but imagine being richard nixon in that debate with jack kennedy. jack kennedy cool and town. richard nixon with the sweat streaming down and beady eyes -- brutal. nixon had to live with that. i don't think that cost him the election but in the mythology it did. >> i think what cost him in '60 is the black vote. kennedy's helped out martin luther king when he was put in jail. nixon failed to do it and the kennedy's got the word out. >> jackie robinson was a nixon guy. >> yeah they shifted from republican to democrat. the south was democratic then. it is confusing to our modern sensibilities. but the kennedys played it brilliantly. the worst thing he said was "he has no class." that really hurt. >> i'm going to pause here. we will continue to conversation in just a moment. ♪ building aircraft, the likes of which the world has never seen. this is what we do. ♪ that's the value of performance. northrop grumman. >>> we're back now with evan thomas. nixon has become the favorite president of the 20th century. you wrote to me the president that doesn't get enough attention is eisenh

i served with jack kennedy. i knew jack kennedy. jack kennedy was a friend of mine. senator, you are no jack kennedy." and this about the holocaust "it was an obscene period in our nation's history. no, not our nation's, but in world war ii. i mean, we all lived in this century. i didn't live in this century but in this century's history." but things went from bad to worse when the 12 yr old boy involved in the spelling bee incident piled on. "the vice president spelled it wrong and i was right but i can't argue with the president....vice president. so, i guess he was wrong and i was right." still to come on "through the decades" the slap the media couldn't get enough of. and the u.s. kills two of the most famous spies. plus a retail renaissance is it may have been the most famous celebrity slap ever. the year was 1989. zsa zsa gabor, the hungarian born socialite and actress, known for that "dahling" accent and her gift of acquiring husbands, nine in case you're keeping track, made headlines around the world when she slapped a beverly hills policeman. "and finally a

i served with jack kennedy. i knew jack kennedy. jack kennedy was a friend of mine. senator, you are no jack kennedy." and this about the holocaust "it was an obscene period in our nation's history. no, not our nation's, but in world war ii. i mean, we all lived in this century. i didn't live in this century but in this century's history." but things went from bad to worse when the 12 yr old boy involved in the spelling bee incident piled on. "the vice president spelled it wrong and i was right but i can't argue with the president....vice president. so, i guess he was wrong and i was right." in the 1950's the idea of transplanting human organs thatill shelley but in j fiction a boston group is commonly the dr. jo a kidney from ronald herrick and graftt to his he latern the 99 for .but the fi organ hr y,,,,,,,,,,miracle. in 45 minutes, they got blood flowing again in the kidney and tucker was recovering from surgery. controversy aside, ruth tucker would live 5 more years before passing away from unrelated causes. dr. lawler never performed another transplant case sayi

that was jack kennedy, president kennedy addressing the nation on june 11, 1963. the streets seethed with protests from african-americans wanting a seat at the lunch counter. the quest continues as african-americans need to fight back against attempts to restrict their vote. a new generation takes to the streets in racial tensions. president kennedy spoke that same week on another front, a major address on nuclear arms control on a test ban treaty with the russians. a critical effort to reduce the chances of nuclear annihilation at that point. here he is. >> it would place the nuclear powers in a position to deal more effectively with one of the greatest hazards which man faces in 1963, the further spread of nuclear arms. it would increase our security, it would decrease the prospects of war. surely this goal is sufficiently important to require our steady pursuit. >> just like president kennedy, president obama has to get congress and the american people behind a nuclear agreement with iran right now. >> these are matters of war and peace, and they should be eval

that's the opposite of jack kennedy, let's get out of here this is no good and make everybody leave withm. nixon would be the last guy in the room. is that hope springs eternal in the movie theater? >> nixon approached watergate the way he approached the movies. hoped it would get better. of course, there wasn't. nixon partly because he could see the dark side wanted to believe that things would work out in the end and he tried to keep up the hope that you have that scene of him saying good-bye and the helicopter. >> looking at it, yeah. >> even on the helicopter, eddie cox said you'll be back and nixon just nodded his head, yeah, i'll be back. he never lost faith. >> i want people to read the book because there is so much intrigue. there is so much to it. the one thing i worked when i worked on a book around this edge, eddie cox told me off the record but a long time, he basically said how great pat nixon was. we thought she was plastic pat. no, she looked out for me and was a really good person. that's in your book. pat nixon, this is a hand some picture. >> look how beautiful she is.

