and so fdr made a tough decision. well, it was an impulsive decision, an emotional decision and would turn out to be a poorly-managed plan. he decided to spend much of the summer of 1938 traveling across the country and intervening in democratic primary races. he decided to go to rallies and speak out against conservative incumbents and in favor of liberal challengers. he was one angry guy. he was frustrated and deeply resentful at being blocked by member of his own party who had the nerve, the chutzpah, to exploit his own name and his own popularity when it was to their advantage. he was boiling mad. what was his goal? the goal was to oust conservatives from the democratic party and make that party solidly progressive. and he assumed that the gop would become a solidly conservative party. it made no sense for the nation to have, as he said, a democratic tweed l dumb and a republican tweedledee. he believed that the country needed two effective and responsible political parties, each ideologically consistent and unite

but fdr was part of that. and i've always thought it was interesting, and, actually, there's some fdr -- fdr did some writing in the 1920s both for small newspapers and for magazines, and almost invariably -- not almost invariably, but frequently on foreign topics. and a strong proponent of america in the wilsonian sense as a beacon of democratic enlightenment. we have this power, we have this great example of our people and our system, and we should be promoting this to the extent that we can around the world, that we're challenged by alien ideologies in russia and in germany and italy and elsewhere and that america is a beacon of hope. there's an interesting incident in 1932 right after, um, the election. you may know the story. fdr is president -- of course, in those days there was a four or five-month gap between the election and inauguration which was in march, not january. and fdr famously paid a courtesy call on president hoover, and somewhat to his surprise and annoyance, hoover had with him another du

bought clarke from day fdr library is a genius three theron and a magnificent presidential archive. f it is a great honor for me has a daughter from nazi germany to be speaking here in the home of my idol franklin roosevelt.e the story begins of number 1936 when fdr shows -- wins the landslide election every state except maine and vermont joined in the confidence. election night fdr was thomas hyde park listening to the radio and reading their press stickers as the astonishing results came in, he leaned back in his chair bamboo wearing of smoke and said wow he beat his opponent by 11 million votes 523 electoral votes to donate eighth. it was day mandate tomise fulfill the promises of the new deal but soon after the year earthquake election and the political wind shifted and the overwhelming mandate proved to be fragile. by the spring of 1937 theve honeymoon with congress was over and by 1938 the angus were falling apart. of the country was sliding back into recession and the supreme court declaring unconstitutional legislation but it was not only economics and checks and balances bu

what was the relationship between fdr and the japanese internment. i thought it was a question i could easily answer by looking into the books but i discovered there was a hole in the research, that people who wrote about japanese americans hadn't written been franklin roosevelt, and people who wrote about franklin roosevelt hadn't written about japanese americans. so i started reading up more, and as i asked the questions, others came along, and to figure out the answers i came more and more to hyde park in search of answers. i would get up early in the morning from brooklyn, take the subway to manhattan take a trap to -- take a cab to the museum, and then come back. an finishing work at the law firm, i went back to school, and in the process i was so fascinated by my little article turned into a dissertation, and which turned into a book, and which is not for sale at hyde park. the book came out a few weeks after september 11th. although i had written the book long before the attacks took place, my messan been the perils of overreacting gamed a spe

looked at fdr retrospectively as god.so for him to be this critical was a very courageous thing at the time in his critique really stands up all these years later. the other thing that occurs to me is another book of jim's i am sure many of you have read, the deadlock of democracy it came out in 1963, seven years after the lion and the fox. president kennedy read it. it was one of the most influential books politically at the time. one of the themes is how much residents are foiled by the deadlock of their intentions in congress. he saw it in 1963 perhaps even more sharply but i will bet the first time was when he was beginning to comprehend it as it related to fdr in his second term. so, with that one more reading, jim? >> this is not part of my report, but i think i was too hard on fdr. this may partly be because of some of the presidents we have had since fdr. [laughter] the third and last, election of 1940, the sphinx and convention. it had long been certain that 1940 would be no ordinary year in american history. for

so fdr kind of overdid this.nd, once again, i think there should be a monument to thomas jefferson in washington, but that nice neoclass call structure that you see along the tidallal basin, and i've always thought was fdr's taste, the memorial, i think, is very much a 1990s view of franklin roosevelt. and, um, i say this partly out of, from design conviction. and i don't think the structure is what he would have particularly liked. but, also, it's franklin roosevelt that we now think about historically, and that is the franklin roosevelt of the new deal. the fdr memorial in washington heavily concentrates on the depression, it concentrates on his domestic policies, on his conservation, his stewardship of, of national parks and so on, all of which is true. but to the total exclusion of certain other aspects of him. you would never know that the great conservationist was also one of the great dam builders of the 20th century which is somewhat anathema in our time, but fdr thought that was a very logical thing to d

