>> guest: eleanor roosevelt was, you know, the keeper of the flame and did not like harry truman. did not like what had happened to the administration that truman had inherited from her husband. a lot of the new dealers left. not only henry wallace who she had liked a lot and wanted to keep on the ticket in 1944 -- eventually he sort of wore out his welcome with her -- but her sons were very active in dumping truman. and if you take a look at the statement she makes in support of truman just before the election, they are, shall we say, very tend. >> host: this is booktv on c-span2. david pietrusza, historian and author, is our guest. we'll put the numbers up on the screen as we take this call from bob in raleigh, north carolina. hi, bob. >> caller: hi. david, um, if you could comment on the fact that i think president reagan when he was handling the air flight controllers' strike, didn't he cite the coolidge situation in boston as precedent? >> guest: well, if he didn't, he should have. although coolidge, that's a -- yes, he should have. because that is really what rallied the publ

round of primaries everybody was saying i am the nextga - e'otnothean and e 'tth fnk roevelt and harry truman to use his language was not franklin roosevelt. franklinoosevelt could m thwoinidot the persona. also as we explained earlier you are coming off a war. opoiomt he in o aar a nnn m. g t yot a similar outbreak of strikes in 1945-46. amazng. you get a milar outburs of fln thereluie eyull-ow desift wldi. everyone expected it and that lil ur ws phe so drao wnfl. hegronlen 1946. peoplealk about how the republicans weree erven ehe deatcore, survived were the southerners. >> host: how d harry truman whemnvti >stu't ueyon' beat somebody with nobody. es fs i things having a urench.olt wasn't just a ray of towering figures in the democratic party whoould replace him and that hyryman hn ti h mnicer inignor w i is a non entity. hes notn great spe a a dthck lst am orm he goes on because the guy w is vice president is the guy who can do it to get the mt nt arm. guehinheackoo o kl rsevee is saying cut that by half. i have a problem. agd abl. >> host: did henry wallace run for president? >> guest: cer

[laughter] but my question was about harry truman. wahearnd tt i'veeadhoch oprohid taeo--toe stiohaul cd hiom b most especially the terrible radiation effects that came after? were they really aware of this, th m ti.fhi >>stm ire h tew suspect they did not know a great amount, although the -- if you listen torescf e mienofth rvg,hihsy cr ahe ors tt they we given, that they were given by the people who actually knew the nuts and bolts of this operation were to drop that thing and get the helly on ss. etit fa f o ar of just being incinerated by the heat like in washington today or just the force of the blt. t wertoo erofr oadon vekenonr, , ren 93 so you may remember this, maybe you weren't a kid then, but i remember in the postwar era ul ihoe ss, thld-ruret eyou-ruree os browh m reha the ext right-fitting shoe. so we would go to a shoe store and get x-ray i would submit that we wre not fullgnt hedas iave t 50 osexaad flaze ya comes from pensacola, g: coo u >>t:el you. go ahead. >> caller: good afternoon. i ju wondered if you could give

you have to love harry truman. he's such a simple guide and made such simple, strong decisions and cut away all the chat. and as i say, history regarded him from the very beginning, the first poll after his presidency in the near great category never fall. at the voters grew tired. he had in his last full year in office, 1948a g-golf approval rating of 22%. almost can't get below that. i think maybe george w. bush at one point came close. so how do we square the historians immediately in your great category where is the voters were essentially saying he's ineligible for rehire? well, history is looking at the overall record, which is highly accessible. i would say her road trip you look at first term because he made the agonizing decision to save nearly american lines. he presided over america's role in fostering the united nations. he was the president under containment which saved western europe from soviet aggression also miss him that was poised with 1.3 million troops. he frosted the market plan, brought about

