we have herbert hoover on the other side. in terms of prosperity, as you might imagine, both of them are running in favor of prosperity. the problem for al smith is you've had eight years of republican rule, first warren harding and followed by calvin coolidge. so the republicans sort of have a leg up on the prosperity front. you have the 1920s, a boom decade for wall street, for large segments of the economy, although less for farmers and agriculture at that point. that's our second p. i think the darkest part of this election and the reason i said it really is one of the most vicious elections in american history is our third p, the question of prejudice. and al smith -- i think most americans today are probably more familiar with john kennedy as a catholic candidate. and even in 1960, that causing real stir, a real set of questions about the presidency, but al smith raised all of those questions much earlier in 1928 which already had been a decade that has been seized with a lot of questions about immigration, immigration

worker before he became president, roosevelt would say i am not jesus christ and i'm not raising herbert hoover from the dead. [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

herbert hoover, a man who lived a very long time, but as people look back on herbert hoover's life and some authors coming up that have written about the president's club, you find the great contributions that herbert hoover made to america and to government after he left, but jimmy carter, jimmy carter really, a scene out of "gone with the wind" frankly my dear, he doesn't give a dam about what anybody thinks about him. he doesn't play the game. i'm wondering, will jimmy carter get his team when people look back and say, camp david, and energy policy, helping america recover from the scars of watergate? >> i think the vision that he had for where our country should go, one of the things you measure a president by, is where does he want to take the ship of state. and in terms of energy and in terms of the post-watergate, noncorruption he did have a good vision. the question was, you got to be able to bring congress and the people with you to the port where you want to go. and he just didn't have those political skills. i don't think he was relaxed around congressmen. i remember tip o'n

herbert hoover won 40 states. al smith won 8. those 8 states, arkansas, louisiana, mississippi, alabama, georgia, south carolina, then massachusetts and rhode island. we have another question here from our audience. hi. >> jay. i hope i'm not too close. two questions. if you were to grade his governorship, what letter would you assign to it? and the second question is, as the first catholic presidential candidate, did he help how the country viewed religion as a factor? >> let's take the governor question here and the religion question there. >> i would give the governor smith an "a" because he faced a tremendously uphill battle. new york was a republican state at the time. and as i mentioned, he had a very tough time dealing with the legislature which was overwhelmingly republican. in fact, in 1920 when they expelled the socialists, i never understood why because they had 110 republicans out of 150 seats. and it didn't really matter when it came to the votes. but i think that i would give governor smith an "a." he created so man

herbert hoover won 40 states. al smith won 8. those 8 states, arkansas, louisiana, mississippi, alabama, georgia, south carolina, then massachusetts and rhode island. we have another question here from our audience. hi. >> jay. i hope i'm not too close. two questions.

if he isn't, he wins. >> you write about herbert hoover in your book 1920. hoover was a premium, but he could not rescue them with the noble words of woodrowwilson, the energy of roosevelt, the amiability of a one harding or the grinning charm of a franklin roosevelt. >> yes. herbert hoover, until he becomes president of the united states, really has this remarkable career of achievement and despite his personal lack of charisma, it is the major story. he is the orphan boy in iowa the goes out to oregon to be with his uncle and his parents, he has a dime in his pocket. he starts out with a dime. he goes to stanford, he continues on to gold mines of nevada or california. australia, rising up and up getting richer and richer indochina where he constructs being an engineer, a great engineer and construct the battlements, which saves the europeans and americans from the boxer rebellion. saving the americans stranded in europe when war breaks out. no one knows how to do it. he put together a private effort, got people out. he might've even got my great-grandmothe

and in fact bens in, what year would you sa eli e e sesepadtbs togeer an unlikely partnship and herbert hoover, two men with nothing in commonplica pealnoathi anndeprha twrdaavry ic drohlnging plac in 1945 and truman finds himself president. and so he is ot one to stand onemon hes careharber ho hadl ahon thsthat a ami whisor ilt thwaho fad bexicompletely. whenever an event suggested to franklin roovelt maybe hoover could be useful, hoover knows lot nd ra marielor be hca rsde evwosam jecrs i tsihet er fromhe dead. harry truman ws reading reports is that asany 10milln people ieurorri ar bse cnt beodte soe etlow e evwhe howo ret tohis truman secretly mails a letter t hoover are saying, what do they want to come and talk tom? t twnet istustknmy . ge hee oe a erek. they're very suspicious of each other. nothing is going to come of this. within a year, hoover has ben given staff a a peent m5miar thrl wnto22 t, prmierad om t pope. his mission was to move food om the countries that had it to the country that need it. det id fofirparsp eedfr oue po dre til differenes because they both are so committed

