think that if you were going to pick a president to figure out how to blow up the hastert rule lyndon johnsone your guy. he is really just obsessive about the congress. there's a famous story that larry o'brien who was a kennedy aide who became johnson's chief legislative strategist told about one night when they were -- when they were -- o'brien was up on capitol hill trying to pass a bill he was trying to bring it home for the white house and he came up short and he felt bad about it and he sort of procrastinated, he spent a couple hours before reporting back to the white house into the early hours of the morning and finally he goes in first thing in the morning and tells president johnson he has come up short and johnson's first question is when did this happen? and o'brien tells him, he said, why didn't you wake me? and o'brien says -- and johnson said, when you're bleeding up on that hill i want to be bleeding with you. and that is sort of the ethos of the johnson presidency is it's all about managing the congress and the relationship with the congress. that becomes a detriment of the jo

>> i think if you're gonna pick a president to figure out how to blow up the house, lyndon johnson wouldbe your guy. he is really just obsessive about the congress. there is a famous story that larry bryan, who is a candidate who became johnson's chief legislative strategist, told about one night when they were -- o'brien was up on capitol hill trying to pass a bill way. he was trying to bring it home for the white house and he came up short. he felt bad about it and he procrastinated. he spent a couple of hours before reporting back to the white house into the early hours of mourning. finally he goes in first in the morning and tells president johnson that he's come up short. and johnson's first question is when did this happen? and bryan tells them. and he says why didn't you wake me? and bryan says -- and johnson said when you're bleeding up on that hill i want to be leading with. you that is sort of the ethos of the johnson presidency it's all about managing the congress and relationship with congress. that becomes a detriment of the johnson presidency. but when you're talking about

his directives were reversed by lyndon johnson. everything that kennedy did accept civil rights was reversed by johnson, including entry, his progress, reliance, elantra progress in south america, including his african initiatives, including his indonesia initiatives, johnson, 180 degree uter. another thing that we get into is on lee harvey oswald we, we are access now declassified we've information. and then the cia was quite aware of his new where he was supervising him from 195863, which makes him an asset of the c. this is incredible. and also we know that jack ruby was a see was an f, b i in form. so we, the intelligence agencies are involved with these people from the beginning until the end of. so we know that this is crucial, was not on the 64 when the shots were fired because nobody saw him, the 3 people in the 3 women who worked on the 4th floor, they testified 2 of them testified, and their testimony was changed by the warren commission and we tracked them down. another researcher, track them down in 1990 and got it stra

and top of that, lyndon johnson has to be looked at as part of a cover up. that's not to say he was involved the assassination, cuz we can't prove that. but linda johnson was about to be fired as vice president, that we know. and he wanted this thing to go away. he didn't, he said, we don't want to war with russia. we don't want to accuse russia that was kind of an excuse to, to a point and a point, the warren commission, they wanted a peaceful transition. that's what they, that was amiss that johnson would take over, and continue kennedy's policies. by the way, you mentioned them, all right, but we go into that in a little section where kennedy is, is praised by martin luther king for his advances on the civil rights front getting those students a negro students into colleges in the south, which is quite a feat with george wallace in alabama. wallace was an enemy of kennedy and vowed that he would bring, bring them down, that he would say he would, he would effect abode in 64 can age and a lot more than is recognized. and this is wrong. it's really wrong tha

diploma means for people. >> i do think this is important.when the program got started and when lyndon johnson program got started in 1965, congress and president johnson would say that they wanted more people, modest income people to have their education covered by grants. this idea that everyone should have a huge loan was not part of the program but again what ended up happening is to cover students education with grants congress but it was too expensive so loans became the easy option. it was like we have this goal when the rubber hits the road and they look at how much it costs, that happened more and more. and it happens now. so every year or every time they would offer higher education they talk about tell grants which are intended to be a scholarship money that doesn't have to be repaid or modest income students but congress never increase the programs over time. they did but it didn't happen nearly as quickly as schools were increasing their prices so there had been this growing gap in what the telegraph covers and what modest income family ability pays. so loans just became the easy

