and lbj is on the phone this national security advisor. monday and this is at a point where lbj is trying to keep vietnam off the agenda and of the front pages but as well aware major decisions are looming before him few months on the road. >> the more i think and getting into another. [inaudible]. that one can never get out of it. and i believe that the chinese communist come into it and i don't think that we can drive 10000 miles away from home in that area. [inaudible]. and don't think it's worth ripping apart i don't think that we can get out. [inaudible]. it is an awful mess. [inaudible]. what is it for three and what is it worth to this country. [inaudible]. we have a treaty everybody else has a treaty out there. and of course you start and they tissue right into your own kitchen. [inaudible]. and that is trouble the suffer the world if anything comes apart on it, that is the dilemma, that's exactly it. >> when everybody talk to seto my gosh, please and of course i read this morning and this is because it can be. [inaudible]. but thi

why would lbj havemade these? for that matter, why did american presidents from roosevelt to nixon make similar kinds of recordings? >> lbj, when he was a senator, used to make tapes, or used to make records of his private conversations, which was basically his close aide walter jenkins listening in on a dead key extension, and making notes, very exact notes of lbj, for instance, getting a commitment from a senator. and there was one wag in the johnson entourage who referred to these notes as the dead key scrolls. the reason why johnson did this was, if a senator double crossed him, and believe it or not, in the 1950s, occasionally that would happen, he would go back to the senator and say, you told me yesterday, and i quote, and then have the exact commitment that had been made. and the senator would wonder why johnson had such perfect recall. so, the technology had improved so that by the time he became president in 1963, he thought that not only would this be a historic period, it would also help them as a mana

and the lbj special was really lovely. so congrats on that. thank you. a specialist in both these presidents. what would you look for as a voter in your modern president? say again? i'm so sorry. what do you look for in a president? you as like a scholar of the presidency. you know, i i've been asked this before and i think at the end of the day all presidents are different, you know, they come in with different skill sets and experiences that come in with different visions and outlooks on the world. and i think it's hard to paint, you know any leader with the same brush, you know, we should expect different things from different leaders because not everyone's capable of the same things at the end of the day the best we can expect from our presidents is that they love their country and they do their best. and most of the president's in my lifetime in my view have held up to that criteria. they did their best and they loved their country john f. kennedy certainly fits that that criteria as does lyndon johnson and and so many others, but but i honestly i i

the lbj special was really lovely.so, congrats on that. >> thank you. >> as specialist in both of these presidents, what would you vote look for in a voter as a modern president? >> say that again, so sorry? >> what would you look for as a president? you, as a scholar of the presidency. >> i've been asked this before. i think, at the end of the day, all presidents are different. they come in with different skill sets and experiences, they come in with different visions and outlooks on the world. and i think it's hard to paint any leader with the same brush. we should expect different things from different leaders because not everyone is capable of the same things. at the end of the day, the best we can expect from our presidents is that they love their country and they do their best. and most of the presidents in my lifetime, in my view, have held up to that criteria. they did their best and they loved their country. john f. kennedy certainly fits that criteria, as does lyndon johnson and so many others. but honestly,

lbj had very steep cushions on nthe couch so the person would sit and lbj would loom. he was in the rocking chair.he leans over to george wallace and wallace says i can't control voters and johnson says wonderfully don't ship me george wallace. and then he says your, this is not about 1968. is not about 1988. it's about history and when you die do you want a scratched stony grave that says george wallace, he hated . or do you want a beautiful elegant granite monument that says george plus, he built. and that's the fundamental question it seems to me of citizenship. his do you want to hate or do you want to build? and one of the things any and i say off-line a good bit is the extent to which, and i'm right in this debate, just so you know. the extent to which progress is a, measured and be, celebrated . so talk a little bit about that. >> one of the things i insist on in our conversations is that while white america is deliberating between whether or not it's going to pay for bill we have to raise our babies. while you're trying to decide what kind of human being you wa

it's lbj. right giving the great richard goodwin speech that moment, you know, there are moments in the life of a nation where history and fade intersect to form a turning point. man's unending search for freedom. so it was at lexington concord. so it was an appomattox. so it was last week. it's so mile, alabama. shall overcome and then the voting rights act assigned and then everything's fine. right whoops so one of the ways i teach this is johnson's speech was on march 15th. bloody sunday was march 7th. eight days is a long time. so what happened in those eight days? a lot of the politics that baldwin captured that he's talking about. but also linda johnson asserted control over the entire situation. so two things happen one. is he forces king? to go to judge frank johnson and follow the court orders about the nature of the march. and in what i think is one of the most important moments in modern american history because the lesson of it i think lives on he summons george wallace. to the oval

