richard nixon had been called into a conference in lbj's bedroom. lbj was in bed in his pajamas.halfway through the conference, ladybird comes walking and in her dressing gown, greets nixon and they continue the conference from there. >> it had been particularly uncomfortable for tricky dick. >> and then there are the many late-night phone calls from lbj to various people of his staffers my favorite being the one where he calls in and says, are you asleep? >> yes, there is a congressman who said, you know, he would call people at all hours. >> 3330 in the morning. these lawmakers went out and there was one lawmaker called at 230 in the morning and he said, i'm sorry, did i wake you? and he said no, i was hoping you would call. i was sitting here hoping you would call. [laughter] remap all right. it is a great story. these books are so full of great stories. truly, it makes for some of the liveliest reading and some of the most intimate reading that i have had the chance to perceive in a long time. i was just delighted to get to moderate the panel. >> i have a story, carol, that r

the wise men where an informal group of advisers called in by lbj. kennan was never part of that group. kennan came out publicly against the war in vietnam. in 1966 before the senate foreign relations committee -- lbj would not have invited kennan to the white house as one of the wires men. as far as i can tell kennan went to the white house once in the johnson administration and that was the ill-fated arts and humanities festival that lbj tried to organize in spring of 1965 as the war was escalating. it was so disastrous that lbj him upstairs through most of the proceedings. kennan is often regarded as one of the wise men and the walter isaacson book uses the title for a collective biography and kennan is one of the six but the actual term is from a group that was informing johnson and kennan was not part of that. >> host: last call from professor gaddis from lou in springfield, missouri. >> caller: thank you for taking my call. i understand how homer's iliad would apply to containments but how does the odyssey apply to today's condition? >> guest:

king is a famously known as foretelling lbj -- is famously known for telling lbj, the president meeting with dr. king and asking martin to tone it down, and he said, "mr. president, it is the protests that are making a powerful." they find it annoying. they do not like the winding -- whining. it is a long way to say if you do not like being pushed by your left flank, if you do not like being pushed by people who are doing this, then what motivates you? >> there is what happens in the political atmosphere. there are a lot who need to be pushed. raising the minimum wage or doing something about jobs or immigration reform or protecting the rights of women to have choice. i think that those issues are going to come up in the second term, if there is a second term, and the protesters will make a big difference, because the moderate democrats will hear it. just as the moderate republicans had to listen to the tea party. they did not like it either. some of republicans, they did not want the tea party out there holding them accountable and holding their feet to the fire. the moderate democrats

lbj became a looming figure, his relationship with bobby was toxic, even though johnson can be heard on white house tapes trying to be upbeat on the phone. >> mr. president. >> hi, bobby. >> how are you? >> fine. >> what up close memories do you have of lyndon johnson? >> he wasn't a great bobby fan. >> and visa versa? >> yes. >> all right, we'll leave it at that. >> thank you. >> bobby kennedy broke with lbj to run for president. that ended with his assassination in los angeles. a subject his widow cannot discuss to this day. >> then we lost daddy. >> can we talk about something else? >> mrs. ethel kennedy gave birth today -- >> rory kennedy, the last of 11 kids was born six months after her father was killed, with the whole world watching. >> i told ethel, i think joan and i are going to take this baby home. we think ethel has enough of them. >> you know, i think i just couldn't help smiling. >> ethel's life with bobby was organized bedlam. she was pregnant for an astonishing 99 months of her life. it was a life of children and animals, including 16 dogs at the same time. and a sea

but when the war on poverty started and lbj kent arnd the country, people were poor and the perty levelas mal nourish. and no health care and today, i don't want to say you are oay. when you are poor but at the poverty level, there is a lot of heavy peop on food stamps and you have a certain level of medicaid and you are better off because ofhe programs, it doesn't mean they don't need to be cut or tweaked and it's not just this part of the budget, i are everything butefense is welfare spending when it boils down to it. social security is welfare spending, if you don't put inasmuch as you are getting and medicare, too, if you took it away, most 8-year-olds could not afford health care, and i don't want to target the poor, but across the board the government needs to cut spending down and also, half the country is slipping through, that is the problem, the administration hasn't addressed and the programs will grow proportionaty and most growth happenedetween '08 and '09 cause of the economy, not because of major changes, because people are getting poorer and that has to be addressed. >>

