edna greene medford, why do this? is it helpful, historically, to do this, to compare these presidents over so many years? >> absolutely. it's always important to talk about what is happening in terms of government leadership. it's important to look at them over a period of time. because historians like to view history from afar. we don't like to look at current events so much. so, if you look at the rankings of these presidents over a period of time, you get a better appreciation for how they are doing in terms of the countries memory of them or how the country views them overtime. and so, you're going to see these kinds of changes in ranking because of the passage of time. and because each generation sort of comes to its own conclusions about how successful these men, hopefully someday women, have been. in terms of their roles as the leadership in the country. >> spending two hours, the last two hours of our program today, talking about the survey of presidential leadership. a deep dive into those results. and you c

c., professor edna greene medford at howard university. thank you all so much for your time this morning. weekends on c-span two are an intellectual feast. every saturday, american history tv documents america's story. and book tv brings you the latest in nonfiction books and authors. funding for c-span two comes for these television companies and more. including comcast. >> oh, you think this is just a community center? no, it's way more than that. comcast is partnering with 1000 community centers to create wi-fi enabled -- so students from low income families can get the tools they need to be ready for anything. >> comcast, along with these television companies, support c-span 2 as a public service. >> i am honored to present this morning's speakers. they are both exceptional people. our first speaker will be professor garrett gallagher, who we all know, is it the way it's pronounced? and a u -- professor americas in the history of the civil war and director of the center for civil war history at the university of virginia. he's the auth

and from here in washington, d.c., professor edna greene medford at howard university. thank you all so much for your time this morning. -- including cox. >> homework can be hard, but squatting in a diner for internet work is even harder. that's why we're providing lower income students access to affordable internet. so homework can just be homework. cox connect to compete. >> cox, along with these television, companies support c-span 2 as a public service. present this m >> i am honored to present this morning's speaker is. they are both exceptional people. our first speaker will be professor gary w. gallagher, who is the john l no, it's not the way it's pronounced? and a u -- professor americas in the history of the civil war and director of the center for civil war history at the university of virginia. he's the author, co-author, and editor of numerous civil war era works. he has served as president of the society of civil war historians and received the tom watson brown book prize from the society in 2012 for his that union war. prior to that honor, is the confeder

edna greene found years ago, now, in charles city county. free black woman who was living on a farm. she had children, one of them was her older son. was prime age to be forced into the confederate military use, to do earthworks. he did so until he managed to get back home. he fled and ended up going down into hamptroads region, enlisted in a union, u. s. regiment. he fought during the civil war and was discharged, died in the post war years. that's a great example. somebody who did not want to go dig earthworks for the confederacy. didn't want to be further harassed by the confederacy. and yet made a challenging choice of leaving a middle aged mother at home with younger children, they were siblings, to go fight in u. s. colored troop unit. free blacks were facing some of the same challenges that colored folks we're facing. i hoped we can find out more about the flight of free blacks. >> yeah, absolutely. as you say, it would be impossible to count them all. and recover every experience, but the more we can, the better. for david now, a que

we'll go to howard university associate provost history professor edna green medford for your answer. >> the interesting thing is that although there has been oppression throughout the decades and the centuries, african americans still believe in the promise of the declaration of independence. we know we were not included in the words all men were created equal because most of us were considered property legally at that time. but we still believe in the promise. we believe that america can do better and will do better because we understand that although people are not concerned about the loss of power is a gentleman said they understand that in america everyone should be entitled to rise as lincoln said. but to the need to stay in control sometimes is the overarching factor. the thing that motivates people. we are at a very dangerous point in the history of the country. and so we have to decide whether or not were going to move forward and ensure those of the declaration or if we are going to move backwards. it is on us, this generation to make that determination. >> amity shlaes are