coolidge is a great example. he met literally every friday of his administration, he met for at least half a day with the budget director and went through the budget line by line marking things out. he was determined to reduce the size and scope of government, and if you don't have that focus, it's probably not going to happen. that's one of reagan's attribute. he didn't have many good ideas or maybe any ideas and you know, i think we would say that one of his great strengths was he had a handful as he said, great ideas and he was focused on implementing them. you don't need to many ideas if you make sure you implement them. okay. >> out of curiousty you said we were going to skip over the progressive. you consider teddy roosevelt as progressive? >> oh, yeah. roosevelt is a fairly multifaceted person. he was way out there. [laughs] >> he was arguably certain less progressive when he was president, but no question that he was the first progressive elected president, and you know, by the time he died in 1919 he app

coolidge. >> yes. grace coolidge decided -- well, her husband encouraged her to write a little bit about the white house years. she did write several articles. he wrote his autobiography. they both had sort of a writing adventure there. but he -- and also, he has a syndicated column. they moved back to north hampton. they go into their two-family house. you tell me how you're going to take all the gifts from the white house that you are given in those days, you were allowed to keep them, and fit them in a two-family house. i read a lot of the letters where she says to one girlfriend, can you please take this? take that? also, the dogs weren't happy. they eventually moved to the beaches, which is a larger estate in north hampton. they're both happier. calvin does not live long after the white house. he dies in 1933. grace says, well, i've got to move along. i have to figure something out. their son had married in '29, and he and his wife had two daughters. she could take joy in them. also, there was, as

grace coolidge. >> basically, when the coolidges came into the white house, warren harding had just died. >> right. >> so there was a period of mourning for 90 days. there was great respect for president harding. and being here today and seeing the wreath delivered to the memorial, i understand that this area especially revered president harding. remember, this is an inner war time period, between world war i and world war ii. so they were cutting back on the budget, scaling back the navy. it was not a time to engage the world. there was isolationism. that's the watch word. grace carried on florence's devotion to the veterans and having musicals with them as guests and visiting walter reid hospital, visiting the veterans there. she wanted to highlight american music. so she followed florence's lead on having wonderful music at the white house. but many say the coolidges didn't really fit with the time. she and her husband were thrifty in an age of excess, quiet in a period of verbosity. she was warm and gracious and that was very important and that gave stability to the nation. when the

grace coolidge veil in navy blue. florence had a veil in black. so you could dress like your favorite first lady or vice presidential wife i guess. a big fuss is made about this. but she's going to cover her arms usually. again, mindful of her age. she's going to address appropriately. she gets a little bit of criticism about being a tad on the frumpy side. but by and large, women across america think she's dressed just fine. >> it was liked. it was very popular. very popular. ladies, i'm going to kind of combine these next few. and i'll tell you where we are in it. i want to make sure we get in every question. you can take this anywhere you want to go. but this has to do with the press, the relationship with the press, the public and private persona of each. and how each coped that way, which kind of goes into their partnership somewhat with their husbands on how they supported them in policies, with how did world politics -- or how did world events shape what happened. and annette, i would like to start with you. be

but grace coolidge carried this off with great decor rum. she reminds me of jackie kenn y kennedy's solid behavior after the assassination of her husband, although that was radically different. grace coolidge and her husband have people come to the white house to press their condolences and then the 16-year-old isburr buried in plymouth, vermont. but she had to move on. with her joy in life she carries on. the president, calvin coolidge could not have carried out without this very strong woman by his side. it's very important to note the role of a first lady when tragedy strikes of that nature. >> is this when her interest in baseball really began? >> yes, she starts her interest many baseball. i think florence liked baseball too. >> she did. >> she did enjoy her baseball. she listened on the radio. she had her own booth when the senators played in washington and when she eventually went to boston and was with the red sox. some people called the first lady a baseball because of her interest in it and also how much the players adored her. >>

she then taught until her marriage to calvin coolidge, a young lawyer in town. her mother had wanted her to stay in burlington so she could find a nice, handsome doctor for her, but grace said you was going to northampton, the home of smith college where there weren't hardly any men. but she found the one guy in town. they lived in a two family house in north hampton and raised two sons there. she stayed at home while her husband commuted by train to

he called for a direct election as opposed to coolidge. reviews ofopular judicial decisions, being able to overturn supreme court decisions. and he wanted referendums on calling war that the united states not be able to go to war, except in a deficient -- defensive -- and with popular referendum. some of those ideas are still out today. bob: but shall obey the government the guards and protect its rights. having citizenship is not enough, then should be aggressive for what is right, if government is to be saved from those who are aggressive. for what is wrong. 1970 four men itbed city hall because house the army research center, which conducted research for the military during the vietnam war. up nex c