good evening from the lbj school. >> i had a wonderful time at the lbj school and grad to be here withou. >> governor romney up two mounts a month ago as president obama was up $0.07 now a nine-point differential in a month. what happened? >> let me first of all end the anxiety, greta for our many viewers. i believe the minimum result will be 5347 romney over 300 electoral votes and the republicans will pick up the senate. i base that just on years and years of experience. take a look at the momentum. james carville taught me if you are the incumbent you get the last number in the poll. you don't gain anybody. go back to the numbers you gave us. read the numbers 45, 47, 46. if that's the way he ends up and that's the cardinal rule, it's a good rule he is going to lose an amazing number of states. stat states that are tied. it means the incumbent is 47. that is called losing. when you get that kind of surge i think george allen is going to win. >> she was doing a book signing for the ellis the el vant book. we were with tommy thompson doing a fundraiser for him he was up three points do

. >> in your books you talk a lot about the two sides of lbj, about the dark side and the light side. for example when president kennedy died he wrote such a moving condolence level but he could be so cool to his staff and lady bird. can you comment on that? >> did you hear the question? wonderfully well organized -- you can all hear the question. it is a rarity. johnson is that kind of a person. one of the real difficulties in writing about him. he is a person of such contrast that you feel his cruelty could be so cool and so monumental, the way he would break the rules of politics to steal the election that got him to the senate. quite a remarkable way. not at all usual -- beyond the usual bounds of politics. that is lyndon johnson. the desire to help more people, particularly for people of color. that was lyndon johnson also. >> what is your perspective on the writing of the assassination by the father of a former press secretary of president george w. bush? did you ever interview that offer? the father of scott mcclellan? >> i didn't interview him. all i can say about lyndon johns

lbj in the '60s is saying how do we move forward?he shackles down and think we have equality. you have to work to make equality. that's where the concept was rooted initially. >> this notion though of a reparation or repair tiff as foekt affirmative action goes away in michigan. the michigan cases which are ultimately up for debate now, tell us about those. >> absolutely. there are two rationales under the constitution, one is the immediate -- the other one is the diversity rationale. there's been a movement away from the remedial rationale towards the diversity rationale. harvard law professor says it's a better move because it makes people, minority groups, look like they are burying gifts rather than grievances which this language that i love. like she does, i feel like we've moved too far from the remedial aspiration. but you're exactly right. once we get to the michigan case, 2003 case we have the diversity rationale being asserted by the university of michigan law school. the united states supreme court for the first time uphol

obama does not have an lbj style big vision for his second term. he says his opponent has no vision at all. >> you heard of the new deal, you have heard of the fair deal. mitt romney is trying to sell you a sketchy deal. we are not buying it. >> ohio has benefited from billions of dollars in bailouts for the auto industry. it has won mr. obama a lot of support. >> that affects one in 8 jobs in ohio. i don't think that you can be from ohio and talk about jobs without recognizing that. >> i think that we have some momentum. this will be like a square rather than a wheel. away from the liberal college campuses, they're not so convinced. in a way, the state represents what this election is really all about. it is a philosophical, almost moldavite between those who believe that government money has helped ohio and those who think it just as fervently that the government only gets in a way of the natural entrepreneurial spirit. mitt romney is campaigning hard here. >> it is freedom that drives america. >> introducing him at a rally was this woman. >> i a

