a book for you. >> hard to believe. >> thank you so much for inviting us. >> it's great to have you. spell your first name. >> tracy. >> thank you. >> it's been a treat to have you as a friend and mentor. >> thank you very much. it's hard to believe, isn't that? do you ever get back to west point? >> i do. >> do they ask you to. >> i speak for small classes. >> excellent. >> god bless you. >> would you sign this for my mom? >> what's her name? >> janet. >> she lives in denver. >> denver? that's very nice. i think they had less snow than we did this year. i tell people on the lecture circuit we get politicians all the time from washington so lit

>> partly what happened is their standard bearer that year, as you pointed out, barry goldwater was the, one of only six that voted against that. the republican party began to shed its image of the party of lincoln, by the late '60s became the party of white backlash. remember, ronald reagan began his campaign in 1980 miles from where -- >> i worked for carter. tell me this story. everybody wants to know about it including my executive producer who's listening. lbj. why did he support civil rights? a southern guy, grew up working class, a teacher. had played ball with those guys. why did he become the great champion of civil rights? what caused him to do that? >> i think as you say, he had that back ground as a young schoolteacher in a mexican school. he'd seen what he said hate could do to the face of a child, the eyes of a child. remember, he was in texas. first the hill country as a congressman, then the whole state. he told the leaders of the naacp, when he became president, they said, why are you strong for civil rights? he said, i'll answer in words that will sound familiar. free

. >> barry goldwater republican candidate for president. >> reporter: and then bruce realizes the date the letter was written. >> on september 27 -- that's my birthday. >> reporter: the letter would become a delayed birthday gift to bruce. ten years after she deposited the time capsule in the walls of their home, betty died in a car crash. >> i don't know how i did it. went back to work within a week. >> reporter: for a few moments on this afternoon the letter would unearth old memories. >> that's where we met, oak park. >> reporter: each sentence prompting a precious recollection. >> and she was so dam smart. >> reporter: time capsules provide observations about politics and culture but bruce says if there's a message here it's the value who you love because, as bruce will tell you, things don't always go as planned. >> we had the best marriage. not once did we argue about anything. >> reporter: for nbc news, joe dana, scottsdale, arizona. >>> that's "nbc nightly news" for this saturday. i'm lester holt reporting from new york. see you tomorrow morning on "today" and right back here t

like a young bo derek stuffed with a barry goldwater. - you sound weird. do you have a beard? - not for long. it's back to reality. no more making love on the beach surrounded by a privacy circle of english-trained butlers. but i've got to get out of island mode and back into work mode. how was your summer? - get this, my gynecologist committed suicide. - and i'm back! [phone beeps off]

goldwater was the most, senator goldwater running in 1964 was the most consequential looser and barry goldwater won the 1964 election s election. it just took 16 years to count the balance. any other questions? morton? >> i am supposed to wait until y a microphone. >> if you don't raise your hand you will not get it. knowing you will have a statement. >> i am going to ask a question. but i am going to lay the groundwork. >> in 1980, when reagan showed up the nomination, george walker bush was the last surviving serious opponent to him and he sewed it up. if you define everybody that supported reagan at the time he sewed it up and you call them reaganit reaganites. since reagan, the republican party has nominated a number of other candidates for president of the united states. it happens that none of those nominees met the definition of reaganite that i give you. and here is the statement you knew was coming: i think it is time to nominate another reaganite. my question is who should that be? >> thank you, morton. well said. in this very building, dr. lee edwards some years ago had a panel discu

--he did not want to be a vulnerable to attacks by barry goldwater during the campaign of 1964 that he was weak, soft on military. scared, have the red scare come in and be a factor in that election. >> he was an interesting guy. a lot of people think he was the most interesting president after roosevelt. probably the most interesting guy to have that the office. just the largest of the personality. unbelievable. >> i think it was bill moyers who said lyndon b. johnson is 11 of the most interesting people i have ever met. he is the full spectrum of emotion. to cannot assign anyone lyndon johnson, you have to use all of them. he is mercurial and passionate and interesting and wallowing in self-pity. brazen and funny and embracing and threatening. what partnever know of lyndon johnson you were going to receive when you walked into his office. >> the probably -- and probably depended on what his knees were -- needs were. >> the flipside of that political hubris: was unmatched -- hubris coin was unmatched. he knew everyone. everyone in the house of representatives, the senate. he knew what