freedom. >> your fdr book from the' 20s is striking. i'm wondering, since the interment is one of the black clouds over fdr's president circumstance if you -- presidency, how that type of attitude influenced his wartime decision. >> that's a whole book in itself. you could write a book about it. i did. very briefly, what i discovered is fdr had a long history of racial feeling about asians and japan americans in particular, beginning in the teens when he was assistant secretary of the navy and he feared an invasion from japan after california forbade japanese immigrants from buying land or owning property, and through the 1920s. and through the 1920s and apparently in to the 30s and 40s he was making racial remarks about japanese. this doesn't mean that fdr heated japanese. he was lander liberal by the standards of his time. he admired japanese culture. if you go into the big house you will see all kinds of japanese knickknacks his family brought back from japan. he genuinely appreciated the virtues of japanese but thought that in some

quote, why don't you tell our idol, fdr, to quit beating around the bush. get on the radio and be honest with his people. of course we cannot afford to let friends in england gets. of course we should prepare to help them. if that is not enough, then everything we have got. why stall? why not talk realism to the american people before it is too late? all the passion in that letter left the president unmoved. other persons, even heads of nations, had asked him to take the leadership against the aggressors. he had not done so. on the contrary. the president's behavior had been almost a caricature of godlessness. what was the matter? in the gravest international situation, the nation had ever faced, where was the leadership of the man whose very name since 1933 had become a symbol of candor and courage? one explanation for his caution lay in the nature of the opposition in congress and among the people. in a 1937 poll, 19 out of 20 people answered a flat no to the query whether the united states should enter another world war. the late 1930s was a period when

we understand a good deal about fdr and his work by the enemies he made.one is struck by the visceral intensity of those who opposed him. and extreme and impasse and conservative generated real hatred for the man. epithets like socialist, communist, un-american, spewed maliciously even from people who knew better. hard times, we know, feed demagogues. bitter opposition to fdr came from the full spectrum of conservative politics in the 1930s. the president believed himself to -- much of the resentment because he challenged position of privilege that had so long been held by american elites without serious challenge. one of my favorite lines came from a historian who cites a connecticut country club and i will find it here. connecticut country club adopted a rule barring mention of the president's name in the club to avoid a health menace for its members. in the 1930s the connecticut country club was a meeting place for the elite. i think perhaps one of the consequences of the roosevelt revolution is democratization of golf. al smith became anti roosevelt an

quite literally fdr's stimulus program built america, they built roads, bridges, cities, state parks. next time you're in a state park look for a plaque inside that state park saying when that lovely welcome center got built, there's a good chance it got built during the great depression. but in 1937, eight years into the great depression, fdr turned his attention to cutting the nation's deficit. president roosevelt had been convinced that the nation could no longer afford his recovery efforts, that instead of continuing to attack unemployment, they decided they need to attack the deficit. boy did they, great success there and great time this week, bruce bartlett points out they cut the deficit by 17% in two years, so yes, they attacked the deficit, but in so doing they also attacked the economy. growth had been strong in 1934, 1935, 1936 while the government was spending. in 1937, that growth collapsed, the next year the economy began to shrink again. the great depression had its own recession. misery wrapped in misery. they did slay the deficit in 1937, they also slayed the economy.

fdr did that. just like churchill. even churchill's detractors will say churchill got great britain through 1940. saved western civilization just on the power of his leadership, on the strength of his will. leaders who act like leaders can do great things. >> leaders lead. >> yes, they do. that's why they call them leaders. >>> coming up this morning -- >> jon was going to say something. >> i think president reagan falls in that category, too, because, as we all know, the economic numbers in the early 1980s were not good but he managed to convince people that things were going to be okay. the capacity to instill confidence is the mark of a great president. right now it's very doubtful we're going to be in that situation. >> we're going to bring in a pointed member of the so-called super committee, senator pat toomey. >> super? >> congressman peter king and tavis smiley and dr. cornell west on the national poverty tour. >> up next the political playbook. first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. bill? >>> good mo