family. , you know, i said that the black fan could endure [inaudible] better than it could endure lbj. that was -- so, you know, when i started studying poverty, it became evident to me you couldn't really understand poverty unless you understand wealth. after writing a book called "visible man about the welfare state. i wrote wealth "wealth and poverty." ronald reagan read it and he wrote me and we were off on roaring '70s. we want the roaring ma mean yum or whatever it is today. >> how do you twine wealthy. >> as value. it's a story of worth and a foundation of human creativity. it's the fruits of human creativity. and it's the fruits of surprise. my next book after this is called "knowledge and power." it's about how all enterprise ultimately based on surprise and which is if you get can predict it, you can plan it and you wouldn't need entrepreneurial surprise. the fact it's unexpected that moons it's dependent on freedom. that's why always program like solyndra and all that are based on controlling and foffing the decisions of entrepreneurs always fail because they are based on t

we're spot-shadowing lbj. this is what happens when you lose track of him. lebron had ten points.and a gentle coach k. hug. >>> let's go to chicago. no kevin durant. no russell westbrook for oklahoma city. there's no derrick rose. luol deng with the steal early. this is a blind over the shoulder deal. mvp, heinrich, a nice, little layup. and james harden, to fill in for the shooter there. no westbrook and no durant. not for a lack of shooting for harden. it doesn't go. the layup, on the trim. and finally, a pump fake, no good. 2 for 17. second half, nate robinson, he's a baller. finds carlos boozer. double-double for boozer. bulls get the win. >>> world series game one tonight in san francisco. espn radio has it at 8:00 eastern. i'm randy scott. have a great day. >>> coming up next, "the pulse." and if you think you've decorated for halloween, this guy that we're going to show you could have you beat. >> classic overachiever. >>> and from the news world. fish just in. a reporter versus a very big carp. [ female announcer ] she did a full day at the office, went home and fed her fa

that presented an opportunity to lbj's successor. >> president nixon in 1968 he was moved that to say to his people get out in front of the environment. >> days after nixon took office a huge oil spill hit santa barbara. then ohio river caught fire. he was one of richard nixon's senior advisors. >> you have riverers catching fire you better be gracive. >> weeks after the first earth day in 1970 nixon established by executive order the brand new environmental protection agency. >> the government does a great job at cleaning things up. >> absolutely. >> they write extensively on green regulators. >> rivers are not catching fire any more. that's a great thing. >> we go through public opinion in those years and even as the nations air and water were getting cleaner american people were getting increasingly worried about the environment. why is that do you think? >> we went from not worrying at all in the 40s and 50s to possibly worrying too much or at least worrying about the wrong thing. >> blame that on environmental doomsday books beginning with silent spring by marine biologist rachel

that presented an opportunity for lbj's success. >> president nixon in 1958 he was moved that get out front in the environment. >> just days after nixon took office a huge oil spill in santa barbara california and ohio's river caught fire. nixon's senior environmental advisors. >> you have rivers catching fire you better be aggressive. >> weeks after earth day in 1970 nixon established the grand new environment tal protection agency. >> it is fair to say the government does a good job at cleaning things up. >> absolutely. >> he writes extensively on green regulators. >> rivers are not catching fire any more. that's a great thing. dug through public opinion in those years. even as the nation's air and water were getting cleaner and toxic waste dumps were getting cleaned up american people were increasingly worried about the convenie environment. why is that do you think? >> we went from not worrying at all in the 40z and 50s to possibly worrying too much or worrying about the wrong things. >> blame that on environmental doomsday book beginning with silent strepring by marine biologist

that presented an opportunity for lbj's success. >> president nixon in 1958 he was moved that get outn the environment. >> just days after nixon took office a huge oil spill in santa barbara california and ohio's river caught fire. nixon's senior environmental advisors. >> you have rivers catching fire you better be aggressive. >> weeks after earth day in 1970 nixon established the grand new environment tal protection agency. >> it is fair to say the government does a good job at cleaning things up. >> absolutely. >> he writes extensively on green regulators. >> rivers are not catching fire any more. that's a great thing. dug through public opinion in those years. even as the nation's air and water were getting cleaner and toxic waste dumps were getting cleaned up american people were increasingly worried about the convenie environment. why is that do you think? >> we went from not worrying at all in the 40z and 50s to possibly worrying too much or worrying about the wrong things. >> blame that on environmental doomsday book beginning with silent strepring by marine biologist carson.

