john quincy adams is best known today as an anti-slavery hero. he's probably known to some degree as president as well. one of the reasons we setout to study john quincy adams we're both interested in the way people think about the presidency -- we're both essentially interested in the way this works from inamerican revolution through the civil war. and he gives us a large chunk of that period. and we are both attracted to biography as a way to explore how people interacted with slavery over a long period of time. because it is true that john quincy adams was anti-slavery in his principles, but it can never be that simple for him or anyone else. a great american historian 41 years ago in a very important book laid out the idea that most people, really everyone, interacted with the slavery in context with other priorities and commitments they have in their lives so that slavery could never be presented pure and simple as an issue. and so they acted and responded to slavery in different ways across a long period of time, based on the way they intera

. >>> the massachusetts historical society look on john quincy adams' views. this is just over an hour. >>> a remarkable historical figure and scentral to almost ay academic study from late 18th to mid-19th centuries based on the 69-year diary that john quincy adams kept tonight's speakers are here to talk about their book "john quincy adams and the politics of slavery, selections from the diary." this was book was held from the "washington times" a great read. his publications include "slavery and politics in the early american republic," "a s david is a distinguished professor of history at the city of university new york graduate center. he's a historian of the early and 19th century america. and his interests span political and cultural history, slavery, anti-slavery and culture. he had also edited a number of volumes and is the receiipient a number of awards. i look forward to hearing from them tonight. thank you. [ applause ] >> thank you, sarah and thank you all for being here. we're really excited to speak about john adams here. i've done a lot of resea

john quincy. thank you. [ applause ] >> thank you, sarah. thank you all for being here. we're really excited to be able to speak about john quincy adams here at the mhs have done a lot of research that i remember fondly, right, in this room over the years. so it's fun to be here talking about john quincy adams. this volume that we put together is really heavy on selects from the diary, as the subtitle suggests, and our presentation will be heavy on selections from that diary. we had explanatory footnotes to set the context for those entries and in many ways, my remarks tonight will serve that function and i'll introduce where we're headed and then david will read extended -- sometimes extended selections from the diary and then comment on those and i'll be back. so there will be a little bit of a tag team tonight and i think that will be fun and we're about to find out whether it will be fun. john quincy adams is best known to americans as an anti-slavery hero fighting the gag rule as the best ex-president in american history. he's probably known to some degree as president as well, but one of the reasons we set out to study john quin

>>> the massachusetts his tore kol society looked at john quincy adams' views on slavery and how they evolved over his life with readings from his own writings. we'll hear from david wald striecher and matthew mason, authors of john quincy adams and slavery. >> a remarkable historical figure and central to almost any academic study of the late 19th to mid -- excuse me -- late 18th to mid 19th centuries, based on the 69-year diary that john quincy adams kept, tonight's speakers, david wall striecher and matthew mason are here to talk about their book, "john quincy adams and the politics of slavery, selections from the diary." this book was recently haled by t"the washington times" as a great read and an informative reality check on issues that vex us even now. matthew mason is an associate professor of history at brigham young university. he holds a phd in history from the university of maryland and has been at byu since 2003. his publications include "slavery and politics in the early american republic," "apostle of union," a political biography of edward everett. he's also co-ed ted

are in at the moment is ,he sort of adams gallery including a bust of john adams, an oil portrait of john adams , a bust of john quincy adams and a bust of charles francis adams. these are all in the back corner there stage right house left. take a while to appreciate the skill of these artists and in particular how much our fellow actor resembles charles francis adams. [laughter] >> it is quite uncanny. charles francis adams was for a wild vice president and then president of the boston athenaeum. proprietorhad been a or shareholder. wife was also a proprietor. the athenaeum and the adams family fit hand in glove. manning grew up in dublin and was a childhood friend of another hero of hours. she worked with william butler yates, who built bridges between poetry and drama at the abbey theatre. in 1930, molly came to cambridge, where she married a law professor. in the 1950's, helped found the poet's theater. the first flowering of which survived into the mid-1960's. she was known by molly howell. after professor howell's death, she married samuel adams. she was our regardin guiding li. manning, mollyry presentmolly ad

