secretary of commerce herbert hoover called the flood the greatest peacetime calamity in the historythe country. the disaster was predictable. the mississippi had flooded before. local authorities attempted to pvide flood control but with uneven efforts. the levee system is only as strong asts weakest link. the building of dams could have prevented the flood. some legislators wanted to use federal funds. but they faced tough opposition on capitol hill. dams not only control floods but they can be used to generate hydroelectric power. that presented a threat of competition to the private utilities. to justify the expenditure required to build these dams electricity had to be sold. that would be produced by these hydroelectric units which were to be installed in the dams. that feature disturbed people who opposed tva. they thought that was a function the government ought not to engage in. the private utilities were successful in their opposition until 1933 when a newdministration with an activistiew of government's role came into power. franklin delano roosevelt created e tennessee lle

protect the american banking system, toreserve confidence in the dollar based on the gold standard herbert hooverected the federaresee system to make changes,changes that would "keep the american dollar ringing true in every city in america and in the world." the fed responded by raising its discount rate foinerananksusup ratof ieres paid to their depositors. the result -- foreign investors earned more interest and were enticed to leave their money in u.s. nks. the strategy worked. confidence in the dollar was restored and the gold drain was plugged. but there were other more serious ramifications. dr. edward bernsinformer principal economist u.s.asury departme. britain was the most important ading country inhe world. if they let the value ofrling ll, say, lative to e arand the franc, it meanthat britain would exporting muchore and importing muchess.weou be losiorts the btish and weould be swampedbyritish goo. ouers,ho were alreadyvi gat difficulty, suddenlyere confronted with a big drop inhe price ocotton, wheat, and otheagcultural exports. thisas a great bwto the ud states. schoumacher: the los

no one knew more on how to do this than herbert hoover. he is a great problem solver. against the wishes, truman reached out to hoover and asked him to come in and helped him how to figure out how to do european relief. they are suspicious of each other. they had not had a relationship before. as they got over their suspicions and were very much united in the urgency of what they were up against, a tremendous sense hoover 50,000 miles around the world meeting with others to negotiate moving food from countries that had it to those who needed it. it was so successful and dedicated that he and truman then worked together on one project after another on which only a former president had the standing and stature to accomplish what needed to be done. truman found interesting ways to thank him. he hung a portrait of hoover's wife in the white house. fdr had changed the name of the hoover dam to the great boulder dam. truman signed an order renaming it the "hoover dam." by the time they're out of office and planning their libraries, there are letters where hoover that is an au

a ticket to get into the capitol, into the the galleries when herbert hoover was giving a speech. so a lot of things there. and we've learned so much more about it than just what was in the artifacts. >> we did an oral history with him, and at that point he was about 90 years old and the memories of being a page were just so fresh. he lit up when asking him these questions. he served for four years in the early 1930s. so he was here longer than the typical page was. and for him it was really a full-time job as a tirj, but he had these great memories of coming into the chamber and hearing speeches by fdr. he heard fdr's inaugural. he was up on the platform. >> i know it was in 1933 and we're all anxious to hear the new president address the the joint session of congress. and johnny mccabe was one along with me sitting in front of the speaker's roster at that time. i just sat there for -- actually i was on duty. i just sat there for a little bit. i didn't know they were taking the picture while i was sitting there. >> he also had such a memory that he could memorize member's faces a

something that angela merkel, slightly tight leader of germany, known as herbert hoover in a pant suit seems morally opposed to it. if we tighten, it would raise the value of the dollar, but cause massive capital flight from there to here. tremendous instability when 770 million hang in the balance. the fed is supposed to raise rates when inflation rages. given that we have more deflate, we have more deflation than inflation. our economy is far from growing as a solid, sustainable pace. only now turned tail wind, thanks to plummeting price of gasoline. wasn't like that four, five months ago. business formation is strong. the affordable care act is going into full effect for business next year, that could be a real drag on small business and that's the backbone of new job creation. something else bothers me in endless complaints about yellen that you hear. tends to be from people so rich they fear purchasing power being eroded by slightest hint of inflation, can't get enough safe income to make themselves happy, or complaints come from those short or selling short bonds and stocks. and