host: you write about herbert hoover in your book, 1920.oover was a great humanitarian but not a great human. he could rescue the starving mass office europe, but he could not do it with the noble words of woodrow wilson, the energy of a theodore roosevelt, the aimability of a warren harding, or the grinning charm of a franklin roosevelt. he merely did it. >> guest: yes. and herbert hoover, until he becomes president of the united states, really has this remarkable career of achievement, and despite his personal lack of charisma, he has an amazing story. an orphaned boy in iowa who goes to oregon to be with his ununcle with a dime sewn into this pocket. and then goes to stanford, continues on to the gold mines of nevada or california. australia. rising up and up, getting richer and richer. into china, where h constructs, being an engineer, the great engineer constructs the battlement which saves the europeans and the americans from the boxer rebellion. saves millions of lives of people, americans stranded in europe when war breaks out. no o

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

the last president margaret harris voted for was herbert hoover. but today she is shabby -- ready to rock the vote again. she wanted to vote for obama but she had no proper identification. with the help of the secretary of state, she will be casting her ballot this november. >> i might not be here. >> he will be there. >> she has been saying that for eight years. >> she is a mother of 13 and a grandmother of 50. her granddaughter says she continues to be an inspiration to the family. ralph lauren offers a diplomatic solution to his uniforms. the u.s. olympic uniform team's uniforms were made in china and that has some members of congress fuming but the designer can take a hint. he says for 2014, clothing will be manufactured in the united states. the opening ceremony is two weeks from today. it is a huge event for television viewers but this time around it promises to be a major event on line and on social media. nbc is preparing for the digital olympics. >> when the olympics began, the coverage on slot goes beyond tv. >> you will be hit with the o

herbert hoover.e a fortune in mining before he was elected in president only to lead intuse the only economic crisis worse than the one we're in right now. other successful businessmen who made it to the white house? jimmy carter, george h. w. bush. both were one-termers. our best president? abe lincoln, career politician. franklin and teddy roosevelt is career politician i.c.e. harry truman, career poll didn't. ronald reagan? actor, 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 mass

see their tax returns we've been here before back in the election in one nine hundred twenty herbert hoover ran for president on the slogan of less government in business more business in government. he promised to deregulate the banks years and he cut their taxes from ninety percent to twenty five percent the result nine years of a bubble that looked like boom times the roaring twenty's followed by a horrific crash that produced a decade long republican great depression and when f.d.r. tried to do what obama is trying to do regulate the banks doors they said like they are now saying that the president was an anti-american socialist and he's trying to tear down important american institutions like banks and capitalism roosevelt kick them squarely in the teeth they this economic royalists complain of that we say fill it up throw the institutions of america. what they really claim. is that we seek to take away. in famous they speak that i just find the flag and because. then the line miss they book guess what the flag on the constitution stands for. but back then the banks are couldn't buy ev

see their tax returns we've been here before back in the election in one nine hundred twenty herbert hoover ran for president on the slogan of less government in business more business in government he promised to deregulate the banks toure's and he cut their taxes from ninety percent to twenty five percent the result nine years of a bubble that looked like boom times the roaring twenty's followed by a horrific crash that produced a decade long republican great depression and when f.d.r. tried to do it obama is trying to do regulate the banks toure's they said like they are now saying that the president was an anti-american socialist and he's trying to tear down important american institutions like banks and capitalism roosevelt kicked them squarely in the teeth they. economic. blame that way. the end. of america. what they really plain. is that we seek to take away. in vain they seek the right but i know the play and the cons. in the line that they forget what the flag on the constitution pan. but back then the banks toure's couldn't buy every politician in america made laws against that p

so herbert hoover begins in 1929 as president. you get the stock market crash that year. by 1932 you're really in the deepest, darkest moment of the depression. so that's bad news. but for the democratic nominee for president that's actually really good news. so in 1932 al smith wants to be the candidate again. in fact, he's put forth as a possibility. but there's a lot of controversy about whether or not this is going to be a good idea. there are a lot of people who do not want to introduce into what looks like it's going to be a smashing democratic year all of the issues that you had seen in 1928. issues about catholicism, issues about prejudice, issues about prohibition. all of these sorts of things. franklin roosevelt has a little bit to say about these things. but when he's a candidate in 1932 he's kind of being as even keel about all of this as you possibly can be. and so smith is gunning for this and there's a lot of pushback about that. and it's not clear either that smith is a huge fan of roosevelt. they've had a very, very cooperative relationship, but it's alwa

