we see it with truman and hoover again. where, of all people who completely reorganized the executive branch, why on earth would truman signed off on herbert huber turn what became the hoover commission. this is a guy who everyone assumed was just going to dismantle the new deal superstructure of government. what truman knew about him is that hoover had been president in moment of national crisis and he knew that a president needs the tools to be able to meet a crisis. especially in a postwar nuclear age. truman trusted covert. he trusted hoover. it was a great gift that they gave each other. to organize and rationalize the executive branch in way a way that presidents would be able to function better. the fact that hoover strengthened the presidency in moment that it was occupied by democrat who made no difference. in the course of gathering information for the hoover commission, he found out so much that is wrong and wasteful in government, that if he had let any of it be known during the 1948 election, it is very easy to

edgar hoover, who was in that office for almost 50 years.felt himself had been with the fbi since 1942 when the bureau underwent a tremendous wartime expansion. his family had moved 17 times in his 30-year career. he had sacrificed everything to rise. his wife was practically a single parent. he was the special agent in charge here in kansas city in 1958 to 1962. and he felt -- i'm not making an intentional pun there, but he believed that he was entitled as the number-two man at the bureau to become hoover's successor. instead, richard nixon had unexpectedly appointed a man called l. patrick gray, who was kind of as colorless as his name. a complete dark horse in terms of the -- someone no one had seen as a potential fbi director. but -- when hoover died suddenly, nixon didn't want a big confirmation fight. so he just promised gray the appointment on an acting basis. this was someone he had known, who had worked on his campaigns. they weren't good friends, but he knew him. gray was a submarine commander during world war ii and korea. had a v

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

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 to what needed to be done. firsitedaout e loicre fy idanmes prend o he ths e te two men meet one another on the platform and eisenhower's inauguration in 1953, hoover goes over to greet president truman says we shoul fopeiscu ans cou t est,l he cry. e iwsmtogil fountion story, teasing each other in the platform except it tus out that the success

hoover was held responsible, well voters decide to hold barack obama responsible in a hoover way? obama's big cam feign brain has conceded the president owns this economy. >> so the person who is least satisfied with where the economy is president obama. >> he owns it, would you agree with that, he owns this economy? >> of course, he does. >> matt lauer nailed him into that coffin. my question, does david wish he had that to take back, the president owns this economy? >> it doesn't matter what he says. it matters what the american think. clearly the american people are looking forward and they're not looking backwards. there is some justification for the fact that a previous president got the economy into this mess, but that is irrelevant in terms of the president's re-election prospects. he has to provide a vision for the future for america. chris: the president has to cover for the fact that he had six months walking into office, the first six months of his presidency which were terrible due to what he inherited, but he has to explain it, all of it. >> he made a fundamental miss

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

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 turns out that the success has presiden become more and more and more real. spanow f15asc ilprego h orer est

and appointed by president hoover. harlan fisk stone of new york, 64. former dean of columbia university's law school. schoolmate of calvin coolidge. the oldest justice, justice brandeis of kentucky, 80, the distinguished jewish ancestry. bitterly opposed as a crusading liberal in 1812 that wilson didn't dare appoint him attorney general but did appoint him to the court. holding the balance of power are two justices, owen roberts at 61, the youngest justice, long a conservative. since this fight began liberal in seven decisions. and charles evans hughes, 75. the chief justice since 1930. sometimes conservative, sometimes liberal. >> president roosevelt goes on the air in an appeal for popular support for his plan to reorganize the federal judiciary. newsreel cameras record his fireside chat, his second such appeal within six days. he tells the people that the plan would protect them from usurpation of power by the supreme court. >> those opposing the plan have sought to arouse prejudice and fear by crying that i am see

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

hoover was a great humanitarian but not a great human.e 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 one kws how to do it. he put together a private effort.

edgar hoover refused to do. that may be the standard. >> and that is -- >> you know the reason for that, because hoover was a practical man, and he had sense enough to know that it was dangerous and wouldn't work. >> and with that, i want to welcome back mary jordan and thank our panelists for a great discussion. thank you. [ applause ] >>> we continue with the watergate conference with a discussion on the legacy of watergate. panel lists include former house judiciary committee member william weld and the associate minority counsel for the committee. they're joined by former nixon administration deputy counsel eagle crow. this is half an hour. >> fred thompson has led us perfectly into our next panel, so up next we're going to talk about the legacy of watergate. and please join me in welcoming our next guest, former defense secretary bill cohen, a former retired senator from maine who, when this picture was taken, had just come from maine. he was a freshman congressman, and he landed on the hot seat of the judi