even harry truman who disliked the joint committee, still roiszed the importance of congressional oversight and said, i'm quoting truman, this is especially true in war time when the congress must dell gate many of its powers, only by investigation can it review the exercise of them and ascertain how and to what extent they should be modified. so despite the inher ent stresses here, the committee generally man takened amicable relations with lincoln and his cabinet. they frequently met. now, today we're accustomed to a dominant executive, imperial presidency as it typically called. 19th century americans were not. lincoln was a product of era of legislative dominance. he never complained of any infringement on the office of the president, as much as the committee sometimes irritated him. and he never refused to cooperate with it. lincoln's reluctance to challenge generals, particularly george mcclellan certainly encouraged the committee to pursue aggressively for more forceful action. an odor of political partisanship colored the later writing about the committee's work and has to be addres

harry truman, same thing. he made decisions knowing it was going to hurt him politically.bush, i mean, he makes that deal in 1990, i guess it was. >> right. >> you know, he raises taxes. he knows in real time, that could be the end of his re-election, but he does it anyways. and historians rightly look at those presidents and they say hey, here's somebody who was willing to do the right thing. >> jon meacham, doris kearns goodwin, thank you so much. ahead a question we have for everybody, there is a unifying quality for all war time presidents? our in-depth look at the american presidency continues on this july 4th week. [ male announcer ] let's say you need to take care of legal matters. wouldn't it be nice if there was an easier, less-expensive option than using a traditional lawyer? well, legalzoom came up with a better way. we took the best of the old and combined it with modern technology. together you get quality services on your terms, with total customer support. legalzoom documents have been accepted in all 50 states, and they're backed by a 100% satisfaction guar

harry truman. a fascinating case in point, and he coming to me, sort of personifies a significant element of this whole thing in terms of how the voters judge the presidents and held the historians judge the presidents. totally different. historians look at a president's full tenure in office, one of the mib. to turn someone term, partial term, and then look at what he has accomplished and say good and not so good. terrible. whenever. rate accordingly. the voters look at their president as they are invited to by the constitution in four year increments. you, we all have -- we have hiring and firing authority of these guys. we take it very seriously. that is why we judge them exclusively on 4-year increments . then without much sentimentality we just move on. so let's look at the presidents that consistently have been considered the nine grades or near greats by the story ends. and there is a pretty much consensus. number one, lincoln, washington, and fd are almost always in that order. in jefferson

that turned out to be harry truman. german did not want the job. he felt that he was going to go into something over his head. besides, his wife didn't want the job taken away from her that she was holding as the secretary in chairman's office. she would lose her job. she had to lose her job anyway. german did not meet roosevelt often during the campaign. a couple of times. that was about it. they did not discuss the future. they did not discuss german becoming presidents. determine told one of his friends as they left the white house on one occasion, i had an nightmare that the president had died and i had become president. it was a nightmare. it was nothing he felt was in his ambition. he succeeded, i think, brilliantly as an accidental president. >> i want to thank everyone for coming. i encourage you all to stay if you have additional questions. if you would like to take a look at the book we have copies over year. mr. stanley weintraub will be signing. please stick around and join one more time. [applause] >> you are watching 48 hours of nonfi

president harry truman famously had the sign "the buck stops here" on his desk. i love that! ost presidents since, everybody has taken responsibility and action. that's what apt does. it's a great lesson for today because today we're witnessing another lesson unfold, which is an example of a different kind. according to the documents we examined, as we mentioned, mitt romney was a 100% owner sole shareholder, ceo and president of 11 bain-related companies in 2002 and received ample salaries from those companies. among the 46 companies he was involved in, he distinguished those he was passive in and those he was actively involved in. so what does active involvement mean for a company head when you're 100% in charge? in practice, being actively involved doesn't mean you're handling every task every minute. i doubt mitt romney was ever in the trenches of doing the work of the companies or making the widgets or firing the widgetmakers whose jobs were out sourced, but this focusing on the semantics of "active involvement" while important and potentially damaging misses a larger poi

when harry truman formed his own special committee in the eve of world war ii he regarded the civil war committee's negative precedent. the reports are all online by the way, they makebrate remake great reading. freeman blamed the comment for gross interference and lamb based his work at unpatriotic. okay, so here we are, in the mid centennial and civil war half a century of the enactment of the century and so, i think it is absolutely the perfect time to look at what the committee did and to extract from the deep ch shadows. the results were complex and in a new cases unfortunate. they hoelped to turn the war ino a racial ref are lugs. human rights were far ahead of their time and were strong-willed men who were determines to shape a war effort which was at best in different and frankly hostile. they understood what kind of war would need to be food. in practice, the committee's day-to-day work consisted of take i taking from army officers. none of the -- were public however, they leaked a great deal. it was cited as one of the fatal short comings. and i will come back to that later wh

