of course, the historic tremendous feud that he had with lyndon johnson. would he have been a much easier candidate for richard nixon to have defeated in november of 1968 than hubert humphrey turned out to be and that the way that he -- bobby kennedy has been portrayed to me anyway, i was five years old in 1968, that it was far from inevitable in june of 1968 that he would become the democratic nominee and elected president in november, and that johnson -- johnson would have come through and would have done whatever he could have to sabotage him at the convention in chicago. >> thank you. >> well, we talk about nelson rockefeller as being kind of a hamlet in 1968, not quite sure whether he's in or whether he's out. bobby was a little bit of a hamlet also. he wanted to run for president, he didn't want to put himself in a position of losing and he thought that going up against a sitting president, even a weakened, very, very weak sitting president, lyndon johnson, was going to be too formidable. so it fell to gene mccarthy who was more of a poet than a rock

caller: in 1968 lyndon johnson was upset richard nixon sabotaged the peace talks in 1968, and lyndon johnson had come forward and spoke out about richard nixon, what result was that have had? johnson could have played more in that role. steve: thank you. matthew: my view is that is more ambiguous and a lot of historians have given that issue , given credit. but nevertheless it was very incendiary, and they could have blown up, and it would have been detrimental to next and. steve: let's conclude with richard nixon's comments in the early morning hours of 19 via. [video clip] >> i saw many signs in this campaign. some of them were not friendly. some were very friendly, but the one that touched me the most was one that i saw in ohio at the end of a long day of whistle stopping. a little town i suppose five times the population was there. that is also possible to see, but a teenager held up a sign, bring us together. be the great objective of this administration at the outset, to bring the american people together. this will be an open administration, open to new ideas, open to men and w

lyndon johnson did not like him at all. think it was hard for him to win a nomination, in large part because of johnson. i think johnson would have done everything he could to prevent kennedy from being the nominee. i think that the threat of germany being the nominee would have been enough to convince johnson to have given humphrey more leeway to distance himself in the white house and the war in vietnam. this i and -- think ended up being the reason why the task of her loss. he could not bring back liberals in his own party to support the candidacy. only in late september when he further distance himself and saw lake city, he came home. after kennedy was killed, that was no longer an issue. johnson fought tooth and nail to prevent humphrey from distancing himself anyway. humphrey tried repealing the summer of 1968 to craft a message that would be somewhat his own message on the war, that would say johnson is lacking, and johnson would not do it. humphrey to his discredit, went along with that, and ended up in the conventio

lyndon johnson did not like him at all. think it would have been hard for him to win the nomination in large part because of johnson. johnson would have done whatever --could to win the to prevent him from winning the nomination. because of kennedy, it would have given humphrey more leeway to distance himself from the white house. on tactical level, this is why he lost. he cannot distance himself from johnson, which meant he could not bring that liberals in his own party. only in late september after he distance himself from johnson, did liberals come back. i think it would have been enough to have the threat of kennedy to have johnson support humphrey doing whatever he needed to do. after kennedy was killed, that was no longer an issue. nail tofought tooth and humphrey from distancing himself in any way. let him dold not that. thatrey went along with and ended up in the convention endorsing at the dnc johnson's position on the war after his entire campaign, all of these voters saying they want to change in the war, humphrey

if lyndon johnson had come forward and spoke out against richard nixon, what results would that have had? johnson could have played a lot more in that role. thank you very much. >> thank you, herald. >> my own view is that's a little more ambiguous. and have given that issue to be -- given credit. but nevertheless, it was very incendiary. and it could have blown up. and it would have been detrimental to nixon. >> let's conclude with richard nixon's comments. the early hour of november 6th, 1968. >> i saw many signs in this campaign. some of them were not friendly. some were very friendly. but the one that touched me the most is one that i saw in ohio. the end of a long day of whistle stopping. a little town, i suppose five times the population was there. almost impossible to see. but a teenager held up the sign, bring us together. and that will be the great objective of this administration at the outset to bring the american people together. this will be an open administration open to new ideas, open to men and women of both parties. we want to bruj the generation gab. we want to brin

