money you know over and over from the washington and ministration till today productivity is going fairly steadily we're talking about george washington george washingtonthe first one where as and wages always track productivity but recently in the last thirty years wages have gone flat productivity has gone up productivity increases profits so does more profits they are the highest they have ever been in the history of planet earth but if they do just to corporatism itself i mean a lot of this liberations are deriving their profits because they're basically in bed with uncle sam you know you could talk about the military industrial complex how much of this is really due to private sector problems i just don't think it's a problem of free markets it's crony capitalism that markets always lead to monopoly that's why the game was invented to really each people how it works absolutely if you have eight and completely unregulated market was regulation the markets you know teddy roosevelt transposed in the sherman antitrust act that stopped monopoly capitalism and all those until the eighty's while the sherman antitrust act was actually based on a model act

it took repeated requests from george washington-- george washington university-- to get the c.i.a.o get it up. here's david martin. >> reporter: located in the middle of nowhere, area 51 has been at the center of some of this country's most closely-guarded secrets going back to the u2 spy plane. the world has known about the u2 ever since 1960 when one was shot down over the soviet union. but only now has the government officially acknowledged the existence of area 51 in nevada. so here it is on page 56: "known by its map designation as area 51." >> old history is being admitted to, but i'm not hold mig breath wait for my invite. >> reporter: bill sweetman has spent much of his career spying on area 51 to find out what new aircraft like the f-117, the world's first stealth fighter, were being tested there. back in 1985 when cbs news hired a small plane to go looking for the f-117, an air force jet suddenly came up to chase us away. but that was nearly 30 years ago. >> i'd be really interested to know what they were spending billions of dollars on at that base for the last 30 years.

george washington's hair? >> yes. george washington parke hostess, a grandson -- probably the grandnephew really of washington wanted to send a medallion with a clipping of georgewashington's hair inside to bolivar because see felt that george washington himself would have wanted to be associated with the name of bolivar, and there was lafayette actually said, of all the people, of all the people in the world that george washington most admired, it was bolivar. and he said that himself. and so the medallion was sent down. it was the absolute pinnacle of achievement. he admired washington. he admired jefferson. the admired the north american founders, although he knew that his task was very different and that he could not emulate them. he treasured this for all time and actually did still in venezuela. very much on display. if you go down to caracas, you can see it. the question about biculturalism , the question is misconceptions. you know, bolivar was -- his whole life was live with people having misconceptions about him. when he was fighting for the liberation of peru, he was making his way back to his homeland. there were rumors you wanted to make a self kin

washingtons, it's a wonderful universal story about how george and martha agreed to disagree about george washington park custis, known as young wash, or tub, who was i think most people agree spoiled royally by his grandmother. he was in and out of school, and wrote these wonderful letters in which washington is pouring out the benefit of his life's experience about how if you work a whole day long it's amazing how much can you get done, et cetera, set set ra, totally waisted on tub, who would go onto become famous for his connection to george washington. >> when the new couple married, george washington was in the process of building mount vernon. and -- >> well, mount vernon existed as a four-room farmhouse, but it was in the process of adding a second story, so then it was an eight-room house with an attic area at the top. >> doing that to bring his new wife there? >> it was paid for himself too, i think it was partly his pride, that he doesn't want to be marrying a witch woman and using her money to make his house. i think it was to show that he too had a lot to offer. >> both of you have spent hundreds of hours at mount vernon. is it fair to call it the center piece of the washingtons' existence? >> oh i think. so. >> definitely, of course. >> yes, it was the north star. the place the

george washington's hair? >> yes. george washington parke hostess, a grandson -- probably the grandnephew really of washington wanted to send a medallion with a clipping of george washington's hair inside to bolivar because see felt that george washington himself would have wanted to be associated with the name of bolivar, and there was lafayette actually said, of all the people, of all the people in the world that george washington most admired, it was bolivar. and he said that himself. and so the medallion was sent down. it was the absolute pinnacle of achievement. he admired washington. he admired jefferson. the admired the north american founders, although he knew that his task was very different and that he could not emulate them. he treasured this for all time and actually did still in venezuela. very much on display. if you go down to caracas, you can see it. the question about biculturalism , the question is misconceptions. you know, bolivar was -- his whole life was live with people having misconceptions about him. when he was fighting for the liberation of peru, he was making his way back to his homeland. there were rumors you wanted to make a self ki

george washington. in may 1775, george washington puts on his military uniform and decides to go to the second continental congress. he's the only one that's going to be wearing a military uniform. he's making a statement. he thinks the war has already begun. and it has, we know, in retrospect. lexington and concord have happened in april. bunker hill is going to happen in june, which is actually one of the bloodiest battles in the war, but i know that chronology is the last refuge of the feebleminded, but it is the only refuge for historians. noticed this, it's underreported, under discussed in history texts. the war starts 15 months before independence is declared. it's going to cause, it's going to shake things in this explanation is that i'm going to offer you. anyway, washington is getting ready to leave mount vernon and he says to his -- what is that? >> [inaudible] >> flood warning, right. [laughter] biblical here. [laughter] somebody gave me that line. thank you, sir. washington said he was manager of mount vernon, who was a second cousin, when the british, potomac to burn mount vernon, get out my books and martha, presumably not in that order -- [laughter] >> he presumed he was going to lose everything. when jefferson eventually gets around to writing those famous words, our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor, they sounded pretty rhetorical. hey, they were for real. it was everything. you have to be willing to do that. and he was willing. later, in 1779, a british frigate comes up to potomac and lund washington says i'm going to send out a skiff with fruit and presence to appease the british captain. so we does not and the british captain says, hey, man, i'm just fishing for airing. i have no evil intention figures even know this is mount vernon. so lund washington sends a report of this to george, sort of proud that he defended the homestead. and washington writes back and says, i am extremely distressed at what you have told me. you have sullied my honor. if it happens again, let them burn it to the ground. these are the kind of guys we are talking about, okay? there's a special quality to this particular crisis that generates a level of leadership, not just in virginia but beyond. by the way, this is not a client that the founders were all iconic heroes are worthy of divinity or thing like that. they are all human beings, each of them effective laws. i've tried to write about that. don't solve the slavery problem, don't solve the native american problem. those are major problems, but all that said, this is the greatest generation of political leadership in an american history. and the revolution is about to be cast. one of the other things that i discovered that this is president scholarly literature in some ways but not every way. is that this was an unnecessary war. there

washingtons, it's a wonderful universal story about how george and martha agreed to disagree about george washington park custis, known as young wash, or tub, who was i think most people agree spoiled royally by his grandmother. he was in and out of school, and wrote these wonderful letters in which washington is pouring out the benefit of his life's experience about how if you work a whole day long it's amazing how much can you get done, et cetera, et cetera, totally waisted on tub, who would go onto become famous for his connection to george washington. >> when the new couple married, george washington was in the process of building mount vernon. and -- >> well, mount vernon existed as a four-room farmhouse, but it was in the process of adding a second story, so then it was an eight-room house with an attic area at the top. >> doing that to bring his new wife there? >> it was paid for himself too, i think it was partly his pride, that he doesn't want to be marrying a witch woman and using her money to make his house. i think it was to show that he too had a lot to offer. >> both of you have spent hundreds of hours at mount vernon. is it fair to call it the center piece of the washingtons' existence? >> oh i think. so. >> definitely, of course. >> yes, it was the north star. the place they

