>>doug brinkley? >> well, i'm going to dissent slightly from gordon wood because i think these academic books have a huge amount ofso first off, the university presses represent a state. i'm writing right now on alaska. i don't know how i could write my book if there hasn't been a university of alaska press that did a book about the pipeline, that did a book about charles sheldon at mount mckinley, that did a book about the aleutian islands in world war ii. know, invaded by the japanese, so a university press can offer a kind of information that i need to write a more popular book. and that these university presses need to be subsidized, and they're not gettingthere are all these cuts going i'm a huge fan of the university writing because we're footnoting>> our guests for this hour arethey're not newcomers to the set. we've talked many times and we do this periodically. but in order for those who might have never seen either one of you here on this network, we're going to go back to the year that i me

. >> you know, when doug brinkley was talking about the bus and the students, you've almost transferred to being a yearly bus user for other reasons. >> that's true. by the way, grover cleveland is not worth getting arrested for. i would just point that out. yes, i've always said that the difference -- democrats demonstrate, republicans incorporate. and so while doug really pioneered in the educational use of what's being now called history travel, for a number of years i've been leading tours of my own, basically presidential tours. and we're doing another one this fall in october in new york in the hudson valley and new england, fall foliage time. eleven presidents in nine days, and it's great fun. >> who goes on these? >> you know, it's almost become a travel club. we've got half the bus full already and they're mostly the people who've been on previous trips. it's -- well, you know what it's like. you bring a bunch of people together who have an interest in or passion for the subject and there's really nothing like it. and they form bonds and it's almost a club. >> i was reading nor

let's pick up doug brinkley in april of 1983 and what he looked like and what he had to say. >> graceland, weicker is len? >> graceland, graceland, you have to go to graceland. it is the most popular home in the united states after the white house. elvis was not a joke. i am an admirer of elvis presley. i think that people that mock elvis and make jokes about elvis do not understand a was present and did not know anything about him. -- -- it does not understand at the elvis presley and did not know anything about him. in the 1950's, elvis wasn't unconscious revolutionary. ellis was able to not listen to what people told him and play race records as they were called back then. he could absorb black music and absorbent gospel music and blues and country western. he sponged up all of the american music forms. >> 17 years ago, elvis is the centerpiece of a big event at the museum. >> i am staying here at hotel george and the hall lobby is elvis. it is about popular culture in general. i think that a lot of times, in the united states, academics feel that they can deal with what is around them

. >> richard norton smith, doug brinkley, as always thank you both for joining me. >> thanks. . >> christopher mets were from the georgetown studies discusses diversity in america. washington journal live at 7:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span. >> miti top two prizewinners on the c-span and studentcam competition on monday and tuesday morning during c-span's "washington journal." >> the british election is may 6. the three main party leaders held their debate in bristol, england. c-span was allowed to go behind the scenes. we talked to the moderator before the leaders arrived. >> [inaudible] >> good evening from bristol. welcome to the sky news debate. it round two of the first televised debate in the uk. please welcome david cameron, gordon brown and a crag -- and nick cregg. we are sitting here in the room where we will be debating. it is very exciting to not just have these debates changed the course of the general election campaign, but we know that there are lots of people abroad that are turning in abroad. >> of these first debates were agreed under party rules the agreement was that the au

history, with mow to talk about this is virginia state senator, donald mceachen, and historian doug brinkleyning us as well. brag, let me start with you. you're group has been pushing for confederate history month for a long time. why do we need it? >> virginia was a southern state. the confederate soldier was the person who defended that state against a huge invasion by the north. he hasn't been honored and it's very similar to what's happening today with the vietnam veteran. it's like a chapter of history has been erased. governor mcdonnell said it perfectly. there's education that will benefit everybody and tourism will help the state and make people money. the confederate soldier needs to be honored and remembered. >> what do you make of the governor's decision to add this anti slavery language to the proclamation today? >> as you can see from governor wilder's statement, it really doesn't matter if that's in there or not. he's still against it. that makes a good case, i think for the need for confederate history month, because the opposition, the people who are making the most noise abo

. >> let's dig deeper now with presidential historian, douglas brinkley and our own joe johns. dougwhat do you make of this? you heard the confederate -- sons of confederate veterans saying slavery had nothing to do with virginia entering the civil war. >> well, it's idiocy. everybody knows the story of slavery and the civil war. what's happening here is politics. the governor of virginia had to have known that that was going to be controversial, to declare it right at the eve of the new orleans gop leadership conference, to declare april confederate month. every time this kind of thing happens, it becomes a great flare-up. now to have governor hayley barbour, who i respect a lot, but i disagree with him completely, for him to kind of weigh in and say this isn't about much, this is about a southern strategy of the divisive, and roland martin's attitude is one of african-americans in the country. they are outraged. richmond, virginia's, 50% african-american. and to kind of pull this sort stunt is deeply disappointing and governor mcdonnell should be ashamed of himself. >> it's intere

so, secretary vilsack, ray mccormack, jamie, lynn, doug brinkley, let's give that prior panel a round of applause for their great contributions. thank you a lot, tom. [applause] we have a distinguished panel today. i'm going to call first on the governor of new mexico, bill richardson, who has given his life and his heart to the betterment of this country to making it a more perfect union from his days as a young man moving forward to become a member of the united states house of representatives, ambassador of the united states, the united nations, the secretary of energy to governor extraordinaire for the state of mexico to the chairman of the democratic national convention and the list could go on. governor bill richardson from the land of enchantment. bill richardson. [applause] >> thank you, secretary salazar. i notice that the introductions get nicer as i approach the end of my term. [laughter] but that was, this is a glorious day. i just, i'm overor hemmed by the -- overwhelmed by the energy, enthusiasm and commitment of so many of you and the president and the great green cabin

>>doug brinkley?to dissent slightly from gordon wood because i think these academic books have a huge amount of importance. so first off, the university presses represent a state. i'm writing right now on alaska. i don't know how i could write my book if there hasn't been a university of alaska press that did a book about the pipeline, that did a book about charles sheldon at mount mckinley, that did a book about the aleutian islands in world war ii. not a lot of readers are going to read about attu being, you know, invaded by the japanese, so a university press can offer a kind of information that i need to write a more popular book. so i think the problem is money and that these university presses need to be subsidized, and they're not getting subsidized. there are all these cuts going on and i'd like to see all of -- i'm a huge fan of the university press world and i think academic writing is essential to popular writing because we're footnoting those books all the time. >> our guests for this hour