barack obama and the next four years joined by doris kearns goodwin, jon meacham, bob woodward, bob caro, and michael beschloss. >> i know it's the consensus that we're -- barack obama has to do is get along with the republicans. i'd like to say something about that. president obama is fond of quoting-- and if he isn't, i am-- martin luther king's statement "the moral arc of the universe bends slowly but it bends towards justice." in the first term, president obama did bend that moral arc. he got health insurance, peace of mind for more than 30 million people. the bill may be floored but it's passed. in the second term i see a sort of differently. everyone's attacking the moral arc of justice-- social security medicare, everyone's saying we have to cut it back. that's the great safety net for the american people. i almost see him as a defender. he has to defend social security and medicare in a fiscally responsible way. >> rose: inaugural day 2013, assessment by journalists and looking forward with historians when we continue. >> rose: today barack obama was sworn in for a second time as

>> it's not just a matter of defending it-- and i think bob caro is right that obama feels very strongly about this, he's the champion of the safety net and he should be but even he when i talked to him some months ago he said that spending on these entitlement programs is untenable and he and all the economists know and you get to a point where you either fix it and fixing it means you're going to have to find some savings in it that there's going to be less benefits given the number of people who are coming on these programs. obama realizes that and he's just -- he's got to find a way to work some deals. he needs to -- he needs the republicans. the simple fact is-- and michael beschloss is an expert on this issue-- the president has to rally the country. not just his own party or series of interest groups and rallying the country at this time with the media that operates 24/7 mean you've got to find some way to include the -- in the case of obama the 60 million people who voted for mitt romney. and there needs to be a strategy in the strategy of sticking your finger in these people --

>> it's not just a matter of defending it-- and i think bob caro is right that obama feels very stronglyement programs is untenable and he and all the economists know and you get to a point where you either fix it and fixing it means you're going to have to find some savings in it that there's going to be less benefits given the number of people who are coming on these programs. obama realizes that and he's just -- he's got to find a way to work some deals. he needs to -- he needs the republicans. the simple fact is-- and michael beschloss is an expert on this issue-- the president has to rally the country. not just his own party or series of interest groups and rallying the country at this time with the media that operates 24/7 mean you've got to find some way to include the -- in the case of obama the 60 million people who voted for mitt romney. and there needs to be a strategy in the strategy of sticking your finger in these people -- in his eye all the time i don't think will work. >> and that's one reason why an inaugural address for a second term is so important. here we are inaugu

. >> guest: bob caro as anyone will tell you has gotten a lot tougher.e to really think a moment. some of them wouldn't talk. all with the exception of lawyers and baker came around and were hopeful at the end. i guess the answer to that is jack valenti. valenti was always attacking me. ready not just reviews, but pieces. valenti is a great framemaker. at one point is this phrase can this young man who came to texas to the pool in a tennis racket to teach us politics. i thought his attacks are really unfair. i was sort of happy that he came around at the end. c-span: let's go back to lyndon johnson in this book and different circumstances he found himself and his vice president and how was he treated by john kennedy. we could start with the bay of pigs and then go to the cuban missile crisis. >> guest: that's a very good question. the bay of pigs, u.s. touted the kennedy administration treat lyndon johnson wherein all the books before, so many books before, not all, he is portrayed, you know, he admires linda johnson. they made sure lyndon johnson didn't

they included doris kearns goodwin, jon meacham, michael beschloss, robert caro and bob woodward.s part two of that conversation. doris do you think when those historians met with the president they had any influence on him and what came out of those meetings even though you're not supposed to acknowledge you were there. >> no, you know, i think to go back to what bob said. the fact that you've got a president who reads history means that he's learning from previous presidents. he's not just learning from his first term but the stories and the try alls and the tragedies of previous presidents are in his head. harry truman read a lot of history, teddy roosevelt and so does barack obama and i think that's a really helpful thing. what history will tell you even though there is this second term curse idea, there's no great historic president without a second term. it's a huge opportunity because the country has already legitimized what you did in the first term as complicated as it might be during the recession. they wanted you back again. and now you've got a chance to build the base

bob, same question. >> guest: sticking a little bit with what sara said it was a big year for dead presidents. she mentioned robert caro, fourth probably will be five volumes on lyndon johnson which is incredible act of both reporting and writing about a seminal figure in 20th century american history. but we also, doris kerns goodwin's book, team of rivals, which was published in 2005 is back on the best-seller list, thanks to steven spielberg's movie, lincoln. in our list it was up to 20 or so, remarkable for a serious book that has been out so long. john meacham's new biography of thomas jefferson. when you think there is not more to be said about thomas jefferson, one comes along, writes popular, readable, somewhat controversial book. so presidents have been in the news as well. >> host: it is hard to mention dead presidents and not talk about bill o'reilly and his two books, killing lincoln, killing kennedy. both best-sellers this past year. >> bill o'reilly and his writing partner, martin dugard, i actually interviewed bill o'reilly about his process. o'reilly says, his partner does the research. he does the writ