dwight eisenhower formalized it. he ran his office very much like he did the military. the bureaucracy became very entrenched and well executed in the american presidency under eisenhower. for example, he had weekly cabinet meetings and form the office of congressional liaison so that he could have a formal link to the legislative process. this was especially important because throughout the 1950s, the democratic party controlled congress. so eisenhower recognized that to get things done, he needed to have a smooth operation in terms of links with congress. but he also brought this organizational focus to the shifting media environment and transforms the white house into a production studio. to do that, he worked very closely with hollywood figures and madison avenue television executives and advertising companies, to navigate the new, mass medium of television. it ultimately really transformed american political communication during the 1950s. so, the post-world war ii era is a key moment to understand the rise of entertainment, advertising, television and hollywood in

and for the republican party and dwight eisenhower, it worked. media analysts, after the 1952 election, noted that eisenhower and republicans used this new medium more effectively, to attract a wider range of voters and to bring in new people to the republican party. i think that's a really key thing here, thinking about how you can use a new medium to bring in individuals that may not have been engaged in the political process before. they may not be invested in voting like workers are, whose negotiating rights depended on building that new deal coalition, or farmers, who some some of their economic interests depended on these new programs. rather, you're appealing to media consumers, finding a way to get them invested emotionally into the political process. so one of the effective things that eisenhower does is he brings these innovations from the campaign trail to the white house itself and transforms the white house into a production studio. and this is very literally. they took the basement -- or the basement kitchen of the white house and tu

and for the republican party and dwight eisenhower it worked. ly, to attract a wider range of voters and to bring in new people to the republican party.at and so i think that's a really key thing here, thinking about i how you could use a new medium to bring in individuals that may not have been engaged in the political process before.they they may not be invested in like workers are whose al negotiating rights depended on building that new deal coalitioc or farmers who their economic interests depended on new deal programs, rather you're appealing to media consumers and finding aa way to get them ino invested emotionally into the c political process. so one of the effective things that eisenhower does is he in brings these innovations from thempaign campaign trail to then housed itself and transforms th white house into a production studio.literall and this is very literally.y. they tookthey t the basement --a basement kitchen of the white house and turned it actually into a production studio itself with cameras.help and he had the help of rober

such a man as general ike, dwight d. eisenhower, the man from abilene. never a history have so many americans known so much about the very essence of one man. >> 100 million americans know eisenhower the way you know a neighbor. you know him by heart. >> why do we cheer for him? not because he's a general but distinctively we believe in him. we hail him as a hometown boy who is the best of america. his roots are in the help land. always in his dreams is finally that day when he comes home. comes home to a welcome if his hometown. >> from the railroad tracks in denison, texas. that's where he was born. on the red river where texas shakes hands with oklahoma. >> dwight david eisenhower was one of seven sons. deeply religious parents. pennsylvania dutch who moved west and brought the bible with them. no matter where duty takes him, he always likes to get back to his home cooking. even in paris his kitchen was -- fishing was the farmer boy's first love. golf is a new love. only with first name stories does he exercise a fisherman's right to stretch the truth

american, dwight david eisenhower. coming u

. >>> coming up on american history tv, dwight eisenhower's speech accepting the nomination for president in 1952. >>> the next president of the united states. mr. chairman, my fellow republicans -- [ cheers and applause ] before i proceed, with the thoughts i should like to address briefly with you, many i i congratulate the convention on the selection for the nominee for vice president. a man who has shown qualities in many ways but as a -- ladies and gentlemen, you have summoned me on behalf of millions of your fellow americans to lead a great crusade for freedom of america and freedom in the world. i know something of the responsibility of leading a crusade. i have lead one. [ cheers and applause ] i pick up this task, therefore, in the spirit of deep obligation, mindful of its burdens and precisely the importance. i accept your sons. i will lead this crusade. our aims, the aims of this republican crusade are clear to sweep from office an administration which has fastened on every one of us the arrogance and corruption in high place places that any burden from the anxieties, which are