jack kennedy is huge. the kennedy family. james michael curley. if you passed 100 people in downtown boston, and asked them who charles sumner was, maybe 15 people could tell you. the vast majority could tell you who jack kennedy was, or paul revere or john hancock. brian: what about the south? mr. puleo: brooks is not honored in the south. people ask me how has the south come to terms. they know what he did was despicable and violent, but in general, the south does a better job of her memory and honoring -- of remembering and honoring her history, and has a great civil war history. but for the most part, the history of the civil war in the south is better portrayed and better understood. brian: which one of these men would you rather have dinner with? mr. puleo: i would much rather have dinner with preston brooks but my ideas are much closer to charles sumner. the infamous, who would you rather have a beer with? brooks. much more likable. i am working on another book that will be out next spring narrative history. i am very close to being able to

all they can say about jack kennedy is he served on a pt boat in world war ii. he turned around to howard baker and said my son-in-law, howard baker junior, served on a pt boat in world war ii. and i have never heard anyone seriously suggest he was qualified to serve in any public office. six years later, he was in the united states senator. a few years later, he was the majority leader of the senate. i met him in 1966. i was a law clerk for a judge in washington. i'd admired howard baker. at that time we had a one-party system, all democratic in tennessee. he was an attractive young man. his father had been our congressman. i volunteer to work on his senate campaign in 1970's66. i never heard from him. i was visiting my hometown at easter break, and i got an appointment and volunteered for his campaign. and eventually he paid me and he won. so, he brought me to washington. and i came to this very office in january of 1967. this is his lead just -- as his legislative assistant. host: now that you occupy his offices, you must think about history. senator alexande

and stole the election for jack kennedy. into nixon always believed the election had been stolen.n 1968, the year that the chicago votes were all coming in on razors edge, this is the years this and her daughters -- mrs. nixon hears this and her daughters can hear her vomiting. finally at about 7:00 in the morning, they find out they won, and nixon is happy. he goes home to his apartment on fifth avenue and he puts "victory at sea" alone out the window. no family there. all alone. it is just dick. brian: before we more -- 01 mark lippert julie, you say in your book that nixon thought georgetown was out to get him. you say he was right. evan: today, the georgetown set does not exist. but back then, in the 1950's, and 1960's, very powerful. a group of cia, harvard and the yale alumni, very charming pleased with themselves. mrs. graham was at the center of this world, and joe also. i used to, i came in at the end at newsweek. i used to go to dinner and see them. they hated nixon. they said they were out to get him, mrs. helms, cynthia helms wife of the cia director richard helms, sai

jack kennedy didn't have to prove his guts for president.don johnson for whatever reason thought he did. i don't want people to be president to have a test guts. i want that to be established before they get there. you are an interesting attractive candidate for that reason. you've been there. you've been in combat. >> i've been able to have a pretty diversified professional life, totally by accident because after i was wounded i had to leave the marine corps. i spent four different periods during public service and four different periods doing other things and i've been able to accomplish things in government but purely not rely on government service. >> a lot of the neo-cons, pencil next like to talk about taking out somebody, use the military terminology without knowing what they were talking about. overestimate the benefits of war thinking you can win, underestimate the costs of war because they have never been in one. you know both. you don't win wars, you survive wars. churchill said it's not who is right, who is left, you know, they g

-- he was subject to depression -- and this high-living senator, george smathers, a friend of jack kennedy from florida, a democrat, to cheer him up, brought him to florida to cheer him up and have a guys weekend out on the boat. drinking and girl-chasing out on the boat. nixon was really not good at either of those things. at first, rebozo thought who is this guy, he's no fun, but a kinship was established. there was a vulnerability and a sincerity there that the public never saw. but rebozo saw it. he understood that what nixon needed was companionship without talk. that was the basis of their friendship that went on for years and years. brian: he was here in 1992 for his book, "seize the moment." this is not too far away from when he died. we have some clips from that just to get you to reflect on what you see in this. here is one where he talks about how he sizes up people. fmr. pres. nixon: yes, i am not one of those who believes in the psychiatric examination of people. i believe that most of these people, these psychohistorians should be on couches themselves rather than psychoanaly