george washington and the making of the nation's highest office. what did you discover new about george washington and this biography? >> the constitution had executive power in a president of the united states, but it failed to disclose what those powers were to visit and it didn't even tell the president how to use them. it told them simply that he was to execute the office of the president. what does that mean? it means nothing today. it meant nothing then and that is what the framers wanted. they had lived for years under an absolute monarchies in indolent and under the tyranny of that malarkey and they were not about to recreate the rtc they created a figurehead in the first president of taking the oath of office was to be just that and george washington and penn the commander-in-chief of the revolutionary army army that defeated the world's most powerful army on earth and one the nation's independence. they adored him and they elected him by the unanimous vote the only president to be elected unanimously. so he took his oath of office and swore to preserve the to protect and defend the constitution of the united states even if it meant violating the law of the constitution. was the spirit? it was to form a more perfect union and to ensure domestic tranquility to provide for the common defense. to do that, he had to cease powers that were not under the constitution. and he seized the powers in seven areas. in my new book "mr. president." i call these the seven pillars of power which continue to hold up in the edifice of the presidency today. >> what was one of the first actions that george washington >> interestingly he took us to war. congress wasn't even in session. but they were considered a foreign nation. the indians i

washington's port city. hello. >> george washington and george may sorry were very good friends. george mason had two wives, anne, and she passed away. and then sara. i was wondering what the relationship was between martha washington and either of george mason's wives? >> they were friendly neighbors but as far as i know, they never became intimate friends. >> in fact, that friendship was a political casualty. but after the constitutional convention, which, of course, washington sanctioned and mason refused to sign, it spelled in many ways an end to their friendship. >> on twitter, george and martha washington, quite the power couple. so as we close out bringing us full circle, what are the important things for people to know about the influence of martha washington. >> i think it's important to know how smart and powerful she was and how dependent he was on her. his achievements were his achievements. but having her there with him made them much more possible. >> i think that's true. she defined influence in a way that perhaps contemporary americans might have difficulty understanding. but the fact of the matter is, she was the most influential person on the face of the earth with the president of the united stat

washington's had a role in acquiring that bad. another piece in the room had a very close connection with martha washington, her desk. although very little of the correspondence between george and washington -- george and martha washington has survived, because they savored their private correspondence. two letters had been found that had slipped behind one of the drawers in that desk. that is the preserver of that little bit of very personal correspondence. it is not just the place where she slept. i can't picture her sitting in her easy chair by the fire -- i can really picture her sitting in her easy chair by the fire with her grandchildren around. and i imagine it must've been very comfortable for her. >> before she became first lady in 1797 and during her early married life, abigail adams spent her time in quincy, massachusetts. >> the story of abigail adams in the revolutionary war is a story of sacrifice, commitment to country, and abigail rose to the occasion. for the first 10 years of their married life, john and abigail lived in this home from 1764- 1774. it is where they raised their four children. that was the birthplace of their second child, john quincy adams, who went on to become th

george washington hospital, the nearest trauma center where there's not an ounce of security? >> do we want to go to the emergency room, george washington. >> that's a roger. >> ronald reagan's life literally on this day hung in the balance of a split second and -- i'm not exaggerating. >> george washington fast. >> hustle, hustle, hustle. >> outside the hotel the scene was chaotic. in the bed lamb the shooter is tackled. >> get him out of here. get him out of here. >> at the same time an ambulance was arriving. i immediately went back to filming the scene. i had to preserve history. it brought tears to my eyes. i see brady lying here. i still think about delahamte. i see his face. i still see mccarthy being lifted up off the ground and being thrown back by the bullet. >> within minutes of the shooting president reagan arrives at george washington hospital he insists on walking in. >> the nurse met me, and i told her i had no trouble breathing. >> the president was at the point where we in minnesota say he was ready to crash. >> the next thing i knew that's when my knees began to turn to rubber, and i wound occupy a gurney. >> if he had gone to the white house, they would have dragged him out of the car and found out he was in big trouble, put him back in the car, go to -- >>

george washington hospital, the nearest trauma center, where there's not an ounce of security? >> do we want to go to the emergency room, george washington? >> that's a roger. >> but ronald reagan's life literally on this day hung in the balance of a split second and a mere inch. and i'm not exaggerating. >> the george washington fast. >> hust, hust, hust. let's hustle. >> outside the hotel, the scene is chaotic. in the bedlam, the shooter is tackled. >> there was pushing, there was shoving. you hear the agents scream, get him out of here, get him out of here. at the same time, an ambulance was arriving. so i immediately went back to filming the scene. i thought, i have to preserve history. it brought tears to my eyes. i still see brady lying there. i still think about delahanty. i see his face. i still see mccarthy being lifted up off the ground and being thrown back by the bullet. >> within minutes of the shooting, president reagan arrives at george washington hospital. he insists on walking in. >> a nurse met me and i told her, i'm having a little trouble breathing. >> the president was at the point where we in medicine would say he was ready to crash. >> the next thing i knew then were my knees began to turn to rubber and i wound up on a gurney. >> if he had gone to the white house, they would h

george washington led the continental army to victory during the revolutionary war, patriot, hero, real leader. appears george washington wouldn't be welcome in president obama's military today, depending on things like the founding fathers were extremists or neonazis. ♪ ♪ >>> does the pentagon think the founding fathers are a tad extreme? in a student guide titled extremism put up by department of defense, the founding fathers' effort to free them is extreme ideology. they warn that many extremists will talk of individual liberties, states rights and how to make the world a better place. sounds like bolling. when asked about this, a spokesman said we're not saying it is a bad thing. if you follow the the definition of the term, the kol nis meets the definition of extremist. better understanding the enemies not as enemies but variations on our heroes, so we can tolerate them in a politically sensitive way. as for people with strong values that stand up, fight justice, that's not extremism, that's heroism, that's bravery. different than flying planes into buildings, throwing acid into the faces of girls, decapitating journalists or blowing up marathons. that's extremism. don't put the founding fathers in that group, you lunk heads. they would shoot you in the ass. that's not extremism, they only shot you in the [bleep]. >> the shoot thing, yeah. >> they shoot you in the butt. >> usually the kneecap. >> do you buy this description of the founding fathers? it was a suggestion, they say. >> right, no, i actually don't. i agree with you on this. >> thank you. >> let's move on. as long as you -- >> now that we're wearing green together. >> green is an extremist color. all right. this is going nowhere with you, kg. sorry i started with you. >> sorry you chose me. >> bob, went to the pentagon for a statement. this is what they had to say. >> why are you pointing there. >> training material on extremism is intentionally written to generate provocative discussion, is not necessarily consistent with dod policy. blah blah blah. bob, what do you make of it. >> they could use the money doing more productive things. this is a 12 week course for spotting injustice and hatred in the battlefield, among fellow troops. remember, we talked about martin luther king, let's talk about it in terms of what the world was like when the founding fathers did what they did. it was extreme. they took them on and shot them in the ass. you have to look at it where they talked about it from the framework of history. yes, they were extreme then, would they be extreme now? who knows, they're not around. >> eric, as an extremist. >> i didn't know you came full circle, compared me to extremists of the founding fathers, then called them heroic and brave. i'll take that compliment. i read that document. it is crazy, bob, you're right, spent a lot of money and time on that. they outlined hate crimes, for example. say someone pray paints a racist remark on a wall. how many times they spray paint it, falls in this category. more than three, goes to this category. causes $10,000 of damage or more or 1500, who wastes so much time and money trying to figure this out? there's hate, there's not, move on. >> i think it was politically motivated, andrea, used the definition, whether you fight for or against tyranny -- >> this is such a bunch of bull. the only similarity i found with the founding fathers and actual terrorists and real extremists is i guess both don't wear deodorant. that was maybe the only thing i could find. george the time had to be president because he didn't want to be president. that view i guess is extreme in today's washington, to not have somebody who actually lusts for power. this isn't any different than the dhs manual where they labeled right wing extremists, the head of the dod, hagel, made some pretty extreme comments himself. i just, you know, they're trying to say in this statement, bob, they're trying to spot extremism in the battlefield and military. how about major hasan. the culture of political correctness that permanent ee ats the department of defense, what they do with military chaplains, to what they do with everything, trying to demonize the right. it is a culture of political correctness, starts from the top and goes right to the white house. >> the defense department trying to demonize the right, maybe an element. greg is right. >> they missed that opportunity. there was extremism there. >> this is why i want to send ronan to west point. duty, honor, country. >> and to

