when adam clayton powell took on beth truman, harry truman cut him off. >> guest: yes, adam powell, of course, was a famous congressman from harlem, powerful figure in congress because of his longevity there. but truman initially was sort of ambivalent about powell. there was an innocent where powell's wife felt shunned and snubbed by the white house and it was blamed. so then powell made a public comment that he shouldn't be seen as the first lady, but the last lady. whatever you say. whatever was his own family, he'd over react and couldn't contain himself. then he kept powell at a distance. didn't invite him to social events. but it was the notion, as you say that oscillation and that -- somehow the other presidents were more willing to do that. especially as we get to more recent times. >> host: you know, franklin roosevelt gets a lot of attention from the new deal. when they visited the white house, one the white house security guards said auntie. she said which one of my sisters children are you? that was mary mccloud. but roosevelt gets a lot of credit for being very liberal, fo

harry truman may not have been corrupt, but the machine was corrupt for tax evasion at the time he was -- [inaudible] >> absolutely. [inaudible] >> yeah, there's no doubt that harry chairman was not a crook. none the fact, jimmy carter would've been found to be absolutely reprehensible. he had nothing to do with the machine politics. i think for both the feminist press mints, it's also explained in part why they have a hard time getting stuff done as president, especially on the domestic front. i think he had an awful lot he wanted to accomplish, that there is no way he was going to be able to get through a pretty recalcitrant congress. now, the real funny part of bases that jimmy carter had a democratic congress. harry truman had a heavily republican and fairly can ever give to deal with. it's a part of jimmy carter's persona that he trains himself as an outsider, which makes it hard for him together, to actually get things done. i think jimmy carter in this book argues is not necessarily a friend. jimmy carter had a great kind of moral vision that a great deal of clarity to it. we di

one of the interesting anecdotes on harry truman the relationship he had with adam clayton powell. there's so many stories about truman's loyalty to his family when his daughter did a concert and got panned from one of the washington papers he wrote back a letter saying how angry he was but when adam clayton powell took on bess truman, harry truman just cut him off. >> guest: well, adam clayton powell, of course, was a very famous congressman from harlem, a very powerful figure in congress because of his longevity there. but truman -- initially was sort of ambivalent about powell but then there was a case as you say there was an incident where powell's wife felt shunned and snubbed by the white house and it was blamed within the powell family on bess truman. so then powell made a public comment that bess truman should not be seen as the first lady but the last lady. then harry was furious. as you say, whenever it was his own family he would overreact or he just couldn't really contain himself. and then he kept powell at a distance. didn't invite him to social events for the rest of

a nurse being kissed by an unknown a sailor, the day that president harry truman announced world war ii was over. the sculpture has been on display across the country to promote national spirit and will be celebrated on august 14th. it's going to be display from 1:00 to 2:00 at pier 3 in lmd and then at fisherman's wharf and then on. >>> happy birthday. >> something else that is kind of cool. >> it's coming home to the bay area and they are bringing an incredible deal >>> today at 3:00, seven live, opollo ono is gearing up for the san francisco marathon. then at 4:00 and 5:00. >> he was like, cool. >> bay area communities making their own currency? michael finney shows us how it works. a radio ads that could derail the ballot initiative by scaring away people from petitions. >> this morning you can watch the biggest metal act to come out of the bay area for just $6. ♪ ♪ >> me metallica is celebrating 30th anniversary and will perform at the fillmore. >> single show tickets will be $6 and you can get a pack of four tickets for $1981 cents because the band was formed in 1981. >> so go

i mean, there's a significant pressure brought to bear on harry truman. this is well document to recognize israel immediately and to help get to the united nations general assembly except paulson which would include a jury state and palestinian state so truman played a key role but he wasn't lying or spending in that case. to me the lawyer and spinning that took place at that time had to do with what the zionists and shortly thereafter the israelis did to the palestinians to create a state of israel. the fact is that what is today israel was once with many more palestinians and jews and in 1948 the israelis had to ethnically cleanse the palestinians to create a jewish state that was about 80% jewish and 20% palestinian. and as you could imagine the israelis did not want the world especially the americans to know that they engaged anathema cleansing so they invented a series of myths about what happened that made it look like the palestinians were responsible for their own demise and not the israelis themselves but this wasn't true. >> john mearsheimer, why