john quincy adams has finally come into his own. he was the most hyper intellectual president and was pummeled in the election of 1828 and andrew jackson slaughtered him, the mobs came to the white house and there was the man who the author william cooper said should be considered another founding father, the long-standing founding father. he came back to congress, led the fight into slavery and they passed the rule to try to muscle his voice. he died on the floor of congress against the mexican-american war in 1848 and it's the last time they got together. his funeral was the second-largest after lincoln. there will move people to tears. it's like what happens to a failed politician. we have had several bestsellers. larry murphy was a huge hit and the first book's failure are combined into new introduction. they became fascinated. it is a tragedy and the reading of examining a american eclipse, david aaron. he did a book before. america will have its first total eclipse coast-to-coast [inaudible] all these scientists had people con

in fact, right from the treaty of ghent, john quincy adams and henry clay went to london and cite thereaty of amity in trade and they have been our trading partners ever since. 20,000 americans dead. who really won? the canadians. because for the first time french and english canadians work together to resist the three invasions of the americans of canada. who really lost? the indians. the council was killed. the confederation collapsed. the frontier was open and our immigrants and our farmers poured west. but the revolution was finally over. we were now completely independent and we came out of it as the leading independent maritime power in the world. i think from the beginning that's what it'd always been about, free trade. thank you very much. [applause] >> that was terrific. >> thank you. >> and all the textbooks need to be rewritten. so why did it take so long? it sounds like it had a huge impact, and the history that you talked about was precisely the history i learned growing up outside boston. >> yes. why did it say so long for us to find out why did it take so long -- >> why

." >>> the massachusetts his tore kol society looked at john quincy adams' views on slavery and how they evolved over his life with readings from his own writings. we'll hear from david wald striecher and matthew mason, authors of john quincy adams and slavery. >> a remarkable historical figure and central to almost any academic study of the late 19th to mid -- excuse me -- late 18th to mid 19th centuries, based on the 69-year diary that john quincy adams kept, tonight's speakers, david wall striecher and matthew mason are here to talk about their book, "john quincy adams and the politics of slavery, selections from the diary." this book was recently haled by t"the washington times" as a greaea

john quincy adams puts it in his diary and underlines poetry because jefferson knows even though it was anonymous who did it and this was his dig at him and john kiquincy got the messa. >> if it is any kons laugconsol john quincy adams' wife had a lot of difficulty with him and also had a lot of difficulty with their children. one son was an opium adistrict who fathered an illegitimate child with the chamber made and the other confessed to his mother that he had purient interests so he went to prostitutes. there's a karma there. >> there's another story about louisa and sally hemmings. jefferson at one point invites native american chiefs to the white house. typically that had happened before but he did something different. he invited the wives. many of the women in washington were insulted by that, the white women, because it put them on par with them. louisa is writing in her diary and says, what next, maybe the magnificent sally will make her appearance. >> oh. >> so there was a lot of bad blood between the two of them. >> wow. let me ask this question, and anybody jump in. can you t

john quincy adams, son of john adams, and what we have on loan from the adams national historic cufflinks.et of to johnes them unique quincy adams, but they are also tied to john adams, is that is inside each of the cufflinks, there is hair from both his mother, abigail adams, and john adams. the other cufflinks that has the here of john adams, which he did not have a lot of, and his wife. it seems kind of weird and some people think it is even creepy that we have family members' hair in our jewelry, but it was a common practice, a way of remembering relatives who passed away. just keeping a piece of them close to us all of the time. they are pretty neat. they have on them in latin, it says "remember, consider the relatives." you can think about the past when you are wearing the cufflinks. for andrew jackson, we have a turkish pike on loan to us from the hermitage in tennessee. not a lot is known about this pipe. were apes -- but pipes common way of smoking tobacco at the time. and his wife also enjoyed smoking pipes as well. here we are with martin van buren and he was the chosen successor

