. ♪ >> this week on q&a, professor edward j larson discusses his new book, "george washington, nationalist edward j larson, author of "george washington, nationalist george washington was here today and could see the full run of this campaign, no matter who the victor is, what would he say about what happened to his democracy? mr. larson: i think you would be appalled. because he didn't believe in partisan politics. he had a vision that people would run hard-fought campaigns. he was in hard-fought campaigns with madison and others, hard-fought. once you got there, you were nuts must be part of a party caucus. you were supposed to call each one as you saw them, and if you look at the way he led, not just as president but at the constitutional convention, and when he was a general, he tried to lead by conciliation, by listening and cooperation. for every battle, he would listen to all his lieutenants before he talked. at the constitutional convention, he met with everyone , he worked out compromises by working together. brokewere some people he with, like george mason, but he brought enough

edward j. larson, author of the book "george washington, nationalist." george washington were alive today and he saw the election, no matter who the victor is, what would he say? prof. larson: i think he would be appalled. he really did not believe in politics. he had this vision the people would run hard-fought campaigns. on campaigns with others, hard-fought. but once you got there you were not supposed to be part of a party process. you were supposed to call each one as you saw them. if you look at the --stitutional envision convention, he tried to lead by conciliation, by listening, by cooperation. at the constitutional convention, he listened to everyone, he met with people at night, he worked out compromises. sure, some did not go along. brian: how much time have you spent at mount vernon to do your books the last couple of years? prof. larson: i have been fortunate enough to be the library fellow. if you do not think something is a treat, to live in the residence and get up before the tourist, and be there after the tourists leave. onout my notebo

brian: edward j. larson, author of "george washington, nationalist." george washington were alive today and he saw the full run of this campaign, no matter who the victor is, what would he say? prof. larson: i think he would be appalled. he really did not believe in politics. he had this vision the people would run hard-fought campaigns. he worked on campaigns with others, hard-fought. but once you got there you were not supposed to be part of a party process. you were supposed to call each one as you saw t

edward larson on his book. then, theresa may takes pressure -- questions from the house of commons. ♪ >> this week on q&a, professor edward jarson discusses his new book, "george washington, nationalist." edward j larson, author of "george washington, nationalist george washington was here today and could see the full run of this campaign, no matter who th

our guest has been edward j. larson, professor larson from pepperdine college. his latest book is "george washington, nationalist." thank you very much. prof. larson: thank you very much. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> for free transcripts or to give us your comments about this program, visit us at q-and-a.org. programs are also available as a c-span podcast. ♪ >> if you like to this program, there are others you might enjoy. author and historian ron chern l talking about his biography "washington, a life." also richard gilder and lewis lehrman discuss their collection of historical documents. and a book on the summer of 1787 that takes an in-depth look at the men responsible for drafting the u.s. constitution. you can watch this program online at c-span.org. here on c-span, washington journal is next. live at 10:30, a discussion on hiv/aids research. looking ahead to this afternoon, former pentagon

edward j. larson, author of the book

. >> this week on "q&a" edward j larson. professor larson discusses his washington,e nationalist. j larson, if george washington was here today, and he was able to see the full run of this campaign, no matter who the victor is, what would he say about what happened to his democracy? prof. larson: i think he would be appalled. he really did not believe in partisan politics. he had this vision the people would run hard-fought campaigns. he worked on campaigns with others, hard-fought. but once you got there you were not supposed to be part of a party caucus. you were supposed to call each one as you saw them. if you look at the constitutional convention and when he was a general, he tried to lead by conciliation, by listening, by cooperation. before every battle coming he brought in all of his lieutenant and listened before they talked. at the constitutional convention, he listened to everyone, he met with people at night, he worked out compromises. sure, some did not go along. there were people he broke with like george mason. but he brought enough together to work across lines. it