and fdr, man, he wasn't afraid of anything.fear, fear itself, so he hired a bunch of people to paint murals and build schools and we mobilized and beat hitler and saved the world and that really worked. so america for the win. that's not quite how it wefnlt a still simplified but not quite as wrong version would sound something like

fdr was campaigning at madison square garden. the press secretary considered the first modern press secretary was trying to get through a police line at madison square garden. an african-american police officer would not let him for and he got in a wrestling match that ended with early sticking his knee in a policeman's galene . the black newspapers coverthe b this not very favorably. one of the most interesting moments i had doing research in the archives was when i found a memorandum from roosevelt's most trusted political adviser who devised a plan to win black votes. he was going to see to it an african-american was appointed to the draft board, the national institution that oversaw the draft. he was going to see that roosevelt promoted a black colonel to general in the united states army. that was benjamin david senior. he was the first african-american general in the army and was going to announce that roosevelt was creating this training program for african americans in tuskegee, alabama. i found a memo where he figured ou

the world war ii on the horizon, fdr went on a week's long cruise. he came back with lemlese.dreamed that up on the cruise and that enabled the british to stand up to nazi germany, temporarily. >> bret: you think something good could come out of martha ice vip yard. >> i hope for the plan to bring us to 6% unemployment. >> if obama returns with the equivalent, i'll become a democrat. see if he can do it. the odds are small. >> bret: there are conspiracy people, theories out there that you are hidden. >> the longest running sleeper in the history of america. 30 years, secret agent. >> the problem is at the end of the bus tour, he said i know what to do and i'll announce it when i come back. a lot of people are hurting. if he knew what to do and he has answer and a plan and a program, why wouldn't he give it immediately and start helping people? that is in the back of people's minds. >> bret: before the break, we asked you will syrian president bashar assad resign? 95% said no. 5% said yes in the unscientific poll. charles? >> in that part of the world you don't resign. here you

fdr. fdr. not a very good job saving capitalism. roosevelt i thought ended the war. roosevelt kept it on his feet until the war came. >> doesn't hurt to put more money in the economy when you're in a depression. that simple. >> the tea party needs to read history. michele bachmann, the founding of our country, first. thank you. nobody knows all the answers. they know less of the answer. thank you, sir. >>> coming up, something you don't see every day. a major republican politician sticking it to the full mooners in his own party who talk of this phony threat of -- i like this guy christie. watch him in action, the governor of new jersey. a real jersey guy coming up next in the "sideshow." >>> you're watching "hardball." only on msnbc. >>> back to "hardball" now. to the "sideshow." first up, hidden talents. a glimpse of the non-political side of a couple of the republican candidates this week. while greeting supporters in new hampshire, jon huntsman bent down and began playing something on the piano. let's listen. >> come on. sit down and hit a few. [ playing the them

one thing obama lacks of that jfk and fdr both had is a movement. fdr had labor behind him. he also had all the disk contents of the 30's that in some way opposed him, but became this overwhelming majority that brought him to reelection. lbj had civil rights. pushing from below lbj behind the scenes, there was twisting arms and flattery to get things done in congress. the only movement we have had since the biggest financial crisis since the depression is the tea party, who have filled a vacuum. obama could not create a movement. i think once he became president, the list of 10 million names that was his e- mail list, which was sort of the movement that brought him to the presidency, they went home. there were no longer being asked to do anything. without a movement in a critical time like this, it is very hard for the president to summon the troops in the thick of a campaign in which republicans are going to say one in six americans is out of work. >> would the say to the driver of this, and innumerable people i have spoken to who were and are obama supporters who are nonet

. >> ha >> i know that fdr went on the radio and prayed, issued a public prayer for d-day. no he that abraham lincoln called on "american idome calle pray. >> that's different. >> how is it different. >> because this is not in bitterly partisan terms. >> let me finish. >> you like to talk, but when the punch comes back, you start running out of the room. >> bring it on. bring it on. >> people that appeal it a sayre narrow segment of the american population. fdr and abraham lincoln were appealing to a civil religion in a civic democracy that rest upon religious consciousness and thewareness that they needed the help of the divine to lead them forward. that's much different than bitter part does not appeals to a segment. let me finish. >> hold it, hold it. go ahead, bob. >> i was going to say, in addition to which is president of the united states swears to uphold the constitution, which you might not have remembered, this has a first amendment. a television program host does not have to take that kind of oath. >> well that's why i said it ill logical and i did run for presid