john quincy adams is often by many historians assumed or outright identified as the author of the monroe doctrine, a point that it will come as no surprise with which i respectfully disagree. adams did have crucial suggestions to make regarding the final form of this message, but monroe's own long diplomatic service, his experience on the world stage informed very much his thinking. and the final message, the final responsibility of its issuance were monroe's. the immediate impact of the monroe doctrine was relatively low key although the import was clearly understood by leaders in europe and appreciated by those in latin america. although u.s. military and naval power at this time would not have been sufficient to counter a determined coalition of european aggressors, such a development was unlikely. the declaration also invoked the philosophy of george washington who'd warned the united states against engaging in any diplomatic commitments that could drag the country into a european war. advice that we followed until 1917. the monroe doctrine was a cornerstone of american foreign polic

i do not think abigail adams was alive when john quincy adams became president.hen you are living in the white house, some people call it a prison because you cannot get out very much. is it anjoy it? pleasure to live there or not so much? former president clinton: if you lived in informal life -- i spent almost a dozen years in the governor's office in arkansas -- it is very different. i basically was self supported from the time i was 19, it took some getting used to. i developed a real respect and affection for the people that ank there, and i developed enormous amount of respect for the secret service and the risks they take. i adjusted myself accordingly. i loved living in the white house. i remember, very vividly, the last time i got off the helicopter marine one before i would soon be gone. i was consciously aware that i was going in there more optimistic than i was about america than the first time i walked in. i never got tired of it. former president bush: it's great. they pamper you. we knew a lot of the staff. they were the same people who worked ther

john quincy adams was in congress for 16 years and one of our most important anti-slavery advocates. taft became chief justice. herbert hoover came out of retirement and wrote the civil service act. they did a lot of good things and i feel that george and i have been blessed because we are were reasonably young and barack obama is young. you can be double lucky, you can serve eight years president and do other great things. host: i assume you would recommend the job to people if they want to be president of the united states. john kennedy was once asked, what do you think about this job and would you recommend it? he said not to others right now, i guess, because i would wait until i finish my tenure, but would you recommend to young people that want to be the president of the united states, would you say it is work the -- worth the aggravation and hard work to become president? pres. clinton: in a heartbeat. pres. bush: same. there is a good chance we are looking at a future president. amongst the 60 graduates here. [applause] host: the highest calling of mankind i always felt was p

> sunday night eastern at c-span's q and a. >>> the massachusetts historical society look on john quincy adams' views. this is just over an hour. >>> a remarkable historical figure and scentral to almost ay academic study from late 18th to mid-19th centuries based on the 69-year diary that john quincy adams kept tonight's speakers are here t

abigail adams, but i don't think she was alive when john quincy adams became president. was the only person who saw her husband be president and her son. pretty unusual. if you could run for president of the united states or former president of the united states, what would you recommend? mr. clinton: you have to live a long time as a former president to have as many impacts as you have as president. mr. bush: the decisions you make have got a monumental effect on a lot of people. it was exciting to be in that kind of environment. ♪ ♪ track your pack. set a curfew, or two. make dinner-time device free. [ music stops ] [ music plays again ] a smarter way to wifi is awesome. introducing xfinity xfi. amazing speed, coverage and control. change the way you wifi. xfinity. the future of awesome. >> when you're living in the white house, some people call it a prison because you cannot get out much. >> i think if you live in informal life, this is very different. it took some getting used to. i developed real respect for the people who worked there and an enormous amount of resp

when the word reached bell jump, john quincy adam and henry clay, our negotiatears, sound down for theumpteen anytime a year of negotiations and decide on a stale matte. both side were broke. the british par him did not want to appropriate anymore money to find the americans. the duke of wellington didn't want the command. he was offered it in america help said he didn't want to be killed. her said i must not die. he had this idea that napoleon was not going to stay on elba and would still around. by that time every american, every british general who fought the americans had been killed by sharpshooters. so he stayed in york. but both side were really broke. in october of 1814, we could not pay the interest on our war bonds. we could not any of our debts. we were bankrupt. when we put the order in for the 1815 penny, the supplier of copper refused credit to the united states. so there was no 1815 penny. the diplomats in gant were deeply indebt, including dolly madison's son, who kept throwing parties, putting her mother and stepfather deeper in debt. he was one of the assistants to th