and that's how ddbame into the orbit of lyndon johnson and the dnc in 1964. is aides and his adrtising firm, wanted to portray goldwater as a dangerous man who, if he got control of the nuclear arsenal, might threaten the peace of the world. >> goldwater, jr.: the mood of the country at the timwas one of worry about the soviet union in particular. peacwas a big issue. >> man: bombs away. >> d. goodwin: that fear of nuclear holocaust had been in the '50s and '60s. grew up and by that time, we were usedto t, after hiding under our desks for so many years. >> man: in assaturday evening post article dated august 31, 1963, barry goldwater said, "sometimes i think this country would be better off if we cod just saw off the eastern seaboard and let it float out to sea." can a man who makes statements like this be expected to serve all the ople justly and fairly? re vote fordent johnson on november 3rd. the stakes are too high for you to stay home.an >> cal we had a -- i guess i would call it a rift between the so-calledr rockefelpublicans and the conservative republi

of course, lyndon johnson didn't like him at all. tually think it would have been very hard for him to win the nomination in large part because of johnson. i think johnson would have done everything he possibly would have done to keep kennedy from being the nominee. i do think that the threat of kennedy being the nominee would have been enough to convince johnson to have given humphrey more leeway to distance himself from the white house and the war on vietnam. this ended up being i think the reason why -- the level that humphrey lost. he couldn't distance himself from johnson on the war. he couldn't bring back liberals in his own party to support his candidacy and only in late september when he sort of distanced himself from johnson and the war, did liberals come home. i think had kennedy lived just the mere presence of him as a possible nominee would have been enough for johnson to do everything he possibly could do to help humphrey be the nominee which would have been saying to humphrey if you want to say something on vietnam i don

the tremendous feud that he had with lyndon johnson. would he have been a much easier candidate for richard nixon to have defeated in 1968 then hubert humphrey turned out to be? and the way bobby kennedy has been portrayed, to me anyway, i was five years old in 1968, that it was far from inevitable in june 1968 that he would become the democratic nominee and elected president in november. and that johnson would have come through. he would have done whatever he could have to sabotage the convention in chicago. >> we talk about nelson rockefeller not being sure if he is in or out. bobby wanted to run for president. he didn't want to put himself in a position for losing. going up against a sitting president, even a weakened president in lyndon johnson, is going to be too formidable. so it came to mccarthy, who was more of a poet than a rock him sock and politician, to go up. he didn't get a majority in new hampshire, but he basically knocked johnson out of new hampshire and that led lyndon johnson to get out of the race. bobby immediately

nomination, he would have had more daylight between the democratic party which he would then lead, and lyndon johnson. because he was an opponent of johnson. because he was much more vociferously anti-war, and of course, the great unanced question, is could he sustain electorally, a coalition of african-americans, latinos, and working-class white voters around issues of economic justice? and of course you know, we'll never know. but that's one of the great what-if debates of modern american history. >> in terms of that debate, i think it's worth noting that those working-class white voters were getting very restless about where the democratic party was taking the country. where the democratic party wanted to take the country. my view, it's going to be very difficult for kennedy to pull that off. >> the economy was relatively strong in 1968, correct? >> very strong. >> jerome in columbus, ohio, good morning. >> caller: good morning. i want to ask you very quickly about the new political movement that came on the scene in late '60s, early '70s called the neoconservative movement. where did it come from