coolidge. >> yes. grace coolidge decided -- well, her husband encouraged her to write a little bit about the white house years. she did write several articles. he wrote his autobiography. they both had sort of a writing adventure there. but he -- and also, he has a syndicated column. they moved back to north hampton. they go into their two-family house. you tell me how you're going to take all the gifts from the white house that you are given in those days, you were allowed to keep them, and fit them in a two-family house. i read a lot of the letters where she says to one girlfriend, can you please take this? take that? also, the dogs weren't happy. they eventually moved to the beaches, which is a larger estate in north hampton. they're both happier. calvin does not live long after the white house. he dies in 1933. grace says, well, i've got to move along. i have to figure something out. their son had married in '29, and he and his wife had two daughters. she could take joy in them. also, there was, as

coolidge came in as president, a different type of person. there was a sense of trying to clean up the mess of teapot dome. teapot dome not only led to legislation but major supreme court decisions. people weren't quite sure what the rights of congress were. one of the issues was, can the congress call just a private citizen who's not a federal official? the supreme court that summer because of teapot dome said yes, anybody can be called to testify before congress. there's a case of mali dockerty who said i'm really not an a federal employee. the supreme court said yes, you have to testify. in another case, people said this has nothing to do with legislation. the supreme court says it doesn't have to have anything to do with legislation. congress has a role in our system of being able to investigate wrong doing. those were major decisions that supported subsequent investigations. the furniture that you see behind me is exactly the same furniture you would have seen in 1923 when thomas walsh was sitting there or mccarthy in the 1950s or irving

finally most recently of a trilogy by rebating, alleged witches say very engrossing story about calvin coolidge background and history. a man of not many words but she tells the story in the way that brings out all lot about him that people otherwise would not have known. >> all lots of the letters are funny. you wrote one about a terrorist named e. coli. >> a bacterial outbreak in european some people died. they gave it the name e coli and then some numbers. so i'm trying to get back to president clinton to read define terrorism review are worried about the lawsuit you better worry about viruses and bacteria. not just the ones that come from africa or asia we're dealing with mutations per you were a scientist, it is scary. if we don't get ready in time it could be like the influenza epidemic after world war i. he said how will i get to these people? i say one of the letter in the name of e coli to was sitting in a petri dish and its life is very limited there will come and get it they already analyzed it. so he figures i have to do something to redeem myself so it is returned to sender to make

. >> that's right, government spending was the under 4% all the way through calvin coolidge in the 20s was the 1930s that made the difference. invention of so-called entitlement programs. john: we grew faster than before? >> absolutely we did. john: we had the depression. >> we had recessions but the government stayed out of it and we recovered quickly, like a big recession in the early 20s. harding and coolidge didn't do anything about it and the economy recovered quickly and started growing. john: people say without big government, we destroy the planet. >> no, in fact, a lot of federal spending damages the environment. california had the terrible drought. it is partly the responsibility of the federal government subsidizing water for a century caused overconsumption, farmers are farming things they shouldn't be farming, overconsuming water. that is one of the roots of the problem here that subsidies cause extortion and political damage. some of the biggest offenders are political agencies. john: some say we have to balance the budget. dan, you say that's not politically realistic an

. >> i just finished reading the coolidge book and very much recommend it to people. i think coolidge is extremely underrated as a president and i think it is very enlightening. you will learn so much history about the early part of our country and particularly in the early 20s. it is a wonderful wonderful book. unfortunately my work on the education committee and the rules committee forces me to do a lot of very dull reading and i don't get a chance to read as much as i would like but reading is my favorite thing to do outside of work. >> booktv wants to know what you are reading this summer, tweet us your answer at booktv or you can post it on our face book page, facebook.com/booktv. .. [inaudible conversations]

some presidential grades, like calvin coolidge, you can just walk right up. some, there are a few parameters. -- a few parameters. i am reluctant sometimes for my father is a force of nature and he will like me on. for jefferson, there is a gate there. time young enough at the to slip through the bars of the cemetery and get to the globalist for a better shot -- to the obelisk and get a better shot. brian: jackson is one of the presidents with a fence. did not deter you? -- did that the tour you? -- did that deter you? kurt: no, i jumped over it. sometimes you have to think about who the president is and what was their personality. at lyndon johnson's presidential burial site, the final one i visited at 17, it is the johnson family cemetery. they don't really let the public and there, but it is kind of faraway picture wise so we want to get a better photograph. we hopped over the wall and actually got yelled at by an employee there who we gave the of --ld-esqe nickname seinfeld-esque nickname of mower-guy. sometimes you need to hop the fence for the better pi