but i don't think she was alive when john quincy adams became president.r mother was the only person who saw her husband be president and her son. pretty unusual. mr. bush: it is. david: if you could run for president of the united states or former president of the united states, what would you recommend? mr. clinton: you have to live a ong time as a former president to have any impact on as many people as you can as president. mr. bush: the decisions you make have got a monumental effect on a lot of people. it was exciting to be in that kind of environment. ♪ got you outnumbered. the dinosaurs' extinction... don't listen to them. not appropriate. now i'm mashing these potatoes with my stick of butter... why don't you sit over here. find your awesome with the xfinity stream app. included with xfinity tv. more to stream to every screen. ♪ david: so today, when you were living in the white house, some people call it a prison because you really can't get out very much. or do you really enjoy it? you have all these servants, you can go to camp david when you w

we have on loan is a set of cufflinks, and what makes them unique is that they were tied to john quincy adams and john adams in that inside of each, there is mother, abigail adams, and john adams, and the from cufflinks have hair john adams and his wife. it seems kind of weird and some people think it is creepy that we have the hair, but it is a common way to remember relatives who passed away. just of keeping the peace of them close to us all the time. neat and theyy have on them in latin consider , the relative. so you can think about your past that way. for andrew jackson, we have what is referred to as a turkish pipe. it is on loan to us from tennessee. not a lot is known about this pipe, but it is one of the more common ways of smoking tobacco at the time. his wife was also known to enjoy smoking pipes. here we are with martin van buren and he was the chosen successor to andrew jackson. andrew jackson gave a andentation came to him, what is interesting about it is when you look at it, it has sober medallions going down the shaft and each of those in the top to the bottom, there is a lett

abigail adams, but i don't think she was alive when john quincy adams became president.as the only person who saw her husband be president and her son. pretty unusual. mr. bush: it is. david: if you could run for president of the united states or former president of the united states, what would you recommend? mr. clinton: you have to live a long time as a former president to have as many impacts as you have as president. mr. bush: the decisions you make have got a monumental effect on a lot of people. it was exciting to be in that kind of environment. ♪ ♪ david: so today, when you were living in the white house, some people call it a prison because you really can't get out very much. or do you really enjoy it? you have all these servants, you can go to camp david when you want. it is a pleasure to live there, or not so much? mr. clinton: i think if you have lived an informal life, even though i had spent almost a dozen years in the governor's mansion in arkansas, it is very different. if you lived -- i basically was self-supported from the time i was 19. it took some ge

john quincy adams went back to congress for 16 years, one of our most important anti-slavery advocateswilliam howard taft became chief justice. herbert hoover came out of retirement and wrote the civil service act. they did a lot of good things. and i feel that george and i have been blessed. because we were reasonably young. barack obama is young. you can be double lucky. you can serve eight years as president and do good things. david: john kennedy was once asked at a press conference what , do you think about this job and would you recommend it? he said i guess not to others so so i can finish my tenure. would you say it is worth the aggravation factor to become president, or would you recommend they pursue something else? mr. clinton: in a heartbeat. >> [applause] david: the highest calling of mankind i always thought was private equity. >> [laughter] david: you say being president of the united states is better than equity? mr. clinton: i don't know. mr. bush: we make $200,000 a year in pension. when you make? >> [laughter] david: money isn't everything. but yes. >> [laughter] mr.

