and she talks to -- she writes to john adams is and says mr. adams, john quincy adams, goes over my calling cards every day as though there was a battle plan. when we look at what she is doing, this historical mystery is solved because we understand in an era when men could not run for political office, they had to be called upon, it was their wives who acted as campaign managers. >> and -- so what happens is we get to the house of representatives and adams wins on the first ballot and they assume it is this deal with clay. the truth is all of those men had been entertained by louisa catherine adams. in fact, one of them went back to his boarding house where he had promised his mess mates that he would not vote for adams on the first ballot and they won't let him sit down to dinner because they are very mature and he -- and he -- they write one of them writes to his wife, everyone says his wife made him do it. his wife was a schuyler. >> she instituted something into the subscription system. this is where a town where allegiance and attendance are equal. she woul

great men of america's past, washington, jefferson, madison, or even more recently clay and john quincy adamsnd daniel webster. the nation was growing in strength, lincoln theorized. but its leaders seem to be shrinking. now i would say the first reason that the congress of 1862 was so productive was -- i will quote what rick edwards said to me and the lunch line in a different context, you can do certain things in a crisis that you can't do under normal conditions. the opposition democratic party had simply shattered over the issue of secession. and their strongest element, the solidly democratic south, had removed themselves from the federal government. the burst of legislative energy that marked the first half of 1862 had, in fact, been building through many years of epic gridlock. gridlock over the future of the united states. it was as if two teams of brawny athletes had been engaged in a mighty tug of war and one team abruptly dropped its end of the rope. but the achievements of 1862 cannoting explained only by the fact the republicans suddenly had large majorities in both houses of con

prince, colonel abraham, prince abraham, emancipated, pardoned for his liberty by president john quincy adams in 1828. he made a northern speaking tour. his escort, david walker. after walker escorts the prince, he writes his appeal to colored citizens of the world and his language. god is the sole proprietor and master of the whole human race. god is my master. he would say in his appeal -- that we are the property of the holy ghost, that literally no man can own you. he would say the god of the ethiopians has been pleased to hear our moans and consequence of our oppression. got has heard their cries. and he would go on to argue thamethat god has not only heard our cries. i want to point out, the big house, great house, if the big house if they don't set the captives free. he argued that they were going to, god was going to bring them to bring sword against sword. to be split among them. bring sword against sword. and princes shall come out of egypt, ethiopia, shall soon stretch forth her hands unto god. the forecast is that there is going to be a civil war. and that princes will come out of

. >> john quincy adams used to love surprising guests in the white house with an alligator he kept inwilliam taft had a cow. calvin coolidge, like roosevelt, had it all. lion cubs, a goose, a bob cat, a raccoon, and a hippo named billy. >> both teddy roosevelt and calvin coolidge gave large parts of their menagerie to the national zoo here in washington. even today, many, if not most of the hippos in zoos in the united states, are descendents of that original calvin coolidge hippo. >> reporter: but dogs have always been the most likely pick for first pet, for better or worse. for example, there was a story going around that during a tour islands, a scottish terrier was left behind and someone was sent back to rescue him. fdr declawed his critics with humor. >> my family don't resent attacks. but fala does resent them. >> reporter: it is a measure of how well the speech worked that fala wound up as part of the fdr memorial. richard nixon pulled a similar trick, defending himself against accusations he received improper giftings by listing his kids' dog checker as one of them. >> i just

congressmen john quincy adams and joshua giddings led the congressional opposition of the war. other war foes included clergymen, abolitionists and transcendentalists like ralph waldo emerson and henry david thoreau. thoreau was living at walden pond at this time. he refused to support the war in any way. one day he went in to concord to have a shoe repaired, and he was arrested for not paying his poll tax. so he spent the night in jail. his aunt paid the tax, and he was freed the next morning, free to join a huckleberry-picking party, actually. but this experience inspired him to write "civil disobedience," the essay that in turn helped inspire mahatma gandhi, the vietnam anti-war movement and martin luther king. many war opponents believed the war's secret purpose was to add new slave territories, but this was not true. while polk was a slave holder himself, slavery was not a factor. nonetheless, the mexican war reopened the explosive national debate over slavery, laying the foundation for the civil war. slavery's bait had largely lain dormant, but in august 1846 congressman

