both the original homer john adams was born and a second small homer john quincy adams was born i dareopen to visitors and a large home that john built in his retirement with abigail, beautifully furnished with many things that abigail. everyone talks about founding fathers may forget to talk about founding others. martha washington was at valley forge with george and abigail adams turkey on john quincy to the top to watch the battle of bunker go and then worked hard to support, to hope that feature their cause while her husband was in philadelphia. >> another question. go ahead. [inaudible] >> absolutely. louisa adams was born lisa john. her father was the american old in london. when the two of them that, she was born in london, but her parents were americans and brilliantly educated, perfect wife for john quincy. she hadn't education at home, but she could read in latin and greek is very well-versed in history and literature. so they fell in love and had a long, warm marriage of 50 years, more than 50 years. they had their ups and downs. they had their status as most family do in mo

john quincy could and he asked john adams can you take john quincy adams with you to st. etersburg as the secretary at 16 years of age, and john quincy adams goes up with francis to st. petersburg and spends the year up there. it was too cold to venture out. he had this insatiable appetite for running. he studied david hume, the six volumes of edward gibbons decline and fall of the roman empire. adam smith's two volume work on the wealth of nations, the great economic work. he kept studying latin and read cicero. he read english poets. he had this insatiable appetite for learning. a 69 was still studying on goal wrigley. i went to jail instead of harvard. of course a big difference. >> but i take it as a politician especially in our modern sense of the word he may have lacked a certain common touch. >> he had no common touch but very few of the leaders in the country did at that time. they were all university graduates except for george washington, and george washington educated himself. he read more than 6,000 books. this was an elite. the constitution didn't give liberty

on the fair site at one point, those from john adams and benjamin harrison to cotton and the congress delegate were sent to the boston from philadelphia. they were brought by a young lawyer who was captured. the british got ahold of these documents and to publish them. the john adams letters are just so rude about the continental congress that they didn't have to change anything in them. prepare some others change it to make it look as if george washington was having an affair with a maid at a tavern. so yes, both sides were using propaganda within the newspapers. >> interestedly in the middle minolta were sold upon a few london, pools to report george washington had died in battle. normally these are also kind of the room are hearsay and their way of adding disclaimer was to print the the more gossipy news from less credible sources at the back of the newspaper. when the chronicle was any page newspaper ad that uses most commonly commonly found on page eight. >> these publishers are also in competition with each other, so they will challenge but each other say. .. >> how prevalent wa

obviously, the diaries and writings of john adams, the writings of john adams are, i think, seven volumes, and the diaries are four volumes. the writings of sam ad. adams, and thomas hutchenson, all prolific writers, kept diaries issue and kept all the correspondence so it's a rich pool of research. yes, sir? >> all this information disclosed, why was it dormant for so long? >> well, it's not dormant, it's there in bits and pieces, and the problem with american history -- i think i can generalize all american history, but certainly, the history of the colonial, revolutionary war and post revolutionary war era is that it's very complex, and as my son, at 14, came home from school and said, you know, something, dad, american history, all they do is talk. there's not a lot of action. all they do is talk. well, he's right, and the talk is very complex on very, very complex issues that my philosops and political philosophers debated for many, many years. this involved enormously important cop sents that had implications for the entire world, the define right of kings. the define right of arist

john quincy adams was not involved. john adams was a very significant force, a major force in putting the independence and the pre- independence, in essence were you had a country but it was still undeclared -- he was a huge force in that. >> i have a list of all the books you ever written, except the one that uses your never completed. it goes back to 1969. before getting to some of that, i want to show you a clip of a visit the you had with us in 1990. we do this with most guests. let's look and see the change. >> my sense is that, if you go back and look at the history of the republican party, and i don't think i sufficiently appreciated this back in 1967 is that it has taken power some of the great cycles of american history -- it has taken power from the broadbased region. and then in 1968, when the country was in some ways of on the verge of disintegrating with riots in the cities and in the campuses, and the republican party has created a nationalizing role and kept things together. but once it has been in for 10