who would have ever thought that harry truman would be one of our greatest presidents?no question he was. he said, i never forget who i was, where i came from and where i would go back to. that's a man who knows exactly who he is. he's not craving the adore ration and limelight in order to feel good about himself. he didn't want the job. it was thrust upon him. he did not have the gift of moving the country with words the way fdr did or lincoln did. and he did not have the physical presence that washington had. i think washington is our greatest president. >> why? >> he set the standards for behavior, integrity and patriotism of the best kind, not the flag-waving kind, but true love of country. all of our best presidents, without exception, have had a sense of history and i don't think that's coincidental. one of the things that a sense of history gives to a person, is not just an appreciation, an understanding of what happened before we came al lodge, but the realization that we, too, are a part of history and we, too, are going to be judged by history. and that's extr

a nurse being kissed by an unknown a sailor, the day that president harry truman announced world warsculpture has been on display across the country to promote national spirit and will be celebrated on august 14th. it's going to be display from 1:00 to 2:00 at pier 3 in lmd and then at fisherman's wharf and then on. >>> happy birthday. >> something else that is kind of cool. >> it's coming home to the bay area and they are bringing an incredible deal on a >>> today at 3:00, seven live, opollo ono is gearing up for the san francisco marathon. then at 4:00 and 5:00. >> he was like, cool. >> bay area communities making their own currency? michael finney shows us how it works. a radio ads that could derail the ballot initiative by scaring away people from petitions. >> this morning you can watch the biggest metal act to come out of the bay area for just $6. ♪ ♪ >> me metallica is celebrating 30th anniversary and will perform at the fillmore. >> single show tickets will be $6 and you can get a pack of four tickets for $1981 cents because the band was formed in 1981. >> so go to their webs

and i include harry truman. >> charlie: you include harry truman. >> i'm not much at rating. >> charlie: i'm not asking you to rate i'm asking who is de serving of mention. >> washington, lincoln, fdr truman. charlie: here's what jn adams said that his generation, his generation should study war and politics so that their grandchildren could pursue fine ts. >> thas exactly what this book's about. this is pursuing the dream that adams had for the future generations. i'm going in and saying what did they do, how have they done. of course one of his descendants is in the book henry adams who may be the best historian. >> charlie: who is it you most want to tell us. >> oliver wendell holmes, sr. holmesas a poet and essayist. a very small man physically, five foot four in a pair of heavy boots. he was a poet, published pt and he was a medical student. he saw no incongruity deving his life to medical sign and writing poetries and writing essays and finding the monthly atlanta magazines. he was one that caught on to french and the whole way of life ther immiate. keep in mind charlie, they did

when harry truman came into office, this tradition was still going on, and he said to one of the staffers, why are people peeping dead me behind the bushes? they explained. >> this day, it happens not with african-americans, but to this date it happens in buckingham palace. when the queen approaches the room, people died under colleges -- dive under couches under the illusion she is alone. i grew up in africa. my family was very poor, but even so there were servants. it is a very different life with servants. you are never alone. you're always circumspect in what you say. it is a lot of stress. >> some of our presidents had experience, some did not. i tried to give an insight into the president's as well. president kennedy had experience with servants. when he first took office, the staff would go up to the residence at 10:00 to turn the lights of, which they had done with president eisenhower, his predecessor. of course, eisenhower was an elderly man. one of the staffers observed jackie kennedy and what he calls skimpy in night clothes scattering from one bedroom to another, so he asked

actually, harry truman never could understand why grover was counted twice. he just thought that was ridiculous because only 43 people had been president. so yap. thanks. >> the book is now available. happy to sign a copy for you. >> anti-semites. [applause] [applause] >> that was matthew algeo ion "the president is a sick man." for more information about the author and to read his blog visit the website. >> trowels thompson's new book. mr. thompson, what is your book about? >> in one word, moonshine. but that one word often requires thousands more of the explanation because i am trying to take what people think about this subject, moonshine, and turn it into the history of a broader time in american history. this was the 1930's during prohibition. the era of the depression. >> what did manage i mean? >> of course america even back in its formation had always had spirit, liquor as part of its social gathering and so forth. three of our first five presidents had liquor distiller is on the plantation. for example, when 1919 came around and the nation for bait a