his 13 years in the network news network, douglas brinkley on walter cronkite and michael gillett on lbj and lady bird johnson and sunday noon to 6 h w brand on ulysses s. grant, at the mexico drug cartel and margaret draper inside the house of representatives. the texas book festival live this weekend on booktv on c-span2. now on booktv actor tony danza recounts the year he spent teaching tenth grade english in philadelphia's largest bicycle. the author before becoming an actor wanted to be a teacher, recalls the initial troubles he had engaging his students and his later breakthroughs. this is 45 minutes. [applause] >> hello, everyone. white neck. what are we going to do? i can't believe when i am standing backstage listening to carol say those things about me, i want you to know, by the way, the cameras in january, i want you to see, i thought i had figured out a way to make teaching a. make it a tv job. i could be a teacher and her tv job. they left in january and by was a real teacher. i went listening to ms. carroll say those things to me. the greatest compliment at the end of the

the profit leader, the great hero of political writing fdr, jfk lbj, and others, the profit leader are forced to tell stories about the future but can't if his will to power is sufficiently strong. if history has no happy ending at, no guaranteed values and the leader may have no choice and to -- imposes values so liberal loathsome not only has a fiscal crisis but a philosophical crisis of on guard liberals tend no longer to believe liberalism true or bright obama it is not a post modernist. but his confusion about truth visible in his discussion of slavery and declaration of independence in "audacity of hope" composite -- combined with the four of makes a harrowing combination. sonoco "i am the change" as mr. obama almost said every change is an improvement. a movement that began promising a new freedom and a new deal beyond necessity runs from the necessity of paying its own bills. a movement of complete spiritual fulfillment including the right to choose one's own values now confesses no lifestyle could be better than another. the movement that led to such face and its leaders' abil

. >> joe told us that humphrey was not lbj's choice. did you get the sense that lbj was not totally behind humphrey? >> that surprises me because humphrey was faithful to johnson. he was when johnson was majority leader of the senate. i remember some of the other people talked about by johnson. dodd of connecticut, not the current dodd, but his father. he was on the list. there were some otheres s. i don't know on what basis you could say that johnson was not for humphrey for vice-president. he had the freedom to do so. i was puzzled that one of president johnson's top aides would say that johnson was not for hubert. >> i want to talk about the domestic side of the nixon's first turn. white role did you what play that extended some of the great policy during richard nixon's presidency? >> nixon was very strong in certain areas. that was on the national nutritional situation. he always understood the purposes of food stamps and the ogram. lunch pr when bob dole and i would send down and those bipartisan measures, president nixon would si

. >> well, again some the strongest performers were jfk, lbj, fdr and bill clinton. republican side, dwight eisenhower and ronald reagan. ones cleaning up bottom of the batting order. ashley: that was my next question. >> george w. bush, richard nixon and gerald ford and herbert hoover was at bottom. ashley: the concept republicans are pro-business and more friendly leads obviously to better for your wallet. and that could be the same said in this current race. now you say that president obama, how is he doing in relation to the economy and in particular everybody's wallet? >> very good question. i actually wrote an op-ed about this comparing how barack obama has done in his first term comparing to ronald reagan in his first term. ashley: okay. >> coincidentally on the same 12 data points we had obama won on eight of the 12 and reagan won on four of the 12. i thought that was also interesting. keep in mind ronald reagan had a very difficult first term as well. he had unemployment up to 10.8% at one point in the latter part of 1982. he had, longest recessions we ever