because the facts os of the matter, as john adams said, were stubborn things, and they weren't always moving their direction. so this is what he said late in life. i've observed this march of civilization advancing from the seacoast passing over us like a cloud of light, increasing our knowledge and improving our condition. and where this progress will stop, no one can say. and so we move on. thanks very much. [applause] >> thanks for a delightful talk. >> thank you, ma'am. >> and i'm sure the book will be just as good. this will seem like an odd question, but at the end you were talking about progress and jefferson's curiosity. he was a francophile, one of the things that he helped set in motion was the french revolution. what did he think of that? >> well, as ever, it depends on when you ask him. the french revolution he was caught up in many ways in the drama of the early years of it. lafayette and others met in his house. there's some debate about his actual role in the declaration of the rights of man. but i think one thing that's important to remember is when he came back in 178

history that stresses the likes of john quincy adams. what i wanted to do was write a different kind of history. what you call history from below. whose history is a? was rebellion was a? what does it mean to us now? those are questions that i wanted to post. well, in the course of doing this research, i must tell you that this project is full of surprises. it is a story that everyone thinks that they know. and i thought that i probably knew it too. it turns out that there were so many surprises. this actually put me in mind of the phrase formed by a very eminent american historian. lawrence talks about the unpredictable past. it is a great phrase. the past of the amistad was extremely unpredictable. what i have to share with you today are some of the surprises. over the surprises of doing this kind of resort? diversifies them in some ways the biggest surprise of doing this research and the one that made many a sequence of bytes as possible had to do it the quantity and quality of evidence about the africans who made the revolt. now, i h

john adams was a very significant force. a major force in putting the independents and pre- independence where you had a country but it was still undeclared, he was a huge force in that. >> i've got a list of all the books you ever written except for the one you say you never completed in the early times. it goes back to 1969. before i get into some of that, i want to show you a clip of a visit you had here in 1990. we do this the most guests. let's look and see how the changes. [video clip] >> if you go back and look at the history of the republican party, and i don't think i appreciated this in 1967 or 1968, that it has taken power in some of the great cycles of american history, it has taken power from broadbased reasons. 1860 with abraham lincoln and the civil war. in 1996 with william mckinley brought back the william jennings bryant challenge. and then when the country was on the verge of disintegrating from riots in the cities and riots on campuses and s southern sectional movement led by george wallace, and the repub

history that stresses the likes of john quincy adams. what i wanted to do was to write a different kind of history, what anna called history from below. whose history is it? whose rebellion was it? and what does it mean to us now? those are questions i wanted to pose. well in the course of doing this research, i must tell you, this project was full of surprises. it's a story that everybody thinks they know, and i thought that i probably knew it, too, but it turns out there were so many surprises. this actually put me in mind of a phrase formed by a very imminent american historian, lawrence levine, in which he talked about the unpredictable past. it's a great phrase. the unpredictable past. i found that the past of the amistad was extremely unpredictable, and so what aid like to share with you today are some of those surprises. what were the surprises of doing this kind of research? the first surprise -- and in some ways the biggest surprise and the one that made many subsequent surprises possible -- has to do with the sources. the quant

start with john adams and then over to dan and anna woman ratepayer. [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] >> this is a similar question from a more pointed direction. you now, i think one of the things the labor movement notices is that it's possible to characterize what's gone on in terms of the living standards, working people in america as great promise of the last generation. if you twist your data a certain way. a lot of our people afford a lot larger tv than in 1970. people don't steal tvs as much as they used to because they're so cheap now. [inaudible] last night are not made in america anymore like they used to be. but in actuality, the things most important is which your book is about trying to capture. the most important in people's lives in terms of family retirement security, health care, access to education have all become much more difficult for working people to obtain. and the quality of life -- the quality of life is great pressure and has been for a long time. now, it can be very challenging to have an argument about this

now and some things i really think are great about that guy and you're doing what david did for john adamsope so. >> david eisenhower, evan thomas, the new book is called and this bluff reinforced a status quo. it was invoked in berlin. where the apples have fallen. >> i get the point. i think about ike, i think about him as humble and how can a guy from kansas be where i am at right now and some things i really think are great about that guy and you're doing what david did for john adams. >> i hope so. >> david eisenhower, evan thomas, the new book is called "ike's bluff." post world war ii history, it's the best. anyway, we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] we all make bad decisions. like say, gas station sushi. cheap is good. and sushi, good. but cheap sushi, not so good. it's like that super-low rate on not enough car insurance. pretty sketchy. ♪ and then there are the good decisions. like esurance. their coverage counselor tool helps you choose the right coverage for you at a great price. [ stomach growls ] without feeling queasy. that's insurance for the modern world. esurance. no