there was significant pressure brought to bear on harry truman and is well documented to recognize israel immediately and to help get the united nations general assembly, with with the jewish state and palestinian state. truman played a key role there but he was not spending zero lowered lying. the real lying that took place at that time had to do with the zionist and shortly thereafter the israelis and palestinians to create the state of

i'm not in that business but think about harry truman, humble haberdasher.atness within all of us, chris. >> i'm with him! chris: this is -- >> i think there are enough people on mt. rushmore, right. >> i want to be on somebody's republican bus so i think you're pushing me over the cliff. >> chris: go for it. >> adopted a republican health care policy, passed health care plan, supported republican cap and trade answer on global warming. barack obama is the republican candidate who should be on mt. rushmore. chris: much more moderate than you think. i have no idea. thanks for a great round table. almost a complete wipeout put for joe, john heilemann, glory borger, kelly o'donnell and joe klein. what does greatness require? greatness. thank you for watching. see you next week.

question and you know it's true republicans only care about the rich and special interests as harry truman said in one thousand nine hundred seventy at the democratic national convention. where it is the people know the democratic party is the people's party and there are public and party is the party of special interests and oh as has been and always will be some things never change. as the big picture for tonight for more information on the stories we covered visit our website to tom hartman dot com free speech dot org and. also check out our two you tube channels or links of thom hartmann dot com this entire show is also available as a free video i pod cast on i tunes and we have a free thom hartmann i phone and i pad app at the app store you can send us feedback at twitter at tom hartman or tom underscore arbonne on facebook at tom underscore aravind our blogs message boards and telephone comment lines they're all over thom hartmann dot com and don't forget democracy begins with you get out there and get active show up participates and your it will suit him or. so.

trillion dollars the ten year deficit and then we could get on the real issues like creating jobs harry truman would love to hear are there any plans i guess that sounds like one of them won't screw over working people. that one wouldn't i mean yeah granted down to as low as fifty thousand people pay a little bit more because what their parents or grandparents once they get medicare are so screwed you did get medicare and social security their kids would still get you know pell grants and student financial assistance other programs are essential for a you know for a civil society we continue and so i think it would be a pretty fair way to resolve this issue but senator obama ari caved once on the bush tax cuts and now he himself has adopted this stupid republican idea of the so security tax holiday. very little chance that he would agree to his part of doing nothing yeah that's that's unfortunate well we'll keep an eye on it congressman peter de fazio thanks for the great work you're doing the house of representatives and thanks for keeping us informed and thank you tom appreciate the opportun

the next election you know there's a there's sadly mistaken but that's my concern and you know harry truman famously said if if voters are given the choice between a democrat who behaves like a republican or a real republican they'll choose the republican and you know and of course vice versa and. i just don't get why he's not. in any case this is in wild variation from the progressive caucuses pleasure progressive caucus put out a budget plan that actually balances the budget in ten years it depends on and you know or so is that why you know why is the progressive caucus the largest caucus in the democratic party ninety four members of the ninety seven million why are they being ignored marginalized by the white house you know i think part of is the fact that you know the republicans control the house of representatives you know we have a more conservative set in i think a lot of progressive ideas which really are centrist ideas if you put them on the public they're actually fairly popular are kind of pushed on the wayside and i think a lot of democrats just don't want to approach them bec

attention and two today with matthew algeo and his book "the president is a sick man" his second book harry truman's excellent it a venture which tracks his cross-country trip 1953 that got a lot of great press and in 2009 it was called the best book of the year and before that the war years and thus the goals which is a combination of the eagles and pittsburgh steelers. another interesting book. he has the eclectic background not just an author or journalist but he was a hot dog vendor at a traveling circus come at a halloween costume sales man, a gas station attendant, a convenience store clerk this will put him in a good position because in two months he is moving to mongolia with his wife who was a foreign service officer. that should be interesting. in a friend to the museum and it is my pleasure to introduce matthew algeo. [applause] >> you make it sound more interesting. great to be at the museum of american finance. it is a fantastic museum and have been coming for a few years now but when i was researching the book is the museum was very helpful to answer my questions how many grains of sil