dependents of fdr and the niece of the individual who inspired the film schindler's list traveled here to see what took a decade to complete. >> i think it's wonderful. >> it's here. it's here. i'm like totally amazed. >> the monument is ten years in the making. artist mario molded 39 international humanitarians out of 61,000 pounds of bronze. the project was inspired by the tragedy of 9/11. >> maybe those who thought they had no hope or fear could do such an act could see similarities and not want to hurt people. >> the grand unveiling is next week but judging by the crowd at kaiser memorial park, it's already a major attraction. >> it's looking nice. posting pictures on facebook right now. >> reporter: there are 29 humanitarian figures, and 14 local, including the oakland's school chief assassinated in the 1970s. >> some of the people, people totally relate to. some say who is that? >> reporter: that's the head of chief joseph. other than see his tribe aniled by u.s. government expansion, the tribe moved and saved itself. >> the little girl, this was mia. i didn't know bridget. i fig

we've also heard reports part of the fdr was shut down.like someone who lives in new york. it's a major artery along the east side of manhattan where the bulk of the traffic will travel to get around the island of manhattan. a lot of that is shut down, because it sits right on the east river and there's flooding there as well. if the wind and rain is the end of irene, this is how it all started. overnight, the city that never sleeps battens down the hatches. nearly 400,000 people were evacuated from parts of manhattan, brooklyn and the rock aways. they are the lowest part along the city's waterways. for the first time ever, a massive storm forced the shuttering of everything that makes new york new york. while the lights of broadw stayed on, for the first time in years, the 8:00 p.m. show did not go on as theater doors closed. >> con ed will be forced to shut down parts of the grid if the flooding is severe. >> reporter: in lower manhattan, the threat of massive power outages. 10:30 mayor bloomberg told residents it was too late to leave.

nonetheless, the setting of this on the tidal basin across from the jefferson memorial, adjacent to fdr, monument core of america, to have a statue of a man of his greatness, the only non-president in the company, is a true statement of gratitude by a country that owes him a lot. >> stalinism -- i honestly have not thought of that. >> you have not seen the sculpture. >> it is something to contemplate. other than that, i agree with dr. krauthammer's assessment of the wisdom and the urgency of this memorial. >> i think it does make him look like chairman mao. everybody agrees that he should have no moral, but i think he could have had a better one -- it had a morial, but i think he could have had a better one . >> the children of dr. king picked that. o> i don't need to get int what he looks like it is a reminder for me -- the "i have a dream" speech did not create an a-ha moment in the south. it underscores the problem that we face that and we face now. >> last word. see you next week. for a transcript of this broadcast, log on to insidewashington.tv. now he tells us. how far am i off th

fdr going in and then at the end, and yes, it was 12 years but he was only 63 years old. doctor at the cleveland clinic who has made a study of presidential aging has done some calculations. >> every president from roosevelt through obama, for every year they're in office, they age two years, or they age twice as fast as the typical person in the population. >> reporter: that's based on looking back how long presidents survive once they're elected. their vital signs coming in and going out. so, ronald reagan, starting out, loloing like this, left after his two terms at a calendar 77 but a presidential accelerated age of 85. george w. bush, add two terms, that makes him calendar 62 but age accelerated 70. >> what they have that they don't take care of well is stress. >> reporter: so, there he is running on youth back in the old days. america's fifth youngest president. well, today, he turns 50, but maybe it's really 55. and tomorrow with what he'll still be facing, you can add two days. john donvan, abc news, washington. >> happy birthday, mr. president. and our thanks to

. >> you use a very interesting quote from a speech that fdr gave, when he announced the second new dealead it because i thought it was really instructive. quote, never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. they are unanimous in their hate for me. and i welcome their hatred. so, do you think barack obama simply is trying to compromise too much, which has been one of the criticisms, even among some of his one-time strongest supporters? >> you know, one way to talk about it is exactly as you just have, is that he compromised too much. clearly, you know, on the stimulus -- the stimulus bill, people can rewrite history, but he didn't listen to his economic advisers. he didn't listen to the noble prize-winning economists who also told him, who were experts in the new deal when fdr was facing a similar crisis. he said, you know what, we've got to have a really big stimulus. you're looking at the private economy -- the private sector is not -- cannot do it right now. there's no money to spend and only the public sector can do it. i