george washington. they talk about his grandeur and all this stuff. it seems like george washingtonposing for statues. in the republic, it becomes dolley and descriptions of her are on the move. it does not sound as much like "fashion police" but a form of political analysis. she deliberately created this. she is not wearing what an actual queen would wear, but would wear an adaptation. what she would imagine america would consider a queen, and she put that on her turban to make her even taller. >> how would americans react to this? the newspapers had reports with descriptions of what she was wearing? >> and how it was. >> were they proud? >> i think they were mostly proud. the federalists were a little put off by this. they thought it was a little too regal and court like. but there was a lot of talk about creating a republican court with a small "r." that is a group of people who headed up government but with the idea of having a republic instead of a monarchy. that is part of what she was doing. one of the things that is ingenious about dolley is she takes european influences and

george washington hospital, the nearest trauma center, where there's not an ounce of security? >> do we want to go to the emergency room, george washington? >> that's a roger. >> but ronald reagan's life literally on this day hung in the balance of a split second and a mere inch. and i'm not exaggerating. >> outside the hotel, the scene is chaotic. in the bedlam, the shooter is tackled. >> there was pushing, there was shoving. you hear the agents scream, get him out of here, get him out of here. at the same time, an ambulance was arriving. so i immediately went back to filming the scene. i thought, i have to preserve history. it brought tears to my eyes. i still see brady lying there. i still think about delahanty. i see his face. i still see mccarthy being lifted up off the ground and being thrown back by the bullet. >> within minutes of the shooting, president reagan arrives at george washington hospital. he insists on walking in. >> a nurse met me and i told her, i'm having a little trouble breathing. >> the president was at the point where we in medicine would say he was ready to crash. >> the next thing i knew then were my knees began to turn to rubber and i wound up on a gurney. >> if he had gone to the white house, they would have dragged him out of the car, looked him over, found out he was in big trouble, put him back in the car, drove him -- it would have taken 10, 15 more minutes. he didn't have that time. a nurse there is trying to get his blood pressure, she can't detect it. he's not doing so good. she's going, oh my god, i'm going to lose the president of the united states. >> i didn't know i was shot. >> i really do believe he was minutes away from not making it. >> the shot that got me caromed off the side of the limousine and hit me while i was diving into the car. and it hit me back here under the arm and then hit a rib. and that's what caused an ex