. >> season one, lbj, the 1964 civil rights act, the 1964 presidential campaign, the gulf of tonkin incidentrch on selma, and the war in vietnam. not everybody knew they were being recorded. >> johnson's secretaries new because they were tasked with transcribing those conversations. in fact, they made sure the conversations were taped, as johnson would signal to them through an open door between his office at their office. >> also, blunt talk. >> jim? >> i want a report that the number of people assigned to kennedy the day he died. if minor not best, i want them bless, quick. i promise i won't go anywhere. i will stay behind these black gates. >> presidential recordings on the c-span no mobile app or wherever you get your podcast. ♪ >> this was the scene outside the supreme court, reaction to the ruling effectively overturning the constitutional right to an abortion under roe v. wade, house speaker nancy pelosi responded to the decision, saying the supreme court is eviscerating the rights of americans and endangering their health and safety.

for the old new york herald tribune where he got to tag along with a white house reporter to watch lbj sign the 1964 civil rights act into law pretty cool. so it's hard to avoid partisanship when discussing this book. i mean just look at that title. and as i tried to tie this introduction to current events over the last few weeks. i kept waking up to new headlines every day that seemed to require constant rewriting. it was like, oh what mess is mitch mcconnell responsible for today. whether it's the supreme court and abortion or campaign finance or voting rights or climate change or holding up critical appropriations or primary election results so much can be traced back to what is the so-called grim reaper? but with your indulgence, let me focus on the fact that through the lens of mitch mcconnell irish apero raises a foundational question. what should we expect of the motivations behind elected officials in our republic? should we simply expect them to be driven by nothing more than the quest for unbridled power employing cynical tactics in the name of amassing control and influence

on the presidency, the president and ceo of the lbj foundation talks about his book, incomparable grace, jfk and the presidency and reassessment of john f. kennedy and how jfk group with dealing with domestic and foreign challenges, exploring the american story. watch american history tv saturday on c-span2. find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at c-span the org/history. ♪♪ >> house speaker nancy pelosi's news conference, she talked about legislation that would address energy supply chain issues, rise in cost and gas prices. >> good morning, everyone. we tom together at the time of so much activity here, taking a vote on the path act, promise to our veterans, burn pit legislation being passed, we are very excited to have that passed. affordability for america's working families. i'm proud as we gather here right now on the floor, we have legislation, we have lower food and fuel costs. the way we will do that is do you believe russia is one of the biggest suppliers of fertilizer in the world? the lower supply fertilizer, increased price and demand has increa

johnson will be nancy kegan smith, who began her career at the lbj library in austin texas. and retired as the director of the presidential materials division at the national archives in washington. she is one of the founders of the first ladies association for research and education. speaking about mrs. nixon will be mary brennan, the author of pat nixon, the battle of first lady. and currently serves as dean at the college of liberal arts at texas state university. with that i will turn it over to barbara, but we will all be back for a q&a after the presentation. thank you. >> thank you so much for guiding us, and putting together this wonderful panel. unifying our conversations today on three amazing first ladies. i think i am waiting for my powerpoint, there it is. if we could go to the next slide, i will be talking about mrs. kennedy's work on restoring the white house and several other projects, some of which catherine has already mentioned. putting in the context of the cold war, the kennedys were in power, at the height of the cold war from 1961 to 1963 and it seems

lbj, just as you were talking about a 1968, wanted a gun safety bill.. he did it because, in february of 1963, there was a magazine and 80s now owned by the nra, called american life [inaudible] and mail order italian car buying from chicago. lee harvey oswald read the magazine, went in for the carbine, and he shot in dallas on the 20th of november. at least in those days, the vice president of the nra said, we are not going to be so stupid and so insane as to stand in the way of control of a weapon that killed the president of the united states. weapon that killedwe have not bh we have not been living in such a crazy world. the president has to remind people that we all have a right to life. this is an issue of law and order. last i heard, those are conservative principles, let him tell those ten senators that. >> yeah. lawrence, it's not as if there are not already regulations on firearms. there is a reason why we no longer see the situation that we saw in places like chicago in the 1930s, where people were gunning each other down, with machine guns.

johnson will be nancy kegan smith, who began her career at the lbj eye library in austin, texas, and retired at director of the presidential materials division at the national archives in washington. she is one of the founding founders of f.l.a.r.e., the first ladies association for essential that education. and talking about -- and currently served as dean of the college of liberal arts at texas state university. with that, i'll turn it over to barbara. but we'll be back for a q&a after the presentations. thank you. >> well, thank you so much, katherine, for guiding us and putting all together this wonderful panel and unifying our conversations today on three amazing first ladies. i think i'm waiting for the powerpoint to pop up, and there it is. and so, if we can't go to the next slide, i'm going to be talking about mrs. kennedy's work on restoring the white house and several other projects, some of which katherine has already mentioned, and putting it in the context of the cold war. of course, the kennedys were in power at the height of the cold war, from 1961 to 1963. and it seem

