president of the russians need over from berlin shoes and harry truman said we stay in berlin, periodnd he said have you really thought about this, mr. president? and truman got up and walked out of the room and it was truman's determination along with clay's on the other end and then the competence and the bravery of these young men but when one of the most unlikely, it wasn't a battle but the situation in the biggest and humanitarian history. >> i think one of the things that's striking ac said the cabinet of these very prestigious military men, brad the commercial and so on and marshals staff had not only leavitt but george kennan was -- they were opposed to this and also a post for political reasons but it couldn't be done. but also just i think for the logistical issues involved they didn't believe, they thought was simply impossible. >> they also thought we on the had 37 planes in germany when this began to try to bring in 4500 tons a day. the british carried one-third of the load so that one, they thought was impossible, number two, they thought it would be a huge embarrassment

of all the presidents they had known, some of the secret service men would say, only harry truman wouldbeen willing to live in the place. but not everyone felt that way. margaret truman remembered it this way in her biography -- "every room, especially on the first floor was a masterpiece. most every piece of furniture was a rare or from france. crystal chandeliers gleam above magnificent rugs and gilded mirrors and wood-paneled dining room was utterly charming." >> this house has an unbelievable history of great moments in history, moments where wars were discussed and committed to it and peace agreements were committed to. >> date, 1950. president truman and his advisers make critical decisions about u.s. involvement in korea. truman's biographer wrote about it. "that night, after supper alone, truman summoned another emergency session, a second war cabinet meeting at blair house." "i don't want to go to war, he said. everything i have done has been to avoid making a decision such as i had to make tonight." >> for president truman, this was the temporary cabinet room. many of his meet

the other thing that was collected that was sent by americans from home, harry truman's in the first one word care packages, these 10 pounds or 18 pounds boxes of all sorts of food. it was the food left over the care packages where the food that had been prepared for the invasion of japan. since there was no invasion of japan it was there and was sent many people could physically describe the first time they saw a care package and opened it and what was in at and what it represented, and among the people who told the story was helmut kohl who became the chancellor, 18 year old boy at the time, became chancellor of the united germany after the wall went down in 1989. the americans for sending over shiploads of candy. it was being collected at firehouses all over the country because of what gale halvorson had done and he thought he was going to get in trouble for doing it actually. >> the british, we should say something quickly about the british were involved in the airlift. they couldn't drop candy because britain was still under, still living under austerity and rationing food so th

i think harry truman pulled the pan on the grenade in hiroshima on his way back from potsdam.he same on air force one or zero proposal plane. o proposal was probably nicer. -- oprah's was probably nicer than air force one. get ready to be deemed racist. bill: you agree with me. get the olympics for chicago. it is a good thing for america. it is popular overseas. he can do whatever he wants. there's no harm. >> it would be great in chicago when you think about it. blago could be the mascot. he's like a cartoon. want a job in the senate? bill ayers could bring in the incendiary devices and light the olympic torch. we can have reverend wright do the invocation. this thing is pre made. >> not to god bless america, god d * * america. >> i don't believe it. >> that would make sports center. bill: you can throw out the first pitch. if you practice a little bit. >> yes. you will never let me -- bill: you will never live that down. plenty more ahead as we move along this evening. miller gives us his thoughts on my interview with barney frank. "the factor" and miller time will be right

>> as far as barack going, i don't have any trouble, i think i remember harry truman pulled the pin onde via wireless and i am i assume he can do it on air force one or oprah's plane i don't know which one, oprah's a nicer. if they don't award this olympics to chicago and thus to president obama, get ready to be deemed racist, that is the-- that is the mood. >> bill: so you agree with me, if he gets the olympics for chicago, it's a good thing, it's good for america, he's popular overseas and get on the television and do whatever he wants. no harm. >> i think it'd be great in chicago when you think about it. blago could be the mascot, he looks kind of cartoonist-- hey, kids, want a job in the senate? and they could bring the incendiary device in and we could have reverend wright do the invocation and i think the thing is pre-made. >> not god bless america, god damn america. >> bill: you know, that would liven up the crowd. that would make bob costas' head whip back. >> i don't believe it. >> bill: there you go. >> that would make sports center. >> bill: and you know, you could throw out

. >> and harry truman. [laughter] and later they decided let's fight the war in the pacific and leave your aplomb but at that time the republicans are worried russians taking over europe so it is not consistent in what they were saying the very much to the right and consistent but at the same time is about had his own right wing 70 approach and i think it is hard now to remember any of us are old enough to have read since how incredibly racist both the country and the southern democrats were. this south was a block of reactionary southern democratic voters who were e elected for the most part roughly 10% of the constituents the blacks did not bode at all been in the 40's the tax and florida was repealed and wishbone 70% of the whites were not able to go to either. said you had an extraordinary minority government of a racist reactionary tied to be able to get more or less what they wanted out of roosevelt he could not even get the anti-lynching law passed in the forties when that was symbolic at that time.