if you believe the stories that's where jack kennedy proposed to his girlfriend, jacqueline jacqueline bouvier. one man who claimed he was there, said at the time he didn't think much of it. >> i didn't think of it as anything so unusual. for a young couple sitting in the window booth. >> that booth now has a plaque that reads the proposal booth. there are some who say it happened in boston and others say jfk proposed via telegram when jackie was in london. i guess you can believe what you want at the end of the day. >> i'm sure a lot of things have happened in martin's that we'll never know about. >>> stay with us, "news4 today" continues at 5:00 a.m. >> "news4 today" continues with breaking news. >> we're talking about maryland 95 northbound he

martin's tavern booth 3, by the window if you believe the stories, that's where a young senator jack kennedy proposed to his give jacqueline bouvier. the man who claims he was there that night stopped in for dinner tonight with his daughter. it's 98-year-old marion smoke, who says at the time, he didn't think anything much of this. >> i didn't think of it as anything so unusual for a young couple sitting in the window booth. that booth now has a plaque. it reads the proposal booth. but there are historians who say that proposal had actually happened in boston. others claim jfk proposed via telegram when jackie was in london. i'm going with martin's tavern. >> i'm buying the booth, right here. >> you got it. what do we got coming? >> more storms coming. today was a perfect day to sit in that booth. it was really quite nice. after the severe weather last night, we needed today to give us hope the weather will get better. tomorrow, temperatures around 90 and storms coming. right now, 78 degrees it's a spectacular evening winds out of the north at 6 miles per hour. if you didn't get the jog in h

bush from alcoholism or jack kennedy shortly this was his little moment and nobody thought he would come back from it. there were two things in his case for losing losing the governorship and the marriage. frankly i don't have a lot of sympathy with him because the reporting when you go back back at all depicted him as the villain of the story. she had an extramarital affair. why do we know this? because his lawyer announced it to the world and what could have been a one-day story became a tabloid inferno for we. i didn't talk to kerry kennedy but i did talk to people in her world and i got the distinct impression that the two sides of the marriage and then andrew had been, as a father had been a sort of stern father leaving kerry with their daughters and pretty self absorbed in those years. i would hasten to add that what i heard from the camp is he became a good father and i certainly hope that's true but he wasn't for a while and i won't go was told you one story that's kind of fascinating to me , so the marriage is going off the rails and it's been announced or is about to be announc

from joseph kennedy is down to jack kennedy. and i'm going back to my favor. which is around 1850 a book called the great american debate about the compromise of 1850 sold the country together after we had won the mexican war and how old is new territory all the way to the pacific or the big question was where these new states going to be slave or free because there were 15 slave states and 15 free states. slavery held on as long as it did. the house is a sun population. it was a heck of an effort to what a country together and in the end it worked at least for 11 years because 11 years later we had the civil war. [inaudible conversations] >> we are back live at the roosevelt reading festival of the fdr presidential library and museum in hide park, new york. patrick lukens is coming up. his new book is called "a quiet victory for latino rights." fdr the controversy over whiteness. you are watching live coverage on booktv. [inaudible conversations] >> good morning everyone. i'm the libraries education direct or and on behalf of the fdr presidential library muse

from president kennedy down to jack kennedy. and now i'm going back to my favorite. around 1850 a book called the american debate about the compromise of 1850 and the efforts of clay in douglas and the rest to hold the country together after he won the mexican war and how this new territory all the way to the pacific or the question was for the new states going to be slave or free because at that point they were 15 slave states and 15 free states. slavery held monophonic they did because of the senate. it was based on population. it was a heck of an effort to hold the country together. and in the end it worked for 11 years because 11 years later we had the civil war. >> "after words" is next on booktv. noble prize-winning economist joseph stiglitz talks about the rising inequality in the united states and what can be done about it. he discusses the topic on the subject of his latest book which heather mcghee, president of demos. >> i am here with nobel prize-winning economist joseph stiglitz. very excited to have this conversation. so i'm the president of an organiza

he was depressed and this high living center, a friend of jack kennedy from florida, a democrat , broughtim to florida to cheer them up and have a guys weekend out on the boat. nixon was really not good at either of those things. at first, he thought who is this guy, he's no fun, but a can sip was established. there was a vulnerability and a sincerity. he understood that what nixon needed was companionship without talk. brian: he was here in 1992 for his book, "seize the moment." we had some clips from that just to get you to reflect on what you see in this. there is one where he talks about how he sizes of people. >> i am not one of those who believes in the psychiatric examination. i believe that most of these people should be on the stories themselves rather than to psychoanalyze people that have never met. on the other hand, when i meet people, i don't judge them in terms of whether they have a firm handshake or eye contact. these are things that are learned. when i try to do when i meet people is to listen to what they say. you don't learn a thing when you are talking, you learn a gr