harry truman said the buck stops here. now, my understanding is that mr. romney attested to the fcc multiple times that he was the chairman, ceo, and president of bain capital. and i think most americans figure if you are the chairman, ceo, and president of the company that you are responsible for what the company does. ultimately, mr. romney will have to answer those questions. because if he aspires to be present, one of the things you learned is you are responsible for the conduct of your operations. but again, that is probably a question he will have to answer. i think that is a legitimate part of the campaign. >> do you think he should answer that soon? >> at sonia sotomayor occurred >> let's ask you -- switch -- gears. talk about the campaign trail. what do absolutely love about campaigning and what do you hate they cannot say being away from your family? >> what i love this the interactions with people. it is interesting. sometimes washington reporters are surprised when they see me out of washington. and i am with folks not just in virginia but when

. >> harry truman said, the buck stops with you. my understanding is that mr. romney attested to the ftc multiple times he was the chairman ceo and president of bank capital. i think most americans figure if you are the chairman, ceo and president of a company then you are responsible for what the company does. ultimately, mr. romney is going to have to answer those questions because if he aspires to being president, one of the things you learn is by you are ultimately responsible for the conduct of your operations. that is probably a question he will have to answer. i think that is a legitimate part of the campaign. >> in the think he should answer that soon? >> absolutely. >> the president goes a comments to us during that interview getting a quick and decisive reaction from the mayor romney camp. mitt romney says it is chicago politics at its worst. he said -- so this war of words only intensifying. it will not go away anytime soon as we continue to look at the topic of mitt romney and his time that bain capital. that is not the only word we got from the pre

, and they lost the story of the way the democratic party created the middle class from fdr to harry truman to lyndon b. johnson. we need to get the president talking like that again. i think he needs to talk about that to win the election. but i think we have to continue to push on the issues of a single payer. i am terrified about what is going to happen with this uploaded medicaid -- the suppose it medicate. as good as this ruling was, it was not perfect, and a lot of people may be stuck in some of those red states, where you have got them say they are not going to implement it, you know, not going to take the federal money. this is a tough country. but progressives do not accomplish anything when they are not pushing. >> i am glad you were on that subject of medicaid. what really does happen. for all of the talk about health care, the supreme court rejected this medicaid expansion. it does leave this up for those most vulnerable. it leaves them out in the cold. >> you know, it makes it impossible to expand coverage. people who have coverage are going to keep it, but it is not very good.

[laughter] harry truman met 100 million people in europe. the continent had been so devastated. truman secretly mailed a letter to hoover, saying would you be willing to come in and talk to me? this picture was taken in may 1945. truman has only been in office for a matter of weeks. they are very suspicious of each other. huber thinks nothing is going to become of us. within a year, hoover has been sent by truman 55,000 miles around the world. he met with seven kings and the pope. the mission was to move through two countries that needed it. in doing so, these two presidents form this partnership. that existed so far outside of the policy differences and political differences, because they both stay committed to what needed to be done. that laid the foundation and the philosophical premise for what presidents and only presidents can do for one another. this is why when the two men meet one another on the platform at eisenhower's inauguration in 1953, herbert hoover goes over to greet him and says i think we should form a presidents club. truman says gray, you be the president and

he's going to lose with this. >> i knew harry truman. and barack obama is no harry truman. >> he's no bill clinton either. >> i knew bill clinton and still do. obama is no clinton oath. uh i know steve moore and ed klein. thank you both for your views. coming up on kudlow, stocks surged. big day. it was the draghi rally. the ecb president promises to preserve the euro, and bail out europe. should we take it seriously? we have heard it before. we'll ask a market pro. and thins sins 1972 the presidential candidate leading in the gallup poll a hundred days before the election has won the white house. where do they stand? here's a hint. it is all about the economy. don't forget, folks. free market capitalism is the best path to prosperity. we want opportunity, not government dependency. my volt is the best vehicle i've ever driven. i bought the car because of its efficiency. i bought the car because i could eliminate gas from my budget. i don't spend money on gasoline. it's been 4,000 miles since my last trip to the gas station. it's pretty