on the presidency, the president and ceo of the lbj foundation talks about his book, incomparable gracesidency and reassessment of john f. kennedy and how jfk group with dealing with domestic and foreign challenges, exploring the american story. watch american history tv saturday on c-span2. find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at c-span the org/history. ♪♪ >> house speaker nancy pelosi's news conference, she talked about legislation that would ads

discussion about president lyndon johnson and his white house telephone tapes, the crown jewels in the lbjlibrary archives. when he

people have and we are delighted to take a deep dive into camp david, crawford, kennebunkport, and the lbj ranch. and tonight we have a series of guests we can also give us that special insight. and to kick us off what i'd like to introduce the 43rd president of the united states. [applause] >> thank you all. thank you very much. [applause] so, this is a special moment for laura and me, because we've got such fond memories of the presidential retreats. one of the things about the presidency that's kind of hard to explain is what it feels like to be in a bubble, and you're kind of in a bubble, particularly in washington d. c.. so the presidential retreats for any president are very important in the life of the presidency and so i want to thank ken and holly and the team here for opening up the presidential retreats and a lot of the stories of presidential retreats for the people here in dallas. we had three presidential retreats, which is kind of unusual and one of which was kennebunkport, maine. it was really my dad's presidential retreat but laura and i would go up there on occasion and w

on behalf of the center the lbj's foundation, like to welcome you to the lyndon b.johnson in the white house takes on the ground jewel in the archives. president johnson he declared it is all here, the story of her time. there's no better example of that history is 650 hours of telephone conversations that lbj's did covering key issues of

there have been so many presidents, from lbj, nixon, other presidents who tried to deal with inflationnd failed. how much can he really impact the economy on his policy and messaging? >> he is trying. you saw him say that they are going to be engaging in this month-long campaign to speako americans about the economy and reassure americans have a plan to fight inflation. if you talk to any economist, they say the president can't do much, his administration can't do much. the most powerful player is the fed. have to wait for the fed to make its move and see how they work through the system. from a political standpoint, it is impossible for the president and his administration to say it is the fed's responsibility and we will not do anything. so really trying to reset messaging. you see him talking about what they are trying to do, whether it beer a release from the net -- the energy reserves, or passing president biden's economic agenda. economists say those things don't move on inflation, particularly in the short term. >> this week began with president biden calling on congress to pass

um, they were both in washington lbj got there a little earlier than mr. nixon did when he was the first elected to the house in 1946. but you know when nixon was senate was vice president united states and therefore senate president, you know presiding officer of the senate lbj was the majority leader. and you know, they would work together on legislation. in fact, one of the one of the seminal pieces of the first in fact the first civil rights. legislation passes reconstruction was passed during the eisenhower administration and you know nixon worked very closely with johnson in wrestling up the votes for that. um, just this is off the environmental subject, but martin luther king, then who nixon had met in ghana when ghana became independent sent nixon a letter afterwards saying, you know, we couldn't have been done without your effort. but again, that's just another example of how you know both sides of the aisle can work together to get things done. and this i think is such a great example of one president honoring the work of one of his predecessors

but lbj, you know presently declared in 1964 when he signed the civil rights act. that you know, the democrats had lost the south for a generation. but he almost understated it because when that happened the south, you know, that was still so many parties. we're still upset particularly the white. elite southern majority about the the kind of legal removal of jim crow if you will that they since then have been working to undermine in so many ways the legitimacy of that decision. and we've seen law after law case after case that goes up to the supreme court which continued to try to chip away at the effort to provide civil rights and voting rights and in franchise african-americans in this democratic experiment. and i think one of the strategies that's been used very effectively is to demonize not just black people but the government itself that bestowed upon them rights. and so you've seen this there was skepticism after the watergate situation in the 70s, but ronald reagan made government the enemy newt gingrich also by the way from the metro atlanta area really p

when nixon was vice president of the united states and therefore presiding officer of the senate, lbjwas a majority leader. they would work together on legislation. in fact, one of the seminal pieces. in fact, the first civil rights legislation passed since reconstruction was passed during the eisenhower administration. nixon worked very closely with johnson in wrestling up the votes for that. off the environmental subject, but martin luther king who nixon had then met went on a became independent, sent nixon a letter afterward saying it couldn't have been done without your effort. but again, that's just another example of how both sides of the aisle can work together to get things done. this, i think, is such a great example of one president honoring the work of one of his predecessors, a different party. often on different sides of the issues. but recognizing, and what i think is a great tradition, i want to say we could use more of but maybe i should say that, showing that, in the end, that people who go to washington and serving government at every level, their main purpose is to