that's where jack kennedy proposed to his girlfriend, jacqueline jacqueline bouvier. one man who claimed he was there, said at the time he didn't think much of it. >> i didn't think of it as anything so unusual. for a young couple sitting in the window booth. >> that booth now has a plaque that reads the proposal booth. there are some who say it happened in boston and others say jfk proposed via telegram when jackie was in london. i guess you can believe what you want at the end of the day. >> i'm sure a lot of things have happened in martin's that we'll never know about. >>> stay with us, "news4 today" continues at 5:00 a.m. >> "news4 today" continues with breaking news. >> we're talking about maryland 95 northbound here. right at the icc. only have a left shoulder at this point as far as we know getting by. a fatal crash there. so here is what we know right now. a fuel spill cleanup that is underway because of the fatal accident that happened a couple of hours ago. right now, megan mcgrath is telling me the ramp to the icc is closed. the best alternate is 95 or b.w.

they're trying to hurt people of color -- >> what did mayor daley of chicago mean when he told jack kennedy in 1960, on election night, with the help of a few good friends, we're going to carry illinois. i'll leave that with you. >> it was voter -- it was sort of machines and it was the people behind the table, not the voters themselves, doing the fraud. so that's what actually is going on throughout most of street. >> i agree. i think that's probably the case. the boys, as they called them, out there. yesterday, i interviewed mark alice, a lawyer to the hillary clinton campaign. he's filed a suit against several states, trying to stop their voter restrictions, including the state of wisconsin. and here's what he had to say about a new law there. let's watch. >> in wisconsin, as you mentioned, they cut back on the number of early days of vote, the time of day one could provide early vote, and they banned early vote on the weekends. now, why would you do that? what reason would the state of wisconsin have to say that people can't vote after work or people can't vote on a weekend, other than

. >> senator, you are no jack kennedy.te al gore walked up to bush >> so al gore tries to come over and be the bully and get had his face. you remember the moment bush doesn't say anything he just looks at him, smiles gives him the head wink and goes on. >> and i believe i can. >> that was it. it just -- it just absolutely devastating to gore. >> and you watching gold. >> yes. yeah. we all revert to our junior hymen at that time you know when our team scores you know what most people don't know is that bush had been prepared. >> judd greg who had played the role of al gore in the debate prep and had had seen him pull this trick so he had said to bush be prepared he's going to come get in your dpas. we all dismissed it at the time but sure enough it happened. >> how do candidates prepare? these two debate coaches showed she. mark mic kinnen and brett o'donnell prepped president bush for debates. he later coached romney and michelle balk map. they spend hours trying to replicate debate moments. >> you have the candidates sta

the most popular and effective leaders whether bill clinton or ronald reagan or jack kennedy broughtof optimism and possibility. they see her already as a strong leader, which is important, but i would be interested to see whe she stands on the trade act as well. >> woodruff: what does that mean? >> her husband, a part was foreign policy, nafta 1993, and staked his presidency on it, worked hard effectively to get it through, and totally identified with it and so is she. in 2008, she was a little critical, and she and president obama were as candidates in 2008 of nafta and whatever it meant. but i think she's certainly the secretary of state. i think people expect her to be on the president's side but, obviously, the political reality in her own party there's in the a lot of support there right no >> woodruff: but you get the sense, david, her campaign has felt they could hold that off that they don't need to talk about trade and other issues just yet, that they don't need to roll it all out. >> that's fair. they don't need to present all the policies at once. there have been accusati

jack kennedy. makes a big difference. >> got to be careful in politics.asio on john steward. he went on, shootings up in new york. terrible crime problem. where did this come from. mayor de blasio joking about it. it didn't -- neil: you have to be careful. >> you have to be very careful in that regard. someone treated me, joe, you're doing politics all the time. what about comedy. its the same thing really. christie, our guy from jersey -- neil: has great sense of humor. >> get the doughnuts out, man. get the doughnuts out. do the weight jokes. got to go there. he is being too quiet. neil: get in front and laugh at yourself. >> run down everybody. ted cruz, if you're not going to be funny, don't try to be funny. joke about joe biden, not a good idea. neil: well he apologized for that. >> it was great. he is classy guy. i can run down. i have everybody here, there is nobody really that is, jeb bush. talk about iraq. hysterical. all you got to do. neil: dry sense of humor. >> not intentional but sometimes, when they make a mistake like that they should real