such a man is general ike, dwight d. eisenhower, the man from abilene.ever in history have so many americans known so much about the very essence of one man. >> 100 million americans know eisenhower the way you know a neighbor. we know him by heart. >> why do we cheer for him? not because he's a general but because instinctively we believe in him. we hail him as a hometown boy who is all the best of america. his roots are in the heartland, main street usa. >> i come here first to thank you, to say the proudest thing i can claim is that i am from abilene. i want to speak first of the dreams of a barefoot boy. frequently they are to be a streetcar conductor or he sees himself as the town policeman. above all he may reach the position of locomotive engineer. but always in his dreams is that day when finally he comes home, comes home to a welcome from his own hometown. >> the wheat fields of kansas claim ike as a native son. >> but the cotton and cattle state of texas stake first claim, hard were the railroad tracks in dennison, texas, that's where he was bo

coming up on american history tv, dwight eisenhower's speech accepting the republican nomination for president in 1952. ♪ ♪ general eisenhower, the next president of the united states. >> mister chairman, my fellow republicans ... [applause] >> may i first thank you on behalf of mrs. eisenhower and myself for the warmth of your welcome. for us both this is our first entry into a political convention and it is a heartwarming one. thank you very much. [applause] >> and before i proceed with the thoughts that i should like to address briefly to you, may i have the temerity to congratulate this convention on the selection of their nominee for vice-president. a man who has shown statesmanlike qualities in many ways, but as a special talent an ability to ferret out any kind of subversive influence wherever it may be found and the strength and persistence to get rid of it. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, you have summoned me on behalf of millions of your fellow americans to lead a great crusadefor freedom in america and freedom in the world. i know something of the solemn responsibility

dwight eisenhower, 457 electoral votes.where there were only 48 states in the nation. and dwight eisenhower won about 35 million votes, about a million more than he had one four years previous. our next call, akron, ohio, curt, you're on "the contenders," hi. >> caller: thank you. this is a great honor to be watching this type of program. i have a comment and a question, really. richard norton smith, first of all, stole my thunder about the 1956 convention and jack kennedy. but one of my favorite comments about stevenson was something that harry truman had said about adlai stevenson, that he spent more time thinking about what he was going to do rather than doing it. and he said that he spent a lot more time talking to college presidents than he did to cab drivers and we have one hell of a lot more cab drivers in this country than college presidents. anyway, 1956, richard norton smith made comment to adlai stevenson doing something unprecedented which is opening the convention to picking a vice presidential nominee. jack ke

when americans looked at dwight eisenhower -- i love this picture of ike, by the way. it's 1946, it's after the war, he's chief of staff in hawaii. what's one word that comes to mind -- maybe there are many. he's confident, he's relaxed, but the word that comes to mind is winner. this guy is a winner, and that is what americans saw when they looked at eisenhower. they saw a man who, since playing football or army, then running the second world war, winning, liberating europe, being the first commander of nato, winning two landslide elections and never really looking like he was trying all that hard, the guy was a winner. people just loved being around him, his optimism, his personal quality. one of the things that struck me when researching this book were reports about his personal charisma. he had enormous charisma. he was one of these guys where everyone in the room turned and said, wow, there he is. it was terminal star power. he was athletic in his carriage. carried himself like the athlete that he was. people just loved his persona, and that's a big part of his ea

dwight david eisenhower, 442 electoral votes. he won 34 million votes, and he won the rest of the states, which would have been 40 some at that point. 41 states. >> the one thing to keep in mind about that election is to compare it to 1948. in losing, governor stevenson got 3 million more votes than harry truman had, winning, three years earlier. dwight eisenhower got 12 million more votes than -- what you had was the largest turnout of voter participation in 30 years. you had two outstanding candidates, each in their own way, who are able to excites the electorate in a way that i don't think we've seen in this country in some time. >> here is a little bit more badly stevenson at the 1952 convention. >> what does concern me uncommon with sinking partisans of both parties is not just winning this election, but how it is one. how well we can take advantage of this great quadra any ill opportunity to debate issues sensibly and soberly. i hope and pray that we democrats, win or lose, can campaign not as a crusade to oppose the other

dwight eisenhower, 457 electoral votes.re are only 48 states in the nation, and dwight eyes enmauer won about 35 million votes, about a million more than he had won four years previous. our next call, akron, ohio. kurt, you're on "the contenders." >> caller: thank you, and it's a great honor to be watching your show. richard norton smith stole my thunder about the 1956 election and jack kennedy, but one of my favorite comments about stevenson was something harry truman said about adlai stevenson, that he spent more time thinking about what he was going to do rather than doing it, and he said he spent a lot more time talking to college plts thpl presidents than he did the cab drivers, and we have a hell of a lot more cab drivers than college presidents. anyway, in 1956, richard norton smith made comment to adlai stevenson doing something unprecedented which is picking a vice presidential nominee, jack kennedy being one and estes kefoffer being the other one. but people don't know, unless they studied this, there were two oth

