would have appreciated john's work. eisenhower always said the real hero of world war ii is g.i. hero of world war ii is g.i. joe. i'm pleased to introduce dr. john mcmanus. [applause] dr. mcmanus: thank you. thank you. everybody hear me ok? good. i will try to keep the microphone at the proper level. if not, please do yell out. thank you for that wonderful introduction. i appreciate it. i would like to thank all the folks that made this possible, our hosts at gettysburg college, the eisenhower society, eisenhower institute. thank you all of you for making time today to listen to me and these brilliant scholars that preceded me. tough act to follow. what struck me when dr. simons was talking so movingly about eisenhower's weather-related decision, what always struck me about that moment, before he made that decision, you could argue he is the most powerful man on the planet, or one of them. he has all this airpower at his disposal, naval power, technological power, the ground power of the soldiers, this prodigious military might,

showing programs from a recent symposium hosted by gettysburg college, and the dwight eisenhower college, with historian john mcmanus the dead and those about to die, on the first combat soldier, the storm that beat us that day, watch friday night, starting at eight eastern on cspan 3. >> this is a special edition of american history tv. a simple sample of the compelling history programs that air every weekend on american history tv, like lectures in history, american artifacts, real america. the civil war. history, the presidency, and special events coverage about our nations history. enjoy american history tv. now, and every weekend, on cspan 3. >> next, historian elizabeth griffith examines the legacy of the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote, and ponders the question, does suffrage matter? with women today making up only 20% of the office the biographer of elizabeth 80 stanton discusses the effects of women's rights, un-american politics. >> our speaker tonight is elizabeth griffith, you might have read her biography of on stanton, you might know her

harold: the impact of john kennedy was generational. of television, which eisenhower not been, truman had not been. like fdr, like lincoln, like trump, he was a master of communicating directly with the people. he inspired people to public service. the two elements i think that enhance his reputation are communication ability, the wit and warmth and humor, self-deprecating also, and of course the tragedy of his passing. presidents who die in office, who are taken from us violently, hold a special place in the national memory. not only for what they accomplished. wasy: i would just add, he a president of the center. jfk was not a socialist. parties.d by both there's a wonderful book called "jfk a conservative, con policies.iis exo so he fit right down the center for many americans, like a bowling ball. [laughter] brian: final question. you mentioned your book on lbj and the great society. when is that on the market? amity: november. brian: mr. holzer, your next book? 54? harold: 55. amity: 10 times as many books. harold: i'm not at prolific as you make me out to be. my

the conference was cohosted by the eisenhower institute. and the society. john mcmanus talks about his book the dead and those about to die which tells the story of the first infantry division nickname the big red one. after that susan eisenhower talks about her grandfather and his leadership skills, and naval historian talks about general eisenhower and the decisions that led to the success of the d-day invasion. after that world war two historians and scholars discuss the event and his legacy as a supreme commander. revisiting the roots and abolition of african-american storytelling at colonial williamsburg. >> i said when you put on these pieces of clothing, it makes you feel important. it inspires you. it makes you think that the 18th-century was what it means to be an american. when i wear the clothes i wear, i feel like a slave. >>> on sunday we continue the coverage of the 75th anniversary of d-day at 6 pm on american artifacts. with historians, authors, and reenactors. >> there was some hesitation about what they should do. but the systems division comma

eisenhower always said the real hero of world war ii is g.i. joe. i am pleased to introduce dr. john mcmanus. [ applause ] >> thank you. thank you. everybody hear me okay? good. i'll try to keep the microphone at the proper level. if not, please do yell out. thank you for that wonderful introduction. i really appreciate it. like to thank all the folks who made this possible, obviously our hosts here at getties berg college, the eisenhower institute, all of you for making the time to come here and listen to me and listen to the brilliant scholars who have proceeded me. it's a tough act to follow so, please indulge me. i'll do my best. what struck me when dr. simons was talking abili was talking aboutiz eisenhower' decision, he has all this air power to his disposal, naval power, technological power, ground power, this prestigious military might. in coiled spring. then he makes that decision and it's out of his hands. it's out of his hands and it's in the hands of really not just the generals who rank below him or the admirals or the lieutenant colonels or the majors or the captains, b

john kennedy. he was president for two and half years he did do a great job. and wanted to mention eisenhowerumber five again it's hard to point to have some massively wonderful thing that happened. it seems a surprise to me. >> with the things that had have didn't happen. eisenhower faced the toughest time of the cold war when we were at heads with russia. russia was at its most assertive. and the fact that eisenhower kept the peace so effectively he resisted the temptation and the recommendations to intervene in vietnam. the fact that he kept the peace in a very quiet way and calm weight during the eight years justifies that one. on the one at the bottom. i always thought the war in hardin gets the broad deal. the teapot dome itself was under the interior department. yes that's bad. but on the other side warren harding became president in 1921 he stabilized the national economy he calmed the country down from the anti- immigrant time he did not get the country into any war at all. they generally affected other people. i would not argue that he belongs in the top two thirds. thoughts from th

eisenhower would've appreciated the work. the real hero of world war ii is g.i. joe. tell us about some of the gis and i introduced dr. john mcmanus. >> thank you. everyone hear me okay? thank you for that wonderful introduction. all the folks that made this possible, our host at gettysburg college. a pretty nice day out there. listening to me and these brilliant scholars that preceded me. is a tough act to follow. indulge me. i will do my best. would truck me when dr. simons was talking so movingly about the weather- related decision, what has always struck me, before he makes that decision, you could argue, he is the most powerful man on the planet are one of them. he has all of this naval power and technological immaterial power. that will always go in. this prodigious military might. and it is out of his hands. the admirals or kernels or majors or even the captains. it is in the hands of the average soldier, sailor and air man. what i want to give you a sense of today, something of the combat experience i wouldn't argue this is in any way representative for every soldier. we could build a strong argument. i'm not sayin

john fogerty song "fortunate son." there were people who could buy their way out. fogerty wrote that song because he was watching julie nixon marrying david eisenhauer. he realized eisenhower wouldn't be affected by this. that was the ambient reality of the time. my own family story is fairly representative. my -- both my grand fathers fought in the second world war, my father fought in vietnam and i didn't serve. that's a fairly common story. >> yeah. as we mark this very important day, memorial day, a major milestone has been reached at west point. this year the u.s. military academy graduated a record-setting number of african-american women cadets. nbc news correspondent morgan radford has the story. >> reporter: it's a class photo gone viral. 34 black female cadets, standing on the stairs of west point academy, part of the most diverse class in the school's history. how does it feel to be a part of that history? >> it was just a very overwhelming feeling to see all of our sisters, us just standing there in solidarity. >> reporter: the women have formed a sisterhood that's a support system. with more than 900 students in their graduating class, black women make up less