. >> i think that -- that's kind of what hoover at the end with his reconstruction finance corporation and the ideas and i'm going to experiment with government intervention and this, i heard somebody say, a historian say once, that if smith had run and won in 1928, hoover would have been the obvious type of candidate in 1932. because they'd say, this is what we need. we need a businessman. we need somebody that's a model of getting the economy going. so i think no matter who won in '28, they would have been unprepared, at least at first, to stop this avalanche of financial ruin. >> let's take it back ten years. 1918. al smith is elected governor of new york for the first time. how? >> the accidental governor. it took al smith until maybe 1925 or '26 to get it in the minds of the republican party in new york state that he wasn't going to lose. he runs in 1928 against charles whitman. >> 1918. >> 1918. lost to history. charlotte whitman starts eyeing the white house in 1920. we both do this for a living. we like to look back and say what if. maybe it wouldn't have been harding. maybe it

my first question, i know smith lost new york in 1928 to hoover. how well did he do in the 5 burrows. and i want to know, was the anti-catholic feeling more prevalent in the southern states as compared to the midwest, say kansas, nebraska, etcetera, and i want to know, he had a fallout with fdr, surprised they even were together in 1940. but i would like to know how did he feel about social security? >> all right. >>. >> caller: thanks. >> he did well in new york. he always did well in new york city. he did extraordinarily well in his own district. but, he just couldn't make it up over the whole state. the other question, what was the other? >> he wanted to, did he win new york city, do you know off hand if he won in 1928? >> i don't recall, i don't think he did. >> not even new york city? >> it had outer burroughs that had republican dominance that is still the case in stanton island, and pockets of queens as well. >> social security was the other question. >> the issue on social security is something that smith had tried to implement in new york

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

. >> matthew hoover can fit both legs into one leg of his old jeans. last august, he was creeping toward 400 pounds. diagnosed with hypothyroidism and high blood pressure at 24, he did not want to have the same obesity related illnesses his parents suffered. his father was taking insulin shots for diabetes. his mother was taking 48 pills a day, and just to stay alive. >> i could not walk a flight of steps without having to stop in the middle and use my rescue in taylor. >> the entire family decided to have bet -- have gastric bypass surgery. michelle has lost 218 pounds, and credits her doctor with saving her life. >> he did not think i would live to see 50, had i not chosen to do this and lose the weight. >> her husband is now off all his medications. >> my heaviest was 296. something. >> gastric bypass surgery involves stapling the stomach to crate a pouch no longer than a cool fall. part of the ball is attached to the pouch. >> it is a surgery that helps you eat less, lose the weight, and learn a new lifestyle. >> as machu showed us his old belt, he

margaret hoover, author of "american individualism." nice to have everybody back.xcited to talk to ralph macchio. he is the executive producer of this new project to look at american gypsies. he'll talk about that in just a moment. >>> but first of all, the fiscal cliff. it could give americans a much smaller paycheck on january 1. the bush tax cuts and payroll tax cuts expire. while the automatic cuts included in last year's debt ceiling deal go into effect, which means obviously these two things happen at the exact same time, problem. a democratic senator says she doesn't see any compromise anytime in the near future. listen. >> looking back at the offers from the other side that represented the greatest attempts at compromise, it's clear that while we were close on the spending side, republicans hadn't even left their corner when it came to revenue. once again, if republicans won't work with us on a balanced approach, we are not going to get a deal. >> that was senator patty murray. we've got dick durbin, senator dick durbin with us this morning, the assistant m

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

william hoover and mark chait had several opportunities to end "fast and furious" but failed to do so. the scandal has taken on a political tone as well. in june, congressional republicans voted to hold attorney general eric holder in contempt of congress, but democrats, infuriated by the vote, walked out of the capitol. the vote came after the obama administration invoked executive privilege and refusing to hand over documents related to "fast and furious." the documents are being sought by congressman issa. his name is at the top of the new report. a lawyer for one of the atf agents named by investigators is quoted by the "wall street journal" as calling it a witch hunt. >>> james holmes, the suspect in the colorado shooting massacre faces 142 felony counts, including two first-degree murder charges for each of the 12 people he's accused of killing. prosecutors are still deciding whether to pursue the death penalty. john blackstone has our report. >> reporter: this was holmes in court last week, the last time we saw him on camera. this time, the judge barred cameras from the courtro

dam back in the day where you -- hoover dam back in the day andwhere you can create jobs? >> it's a good idea, but it's deficit spending and we can't afford to do that, but we can afford to have the backup system that ensures we don't lose 911. the proposal we're asking the fcc to revisit which they did consider as jim said after katrina is that there be at least an eight-hour guaranteed backup of every cell site so that we're not down again. there's no reason we can't proceed with that. those costs are relatively modest compared to what you were talking about. >> and the letter is now on the fcc's desk. gentlemen, thank you both. we'll watch this to see what their reaction is. thank you very much. >>> it's been five years since redskins safety sean taylor was murdered in his own home. now we know when the suspects will go on trial. >> later a local man robbed three times decides to take action. his new crime fighting app that can help police track down criminals. >> it was a beautiful thursday here in d.c. and a lovely night, temperatures and humidity in check, but the cl