was seen almost as negatively as johnson was. >> i want to ask you about eugene mccarthy, the senator announced in november of 1967 to challenge a sitting president, lyndon b. johnson. what was your father thinking early in that process as eugene mccarthy was ramping up his own campaign in new hampshire and elsewhere? >> as you know, a number of people were asking my father to run for president and my father was ambivalent about it. because he thought that it would be seen as only a fight against lyndon johnson, and he didn't want to have this fight just be about him and lyndon johnson. he wanted to raise larger issues and when he had spoken out against the vietnam war in 1967, there are a few people who listened to what he said, but what they listened to and publicized was the personal animosity. that's an important aspect of how my father tried to make his decision as to whether to run or not. gene mccarthy didn't have that personal animus and that history with lyndon johnson, so when gene mccarthy was running, he was running more clearly against the war. >> when did your dad decide to seek the nomination? what was the tipping point? >> i think the tet

lyndon johnson was a very proud man. he had done, in my opinion, great things on the legislative front, the domestic front. his grace society. but then the war was always -- his great society. but then the war was always there pulling him down. ultimately, it dragged him down. the american people had to face in a sense, the loss of a president, the loss of its innocence, the media itself, how our own government was lying to us. i was a moscow correspondent. i had assumed that the russians would lie to me. i had never assumed, up until that point, that my own government was going to lie to me. that was a big grown-up moment for me and, i think, for any -- for many other reporters at that time. steve: david, you were with upi at that point, correct? there were other things happening on the homefront, i want to show the audience some photographs, you were based on the west coast. some escaped convicts from san quentin. take a look at these photographs and tell us what you saw and what you reflect on this 50 years later. >>

i mentioned it because my daddy said certain things about lyndon johnson and what he said when johnson was president is different from what we are seeing today. presidential legacies evolved. i think it takes us at least a generation and even more than two to get a clear perspective on how a president will be remembered. lyndon johnson took much longer because vietnam so divided this nation. it took at least a generation to receive -- receipt around vietnam. when they did and we got clear perspective and that dark cloud of vietnam dissipated, we saw what lyndon johnson did in the legislative arena and in particular what he did in civil rights. there is no president perhaps abraham lincoln who has done in the cause of civil rights which defines us as a nation as lyndon johnson. finally he's getting to credit for those accomplishments. he would be pleased. >> we can't talk about presidents without talk about first ladies. anita you've done a great job in your role focusing on the role of first ladies. you yourself were chief of staff to one of america's favorite laura bush. let's talk ab

bedroom in which doctor king would receive telephone calls from president johnson, president lyndon johnson called into my parents home and my mother was the receiver of the calls, the operator of those years they announced she was the operator from the white house calling on behalf of president johnson to speak to martin luther king jr.. this room was chosen because it was the most insular room in the house and those phone calls sometimes lasted for hours so that is the actual phone doctor king would receive the president's phone calls that came into this house things to do. things were very volatile. the country was aware of how volatile things were in selma and in the south is the doctor king and the president kept i don't want to say regular calls, but they did have a direct connection on a semi-frequent basis to discuss what was going on. .. >> and then they may have to put them in the post office for the postmaster. they could say he is local and recommended by the congress i don't want to start off with that more than anything else. i don't want to publicize it but i want you to know

for lyndon johnson, it took much longer, because vietnam so divided this nation. and it took at least two generations for passions to recede around vietnam. but when they did, and we got clearer perspective, one that dark cloud of vietnam dissipated, we saw what lyndon johnson did prodigiously in the legislative arena. and in particular, what he did in civil rights. and there is no president, save, perhaps, abraham lincoln, who's done as much in the cause of civil rights, which in so many ways defines us as a nation, as lyndon johnson. and finally, he's getting due credit for those accomplishments. so i think in answer to your question, stewart, he'd be pleased. >> well, we can't talk about presidents without talking about first ladies. and anita, you've done a terrific job in your role at american university, focusing on the role of first ladies. and you, yourself, were chief of staff to one of america's favorite, laura bush. let's talk about mrs. johnson, as we keep the johnson thing going here. and mrs. johnson took over being first lady very suddenly, in the p