photos of the great comedienne in her prime, starting with her exhaustion after a birthday party for fdr. desi and lucy formed the desilu studios at the height of the day and they were indeed a hollywood powerhouse. there's more of these photos at life.com. >>> when we come back, a bold owner's manual on turning 50 and what it means for the president of the united states.cc1: it's from a new member of the nbc news family. . >>> president obama turned 50 today, an event way too many of us know all too well. his wife, the first lady, said today he's earning every one of his gray hairs. but that's nothing. he's just getting started. we thought what better way to introduce the newest member of the nbc news family, our friend harry smith, who's here with an owner's guide really to turning a half century old. harry, welcome. >> brian, good to be here. as of today, president obama has become a man of a certain age. along with the concerns of the country, he will have some other things to worry about. >> reporter: happy birthday, mr. president. once upon a time, when you were a young man, all yo

when fdr invented social security, life expectancy was 62. today, it is 80. it was intended to make sure that those few people who live beyond 65 did not enter destitution. now it means our adults are spending almost 1/3 of their working lives on retirement. when bismarck invented the pension in the '88 is, life expectancy was 46. -- in the 18 eighties, life expectancy was 46. he was a genius, not a philanthropist. what we have now is a system that is unsustainable. you see it in europe. that is why we have to discuss this. until democrats yield on structural changes in entitlements, we are hanging over a cliff. >> does that -- didn't the president agree to some cuts? >> raising retirement to 67. in the republican bill, there are reforms medicare that would save $300 billion. they do not want a payment advisory board which will change the payment system and incentives. >> the president of united states is on television every other day. name one structural change in entitlements he has ever enunciated in public. 1. >> raising the retirement age to 67? >> he ha

fdr going in and then at the end and, yes, it was 12 years but he was only 63 years old.rting out looking like this left after his two terms, calendar 7 but an accelerated age of 85. >>> george w. bush, add two terms, calendar 62 but age accelerated, 70. >> what they have that they don't take care of well is stress. >> reporter: so there he is running on youth back in the old days, america's fifth youngest president, well, he turns 50 but really 55. and with what he'll still be facing, you can add two days. john donvan, abc news, washington. >> the good news i guess in recent memory a lot of presidents are at leasas living into their later year, 70s so recover after they get out of office. >> that's true. might consider hair dye. you never know >> that's whatak

fdr did it at times in the 1930s to republicans.here when they opposed fdr, they get absolutely destroyed in the next election. sometimes losing in politics ends up being a huge win. >> i'm not sure that that -- that the history of the debt ceiling debate suggests that that is a possible route toward victory. >> i'll relitigate that. >> maybe went this white house because maybe they're not as skillful -- >> okay, okay. blah, blah, blah. >>y in, no. you don't understand the more intransigent your opponent is, the more opportunities you have to destroy them. let me tell you something -- bill clinton, i will say it again -- bill clinton would have eaten these republicans for breakfast and spit them out before lunch and gone back for a second helping. >> he would have tried to emulate it. he would be sitting down with coburn doing a tax reform will do, close the loopholes, get revenues, and consider lowering rates. bill clinton would have these republicans who have not signed the grover-nor kwift pledge to the white house, and they'd be

you mentioned fdr earlier., here's a program to get america back to work. that, to me, seems strange. there seems to be a political opening for somebody to come in and produce some idea of how to get the country back to work, but neither side seems to be interested in it. it's a great paradox. >> what has prevented the president from doing that? as you said, he's nibbled around the edges, pay roll tax cuts, extending the debt ceiling. >> he's bought into the narrative debt and deficits are the big problem. the 2010 election was seen in the white house, i think, as a referendum to some extent on government spending and stimulus programs, and they've accepted the message that the public doesn't like this, and they seem unwilling to sort of try and launch a counternarrative that actually the stimulus didn't work as well as some people expected, but it worked a lot better than if we hadn't had any and if there hadn't been any stimulus, there might be 12%, 13% unemployment now. it's difficult in washington to make t

there's fdr drive, and then there's this hospital. so it is quite close. are storm surges that go over the highway and come into the hospital, their generators are in the basement. of course i know they have a backup plan, but that hospital is really close to the water. we'll keep up with them to see how the patients are doing, not to mention the doctors and nurses who stay to take care of them. >> heroic efforts. i applauds what they're doing, doctors, nurses, and hospital administrators. we'll stay in close touch with you. >>> as this hurricane begins to bear down on where i am right here in washington, d.c., the nation's capital, i'll speak live with the mayor, vincent gray. he's here in "the situation room." [ cherie ] i wanted to make a difference in my community. [ kimberly ] the university gave me the knowledge to make a difference in people's lives. [ carrie ] you're studying how to be an effective leader. [ cherie ] you're dealing with professionals, teaching things that they were doing every day. [ kimberly ] i manage a network of over a thousand