george washington the represents to assault the ideals and objectives of democracy in george washington was surrounded all of whom were white but what did picks american history from history to the age of aviation go douglas, and the truth no blacks period the entire era of slavery is not reflected but down at the ground level there are massive oil paintings set into huge stones and no blacks could be found anywhere. upon examination i discovered there we're brought up the river and put into place by the slaves the statue of freedom sits atop the dome of the capital and was cast, disassembled cover reassembled, the forest between the capitol and the white house was cleared by slaves. but not a tablet, not a monument, and that museum exist to commemorate the victims of the american holocaust. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> host: randall robinson is our guest on "in-depth" we have one hour 50 minutes left and georgia you have been very patient please go ahead. >> caller: please bear with me. i have three questions. first of all, i have been a follower of your work. i really want to thank you for your struggle and all the things you have done for black people all over the world. >> guest: day que. >> caller: but first of my three questions what are your thoughts of imperialism as a philosophy? your work for human-rights for black people in america and all over the world ohio -- violate civil rights by the american empire existed for for many other empire in history has mistreated their people? >> host: very quickly your second and third questions we will try to get to all three. >> caller: would you think about the overthrow in the bf? and the third question that's a radical democrat whittier thoughts of the skiing of africa because he pays the situation in donna that made him president for life against the western imperialists efforts to do anything to remove him for his adversaries. >> host: are you originally from ghana? >> guest: yes ibm. >> caller: yes ibm. >> host: randall robinson comparing it imperialism to the roman empire. >> guest: we have the military footprint and one of the reasons we are so resistant to ratifying the international criminal court is we don't want to see a circumstance under which any american would ever be called in front of the international criminal court for anything at any time. so the countries that don't have that kind of exposure not evolve with the number of wars at the same time or with some of the country's in a military fashion, they don't have the same desk that the united states has. vice -- it describes what we are doing we're interested in africa or world war ii but opening the world for american trade and american products to develop those markets for americans and american businesses, that takes on some of the earmarks of empire. so i think is the fair description to call it the american empire. i don't think the comparisons to the roman empire are perhaps so appropriate because the time is a different but do we use of military to accomplish these objectives? probably. are we interested in profits? yes. we tolerate human rights crimes in china and at the same time we tried to crush cuba it is doing the best it can and do the american embargo with other kinds of medical equipment and their other surgery is in cuba that made it possible and children were dying for the reason nonetheless. we continue to kabul with cuba but we would never consider doing such to chided because it would not be in our interest to do that in china. >> the killing of more gadaffi? >> guest: i never believed or never wanted to send u.s. military to south africa to right the wrongs. i thought it was a mistake. any time you create for the downfall through undemocratic or military means you find the restoration of order and tranquility of very difficult saying to accomplish. so the problems follow you in those cases now when we start covering these things that doesn't say they are not of what comes out with those enterprises i think it was a mistake in libya and the way he was executing and the thought that we could bear some responsibility for that was more than an unfortunate. >> host: the political situation and on the? >> i felt he was a marvelous dollar. and a read a great deal of his work and was impressed by it if he had a special connection to the united states as you know, it was a graduate of lincoln university in pennsylvania and donna was a first country in 1957 to establish with a great deal of pride and i felt i felt that on american television. but when too much power is concentrated anywhere, generally we see evidence of situations you came to do good or to you do well, i know about the charges but not the extent if they were proven or not. when he was out of the country of course, in china and of course, that was the end of the story he had to say things about the united states of africa and with the interest of africa in both interest of those who would want to make use of that. he would probably collect an amazing and i have found in my experience that those who vigorously try to do anything for their own population to lift people in their own way, they collect enemies of the powerful west very quickly and that was the case of haiti. what was going on president aristide had gotten himself crossways of interest in haiti from monday in the people who wanted the money with the enormous sums of money and he said he had never seen such wealth concentrated that very much looks like the old south africa looks that we don't see from the outside but very much race and class based society. but here was up president to raise the black peasantry because those were the ranks from which he sprang to life in their the road or ease their misery raising their pay from $1 up at $2 per day so that alone had the unforgivable offense to the wealthy and the wes was bound up with that group. there was race and class attracted to the u.s. and american in many as well that wanted to invest in the us what shops that wanted note minimum raise -- minimum-wage raised. >> host: we are talking with the author of five non-fiction books, 1998, the black life of america came out, "the debt" would america owes to blacks, in 2002 "the reckoning." "quitting america" of the departure of a black man from his native land came out in the most recent case out 2007 the unbroken in agony. randall robinson is also the author of this novel which is the story. >> guest: of a grandmother who has previous lives that she relates to her grandson's and once to be a writer and once to be a great pride of possibility and wants him to know the times in which she takes up a small space and that we have known better times that we will see again and she's -- tells him of those times when we were in command of the future that that was the greatest nation of the world >> host: a lot of facebook comments. day participate in social media like twitter or facebook? >> i have no clue. [laughter] none of it. none at all. i think they must be generational. i am 71. >> host: you do have a web site id you can see all of his books on the web site but the face the comment comment, you just mentioned we as a people do not have access to media outlets but we can have access to the largest media outlet the internet. how can we encourage potential power? >> i think media is a major force and i think young people understand the potential of the force id we have to use it. talking about corporate broadcast media deciding people what to tell about themselves but more importantly decide what not to tell people about what is going on in the world that is a lot of power concentrated in very few hands and mismanage largely by small groups in corporate rooms around the country fewer and fewer blacks. even in publishing. editors have disappeared from the ranks with the great publishing house to get serious books published tom black authors these are very difficult times for black people who want to say something or things that want to be said very much. but we as a nation should have curiosity we need to tell not fewer stories, but war stories. i want to know the native americans and the wonderful music. the culture, a tradition, becoming one with the earth and the environment. i want to know about the latino americans story and the story of the southwest of america and the story of texas when it was mexico. all i want to know all of that but now that is what american history has to me we have to know each other's stories and then some of the fences would fall we would be less inclined to say that our concern stops at the border that we should all be concerned no matter where one lives, we are concerned about their lot and we cultivate that concern rigo their stories. but we don't do not. >> host: jack comments on facebook so happy to see you here doubt if we could just delete all the heritage foundation programs. i read that because we hear this often on the c-span people only watch what they agree with. what do you think? >> guest: let me say this about c-span first of all. and i have said to brian lamb many years ago, this story, this operation is one of the great contributions to democracy, you have without prejudice, all voices expressing themselves and it is important we all have an opportunity to hear all of those voices. so i think the heritage foundation of course, is a voice to be heard. i would not even argue against this slice of life of television that they see as long as they are proportionate. if you tell the story of the american population but then the story of poverty from appellation, tell it all. if we talk about the less present -- pleasant expressions from the american range, cover the whole range from top to bottom or east to west or north to south. see the whole picture but that is not what is happening as they see it particularly in the black communities. so i just say we have to have better representation where decisions are made and what to cover and how to do and how to apportion time and resources to each piece of that. we're not going in the right direction but away from that as far as i can see publishing, printing industry, a television, the whole thing about some facility to get people to know what they need to know but the entire world. not just america so often we found the world knows more about us than we do about them. when i was in tanzania in 1970 i was talking to a kid who was 14 years old and he approached me in the street and started to talk about thomas jefferson. and jeffersonian democracy and i was stunned. there were teachers that i knew and americans generally that could not find a insignia on a map and they know more about you than you do about them. that is sad. exceptionally some has cost us a knowledge of much of the world. is almost that one could like it into your years in high school you know, the kids that finished ahead of you you cannot remember anybody in the classic behind you. we happen to think because people are pour they are less important. that is a sad state to be an >> host: facebook page. with all due respect i seek your words further in title many blacks to find excuse is said of getting to work to do better be all have our injustices' to overcome the you were speaking of 200 years ago. >> guest: let's subjectified and let me use human rights league which from the un if the criteria were not race race, color, religion coverage under common nationality, political opinion you take any one of those to say we will select people from this category by gender or religion or nationality or political opinion and we will take all those people and is laid them for 246 years and follow that with a legally enforced what airtime the work for nothing which is slavery by another name then follow that by legal segregation then take away the names and rename the group so they are no longer africans but they are some strange label of negros. whatever that is or wherever that came from, and they will be known by that. so they lose all tradition, they yes and no of what to do and what not to of how we do things from the dawn of time. and they don't know themselves in a more. it doesn't make a difference if they are black or not. take that profile into that to him. and see where his descendants fall after two and a half centuries. it does nothing to do with any particular race. that would happen to anyone treated that way this is not personal. i've not saying anyone has a responsibility in the individual has any responsibility for what began to happen along time ago. i am saying our government is a corporate institution and benefit did and it has a responsibility so if reparations are paid, i was -- i of taxpayer i would be paying i don't need repair. i say those who have been crushed to get some recognition of what had happened and some opportunity to repair themselves with. why else do you think we see the disproportionate success / failure gap? wealth / assets gap? rigo that people are equally , the naturally in doubt. that cannot be the problem. how else could it have happened? three and 1/2 centuries of slavery. >> host: with first nonfiction book "defending the spirit" of black life in america you right although it is still under fashionable to say it i obsessively black race is the overarching aspect of my dignity of america has made this way or more accurately white americans have made me this way into one to right in the autumn of my life i am less regarding white people before renewing them individually with mistrust and dole dislike. >> guest: that's right. that was the low point. i remember at the age of five people started to talk about race. i thought it was absurd i could not distinguish one from the other. a reflex remedy was subjected to the kinds of things that we were and still being subjected to. >> host: miami, a good afternoon you are on with randall robinson. >> caller: good afternoon i a misallocation of living in florida. i has been a follower of your work you came to my undergraduate school when i was in college during sees south africa protest. i remember you vividly. that was 1986. my first question is currently we have the first black president celebrated by america and people in our community so how do you feel about our first black president sending troops into 35 african countries that there is a silence on the part of the black intelligentsia or that he leaked in that regard? to the point they would be astonished seven with the track record and the amount of blood on our hands susan rice would not be appointed secretary of state considering the history she has related to particularly in the condo and i am sure you are well aware of that long extents of damaging history. >> host: your other two questions? >> caller: regarding haiti , the fact our relationship we are outsourcing the leadership of that country to other entities what idiocy as a possibility to resolve that difficulty to destabilize and what could be done? i wish it was that simple to leave them alone. >> host: did you have one more? >> caller: alas question is how can we possibly weaken the spirit of the black elite and uneducated but have become so complex it in the silencing of the descent from what is happening for those better under the party of the regime. >> guest: i will start with haiti. when i said perhaps we should leave it alone i met alternative to what we have done over 200 years. even frederick douglass did not figure out why we have been so hot style with a speech she gave to the world's fair in the 1890's was a speech appropriate now when he talked about the haitian president sounded as if he knew president aristide but that is standard from the u.s. open last 200 years. what distinguishes haiti from the rest of the caribbean? democratic, is stable governments with friendships with the united states, open government where all the freedoms are injured wade, a speech and religion and the rest. haiti is extraordinary with 8 million people the art is a world-class some of the best painters of the world and has everything going for it but why has the u.s. signaled out heydey for this type of program? i am not quite sure that any of us have figured this out but perhaps it is on a strategic water passage the causes it to invite such intense interest from the united states perhaps because haiti has gold and diamonds and all of that offshore pass to do with that all our the acre that jefferson and georgengton in so many felt with the exception of one of the early americans, the thomas paid who spoke out what the u.s. was doing because he had the temerity to strike out on its own entry made african it is the most african country in the caribbean and i feel the religion is when you die you will return because they still remember africa. the art is inspired by africa. haiti is a country of 1,000 proverbs and others have been forgotten. haiti is a country that knows its history to invite the acre of western society they remember their history. said the allegis school in jamaica to speak to high school students drop far from haiti and i asked a group of 15 year-old if they do through -- if they knew a man in they did not i asked if they knew who snoop dog was then they all knew him. the additive also hold western community so for that reason i am suspicious of our embrace of haiti and it bothers me it is extreme to say what i said but sometimes one has to wonder if they would be better off

george washington. they talk about his grandeur and all this stuff. it seems like george washingtong for statues. in the republic, it became descriptions of her on the move. it was a form of political analysis. she deliberately created this. she is not wearing what an actual queen would wear, but would wear an adaptation. she put that on her turban to make for even taller. >> how would americans react to this? the newspapers had reports with descriptions of what she was wearing? >> and how did it was. >> were they proud? >> i think they were mostly proud. the federalists were a little put off by this. they thought it was a little too regal and court like. but there was a lot of discussion about creating a republican court. that is a group of people who headed up government but with the idea of having a republic instead of a monarchy. that is part of what she was doing. one of the things that is ingenious about dolley is she takes european influences and filters them through a democratic lands. they give you something to aspire to as a new nation and how elliot and wonderful it can b