lyndon johnson new it. johnson went on the air and declared that the attack had taken place, and therefore the u.s. was going to bomb north vietnam. that started the whole idea that the u.s. would be using air power to go directly against north vietnam. that started with the gulf of tonkin resolution passed in congress. at that time is set that the id that the- it sa president of the united states to take any action anywhere in the defense of america's interests against the communists. that was a big statement. most of the reporters, did not, i am sorry to say, take that up. the people at cbs and the washington post did. host: the tet offensive in 1968, the chinese new year, proved the u.s. government was lying to the american people. why? guest: at that time, remember, it was already 25,000 american deaths into the war. we had been experiencing over a period of three years what it was like to fight that war and to realize that you could take a mountaintop and lose 100 marines doing so. and that night willi

i mention it because my daddy said certain things about lyndon johnson. and what he said contemporaneously when johnson was president was very different from what we are saying today. presidential legacies evolve. and i think it takes us at least a generation, and even more than two in some cases, to get a clear perspective on how basically a president will be remembered in perpetuity. lyndon johnson it took much longer, because vietnam so divided this nation, and it took at least two generations for passions to recede around vietnam. but when they did, and we got clear perspective, when that dark cloud of vietnam dissipated, we saw what lyndon johnson did in the legislative arena, and in particular what did he in civil rights. and there is no president, say perhaps for abe lincoln, who has done much in the way of cause of civil rights ex which in so many ways defines us as a nation as lyndon johnson, and finally getting due credit for those accomplishments. so i think in answer tour credit, stewart, he would be pleased. >> well, we can't talk about presid

and, you know, i must say that both lyndon johnson and martin luther king jr. were two distinctly different individuals and men, but they came together in a very, very critical time in the life of this country. both of these men were committed to a more just, a more equal and a more democratic america. so they came together to make america much, much stronger. he came back in late-1965 to have a weekend with my parents and to discuss a move. he came to ask that my parents consider moving from selma to atlanta. and, it was so interesting, because my parents told him that they pretty much knew what they wanted to tell him, their decision, but he spent the night, and the next morning my parents let him know that they thanked him for the offer to relocate us to atlanta and to continue our lives there, but there was so much history here in this house relating to my mother's family, relating to the civil rights movement. my father wanted him to know that they were going to stay here and keep the light shining in this house. because one never knows, martin, you may ne

then support eugene mccarthy, president lyndon johnson, and republican richard nixon. senator mccarthy opposed the vietnam war and his strong challenge to president johnson and the nation's first primary along with robert kennedy's entry soon thereafter

kennedy, i'm sorry, lyndon johnson and john f. kennedy, three democrats he served under. he supported defense and foreign aid programs, aimed at combatting communism and endorsed security. he endorsed the war in vietnam,

vietnam war, the political turmoil with lyndon johnson announcing he will not seek another term in large part because of vietnam and the heightened tensions with the cold war and the soviet expansion into czechoslovakia. >> bad year. it was a year where it seemed like all of these strands seemed to come together at once. north korea became more, you know, opportunistic, trying to actually launch a kind of situation where they might be able to open up a southern front, taking advantage of the vietnam war and the ted offensive and czechoslovakia, which was this moment where like so much of 1968 where it seemed like everything might change for the better and then the cold war comes in and slams it all down. >> explain what happened with the soviet moving into czechoslovakia and why that was such a significant milestone in 1968? >> well, in a way,

lyndon johnson, president up lyndon johnson, gave a televised address to the nation and his subject was the vietnam war. by this point vietnam had escalated into a bloody conflict involving over half a million american soldiers. so a war that had gradually started as a small engagement against communist -- potential communist aggression in southeast asia in the 1950s had escalated into a major conflict that was tearing america apart. so johnson gives a speech about the war, he's -- looks tired, he looks old, the glare of the television lights did not help matters. at the very end he lands this bombshell, because of the importance of resolving the war in vietnam and peace talks were already ongoing with the north vietnamese, he said, quote, i do not believe that i should devote an hour a day of my time to any personal partisan causes. accordingly, i shall not seek and i will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your president. so how did we get here? how did lyndon johnson who had been elected in a landslide victory, less than four years earlier, get to the point whe