memorial will be dedicated in washington near the jefferson and fdr memorial.lots of defense going on this weekend ahead of the dedication including tomorrow at noon on c-span with a look at the civil rights leader's past and present to the speakers to marland would eric holder the attorney general, marked of the urban league and that gets underway at noon eastern on c-span. and the dedication on sundays 11 a.m. eastern president obama will speak and many others, to mike and this is the 40th anniversary of the i have a dream speech. we will have coverage on c-span and also c-span radio and c-span.org [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] ♪ notice the color of the bourbon, that pretty color that you see is all coming from the char on the inside of the barrel.hhh this char is where bourbon gets all of its collar, and a lot of its flavor. currently, they've discovered over 200 chemical flavors just from the char from the barrel. we are taking a look at medicare. next come a discussion on how the privately of minister to drug plans work and the ef

fdr began that tradition in honor of the lives that were being lost in foreign places.e asked us to place our hand over our hard during the playing of the national anthem. i am convinced that based on our patriotism and skill that we have leaders that will tell us the truth and live with integrity and who actually know how to lead, that america will rise to the occasion, remain the economic engine that has always been, andemaithe hope of the earth that got indians for this great land. thanks so much. -- that got intends --that god intends for this great land. [applause] >> very nice to meet you. >> i have met you before, haven't i? i am going to be in birmingham on the 30th. >> i appreciate that. >> how are you? thanks for the. -- thanks for the help. >> what kind of business are you starting? good luck to you. thank you. >> the know this guy here? do -- you know this guy here? we need to get a leader. thank you, great to be here. [inaudible] >> look at that. that is an olympic torch. banks, and good luck to you. -- thanks, and good luck to you. wonderful, places to vis

but fdr i write about a lot, harold ickes his interior secretary... >> yeah. >> .fred seaton, the interior secretary for dwight eisenhower, they all had a vision that we needed to keep some places wild like. >> right. >> .here in texas, guadalupe mountains or south padre island or big bend or the big thicket. these are.these are our gifts to our kids' kids. >> yeah. every state has places like that. >> yes. >> this is a story of a place as opposed to a person but in some ways this is a biography of this place every bit as much as some of the many biographies you've written over the years approaches the subject that way. you're bringing out the human qualities and i.that in my mind at least distinguishes this from the kind of book that would be written on this subject by somebody else. >> well that's exactly the way i thought of it. and there's a woman named mardy murie who lived to be over a hundred and won the presidential medal of freedom. >> yeah. >> .and she got married up in the arctic with her husband and they lived all over but went by dogsled on their honeymoon up there in the 1920

i was struck that it was fdr that spoke of rick -- economic tyranny and the political freedom in this country where not coping with such reality is. and arguably this country has the freedom of speech from the country on the planet and in deed along with half free press 100 years of segregation year after. it is to say that the human rights that cannot cope with the fundamental need driving people is not going to have a long and sustainable life. the problem is to seeing legalization but one must remember, was far the results of states and search of laws are more compatible than others and there was a speech a couple days ago the president gave an end and that show he put it very well. i am all for freedom of speech and the right to demand i have food but of the food does not result as a speech there is some faint dead the roundabout away our rights our functioning. you're absolutely right the upheavals can often lead to violence and people point* to the iranians but there is the other piece as well addis is the history of hostility by the united states to so many revolutions. nicarag

. >> let's talk about fdr. a great point. he remain in the depression eight years. talking about this before. my parents raised in dalton, georgia, born in the middle of the great depression, always believed fdr was king. parents from our generation say the same thing -- what did he say? >> he saved the country. >> my mom still says it and she's about as right wing as you get. >> two reasons, i think. he had the advantage of a totally democratic congress. he could try anything. he did. you had a sense he was throwing things at the wall seeing what would land. the works projects and getting people to work on infrastructure. all that sort of thing, he was willing to do it. it didn't pull the people out of the depression, no, it did not. it gave people the sense of if you wanted to find work, you could find work. he was an inspiring speaker. when he got on the radio and he spoke to the country about where we were headed, he just gave people a sense that if you just hang in there, it will get better. >> "new york times" -- when did president obama become such a lousy sp