. >> john adams, our second president. >> okay.nteractive set, you sit next to him in a chair. >> incredible. what other technology do you have. >> our 8th president. >> our first president with ironic faition hair. >> this is worth the price of admission right here just to pet his face. >> who is this. >> martin van burren. >> and this man, i did not realize we elected vampire to the senate. >> we didn't. this is william henry harrison. john tyler, 10th president had the most children, would you like to guess how many. >> 425. >> 14. >> 14. all right. who is this? >> our 18th president you lisses s grant. >> what does the s stand for. >> that's a great question. >> thank you. >> this doesn't seem fair. why does fdr get to sit down. >> i can lick him. >> you cannot. >> we're wearing almost the compaq same suit and tie t would be like licking myself. >> something i've also dreamed of doing. >> that i don't mind but not ronald reagan. >> i don't mind it either but all the hot-- isn't bringing that around. all right. i'm from the futu

john adams says at one point that the militia is always subservient to the state. it's not a rebellious -- >> host: it's a well regulated and something that ties into the said that even after the constitution is adopted in washington is an office, you have the whiskey tax and the whiskey rebellion. how did they respond to that? >> guest: that went better than fever billion did. but, they recognized the need strong federal government the need to be these checks that would ensure that the states kept power as well. >> host: over time than during the 1800's were the rest of the 1800's, the -- during the 1900's we continue to have guns play a role in the society particularly in the frontier any surprises that he founded study in that era? >> guest: the means of price to me is gun control in the wild west i grew up with westernism in the 50's and well in reality you couldn't carry a gun around in the town like dodge city is a good example. there were walls against that. if you are a cowboy that came in when you were supposed to go story or pistol if you had one. >> host

. >> guest: and so they -- they thought -- you'll see there's quotations, especially from john adams, who makes it clear that they were not trying to create a situation where individuals who didn't like the federal government could go hold up an arsenal somewhere and hold off the feds when they came. >> host: some people talk like that today. >> guest: they do. it's not the way the guys, the founders, thought. they saw this strictly as a means of prereceiverring the -- preserving the state's abilities to keep their militias going in its place, and john adams says at one point that the militia is always subserve i can't to the state. it's not a rebellious -- >> host: well-regulated, ties into the governmental setup, and after the constitution is adopted in washington and you have the whisky tack -- tax and rebellion. how did they respond to that? >> guest: that went better than shay's rebellion did, but, sure. they recognized that they needed a strong federal power, but they needed to be checks that would ensure that the states kept powers as welt. >> host: over time, then, during 1800

these were taken by jamie, this is jannelle and john adams, their three kids.he one that's gone viral. >> kind of how everybody feels during the holiday season. >> to tell us more about it, we have "the addams family" via skype "right this minute." what happened? why are they crying? >> she started crying, holding the o, flipping it, showing the tag on the o. i told her dad to give it backwards so when she did flip it, it would be the right way. so she tried using reverse psychology and telling her not to flip it the right way. i think he kind of scared her when he said it, which made her cry and made the boys cry. >> why were you crying? what's your story. >> because. >> when you guys saw that picture, were you disappointed at first or did you see the humor right away. >> we saw the picture while we were taking the picture. we were laughing. >> do you see the humor now. >> we don't see the humor. >> joy to you all. >> say happy holiday. >> happy holiday. >> we also have the photographer that got this shot. >> so you didn't get any smiling pictures with the let

in 1824 jackson beats john quincy adams in the election. he wins the popular vote but the electoral college flips in the loses the popular vote. i'm speaking speaking of palm beach counties so you know about the scenarios. checks and wins the popular vote. he comes back in four years in 1828 in beats john quincy adams and in 1828 is probably the second nastiest election in american history. of course with this current one being the nastiest with a negative ads and such. there's no love lost -- loss. jackson supporters don't call john quincy adams your excellency. they call him your fraudulent seat. they call jackson a white thief and his wife a of tennessee sohtz is huge scandal to the point that rachel donaldson jackson becomes increasingly religious every passing year. to the point where now all of the scandal about her really affecting her mental health and physical health. she is hoping and praying that jackson does not win, that she doesn't have to go to the white house sewer scandal becomes a national story. she is hoping and writing