george washington adams. that cause controversy, naming the first son after george washington and not john. >> when she arrived to the united states, it was the first time she had seen the country of her nationality. she went to the adams's home outside of boston. the place was known as peace field. we will show you that. >> when louisa and john quincy first came to the old house, they had just journeyed back from europe, landed in washington d.c. and made the journey up to hear. -- to quincy. her health was not good at the time, and the journey was very difficult. she was brought to this has to to meet her father and mother in law. at that moment she would write, had i stepped onto noah's ark, i could not have been more utterly astonished. louisa catherine had a challenge in winning over abigail adams. john adams was easy, he took to her right away. she always felt are a comfortable and well liked by him. abigail is more skeptical. perhaps due to john quincy's teasing. he only gave abigail a little bit of information about louisa catherine. he was not forthright in his intentions. it was a surprise that he married louisa catherine so quickly. abigail did not get a chance to know her. she was quite concerned, although she was an american citizen, she had never been on american soil. this was not what she intended for her son. through time, she learned to grow and love and understand louisa catherine. through the years, they forged a very strong relationship. louisa catherine describing abigail adams as the planet around which all revolved. louisa catherine and john quincy, unlike john adams, if not live at peace field year- round. they only returned in the summer to get a relief from the politics of washington. her grandson, henry adams, remembered louisa catherine fondly. in his works, the education of the adams, he described louisa catherine and her role in this house and relationship with the family. he felt that she was the odd man out, because she was born in england and educated in france. she remained a foreign personality to many of the adams. he recollects her sitting in her paneled room, using her silver tea pot that that she brought with her from her home in england to the old house. she would entertain both herself and many guest in this room. john quincy adams and louisa would inherit this home from john adams. i thought about selling it, but then decided that it was important to the family story to hold onto the house for future generations. >> you can visit there today. >> yes. >> wonderful. >> where are the papers? >> they are at the massachusetts histor sn ston. they used to be at the old house library, but they were transferred to the historical society for safekeeping. >> a question on facebook from genie webber. i have read excerpts from her autobiography, it said the massachusetts historical society was going to publish the papers. is that true? >> yes. a two volume of her autobiographical writings, which includes a record of my life, adventures of a nobody, and her narrative of a journey from st. petersburg to france, and all her diaries have already been published in a scholarly edition. next year, a trade edition of these writings will be available. it has a foreword by former first lady, laura bush. >> we must talk a little about st. petersburg and her incredible journey back to meet her husband. can you tell was important about that story? >> in st. petersburg, the years were difficult areas it is cold, it is forbidding. there are not a lot of other women there. most of the diplomatic biased to not travel with her husband when they get sent there. i have a baby girl, louisa catherine adams, and the child dies after about a year. that really devastates her mother. it is very painful. john quincy is also very much torn apart by the death. the war of 1812 has broken out here. he is sent to negotiated treaty and leaves louisa with her youngest son, charles francis, in st. petersburg. when peace is resolved and he is sure he will be returning home or sent to london, he asks her to join him. she makes this arduous journey from st. petersburg in the winter to paris with a son who is only seven at the time. and a couple of servings that she only met that day. she does not know she can trust them. as she is crossing europe, she encounters dangerous travel conditions, and napoleon has escaped from elba and is coming back to france. she encounters the armies who greet him. she is crossing some very perilous territory in europe at this time. >> her life was in danger throughout this trip. >> here is another quote from her diaries -- it was 4:00 in the evening and the ice was in so critical a state, i could with difficulty procured men and horses to go over. they informed me i would have to make a long detour if i could not cross. attendedge would be with great risk, if not in danger. >> absolutely. >> and a carriage in the wintertime. >> again, the resourcefulness of this woman is extraordinary. >> why don't we know more about her interesting life story? why is she not better known among the first ladies? >> because john quincy's presidency has been obscured for so long, that diminished interest in her. what makes john quincy interesting to historians today is his post-white house years, for which people did not seem to think that louisa was a part of. somewhat mistakenly. i think that has really kept her from being the prominent -- and abigail kind of outshines when you are talking about the adams'. it kept her from getting her do a little bit. >> carol is watching in santa fe. caller: this is a fantastic series, i love it. you keep referring to the white house, and i understand it was called the presidents house for some time. do you know when it changed its name to the white house? >> teddy roosevelt. the beginning of the 20th century. he formally changed the main to the more informal white house. at the same time that his wife is taking the house back to its more formal style and side. >> is it true that some of the exterior was painted white after the fire from the british, to cover scorch marks? that is when it began. >> it was informally referred to the man on the street did not refer to it as the executive mansion. teddy roosevelt made it official. >> a call from catherine in rockville, maryland. caller: just wondering, was louisa ever, worker rights ever violated and wanted to do about it? >> what are you thinking of? caller: social or things like her speaking out for what she believed in. >> this is a great restaurant to talk about what role women -- great question to talk about about what role women really had in society at this point in time in america. >> she is not political, she is not speaking out politically the way that abigail did with her husband. she is not a public political figure speaking out on these things. she has her own private views on some things. her views on politics are more about how people behaved. she is much more interested in everyone conducting themselves properly. even people on her own side. she doesn't like it when people who support the policies that her husband supported have crossed a line in terms of decorum. she is not trying to get out -- she's not an activist. i would not want to say that. >> nearly 100 years until women have the right to vote, we should point out for our younger viewers. what role could they play? where did their power come from? >> there is a coda to this story. just as john quincy became more and more outspoken in his opposition to slavery, and famously played a role in the amistad case. there was something between louisa and the green key sisters, who were pioneering activists and abolitionists of their day. i think she comes as close there as anywhere else to spelling out a sense of women's roles. >> this is an interesting time. her mother in law has passed. we think about gil adams and her famous words to john, remember the ladies. abigail's letters were becoming more published, and louisa saw an affinity between her mother- in-law and herself on women's issues. >> towards the end of louisa's life, there is the sense that she seeks an equality of the mind for women, but not so that women can run for office. it is not that kind of feminism. it is that women can better fulfill their primary functions as mother, wife, and daughter. they had this god-given, this is where her religion comes in, but god had created man and woman equal in this way. that was how she could -- in their mind, they could be equals and partners, complementary partners, not for women to become more like men. abigail's feminism as it were is somewhat along the same vent -- bent of allowing women to become better republican mothers and wives to allow men to fulfill their calling with honor and dignity. >> does john quincy seek re- election? >> he did. a lot of people think it was the most scurrilous campaign in history. it was not close at the end. andrew jackson denied the presidency four years earlier, overwhelmed john quincy adams. like his father, he did not stick around for his successors inauguration. he did come back to washington a couple of years later in a unique role. the only american president to this day who came back as a member of the house of representatives. >> there are a couple of first here, the first father and son to serve in the white house. the first and only foreign-born first lady, and the only president to come back and an elective role in the legislature. >> history repeated itself in a tragic way. john and abigail lost a son in the time between his defeat and inauguration. george washington adams, who i suspect the pressure of that name would drive anyone off the wall, he almost definitely committed suicide. >> just when his father was losing the election? >> it was may 1829. the power had already shifted to andrew jackson. they asked george to come back to washington to escort family to quincy. he either fell or jumped off the boat. devastating personal tragedy. >> two years later, his brother died of alcoholism. >> 1834, it was a little bit later. >> one child survived. what about their grandchildren and heirs? >> there are a number of grandchildren. john adams the second, he had married his cousin and had two children. john quincy emily said became the guardians to those children. the younger one died in another tragedy. charles francis adams married abigail brook, and they had a number of children. they are in boston. so john quincy adams only see them during their summer breaks, because they spend pretty much all their time in washington. >> cheryl from s

trying to agree on say that no about george washington really various guides and gave free food and lodging to one of our i looked up the ohms house that george washington set up and you would be shocked and appalled at the work requirement at the requirement for restitution at the requirement that the whole inducement of that operation was to kick you out as fast as possible of course it was but it wasn't wrong eighty seven still to agree with you eighty nine i actually do think it's a bad idea for representative people if their constituents call them and say i have a complaint that's who they're supposed to bring their concerns to and it's not a good idea to suddenly start saying well in this area i will help you ain't this was not a guy once this was about. about where to lie sign up what am i entitled to way where to what how do i fill out this i mean that's also often a model is not possible and something that is associate congress obvious hostile to the social security program is anybody i believe i said however i believe a congressman should hold it don't know briefing so that he can explain how guys like you guys can debate it after the show. wh