in particular who are getting a lot of ph.d's but not necessarily getting the payoff. >> when lyndon johnson program got started in 1965, congress and -- and president johnson would say that they wanted poor people, modest income people to have their education covered by grants. loans became an easyoption. and that happened more and more and more and it happens now. every year or reauthorize higher education act they talk about pell grant which are intended to be scholarship money that doesn't have to be repaid, modest income students but congress never really increase the pell grant over time. i mean, they did but it didn't increase nearly as quickly as schools were increasing the prices and so there's been this on what the pell grant covers and what, you know, poor modest income families ability to pay is. so loans just became the easy option to fill that gap. >> right. fair to note that it's hard to subsidize your way into affordable if higher education institutions keep rising prices, right? >> yeah, yeah. exactly. this is all -- a lot of it is risk. how do you build in risk so that you

lyndon johnson has died. according to the bulletin, former president lyndon johnson, he was 64 years old, has died according to his press secretary. the report only says that johnson was stricken at his ranch in texas. he died this afternoon at brooke general hospital repeating that bulletin that just arrived former president lyndon johnson is dead of a heart attack at the age of 64. we'll have more details in the program as we get them. the other major story today, aside from the death of lyndon johnson, the tragic death and the hopes for peace in vietnam, is the decision of the united states supreme court that handed down an historic decision about abortion. the court said in a 7-2 decision that in the first three months of pregnancy, only the woman and her physician may decide whether she may have an abortion. in the second three months, all the state may do is regulate abortion procedures. and only in the final three months of pregnancy can the state forbid abortion. the court ruled in cases from texas an

so in 1965, for example, roughly at that time that lyndon johnson is telling the american people, we've begun to escalate our military involvement in vietnam, you've got martin luther king, and tens and tens of thousands of others, marching in selma, alabama, to ensure the right of african-americans to vote in a state that had long disenfranchised them. so there is this kind of parallel social movement occurring as these early, and we can use the word now, anti-war advocates are trying to come up with their own answers and solutions. so obviously, to some extent, this nascent anne-war activism is going to look at the civil rights movement. they have a repertoire. they already have some means and tools and practices that might be adaptable to our cause. so that's one piece out there. there's another piece out there that's almost happening simultaneously but again, a precursor to this. we talked earlier about what was happening at the university of california berkeley campus, in the fall of 1964, really just weeks after the gulf of tonkin resolution is passed, and the campus at the univer

kennedy, escalated by lyndon johnson.th troops with bombs. gerald ford was at the vend of of -- the very end of the failed war. the same is true for joe biden. joe biden has been advocating exiting afghanistan for the better part of a decade, so this will not be the dominant part of joe biden's legacy. >> picking up on what you were just saying, mark, he is certainly attempting to pass several social initiatives including voting rights and infrastructure bills. if joe biden is able to successfully sweep these measures through, do you think that it would approach the legacy of lyndon b. johnson and the great society? >> probably not, alex, but the comparison is hard to make. it was a very different washington when lyndon johnson held the presidency. bipartisanship was a natural part of the political process. that's not the case as we know in 2021. it won't be the case for the balance of joe biden's presidency. by the same token, alex, joe biden can become the most progressive president since lyndon johnson with the sweepin

host: in this chapter you have a description of her as lyndon johnson in four inch heels.st: you can see some pictures that remind you of lyndon johnson where she is stabbing her finger at someone she is trying to persuade. there is a famous one with donald trump and the last time they had a real conversation at a white house meeting in october of 2019. there is one with barack obama, jabbing her finger at him intently. in this picture, barack obama has put his hands on nancy pelosi's hand. it is not clear whether he's trying to calm her or protect himself. host: we have another clip. it is about the passage of the affordable care act. march 21, 2010. this is nancy plessis speaking -- this is nancy pelosi speaking just before the vote. [video clip] speaker pelosi: we will be joining those who established social security. medicare. and now tonight, health care for all americans. [applause] >> on this vote, the yays are 219, the nays are 212. [applause] the motion is adopted. host: a seven vote difference. guest: not really a seven vote difference, she told me. she told me s