let's compare a situation, harry truman in correa 60 years ago -- in korea 60 years ago, when confrontedith generals who had their own policies, fired macarthur, faced the ire of the republican congress. this is a country where, as truman said, the buck stops here. i think obama has too often allows special interest groups to compromise and sabotage his agenda. he invoked the mantra of change. he is constantly invoking the mantra of change, but too often he is offered hope, and hope is a thin gruel in which public can prosper. in foreign policy, he is following in the george bush's footsteps by being bogged down by two tribal wars, which he has never been able to adequately explain to the public, except under this vague category of combating terrorism. he is head of an alliance, nato, with no enemies. behind that shield, europe and sold to russia and the post cold war embraced dominated by german economic power. asia is entering a post-american future. the rise of china and france japan and india -- confronts japan and india, and then the u.s. is gone down in tribal wars in afghanistan a

it reminded me of the saying attributed to harry truman after roadwork to. he was tired of getting advice and been frustrated at not finding answers bracket was said he was in search of the one army economist so that the guy could never make a statement to him and then say on a the other hand. [laughter] sometimes i get the feeling that said questions are so complex there is no simple answer. you can make a statement and immediately counter on the other hand, there are these considerations. that may be where we are today. we have reached the conclusion of this conference. i want to thank our patron saint and mort kaplan. [applause] and our conference director david. [applause] and also for putting this all together. [applause] this has been a very lively, productive and engaging conference. the proceedings will be archived in the website in about one week. you can go to miller center.org. c-span has cover this conference last night and today and i suggest you check your local listings. and the miller center will produce a printed report in due course. thank

>> it was my home county, spent 62 years that president harry truman was in the county.as an exciting moment but more and partly than that, he spoke, he went to see some small manufacturing companies. ninos manufacturing is how you work your way out of the recession. you need to make sure these small companies which you referred to tonight in the state in o'leary ohio could get financing and get credit. many of these companies have the capacity to manufacture more and they have the customers that are ready to buy. they just need capital so they can begin the production and that is the only way to get the economy moving. >> what tonight did he say that would help ohio? >> i think the most important thing he said was first over all the focus on jobs and everything is all about jobs but more precisely, specifically he talked about taking $30 billion of t.a.r.p. money to the banks who have paid back and put that in regional and community banks so they can begin to loosen credit and begin to loan in these companies. that will help the transitioning from a company in cincinnat

the first televised broadcast was president harry truman in 1947. you can see how we have evolved.the state of the union important, it is the first one for a president important? guest: the state of the union is something required by the constitution. it says from time to time. it does not say exactly what he will say, but he is to report. of course, our convention has been every year at this time of year. for someone who has never given one, it is extremely important. for one, things are not going so well for the democrats. it is time to rally the troops and fundamentally tell the american people and congress what he wants to do. host: can the president speak to short or long? guest: yes, the president can speak too long. bill clinton talked a lot. typically, these speeches are about one hour long. of course, they are punctuated with applause, and that sort of thing, but if you go past one hour, you are losing people. 45 minutes is probably the maximum you want to have. host: talking about tonight's speech and past presidents speeches. next phone call. caller: i want to make a com

we have video text of speeches going back to harry truman. just to check in. i will go to three tweets. joseph nobles said obama did not change the subject contrary to what joe lieberman said. there was all talk, no substance. finally, we have the state of the union encourage congress to work together to solve problems. it was a good speech. >> we will get more and more followers on this from the "washington journal." how many followers to we have lunch with her? >> we have about 20,700. that has gone up in the last 30 minutes. >> i am sure it has. thank you. we're joined from brooklyn, new york on the democratic line. your reaction. caller: i just wanted to say that i did not get on the phone with you guys . obama is not doing anything to help anyone. there is not a big deal when he became president. everyone was screaming through the windows and was jumping on cars and going crazy. everyone was happy. we have a black president. there are many people out there with no jobs. >> your comments, please. caller: president obama is a good president. he has a positi

it goes all the way back to george washington and abraham lincoln, fdr, harry truman, dwight eisenhower. that is how we dealt with that in this case, these are individuals who are not even in uniform. individuals were specifically not in uniform who go after innocent men, women, and children, and use terrorism as a specific means by which they are trying to gain their ends. that violates every concept of the geneva accords. makes every bit of sense to hold them in guantanamo, where we have built a world-class facility and they are not maltreated or mistreated. we have the ability there to try them, a secure facility. we were going through a military tribunal. they wanted to plead guilty. for whatever reason, we decided to not accept the plea of guilty and put them into our civilian system. it makes no sense. i think it does heighten the possibility of new york being a fresh target. i think it concerns -- i think the concerns expressed by the police commissioner there are real. he knows, i think, what he is talking about. it is going to cost hundreds of millions of dollars. look, the for

meanwhile, back at the white house, a captain denison, bader and admiral, handed harry truman the list of promotions to rear admiral. and god bless him, he spoke up and saved admiral burke. he said sir, there is one missing. i think an injustice has been done. truman said, what's that? he says it's captain burke, arleigh burke. truman said, didn't i meeting down there in norfolk? yes, sir, that's the one. he is good. yes, sir. well, just write his name back and period on the promotion list. the old secretary of defense and everybody were shocked. rear admiral, arleigh burke was saved for this country. now, the irony in the revolt of the admirals however this remarkable career with so many turnabout that they did feel they have to give them a place to start it cool down. and a noncontroversial position would be defense research and development board, ironically. this position was another step in opening a new vista to admiral burke and introducing him and controlling him with technological and strategic solutions to naval and defense issues. creative breakthroughs, thinking smarter not

