it was important to give the president a chance to succeed, coupled of rayburncal skills and lyndon johnsonjohnson believed in winning. he believed in understanding what you can achieve. going up against an opponent for the sake of it would not be smart politics. if they can give you something, that would be smart politics. rayburner, johnson and did not disagree all that much on major legislation. eisenhower was not that conservative of a president. rayburn was not that liberal of a speaker. the idea you cannot get things done because a divided -- because of a divided government would not have made lot of sense during that time. susan: only seven members of congress at the time he was speaker including the majority leader were aware of the manhattan project, which , andoped the atomic bomb yet he has to find funding for it. how did he do that? susan: that is not -- professor green: that is not a story i'm familiar with. rayburn fully believed in working with the white house and doing things a highly scenes. serves, he basically worked with the appropriations committee and said, this is wha

in race for the white house, we dive into the 1960 race between lyndon johnson and barry goldwater, aical parties. >> on july 2nd, 1964, lbj walks into the east room of the white house and transforms the lives of millions of americans. >> i'm about to sign into law a civil rights act of 1964. >> this is a time when everybody's watching television to watch a president sign a bill. every network is covering it. this is a moon shot moment. >> the symbolism of the moment, a southern white democrat president signing this into law is huge. >> let us lay aside i recall differences and make our nation whole. >> for many watching, this is betrayal of what the democrats have traditionally stood for. >> while lyndon johnson was jubilant, at least in public to have passed this historic bill, he's melancholy that night in the aftermath. >> lbj essentially fretted that he might, in fact, lose the south forever as a result of signing the civil rights act. >> uh-oh, what did i do? i'm the big man for a day. i've made history, but now i have an election to win in november, and what is the boomerang ef

your vote for lyndon johnson in 1964 over civil rights. and then when it gets to professor obama and senator harry reid, your democratic counterpart and the senate conservativent fund, you don't hold back there. i think most people wouldou be surprised to learn your an all-american tailgater at the university of louisville and we'll talk about that. why do we start with polio? 1944, your two years old living with your mom in alabama and the doctor, your values overseas overseas y in the war. the doctor says, mitch has polio. it's hard today to imagine how terrifying those words must t he been for parents then traded out absolute. i subsequently learned there was a serious epidemic in 1944 all over the country. the disease is very, very unpredictable. of course you would have the flu. you think you're the flu, and a couple of weeks later some people would be completely normal. couple weeks later some people be in an iron lung or dead. in my case it affected my left quadriceps, the muscle between your knee and your thigh. in one of the great

lyndon johnson is probably the most important david: lyndon was probably the most important person, the instep sensible person? -- the indispensable person? lonnie: i think that he and pressure put on by the civil rights activists and leaders. as people see birmingham and selma. as people see the violence that african americans and others endured, there is a sense that the country has to change. and johnson sort of rides that wave. david: so if somebody is watching and or is here today, and says what books could i read that might give me more of a flavor of what washington went through in the civil rights era, what slavery was in this country, how it was dealt with constitutionalhe amendments, what would you recommend as good books for people to read? lonnie: anything by taylor branch gives you a good sense. david: taylor branch wrote a three volume book on the civil rights revolution which 18 pulitzer prize. lonnie: and i think one of the best books to understand race in the 19th century is david light biography of frederick douglass. david: which also won the pulitzer prize. there is

i think joe would be the most progressive president since lyndon johnson. i also think he would be a normatively effective forgetting congressional people elected. gerry: why do you think he's a progressive? his positioning seems to be the center of the party. you've got people who consider themselves more progressive like bernie sanders and elizabeth warren. why would you say he would be the most progressive? >> if you just look at what his policies are. basically on tax policy thanks those who have more should pay more. he thanks equal income should pay equal tax. and the days when rich lobbyists got special tax bills for the wealthy real estate clients, those days are over. and plus he wants public option for healthcare which means anybody can have health insurance in america without any question. so i think he would be a progressive president. but more importantly, he would be a progressive president who could get things done. it's one thing to be a progressive to canada, it's another thing to be a progressive president. to be the progressive president