the analysis of the moynihan ends and the people, and lyndon johnson who really saw this as a law and order issue, a crime issue, maybe people need help but get into anything. the war in vietnam kept going and all that. i i think had a different analys and it doesn't make -- which is important, and he's not the only one. there are many people who saw things that way but he is sort of unique as as a white publc political figure who, he supported the writers workshop. he became president, like a federal theater project to support the cultural developments. he's just one person but he is i think of force for pushing things in that direction -- >> will break away here to take you live to the senate, part of our commitment for more than 400 years to bring you coverage of congress. we will return to booktv following a short pro forma session here on c-span2. the clerk: washington, d.c., september 7, 2021. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable tammy duckworth, a senator from the state of illinois, to pe

more recently, some presidents would not think of, like lyndon johnson, he is one of the ones that said that. it is very important to note, and something that hasn't always been given enough attention. a few examples that might help beyond lincoln -- of course lincoln gives us many examples -- but if you think about in other times of crisis, because that's where you see these presidents really believe, what they think and will decide. during world war ii, franklin roosevelt drew on his faith. he drew on his episcopal faith that he had gotten not only from his parents but also headmaster of the boarding school he went to. he drew on this to not only frame the stakes of world war ii, but to walk with and motivate and keep the war effort going. if you haven't read it ever or if it has been a while, his d-day prayer, which he wrote with his daughter, is well worth looking at. it is short, you can look into an audio clip of it, and it makes this point about the intersection of faith and politics and where it works well. and the cold war is full of examples of faith and politics. it is fascin

lyndon johnson was seen as overregulated the economy, over regulating society. he became in essence, the first celebrity, first major celebrity to be elected to the office. barry goldwater didn't win in 64 but -- 66. he actually defeated the most recent california governor, jerry brown, his dad, who had been governor before. >> this is a comment. i hope you like it. karley wants me to tell you that she likes year shirt. >> thank you currently. you and i do a lot of blue on blue. i >> yes but i think i surpassed you today. >> that's a higher quality shirt that i saw. >> it's wonderful that you mentioned this because this, this was actually brought to me by my relatives in india. so i'm wearing my indian internationalism in a really stylish way. right? now eddie what about your shirt? >> i mean it's been a while and no one has commented on my shirt. it's very summary. >> it's jungle-y, doesn't it remind you of the jungle? at first i thought it was camouflage. you joined the marines. camouflage on there. got a speed on style because it's important to me. >> he's do

the analysis of the moynihans and people who -- lyndon johnson who really saw this as a law and order issue, a crime issue, oh, maybe people need help. they tonight do anything. the war in vietnam took all that and it makes it a different analysis, which is important and these only the only ones, there were many people who saw things that way, but they're unique as a white public political figure. he supported the watts royter workshop and he wanted to incorporate that, a federal theater project, to support the cultural developments and he's just one person, but he's, i think, a force for pushing things in that direction and the pull in the other direction, which elizabeth hinton's book documents in great detail when we move from the '60s forward. but you point out we're back today with the similar questions that we had in this period. >> okay. great. you know, this is -- i'm interested in differences, if any, between bobby kennedy and his brother john. now, of course, president kennedy is, you know, tragically assassinated in 1963, always the great what-if and we don't have the evide