next week we look at grace coolidge.s is american history tv, weekend every weekend. >> the worldwide's and mothers. some had children and grandchildren that became presidents and politicians. they dealt with motherhood. closureure and chaos -- and chaos of raising young children and the tragedy -- re and chaos of raising young children. lively stories of fascinating women and illuminating, entertaining, and inspiring reads based on interviews from the first lady series, published by public affairs. it is available as a hardcover or an e-book. favorite bookstore or online bookseller. monday night on "the communicators," this summer marks the 25th anniversary of digital television. mark discusses how modern television has changed. >> many of us are watching in a multi screen world and that has been one of the more exciting outcomes of the digital revolution. it used to be that there was a stationary screen, and with hdtv that was a big screen in the living room. with the internet and the wireless world extending things, n

film we first sound have featuring a president is calvin coolidge talking about economic policy.t is not the most scintillating film in the world, but it is fascinating to see him, this very early sound technology. speaking to the camera about policy. talk isaring silent -- amusing in and of itself. >> -- it grants everybody a life pension with which to raise the standard of existence. it increases the value of everybody's property, raises the scale of everybody's wages. one of the greatest favors that can be bestowed on the american people is economy and government. said that in have 1912, the copyright law changed. and we were no longer receiving films through copyright. or we weren't keeping the films that were registered to copyright. but that doesn't mean that we don't have any films between 1912 and the 1940's when we really did start keeping a lot of films that were coming in to copyright. we have gone back and retrospectively collected over the years. so we have nearly 140 million feet of film. and a great amount of that film is chronicling world war i. we are in the proc

sound film we have featuring a president is calvin coolidge talking about economic policy.s not the most scintillating film in the world, but it is fascinating to see him this very early sound technology. phonofilm, they called it. just hearing silent cal talk is amusing and in its self -- in and of itself. with whichdge: -- to raise the standard of existence. it increases the value of everybody's property, raises the scale of everybody's wages. one of the greatest favors that can be bestowed upon the american people is the economy in government. i have said that in 1912 the copyright law changed. we were no longer receiving films through copyright, or we film's keeping the register to copyright, but that does not mean we do not have any films between 1912 and the 19 really did start keeping a lot of films that were coming in for copyright. we have gone back and retrospectively collected over the years, so we have nearly 140 million feet of nitrate film in the collection. and a great amount of that film is actually chronicling world war i. we are in the process of doing mor

he had been advisor to harding, coolidge and hoover. he came with a revenue of bank officials. he was very confident he was going to come out of this with no trouble at all. he began to lay out what his bank had done including selling short its own stock including the fact mitchell hadn't paid income taxes for years. he had written off losses in the process even though he was fabulously wealthy man. a whole bunch of irregularities. in those days, stockbroker companies were part of the banks. basically when the bank had a bad asset it turned over to its stockbroker which sold it to unsuspecting investors. they were unloading bad stocks along the way. they documented all this. one by one, the revenue around mitchell disappeared. they fired him. there was a huge headlines and newspapers and big shock along the way. this really showed that there was some substance to charges about irregularities on wall street. stock exchange was like a private club whether than public entity. the democrats had just won the election 1932 and were coming into power in march. the incoming chairman of

he enabled me to become the king of cool at coolidge college, thanks to his many insightful life lessonshree is only good if there's no class the next day." i'm now going to england to take the path of another great man, my father, and continue my academic studies at camford university. after pursuing my degree in history, i'll go ahead and get a minor in major [...] munching. you're not listening to anything i'm saying, are you? not a word, mr. minor- in-major-[...]-munching. flight attendant: chicken or fish? yes, i'll have the chicken, please.