that socialism is becoming more popular it's that capitalism is becoming less popular because lyndon johnson said the woman have to be half socialist half capitalism social security is socialism well the 1st thing is that no one knows who lyndon johnson is anymore 2nd is that we can't define these terms ask an 18 year old what socialism is and they really don't know other than free stuff and if they're going to get free health care free chip job training free education and that's socialism and that they like and they shared in other countries they see in other countries and they don't think of venezuela they don't think of north korea they don't think of china and they think socialism they think europe they think norway sweden was a no it's amazing how it works there but it's a smaller country and it doesn't have the diversity that we have doesn't have the landmass that we have doesn't have the population explosion or the immigration that we have i think what i've learned over the last 10 years is that each country is different each election is different and what works for one country and on

lyndon johnson and richard nixon the most ruthless democrat and , most ruthless republican feared that dream of a kennedy presidency as did all of the other republican presidential hopefuls. bobby was almost certain that challenging johnson was hopeless, but it might be the only way to put pressure on the president to de-escalate the vietnam war. the chants, the dream and the antiwar democrats all contrived to get bobby thinking about it. it is the way he approached running for the senate three years earlier. first he resisted, then he wavered, then he resisted again, then he wavered again, all the while johnson and nixon and the others believed bobby health -- held history in his hands. bobby did not yet realize this bout nothing less than life and death. in the nuclear age everything was about life and death because the commander-in-chief could start world war iii in minutes by launching nuclear missiles. but the 1968 election would be about the life and death of people we knew. in the spring of 1968, my cousin john t. corley junior graduated from west point and visited us in boston

this next video is from 1965, it is at ellis island, statue of liberty, lyndon johnson signing a majorill. let's watch. [video clip] >> those who contribute most to this country, its growth, its strength, its spirit, will be the first admitted to this land. the fairness of this standard is so self-evident that we may well wonder that it has not always been applied. yet the fact is that for over four decades, the immigration policy of the united states has been twisted and distorted by the harsh injustice of the national origins quota system. under that system, the ability of new immigrants to come to america depended upon the country of their birth. only three countries were allowed to supply 70% of all of the immigrants. families were kept apart because a husband or wife or child had been born in the wrong place. men of needed skill and talent were denied entrance because they came from southern or eastern europe or one of the developing continents. this system violated the basic principle of american democracy, a principal that values and rewards each man on the basis of his merit as

if lyndon johnson is his best buddy and has contribute to a roosevelt presidency, the irs comes in andnot going to touch him. mark: let's switch back to nixon. nixon knows all this history. nixon saw what roosevelt did with the irs. what kennedy did with the irs. and the cia was used against goldwater. yet they catch nixon. and nixon is essentially facing impeachment for some of the same things these prior presidents did and we don't even talk about it honestly in this country. >> nixon would have been impeached had he not resigned. nixon was trying to use some of roosevelt's tactics. he got an increase in social security he got through. he's thinking older americans i want in my camp. so he has the benefits kick in before the election. but the taxes to pay for it don't happen until after the 1972 election. that's a typical roosevelt stunt. mark: i want to focus on the abuse of power issue. some of the same democrats who are well aware of what their own party had been doing. some of them participated in were suddenly ringing their hands over nixon. what i'm trying to get across is he's

he wanted to show that his predecessor's family bore him no ill will for the assassination. >> lyndon johnson take the reins of government, at which time president johnson will have to take into his hands the reins of the most powerful nation in the world. >> is there any doubt in your mind chief that oswald is the man that killed the president? >> i think this is the man that killed the president, yes, sir. >> is there any evidence any one else may have been linked with oswald to this shooting? >> at this time we don't believe so. >> i don't know what this is all about. >> did you kill the president? >> no, sir, i didn't. >> how did you get the black eye? >> sir? >> did you shoot the president? >> i work in that building. >> were you in that building at the time? >> naturally if i work in that building, yes, sir. >> back up, man. >> did you shoot the president? >> i'm just a patsy. >> this is room 317, homicide bureau here at the dallas police station. as you see, they are bringing the weapon allegedly used in the assassination of president john f. kennedy this afternoon at 12:30 here in dal