and so they thought -- you'll see there are quotations, especially from john adams, who makes it clear that they're not trying to create a situation where individuals who didn't like the federal government, could go hold up with an arsenal somewhere, hold off the feds when they came -- >> host: some people talk that way today. >> guest: that's not the way the founders thought. they saw this strictly as a mean of preserving the state's abilities to keep their militias going and in place, and john adams says at one point, that the militia is always subservient to the state. >> host: it's well-regulated. even after the constitution is adopted and washington is in office. you have the whiskey tax and the whiskey rebellion. how did they respond to that? >> that went better. sure. they recognized that they needed a strong federal power, needed to be -- needed to be these checks that would ensure that the states kept powers as well. >> host: over time, then, during the 1800s, the rest of the 1800s, we can -- 1900s, continue to have guns play a role in society, particularly ton the frontier, a

. >> samuel adams was such a revolutionary leader and so was his cousin john.can you tell us about the different styles of leadership and the different approaches to the issues of the day or how they thought the movement should go forward towards independence? >> the truth is it was a lull easier for john adams because of what sam adams had done before him, and sam adams had been called by a number of people the actual father of the country because he was the chief spokesperson and policymaker for the sons of liberty. the sons of liberty is the form of separate cells of radical people opposed to the british by the surgeon revolution necessary that sprung up almost independently across the colonies in connecticut and new york and pennsylvania and south carolina. and sam adams became the chief letter writer and political strategist and the story is told that a neighbor that had walked by his apartment at his house at 2:00 in the morning with see the light in his study up there and know that his pan was going scribble scroll trying to lead towards independence but

this touch of a george washington in mid john adams and went to the president in order. instead is divided up by the various parts of the day. within each part of the day i sprinkle in vignettes. some of them very serious, some of them, of course, very traditional command a lot of them on all events because i'm always looking for those, too. i'm also going to cover some things that were not going tessie in the upcoming in a garish in january because this time we don't have a change of power. we're not going to have the transition as we see some times. nevertheless, in the morning at inaugurations when a president does leave office, 1961, here is toyed d. eisenhower thinking the staff at the white house. at the same time the income then-president, that year john f. kennedy and his wife, there are leaving the blair house getting ready for the big day. another thing -- another thing that takes place on inauguration morning, and this will happen again coming is a religious service. when i was in washington with my wife a few years ago just half a block from where were saying

think that i read about the election of one thousand nine hundred right thomas jefferson versus john adams and jefferson had been in france and as the u.s. envoy to france and and adams was charging the jefferson was too friendly with the french and jefferson was charging that adams was you know had secret alliances to the british and and i mean american history is littered with these these kind of mean. no semi zina phobic but sometimes there's a little substance to typically not concerns but now oh it sounds like it could be real. look there are a lot of issues confronting our country that matter greatly to foreign interests. canadian interests would like to see the trans. pipeline built across the united states china would like to see more of chinese investment in this country saudi arabia has been been on the record saying that they'd like to scuttle our efforts to enact a price on carbon pollution clean energy laws and that sort of thing so a lot of foreign countries have a big interest in american politics now they can play an outsized role in the challenge for both the press and the

john adams wanted to appoint john jay who had been the first chief justice but had then gone off to be was -- to be governor of new york. it was the time of the midnight judges, he needed a new chief justice. he says to john jay, come on and do this again. jay writes back, are you kidding? the supreme court's never going to amount to anything. [laughter] john adams as secretary of state brings that letter in to him, adams looks at the letter or, looks up at his secretary of state, john marshall, and says i guess i have to nominate you. [laughter] now, i'm not saying he wouldn't have been nominated if somebody else had brought in the letter, but it's certainly a possibility. [laughter] morrison, the list goes on and on. morrison waite, the most obscure chief justice, nominated by grant, the grant administration. corruption was rife. the first five nominees that grant, that tbrapt -- grant puts forward all seem to have been involved in some corrupt activity or another. finally grant says, who was that lawyer that introduced me when i was taking the train across ohio? [laughter] they go b