. >> and to recap, herbert hoover, 444 eelectoral votes. al smith, 87 electoral votes. and the eight states al smith won -- we have another question from the audience, hi? >> yeah from boston, hope i'm not too close, two questions. if you were to grade his governorship, what letter would you a sign to it? and the second question, as the first catholic presidential candidate, did he help the country as they viewed region e as a factor? >> i would giver -- i would give governor smith a "a." he had a tough time dealing with the legislature, which was overwhelmingly republican. i never understood why they expelled the -- it did not matter when it came to the votes. >> i think i would give governor smith an "a." he created so many things, the executive budget, the short ballot, making that it would be to stop voting for six or seven statewide offices, and the public authority was one thing that he tried to undertake, and power authority and the like. and also the port authority in new york and new jersey was one of his ideas. a bi-state authority. so,

. >> host: david pietrusza,ack to 1920 herbert hoover w t deatries s. heeiss areic the were not of democrats in his hometown, and with the town lutio whhewas haneogsse ao thfoswovo woodrow wilson. he had been a member of the wilson administration, domestic ynwaewh inistratn. hadon wiln with his reputation enhanced. he writes of a book called the alwow wiso a t moictyhaar t p opd hr wings. southern reactionaries, big city crooks and agrarian that's. he says i don't want any part of that or o ath r ptyhasoin ames. >> host: in your book "1920: the year of the 6 presidents" published in 27 you right ey lditeans fe an prenprob deatgoasse ut of the way. >> guest: woodrow wilson decides he was a great for a ye. lookt worols you e ntlm hhi andkse a thseo ollow who was in favor of prohiti. he lkse ryoi a bit thadis rutioas speaker. he is going on again. he has the stroke in colorado and comes back as an invut netonyhe ino e iecaide. ret er former secretary of the treasury who has helped p tether a lot of the progress of agen. the feder rer. and lpvert s mt i, te

experiment, you might say -- call it a real life experiment -- the first one in recent history was herbert hoover, and he tried austerity, converted the stock market crash into the great depression. i don't know why anybody wants to try that again but there are some republicans who want to do that. but then, if we didn't have the enough evidence, the imf did more experiments, instant volunteer tear -- on some involuntary patients, and it had austerity and indonesia, korea, thailand, argentina, and in each of these instances it was a disaster. down turns were converted into recessions, recession turned to depressions. not one of them worked. so i think -- that's an instance where people can say, oh, yes, you haven't looked at the data. there are successes. when you look at the data more carefully you realize, there are none. [inaudible] >> i hope he listens. >> thank you for your terrific presentation. i look forward to reading your book. as an irish national i can directly relate to what happens when the majority of the population shifts from productivity to rent, seeking which is what irelanding

right now the center is in the herbert hoover building in downtown washington. will open a temporary white house visitor's center. at the visitor pavilion next saturday. we saw the live shot of the white house earlier and it is, you know, somewhat of a gloomy start. >> you might want to bring your umbrella if you go out anywhere these days. >> but we'll have breaks of sunshine. >> we'll get the details from chuck coming up next. oh, chuck, here are you. >> i did say breaks of sunshine, you could get away without your umbrella and we'll still give you the seven-day foreca >>> welcome back, everybody. now 9:46 on your sunday morning. cloudy skies await you on your way out the door this morning but sunshine should be making a comeback before the day is through. already you can tell that clouds have a different height and a different shape than the ones that we saw yesterday. yesterday, they were real low to the ground and full of not a whole lot of texture. today you can start to see little breaks showing up out there. doesn't look like a whole lot. but any time yo