it starts in 1953 when herbert hoover goes up to harry truman on the di ass and said we ought to be the club. i'll be the president. you be the treasurer. truman says let's do it. 60 years later it has its own rules and rivalries. chris: why is it important to history and why did you write this amazing book of the importance of how it helps? i keep thinking it's one of those mountain climbing teams. if anybody falls they keep him from falling all the way. >> i think these men having made these decision, having emerged from the jobs each with their own scars know how hard it is to do it, know that other guys have gone through stuff that no one else has. they can share experiences that no one in their families can even understand. and that binds them together. chris: a support group for mostly great men. listen to president eisenhower talking to jack kennedy during the cuban missile crisis back in 1962. >> what a conversation. you and i grew up with it, the chance we're going to nuclear war and here he is accepting advice from the man who accepted the nazi surrounder. >> only a week earli

>> harry truman is the last president i can think of who wasn't wealthy and actually didn't even make money after he left office. so i think these levels of money are kind of meaningless. you do want to ask where they came from, and i think, you know, the president has made his money writing books, and mitt romney has made his money in the private sector, which he is using as his qualification to be president, and so rightfully that's being examined. and i appreciate the look at the obama's house in chicago. are we going to look at the romney houses? seven or eight? [ laughter ] >> michelle is a real-estate person, and i think that house has a value of about a million dollars. >> i'm sure. >> that's beater section of chicago. >> what do you think it's worth? >> that's a great neighborhood there. it's hard to say. since the real-estate bubble is over now, maybe it's down to around a million now. >> and there's a lot next to the, and i think he sold a lot. >> part of it. >> there are. america's most exclusive club. collectively the worth of all members of both the house and the senate i

. >> harry truman says the buck stops with you. my understanding is that mr. romney attested to the ftc several times he was the chairman ceo and president of bain capital. ultimately, mr. romney will have to answer those questions because if he aspires to be present, one of the things you learn as you are ultimately responsible for the conduct of your operations. but that's probably a question he is going to have to answer. >> almost instantly, a war of words. >> there's a difference between being a shareholder, an owner if you will, and a person running into the. he is not going to say he is sorry for the attack. >> the new ads from both sides coming at a furious pace. >> what ever happened to hope and change? it seems like he's coming right out of the box with these old fashion negative ads. >> is there any thing you believe you failed at not because congress wouldn't play ball but that rests squarely on your shoulders? >> i have not been able to move the peace process forward in the middle east the way i wanted. that is something we focused on very early,

the last democrat who was able to win on that platform, that rhetoric was harry truman in 1948. i don't think that this is necessarily a winning issue for the president. he will need more than that, he need as vision and forward- forward-looking precision if the future. that is not what will win the independents back to his side. >>neil: you mention harry truman, and he had a clear republic congress but this president has at least the senate going for him and the first two years of the presidency he had the full run of the table with the house of representatives and senate under his party's umbrella. so i agree that would be a tough comparison but i wonder whether the tracking polls that the administration is using, the bain capital stuff, is paying off. that the private capital attacks are paying off. when folks like massachusetts governor patrick came out last month and said, go slow, bill clinton more or less said "go slow," i wonder whether even though they dial the criticism back they were trying to telegraph something to the president this may not be a winning strategy. >>

and -- i don't even like to think about what might happen under those circumstances and it is harry truman's fault. and the point i want to make her ises, president truman happened to believe very strongly that it was very bad for someone who had never been elected to act as president. so when the statute was revised right after world war ii, he was adamant, even to the point of over -- he was adamant that somebody who had been elected ought to be in the line of succession, and despite the constitutional difficulties with the arrangement and despite the problem of changing party, president truman said, well, i'm the president and that's what we're going to do. and one reason we have that, and so much particular power in the president of the united states is of course we have a quite short, a quite spare constitution and one that is very, very hard to change. and put all of those things together and you have a great deal of authority invested in the president. i think the single most important change that may well be made, will be the constitutional creation of a federal central bank. as a co