his name was lyndon b. johnsonn wants the nomination for himself, and he's prepared to play dirty. >> lyndon johnson's allies and friends at the convention begin to talk about kennedy's health problems. >> kennedy had serious health problems. addison's disease. he had a hormonal deficiency that could have killed him. in fact, his father put medicine in safe deposit vaults all over the united states so that kennedy would never run short. >> so what johnson does is he makes it a campaign issue. >> the kennedy forces denied it vociferously. and had doctors come out and say he was above average in health and energy and vitality and never had so-called addison's disease and they lied through their teeth. >> kennedy's illness is never mentioned again. it's a victory for jfk's team, if not for truth. >> had the american public known just how sick jack kennedy was, he probably could not have been a presidential candidate. >> now they work the convention floor. >> john f. kennedy. >> to win the nomination, they must get an

signed into law in 1965 by lyndon johnson. take us back to that time period and how this legislation was significant at the time and how it has evolved. george: that's a great question to start off with. medicare and medicaid passed in july 1965. medicaid was really an afterthought in the legislative drafting process. the law's ratification shortly after the assassination of president john f. kennedy meant that there was a greater focus on the medicare law and there were certain historical reasons for this. grew out inan and 1960 which also grew out of the medical aid for a program, which was a new deal era program that began in the 40's and 50's. for that reason most policymakers and legislators were focused on delivering medical assistance public insurance options for the elderly who were at risk of bankruptcy and high cost from end-of-life care. so when medicaid was appended to the law it was seen as a way to extend a similar program to those who were deemed medically indigent. at first, medical indigence was seen as a way

if i may say, to me the most underrated at least until fairly recently is lyndon johnson. because we still give kennedy the credit for all of the civil rights legislation, but it really was lyndon johnson who pushed that. we should give him a lot more credit. >> he is seven, not 43. >> that is true. how he managed to get that -- [laughter] >> richard? >> the most overrated president, and i am very specific, talking about the president is thomas caps on. people tend to forget the second term was a disaster. he imposed something called the embargo. which was designed to prevent war with europe's warring powers. it pretty much blew up in his face and had to be repealed subsequently. >> can i ask you about the embargo act? did they really tiedown all american ships in this country for some 18 months? >> in effect, they did. new england was the maritime part of the country. was already an area of suspicious. , unintentionally, but it also contributed to some real divisions, fundamental divisions in the union. the most underestimated, in some ways i would say the least known who

i think joe would be the most progressive president since lyndon johnson. i also think he would be a normatively effective forgetting congressional people elected. gerry: why do you think he's a progressive? his positioning seems to be the center of the party. you've got people who consider themselves more progressive like bernie sanders and elizabeth warren. why would you say he would be the most progressive? >> if you just look at what his policies are. basically on tax policy thanks those who have more should pay more. he thanks equal income should pay equal tax. and the days when rich lobbyists got special tax bills for the wealthy real estate clients, those days are over. and plus he wants public option for healthcare which means anybody can have health insurance in america without any question. so i think he would be a progressive president. but more importantly, he would be a progressive president who could get things done. it's one thing to be a progressive to canada, it's another thing to be a progressive president. to be the progressive president

lyndon johnson is starting to lose the end of his nose. ronald reagan was one of them that was struck by lightning a few years back. he's been successfully cleaned up since. probably the most difficult of all of the presidents to identify is back here behind president reagan. no one's ever got this right. as a matter of fact i had to really study him hard to figure out who that was. that is warren harding. behind him is john adams who is tough to see because of all of the overgrowth. the neatest fact that i've come across through a lot of my research is ronald reagan when he was asked what his proudest accomplishment in life was it had nothing to do with his presidency or acting career. his proudest accomplishment in life is he claims to have saved 77 lives from when he was a young man as a life guard. i thought that was very interesting. the question always comes up will obama ever be here or was he ever here? the answer to that question is -- the goal for the original park was every time a president was to come into office that a two-foo