i mean there was a significant pressure brought to bear on harry truman. this is well documented to recognize israel immediately and to help get the united nations general assembly to accept the partition of palestine which would include a jewish state and a palestinian state. said truman played a key role there, but he was not lying or spending in that case. the real lying and spinning that took place at that point in time had to do with what the zionists and shortly thereafter the israelis israeli state to the palestinians to create the state of israel. the fact is that the land that today is israel was once filled with many more palestinians than jewish. and if 1948, the israelis had to ethnically cleanse the palestinians to create a jewish state that was about 80% jewish and 20% palestinian. and as you can imagine the israelis did not want the world, especially the americans, to know that they had engaged in ethnic cleansing so they invented a series of myths about what happened that made it look like the palestinians were responsible for their own demi

in our west to be bipartisan, i would like to take your deer hunting cooking story and quote harry truman. if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. >> mike: our audience loves that, congressman. >> did you like it, mike is the question. let me tell you what happened. as you know from the house, we passed two mess measures cut, cap and balance . we were just able to pass by a narrow margip john boehner's plan that stemmed from the bipartisan meeting in the building in the capitol when we saw john boehner sitting with harry reid andy mitch mcconnell and we know that hairy reid backed away after the president made it clear he didn't want democrat to support it mitch mcconnell is repeatedly asking. he is harry reid to bring it for . we are waiting right now until 1:00 tomorrow morning and the fact it, mitch made the request and harry reid said no. mitch asked us to say since senator reid said his plan was the only one to pass . he asked us to introduce it in the house and it was overwhelmingly defeat in a bis partisan way. we know we have to work in a way to address this. there ar

further along when it comes to acceptance of gays and lesbians now today than we were in 1947 when harry trumanstarted the end of segregation by executive order. >> real quickly here, jonathan, is it generational? yes or no. >> say explain that. >> is it generational? do you think younger people in the military are more accepting? >> totally. the most concerned people are the senior personnel in the military. >> would you be reintate stated? would you want to be? >> i think there's a lot of different ways i can serve my country. i will explore those before i make a decision whether i go back in. there's other people that do want to rejoin the military. i personally loved it, as well. >> there will be a 60-day waiting period before don't ask, don't tell officially goes away now to a bizarre mystery. a woman and little boy dead within days of each other. she was found hanging naked and bound from a balcony. her family is speaking out. here's sandra endo. >> it started last monday when police say 6-year-old mack shack nile fell down the stairs of this 27-room mansion near san diego and was rushed

higher support among democrats at this point in his presidency then any democratic president since harry trumaneft greatly exaggerated? >> in some way, yes. i think the polls speak to that people genuinelyç like this president. whether they agree with him on what he is doing on the economy, he is a likeable person. at least people feel that way. talking to democrats they say that's one of the reasons his poll numbers generally aren't lower, that he is about 37 to 48% in polls. people think he is genuinely doing the best he can. even if you look at the way presidential candidates weigh in against him, they use phrases like, he is a good man. they think he is earnest with a good family but he failed the economy. there is a genuine good feeling about this president. a sense that he at least is trying to dot right thing. >> ron, you would admit you're a republican. you admit he is a good man trying to dot right thing, wouldn't you? >> i think sea good man. >> great. i think he is a contribution to the -- >> i don't think he is trying to take the country in the right direction. he is taking us abso

along when it comes to acceptance of gays and less peans now, today, than we were in 1947 when harry trumantarted the end of segregation by executive order. >> real quickly, jonathan. is it generational, yes or no? >> explain that. >> do you think younger people in the military are more accepting of it? >> totally. the most concerned people are senior person in the military. >> would you be reinstated? do you want to be? >> there are a lot of different ways to serve my country. i know that there are other people that want to rejoin the military. >> what are you hearing from cohorts still waiting on this? >> frustration, and confusion. those are the -- those are the bottom two -- main two things that

it was harry truman who said, if you can't convince them, confuse them. the public was confused.ng to -- a void is going to be filled whether it's by pundits or whether it's by people speculating, and the only way this she can resurrect herself in my view is to tell the story herself. >> i mean, one of the problems, of course, with having all this on television, the trial, is everyone involved becomes a de facto celebrity. and she is bound to get offered multimillion dollar offers from all sorts of different commercial entities, trying to capitalize on the fact that she has basically walked free, and is one of the most contentious figures in american public life. i mean, i have quite a firm view about this. this child by television is deeply flawed. i don't see the upside of it, other than it turns the whole thing into a reality tv circus. >> well, look, i think that what has happened here is it has become a circus and that's part of the problem that she faces. and people are judging her. she has, i'm sure, followed the advice of her attorneys and not spoken. and i think there ha