he does not care that herbert hoover had leftshingon s e ednrca en mcas ed sinn'ru, enle oet whenever an event suggested t frankl roosevelt maybe hoover could be useful, hoover knows a lot and hewas a great nitaan relief worke roeluly no su hit. ano rnrbho t dead. harry truman ws reading reports is that as many as 100 million people in europe for risko viec tom h an cin na roelitusul ac t tranrey s a letter to hoover are saying, what do they want to come and talk to me? and the two emee. 19re n a f nu owefffo 'rryuofah other. nothing is going to come of this. within a year, hoover has been given staff a a plane and sen tuan,0leou e d. tonri36 imnis see m t pope. his mission was to move food from the countries that had it to the count that needed it. presentsorm tse two rthithxi s a pocaen because they both are so committed what needed to be done. i first laid thefun, prend tion anishhn ho e meetne another on the platform and eisenhower inauguration in 1953, hoover goes over to greet president truman ss we should tr sgran hedents . id ibe si a hca da s, inch r he platform except it tur

renovations inside the herbert hoover building on pennsylvania avenue expected to last about 15 months plans to add more interactive exhibits, a museum and expand a bookstore there. a temporary white house visitor center is at 15th and e streets. it won't open until next saturday and it will stay open until the restoration is finished. >>> 5:50 right now. taking a look at the weather. it's kind of strange. it's humid and warm, a few sprinkles, but no rain right now, maybe later. >> tom? >> are you looking at me? i think you are. >> please fill in the details. >> it does look like we're going to get rainy second based on the way the sky looks. and here is a live view from our nbc4 hd city camera. you can see the low clouds that hang right over the potomac river. just to the right is reagan national airport where it is rather humid. under the cloud cover, dew point at 73. that's steamy humidity. we have a light southerly breeds. we'll have this haze and humidity around with us this morning with quite a built of cloudiness. we ought to get the cloud cover breaking up over the next couple

the first catholic presidential nominee, al smith, who ran against and lost to herbert hoover in 1928. al smith, democrat. the first jewish candidate on a major party ticket, joe lieberman, democrat. even the first woman candidate, 24 years before republicans got around to breaking the same glass ceiling, there was geraldine ferraro in 1984. she ran alongside walter mondale against ronald reagan and george bush the elder, and walter mondale and geraldine ferraro got crushed. they lost that election by an enormous margin. they lost 49 states. this is what the electoral map looked like in 1984. just a sea of red. and now, what is mostly forgotten to history about that election in which geraldine ferraro did not become the first woman vice president. what is largely forgotten about that election is a tax return scandal which among other things showed that geraldine ferraro and her husband owed more than $50,000 in back taxes. turned up on their tax returns. they blamed it on an error blamed by an accountant. they paid off the back taxes, although the geraldine ferraro financial mess was

a ernd akn harding administration, somebody that they had to keep their eye on, and that was herbert hoover. and hoover had chosen to become the secretary of commerce, and he convinced haing t ke an unemployment commission, brought together a lot of people to show that the federal government was interested in what was happening in the economy. that was the first evidence even though wd had large financial cres in the 18s, i07 atwae t ist o ued government even showing any interest in large-scale unemployment as a federal problem. th usually considered ito be ll,unipal s su still, there are hints of what's going on today with the early 920s -- 1920s, and in that recession, that large recession the country went into postwar someing ind of th althar ap speakeasy view that we have of the decade. well, what was happening with prices was that during the war there was a huge inflation, ic viua doued fm 1920, and then there was a large deflation. prices were cut in half. and what that did to the purchasing power of the dollar was swing it all over. it was totally unpredictable. as prices rose, the p

once you add that in, bush has the worst record since herbert hoover. every measure we might want to track jobs growth, median household income growth, poverty, insurance, new firm creation, participation in the labor force, every one goes in the wrong direction. and yet, romney can't explain how his policies differ. one of my frustrations with campaign coverage is there's a tendency to look at real failings, substantive deficiencies in ideas as political problems. so, this gets talked about as a messaging issue. romney needs a better answer to the question of how do you differ from george w. bush. it is not a messaging problem. romney doesn't need a better answer to how are your policies different than bush's, he needs policies that are actually different, that actually take the lessons of the last decade into account. as "new york" magazine's jonathan shate writes, romney's answer "indicates a larger problem. republicans have not really internalized the degree to which bush's policies truly failed to produce strong economic growth. they blame him for

bush and herbert hoover.ne led us into the great recession, the other led us into the great depression. >> catherine crier, keith boykin, john bramnick, great to have you with us. >> coming up, the tea party iers say they hate government spending, but they're spending lots of your tax money to ride in style. hypocrisy on wheels when we come back. we know a place where tossing and turning have given way to sleeping. where sleepless nights yield to restful sleep. and lunesta can help you get there, like it has for so many people before. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities while asleep, without remembering it the next day, have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks. allergic reactions, such as tongue or throat swelling, occur rare