both he, though, and john adams died on july 4th, 50 years to the day of the declaration of independenceoincidence, but john quincy adams, who was president at the time, thought it was a sign of divine benevolence, that somehow the fathers would be gathered up, the apotheosis of adams and jefferson on the 50th anniversary in 1826. and it is a little -- i mean, if you wrote that in a novel, you know, you'd kick it back and say a little too -- they're guilding the lily unquestionably. but i think it was also the beginning of our first moment of kind of founder chic that, you know, they died -- i think at that point there was only one remaining signer alive. there were very few. and so the fact that they were gone was a kind of mythological almost benediction to what they worked so hard for. and i think -- i wonder sometimes whether john adams would ultimately be pleased that he had to share the headline or think, you know, dammit, jefferson did it again, you know, he stepped on my story. bush 41, who is giving his wife rabbit ears. >> what is that? >> it was the rededication of the ford li

it's not divided that starts off with george washington and then john adams and guinn for the president. instead, its slash the various parts of the day, and within each part of the day i sprinkle with vignettes some of the very serious and some of them traditional. a lot of them are all events because i'm always looking for those. i'm also going to cover some things that we are not going to see in the of coming inauguration in january because this time we don't have a change of power so we are not going to have that transition as we see sometimes but nevertheless at inauguration when a president does leave office here is the white eisenhower thinking the staff at the white house. at the same time the incoming president they are leaving the house getting ready for the big day. another thing that takes place on inauguration morning and this will happen again is a religious service when i was in washington with my wife a few years ago from where we were staying there was a church called the first church that's a traditional african-american church and that's where the inauguration church

it's not divided that starts off with george washington and then john adams to going to the president. instead it is divided by the various parts of the day and then i sprinkle vignettes. some of them very serious, some of them of course very traditional, and a lot of them i'm always looking for those, too. i also going to cover some things we are not going to see it coming inauguration in january because this time we do not have a change of power. as we are not going to have that transition as we see sometimes. but nevertheless in the morning at inauguration when a president does the office come here is a 1961 dwight eisenhower thinking the staff at the white house. at the same time, the incoming president that year, john f. kennedy and his wife jacqueline leaving the blair house getting ready for the big day. another thing that takes place on inauguration morning and this will happen is a religious service. when i was in washington with my wife a few years ago, just a half a block from where we were staying, there was this church called the first am church and that's where the servi

look at john adams. that got more attention and more focus. but jefferson has been this -- is it that too many folks don't want to touch the slavery issue and touch sally hemmings? what do you make of it? >> the focus has largely been on the issues of race whether it's sale hemmings, as you say, or slavery. the failures to use these forms of political scales to pursue the course. as a young man he pursued. on four or five occasions in 1784, he tried to reform slavery. he lost decisively. we know two things politicians hate most are losing publicly and decisively. >> their personal rejections. linger longer with politicians than any other and they overreact to how they lost something early. >> you can say a politician is thin skinned is to be redundant. there was this wave of vendration after he and adams died on the same day. they used him in a run up to the civil war and lincoln used him to articulate the experience of the human equality saying the honor to jefferson. fdr needed him wonderfully. i love the story about washington. fdr was inte

the longer john adams lived, the shorter grew his creed. in the end, it was unitarianism. jefferson wrote those ringing words of the declaration, but jefferson was a utilitarian when he urged his nephew to inquire into the truth of christianity. "if it ends in a belief that there is no god, you'll find virtue in the comforts and pleasantness you feel in virtue's exercise." james madison always explained away religion as an innate appetite. the mind, he said, prefers the idea of the self existing clause to an infinite series of cause and effect. even the founders who were unbelievers considered it a civic duty in public service to be observant unbelievers. two days after jefferson wrote his famous letter endorsing a wall of separation between church and state, he attended church services in the house of representatives. services were also held at the treasury department. jefferson and other founders made statements like accommodations for the public's strong preference for religion to enjoy ample space in the public square. they understood that christianity fostered attitud

you should take a gla glance at john adams. jefferson is versus madison what happened there. jefferson is evaluated and becomes the presidency the election for 1800 is excited. in some ways the most exciting election in american history because jefferson from aaron burr. the idea of burr from the united states. again, random things matter. this is why the argument of broader social forces is un-- if he becomes president it's hard to majtd whereabout. he doesn't and he doesn't because in large part people realize are ron burr is not someone they want near the white house. jefferson becomes president and jefferson the question is how much could matter? and if you look at the jefferson administration, historians are overwhelming the most important event of the jefferson administration was louisiana purchase. that's not surprising. if you double the size of the country peacefully and almost no cost, the enormous achievement for for any president. any president would want that on the rÉsume. so is jefferson a high impact president. if he had not been there, would the louisiana pur