lyndon johnson, president lyndon johnson, gave a televised address to the nation and his subject was the vietnam war. by this point, vietnam had escalated into a bloody conflict involving over half a million american soldiers. so a war that had gradually started as a small engagement against communist -- potential communist aggression in southeast asia in the 1950s had escalated in a

the democratic party of bill clinton is not the democratic party of lyndon johnson. it is still clear to this is the era of big government is over. they turned this back into a far more centrist party. clinton has that style. he was able to do that. the big when you talk about is reagan. for all intensive purposes, one of the lines of the book is before people called the reagan democrats in philadelphia, they were already calling them -- rizzo-crats. >> what is it about the word -- white working class voter? what do they want from officials? >> that is difficult to say. they are not a monolithic group. we should not treat the white working class as if they are this habit of interest. the way i see it, there is an economic former ability. they are not opposed, at least the people i write about are not entirely opposed to government programs, to economic programs, to taxation and things like that. they just want the recipient to get these things to earn the rights to work hard for them. what they begin to see or argue in the 1960s and 70s, is that they begin to believe

president lyndon johnson and republican richard nixon. senator mccarthy opposed the vietnam war. and his strong challenge to president johnson in the nation's first primary. along with robert kennedy's entry soon thereafter is thought to have played a role in the president's decision to pull out of the race less than three weeks later. on the republican side, mr. nixon's victory launched him on a path to victory in november. this is about an hour and 45 minutes. welcome to all of you, being here in such an historic day for the new hampshire and its first in the nation presidential primary. the idea for this came about two years ago, when the person who wrote the first book about the new hampshire primary, chuck barretten, there was a memorial service for him. david hull, who was the number one in the democratic side in new hampshire, for eugene mccarthy was there. i met him for the first time and i as i was listening to him it made me think about having something on the exact day. here at the state house. to commemorate that primary. and i asked him if he would be willing to come

then support eugene mccarthy, president lyndon johnson, and republican richard nixon. senator mccarthy opposed the vietnam war and his strong challenge to president johnson and the nation's first primary along with robert kennedy's entry soon thereafter is thought to have played a role in the president's decision to pull out of the race less than three weeks later. on the republican side, mr. nixon's when launched him on a path to victory in november. we are going to show you a half hour portion of the event. the entire discussion is on c- span's video library, cspan.org. >> we got to the end of the side of the table thinking about history. depending where you are in age, and where you are in conscious memory, you have to realize the young people had grown up in families where there was a war almost seemingly constantly. born in 59, i call myself a war baby, because i can distinctly remember the sounds of hitler and mussolini on the bbc as we turned on the radio and listened on the sunday night news. subsequently, watching this happening to my family and have been torp

my question is primarily for the lyndon johnson foundation. e at the time when johnson was in politics he was a hard-core democrat. probably if you can compare his presidency, the most progressive president until barack obama. you know when he retired, the state was pretty much solid blue democratic state. he's pretty much republican and as conservative as can be. my question is how difficult is it to promote someone's legacy in a political climate that's changed profoundly since the time they had existed. >> one of the reasons texas is now a red state as opposed to a blue state is because of lyndon johnson. because of the sweeping civil rights because of the 1960s. there is a great story about lbj. one of my favorites. he's talking to richard russell. he's in the news because there is talk about renaming the senate building the mccain senate building. richard russell was a mentor and a friend to lbj and helped him ascend the ranks in the senate. lbj knew when he was endeavoring to pass the civil rights act of 1964 which would get rid of jim cr