herbert hoover could not anticipate let alone cope with the crises.oosevelt one of the most underestimated men to hold the office. the consequential president primarily for his foreign-policy decisions. >> we will go back to what you mentioned earlier. c.all begins with the letter crisis, capacity to succeed once the crisis occurs, and character. president can actually do great things in office. without him, there probably would have not been a peace treaty. was jimmy carter considered a great president? we never had a one term or who was great. no. have to align to create that kind of greatness. when i say great, i am talking about great. great i bet 15 times a day. "he is a great tennis player." we empty the word literally of any significance in any meaning. more than that, we have transferred our image of greatness from our vertical system and our politicians, with whom we've lost great confidence, to our actors. there, perfectly prepared to greatness,wreck nice and without cynicism. that notion of transferring, the notion of hearers -- to our , an

herbert hoover could not anticipate let alone cope with the impending crises that they faced. harry truman followed one of the great sachsen the presidency, franklin roosevelt one of the , most underestimated men to hold the office. consequential president primarily for his foreign-policy decisions. >> the prescription for greatness all begins with the letter c. crisis, capacity to succeed once the crisis occurs, and character. >> yes. those of the three c's which drive undeniable greatness. presidents can actually do great things in office. negotiated the egyptian-israeli peace treaty. without him, there probably would have not been a peace treaty. that was a great act. was jimmy carter considered a great president? we never had a one term or who was great. no. crisis, character, and capacity. the three c's have to align to create that kind of greatness. when i say great, i am talking about great. we trivialize the word. i use the word great i bet 15 times a day. "he is a great tennis player." we have emptied the word literally of any significance in and any meaning. more tha

republicans will have 247 house seats in the new congress, the most since herbert hoover was presidentill to come on the newshour, debating opening the door to cuba. sony pictures cancels the release of "the interview" after threats. congress fails to extend government-backed insurance for damages caused by acts of terror. will body cameras make law enforcement use less force? and exiting lawmakers bid farewell to capitol hill. >> woodruff: we return to the historic shift in u.s. cuban relations in two parts. first, we look at if it's a good idea to re-establish diplomatic relations with the island nation? we begin with a member of the democratic house leadership, representative chris van hollen of maryland, who traveled today from cuba with alan gross. gross lives in his district. congressman van hollen, welcome back to the newshour. first of all, tell us why is it in the interest of the united states to have diplomatic relations with the communist neighbor? >> well, it's in the interest of the united states to create conditions that create more freedom and opportunity for the cuban p

has been ever since herbert hoover said so in the 1920's. most of that spectrum is allocated by the f.c.c. but the government could take that allocation back in a way i'm going to tell you in a second. and in any event, the executive agencies, defense, commerce, others, they own a huge amount of spectrum that they do not use themselves that can provide enormous bait for the enterprise i have in mind. moreover, the government itself provides many things directly like geostationary positioning systems for our apple and g-map devices on our phones. that actually is based upon a government enterprise. the democratic party has a sort of proprietary feeling about the internet. it has from the beginning. al gore told us that he came up with the idea to begin with, many people in the party believe that it was singularly responsible for the president's 2008 victory. most of all, the executive branch is now able to act unilaterally with enormous power and lack of any kind of apologetics, doing things that would have been considered impossible in the p

i continue to come back to the fact, i have to do it, angel merkel, herbert hoover in a pantsuit remains steadfast. the president yesterday obviously watches our show. >> i missed what did he say? >> people feel draghi is trying hard and merkel is going against him. it was a sophisticated wrap. people who watch the president recognize he pretty much is on point in terms of what's going on in europe. i enjoyed it. a lot of people feel he is unsophisticated. i particularly have not praised or denigrated the president. >> sounds like he wants this trade deal more than other things. >> totally seems to get what the dynamic is. of course, russia was singled out being not so great. how can you not say that if you're any western leader? >> quickly, you want to update us on cbs/dish? >> i thought we were -- let's do it. 7:00 tonight is when we are going to actually see cbs potentially go dark on dish. it's another fight between the content producer and distributor. in this case it does appear dish is happy with the deal it has and doesn't want to get it moving. for cbs, they would like to get so

history of private and public relationships among modern and former presidents dating back to herbert hoover. tonight at 8:00 on c-span remembering celebrities who died in 20 18. tonight, actor and comedian robin williams, poet maya angelou, and ruby dee. as the new year approaches, we are asking what you think were the top stories of 2014. several hundred people have left responses, including joanne, who writes -- you can go to our facebook page, leave your comment on this year's top stories. >> the commissioner of the national hockey league and the owner of the washington capitals recently sat down for a conversation about the future of the nhl. they talked about technology in sports the nhl's annual winter classic, and efforts to bring the winter games to the nation's capital. the washington capitals and chicago blackhawks play in the winter capital -- winter classic tomorrow in washington, d.c. >> good afternoon and welcome. i'm an adjunct professor at the george washington university school of media and public affairs, former international bureau chief with the associated press, and the