don't want to presume -- >> i think this, you know, weirdly my head is going back to a scene in john adamsf, you know, arguing about two different political worldviews. one is to say that all human beings are perfectable and therefore we need a society that reflects the fact that all human beings are capable of redemption. and the other worldview is that human beings are weak and evil and vicious which is -- and we need a strong state that going to control and manage these failings. so out of these two springs the whole history of american politics, springs. and this is what you see in those two. he is a pessimist, he believes this man has fallen and can never be redeemed. that he can never be forgiven whereas valjean having inspired in his faith by the bishop, not only believes in the perfect ability of people, but he has done an extraordinary transformation himself. so his worldview is compassionate. the other's worldview sun forgiving. and what obsesses him is the the terrible grinds of gears when he comes up against this guy. because he feels that this guy has a worldview that is someh

now and some things i really think are great about that guy and you're doing what david did for john adams>> david eisenhower, evan thomas, the new book is called "ike's bluff." post world war ii history, it's the best. anyway, we'll be right back. okay, now here's our holiday gift list. aww, not the mall. well, i'll do the shopping... if you do the shipping. shipping's a hassle. i'll go to the mall. hey. hi. y'know, holiday shipping's easy with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. yeah, i know. oh, you're good. [ laughing ] good luck! [ male announcer ] priority mail flat rate boxes. online pricing starts at $5.15. only from the postal service. part of a whole new line of tablets from dell. it's changing the conversation. ♪ wanted to provide better employee benefits while balancing the company's bottom line, their very first word was... [ to the tune of "lullaby and good night" ] ♪ af-lac ♪ aflac [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. [ yawning sound ]

john adams brings out letter into him and he is crestfallen. he looks at his secretary of state, john marshall, and says, i guess i have to nominate you. [laughter] i'm not saying that someone else might not have been nominated if they had been the one to bring in the letter. [laughter] in the grant administration corruption was rife. the first five nominees by grant put forward all seem to be involved in some activity or another. finally, grant says, who was that lawyer and introduced me when i was taken the train across ohio? and they go back and checked and it is somebody named morrison wait. and he said, i liked him. let's nominate him. [laughter] he was described as being in the top tier of the third tier of lawyers in ohio. and frankly, he served quite well as the chief justice. remember, i was not originally nominated to be chief justice. i was originally nominated to replace justice o'connor. and then chief justice rehnquist passed away and they switched my nomination at the end. all of us on the court appreciate the fact that we have be

. >> and john adams, barnicle wrote a couple columns about him back in the day. >> and his son. i knew his son when his son was in day care. >> john w. adams. yeah. but i think it's his renaissance question. and then i think also he representeds the best of us and the worst of us. and i think people, when we're being honest with ourselves, we all know we have our hypocrisies, and we have our contradictions. and the fact that someone who had such evident contradictions is still worth paying attention to i think resonates. >> and there's some contention over the weekend about how great a man thomas jefferson is. we're going to talk about that a little bit later. >>> but we've got big news this morning. four weeks from today is new year's eve when the fiscal cliff comes. lawmakers now have less than a month to compromise and to avoid a year-end deadline that would trigger massive spending cuts and tax hikes for just about everybody. behind-the-scenes negotiations at a stalemate. both sides went public yesterday on the sunday morning shows to make their cases. treasury secretary tim

john adams if in colonial times mentioned the incredible intelligence network that african-americansmed to v the grapevine that carried news from far and wide in the plantations, plantation south, and it actually operated as well during this time period. so from hearing about things, carrying the word forth, they definitely knew about it. >> suarez: one thing the emancipation proclamation didn't do was free enslaved people legally owned in the united states, in kentucky, in maryland, in west virginia. did the owners in those places know that the institution's days were number even though they were still part of the union? >> well, they certainly feared it. southerners in the deep south and in the border states understood that when lincoln and republicans moved to stop the halt of slavery, the expansion of slavery, in a way it was the death knell, slavery was an expansionist institution. so to say you were going to leave slavely in place in the places it was was another way of saying it could no grow. and if it could not grow it would die. so i think a lot of people understood what th