in 1956, blacks voted 40% for dwight eisenhower. and it looked like it could have held up that way in 1960. but towards the end, what happens is this. martin luther king has moved to atlanta, georgia from alabama. he is arrested and goes to jail for the night. it's the first time he spent the night in jail. and he would be out the next morning, not a big deal, except that not long before that he was pulled over for a moving traffic violation in georgia. and he had been released on parole. and when he is arrested for this sit-in, it's a violation of his parole and the judge in rural georgia decides, you are going to prison camp for six months for a traffic violation. this is pretty outrageous, it was also pretty tough prison camp. the king family, particularly dred scott king, feared for martin luther king's life. it was a question of what would you do? of richard nixon's black advisors said, you know, can you intervene? make a statement and speak out. and he reacts very realistically and says he can't interfere with the judge and sa

about dwight eisenhower. in my first book, it was about dwight eisenhower. ent a lot of time studying eisenhower at the library, reading everything i could read about dwight eisenhower and recreate the man from the paper trail that was left behind. the time i was writing, there weren't very many people left who had known eisenhower. i didn't really get a chance to talk to people who knew him. for the historian, that can be absolutely crucial. there are times when it is utterly impossible. when i wrote about benjamin franklin, nobody's life, so you do what you can. but when i met ralph, he could tell me kind of commander eisenhower was. i've heard other people talk about it. here is someone i can actually ask questions. and he would tell me about -- he would fill in the personal human details that often falls between the cracks of the paper record. it was immensely valuable to me. actually, i wish i had known him when i was writing the book. but he was wonderful to talk to. he was very approachable. you will hear more about his career, but i would just say tha

i mean, dwight eisenhower, richard nixon are the most obvious but there's a whole host of people who would remain -- some of them here in new york but others, kim haggerty was the white house press secretary, to this day is regarded as the best press secretary in white house history. he earned the job in new york under tom dewey. herbert brownell, the attorney general under eisenhower was dewey's campaign manager and the list is a very long one. >> osmond in richmond, virginia, you're next. >> caller: this is a very interesting subject. hello? >> yeah, you're on the air, go ahead. >> caller: thank you, go ahead, this is a very interesting subject. >> i'm sorry, can you hear me? >> we can. >> caller: this is a very interesting subject. this was the first presidential election, my mother a life long republican, voted in. and one of the things she told me was that she found dewey unattractive because of his -- she mentioned his greasy hair and his mustache. if you can comment on that. but my main interest was understanding the role a future major player in the democratic party, lyndon j

[applause] coming up on american history tv, dwight eisenhower's speech accepting the republican nomination for president in 1952.

forhe first tv ads presidential campaign aired in 1952 between dwight d. eisenhowerdlai stevenson. here they are. college,e graduates his father, a u.s. senator opposes the vietnam war. al gore has his doubts but enlisted in the army. when he comes from vietnam, the last thing he expects to do is enter politics. then, al gore decided that to change what was wrong in america he had to fight for what is right. treating toxic waste, the environment, broke from his own party. work requirements. his fight now is to ensure the prosperity in riches all of us. strength and social security to take on big drug companies to guarantee prescription prices. old school and accountable for results. , married 30 years, father of four. clinton-gore, prescriptions cart -- prices have skyrocketed. george bush has a plan. accessy senior will have to prescription drug benefits. gore opposed bipartisan reform. he is pushing a big government plan. -- gore prescription plan the bush prescription plan people choose. >> if you like politics you can find plenty of archival ads and campaign spee

are sold. >> the first tv presidential campaign ads aired during the 19 52 contest between dwight d. eisenhower stevenson. ads have been essential to every campaign sense. here is a look. ♪ >> it is time for an honest look at the problem in the united states. dissent is a necessary ingredient of change but in the system of government that provides for peaceful change, there is no cause that justifies resort to violence. let's recognize the first civil right of every american is to be free from domestic violence, so i pledge to you, we shall have order in the united states. >> [laughter] >> if you like politics, you can find archival ads, presidential debates and more on c-span.org. >> you are looking at the time let's video recorded -- a time lapse video showing the process constructing an exhibition about jacob riis. next on american artifacts, we visit the exhibit in the library's thomas jefferson building to learn about the le