ws-ave e harry truman. most things he accomplishein the first term. wllrynpar th actually not true. he ran a very aressive campaign. truman, you k, ili harry trum, tohay ndomrpblns dt y with ybody and created a lot of bitterness. he did when the people were excited. but if it is time for the country that was very bad anit sk a c aexel es. umoue pnt his rst term for the second term is a disaster. e e aerqesi w treic nvonr int yopin?gain enertein question. we've not had had a completely wide-open convention so we picked adlai stevenso nd it snve ung est e ke wovewas ve robert patton. the only othertime the said meeting was in 1976 remember fonald reagan challengedad asded l we in0 stacou overcome the democratic convention. so to be wide open. if had something because of th delicate situation is hard to y. weon'tave r er ea .ba n 1962 they control their delegation. they say okay, everybody from the surrey or idaho or wyoming, this is how we're going to go. ow o we'te hiikat or isbeutc upngilo the 1924 democratic convention, which finally nominated a man on the caedjjin the big war?te to

. >> and harry truman goes to the white house and says to eleanor roosevelt, can i pray for you?he says, no, we need to pray for you. >> their campaign -- >> there are a lot of promises made. he said he would have to rent a very large hall, very much larger than this with us to get all the people that jack kennedy promised the vice presidency that year. >> and their ideas. >> calvin coolidge may have been the last jeffersonian, a man who believed strongly enough in the limits of governmental power and particularly federal power to resist the temptation to extend it. >> today on book tv, your questions and comments for david petrusa live on in-depth. also, middle east expert on the obama administration's response to the arab spring, afghanistan, iraq, and the israel/palestinian peace process. part of book tv this weekend on c-span 2. >>> you're watching american history tv on c-span 3. every weekend, hear historic speeches by national leaders and eyewitness accounts of events that shaped our nation and watch our series "american artifacts" and learn which artifact teaches about th

harry truman, career poll didn't. ronald reagan?or, but did he spend two terms as governor of california. the point is, being president is not like being america's ceo. for one thing, a private sector boss gives orders, then he fires people if they're not carried out. a president has some power, sure, but often hat to be the power to persuade the other two branches of government to go along with what he wants to do. it's called politics. it's tough, and it's tricky. so then why do we continue to believe it's so simple, even a ceo can do it? now, the good news here for mitt romney is that he actually was a governor of massachusetts. in fact, i hear he engineered a healthcare plan that covered 98% of residents. in fact, he could make that the center piece of his campaign, call it romney care. oh, yeah. never mind. anita. >> thank you, derek. if you want to respond to something derek says, whether you like it or you don't, or you just want to watch some of the commentary one more time, head over to the "let's be real" section of our ho

harry truman said, the hardest thing you have to do is tell a friend know. there will be times i have to tell my friends know. but i will do the right thing. and as i told you and the rest of the supervisors, not looking to better myself politically. i have 34 years at the iow and that is where i want to retire. i will be honest. i will be fair. and if i have to stand alone, so be it. chairperson kim: it is great to see not just a distant sixth nominee, but one that lives on rica on help. -- recon -- pecan helill.

and harry truman said the buck stops with you. >> his campaign team alleges rummy oversaw the company even after he claimed to leave. >> now my understanding is that mr. romney attested to the sec all multiple times that he was the chairman ceo and president of bain capital. and i think most americans figure if you are the chairman, ceo and president of the company that you are responsible for what the company does. alternately, mr. romney will have to answer those questions. >> you think he should answer soon. >> absolutely. >> it took only hours. >> he should say he is sorry for the attacks that are coming from his team. >> they intensified sunday with dueling ads. >> barack obama campaign were negative ads against this republican. >> about your first three years. is there anything you believe you feel that -- talk about your first few years. >> there were a bunch of things we did not get done that i think are important. making sure we get comprehensive immigration reform. we have done some things administratively but i have got to help to bring parties together to do that. >> but t