perhaps we could reanimate calvin coolidge. get the robot.e his essence into the robot, given the fleshy parts. >> the singularity. >> now to be referred to as mechanical americans. robot is now offensive. >> last word. >> i don't know if anyone saw the picture, but the woman is good-looking. kennedy: they're she is, a hot pot of coffee. a dying wish on it right here on this show and always. thank you so much. what a man heavy panel steeping in testosterone like a bag of chamomile tea. >> wrong direction. ♪ i built my business with passion. but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy for my studio. ♪ and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... that's huge for my bottom line. what's in your wallet? (ee-e-e-oh-mum-oh-weh) (hush my darling...) (don't fear my darling...) (the lion sleeps tonight.) (hush my darling...) man snoring (don't fear my darling...) (the lion sl

perhaps we could reanimate calvin coolidge. get the robot.s essence into the robot, given the fleshy parts. >> the singularity. >> now to be referred to as mechanical americans. robot is now offensive. >> last word. >> i don't know if anyone saw the picture, but the woman is good-looking. kennedy: they're she is, a hot pot of coffee. a dying wish on it right here on this show and always. thank you so much. what a man heavy panel steeping in testosterone like a bag of chamomile tea. >> wrong direction. kennedy: coming up, the star of treasure quest is here. a real-life ex-teefive a real-life indiana a real-life indiana jones. the government is letting you yelp review it. stick around for that. shopping online... ...is as easy as it gets. wouldn't it be great if hiring plumbers, carpenters and even piano tuners... were just as simple? thanks to angie's list, now it is. start shopping online... ...from a list of top rated providers. visit angieslist.com today. perfect driving record. >>perfect. no tickets. no accidents... >>that is until one of

of all the way through a calvin coolidge but in the '30's that made the difference with the invention of keynesian economics or the entire opprobriums -- and tenement programs. we had a recession and we recovered very quickly but there was a recession in the 1920's but then the economy started growing very quickly john: without big government we destroy the planet? >> federal spending damages the environment and california has a terrible drought partly the responsibility of the government has been subsidizing water that causes over consumption farmers are forming what they shouldn't be that is at the roots of the problem. the subsidies cause distortion one of the biggest polluters is the federal government agencies. [applause] >> some say we have to balance the budget but you say that is not politically realistic and we don't have to? they say okay but we will raise taxes but simply to have it grow slower than the private sector over time. there is a long last where you say would is a list of countries? they have greece and france and italy. >> this will continue to grow just more slo

grace coolidge was part of a north hampton committee to rescue jewish children in germany. this was in 1939. she very bravely, because this is a woman who didn't get into politics, sends a telegram to the statehouse to encourage them to let the north hampton committee adopt 25 jewish children. here's the first lady, who would have had children in her home but, unfortunately, her theory was rolled into the wagner-rogers bill, and that was an attempt to rescue 20,000 jewish children, like ann frank. a anne frank did want to leave germany. it was not approved by congress, so we now have the story. they didn't know the holocaust was coming, but it was not done. grace throws herself into helping get ready for world war ii. during world war ii, is a real volunteer, a spotter in north hampton and that kind of thing. she did take a more active role in her post white house years. then even though you have rationing, she doesn't get to plymouth much during the war, she seems the homestead going in plymouth, has an interest where her husband grew up and where he was sworn in. she deci

of all the way through a calvin coolidge but in the '30's that made the difference with the inventionesian economics or the entire opprobriums -- and tenement programs. we had a recession and we recovered very quickly but there was a recession in the 1920's but then the economy started growing very quickly john: without big government we destroy the planet? >> federal spending damages the environment and california has a terrible drought partly the responsibility of the government has been subsidizing water that causes over consumption farmers are forming what they shouldn't be that is at the roots of the problem. the subsidies cause distortion one of the biggest polluters is the federal government agencies. [applause] >> some say we have to balance the budget but you say that is not politically realistic and we don't have to? they say okay but we will raise taxes but simply to have it grow slower than the private sector over time. there is a long last where you say would is a list of countries? they have greece and france and italy. >> this will continue to grow just more slowly? >>

president coolidge is in the middle there, we are talking roughly the 1920's. george putnam is standing to his right. mr. putnam had the viewer lighthouses and the lighthouse establishment. the lighthouse service began in the 1789 but the british colonials had lighthouses, too. the lighthouse service and the lighthouse keepers and crews -- they did a lot of life saving. lighthouses were stationed at dangerous entrances to ports. heavy winds and station ships did not have much maneuverability and they would hit rocks or shores and sink. the lighthouse services saved lives. the lighthouse service had liked light ships. they had the first light ship in chesapeake bay in 1820. here you see the coast guard ship number 612. it is dangerous duty. this is off the shoals of nantucket. they were stationed by the rocks and that was very dangerous. but lighthouse ships had the duty of warning ships away from dangerous territory so they had to be in the dangerous territory. it was dangerous duty and the crews were skilled. in 1939, the lighthouse service was absorbed by the