i have not mentioned dwight eisenhower. and he wawas actually one of the better presidents. was not a man as, historians would tell you, of many words. was not one of the great of communicators, but did have some vision. it is because of eisenhower that we have the interstate road system tt we have. so, i don't know, i would put it has one of the more successful p presidents, but the other things that we might consider with these less than successful presidents is that, um, they weren't pragmatic enough to make the deals that needed to bring the country along to be in step with them. and they lacked the charisma and the character to really, really late. so, as we look at all of these, i think we can see certain elements in every president, even those who we would call failures. had some of these qualits, probably not, not in a great amount. but perhaps there was a part of harding that was pragmatic. perhaps coolidge did have some abability to have peoe trust in him. but the people that we remember are those that have all of the characteristics that professor dallek mentioned

i mean dwight eisenhower, richard nixon are the most obvious. but there is a whole host of people who would remain, some here in new york, but others, hagerty was the white house press secretary to the state is regarded as the greatest press secretary while he worked under dewey. the attorney general under eisenhower was dewey's campaign manager and the list is a very long one. >> >> -- in virginia. you're next. >> hello. you're on the air go ahead. >> can you hear me? >> we can. >> okay. this is a very interesting subject. this is the first presidential election my mother, republicans voted in. one of the things she told me is that she found dewey unattractive because of his greasy hair and his mustache. could you comment on that? my main interest was understanding the role in the future player in the democratic party lyndon johnson played in this election. >> well lyndon johnson tried to get himself elected into the senate of texas, he wasn't significant in the presidential race. dewey's is revealing in a number of ways. dewey is somewhat toda

first televised presidential campaign ad aired during the 19 52 contest between republican dwight d. eisenhower and the mark rutte adlai stevenson -- democrat adlai stevenson. coming up, american history tv our lives to look at the difference made by these ads beginning in the 1952 election and into the 21st century. we will be joined by our guest to take viewer questions and tweets. . >> like for president. you like ike, you like ike, everybody likes i♪ >> we don't want jobs. then do not pick john. ♪ [singing] we all go with ike. >> you like ike. i like ike. everybody likes ike. ♪ >> now is the time for all good americans to come to the aid of their country. >> like for president. ike for president. ike for president. ♪ ♪ >> ike. >> bob. >> ike. >> bob. >> i am so glad we are friends again, bob. >> yes, ike. we agree on everything. >> let's never subverted again, bob. >> bob. >> ike. >> bob. .> ike, bob >> will ike and bob live happily ever after? is the white house made enough for both of them? stay tuned for a musical interlude. >> i've been thinking, bob and ike now think alike. will the. -

dwight eisenhower suffered a very significant heart attack in september of 1955.e was out of action for 3 1/2 months. did he some work, but for the most part the country was, the business of the government was carried on by a group, a committee of four people. now, it's interesting that not one of those people was vice president nixon. dwight eisenhower didn't trust richard nixon, and there was no real process by which anyone could take over if the president were ill. if the president died, there was a some system. if the president was ill, there was no such system. in 1957 eisenhower suffered a small stroke. at that point he realized that it was irresponsible of him not to have set up a system and at that point he signed a letter which said that in the case of his incapacity, all of his power would flow directly to vice president nixon. it was as a result of that experience that eisenhower became a proponent that there be a constitutional amendment so this wouldn't be a matter of a letter from a president to a vice president, but there would actually be a system

it wasn't until since the time of dwight eisenhower when he was president that any president confirmed more and he was president for eight years. special thanks to the chairman of the judiciary committee previous and now, senator grassley and senator graham for their leadership and special thanks to president trump for nominating this nominee, this justice and three remarkable justices to the supreme court. >> what an extraordinary night, everyone. we witnessed the confirmation of judge amy coney barrett to become the newest associate justice on the united states supreme court and i am so proud to have been a member witnessing judge barrett as she went through the confirmation hearings answering difficult questions coming from both the left and the right. the fact that we have seen her as such a brilliant legal scholar and a brilliant jurist, someone commanded by folks on both the left and the right. as she moved through the process, not a single note in front of her. i am so proud of her the way she held herself during this difficult last two weeks and her incredible demeanor, just ex