it was lbj that got the tax cut passed. and this is what ryan tried in the debate right?er meaning david gregory stat down with steven colbert, and lot played like a piano. what has happened to american journalism? you are what happened to american journalism. charlie you there? >> we lost charlie. >> he went through a tunnel. >> so he can't talk about me anymore. >> stephanie: he can't talk about tom brokaw or -- >> travis see if we can get him back. >> stephanie: but he is taking about the senate raise. elizabeth warren's rise remains steady. senator mcdreamy has developed a technique to guild his own lilly. charlie says brown referred to as having served in afghanistan as the "boston globe" points out, he was there for two weeks of national guard duty. really it was more like a visit. [ wah wah ] >> stephanie: he was in the very rear of the guard apparently. there he is again. >> i was insufficiently unaware of the gap. >> stephanie: oh, okay. i was reading your point on senator mcdreamy and the building of his lilly. >> yeah, he keeps saying -- you know this kind of w

really the hero of so much liberal political writing wilson, fdr, jfk but didn't work out as they hoped lbj and other the. the profit leader is therefore on his own. forced to tell stories about the future if history in other words has no happy ending in store, if it has no guaranteed values of its own, then the leader may have no choice but to impose his values on the chaos of time. thus liberalism has not only a fiscal crisis confronting it but a philosophical crisis. liberals especially in the academy. -- i'm happy to report, the confusion about truth very visible in his discussion of the declaration of independents and the awe disty of hope -- traditional liberal impatience with the constitution and the forms makes a heroing combination. i am the change has mr. obama almost said reminds us that not ere change is an improvement. a movement that began by promising to every american a new freedom and a new deal beyond necessaryiveness now comes from the necessity of paying its own bills. a movement that a promised complete spirit yule fulfillment in a great society including the right to c

this is what gave lbj, he knew then that the north vietnamese torpedo votes did not carry outh the secondap attack. kne tha therefore, you know, you couldan see so many similarities, especiallyh we would have intoht the war in ira iq and everywher. in short to say that yes, documents were doctored.ve >> with the benefit of hindsight, and archival any ldsearch, were there any cou policies were strategies thatim the united states could have adopted at the time to achieves. objectives?ians >> there are two types of historians. h historians love to do theat,hat counter actuals, and those who's on the other side, it was a goou question. i would say no. even thoughy i say that in certain ways, the unsung heroes of my book are basically ho chi minh and general lu han, they were the moderates of the war. t it would be incredible to thinkb about how how different the world and how they have been b involved. it would've been far less bloody for the vietnamese communists. but there was no way that wee could have defeated him. so even one of the things thatcb his damage that american bombings was doing

much affect youngsters can have on the president, he should make one long distance phone call to the lbjanch and ask that was how much effect you can have. >> you went to vietnam to see the battlefields firsthand, the jungle there were climbing some lives. his first trip was in 1975. >> i went to a hospital of american soldiers in saigon. the very first person i talked to was a captain. and the nurse who is taking me around said the captain at the silver star and the purple heart. i said, well, congratulations, capt. but as i did so, his lips started to quiver. i look down and his feet were gone. he had stepped on a mine and blown off his feet about 6 inches above the ankles. i visited with him for a while and said, well, congratulations again, capt., on the purple heart. he said, that is easy to get in this damn place. i went to a civilian hospital or the vietnamese were being cared for they were the victims of shrapnel from american gunfire. one woman had a baby she was holding. the baby's head was completely wrapped in bandages this except for the eyes. i asked her if she would mind i

he wasn't like, lbj, of course, because he hadn't sort of come up through the ranks of the senate. but it didn't seem like he had any leverage or any ability to bring people along. >> narrator: the president's political style didn't help. >> he's not the person who's going to be the backslapper. he's not an arm-twister. he has people who work with him who are able to do aspects of the role of engagement that he doesn't necessarily... that he doesn't necessarily find a value in himself engaging in. >> he is not the type of person that can, you know, invite boehner and the republicans to dinner at the white house every night and schmooze them like lbj or clinton could. that's not him. he doesn't even want to do that. so he has this grander vision of what he is and what the world should be, but that doesn't mean he can bring other people along with him to that place, because he doesn't have that personality. >> narrator: meanwhile, there was a furious public reaction. >> barack obama was electable because he was not too black... >> obama lying to the people, deceiving the people... th