since fdr, no president has been re-elected with the unemployment rate above 7.2%. there is no question it will be above that when barack obama asks the american people to give him four more years. so how does he try to convince them he's doing everything he can to help create jobs? well, this deal ties his hands in some ways, because the president says let's have an infrastructure bank, let's spend more money on targeted things, let's give research and development grants to encourage new investments in technology and new hiring. however, he's just about to sign a ten-year agreement that says we're going to bend the arc on spending in washington, not cut spending but bend the growth of spending in washington. it makes it much harder to do what he wants to do. it makes it much harder for any democrat to do what they want to do in terms of a bit more activist government. so the president has a huge challenge. what he's hoping here is that this deal helps with the psychology of the private sector and they feel more confident, but the tax question which many employers,

even fdr says they shouldn't have collective bargaining rights but the public when you do polls today who took away their rights. >> the unions poured $4 million and 5 amendment into tv rights and talked about rights. >> there is a radical move the rights of trusted public employees. >> taking away of union rights is not right. >> anything, human rights, civil rights, collective bargaining rights. this is an extensive entitlement >> like the size of bulletin boards. >> this is what you got in the rules to put up a bulletin board. this is why governments go broke. >> how can you do this? >> i can see it may cripple an employer. i'm being facetious. let's get back to the real subject. >> john: like salary and pension deal? does the state senator know about that. >> building painters and school districts get compensation of $98,000. bus drivers make 67 figure salaries. >> do they really. if you take an overall package it's going rich every than what you see in the private sector because the private sector has had to cut back. >> we've absolutely been cutting back. >> cutting back must me

>>neil: is there a moment that could be here, fdr in 1942. explain.ned in 1942 and 1943 with world war ii out there, roosevelt talked of the fact that dr. new deal had to become dr. winhe the war and he meant, when he first came in during the depression old doctor understood internal problems needed structural changes like a securities and exchange commission and social security act, and, now, the same patient has broken arms and hips and legs so you needed a new doctor, win the war because you had to mobilize the private economy in order to build the massive numbers of ships and tanks and weapons needed to win the war. so he put forth tax credits, accelerated depreciation, and he undid antitrust regulations, and all sorts of regulations and he got the economy mobilized to do the most extraordinary partnership ever in our history. >>neil: did he admit that he was wrong before? that his crusade against business was wrong before? or did he just say, time to change. >>guest: he said that, i don't take away from what we did before, because the structural

fdr began that tradition in honor of the lives that were being lost in foreign places. he asked us to place our hand over our hard during the playing of the national anthem. i am convinced that based on our patriotism and skill that we have leaders that will tell us the truth and live with integrity a who actually know how to lead, that america will rise to the occasion, remain the economic engine that has always been, and remain the hope of the earth that got indiansor this great land. thanks so much. -- that got intends --that god intends for this great land. [applause] >> very nice to meet you. >> i have met you before, haven't i? i am going to be in bmingham on the 30th. >> i appreciatehat. >> how are you? thanks for the. -- thanks for the help. >> what kind of business are you starting? good luck to you. thank you. >> the know this guy here? do -- you know this guy here? we need to get a leader. thank you, great to be here. [inaudible] >> look at that. that is an olympic torch. banks, and good luck to you. -- thanks, and good luck to you. wonderful, places to visit

that tradition began in the days of fdr. heart in recognition of the blood that were shed by heroes proved in liberating strike. --s trife. because of the love of this country, i am convinced that despite our challenges, $14 trillion in debt, $62 trillion in unfunded promises by government, jihadists that want to kill us and russia who is resurgent, china that is now an assertive grand power, we face real challenges in the world. i am convinced that the patriotism of the american people if combined with leaders that will actually tell the truth and live with integrity and to know how to lead america back to greatness, that we will rise to the occasion overcome those challenges and remain as we have always been, the greatest nation on earth and the hope of the earth. thank you so much. thank you. [applause] thank you] thank you, guys. i will take a couple of questions. >> do you support the cells security tax on rich people? do you support stretching the social security payroll tax for rich people for them to pay their fair s

i think she's one of those individuals who made a difference actually and fdr was, too. ..k that it's not ring to make painful compromises all the time you know, nothing works according to plan, and i think that the projector gotav into a fight about politics. i don't understand the politicat rulemakings. don't you understand that the state has to respond respond? the president in a democracy of responsibility to come to you know, what the proper adtran majority. we're all sorts of things. you know, do i think that norman was in effect if socialized? on effective politician is a socialist? he was a better politician than norman. too i think the place where norman in the american political system? yes, absolutely. do i think there should be maybe more of those? i think so. i mean, i think that the house of a democracy, you know, requires open exchange of ideas and the kind of battles that he and norman and his friend base about do you reform from the inside or outside? to get a seat at the table? what is the best way to get your point across our message across to do justice?