harry truman said, the hardest thing you have to do is tell a friend know. there will be times i have to tell my friends know. but i will do the right thing. and as i told you and the rest of the supervisors, not looking to better myself politically. i have 34 years at the iow and that is where i want to retire. i will be honest. i will be fair. and if i have to stand alone, so be it. chairperson kim: it is great to see not just a distant sixth nominee, but one that lives on rica on help. -- recon -- pecan helill. what are some of your thoughts on this issue and what are the principles that you will be using to guide you through this process? rex cup -- >> coming out of the seattle/tacoma area i saw what happened with the seattle sonics. i have to listen to the business trinity, the board of supervisors, and there's always a controversy. i have to listen and be objective and then make my decision after a do a lot of soul-searching. >> what are some potential concerns that you want to keep a close eye on in this project? >> i like -- i think that some people

many times since world war ii starting with harry truman. >> he wanted to increase the availability of doctors, hospitals, and have the government serve as a guarantor of insurance for all americans. >> in congress, truman's plan never got so much as a vote. >> the american medical association, very wealthy, powerful lobby group, vehemently campaigned against truman's health care plans. >> we do not want socialized medicine. >> in the 1960s, a similar fight. ronald reagan, before becoming governor of california, recorded this message -- pass medicare, and the united states would soon become like the communist soviet union. >> one of these days, you and i are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it once was like in america when men were free. >> reagan's effort fell short. in 1965, president johnson signed the haw creating medicare. -- the law creating medicare. insurance for every american over age 65, and medicaid for the poor. it wasn't just democrats. richard nixon had big ambitions on health care. >> richard nixon, which i happened t

harry truman inherited this taping system. he hardly used it. i'm sure my friends at the truman library would not be mad at me if i made fun of the truman tapes. he did not like the taping system so most of what we hear on the tapes are the admiralty clock in the oval office. there are a few conversations that are preserved. dwight eisenhower didn't inherit fdr's taping system but he was accustomed to using a dictaphone machine to pick up conversations around the desk. there are a couple of his tapes that survived. the big tapers are john f. kennedy, lyndon johnson and president nixon. john f. kennedy left us 270 hours of tape. the kennedy library i believe just released a few more tapes. they have almost released all of those tapes. lyndon johnson left us 800 hours. most of them are telephone tapes and the johnson library has released all of the telephone tapes. there are still some tapes that were done in the cabinet room that will be released in the next few years. 800 hours for johnson, 270 hours for kennedy. then you come to president nixon

when the decision was before [applause] decision was before him in 1948, president harry truman decidedwithout hesitation that the united states would be the first country to recognize the state of israel. from that moment to this, we have been the most natural of runs deeper than the designs of strategy or the weighing of interests. a world by the standards of this ancient region, rose up to become the dear friend of the of israel is among the and most hopeful in our nation's history. different as our paths have qualities in one another. many one another. we both believe in democracy, in the right of every people to select their leaders and choose their nation's course. we both believe in the rule of its absence, willful men may incline to oppress the weak. are universal, granted not by government but by our creator. free has lifted people from poverty, enduring incomparable achievements and human flourishing. as someone who has spent most of his life in business, i am particularly impressed with israel's cutting edge technologies and thriving economy. we recognize yours as the "start-

and i think the great example of this is harry truman, who left washington a step ahead of the sheriffn 1953 and as the years went by people began to rediscover him and appreciate him. i think that has happened with george h.w. bush, i think that is something to do with his son's performance. >> and the second term. >> rose: and you think so too? >> no comment. >> ha, ha, ha, ha. >> as your advisor, i would say yes. >> thank you, doris. my attorney in boston. >> i think you may want to go back to the well? >> but. >> nancy gibbs and mike duffy our friend at time magazine have a new book coming on the club, the president's club about the former presidents, and it is quite true when you have the great good fortune to talk to presidents, how clear it is, tier of the club and who is in the one term men's grill. the other guy can go all the way to the dining room. >> and president carter and president bush, can only eat sandwiches. >> but i think, of course, distance changes things, george w. bush explicitly counts on that, someone who reads a lot of history, i just read four books last yea