the great engineer, our president herbert hoover, was very concerned about that balanced budget duringperiod 29 and 30. i think that he was early when worrying about the balanced budget. there are people on the wrong side of history. our country is always urging china to do more still his. why don't we tell them stimulate, right now. no, we don't do that. we treat them with great reverence. >> it seems to be happening very slowly, and a lot of cunning, by the way, control the price of gasoline. they haven't even cut it. but i do think that germany should be buoyed by that. klaus kleinfeld, to knows more about germany than i do, he's say, listen, don't write off germany. it could have a turn. >> okay. i won't. >> again, klaus kleinfeld, cody, these guys are really smart guys. they have seen things. they're not hedge fund managers who just got -- who deliver alpha and say rates are going to 4%. they're not 4%ers. >> well, just a few days after we almost hit 18,000 on the dow, we're now 100 points from 17,000. bob pisani is on the floor. >> once again energy is leading to the down side. t

has been ever since herbert hoover said so in the 1920's. most of that spectrum is allocated by the f.c.c. but the government could take that allocation back in a way i'm going to tell you in a second. and in any event, the executive agencies, defense, commerce, others, they own a huge amount of spectrum that they do not use themselves that can provide enormous bait for the enterprise i have in mind. moreover, the government itself provides many things directly like geostationary positioning g-map for our apple and devices on our phones. that actually is based upon a government enterprise. the democratic party has a sort of proprietary feeling about the internet. it has from the beginning. al gore told us that he came up with the idea to begin with, many people in the party believe that it was singularly responsible for the president's 2008 victory. most of all, the executive branch is now able to act unilaterally with enormous power and lack of any kind of apologetics, doing things that would have been considered impossible in the past. i h

. >> guest: fdr succeeded by herbert hoover. presidents who follow great presidents are you shall be individuals for whom there are no expectations. harry truman is the exception, he left office with one of the lowest approval ratings in the modern history of the presidency, remembered over time as a much better president than the fact of what happened to the presidency after truman left. there were eight good years of peace and prosperity with eisenhower and then we entered a very traumatic fall. jack kennedy's assassination, lyndon johnson all vote transform of civil rights bills, medicare, medicaid, there was vietnam which dragged on. there was richard nixon, who harry truman said read the constitution but didn't understand it. then you had gerald ford, a transitional president, jimmy carter, one term president, morning in america again with ronald reagan and who you succeed has a lot to do with how you ultimately are judged. my argument here, and i would not include george w. bush, he is not a failed president. i would not i

the history of private and public relationships dating back to herbert hoover.ight on c-span, we remember former members of congress who died this year. we start with howard baker, who was interviewed by richard norton smith. then jim jeffers. when he changed party affiliations in 2001. and james traficant addresses congress before a vote to dispel him from the body in 2002. next from 2007 former senator howard baker talked about his career and his work in congress. senator baker, who died this year at 88, was interviewed by historian richard norton smith for the dole institute. this is an hour. >> i would love to know the difference. >> my dad was in the house. i never was. >> the senate that you came into in 1967 -- how to that differ from the senate today? >> honestly, i have avoided answering that question for a lot of reasons. one, because i try not to second-guess those who followed me. the other is, in all fairness, you do not know the senate there. you just do not know. you can lose it in a matter of weeks or months. the real touch, the real understandin

their history of private and public relationships among modern american presidents dating back to herbert hooverand tonight on c-span, we remember a few of the celebrities that died in 2014 including robin williams and his routine at a democratic party fundraiser in 2000 talking about president george w. bush. >> the bottom line, we are here tonight because of the shrub you know who i'm talking about. george w. bush junior, the w stands for where the hell is it? you look at george w and you realize some that are born great, some achieve greatness and some get it as a graduation gift. [applause] i just want to ask the secret service if it is true that his secret service code name is gilligan. is that true? gilligan is on the move, little buddy, keep going. basically, i hate to keep seeing him asking if you can use his lifeline. no, you cannot call your dad. not going to do it, can help you now. yes, good boy. run for office. not the greatest bulb on the tree, just go. i don't want to see him in charge of the economy. it is like giving oj benihana -- a benihana. >> more from robin williams, my ang