i think she's one of those individuals who made a difference actually and fdr was, too. .. i mean, i think that having comments at one point got into a fight with your bit about politics. he said i don't understand the political moves are making. don't you understand the state has to respond? the president in a democracy of responsibility to come to you know, what the proper adtran majority. we're all sorts of things. you know, do i think that norman was in effect if socialized? on effective politician is a socialist? he was a better politician than norman. too i think the place where norman in the american political system? yes, absolutely. do i think there should be maybe more of those? i think so. i mean, i think that the house of a democracy, you know, requires open exchange of ideas and the kind of battles that he and norman and his friend base about do you reform from the inside or outside? to get a seat at the table? what is the best way to get your point across our message across to do justice? we just maybe aren't as noisy about them as people once were. >> well, t

fdr had eventually labor behind him. he also had the discontent of the 1930's that some ways a post them but in some ways became the overwhelming majority. lbj had the civil-rights movement. there is no movement behind obama. the only movement we have had since the biggest financial crisis is the depression is the t mark to a -- tea party movement that is extremely hostile. when to became president, that 10 million names that was his e- mail list, which was the movement that brought him to the presidency disappear. it went down. there were no longer being asked to do anything. without a movement in a critical time like this, it is very hard for the president to summon the troops. he is going to be on the hot spot because republicans are going to say one in six americans are out of work. >> what do you see to the driver of this car that i saw who were obama supporters and who are still obama supporters who are disappointed? they say he is not speaking up. i voted for him and i will again but i'm not getting what i want. q

look at fdr, kennedy, reagan, they tended to get out in front of the issues a little bit more.ent, lyndon johnson, who doris studied closely, and president clinton, to some extent, were more about compromising and letting others around them help in that process. it's different leadership styles. at the end of the day, the presidency is still about good decisions. if you look at recent deals like clinton, that benefited him. even reagan, with compromise on social security benefited him. it hurt george h.w. bush. people saw that the renig on the no new taxes pledge. looks like he's moving to the center, bringing people together. that will be helpful here for president obama. >> we were very close to a decision. look, president obama said he wasn't going to make this decision. the whole idea of the 14th amendment last couple of weeks ago, president clinton said if he were in office, he would have raised the debt ceiling on his own. that's the kind of talk that we like to hear from presidents. president clinton can say things because he's not in office. do you think that president

when fdr introduced social security the average lifespan after man was i think about 64. a woman was about 66. we nag you to death. that's why you die sooner. now the average lifespan is 90 years. raise the age to the way it was as, to begin with. so for democrats, i do not believe there is one elected democrat who has admitted this. that is just a lie. they aren't, even, well, maybe debbie wasserman schultz is that stupid but the rest of them are not that stupid to believe they can save social security. there will be changes one way or another. >> host: what role does humor play in your writing? >> guest: for one thing it makes it a lot easier for me to he had it later. well, because i have to read this stuff. like a book, ten times, a column, 50 times, before i hit the send button. and it is a lot more fun to read it over and over again if i'm amusing myself. >> host: ann coulter, eight books. here they are. high crimes and misdemeanors, 1998. slander, 2002, treason, 2003, how to take to a liberal, if you must, 2004. godless, in 2006. if democrats had any brains they wo

walk down a street and a sidewalk and see a bronze plaque on the sidewalk from the wpa, something that fdr did in the 1930s, it's still there. it's a win for both parties, it's a win for the american people, it's an immediate things that can be done and it's an immediate thing that has to be done. and even people like michele bachmann running for president, complaining about spending, she's been asking for a $300 million bridge in minnesota. it's not that people don't recognize that infrastructure is kmus crucial to continuing productivity. >> how do you feel obama is handling this crisis, when you look at years past and other presidents? >> i think that this crisis is unprecedented in a way that the debt, particularly the debt has built up a percentage of our gdp, i think he's inherited, he laz has inherited a bad situation. but you can't make someone into something they're not. this guy is not a cheerleader, he's cerebral, he's intellect l intellectual. what he's got to worry about that the president is a leadership -- he's trying, he's thinking about it, he's working on it and that will