but unfortunately was unwound and undermined by lbj great society.ichard nixon, gerry ford, jimmy carter, none of them understood tax cuts. none of them understood the incentive the growth effects of lower marginal tax rates. maybe we can talk about that some more. and some very smart people are still around thankfully my dearest friend and mentor and robert mondo nobel prize winner, jack kemp and others brought the supply-side. essentially the kennedy tax cuts to reagan. reagan looked at them and thought about them and ran on itthem. it was very controversial just as it wasn't jfk's day. and it works. it worked on fact reagan had two rounds of tax cuts but i was there for the first round i was involved in the campaign to promote it. >> host: in 1960 when you quote jfk is saying it will be a major aim of our tax reform program to broaden the tax base and reconsider the rates. >> absolutely. there's some really juicy jfk quotes that could have easily applied to reagan but in fact listen, kennedy was the first guy to use the phrase a rising tide lifts

greg: what you referred to with lbj, november 8, the election. if the house flips, which is likely, the senate is a tougher call now, but that could slip as well. that could be the catalyst to push biden out. it is not just his age, it is his pulling numbers and the elections on november 8. jonathan: that testimony yesterday. your view on this, does that change the support that the former president gets, or does that open the door wider for the governor from florida? greg: june 2022 be the month remember that finished trump. it is not just that he has been indicted, that he has lost power in the party, but more of his own supporters are telling poll takers that one term is enough. we are not excited about him running again. that his is own supporters saying that. jonathan: greg valliere. music to the years of ron desantis in florida. tom: i read his biography the other day. down south he is really known within republican circles, but he has an extraordinary biography. i was quite taken by the history, the path he has taken, and then with all the

think of lbj as we think as a great president to twist arms and convince the other side to do his --d then when he lost the majorities he couldn't get anything done. i don't think there's anything wrong with president biden being honest about the structural role of the presidency or nature of the powers. >> what do you think, matt? do you disagree? >> i do disagree. every president is dealt a hand they have to play. average presidents and most presidents are average and let circumstances define the presidency but effective presidents are able to drive the agenda and able to reinvent themselves and flip the script. '82 and '94. the problem joe biden has is he's dug himself a hole. i don't think he was the communications savvy to extricate himself from that hole, but the key point i would reiterate is joe biden is not a victim of circumstance. it was not inevitable that he would get in the problems he has gotten into. a lot of them were choices, and i still think that a president who had better skills would be able to extricate themselves and turn it around at this point. >> so want to

jack, this is from brownsville to corpus christi texas, and on the grave of lbj, the arch texas democrate republicans are winning. and i would suggest, winning big . worried about crime, worried about the border, just worried about getting that hispanic and black vote they are not supposed to get. this is a seismic change for american politics, isn't it? jack: it represents a lot of significant things that look very bad for democrats. this special election that went to mara florez unexpectedly, the republican who won the special election. there is still going to be a competition in november, because this is replacing someone who steps down, but it shows you that democrats on one hand have not necessarily put a ton of effort into a state like texas, despite maybe their dreams of turning that lou presidentially someday. two, they already knew they had bigger problems than they initially thought with hispanic voters at large, especially looking to florida. more conservative cubans. what, you know, they cannot lean back on some opposition to donald trump now that he is not president. the bor

the lbj museum in austin, texas, went there in march for the first time.ry depressing about the present. because it was full of examples of someone who actually understood how you don't treat political facts as permanent realities. if someone isblocking you, you figure out how to unblock them. and lbj understood how to make moments, he understood how to leverage power. and so i'm not sure that we've seen joe biden, first of all, fully fight for an end to the filibuster. so why is manchin expected to do what has not even been fully demanded by the people who supposedly would benefit from his doing it. has the president flown to west virginia and had a rally, asking west virginians if they want to send a message to their senator about things that 90% of them want getting done. has the president flown to arizona? we have to make the case, the other side, that the people who don't want liberal democracy in this country are well funded, they're smart, they're strategic. they unfortunately want to destroy this country. but tactically, they're very good. and i th

two mortal enemies, jfk and lbj, are slammed in these papers and nixon is not mentioned at all.owever, the key that we now understand, that has been unlocked in the last two years that gives us the understanding for the first time of nixon's overreaction to the pentagon papers, is the chennault affair, which is that nixon becomes afraid in the wake of the ellsberg release of the pentagon papers in june 1971 that as part of these leaks that the documents documenting the chennault affair will come out. he knows these documents exist. he doe't know where they are. he comes to think they are at e brookings institute, the think tank in washington. he is on tape in december 1971 ordering the only burglary that he is actual on the white house -- wch isn't the watergate in 1972, but is a brookings in 1971. the white house with g gordon liddy and e howard hunt, the sort of overeager plumbers who go on to become the masterminds -- of put masterminds" of the watergate a year later, they come up with this fantastical, while criminal plan to fire on the brookings institution and bring in the