al felzenberg, how we typically wait presidents? >> not well. every president's day or july july 4th we are told by the newspapers that yet another has been undone and here are the great presidents in the category great, near great, average, below average's failure, and then all the familiar faces come up, the one who built monuments to in this city and others and what distinguishes the great from the ordinary and it's just overjoyed yesterday to see somebody putting the bill in congress giving george washington back his birthday. somebody decided in the 70's every holiday was changed except veterans day and july 4th which you can't change to fly fourth to weekend and all presidents are the same and the result is that had a very hard time distinguishing them to the extent the study any history at all. so i thought i would try my own and i would actually tell the viewer what i think made for a great president and invite the viewer to disagree with me. i don't care how people come out but i would like them to defend their opinions with facts and s

have madison couldn't. >> host: alvin felzenberg, what is your job to g w.? >> guest: well, i teach several courses. one is presidential rhetoric at its a very important part of the presidency, to persuade people, it to change minds, to speak for 300 million people and be respected. some of them roast to great heights and others did not. we think of lincoln and the majesty of lincoln. it should be given in english courses as well. then, i teach a course on president's foreign policy. i'll tell you one story about that. i start by saying, okay, what happened the night and 45? they knew it was at the end of world war ii. 1965 as the antislavery. so what happened in 1763? not in. nothing, no reaction. 1763, and of the world where, the british get the french out of north america, master of. two years later, stanback crisis although said. it was supposed to be eternal peace. were still waiting for a piece and for problems to be behind us. and yeah, not so easy. each of those men in their own way try to do with these situations. >> host: how long have you been teac

. >> alvin felzenberg, in your rating system you rate him in number 26. some of the presidents are tied to a loss of rage and not exactly. but he gets ready number 26. to for character. he gets for for preserving and takes the ending. >> first of all, let me tell you , harding is always rated next-to-last. when you get that early polls sent up to historians harding is at the bottom. watergate is good for them. but i went back and looked at mr. harding's record. extraordinary record. he was very much in favor. he got it through the house. he could not get it passed the senate filibuster. he then went down to alabama and gave the startling address. an audience with african american listeners, and then you have all of a dazzling southern gentleman and lease. and he gives a startling address. he says, the south is never going to catch up with the rest of the world. carry this problem around. factories don't want to come in here. bad press. time we treat all men as equal. i should not have to tell you this. i read the new york times account of that, and have t

. >> we have been talking with george washington university professor alvin felzenberg. his most recent book, "the leaders we deserved (and a few we didn't)." >> book tv has over 100,000 twitter followers. be a part of the excitement. paula book tv on twitter to be publishing is to misters lay, other information, and it information. >> up next, an interview from torture washington university. >> book tv is on location at george rushed to university here in washington d.c. for our college series, a chance to talk with some professors who have also written books and to introduce you to those books. next up we will be talking with the author of this book, the myth of digital democracy. first of all, what is democracy? >> well, the book is really about the claim that a lot of people have had about how the internet is changing politics. everything from how campaigns are run to how we get our news to how we process and interact. >> and what is the myth of digital democracy? >> when we talk about the internet from very early on, even the early 90's, all of the claims are not so

now joining us is alvin felzenberg from george washington university.ere is his book, "the leaders we deserved (and a few we didn't)". about the american presidents. how do we typically rate presidents? >> guest: not well. every president's they work july 4th we are told by newspapers another poll has been done were 50 or 100 historians and here are the great presidents. great, near great, average and below average. then it tells what criteria. all the familiar faces come up. the ones we see on the currency. the ones we build monuments to in this city and others. let me tell you what distinguishedes the great from the ordinary. hi enjoyed seeing somebody putting a bill in congress giving george washington back his birthday. somebody decided in the 70s that every holiday would change so veterans day changed. they're all not the same and the result is students have a hard time distinguishing to the extent they study any history at all. so i thought i would try my own and tell the viewer what i think makes a great president and i invite the viewer to exper

we are now by the author of this book alvin felzenberg 18. sarah vowell is our guest.his is about the history of hawaii. how did you get interested in the history of hawaii? >> guest: it is about the history of america's relationship to hawaii. first, i went there i went to see pearl harbor. just as a tourist. i wanted to see that. while i was there i went to see the old palace of the hawaiian monarchy and realize those two sites are related because the japanese never would have attacked honolulu harbor for being part of the united states if the united states and descendants of american missionaries had not overthrow the hawaiian queen who handed over the island to the u.s.. that was the start of my interest in the relationship between the two countries. >> host: when did the missionaries first go to hawaii? >> guest: they left boston harbor, new england calvinist left boston harbor in 1819 and arrived in hawaii in 1820. the first new england whalers from boston harbor arrived because hawaii was a great stopping of point between whaling grounds. these groups arrived wi