so it tracks that whole period there from joseph kennedy down to jack kennedy. and now i'm going back to my favorite period which is around 1850 a book called "the american debate" about the compromise of 1850 and the efforts of clay and douglass and the rest to hold the country together after we had won the mexican war and had all this new territory all the way to the pacific. .. >> booktv wants to know what yo

nobody is going to forget saying you're no jack kennedy. no one is going to forget reagan.overnor bill clinton gave the convention speech saying who is this guy. four years later where was he? who was he? >> in conclusion and everyone erupted. >> rick perry will be hobbled by marco rubio. perry perry's strategy was going to appeal to the tea party, my path is through the middle. then you have marco rubio come in he can do that and he's younger and shinier and has more money. that's why rick perry is hobbled from the beginning. once marco rubio threw his hat into the rick i knew rick perry -- >> it's not like they don't have other options this time. more on rick perry obviously as the campaign unfolds. we'll be running next to wilmington, delaware to the church where beau biden will be remembered this morning. another full hour of news and politics. and live coverage of that funeral later this morning on msnbc, stay with us. audible safety beeping audible safety beeping audible safety beeping the nissan rogue with safety shield technologies. the only thing left to fear is yo

let's recall fdr, jack kennedy. let's recall the government isn't all that.y thinks government is bloated and wasteful. there's a lot of bloat and waste in government. but government is pretty useful to a lot of people in this country. >> it's a way of reaching a base and broadening the base. she needs to reach all kinds of new voters young voters voters of color and talking about economic policies that help a lot of people in theory if she could execute them that would help a lot of people strug unwilling struggling in this country. there are policy propositions she's never been the obama-like oritorical -- >> that speech launched her on the road up in new hampshire. joining us from concord, nbc news chief foreign affairs correspondent host of "andrea mitchell reports," andrea mitchell. what is she looking to do today? >> she is looking to have a raly. it's been moved indoors to the shed behind us. we are in a pouring, driving rain storm which is going to last all day here. it is beautiful apple orchard that the season begins in july with blueberries and goe

that also while chuck kennedy, and he was shot by jack ruby. the conclusions reached were not rusted all we arrived at them in good time. we did not have a deadline, we publish when we were finished. some critics of the warren commission say they didn't look into conspiracy theories. they only looked into what they were scheduled to look at. again, not true. the longest chapter in the warren commission deals exclusively with conspiracy theories. in some, my views on the warren commission is that they did not deliberately tried to cover up anything, they try to investigate to the best of their ability. they did an incredible amount of investigation to try and come up with their conclusion. in addition, a number of other serious investigations by individuals and by government agencies all caps the same conclusion. the answer was that they concluded that lee harvey on small was the lone assassin. if you buy into where i have come so far, we have to now finally get to the two questions that we need to discuss. who shot kennedy, and was there a cons

congressman jim jordan, and general jack keane tomorrow, be with us, thank you for joining us tonight, good night from new york. >> i am jedediah bila in for kennedy. tonight, the naacp leader who pretended to be black, resigned today. and two terrifying shark attacks happened over the weekend in north carolina, what do we know, i will ask jeff corwin, i will give a piece of my mind to a film critic who say women can't undergod fellows. >> and jeb bush ajointed he is running for president today. he had a rally in miami. with release of fizz official -s official logo. we have remy mooney, and will ron, and jimm jim fell la, we ho talk about jeb bush, remy what do you think about this. there is a enthuse yaf enthusiah hillary clinton. what about bush? >> i think he realized he has an energy issue. everyone knows, i think he does too. >> he is getting a rose light now but probably not getting the final rose. >> in a ni nutshell. >> and logo? was it crafted he left last name off. >> you know bush name is something of an alb annal -- alr jeb right now. the struggle is proving he can overcome that. so far, this is beginning of phase two of his campaign,

congressman jim jordan, and general jack keane tomorrow, be with us, thank you for joining us tonight good night from new york. >> i am jedediah bila in for kennedyght, the naacp leader who pretended to be black resigned today. and two terrifying shark attacks happened over the weekend in north carolina, what do we know, i will ask jeff corwin, i will give a piece of my mind to a film critic who say women can't undergod fellows. >> and jeb bush ajointed he is running for president