he goes on to single out viermt nixon at the time and president dwight eisenhower. >> yeah, this book"conscience of a conservative, i think to this day remains the best statement of what it means to be a conservative in this country. he is so clear -- and i think earlier on you'd used the word simple. and and i think for me i was using the word principled. >> not simplistic. >> no. it was clean. and those principles are beautifully outlined in that book. it is just as good of a read today as it was back in the day. >> as an author and a writer i have to give? credit to the guy who actually wrote the book. which is a fellow named brent bozell. barry goldwater might have read it but he definitely wasn't involved in the production of the book, which is a fascinating story that i tell in my book "before the storm." >> let's go to the 1960 convention because it's an important point. i'll come back to you, i promise. as he spoke to the delegates at the republican convention which nominated vice president richard nixon. >> as an american who loves this republic and as a member of the senate

in fact, the hispanic republican movement began amongst mexican-americans that latched up to dwight eisenhowerd berry goldwater and richard nixon and puerto ricans in new york have a long tradition of supporting the republican party in new york to rockefeller and even most recently. it's a diverse group. i'd say representative of all hispanic or latino national groups spread across the country, certainly in different percentages and i wouldn't want to pin it on a particular issue like catholicism or free enterprise or law and order or military order and patriotism. i think all of those things have been discussed at a moment in time as underpinning of latino republican identity but i'd say it's all of those things at the same time. >> yeah. sort of a follow-up question before we dive in. what would you say misconceptions are about the latino electorate. it's month -- monolithic but are there apprehensions that you see repeated about the nature of the voters or the nature of the issues that compel the voters to go to the polls. >> great, great, the biggest one is latinos are naturally anything,

ideological division, as it had in 1972, or when the republicans up a charismatic leader such as dwight eisenhower and 1956, or the third factor might be when a democrat serving in the white house has done something that gives people reason not to vote for him or for his party, so these are the factors that by a large take away from the possibility of a democratic three, and we have to weigh these factors in terms of 1976 where the democratic party is not divided, where president ford is not known as a charismatic leader, and where there has not been a democrat in the white house, so given this, we see one party playing at the democratic label, one candidate, the other not playing up his party label. >> we hear a great deal about the personal factor in american politics, the coup de grace of a successful personal appeal or the factor when someone makes a mistake. how much does this -- obviously, it affects the party orientation -- the party label orientation of the voter. how much does it really change this other than for an obvious person like general eisenhower, to whom the personality thing and

in the lass year of his presidency, republican president dwight eisenhower appointed him in the easternnd in that capacity, he signed a statement of former u.s. attorneys, all of whom were appointed by republican presidents. the list includes former u.s. attorneys appointed by every republican president from dwight eisenhower right up and not including donald trump. that statement says we believe that president trump's leadership is a threat to the rule of law in our country. he expects his justice department appointees and prosecutors to serve him. former vice president joe biden has devoted his career to protecting law enforcement, the justice department and working to ensure that the federal government exercises the law enforcement fairly and imparktly and in the interest of all americans. woe hereby announce we will each be voting for joe biden and kamala harris to serve as the next president and vice president of the united states. our next guest is a life long republican from texas who served in the homeland security department in the trump administration and became a member of mi

it was republican leadership under dwight eisenhower that kept the peace, and passed along to this administrationest arsenal for defense the world has ever known. [applause] and i need not remind you that it was the strength and the unbelievable will of the eisenhower years that kept the piece by using our strength, by using it in the foremost straits and in lebanon and by showing it courageously at all times. [applause] it was during those republican years that the thrust of communist imperialism was blunted. it was during those years of republican leadership that this world moved closer, not to war, but closer to peace, then at any other time in the last three decades. and i need not remind you, but i will, that it's been during democratic years that our strength to deter war has stood still, and even gone into a planned decline. it has been during democratic years that we have weekly stumbled into conflict, timidly refusing to draw our own lines against aggression, deceitfully refusing to tell even our own people of our full participation, and tragically, letting our finest men die on the batt

ideological division, as it had in 1972, or when the republicans put up a charismatic leader, such as dwight eisenhower52 and 1956, or the third factor might be when a democrat serving in the white house has done something that gives the people reason not to vote for him or for his party. so, these are the factors that, by and large, take away from the possibilities of a democratic victory, and we have to weigh these factors in terms of 1976 where the democratic party is not divided. where president ford is not known as a charismatic leader in the mold of general eisenhower and where there hasn't been a democrat in the white house. so, given this, we see one party playing up the democratic label, one candidate. the other not playing up his party label. >> you know, we hear a great deal about the personal factor in american politics coup de grace about a personal sexual appeal or the boo-boo when somebody makes a mistake. how much does this -- obviouslyy it affects the party orientation, the label orientation. how much does it really change, other than for obvious person like general eisenhower, to whom