president john quincy adams swam naked in the potomac almost every day of his administration. >> "swimt read. congratulations, my friend. thanks for joining us today. >> thanks. i want you back in the water. we'll talk about this some more. >> there's bathtubs, too, remember that. we will be right back. ealth ofof e throughout our entire lives. ♪ one a day men's 50+ is a complete multi-vitamin designed for men's health concerns as we age. ♪ it has more of seven antioxidants to support cell health. that's one a day men's 50+ healthy advantage. then don't get nickle and dimed by high cost investments and annoying account fees. at e-trade, our free easy-to-use online tools and experienced retirement specialists can help you build a personalized plan. and with our no annual fee iras and a wide range of low cost investments, you can execute the plan you want at a low cost. so meet with us, or go to etrade.com for a great retirement plan with low cost investments. ♪ the economy needs manufacturing. machines, tools, people making stuff. companies have to invest in making things. infrastructur

john adams was a member of the united church of christ. john quincy of the slaves in the amistad rebellion. out of that they came south and founded howard university, where your father taught, and atlanta university, talladega, colleges all across the south, and they ordained black people first. they also realized that women could preach and that if you read the bible accurately, women were always around jesus. women actually probably helped serve communion in the early church. so we ordain women. then we realize we had a lot of people in our church who were gay, and we decided that the bible probably says a whole lot more about adultery than it does about homosexuality. we haven't put the adult terers o out of the church yet. we believe in a christianity that accepts people just as they are and that god loves us, forgives, us christ died for us as sinners, and so we don't try to discriminate against the varieties of weaknesses that we suffer as human beings. >> how do you suppose -- what do you think the obama administration, how do you suppose the o

and that's john quincy adams by the way standing in the short jacket. the treaty can be summed up in a lack of the phrase that quincy avenue, which is status quo antebellum. that is the way things were before the war. no territory change from a very little change in fact really except that in some ways psychologically and politically in particular the war with some pain of a watershed. and while this not have proved a memorable war, i'd like to make the case it was nonetheless a very important war in shaping the american character. to put it in more contemporary terms, we were being bullied and we stood up for ourselves. it was david and goliath and although we didn't knock our opponents to the ground, the world's expectations and our own self-confidence of the nation were altered as a result of the war. i think it may be useful to explain "mr. and mrs. madison's war" in the title. probably it is a function of chronology. madison was president when the war began and his declaration began it, so he got the blame and eventually whatever credit loss. in ne

and that's john quincy adams by the way standing in the short jacket.the treaty can be summed up in a lack of the phrase that quincy avenue, which is status quo antebellum. that is the way things were before the war. no territory change from a very little change in fact really except that in some ways psychologically and politically in particular the war with some pain of a watershed. and while this not have proved a memorable war, i'd like to make the case it was nonetheless a very important war in shaping the american character. to put it in more contemporary terms, we were being bullied and we stood up for ourselves. it was david and goliath and although we didn't knock our opponents to the ground, the world's expectations and our own self-confidence of the nation were altered as a result of the war. i think it may be useful to explain "mr. and mrs. madison's war" in the title. probably it is a function of chronology. madison was president when the war began and his declaration began it, so he got the blame and eventually whatever credit loss. in new

just think back to john adams, who had to get on a horse in the dead of winter, wrapped in blankets to stay warm, to ride from quincydead of winter, to work on the constitution that we live by today. 225 years later, nobody is asking you to make that kind of trek for our politics, but we need you to be willing to go to a pta meeting, to care about education, to ask questions at a town hall meeting, we need you to call in to radio or tv ow and talk common sense and put the facts on the ble. we need you to support candidates and hold a public sector accountable. does that sound like a tall order? not compared to what john adams did, not compared to what general washington and those troops did at valley forge when everybody thought they might be hanged before we even became an independent nation. the time that thomas paine wrote about, sunshine patriots -- we cannot afford that kind of patriotism. class of 2012, i am king you to get back to the true guts and grit that shipped this nation. -- shaped this nation. i will tell you why it is still there, and why i know it so well. my old friend john glenn, he served in the

just think back to john adams, who had to get on a horse and a dead of winter, wrapped in blankets to stay warm, to write from quincy all the way down to philadelphia, ride several days in the dead of winter, to work on the constitution that we live by to get. -- today. 225 years later, nobody is asking you to make that kind of trek for our politics, but we need you to be willing to go to a pta meeting, to care about education, to ask questions at a town hall meeting, we need you to call in to radio or tv show and talk common sense and put the facts on the table. we need you to support candidates and hold a public sector accountable. does that sound like a tall order? not compared to what john adams did, not compared to what general washington and those troops did valley forge whenever but he thought they might be hanged before we even became an independent nation could the time that thomas paine wrote -- sunshine patriots. we cannot afford that kind of patriotism. class of 2012, i am asking you to get back to the true guts and grit that shipped this nation. i will tell you why it is still at there, and why i know i