. >> reporter: the price of sugar has hoovered at 36-cents a pound.t costs 22-cents to grow it that plus competition is driving the plantation out of business. these sugar cane plantation i'm standing in will be the last harvest for the company. in 18 months they close their doors for good. does it bother you? >> of course it bothers me, there's 350 employees and this is a business that started in 1897. and it's an old business. it's part of the island, it's sugar and it's very painful to see. >> so it's waiting -- >> reporter: it's also painful for gary, he's one of many local employees recently let go. 31 years with the company. >> 31 years two months. >> reporter: now what? >> i don't know? i have to go look for a job now, that's for sure. >> reporter: and as workers depart at day's end they too must contemplate a future without the sugar company. >>> how a contest to promote flights to hawaii turned into a disaster. and a bit later on how they're skill as sailors helped save a group of aviators trying to fly to hawaii in the 1920s. >>> 75 years ag

and here's one from miss hoover's playlist, "here i am baby", al green.le spirit present.trong it's the priceline negotiator. >>what? >>sorry. he wants you to know about priceline's new express deals. it's a faster way to get a great hotel deal without bidding. pick one with a pool, a gym, a great guest rating. >>and save big. >>thanks negotiator. wherever you are. ya, no. he's over here. >>in the refrigerator? a living, breathing intelligence helping business, do more business. in here, opportunities are created and protected. gonna need more wool! demand is instantly recognized and securely acted on across the company. around the world. turning a new trend, into a global phenomenon. it's the at&t network -- securing a world of new opportunities. ♪ ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about the cookie-cutter retirement advice ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 you get at some places. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 they say you have to do this, have that, invest here ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 you know what? ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 you can't create a retirement plan based

edgar hoover wearing mom everything. (laughter) and folks, if shep's aapproach has won him admirers across the news scape. everyone loves him, even liberal shills at msnbc know greatness. >> how about shepherd smith? he's bucking the fox news republican agenda by telling the truth about what's happening. >> we love him. he's a great guy. as good as it gets. he's great. he's good at what he is. >> shep smith, if you ever run for anything i will quit what i am doing to go work for you. >> stephen: i second that. i would absolutely support shep smith running for office if it meant rachel maddow would quit her job. (applause) these guys love him because shep is bringing it! and by "it" i mean... what? >> we have a lot to hate about north korea, right? but the way they always look at things and then the way they throw parties is pretty awesome. somebody put goats on the roof. what to do goats say? a lot of people have decided to try to better be safe than sorry but this isn't safe, this is stupid. this is stupid. that's reall

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

dropty hoover of being der -- deputy hoover of being derelict in his duties.seing others of false testimony. and failing to supervisor. and newell of incompetence. >> are they lying or are you lying? >> sir, in this investigation, we have not let guns walk. >> the attorney always thought the investigation is political. >> this is a witch hunt, simply about a false premise that guns were walking. >> the report says that death of border agent brian terry could have been prevented. claiming gun smuggler avulla lied about his address when he first purchased fast and furious weapons. that lie would have allowed the atf to stop or arrest him. six weeks before he bought the guns found at terry's murder. "if atf bothered to conduct a thorough review of all the information contained in the dea wire intercepts, "fast and furious" might have concluded a year earlier than it did." >> when gun showed up at the mexican crime scene, rather than concern, they wrote wow, cheeking-a! they were already across the border heading south? they were used to kill the brother of a mexi

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 purchasing power of the dollar is falling poofolrssifl,urin ifu'keut loan when prices are going up, you'v

she worked at the hoover institution.an is a brilliant woman. >> when we were with nixon in '68, there was a point where he was way down. he was tied with humphrey, and you take the safe pick. >> is it safe to say that everybody on this panel is poo- pooing, except me, a possible candidacy? >> yes. >> as a running mate? >> not as a rung mate. she's phot got many great qualifications but not for this ticket. >> not for this particular. >> poo-pooing. >> okay who will be romney's vice presidential running mate? >> i would say pawlenty or portman. it's going to be about even and it will help him in ohio, and if pawlenty can deliver min so tea's a pretty good pick. >> i agree with that, and we're going to know in a couple of weeks because they are going to announce before it the convention. >> come on, give me your pick. >> pawlenty or portman. >> jindal. i think bobby jindal is really the complete package. >> why, why, why? >> why? because he's a conservative with a great record of two terms as governor of louisiana. >> pawl