truman, dwight d. eisenhower, john f. kennedy, lyndon baines johnson, richard nixon, and ronald reagan." now, professor dallek's analysis only looks at the 20th century. i'm going to throw in some of the presidents from the 21st century as we go along. so, if we can go to the first slide, professor dallek talks about these six points. the first one, he says, is vision. the second is charisma -- i'm going to go back and talk about this. the second is charisma. the third is pragmatism. we'll move onto the next flight. the fourth is consensusbuilding, followed by trust and credibility, luck, and then i'm going to throw in, which is on the last slide, something i'm going to call communication competence. and we're going to leave the slides behind right now. so, let's start with vision. so, vision, according to dallek, is that presidents come up with an idea, and they help us to develop something that's going to pull us all together. it's going to be something that is going to unify us. sometimes it comes to us as a -- in a ph

so, in 1952, for example, even though adlai stevenson, the democratic nominee, and dwight eisenhower,can nominee, were airing some spot advertising, the vast majority of people who were seeing them, or at least -- certainly with stevenson -- were seeing them give 18-, 30-minute speeches at 10:30 at night on tuesdays and thursdays in the latter part of the campaign. and both candidates were very reluctant to do this kind of spot advertising. they just -- they saw politics as being more dignified. they saw spots as the way you sell soup, soap, and cereal, not lofty political ideas. host: we are going to see a lot of spots, a lot of ads, in the next hour and a half year with professor bob mann from lsu. we welcome your calls and your comments and questions on ads that are particularly notable to you. so we will open up our lines. for republicans, it's (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. and independents, (202) 748-8002. so it is fair to say both candidates in 1952, ike eisenhower and adlai stevenson, had to be pushed to do advertising, correct? guest: yeah. so, there was an advert

1956, 1960, the candidates saw television as a way to give speeches. 1952, adlai stevenson and dwight eisenhowerng some spot advertising. the vast majority of people who were seeing them, at least certainly with stevenson, were seeing them give 30-minute speeches. stevenson gave 18-, 30-minute speeches on 10:30 at night on tuesdays and thursdays. both candidates were very reluctant to do this kind of advertising. they saw politics as being more dignified. they saw spots as the way you sell soup, soap, and cereal, not lofty political ideas. host: we are going to see a lot in thes, a lot of ads, next hour and a half year with bob mann from lsu. we welcome your calls, comments and questions. we open up our lines. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. and independents, (202) 748-8002. so it is fair to say both 1952, ike in eisenhower and adlai stevenson had to be pushed to do advertising, correct? guest: yeah. there was an advertising executive who was fairly prominent, famous for his innovations at the time, rosser reeves. he was hired by the eisenhower campaign to manage their ad

but there's no doubt that john foster dulles became dwight eisenhower's secretary of state as an outgrowth of the long record of association creative foreign policy association that he had had with tom dewey. >> i would agree with that. he was won -- maybe the most senior of a group of dad's advisers who went to washington. you mentioned jim haggardty and there were quite a number of them. >> i don't think we mentioned the through way. one of governor dewey's great innovations was the new york state throughway which bears his name, a road without a traffic light from new york city to buffalo which did more for upstate new york than anything since. but the man who built the throughway is the man who went onto build the interstate system under dwight eisenhower. >> i want to throw out a couple of names here. hubert humphrey and tom dewey's relationship with him? >> it's one of the surprising aspects of a surprising life. in 1964, tom dewey was at the white house. he pointed out to lbj, he said, have you look at the schedule of your convention in atlantic city? and he was meeting with marvin

extraordinarily, you know, it's not barry goldwater who broke the solid south, and it's not dwight eisenhower it was herbert hoover who carried texas and several other southern states. the assumption is that he only carried them as a measure of the anti-catholic bias that existed in the deep south. and that clearly was a factor. >> but there's another factor that tends to get overlooked, and that is the gratitude that people in the deep south felt because hoover was the face of relief at the time of the floods. you know, the only person, really, certainly the only person associated with government who had tried to address their needs. >> i mentioned the harding story concludes in 19 - they built the harding tomb, a great big, hollow drum in marion, ohio, but they couldn't get anyone to dedicate it. coolidge wouldn't go and dedicate it. and hoover, in 1930 - seven years after harding died, hoover took a train to marion, and he dedicated it. not only did he dedicate it, but he used his speech to single out people in the audience who'd been crooks in the harding administration, people who had ha