john quincy adams went back to congress for 16 years, one of our most important anti-slavery advocateswilliam howard taft became chief justice. herbert hoover came out of retirement and wrote the civil service act. they did a lot of good things. and i feel that george and i have been blessed. because we were reasonably young. barack obama is young. you can be double lucky. you can serve eight years as president and do good things. david: john kennedy was once asked at a press conference, what do you think about this job and would you recommend it? he said i guess not to others so so i can finish my tenure. would you recommend the job to people, would you say it is worth the aggravation factor to become president, or would you recommend they pursue something else? mr. clinton: in a heartbeat. [applause] david: the highest calling of mankind i always thought was private equity. [laughter] david: you say being president of the united states is better than equity? mr. clinton: i don't know. mr. bush: we make $200,000 a year in pension. what do you make? [laughter] david: money isn't everyt

abigail adams, but i don't think she was alive when john quincy adams became president.er was the only person who saw her husband be president and her son. pretty unusual. if you could run for president of the united states or former president of the united states what would you recommend? , mr. clinton: you have to live a long time as a former president to have as many impacts as you have as president. mr. bush: the decisions you make have got a monumental effect on a lot of people. it was exciting to be in that kind of environment. ♪

then a look at john quincy adams opinions about slavery. we'll hear from joe halderman, the white of the chief of staff bob halderman and a look at the life of the fifth president, james monroe. >>> journalists are the authors to road to camelot in

abigail adams, but i don't think she was alive when john quincy adams became president.as the only person who saw her husband be president and her son. pretty unusual. mr. bush: it is. david: if you could run for president of the united states or former president of the united states, what would you recommend? mr. clinton: you have to live a long time as a former president to have as many impacts as you have as president. mr. bush: the decisions you make have got a monumental effect on a lot of people. it was exciting to be in that kind of environment. ♪

abigail adams, but i don't think she was alive when john quincy adams became president.as the only person who saw her husband be president and her son. pretty unusual. mr. bush: it is. david: if you could run for president of the united states or former president of the united states, what would you recommend? mr. clinton: you have to live a long time as a former president to have as many impacts as you have as president. mr. bush: the decisions you make have got a monumental effect on a lot of people. it was exciting to be in that kind of environment. ♪ got you outnumbered. the dinosaurs' extinction... don't listen to them. not appropriate. now i'm mashing these potatoes with my stick of butter... why don't you sit over here.

i love his regard for john quincy adams, for example. >> quotes him at the beginning. >> yeah. >> but what i like in that quotes and i'm not here to comment on anything but what i like so much in that quote is the word "civility" which alost art in the public discourse of america today. the sense of comity that existed among miami who share a common goal and know to there needs to be a common end. it's gone. it's gone, and you write that we -- has been ever thus, many instances had deep chasms of division. the two sides see sound alterably opposed, when politics trumps policy. when the sense of a national goal is gone, and party goals matter more than national goals. what bridge us out of this? leadership. ... >> there's a person there doing and saying the right thing and were going to get behind her or him and make sure that attitude becomes important and maybe even decisive. someone reads about margaret shea smith and says that's i'm going do. it will happen. it will happen out of the necessity to survive. we will expect that. >> david, i believe in you actually rate were his centri

john quincy adams and the house of representatives, in 1846, they created at the smithsonian institution. in 1855.mpleted broughtsmithson's tomb to the early part of the 20th century. she is not in here. he is actually down here. there he is. just his bones are in as their bare -- are in there. >> the regents were notified that the cemetery he was buried top of a stone quarry. they notified the board of regents. on our board act of the time was alexander graham avail who took up -- bell who took it upon himself to go fences board members that we needed to bring james smithson's volunteer even e,ough hidden -- bones her even though he had never visited here or had any close friends that we know of. procession with his british flag draped coffin and and they brought him here to the building and is a great middle of the hall, they had a great ceremony and they changed the flags to half american, half british. advent took him up the stairs to the region's room and draped the coffin in an american flag. ideas of whathe they found there were going to do and did not do. they wanted to build a p

