we see that his secretary of war in the 1820s named james barber would comment that there would be enough land for 500 years. well, he didn't get it right either. in fact, we know that by 1890, the frontier vanishes. so what jefferson sees is that over the course of 100 years or so, americans had crossed the appalachian mountains, they had moved down the mississippi valley, they had begun trickling into east and west florida. am the louisiana purchase, and now all eyes would focus to the west. and to the south. of course, that would be texas. now, while the acquisition of louisiana does momentarily satisfy this desire for expansion, it was only a moment. in 1810 -- now, i know this is texas history. so as i tell you this, i don't want you to be upset, i don't want to hear any hissing or booing. in september of 1810, there's going to be a minor uprising. and of all places baton rouge, louisiana. now, let me tell you what happens here. there are a group of americans who are living in th north of the lake pontchartrain and north of new orleans. they had been there for more than a decade, man

an academy award for her short subject documentary, "the barber of birmingham," telling the story of a world war two veteran and barbara, james armstrong, so here is a scene from "the barber of birmingham: foot soldier of the civil rights movement." >> i always grew up thinking the worst thing a man to do was nothing. everybody that was doing something. when we started to struggle, i remember some terrible day is. i thought about what was said, "i have been to the mountaintop, and i looked over and saw the promised land. i may not get there with you, but you will get to the promised land. just keep on keeping on." tavis: back to my point, your first film, and you are an academy award nominee. how does that feel? >> it is a bit surreal and wonderful, and i am sorry to not be able to share this with my co-director passed away last fall, but she is here in spirit. tavis: and to that, mr. armstrong passed away. >> yes, he passed away in 2009. tavis: tell me about him. >> he was a barber who dedicated his life to the fight for civil rights. he carried the original flag on bloody sunday in the march from selma to montgomery. he int

james armstrong. while he's no longer with us, he is the subject of a documentary short. the barber of birmingham.ights movement. let's take a look. >> i'm always going out, the worst thing a man can do is nothing. i got a lot of pictures of everybody here. we started to struggle by joining the struggle. i remember some terrible days. i thought about what don king said. i've been to the mountaintop and i look over and saw the promised land. i may not get there with you. but you will get the promised land. just keep on keeping on. yes, indeed. things are changing. a black man, the president of the united states. you say that to yourself. black man, president of the united states. >> mr. armstrong was something special. he was one of the nameless soldiers of the civil rights movement who deserves recognition and the academy of motion pictures arts and sciences agrees. the barber of birmingham is nominated for an academy award for best documentary short. we'll know tonight if it wins. joining me are the film's producer and director, robin fryday and her grandson and joining me are anita hill and mich

barber of birmingham." the film expores the impact of barack obama's 2008 campaign on ageing civil rights activist in this the south including central protagonist jamesstrong. the film was produced and directed by robin friday of marin and the late gail dojini. my thanks to both of you for joining us tonight. we really appreciate it. and one more thing before saying good night. this will be my last season as host of "this week." i will wrap up my time on the program in november. now, that makes for a very long good-bye but until then, i look forward to reporting on the twists and turns of the very important election year. i'm belva davis, good night. >> funding for special coverage of the 2012 election campaign comes from the george and judy marcus family foundation.

barber today. i guess it's all done on the democratic side in that district. we'll be right back. >>> we're back. at the start of president obama's re-election campaign, the journalist james on his presidency so far for "the atlantic" magazine. the story is entitled "obama explained." it addresses the question, is obama the master political chess player seeing ten moves ahead or is he a pawn in the game overwhelmed and out of his depth. big question. james fallows joins us now to answer. so what is the answer? >> the answer is he's becoming more of a master. one of the premises i start with is every president comes in flawed in various ways. you and i worked for jimmy carter. we recall that. but they all have limitations. nobody can do all the thing wells the job requires. the question is, do they get better. >> he says he's getting better. >> i argue he is. the way he handles the congress, more sophistication about the politics, more comfortable making economic arguments which were his weak point, and arguing foreign policy, he had a -- >> how do you explain the fact i supported as well as so many other people because he was against the iraq war, seemed like, real sensit