how one drawls the analogy to a former majority leader expressing his support for the defeat of harry trumanin 1948 so that the strong from and what the president running on a state's house rights to get. i don't see how that's analogous to what senator reid was saying. i don't -- i mean, i understand what people have to say on tv or to get themselves on tv. i would suggest they spend about 20 seconds reading a little history and figuring out that to draw the analogy strains any intellectual enterprise or any real reality in all sense of the word. >> on politics, there are indications that massachusetts senate race is tightening up. the dnc said -- top staff or there today. does the president have any intention of giving that to massachusetts to campaign on behalf of martha coakley? >> the president doesn't have any travel plans to campaign in massachusetts. >> robert, given a meeting with the labor leaders later today, do you think the president has done right by a movement that was so much a part of his victory in november, the labor much that? is he -- has he done right by then? has the a

questions that have been post over the last couple of days and reminded me saying attributed to harry trumanrld war ii trying to get advice and was being frustrated and not finding answers and was said he was in search of a one armed economist. [laughter] so the guy could never make a statement to him and then say all the other hand. sometimes i get the feeling in a lot of these great discussions the questions are so complex that the there is no simple answer. you can make a statement and then immediately counter with on the other hand there are these considerations. that may be where we are today. but we have reached the conclusion of this conference. i want to thank the patron saint mark kaplan, conference director david -- [applause] i want to thank david, conference director. [applause] and jeff and ashley turban for putting this all together. [applause] this has been a very lively and productive in beijing conference. th

the first televised broadcast was president harry truman in 1947. you can see how we have evolved. why is the state of the union important, it is the first one for a president important? guest: the state of the union is something required by the constitution. it says from time to time. it does not say exactly what he will say, but he is to report. of course, our convention has been every year at this time of year. for someone who has never given one, it is extremely important. for one, things are not going so well for the democrats. it is time to rally the troops and fundamentally tell the american people and congress what he wants to do. host: can the president speak to short or long? guest: yes, the president can speak too long. bill clinton talked a lot. typically, these speeches are about one hour long. of course, they are punctuated with applause, and that sort of thing, but if you go past one hour, you are losing people. 45 minutes is probably the maximum you want to have. host: talking about tonight's speech and past presidents speeches. next phone call. caller: i want to ma

as i said, was in my home county in oleary county, the first presidential visit since 1948 when harry truman came to lorain county, ohio, and spoke about how congress wasn't doing any of the things that mattered to fight -- to fight the problems of that day. and the president was not partisan, but the president made it clear that -- that republicans' reluctance to help get this economy back on track, help with job creation is what set us back. that's why the president was in lorain county, to talk about job creation, talk about helping small businesses, talk about helping with exports, talk about helping unfreeze credit because so many companies can't get credit. the president has also thrown his support behind what many of us in ohio are seeing as our states becoming the silicon valley of alternative energy. toledo, ohio, has more manufacturing jobs than any city in america. i was in cincinnati this week, yesterday, in fact, and cincinnati -- in cincinnati there's a steel company that was making steel drums for oil fields is now making steel components for wind turbines. i could take you ar

. -- one captain had harry truman the list of promotions to rear admiral.ess him, he saved admiral burke. he said there is one missing. there has been an injustice done. he says is captain burke. didn't i meet him down there in norfolk? yes, that is the one. he is good. yes, sir. we will just write his name back and on the promotion list. the secretary of defense was shocked. rear admiral arleigh burke was saved for this country. the irony of the revolt of the admirals and this remarkable career with so many turnabouts, they felt they had to give him a place to cool down. and uncontroversial decision would be the development board. ironically this position is another step in opening a new vista to admiral burke and introducing him and in throwing him with strategic -- enthralling him with a strategic issues, thinking smarter and not richer. the seeds were sown in his training for burke's monumental breakthrough. we now move back to the outbreak of the korean war in 1950. burke served as deputy chief of staff for the near me -- nee the services -- for the ne

how one draws the analogy to, a former majority leader expressing his support for the defeat of harry truman in 1948 so that strom thurmond would be president running on a states rights ticket. i don't see how that is analogous to what senator reid was saying. i think, i mean i understand what people have to say on tv or to get themselves on tv i would suggest they spend about 20 seconds reading a little history and figuring out that, to draw that analogy strains, any intellectual enterprise or, any real reality in all sense of the word. >> on politics there are indications that massachusetts senate race is tightening up. dnc sent a top staffer there today. does the president have any intention to travel to massachusetts to campaign for martha coakley. >> the president doesn't have any travel plans to campaign in massachusetts. >> do you think the president has done right by a movement that was so much a part of his victory in november, the labor movement, that if he, has he done right by them? has he advanced their agenda the way he should? >> i think the president has represented working m