harris wofford has told us the same kind of thing. let me explain who elizabeth eckford is. she was one of the students who was going to be part of the desegregation of central high school along with ernie green and the rest. she is captured in the i

. >> so harris wofford, john f. kennedy first had to get the presidency, and part of his rack seeding to the presidency, he had to deal with some of the issues of civil rights, some of this that was going on, that kenneth mack had just described, that after eisenhower's presidency, how did he do that and how did he view civil rights at that point as a candidate before he actually got into the chair as president? >> one day, shortly after i was hired by kennedy, i had been campaigning for him on foreign policy grounds even though he had supported the jury trial amendment in 1957 of the first civil rights act since reconstruction. he was in trouble, but i was ardently for kennedy on foreign policy grounds. he picked me up on a corner in georgetown. he knew i had joined the staff by then and hadn't known anything about civil rights background i had had with dr. king in promoting civil disobedience, talking about it, at least, since writing a book with my wife on india and gandhi, et cetera. and he said now in ten minut

. >> kenneth mack, roger wilkins, harris wofford, and charlayne hunter-gault. thmplt week in prime time we're featuring programs from american history tv seen every weekend on c-span3. thursday night learn more about one of america's earliest settlements through the archaeology at jamestown. 8:00 p.m. eastern we'll tour the site with william kelsow, at 8:30, go inside the conservation lab where more than 1.5 million artifacts are studied to help reveal life inside the fort, american history in prime time, all week on c-span3. >>> well i believe in every book i write, go there. that's the first law that i have, go to green bay to find out what it's like in the winter, when vince lombardi is coaching there, go live in hope, arkansas, and hot springs, find out what it was like for bill clinton. i'd never been to vietnam before. how could i write about it without going to the battlefield? i had to go. >> in his book "they marched into the sunlight" david mariness wrote about the war. watch online at the c-span video library. over the past four years he's been trave

how did a man, who during his campaign, harris wofford, who said, praise the sit-ins you referred to. he said, if you've got to go for freedom, sometimes you have to sit down. i'm paraphrasing his quote. how does he go from there to appointing segregationist judges, upsetting roger wilkins and being pushed, pushed, pushed until the freedom ride with the brutality visited upon those freedom riders really made him move to do something in terms of concrete legislation? >> in the first place, it isn't just the kennedys that had to be moved, public opinion had to be moved. southern legislators had to be removed or moved. and charlayne, i want to read the book. i'm sure i'll love it. >> oh, you will. >> i recommend you read it. >> you can buy her book. >> i will buy it. >> okay. [ laughter ] >> the documentary on american experience documentary that's been shown and re-shown recently -- >> "the freedom riders" is by stanley nelson. you should see it. it's an excellent movie. >> kennedy did, after the first sit-ins, he sent a message saying, the new way -- you've shown that the new way to st

kenneth mack, roger wilkins, harris wofford, and charlayne hunter-gault. >>> the single largest and most impressive civil war monument in washington to a military officer is the statue of general grant. even though he was president of the united states, it's really his service as the commanding general of the union army that made his famous. it's a very unusual statue. it faces down the mall from the lincoln memorial. and it's right at the base of the capitol. it's actually several statues together. and it was constructed over time. it was constructed and designed by a man named henry schraidy, who was not a professional artists. he was a wealthy man who went into art and really gave his life to make this statue, which took decades to do. and it was built in stages. first, the marble base was erected in 1910 with bronze lions. then in 1912, the depiction of the artillery in the civil war was added. and in 1916, the depiction of the cavalry is added. and in 1920, this enormous statue of general grant, the statue itself is 17 feet tall. it's on a, i think a 20-foot pedestal. the statue wei

kenneth mack, roger wilkins, harris wofford, and charlayne hunter-gault. >> you're watching american history tv. you can see the lives and legacy s on c-span 3. >> it's a safe bet that few who navigate this circle in washington know much about this man. at the start of the civil war we have a democratic congressman at the start of the civil war. his dwishd service in campaigns earned him promotion to the rank of major general and brief command of the army of tennessee. after the war, he helped promote the first memorial day in 1868. he returned to congress serving three terms in the senate. then he narrowly lost the vice presidency. 150 years after his death, this impressive tribute joined washington's growing company of civil war generals. tho stranger to controversy, some thought him too political. 12 feet in height, he and his mount share the memorial with a pair of bronze reliefs. one of these depicts him long after the war receiving his oath of office. he actually took office two years before he assumed the vice presidency. taking a liberal view soo, it is explained by saying sh