. >> john quincy adams and herbert hoover. kennedy: which first lady had a pet named satan.se she was satan. which president had a pet hippo. >> i don't know. kennedy: which president had a pet hippo? >> calvin coolidge. kennedy: he got it right it's calvin coolidge. how did you know? are you a calvin coolidge fan? >> no, i am not. i wish i were. kennedy: i love it, too, thanks so as much for watching the show. you can follow me on twitter and instagram. email kennedyfbn@foxbusiness.com. tomorrow night bret baier, crystal ball and -- krystal ball and mike baker. the three bs. y dad said, "if i'a do conan, it's gonna be done my way." >> curvy vixens... >> when i look at the female characters that dad did, mom was okay with that? >> the da vinci of fantasy art. >> this entire visual genre traces back to this one artist. >> how much did it sell for? >> about $1.1 million. >> but when he's gone, a real battle takes shape. >> how bad did it get? >> i'm not close to my brother anymore. even today we don't talk. >> can the next generation save the family and its fortune? >> i think

inntually, john quincy adams the house of representatives punched it through. in 1846, they created at the smithsonian institution. it was completed in 1855. this is smithson's tomb brought here in the earlier part of the 20th century. he is not in here. he is actually down here. there he is. just his bones are in there. >> when he was brought over, the regents were notified that the cemetery he was buried in set on top of a stone quarry. they needed to extend the seawall. they notified the board of regents. wasur board at the time alexander graham bell who took it upon himself to convince his fellow board members that we needed to bring james smithson's bones here, even though he had never visited this country in his lifetime, had no close friends we know of or acquaintances. docked at the navy yard in southwest d.c. and had a long procession with his british flag draped coffin. they brought him here to the building and in the middle of the great hall, they had a great ceremony and they changed the flags to half american, half british. they took him upstairs t

is a reason john quincy adams is a one term president, it is a reason why at the end of the obama administration, we were more divided. the job of the president is not to get into -- in too deep. the white nationalist, whoever they are, are bad people. they are. >> you don't think that president trump has further caused divisiveness? >> know. i think that he could give away the winning lottery numbers, and he would be considered wrong. >> >> we're just about out of time. where do we go from here? we have a couple of protesters scheduled in the bay area that could turned out to be similar, because we're expecting confrontations with that. how do we move forward. and we get past this? or can we? >> we have to have people who come together and eject hatred and bigotry that we heard. when they invoke nazi slogans and salutes, it is something that should be reviled and rejected from leaders from across the aisle. we saw that from members of congress from the democratic party and the republican party. we did not see that from the president. >> he did it on monday. that is fall. >> just because it wasn

. >> john quincy adams and herbert hoover. kennedy: which first lady had a pet named satan.o. >> i don't know. kennedy: which president had a pet hippo? >> calvin coolidge. kennedy: he got it right it's calvin coolidge. how did you know? are you a calvin coolidge fan? >> no, i am not. i wish i were. kennedy: i love it, too, thanks so as much for watching the show. you can follow me on twitter and instagram. email kennedyfbn@foxbusiness.com. tomorrow night bret baier, presentation for crepe erase, the number one anti-aging body treatment system for crepey skin! (male announcer) that can deliver stunning results on your arms, your legs, your hands, your chest, and even your neck! (female announcer) featuring legendary actress and crepe erase success story, jane seymour! (soft music) crepey skin makes me feel...old. (cindy) i am really sick of looking down and wondering what happened to me. (belinda) i feel like i'm missing out on life because of my skin. i want a change. hi, i'm jane seymour. have you ever had a moment in your life

in the distance was a portrait of john quincy adams. evidently, the reflection of the countenancems' bald distracted and irritated coolidge. the meal and without explanation, coolidge ordered his servant to bring in a step ladder and rag. coolidge took the rack to the fireplace, rubbed it in ashes, placed the step ladder under the painting, climbed up, and rubbed head on adams' shining feared no more glare. without further do, he returned to hoover instantly said, good night. [laughter] for all of the evidence that the hyperactive secretary of commerce was a valued member of the coolidge administration, in late 1925 and 1926, signs multiplied that hoover was becoming disenchanted. one source of his anxiety was growing speculation in the stock --ket and real estate trends and real estate, trends that were fueled in his opinion by the easy money policies of the federal reserve board. unwilling because of his cabinet status to intervene directly with the fed, hoover persuaded a close ally, a senator, to address a set of sharp inquiries to