is an incredible coincidence, not many people realize that it is decided on the same day that lyndon b. johnson died in texas. here's the headline for the washington post. lyndon b. johnson dies at 64 years old and supreme court allows early-stage abortion. of course, they are also talking about the vietnam war. a pretty big news day. in 1964, the civil rights act was passed. a couple of legislators who were against the act decided to insert the gender clause, thinking that would cause people to not vote for the act. that backfired. the act got passed anyway but in terms of what he did for race, it made it illegal to discriminate based on sex. initially, a lot of women's organizations are optimistic that this will be enforced. enforced, a group of women found the organization for women. june at thed in third annual conference of commissions on the status of women in washington, d.c.. the first major organizational meeting, it was still pretty small. they had 300 members. purpose is to create pressure to enforce -- to to enforcevernments the civil rights act, which made it illegal to discriminat

on the downside president lyndon johnson's poor showing in 1968 made him announce he would not seek reelectiond for your saft or that the tearful performance raise questions about his mental health and ending his white house hopes. so we will look upon the state to see whether presidential dreams are made are. we'll take an in-depth look at the whole event. he works for bill clinton in 1996, was a key advisor for barack obama in 2008 and 2012, and then took the role of chief strategist and hillary clinton's run. he is currently the ceo of the strategy group working with pete buttigieg's campaign. thanks for joining us. so obviously iowa did not come out as anyone expected in terms of the process is as much terms of the results. >> . gerry: iowa usually is thinning out the roles. where do you think we stand just a few days ahead of the new hampshire primary? cnet there's a lot on the line in new hampshire and we will go into a little bit more. but historically you mention a 1968 race where johnson faltered in new hampshire. that we have not had a nominee who hasn't come in first or second in ei

susan: we will jump from the 1940's to the 1960's and lyndon johnson.e comes into office under the worst circumstances, the assassination of john kennedy. did he have a honeymoon as president after that? patty: he did. he, again, very much understood the power of image. the famous photo when he being sworn in on air force one, he makes sure that newly widowed jacqueline kennedy is seen. and that image. and what a horrific request that must have been for him to make that request in a horrible moment in her life, not just to say to the american people, but to send to the world, that this government will continue. there is continuity. there is no coup. i am in charge. the torch has been passed. he goes into a series of legislative successes, landmark civil rights legislation is passed. much on the glow of the kennedy presidency and wanting to see many of kennedy's ideas put forth into action. but then, as happens with many presidents, the vietnam war leads to his dÉnouement. susan: how important is it, that themselves had built their own media empire? patt

susan: we have one of those famous lyndon johnson phone calls.his is in 1968, to just serve as an example of that relationship that you talked about, about not being afraid to pick up the phone and express his anger about things. let's listen. [audio recording] >> frank, i wanted to tell you about hanging my head in shame at the industry and particularly at cronkite and the, what i would say, very unfair, personalized reporting of these fellows. i think that you ought to know that opinion because you're going to be disappointed in me down the road if i did not tell you that. i am just telling you frankly that i think the industry is wrecking all of us. susan: reaction? patty: well, that is pretty heavy-handed. you can imagine what it was like for the journalists the next day. i am sure he's not going to call on the journalists the next day that so offended him in the press conference. the fact that the "wrecking the country," very disturbing. very disturbing. we are hearing that today, and that the press is the enemy of the american people accord

that socialism is becoming more popular it's that capitalism is becoming less popular because lyndon johnson said the women have to be half socialist half capitalism social security is socialism well the 1st thing is that no one knows whom in johnson is anymore the 2nd is that we can't define these terms ask an 18 year old what socialism is and they really don't know other than free stuff and if they're going to get free health care free chip job training free education and that's socialism and that they like and they see it in other countries they see in other countries and they don't think of venezuela they don't think of north korea they don't think of china and they think socialism they think europe they think norway sweden.

all prior administrations from president lyndon johnson have tried and bitterly failed.o do was not elected small things, or shy away from big problems. [applause] it has been a long, and arduous process to arrive at this moment. on sunday, i delivered to prime minister netanyahu, my vision for peace, prosperity, and a brighter future for the israelis and palestinians. this vision is fundamentally different from past proposals. in the past, even the most well-intentioned plans were light on factual details and heavy on conceptual frameworks. by contrast, our plan is 80 pages and is the most detailed proposal of put forward by far. as i have seen throughout my long career as a dealmaker, complex problems require nuanced, fact-based remedies. that is why our proposal provides precise technical solutions to make israelis, palestinians, and the region safer and more prosperous. my vision presents a win-win opportunity for both sides, a realistic two state solution that resolves the risk of palestinian statehood to israel's security. today israel has taken a giant step toward