they had -- edith, president coolidge offered the capitol to have a state funeral. she declined.hey had a service at the house, presided over by both a presbyterian clergyman and the bishop -- the washington bishop. edith, by the way, was episcopalian and she did not change to be a presbyterian when she married him and he made no push for her to do that. and then, there's a procession up massachusetts avenue to the cathedral. there is the interment. in those days, there wasn't too much to the cathedral that's down in that crypt. his tomb has been -- was moved up in interestingly enough, in the centennial year of his birth, 1956 up to the then finished the principal part of the cathedral. so, that -- it's a -- it's charming. it's a lovely ceremony. and to me, one of the nicest touches was that -- when the funeral was -- at the end of the service, a bugler played taps and they had a hookup and -- by a telephone. and they had a hookup to arlington. so, they knew the exact moment, so the bugler in arlington also played taps. susan swain: and she lived how long after he died? kristie

and i believe the harding coolidge team does very well. and also, you also see that year where it's an advantage -- the women's vote is an advantage to the republican. you see precincts in massachusetts where the immigrant areas do not do as well. and it was in fact the republican party which puts the amendment through. david pietrusza: the south is not particularly into it, neither is the traditional immigrant cultures. it is in fact the more native american or older stock rather, republican areas which are more interested in putting suffrage in. there is more republicans in the senate or in the house of representatives who go for it or in the state legislatures. so, it's the -- it's something which i think boosts harding that year. and he's a hell of a lot looking -- better looking than james cox. susan swain: one of the things to note about this, this was the first presidential election that had radio coverage of the results, kdka am in pittsburgh reported the election results across the nation. also i want to bring in two other points

coolidge and mrs. hoover, who tried to do inventories of the white house.he did the first inventory that i'm aware of. and i think just her vision, both about the historic nature of the white house and its collections and her campaigns for the betterment of women -- william seale: of women were very important. edith mayo: -- were very important, but not picked up on in her own time. susan swain: bill, calvin monroe miller wants to know on facebook what modern-day first lady would caroline compare most to. william seale: did i say rosalynn carter, who was a quiet first lady? edith mayo: yeah. william seale: but a woman who very -- was very busy and trying to do worthy things. i guess -- you know, the thing like mrs. carter, very modern lady -- edith mayo: or betty ford and her -- william seale: less public. betty ford was awfully public for that, not awfully. edith mayo: yes, she was. she was. william seale: but she was public. and ms. carter wasn't. edith mayo: no, she was a much quieter, more behind-the-scenes -- william seale: and -- edith mayo: -- person

. >> i just finished reading the coolidge book by and ready --ami --amity schlayedsschlayes. coolidge is underrated as a president and is very enlightening that you learn so much history about the early part of the country, particularly in the early 20s. wonderful wonderful book. unfortunately my work on the education committee and the rules committee forces me to do a lot of very dull reading and i don't get a chance to read as much as i would like but reading is my favorite thing to do outside of work. >> booktv wants to know what you are reading this summer, tweet us your answer at booktv or you can post it on our face book page facebook.com/booktv. ..

and then finally and most recently, i finished this trilogy by reading amity shlaes' "coolidge," which is an engrossing story about his rise to the presidency. he was a man of not many words, but she tells the story in a way that brings out a lot about him that people would not otherwise know. >> booktv wants to know what you're reading this summer. tweet us your answer @booktv, or you can post it on our facebook page, facebook.com/booktv. >> presidential candidates often release books to introduce themselves to voters. here's a look at some books written by declared candidates for president. in his book, "immigration wars," former florida governor jeb bush argues for new immigration policies. neurosurgeon ben carson calls for greater individual responsibility to preserve america's future in "one nation." in "against the tide," former rhode island governor lincoln chafee recounts his time serving as a republican in the senate. and former secretary of state hillary clinton look ares back on her time serving in the obama administration in "hard choices." in "a time for truth," texas sena

and even, you know, even presidents later such as calvin coolidge especially who wanted to retreat tothe sidelines couldn't do it. i mean, now that's what -- that's what really changed there. the first lady role, i think probably, probably in terms of trying to continue that. i think ellen probably had more impact than edith did. kristie miller: absolutely, i couldn't agree with you more. susan swain: well, that's a great segue because we now have to move in ellen's wilson's story. susan swain: and before we do that i want to tell you that how you can involved. the beauty of the series, and by the way tonight is a special two-hour program since we have two first ladies to talk about. but our phone lines will be open and you can reach us, 202-585-3880, if you live in the eastern or central time zones. mountain and pacific, 202-585-3881, you can be part of a facebook conversation, go c-span on facebook. and finally you can tweet us using at first ladies or the hash tag first ladies and be part of the conversation that way. susan swain: so we welcome your involvement as our program progr