and the messages and tactics they are willing to use why bothads which is adlai stevenson and dwight eisenhowernt to go on tv and do spot advertising because they want to be dignified. they don't want to do something that is undignified or boomerangs on them. if you want to know where political advertising is going, sometimes -- if you see where product advertising is today, that is where political advertising might be in five or 10 years. we are talking about presidential campaign advertisement. american history tv is on c-span3 every weekend. --e on "washington journal" a coproduction as well. 1980, jimmy carter running against ronald reagan. here is a look. [video clip] >> no matter how , the president cannot avoid making a decision. that's the only way presidential decision can be made. president carter. and deeply, deeply resent attacksded by the present carter has made a my husband, his attempt to paint my husband is a man he is not. he is not a warmonger, he is not a man who will throw the elderly on the streets. that's a terrible thing to do and to say about anybody. that is campaigning

>> the first tv presidential campaign ads aired during the 1952 contest between republican dwight d. eisenhowernd democrat adlai stevenson. ads have been essential to every presidential campaign since. here is a look. >> 1969. america and turmoil. his father opposes the vietnam war. al gore enlists in the army. when he comes home, the last thing he thinks he will ever do is enter politics. he starts a family, becomes a reporter, and al gore decided that to change what was wrong in america, he had to fight for what was right. he ran for congress, held some of the first hearings on toxic waste, made the environment better, rope with his party to support the gulf war, fought to perform welfare. his fight now is to ensure the prosperity of all families. strengthen social security. take on big drug companies to guarantee prescription drugs for seniors. hold schools accountable for results. years, a father of four, fights for us. clinton, bridge caption drug prices have skyrocketed. george bush has a plan. add a prescription drug benefit to medicare. >> every senior will have access to prescription d

dwight eisenhower, richard nixon the most obvious. there's a whole host of people who would remain, some here in new york. the list was a long one. >> osmond in richard -- richmond, virginia. you're next. >> caller: hello? >> you're on the air. go ahead. >> caller: thank you. can you hear me? >> we can. >> caller: okay. this is the first presidential election my mother, a lifelong republican, voted in and she told me she found dewey unattractive, because she mentioned his greasy hair and mustache. my main interest was understanding the role, the role lyndon johnson played in this election. >> well, lbj tried to get elected himself to the senate himself in texas. so he was not a significant factor in the national, in the presidential race. dewey's appearance is revealing in a number of ways. dewey is someone who today would be a despair of the handlers. he could not be handled. there were people throughout his career, who said, you know, tom, if you would shave off that mustache and get your teeth fixed, he had a couple of missing teet

roosevelt, harry truman, dwight eisenhower, john f. kennedy and lyndon johnson. they had differences on some issues, but they were united in their belief that where the security of america or the peace of the world is involved, we are not republicans, we are not democrats, we are americans, first, last, and always. [applause] these five presidents were united in their total opposition to isolation for america, and in their belief, that the interests of the united states and the interests of world peace require that america be strong enough and intelligent enough to assume the responsibilities of leadership in the world. they were united in the conviction that the united states should have a defense second to none in the world. they were all men who hated war and we're dedicated to peace. but not one of these five men, and no president in our history, believed that america should ask an enemy for peace on terms that would betray our allies and destroy respect for the united states all over the world. yeah [applause] as your president, i pledge that i shall always

and also, by every republican president, since dwight eisenhower. this radical and irresponsible course would threaten our security. and could put the whole world in peril. you and i must never come this -- let this come to pass. it's simple to call for an arms race, but when they threatened the world peace, a tough sounding talk like that is not enough. a president must act. responsibly. when soviet troops invaded afghanistan, we moved quickly to take action. i suspended some rain sale, for the soviet union, i called for draft registration, withdrawn horn heartedly with the congress. i join wholeheartedly with the congress and the u.s. olympics committee, and 60 other nations boycotting the big propaganda show in moscow country. the republican leader opposed the peaceful actions and he waffled on the third. but when we ask him what he would do about southeast asia he suggested blockading cuba. even his running mate wouldn't go along with that. he's not sure what you want to do with the russians. he's not sure if he wants to feed, them play with, th