john adams if in colonial times mentioned the incredible intelligence network that african-americansd to v the grapevine that carried news from far and wide in the plantations plantation south, and it actually operated as well during this time period. so from hearing about things carrying the word forth they definitely knew about it. >> suarez: one thing the emancipation proclamation didn't do was free enslaved people legally owned in the united states in kentucky in maryland, in west virginia. did the owners in those places know that the institution's days were number even though they were still part of the union? >> well they certainly feared it. southerners in the deep south and in the border states understood that when lincoln and republicans moved to stop the halt of slavery, the expansion of slavery in a way it was the death knell slavery was an expansionist institution. so to say you were going to leave slavely in place in the places it was was another way of saying it could no grow. and if it could not grow it would die. so i think a lot of people understood what the story wa

i said, well, mike barnicle is john adams. >> right, he is. >> a little taller but just as grumpy. >>nd i knew him. >> he knew him. >> willie geist, hamilton because, let's face it, most likely to be shot in jersey. >> that's true. >> yes. >> scarborough, commanding george washington. >> washingtonesque. >> tall. >> yes. >> dignity. >> same, 6'4", same thing, yeah. >> so clearly, it's mika brzezinski. >> really? >> when i left, they're still clapping. >> really? >> renaissance woman. >> is it the alcohol? >> i think it's more of the slaves, actually. >> the what? >> nothing. i didn't say anything. >> gotcha. >> you missed that. >> i did. >> the you're the jeffersonian. >> the art of power. the art of navigating power. >> with that, let's go to the most jeffersonian figure for the news. >> all right. we begin this morning with new urgency in the fiscal cliff negotiations with now just 21 days to reach a deal. that's three weeks. today president obama returns to campaign mode, taking his fiscal cliff message to detroit. yesterday the president and speaker boehner met privately at the wh

and in 1888, benjamin harrison guest: 1824, it was john quincy adams over a andrew jackson.went into the house of representatives and they selected john adams. host: what is the history of this when there was not so much severity between the electoral vote and the part of a vote? guest: history shows the people guest: the history shows people were outramed but went on through their lives and we had a president. it's amazing in 2000 everyone accepted the outcough the election because it wept to the supreme court, 5-4 decision, selected president bush and it was a period of time where we went on and he governed and people accepted that. it's a form of democracy we have and it has a certain amount of stability this institution. that's another positive aspect of it. host: ben is our next caller in turlock, california, republican line. good morning, ben. caller: my question was, first of all, to get in the studies of presidential studies and you're the director, are you part of electoral college? and the other thing is, is the electoral college specifically not made up of someone

men like john quincy adams who would not rest until slavery was extinguished in the country. >> yeah. the gop was running candidates that just made stuff up. congresswoman, the founders were slave owners and john quincy adams, not a founder. yes, it seemingly reached a mass of election ridiculousness in 2011. the fun was just beginning. no sooner had we cracked over the 2012 calendar than rick santorum dropped this race bait into the political waters in january. >> i don't want to make people's lives better by giving them somebody else's money. >> oh, blah -- right? hearing it once was hilarious enough. even better trying to make us think we didn't hear what we heard. >> i started to say a word and sort of bla -- >> all over the place, didn't you. unfortunately, for rick santorum, the election mounted to a failed attempt to reset the google search of his last name. sorry rick, the redefinition campaign is still number one. but, santorum is not alone among candidates burdened with a google legacy. newt gingrich assured his name will be forever linked in the predictive search with the p

. >> john, investigators believe adam lanza, the shooter here smashed these two computers at his home. what more do we know about that. >> reporter: so he damaged the computers and the hard drives and the fbi's computary sis dance response team is going to look at those hard drives, damaged as they are, and try to determine if they can extract data from them f they can put them back together and communicate with them, they would like to mirror those hard drives and extract everything that son this computer. they are looking for two things. one they are looking for internal saved documents that might contain the planning for in massacre, lists of things and supplies you needed to get. magazines, ammunition, second, the communications, where did he order these things from, were they mail order, were they through e-mail communications and so on. but anything that's going to give them a window into it. the fact that he damaged the computers is a signal to them that there is something in there they need to see. >> john miller at our broadcast center in new york, john, thank you. with 20 st