tax revenues are as low as harry truman. ronald reagan presided over 17 raises in the debt ceiling. to will's point, take a win. the gang of six deal which reduces tax rates and a dozen entitlement reform, this should be embraced. this all or nothing at attitude shows the real enemy is bipartisanship. not because a history of spending increases. in divided government in the past, we've had the highway built, the marshall plan, all of reagans terms essentially. the term for these folks is a dislike and distrust with bipartisanship. which is essential to get anything passed in a divided government. so reality check, folks. we need to raise the debt ceiling and we need to reduce the deficit. the only way that gets done is with a bipartisan plan. >> mark, i'm sure you want to jump in on that. why don't you want to take a win at this point? >> because it's not a win. i looked at the numbers. first of all, it's a proposal. there's no legislation we could put our hands around. it's a $1 trillion tax increase. >> no it's not. >> and

teddy roosevelt proposed national health insurance in 1912 and every democratic president since harry truman has tried to pass that and barack obama passed it. there are a lot of weaknesses to it but it is not nothing. the first two years of his presidency was the most consequential democratic presidency in 50 years. it is not chopped liver. i don't like chopped liver. that is point ii. that point lead to the argument i make in my book which i will be signing after this panel. which is about the system and the system is -- what i call the system which have a lot of components. part of it is the filibuster in the hold and part is the legacy of the most corrupt, incompetent and ideologically upset presidency of the last 150 years. we -- what this world needs is a good comparison between the buchanan presidency and the bush presidency to decide if he is the worst president ever. there was so much to be done if you just look at the way we were set up to handle the oil spill, no one heard of the m m s. the only reason they were in the newspapers before the oil spill is people were dealing crystal

. >> harry truman did it.recedent there. >>> republicans thought it was a good idea to use this man's violent bank robber movie to motivate house members. turns out the message of the movie was totally correct. >>> and paul brown proves how out of touch republicans are with the the middle class in this country. i couldn't conceive this as a heart attack. the doctor leaned over and said to me, "you just beat the widow-maker." i was put on an aspirin, and it's part of my regimen now. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. go see your doctor now. this past year alone an aspirin regimen. there was a 93% increase in cyber attacks. in financial transactions... on devices... in social interactions... and applications in the cloud. some companies are worried. some, not so much. thanks to a network that secures it all and knows what to keep in, and what to keep out. outsmart the threats. see how at cisco.com cisco. it's schwab at your fingertips wherever, whenever you wan

they say by this standard 112 kition under performing harry truman so-called do nothing congress of 1948well as the congress during bill clinton impeachmen impeachment. january until the end of may this year 16 bills became law compared to 50 during the same period last year. and the senate has confirmed just about half the administration nominee. recent congress have nearly completed the list by now. >>> california lawmakers are set to make history by sending a bill to the governor that would require public schools to include contribution of gay and lesbian in social studies curriculum. today the democratic control assembly passed the bill along party lines. 42-25. the senate bill leaves it up to local school boards to decide how to implement the requirement and at which grade level. republicans say it was well intentioned but ill conceived. democratic assemblyman tom says it ace crucial bill because of the bullying directed at gay students. >>> american boat captain tm determined to break israel blockade of the gaza strip has been released by a court in greece. captain john meier arres

i have tremendous admiration and respect for harry truman. he was my be father's favorite president, and i've read the wonderful biography of truman by david mccullough, and he really is a tremendous man when you think he did not have a college degree. and yet he had to deal with the korean war, and he had to deal with the dropping of the bomb. he had so many issues that came on his plate all at once. and he stood strong. he stood strong, for instance, for our ally, israel, when 11 minutes after israel declared her sovereignty, it was harry truman that had israel's back. and that having of israel's back has made all the difference for stability in the middle east. i have great admiration for him as well as, obviously, as abraham lincoln, but my all time favorite would be george washington. >> let's have a round of applause for our speaker today. [applause] >> thank you for the honor. thank you. >> thank you very much for coming today. i'd also like to thank the national press club staff including our library and broadcast center for organizin