to this novel is lionel trilling sees a new conservatism on the rise before the candidacy of barry goldwater, decades before the career of ronald reagan and yet lionel trilling sees a new conservatism on the horizon attaching it to the figure of whitaker chambers. intriguing connection to be sure. >> host: what did lionel trilling have to do with communism? >> guest: he was never a member of the communist party but there was a time, 16 months, 1932, roughly when he was emotionally invested in the destiny of the soviet union. it was not a matter of public acts, he didn't go to committee meetings or write anything on behalf of the communist party but felt this emotional affiliation. you can sense that in book reviews. as with many in his generation, and critical of the party, goes through a period of rather extended disillusionment, 1932-1941-42 he is reluctant when the second world war begins to endorse american involvement because he feels it might be a kind of reassertion of american capitalism so 1939 quite deeply in the radical or but but 1941-42, at the end of the second world war, somet

times this weekend had a nice write-up how barry goldwater, jr., and other republicans not affiliated with the koch brothers or alec joined against the bill and persuaded the all-republican state body that had to rule on the issue to bring the solar -- to help pay for maintenance issues on the electric grid. in kansas, the koch brother's led campaign to kill the energy got as far as the senate this year but they were able to stop it in the house thanks to the fact that having some non-fossil fuel energy is actually a possible thing. 91% of kansas residents say they believe future kansas energy needs can best be met by greater use of renewables. 72% of republicans, 75% of independents and 82% of democrats say they all support a bill passed in 2009 to raise renewables to generate 20% of their electricity by 2020. those are huge numbers, look at that, 75% of independents, 72% of republicans, 82% of democrats. that is really, really popular policy which the utility companies and groups like alec and the koch brothers networks are trying to kill all over the country. they are trying to kil

barry goldwater was born outside of the arizona territory. nobody made an issue of that. obama born in hawaii, he's somehow born somewhere else. that's what i'm saying pop i think the country is still getting used to the idea of having a black president and an african-american first lady. this is a country, we have no african-american female senators. lupita just won an oscar for, you know,er the fifth or sixth time in the history of the country. so i think we are naive to think at some point race sort of ends. it's this ongoing conversation. this sort of ongoing experiment that we're having. you know, i wouldn't want to cast aspersions on any of these congress preem. i think they have legitimate concerns about this president as they see him. legitimate, ideological differences. >> i will jump in -- >> questions about whether this is a legitimate president or not? last word. >> i will say what she won't -- some of these guys do have a racial problem with the president. some of them don't, but when you listen to the list that have been said about them, they are different f

he did not want to be vulnerable to attacks by barry goldwater during the campaign of '64 that he wask, soft on military, you know, and scared, have the red scare come in and be a factor in that election. >> charlie: he's an interesting guy. i know a lot of people think he's the most interesting president of the last -- you know, after roosevelt, probably the most interesting guy to inhabit the office. >> i think so. >> charlie: just the largeness of the personality. >> unbelievable. i think bill moyer said lyndon johnson is the most interesting of the 11 people i've ever met. he is the full spectrum of emotion. you cannot assign any one adjective to lyndon johnson. you have to use all of them, he is mecurial and impassioned and wallowing in self pity and funny, and threatening and ferocious and you never knew what part of lyndon johnson you would receive when you walked into his office. >> charlie: probably depended on what his needs were. >> absolutely. and his political acumen, the flip side of the political hiewb brings coin, was unmatched since roosevelt. he knew everyone. everyo

. >> it's the barry goldwater issues and you begin to see the virtues of what you did and the white house obama both of whom who embrace the idea that govern am can change things and be active and involved and to be com placen with the obama folks. how come your guy isn't doing the big stuff right away to which the obama say these are different people and different men. here in tense techs we look at lyndon johnson increasingly in the context of civil rights as a wheeler dealer, but on a mission from god. >> i hear you, but it's interesting. the white house will suddenly say, hey, pulled out of two wars, health care, wall street reform. they'll say this list is pretty long, too, and in fact, i talked with one aide who said maybe 50 years from now there will be a different appreciation. >> absolutely. i think when you look at the majority, for example, in the congress that lbj had, certainly substantial when you look at what president obama has -- >> sure. >> you have southern democrats that were not necessarily a majority. >> but they point to health care. they say he was able to get heal