first, president lyndon b. johnson in a televised oval office address when he surprised the nation with his announcement that he would not run for reelection. >>> on the last evening in march 1968, the stage was set. shortly before 9:00 p.m. washington time, in the midst of last minute electronic preparations, president johnson put the finishing touches on his address to the nation. finally, with the reassuring presence of his family seated nearby, the president was ready to deliver one of the most important speeches of his entire life. a speech that would alter the course of world history. >> good evening, my fellow americans. tonight i want to speak to you of peace in vietnam and southeast asia. no other question so preoccupies our people. no other dream so absorbs the 250 million human beings who live in that part of the world. no other goal motivates american policy in southeast asia. >> first, addressing himself to the continuing problem of vietnam, the president outlined plans for a unilateral deescalation of tha

under a republican president and a republican administration. [ applause ] it is time to begin lyndon johnsonays. let us continue for four more years. this is my answer -- when the strongest nation in the world can be tied down for four years in a war against a fourth-rate military power in vietnam with no end in sight, when the richest nation in the world cannot manage its own economy, when a nation with the greatest tradition of the rule of law is torn apart by lawlessness. when a nation which has been a symbol of equality of opportunity is being torn apart by racial strife. when the president of the united states cannot travel at home or abroad without fear of a hostile demonstration, then i say it's time for new leadership in the united states of america. [ applause ] >> ideas are important to richard nixon. he seeks them from a variety of sources. his staff represents a wide range of interests, backgrounds and beliefs. and they are all young. >> one of the great things about my staff is its youth. it's the youngest staff that a presidential candidate has ever had. and even well perhaps e

about to be nominated as the democratic candidate, the republicans nominating richard nixon and lyndon johnson trying to bring a peaceful end to the war in vietnam. where was he politically? where was his military? where was his defense department in all of this? >> johnson was deeply shaken not only by the assassination in june of robert kennedy but two months earlier the assassination of martin luther king. he was accompanied by civil violence in the united states that had begun in the mid-60s and escalated in 1967 and '68 including here in washington, d.c. that meant that johnson wanted to focus on domestic priorities and that was always his major intraft but he was consumed early on by the war in vietnam and that's why in his final year in office he wanted to focus on whatever priorities he could do while trying to bring a peaceful end to the war. hubert humphrey was seen as initially not the favorite candidate but was certainly after a while put forth by johnson as someone who could continue his programs and it would stand a reasonable chance against richard nixon. johnson did not like ro

lyndon b. johnson, president lyndon b. johnson gave a televised address to the nation, and the subject was the vietnam war. by this point, vietnam had escalated into a bloody conflict involving over half a million american soldiers, so a war that had gradually started as a small engagement against communist, potential communist aggression in the 1950s, he is can lated into a major -- escalated into a major conflict that was tearing america apart. so johnson gives the speech about the war he looks tired, looks old, the gray of the television lights didn't help, and at the very end, he announced this bottom shell. because of the importance of resolving the war on vietnam -- [ loss of audio ] >> he was the ultimate anti communist crusader. following in the footsteps of people like richard nixon, but someone who comes, seizes the nomination for the republican party, and is quite a hardliner, and johnson successfully runs against him as someone who is out of touch with the main stream of politics, someone who is way too conserva

the escalation of the vietnam war, the political turmoil with lyndon johnson announcing he would not seek another term, in large part because of vietnam, and the heightened tensions with the cold war, and the soviet expansion into check was a voc you. caller: -- into check was a voc slovakia -- caller: bad year. the russians looking at opening thecond firm -- front with tet offensive. and at one point in 1968, it beks like everything might better. host: explain that milestone. way, was so, in a significant because czechoslovakia helps create the cold war. when they began a program of lifting censorship am a creating a more open government, the soviets come in and shut that down and what happens after -- theeonid brezhnev president of 1968, all the wonderful flowering of possibilities for greater has been cut off, and brezhnev says we will intervene any time a socialist, communist government is threatened. host: what was the domino theory? caller: that was the -- that was the idea after world war i that if one country fell to communism, the others would as well. the concern was if sou