. >> harry truman invoked the 14th amendment once to raise the debt ceiling.o president obama wouldn't even be the first to do it. if it comes down to invoking the 14th amendment or allowing default, one of them is clearly the better choice. until i see smoke. so pantene said, "breakage and split ends? no problem." they gave me this pantene called breakage to strength. [ female announcer ] the keratin protection pro-v system helps prevent then repair split ends. zero fear of breakage, 100% more strength. no regrets, just health. i'm not giving up the heat. [ female announcer ] the breakage to strength system from pantene. >>> welcome back to "the ed show." let's bring in chris van hollen. set chairman of the democratic congressional campaign committee. congressman, good to have with you us tonightment i said in my opening statement the change has come to washington. we've never seen a group, i don't think, campaign on obstruction the way they did and going after federal spending and then not falling pray to the horse trading that is taking place. i mean the te

the vice president not your referring to when the manhattan project was originally going on was harry truman. he had no idea about the nuclear weapon until he became president. and the person who told him was vannevar bush. >> basic question. by name at area 51? are there one through 50? if so, explain. >> that's the subject of great debate. even a lot of my name sources in the book will say that's just a quadrant that they came up with. but according to my source in the end of the book, the reason that it is named area 51 is because in 1951 the original equipment and the remains of the roswell crash came there. >> have you been called a conspiracy theorist, this audience member asked? >> i will let you guys decide on that one, but what i do know is, i've been accused of deadly been accused of being, you know, part of a government conspiracy to hide aliens. because my theory does not push the idea that aliens have visited earth. and i did get a letter from a group or an e-mail rather from a group in the u.k. furious with me last week when my book first published. they said even we don't beli

it is a harry truman message from 1948 and i think we could win opinion if you say we are for austerity but a different kind. if you don't talk about what happens in real people's lives then we can't prepale. those we might in front of this group of clowns. >> i don't know why a democrat should share its sacrifice. more than half have been sacrificing a couple hundred years. but more to the point, in harry reid's bill, is a -- what they are calling a super committee which we are calling super congress is, you know, this legislative branch that's being created, that will attack entitlements. so the idea that democrats can say they are protecting social security today while setting up a committee that is then going to recommend kits to social security and medicare and have those cults fast track through congress. no amendments within sust up or down vote. so the republican medicare plan is worse but the democratic committee is -- >> well i think -- i've got to go. but i think ryan raised a good point. we have heard singh since regan trickled down theory we never got our trickle. now we ar

the orders come through that you will do this, just like with integration, 50 years ago after harry truman insisted on it, it will happen. there will be the execution machine -- in the best way of executing. this will become something that will seem archaic that we didn't actually do this. i want to turn to another very interesting issue in the news today. there was a survey -- a study done by some -- by the world health organization that showed that, and get this, this is a new fact which is that it is more dangerous to go to a hospital in the united states than it is to board an airplane. if you look at the risk statistics, and we've got some of the facts up there. does this reenforce what you already thought or is this shocking and new, krystal? >> like you said, it's not even close which i don't think is terribly shocking when you think about the fact that hospital errors result in more deaths than just about anything. it's the fifth leading cause of death in america. so this is a really important issue. one piece that i do want to pull out and pat ourselves a little bit on the back, t

. >> harry truman invoked the 14th amendment once to raise the debt ceiling. so president obama wouldn't even be the first to do it. if it comes down to invoking the 14th amendment or allowing default, one of them is clearly the better choice. can turn romantic anytime. and when it does, men with erectile dysfunction can be more confident in their ability to be ready with cialis for daily use. cialis for daily use is a clinically proven low-dose tablet you take every day so you can be ready anytime the moment's right. tell your doctor about your medical condition and all medications, and ask if you're healthy enough for sexual activity. don't take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache, or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than 4 hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, stop taking cialis and call your doc

president, when harry truman served in the seat that senator mccaskill of missouri holds today, he used to sit back over there in the back of the row where a lot of the newer senators sit and he from that vantage point would often watch the great debates of the new deal. and he listened long into the night and he used to frequently write thoepl his wife -- home to his wife. one night he wrote about his experience of serving in the senate -- this was early on -- and the awe that he felt sitting in this institution and looking across it to his colleagues, i assume imagining the ghosts of calhoun and clay and other great senators. and he wrote to his wife, and he said, you know, i sit here in the senate looking at this institution and at my colleagues, and i pinch myself, and i say how the hell did i get here? a number of months later, it was very late at night, and he was again sitting there, and he wrote to his wife, and again watching the debate and he looked across at his colleagues and he wrote to her, and he said, i ask myself how the hell did they get here anyway? i suspect that at