barry goldwater was conservative and with a frown. reagan was conservatives and with a smile. the book was written not that long ago called the wit and wisdom of a great communicator. reagan had that. he had that would. some of our spokespeople, they need that. i would say, too, that they need reagan's fearlessness and willingness to understand. i would advise this to attach crews in particular, marker rubio. takers and mark arubia are the liberals worst nightmare. they are conservative hispanics, and the last thing they want to see is that go to the republican party. they must destroy takers at all costs, no matter what. but what reagan realized is you will never make those people happy. they are going to vote for your anyway. it will call you names. one of the liberating things was he did not care what the new york times thought about him. he made the comparison between abortion and slavery, and the new york times went nuts. he smiled and one on. you need that sort of quality. modern republicans and conservatives need that quality. >> thank you. >> thanks. >> i'm from colleg

trilling sees a 234u conservatism on the rise that is 15 or so years before the candidacy of barry goldwater, and yet trilling sees, in 1947, a new conservatism on the horizon, and attaches conservatism to the chambers. intregging connection to be sure. >> what was lionel's involvement with communism? >> this is difficult to characterize perfectly. he was never a member of the communism party, but there was a time, maybe 16 months, maybe two years, 1932, roughly, when he was emotionally very invested in the destiny, political destiny was soviet union. it was not public acts, did not go to the neatings or write anything on behalf of the party, but felt this emotional affiliation, and that you sense in the book reviews and writings at the time. then, as would many in his generation, there's break with that, and he is self-critical and critical as a party, and goes to a period of l really extended disillusionment, i would say, from 1932 to 1941-42, reluctant, when the second world war begins, when american involvement because he feels it might be a reassertion of american capitalism, and even i

barry goldwater was conservative and with a frown. reagan was conservatives and with a smile. the book was written not that long ago called the wit and wisdom of a great communicator. reagan had that. he had that would. some of our spokespeople, they need that. i would say, too, that they need reagan's fearlessness and willingness to understand. i would advise this to attach crews in particular, marker rubio. takers and mark arubia are the liberals worst nightmare. they are conservative hispanics, and the last thing they want to see is that go to the republican party. they must destroy takers at all costs, no matter what. but what reagan realized is you will never make those people happy. they are going to vote for your anyway. it will call you names. one of the liberating things was he did not care what the new york times thought about him. he made the comparison between abortion and slavery, and the new york times went nuts. he smiled and one on. you need that sort of quality. modern republicans and conservatives need that quality. >> thank you. >> thanks. >> i'm from colleg

conservative you know i mean i've read both of barry goldwater's book so i adore door to door for him when i was thirteen years old in one thousand nine hundred sixty four so i think i have some understanding of old fashioned conservative principles and it would be what the consumers make up their mind give them the information so that they can make the choice number one and number two let's states make decisions rather than the federal government why is it that the republicans and the koch brothers are saying we want to pass a federal law saying that states cannot decide to label things for their cut for their consumers those and their consumers can know what am i missing here so is that the time for the progressive democrats now really difficult brother because it's not about. the fact that gays are getting contracted to influence our immigration for their no no no no no no no no no no bring out what i would rather than this there is republicans supporting this bill there are republicans that support the labeling so this is actually a bipartisan issue there are some republicans they

the time for choosing speech, which he gave on behalf of barry goldwater, october 27, 1964, said that mankind from the swamp to the stars, the long ascent from the swamp to the stars, has above all struggled to be free. struggled to be free. and by reagan's reckoning, people everyone needed freedom. at that time in 1964 when he wrote the speech, freedom in particular was something that was lacking in the communist world. and reagan there talked about acuban boat person escaping castro's cuba, and he said how lucky he is he had a place to escape to. and reagan said, if we lose freedom here in america, there's no place to escape to. this is the last stand on earth. if we lose freedom here in america there's no place to escape. this is the last stand on earth. and reagan felt americans needed to understand this. they needed to understand this freedom thing. they need to understand it today, too. in his swan song, farewell speech from the oval office, january 1989. beautiful speech written by peggy noonan and that is one of the four speeches in the back of the book. reagan talk about what

lbj branded barry goldwater we get happy, vietnam. the democrats are criminals and socialists.ost: do you think the attorney general post has become too political? caller: oh yeah. do, evenknow how to elijah cummings, all they know how to do is play the race card. host: leslie from maine. i want to play for you a speech at the national action network last week that you a lot of attention. brought upo callers the idea of the racial overtones. this speech brought up some of those concerns. this is eric holder going off script discussing the treatment of the administration and how the administration has been received by congress. [video clip] [applause] >> i am pleased to note that the last five years have seen strides and reform. even in the face of unprecedented, unwarranted, ugly, and divisive adversity. [applause] way, forgetthe about me -- you look at the way the attorney general was treated yesterday by a house committee. has everrney general had to deal with that kind of treatment? [applause] what president has ever had to deal with that kind of treatment? the huffington go