democrat lyndon johnson gave up his own campaign for re-election to the presidency because of dissent within his own party over the vietnam war. and so no, it wasn't always this way. there was no democratically controlled congress or republican controlled congress where there was no resistance to the president of the same party who controlled that congress. not until now. what we are seeing with devin nunes and catherine mcmorris rogers and every republican in the house and the senate who is running for re-election is in total and complete violation of their oaths of office to defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic. instead, they behave and they speak as if they have taken an oath to defend donald trump even if he is proven to be an enemy of the constitution. we're the only ones. that's what you heard devin nunes say. if sessions won't unrecuse and mueller won't clear the president, we're the only ones. so what they're saying there is if the attorney general of the united states abides by his oath to defend the constitution, and if the s

thought richard nixon was going to win the presidency in 1968, he offered his resignation to lyndon johnsonwho was then the president. well, the republicans were not having my of that. that was in 1968, and johnson had already announced he wasn't going to run for re-election. he was a lame duck president. and so the republicans criticized him, including nixon who was then the candidate, became the candidate for the republican nomination, and then he became the candidate and then was president-elect. so warren was, warren hated nixon. just hated him. going back to the politics of california in the '50s . be he just -- and he just could not believe that richard nixon was going to name his successor. but that, of course, is what happened. >> yes. >> professor simon, thank you for being here. you taught me in 2012. i have a two-part question. one, the operative language or the important language of brown i is, of course, the all deliberate speed phrasing. in your research in this book, did you come across anything that gave you insight into whether or not the chief justice's expectation of time

kennedy, i'm sorry, lyndon johnson and john f. kennedy, three democrats he served under. he supported defense and foreign aid programs, aimed at combatting communism and endorsed security. he endorsed the war in vietnam, but he fell johnson should have relied more on air and nafl support and less on ground troops. he was less supportive of social programs, believed in encouraging people to rely on federal assistance rather than pull themselves up without government help. because of his loyalty to the republican party, ford sometimes had to take the positions differently than he had previously. and this especially became the case after he became a minority leader in 1965, that i'll say more about in a minute. for instance, ford had opposed lyndon johnson's great society programs, believing he encouraged people to live off government assistance, yet he endorsed richard nixon's family assistance plan even though that would increase the number of people on the welfare rolls. as another example, ford adopted a hard line to communist china as a member of congress, but he endors

. >> host: but did you learn about lyndon johnson, someone you knew personally? yes it was interesting. the war and yet not will always be a scar on his legacy, but the more thought about what he did in the first year and a half when he was president, the more respect i had for his extraordinary ability not simply to do with the congress, but to have conviction in addition of where he wanted to take the country. the very first night he became president when kennedy was killed, he said i'm going to get medicare, voting rights, civil rights bill. unbelievable every single thing he said came true. >> host: what were the turbulent times for theodore roosevelt? just so much like our own in a lot of ways. the industrial revolution had taken up the economy just like the revolution has today. a lot of immigrants pouring in from abroad. a gap between the rich and the poor. people in the rural areas feeling left out of the coastal cities. it was almost a time when there is a fear of revolution. a lot of violent reactions in the end to come along somehow for a square deal f

first, president lyndon b. johnson in a televised oval office address from march 31st, 1968 when he surprised the nation with his announcement that he would not run for reelection. >>> on the last evening in march 1968, the stage was set. shortly before 9:00 p.m. washington time, in the midst of last-minute electronic preparations, president johnson put the finishing touches on his address to the nation. finally with the reassuring presence of his family seated nearby, the president was ready to deliver one of the most important speeches of his entire life. a speech that would alter the course of world history. >> good evening, my fellow americans. tonight i want to speak to you of peace in vietnam and southeast asia. no other question so pre occupies our people. no other dream so absorbs the 250 million human beings who live in that part of the world. no other goal motivates american policy in southeast asia. >> first addressing himself to the continuing problem of vietnam, the president outlined plans for a unilatera