bush and herbert hoover.on. >> catherine crier, keith boykin, john bramnick, great to have you with us. >> coming up, the tea partiers say they hate government spending, but they're spending lots of your tax money to ride in style. hypocrisy on wheels when we come back. testing my blood sugar... is this part of your life? freestyle lite test strips? why, are they any... beep! wow, that hardly needs any blood! yeah... and the unique zipwik tab targets the blood and pulls it in. so easy. freestyle lite needs just a third the blood of onetouch ultra. really? yep, which is great for people who use insulin and test a lot. max and i are gonna run out and get them right now. or you can call or click today and get strips and a meter free. test easy. >>> up next, the tea party, they rode into office by promising to cut spending. now, find out how muchr cash they're pespending to riden brand new vehicles. we'll be right back. still make you take notice. there are a million reasons why. but your erectile dysfunction tha

once you add that in, bush has the worst record since herbert hoover. poverty, uninsurance, new firm creation, participation in the labor force, every one goes in the wrong direction, and yet romney can't explain how his policies differ. one of my frustrations with campaign coverage is there's a tendency to look at real failings, substantiative efficiencies as problems. romney needs a better answer to the question of, how do you differ from george w. bush? it is not a messaging problem. romney doesn't need a better answer, he needs policies that are actually different, that actually take the lessons of the last decade into account. as new york magazine's jonathan chate writes, romney's answer indicates a larger problem, republicans have not internalized a degree which bush's policies truly failed to produce strong economic growth. conservative rhetoric almost uniformically failed to acknowledge that even pre-crash growth, even before the crash, growth under bush was absolutely miserable. it almost -- it also almost uniformly fails to acknowledge that we

well, we know from herbert hoover that business experience doesn't necessarily mean a great economy. so, we have to look at his record. but mitt romney doesn't want us to look at his job creating record and that's exactly what's going on. so, no wonder the american people are confused. when you look at the president's ads, he's actually talking about those periods of time when thank you mitt romney is saying he wasn't even involved in bain, and so what's really the truth? mitt romney can clear this up. dick durbin was exactly right this morning. all mitt romney has to do is come forward with all the truth and we'll be able to move past this. >> but the reality is that in politics, everything gets politicized. and all these decisions. and bob woodward, the idea of when he was at bain. when he left bain, is perhaps less material than whether, you know, somebody who was in private equity will or will not stand behind some of, you know, decisions that are made in the global economy. including outsourcing. as much as it gets uncomfortable and political campaigns. >> well, mike murphy is r

president herbert hoover ordered the u.s. army to a defect the marchers from camp in washington, d.c. on july 28, 1932. this is about 45 minutes. >> so, i was going to talk a little bit about the impetus for the book, where the book came from, "my father's bonus march." with every book i've written, it always seems -- it seems almost to residential, but there's always just one small incident that starts off, and it's one small incident and it keeps mushrooming and mushrooming into a book. with my first two novels the washington story the journal of the novel if you will come began with just imaginary conversations of three people on the street corner in my old neighborhood, west rogers park, been trying to imagine who these people were on the street corner. imagine their lives, the family, the time period, and a thousand pages later into the first draft, i realized there was going to be a novel after all. with ellington boulevard it began with one simple moment coming home to an apartment that you thought was yours and findin

bush and herbert hoover.herine crier, keith boykin, john bramnick, great to have you with us. great discussion tonight. thank you. >>> coming up, the tea partiers say they hate government spending, but they're spending lots of your tax money to ride in style. hypocrisy on wheels when we come back. ask me what it's like when my tempur-pedic moves. why not talk to someone who owns an adjustable version of the most highly recommended bed in america? ask me about my tempur advanced ergo. goes up. goes up. ask me what it's like to get a massage anytime you want. goes down. goes down. [ male announcer ] tempur-pedic brand owners are more satisfied than owners of any traditional mattress brand. ergonomics. [ male announcer ] tempur-pedic. the most highly recommended bed in america. to learn more or to find an authorized retailer near you, visit tempurpedic.com. >>> up next, the tea party, they rode into office by promising to cut spending. now, find out how much taxpayer cash they're spending to ride in brand new ve