george washington hospital, the nearest trauma center, where there's not an ounce of security? >> do we want to go to the emergency room, george washington? >> that's a roger. >> but ronald reagan's life literally on this day hung in the balance of a split second and a mere inch. and i'm not exaggerating. >> outside the hotel, the scene is chaotic. in the bedlam, the shooter is tackled. >> there was pushing, there was shoving. you hear the agents scream, get him out of here, get him out of here. at the same time, an ambulance was arriving. so i immediately went back to filming the scene. i thought, i have to preserve history. it brought tears to my eyes. i still see brady lying there. i still think about delahanty. i see his face. i still see mccarthy being lifted up off the ground and being thrown back by the bullet. >> within minutes of the shooting, president reagan arrives at georgee trouble breathing. >> the president was at the point where we in medicine would say he was ready to crash. >> the next thing i knew then were my knees began to turn to rubber and i wound up on a gurney. >> if he had gone to the white house, they would have dragged him out of the car, looked him over, found out he was in big trouble, put him back in the car, drove him -- it would have taken 10, 15 more minutes. he didn't have that time. a nurse there is trying to get his blood pressure, she can't detect it. he's not doing so good. she's going, oh my god, i'm going to lose the president of the united states. >> i didn't know i was shot. >> i really do believe he was minutes away from not making it. >> the shot that got me caromed off the side of the limousine and hit me while i was diving into the car. and it hit me back here under the arm and then hit a rib. and that's what caused an extreme pain. and then it tumbled, it turned, instead of edgewise, and went tumbling down to within an