to teddy roosevelt, going back to fdr in the 30s and the 40s, going back to harry truman, jfk, lyndon johnson, jimmy carter, even richard nixon, obama, people have been talking about healthcare for all. what we will do in the first week of our administration, is introduce medicare for all legislation and we will finally, after 100 years of talk, pass legislation that guarantees healthcare to all of our people. and i want to say a word about another issue that simply cannot be ignored. we can talk about trump, as we say in vermont, till the cows come home, but we are not going to waste any time on trunk. but this is what i will say: trump is not only a danger to this country, he is a danger to the entire world, and he is a danger to the entire world because he thanks that climate change is a hoax. well, i have some very bad news for donald trump. climate change is not a hoax, it is an existential threat to our country and in fact the entire world. now here is, ready for a radical idea? i don't want those standing to collapse. here comes, guys, radical idea, our administration will believe in s

you know, maybe vietnam when you started seeing the collapse of lyndon johnson with the vietnam war and there was the gerald ford pardoned nixon. and there was churning going on there. but i always find consume bens city is a great benefit just to have air force one take you around and have that much infrastructure around you. i think obama who we were talking about is the beneficial and he were of being the first nonwhite president. august these white presidents and then obama inheriting a great recession which we worked our way out of. started seeing signs of it by the time of re-election. but also the killing of osama bin laden was a big deal. he was outrecall numblaw number and ballistic missile was able to do it on his watch. and the bailing out of general motors.ble to do it on his watc. and the bailing out of general motors. that helps in michigan and toledo, ohio. some of the moves that he made in his first term helped him get reelected. but he didn't have coattails. hillary clinton was tsecretary f state but she didn't have the gas her tank. by six or eight year, people start t

. >> guest: there've been books on lyndon johnson. is it a failure or a success? >> guest: if you look at the programs and the goal the object is overstated at the time you would have to say that it's largely a failure to to the extent we are told another debate i think that we of course move beyond a separate but equal but in your book you talkta abot the black colleges and pasted it could case of ronald mason. who was he? >> guest: the issue is what has become of these in capuchin since the civilit rights act and the problem that these institutions have is because black students have options they didn't want in the first half of stthe 20th century they are exercising those options and they are not attending the historical black colleges to the extent that they once did a survey are struggling with how to stay viable both economically and what they can contribute. this has been resisted by some who want the schools to maintain their independence and i can understand that but it's often for nostalgic reasons rather than practical and he got a lot of pushback. >> g

lyndon johnson didn't realize that counties and cities and states across america would find ways to stop those on the basis of race and color and some other form of discrimination. he didn't realize that his job had not ended with the voting rights act of 1965. as we re-authorized it just a few years ago, he did not realize that people would still be stopped from voting, whose thoast who have been incarcerated. mostly people of color. so today i would pay tribute to my colleague who is leading this. pay tribute to the colleagues who are bringing us to recognize 150 years is good to recognize, but the fight still is maintained. and if their vote at the ballot box is going to be the change agent of this nation, and so homeless persons will not still be homeless, people who are hungry will not still be hungry. small businesses who want to open their doors will not be denied because of the present leadership and administration. our vote counts and the honor and tribute that we can give to those who were enslaved for 250 years is to use the precious right of vote and as they do so, that our c

small part because it's one of the very few points in history roosevelt's new deal majorities in lyndon johnson'sgreat society majority and civil war congress it with the national legislature was dynamic. >> what about the required quorum for congress to not have the southerners walk out? >> that is $10000. yes that was a dire issue. >>. >> it is a complicated question. so what exactly do we call a quorum. this is not entirely kosher. it's a very interesting debate i figured there was a finite amount of patients. the senate's rules have traditionally been much more rigid so that was a tough question. very pragmatic that is a great question. >> what are congressional elections like and that incumbents tended to get reelected it varied states render elections very differently so to talk about massachusetts or lower manhattan or where my ancestors come from. and incumbents. there was much more mobility than there is today. the senate with a great deal you will remember the direct election of senators didn't happen until 1913. in those days senators were selected by state legislators who ever had the