with the exception of john quincy adams, nobody in the 19th century really has that resume. starts in the legislature in pennsylvania, 10 years in the house, 10 years in the senate, taking on roles in russia. that is often ridiculed. you may have heard about him annoying andrew jackson in the election of 1854. saying yes to send this guy as far away as he sending him to st. petersburg. he negotiates an important trade treaty and keeps american-russian relations on good standing. he does that. becausecretary of state he does not get the top prize is shooting for in 1844. i would argue in a way that masochistic polk needed buchanan to be a burr. in some way they had a partnership that produced great results. we might question the reality of those results and the efficacy of some of them, but they did swaths of territory. great turmoil the over the admission of california to the union as a free state, he avoids that kerfuffle as he would avoid another one when kansas-nebraska is being debated. he is our minister to england during the franklin pierce presidency. he is a guy who

and john quincy adams, john adams' son. we're not done yet, this might be good news more hillary clinton today. remember john kerry didn't quite prevail. but john adams is -- john marshall, excuse me, is john adams' ally. he's his right hand, his secretary of state but he's also the new incoming chief justice. for a month he basically holds both positions. there's one other wrinkle, since cliff mentioned, they're all these conspiracy theory. what happens if the deadline goes on and on and own and they're still deadlocked. maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe the person who should occupy the white house in that circumstance is none other than the secretary of state, john marshall. john marshall's mentioned as one of the possible people trying to nose himself into this really complicated situation. but right as adams' administration is ending, yes, john marshall is both the secretary of state and the new incoming chief justice. >> and the fact -- >> one point that's important to emphasize on that is that adams nominates marshall and he

presidents are one john quincy adams went back to 16 years and one of advocates. ortant william howard taft, chief justices. herbert hoover came out of retirement and wrote the civil service act. great things. of and i feel that george and i have been blessed because we and barackably young obama is young, and you can be double lucky. serve eight years as president and do some other good things. would o i assume you recommend the job to people if they want to be president of the united states. asked at ay was once press conference, what do you think about this job and would you recommend this job? right now, to others tenure but inish my would you recommend the job to young people, young leaders, scholars, if they want to be president of the united states. would you say it's worth the ggravation factor and the hard work to become factor. pres. clinton: yeah, in a heart beat. pres. bush: same. we're a good chance looking at a future president here.t the 60 graduates [applaus [applause]. host: so you would recommend it -- the highest calling of mankind i've often th

former president clinton: john quincy adams is one of the most important anti-slavery advocates. herbert hoover came out of retirement and wrote the civil service act. they did a lot of good things. george and i have been blessed because we were reasonably young. barack obama is young. you can be doubly lucky. you can serve eight years as president and do other good things. >> i assume you would recommend a job to people if they want to be president. john kennedy was asked, what do you think about this job and would you recommend it? he said not to others right now because i would wait until i finish my tenure. would you recommend a job to young leaders? would you say it is worth the aggravation and hard work, or would you recommend a pursue -- they pursue something else? former president clinton: in a heartbeat. former president bush: same. there is a good chance we are looking at a future president here. [applause] >> you would recommend it. you would say being president of the united states is better than private equity? former president bush: we make $200,000 a year in pensio

i'll just quickly note that, with the exception of john quincy adams, nobody in the 19th century reallyhas that resumÉ. it's -- starts in the legislature in pennsylvania. ten years in congress. ten years in the u.s. senate. intervals in which he is taking on diplomatic roles. first in russia. which is often, i would say, ridiculed. you may know the story about his meddling in the election of 1824. annoying andrew jackson with it even though he was a jackson man. jackson says, i have to send this guy as far away as i possibly can, so he sends him to st. petersburg to deal with the russian winters. he is successful there negotiating an important trade treaty and keeping relations on a good standing. so he does that. in the polk presidency he is rewarded as secretary of state because he doesn't get the top prize that he is shooting for in 1844. has a very interesting relationship with polk. i would argue that, in a way, the masochistic polk needed buchanan to be a bur in his butt most of his presidency. he really couldn't stand buchanan but some way or another they had a partnership that p