george washington in represents to us all the ideal and objectives of american democracy. george washington and is surrounded by figures all of whom are white there is one that predicts american history from the dylan other exploration to the dawn of aviation. though douglas the tubman no blacks period. the entire era of slavery what was reflected at the capitol down at the ground level there are massive pavings said into huge stones no blacks to be found anywhere. upon examination i discovered that the stones were cut in virginia, brought up the river, put into place by slaves but the statue freedom sits on top of the capital was cast, disassembled, reassemb led and twisted to the top of that capital by slaves. the forest between the capital in the white house was cleared by slaves. but not a tablet, monument tablet, monument, in museum exist to commemorate the victims of the american holocaust. ♪ ♪ >> host: randall robinson is our guest on "in-depth" we have one hour left of our program and call you have been patient. your from georgia please go ahead with randall robinson. >> caller: you thank you very much. i have three questions. i have been a passionate follow word of your work i want to thank you for your struggle and all the things you have dug for black people all over the world. >> guest: thank-you. >> caller: the first question what are your thoughts about imperialism as a philosophy? your work for you right scam of black people in america and all over the world dash light violations from the american empire. is it any different how the roman empire or any other in history has treated other people. >> host: very quickly your second and third and we will try to get to all three. >> caller: what is your thought of the u.s. role of the overthrow of gaddafi in the viet? said the third question is as a radical democrat whittier thoughts of the key of africa because he faces a situation that he has named himself president for life as a necessity against the imperialists efforts to remove him. thank you very much. >> host: are your originally from ghana? >> caller: yes i am. >> host: thank you. imperialism compared to the roman empire? >> guest: we have the united -- the united states as a military footprint in over did the country's. with of the reasons we're so resistance to ratify the criminal court is we don't want to see a circumstance in which any american might ever of old the international criminal court for anything at any time. so for those that don't have that kind of exposure in a number of wars at the same time not involved with so many countries in the end military fashion didn't have that same risk united states has had. so i think it describes what we are doing. we are interested after world war ii opening for american trade and products to develop those markets for americans and american businesses. that takes on some of the earmarks of vampire. so i think that is a fair description to call it an american empire. i don't think the comparisons to the roman empire are perhaps so apt because the time is so different. do we use the military to accomplish these objectives? military? probably are we interested did profits? yes. we tolerate human rights crimes id china at the same time we try to crush cuba. it is doing the best it can to develop its health care system under the american embargo had almost killed medical equipment in some surgery's were made impossible because of the embargo and children were dying. we continued but we would never consider that to try them because that would not be in our interest. now the second question of the killing of gadaffi, i think that was unfortunate. i never wanted to send u.s. military into south africa i thought that would have been a mistake there and don't think that is the way to build democracy and any time you create the downfall of the tyrant to court day democratic military means you find the restoration of order it is difficult to accomplish. the problems follow you in those cases but that doesn't mean it is not a tripling consequence of a feat that was a mistake to do what we did in namibia and the way he was executing that we may endure some responsibility is more urgent. third, although i thought he was a marvelous color and i've read a great deal of his work very closely and was impressed by it as yet a special connection to the united states he was a graduate of lincoln university in pennsylvania and donna was the first country in 1957 to accomplish and dependence that gave the black community a great deal of pride. . . and a now, it starts and moves forward and cuts us off from any access to african history, which was not what woodson in tended. and so, we obviously owe the value of our higher to those people who suffered so much and those who are descended from those people who worked for 246 years for nothing. we owed them something for that, but we owe them the story of themselves. we have been asked to expect that people can survive in good, sound psychological health, on ashes and obliterated history. when i was a child in richmond, virginia, weiss to have this phrase that we used all the time. from here to timbuktu. but, nobody knew what timbucktoo was. nobody knew the meaning of the word. didn't know where it was and didn't even know it was a place. timbucktoo of course was a crossroads of commerce but it was also a site the site of one of the world's first universities of san kora which was built before the blackmore's ilk the first university in spain at sala make a and 7-eleven a.d.. and so still in timbuktu you have all of these manuscripts written between five a.d. and 15 a.d., literature and support manuscripts of the highest quality written by african and arab scholars. and we knew nothing about it. we didn't know anything about the queen of sheba who is described by this claim of sheba. she. she lived all of her life and ox him which is approximately where it ethiopia is today. that sheba was and what is now yemen, but it was shortened to the queen of sheba. but the bible describes her as a woman of blacks can but in the movie it was played by gina lola bridget and sell all of our story was taken and the plot of all of this is people have history because they need it. people developed cultures and mores and issues because they need them to stay in good health. that is how we make social progress. a great jamaican once said that living without your story, without memory is like driving without a real memory -- rearview mirror except it's more dangerous to live without your story. so the point is that we were cut off from all of that and then renamed. when i was a child we were called. no one knew what the providence was at that word, where it came from and what it was supposed to mean but it was a part of the ball that was built to separate those who were stolen and used and exploited from their african story. and so if everyone in the world has a story so did we. the second thing is for example, they have the highest crime rate in the country, violent crime rate on indian reservations. the question is, like? what awful thing happened that would cause this situation for them? the same is true in the case of african-americans and when it was all over, this awful chapter from the beginning of slavery 246 years followed by virtually a century of pnh which people were essentially forced to work for knowing him in income in the south and then legal segregation before the end of the voting rights act, that nightmare had ended and during that nightmare untold sums of lives have been wrecked and the social damage is still witnessed and so we all an acknowledgment to the fact that this is not peculiar to the united states that you don't want to acknowledge. the people of turkey don't want to acknowledge the genocide against the people of 1915. jenna does not want to acknowledge its discriminations in tibet or in western china against the uyghur people. many nations hide from their past but we owe people the truth. we owe them their history and we owed them repair and we are not doing that. not only that, we don't even want to talk about it as a society. >> host: you say that this loss of heritage is comparable to the holocaust and some of the other genocides. >> guest: the holocaust was 12 years. this was 246 years plus the century that people lost where they lost their languages. they. they lost their culture, they lost everything. many people had their severed. people lost their tongues. thomas jefferson when he was a boy at two years old had a relationship with a 14-year-old girl, sally hammonds, that he owned and wasn't from the -- we know what it would be called today. that was routine. we lost any idea of who we were. it was our past, our memory was banished and we worked ourselves to an early death. rebuilt the capital, built the white house, and doubt harvard law school which was endowed by isaac royal from the proceeds and the sale of slaves that he owned and antigua in the west indies. these things were retained so any american institution transfers the wealth that they got from the work of people who were not paid to their families and making their line rich and impoverishing those who had been stolen and used in this way. >> host: mr. robinson how far back can you trace your family's history? >> guest: i am very fortunate in that we have pictures. i can go back to my grade, at great-grandparents with pictures and with my great great great grandparents with the story of their lives in the united states. but that is extremely lucky. >> host: it in "the debt" what america owes to blacks you wrote what white society must be induced to do, own up to slavery and acknowledge its debt to slavery's contemporary victims. pay that debt and massive restitution's. rebuild the black esteem it destroyed by democratizing access to a trove of history's to which blacks contributed to prominently. when you talk about slavery's contemporary victims, what do you mean? >> guest: when segregation ended, there were those of us, and i was very fortunate to, a headstrong parents and an intact family. both of my parents had finished college. my father taught history in high school. my mother taught until she stopped to rear for children. and that meant everything to us. and so while we were damaged by segregation and we have a home. we had a family that was intact, that was sound and that was strong. 's so many people didn't have that, so they were exposed to the brute sharp edge of what was happening to them. and i think there were some of us who were in a position to move out once segregation ended. i was among that group. until that time, do we and those who were -- were stuck in the same boat. we were closed in to each other. some of us were able to go up and out. others of us could not. and so, we cleaved into two parts i think even then and i am not sure that those institutions that fought so hard at one time have fought the same tenacious battles for those who remain stuck today. so we have got the largest prison population in the world. over 2 million people, of the largest in the world-3/4 of those who face the death penalty are black and hispanic. half of the prison population is black. because of the way people's lives have been involved but also because of the unfairness in our criminal justice system. we see that for non-violent drug crimes. we constitute 14% of those who commit those crimes but roughly if i still have the figures right, if something like that a 6% of those prosecuted and close to 75% of those incarcerated. one sentence for a pound of cocaine and another sentence for crack-cocaine. the pound is essentially what white people used. the sentence is much lower than it is for crack-cocaine which is what black people have used. so the system is unfair. the history has been cruel and in many cases very little has changed for those people. >> host: in "quitting america" you write for all of my life, i have wished only to live in america that would but reciprocate my loyalty. at country that would absorb -- exhort from the several and diverse mounts of its decision-making authority and ideal of public candor and unconditional compassion in a country that would say without reserve to its disadvantage to its involuntary victims to native americans to african-african- americans to the wretchedly poor of all colors stripes tongues and religions that your country wronged you in separate and discrete ways, gronke with horrific and lingering consequences, wronged you in some cases from long ago and for a very long time, to a degree that would morally compel any civilized nation serious and sustained attention. >> guest: we don't want to talk about it. we still don't want to talk about it. we run from it. we now call it victimization, so it's not to be raised. it's a sad truth. >> host: why did you leave the country? >> guest: well i was as much going to a place as leaving a place. i have been going to st. kitts in the caribbean for 25 years, and it's a small island. it is made for someone like me who doesn't like big crowded places, big cities. it's an exquisitely beautiful place with mountains and clear blue water and a kind of smallness that allows the kind of intimacy you seldom go downtown and don't see someone that you know. but the biggest piece of it is that the woman i loved and married is from st. kitts, so we had decided many years ago that we were going to build a home their, which we did 11 years ago. so hazel and i have been there all that time and our daughter khalia went to high school there and finished high school and came back here to college and so that was one reason the. i was also wary -- weary, tired of the struggle that had depleted me. america had worn me out. simply because there are things that can't be talked about, has no tolerance for that kind of honesty and has no plans to make anything right. as if it says, and and i heard it say we have stopped the act of crime, and so if there is damage, then we are walking away from that. it's as if to say at the end of slavery, you could sort of like in this to two runners in the race. you take it done and shoot one runner in both legs and sounds the gun and you say now run. you can't catch up. there are people who had had everything taken from them. and the things that are not material are even more important. it's your software. it's your interior plumbing. it's what you have been caused to think of yourself, how you see yourself, the confidence or lack thereof in which you're trying to run any race. it was drained from many people over that love period and it's not like anything that has happened. we are talking about the longest running massive crime against humanity, the last 1000 years in the world. it's not like we bombed not the sake and hiroshima. and it is incinerated hundreds of thousands of people and in literally minutes because if the japanese who survived can remember their literature, can remember their culture and their traditions and put it all back up again, if the people who have lost it all, mothers, fathers, children, traditions, cultures, ways of living, then they don't know how to begin. i have jewish friends and hazel and i some years ago when we were in washington went to a bar mitzvah to see the launching of this adolescent son into adulthood. bland praise comes say all these wonderful things about a child. such a wonderful cultural traditional right of a ceremony to practice. there have been things like that still practiced in africa but the lost all of that. so your cause to reinvent culture almost every generation, that's a lot of damage. and it has to be acknowledged and it has to be reckoned with. >> host: randall robinson how much time do you spend in the states now? >> guest: i come up a few times. i was the dean of penn state law school that i have known for a couple of years, philip mcconaumcconau ghey called me and asked me if i would like to teach human rights courses and i spent all of my life in human rights and growing out of what i've been talking about. i said i would be happy to, so i teach a human rights course at penn state law school and i come up about three times a semester. arrested that we do via video so it works wonderfully. >> host: have you kept your u.s. citizenship? >> guest: oh yes. >> host: why? >> guest: my mother and father and my grandparents survived that for me. it is my duty. >> host: in "quitting america" the departure of a black man from his native land written in 2004 and by the way have you changed any of your views since the election of barack obama? >> guest: i remember my mother when he was nominated, hazel and khalia and i were in montrÉal. she called me at the hotel. she was i think 93 then. she said, and she was crying. [inaudible] i didn't need that telling. i always knew this. america is many places. it is a place that can be tolerant and accepting, a place where views can be moderated and differences can be reconciled. and i think a good deal of america supported vigorously the candidacy of a rock obama. and it's not only important to the black community. it's important to other americans as well. but he still faces a sort of vicious kind of ridicule from certain borders that are not unlike the america we saw when i was young in richmond, virginia. but, i think there are several americans -- i had grown tired of at least one of them. >> host: and "quitting america" you wrote america never helps anyone, even the starving and list its proposed to an american interest either strategic or economic and one cannot always distinguish one from the other. >> guest: well that's certainly largely true in foreign assistance. foreign assistance always has to be associated with a strategic purpose. when we look at what we did as a country to haiti, to thomas jefferson did everything he could to defeat the haitian revolution. the only successful slave revolt in the history of the hemisphere if these people turned back an army from spain, armies of 60,000 apiece from england and france twice and won their freedom, opened their doors to freeing slaves all over the world, gave them a weapon and muskets and soldiers to fight for freedom and black america in exchange for freeing slaves there, a promise he didn't keep but they did all of these things and america did everything they could to quash this haitian quest for freedom for people who had been enslaved. and when they won their revolution, they took with it two-thirds of france's foreign income because that was the most valuable colony in the world. now, that survives even until now. frederick douglass spoke at the ship cargo world's fair in 1893 and mystified about how hostile the united states has always been towards haiti, hostile towards them because they won their freedom. we did everything we could to overthrow the democratically-elected government of president aristide. george blocked loans from the interamerican development foundation of $146 million loans for education, water and things like that. the international republican institute arranged and organized the opposition to it and then we as a country trained rebel soldiers in the dominican republic, trained and armed them to come to haiti to overthrow the government and then the last analysis, those were a pulse didn't figure into it. bush carried out the coup himself on american soldiers who arrived at the home of the president and took him off at 3:00 in the morning to the central african republic. we have to had to go there. maxine waters, a jamaican parliamentarian and sharon webster and the president's lawyer flew off to rescue him to bring him back to jamaica and then condoleezza rice threatened to make the jamaican government -- threatened to make it very difficult for them if jamaica accepted aristide even for a matter of days before he went to south africa. all because he said the minimum inco