jack rosenthal was one of the few who knows because he's been inside. >> this was potentially the most serious thing ever. >> reporter: rosenthal then a top aide to robert f. kennedy was taken on a ride to the steel door drive to mt. weather. into the bunker. >> inside the bowles of the mountain. >> reporter: which he said held 2,000 of the most important people in the kennedy administration. jfk included. in days of nuclear war. >> this was the master relocation site of government. >> reporter: he said he was set to prepare the space in case the press corps needed to be shelter i felt very privileged to had such a perspective on it. >> reporter: decades old records declassified and released to the i-team confirmed mt. weather was indeed set up then to protect top officials from war time hazards and attacks and to run the government after a disaster. even after the cuban missile crisis, mt. weather's existence remained a mystery in america until december 1, 1974. when something very dramatic happened there. the twa flight 514 never cleared mount weaommercial plane crashed outside the gate. >> 20 miles north of dulles, the jet hit a mountainside. >> reporter: more

jack evans and george harris married today after 54 years together. the supreme court decision was narrow, 5-4, with justice anthony kennedy writing the majority decisioncluding that the constitution particularly the 14th amendment, grants same-sex couples equal protection in the eyes of the law. kennedy sided with the court's four liberal justices against the four conservatives, each of whom wrote their own scathing dissent, though justice roberts was somewhat more measured. the decision was met with protests and condemnation in some quarters including from some elected officials. in pike and geneva counties in alabama, judges there went so far as to vow not to issue marriage licenses to anyone in the wake of the ruling. but for same-sex couples and their supporters it was a day of enormous pride. one celebrated by a president who himself broke civil rights barriers and who hailed all those who fought for this one. >> those countless often anonymous heroes they deserve our thanks. they should be very proud. america should be very proud. >> joining me now from outside the stonewall inn here in new york are rob thomas and joseph vitali, a married couple

jack rosenthal is one of the few who knows because he's been inside. >> this was potentially the most serious thing ever. >> reporter: rosenthal then a top aide to robert f kennedy was taken on a 60-mile drive from the justice department to a steel door entrance at mount weather. base. underground much. >> reporter: into a bunker. >> inside the bowels of the mountain. >> reporter: said designed to hold 2,000 of the most important people in the kennedy administration, jfk included in case of nuclear war. >> this was the master relocation site of government. >> reporter: he said he was set to prepare the space in case the white house press corps needed to be sheltered. >> i was sure glad there was a police and felt really privileged to have such a perspective on it. >> reporter: decades on record dees classified and released to theism-team confirm mount weather was indeed set up then to protect top officials from war-time has zbhards and attacks and to run the government after disaster. even after the cuban missile crisis, mount weather's existence is remained a mystery in america, until december 1, 1974, when something very dramatic happened there. a twa flight 5

kennedy was assassinated. the next thing i knew, i was on a plane heading for dallas. >> two days later while covering lee harvey oswald's jail transfer in dallas, feelman watches as jackshoots and kills oswald. >> that was my initiation into the news business. >> 17 years later, feelman is again expecting an easy day. >> i said, well, we're going to get the president coming out. and it's going to be a piece of cake. i -- i would never use that term again, piece of cake. >> feelman and abc news photographer hank brown set up their cameras at the rope line outside the hilton. a hotel photographer snaps this picture showing feelman next to the wall and brown to feelman's left. neither photographer knows the blonde man standing behind feelman's right shoulder or what he is about to do. moments after the photograph is taken, the president exits the hilton. >> mr. president -- mr. president? >> the president turns, puts his hands out, and that's when i heard pop, pop, pop, pop. [ gunshots ] >> god! >> brown and feelman don't know if anyone has been injured or worse, but they have one goal -- keep their cameras focused on the president. >> i realized that the picture that i

so it tracks that whole period there from joseph kennedy down to jack kennedy. and now i'm going back to my favorite period which is around 1850 a book called "the american debate," "great american debate," about the compromise of 1850 and the efforts of clay and douglass and the rest to hold the country together after we'd won the mexican war and had all this new territory all the way to the pacific. and the big question was it going to be, were these new states going to be slave or were hay going to be free? at that point there were 15 slave states and 15 free state. even balance. slavery held on as long as it did because of the senate. the house was based on population more hostile to slavery. it was a heck of an effort to hold the country together. and in the end it worked at least for 11 years because 11 years later we had the civil war. >> booktv wants to know what you're reading this summer. tweet us your answer, @booktv or you can post it on our facebook page facebook.com/booktv. >> next on booktv encore book notes. michael oren appears op "book notes" i