george washington got along pretty well all the time. john adams was extraordinarily supportive of washington and was personally injured when some of the press turned on washington, could not believe it. martha and george were a hard act to follow. they knew they would be difficult. >> we will move into the years of their one-term presidency. before that video, there's a time in one of your books, you call it a splendid missouri being in the white house. explain what that phrase meant. >> it was blended in that they were at the pinnacle of his political career and her career. they had risen to the top. it was nothing but trouble, agonizing trouble from the very beginning. at very first, john was very enthusiastic about becoming president. abigail said, i'm going to stay here in quincy. she said, i will not be there until october. he said, that's fine, you do not come until october. once he was in the presidency, he discovered it was the loneliest place in the world. he started writing letters, drop everything that you're doing, come here, i need you immediately. she did. >> one of the interesting things, one of the reasons she was hesitant was she said, i like to be outspoken. she knew that in that context, she cannot. when she was in quincy, she could. >> when she was in quincy, there was a house they built another called peace field. >> in 1787, abigail realized they outgrew their cottage. she began to negotiate through her cousin to purchase a house we're standing in front of right now. john adams enjoyed a lot of peace and tranquility at this time, as did abigail. he called it peacefield. there were two rooms on the first floor, to go on the second, and smaller bedrooms on the third floor. there were about seven and half rooms to this home -- to this home. this was their home base. before becoming first lady, abigail would spend nine years in this house. the first year, she was setting up the house after returning from europe. she had remembered this house as one of the grand houses in quincy. her perception of grant had changed after living in europe. she began making plans to enlarge the house. she wanted to improve on the size and height of the ceilings and the space. she would write to her daughter, warning her not to wear any of her large the other hats because the ceilings were too low. she began working with an architect to enlarge the home. they added a long haul and along entertainment room where she would receive her guests. with sensitivity to the architecture on the outside and the flow of the home, she had the builder did down so they could lower the floors and get the high ceilings that she desired without disrupting the architecture. you step down two steps and you're in a whole different world. a typical day for abigail would be to rise at 5:00 in the morning. she had many chores to do much for time was spent in the farm, taking care of the orchard, taking care of the house. she also liked the early morning hours to spend by herself, preparing herself for the day. most of portly, having a chance to indulge in one of her novels. although this was a presidential home, it is the home of a family. abigail, instead of having servants do all the work, even as a first lady, she would also be contributing to the kitchen and running of the household. this is something she continued throughout her life no matter what her position was. she was very involved. she had children and grandchildren visiting. it was an active and lively household. she spent a great deal of time writing. again, their misfortune was our fortune. in one letter when he is asking her to come to philadelphia, abigail would write of the room that she was in and the view that she saw. the beauty that unfolds outside the window thames' me to forget the past. this is an indication that while abigail was back here, she was on a new beginning as the first lady of the united states, as the wife of the president, and still a mother. she would describe life. so romantically that john adams would reply in one of his letters, oh my sweet little farm, what i would do to enjoy thee without interruption. >> of the four years of his presidency, how much time did she spend their vs. the capitol? >> she had to stay there for an extended time. john actually followed her and stayed there, too long according to his cabinet. she tried to stay there for as much time as she could. again, her health caused her to be at home. she was quite ill. she was possibly close to death during that time. >> how did he serve as chief executive from afar? >> this also happened during the vice presidency. when congress was needed, the vice president would go back to where he lived. especially during the summer, they would usually lead in the spring and come back in the fall. it was a seasonal thing. although he did overdo it a little bit during this time. it was not unusual for the president to be away. >> these were very trying and tent -- tempestuous years for a brand new nation. can you give us a sense of the history, what was happening during the adams administration, key policy issues? >> the major problems were international. you had a political tiffs. you had the creation of political parties. we had problems with the french, the british. american political parties were divided, pro-french, pro- british. one of the problems john had was keeping the country out of war. he was successful. i think that is probably the thing that he should be most recognized for during the period. >> i also find it ironic that he is one of president who kept us out of four -- war. the u.s. would have collapsed in a second war with britain. it subverted his career. the politicians of the time were like politicians forever, they enjoyed making the exercise of the u.s. would have collapsed in a second war with britain. it subverted his career. the politicians of the time were like politicians forever, they enjoyed making the exercise of war. they were very close to war. the population in general was outraged by the piracy, american ships were being -- being taken on seas. diplomats were being treated poorly in france in particular. the french revolution happened. john adams kept us out of war. , and have a few key dates a historic four years, 1797- 1801. presidents then were inaugurated in march. now, the date is in january, but march to march was the timeframe. you can see washington, d.c. it was selected as the capital. chief justice john marshall selected. i want to go back to the passage of the alien and sedition act. what is the view of both adamses >> the alien sedition acts were a reaction to some of the international problems at that time. there was a believe on the part of some people that we were about to be overrun by french revolutionaries and they were influencing people in america. there were rumors that cities would be burned. it was terrorism they were anticipating. for example, the opposition party, the democratic republican party was very enthusiastic about the french and some of the ideals of the french revolution. >> jefferson in particular. >> this is where they begin to go in different directions. also, some of the press is very vehement in their criticism of the administration. so they muzzled the press and said that this is probably the thing that john adams is most criticized for. abigail, i believe, supported it was not john that started it. it came out of congress, and he signed the legislation. abigail was even more vehement during i think she is even more conservative than john during that time. >> the upshot of this, the people who were breaking the alien and sedition acts -- >> tou could be jailed. recall page smith, who was mentioned earlier, the it was said the press at this time was the most scoreless in american history. they made things up. there were no standards. it was not the they were supporting the french, but they were making up stories that were not the truth europe adams was very seriously worried about it should be said that jefferson also supported the alien and sedition acts, except that he believed the states should be passing sedition laws, not the national government, because he was in favor of states rights, and it was part of what separated them. -- at thatthing that time, people did not have the same horror about suppressing the press that we have today. >> and it was in the heat of the moment. >> stephen from chicago. >> they say history repeats itself. i was wondering if there any presidents and first ladies or first couples that most resemble or are analogous of the adams is arehe adamses?-- or analogous of talk abouts?people georgend barbara bush, because of the one term presidency, and the sun that went on to be president. is that the relationship standard? >> i hope you will take that question. [laughter] >> there was no one else like abigail and john. first of all, we don't have the insight into anybody else's lives. these letters were recently revealed. lyndon johnson's love letters to lady bird were revealed. but there is nothing like the abigail and john exchange. [laughter] >> it is when they are situated in such a important time and there were so many players in so many stages. that is what sets them apart. this is from twitter. >> people came by, but not so much during the presidency. later, in retirement. there is a time when john is really quite ancient.it is a little while after abigail has passed. cadets from west point came and they had a band and they played and marched and they were served punch and john adams gave a talk to the -- a patriotic talk to the troops. occasionally, people would come b

george washington got along pretty well all the time. john adams was extraordinarily supportive of washington and was personally injured when some of the press turned on washington, could not believe it. martha and georgeere a hard act to follow. they knew they would be difficult. >> we will move into the years of their one-term presidency. before that video, there's a time in one of your books, you call it a splendid missouri being in the white house. explain what that phrase meant. >> it was blended in that they were at the pinnacle of his political career and her career. they had risen to the top. it was nothing but trouble, agonizing trouble from the very beginning. at very first, john was very enthusiastic about becoming president. abigail said, i'm going to stay here in quincy. she said, i will not be there until october. he said, that's fine, you do not come until october. once he was in the presidency, he discovered it was the loneliest place in the world. he started writing letters, drop everything that you're doing, come here, i need you immediately. she did. >> one of the interesting things, one of the reasons she was hesitant was she said, i like to be outspoken. she knew that in that conte