pearson, despite his scepticism about vietnam, supported lyndon johnson and i.f. stone kept urging him to come out more vehemently against the war. but they both were interested. in kind of information that other people overlooked. i.f. stone was very hard of hearing and also nearsighted. when he went to hearings, he complained that he missed things. so he would read the transcripts after the meetings. he was the only reporter who did that and he picked up all sorts of things rest of the press corps missed. he was quite accurate because he was quoting it back. he was doing for himself what pearson's legmen were doing running around the halls. one thing that jack anderson discovered, in 1947 congress authorized its committees, or mandated its committees to make transcripts of the closed sessions. they just didn't release them. but he could always persuade some useful member of congress to slip him a copy of the transcript so co-find out what was going on. and jack anderson discovered that senator john kennedy was quite willing to provide the closed flaergs the sena

anyway, nixon got the idea of taping from lyndon johnson, his immediate predecessor, during the recess -- excuse me, the transition between the two presidencies, nixon and johnson met, and he said, i have several of the offices wired for recording including several of the telephones, he said i strongly recommend you do the same. nixon had exactly the opposite reaction and had them all taken out. but this is the first time he had heard of presidents recording. so what were the reasons that he does install? well, back in the nixon white house, as we have discussed in prior lectures, there was a pretty efficient management system, excepting for those instances like watergate and a few others where the management system did not come into play. but the management system on a daily basis was there. when somebody had a meeting with the president, and they brought a guest in, they prepared a talking paper, that went into the president, was approved by haldeman first, then went into the president, and then after the meeting, they prepared a summary of the meeting. let me give you a "for example

the analysis of the people, and lyndon johnson who saw this as a law and order issue but they didn'thing. the war on vietnam so i think you have a different analysis which is important and he's not the only one. there are many people who saw things that way but it's unique white public figure. he wanted to incorporate this project to support the cultural development and he's just one person but use forth putting this in the other direction which he documents in great detail. we are back today. >> i am interested in, if any, bobby kennedy and his brother, john and of course president kennedy was assassinated in 1963, there's always that what if? we don't really have the evidence because we don't actually have him being exposed to the post 1963 development but part of what you are saying is kennedy is seeing things early, as early as 1961, maybe a lot of other public figures are seen that yet. you get the sense that bobby is different than john and his inability to see the problem but maybe just don't have enough evidence because kennedy is assassinated, colonel. >> marshall said he un

he saw lyndon johnson and others as overregulating the economy. overregulating society. he became in a sense, the first major celebrity to get elected to office. goldwater did not win in 1964, but reagan was elected governor of california in 1966. he actually defeated the most recent california governor, jerry brown, he defeated jerry brown's dad, who had been governor before. yep. >> i hope you'll like it. carly wants me to tell you that she likes your shirt. >> oh, well, thank you, carly. thank you very much, carly. i like my shirt, too. what do you think? you like my shirt? >> it's nice. it's blue. you and i do a lot of blue on blue. >> i noticed that. but i think i surpassed you today. wow! wow! i'm wearing my indian internationalism in a very stylish way. >> what about your shirt? >> it's been a while and no one has commented on the shirt. it's very summery. >> it is very jungly. i thought it was camouflage. i thought maybe you joined the marines or something. >> good, good. >> he has the bead on style or something. it's important to me. >> he's doing the facial hai

they keep saying that lyndon johnson fulfilled the policies of kennedy in vietnam and various other places. he didn't, he 180 degrees opposite. kennedy was withdrawn from vietnam and issued orders to such mcnamara and bundy both confirmed it in books and so have several other people . it's just our historians have not called up to that yet. all right, i'll stop you there more from all of us down after this break, as well as the man who is chief of staff colon pal george w bush's secretary of state, played by jeffrey wright in oliver stone's w. is the bible presidency in terminal decline. this administration handling of the coven pandemic, the economy, and not least afghanistan sees this president underwater, in the polls in a big way in the country today is just as divided as you're from tennis president, things around ah, the ah, the welcome back. i'm still here with the iconic director of such hills as wall street w amplitude all of a stone given it's your birthday. i must also ask about the film you did so much work on it never came to pass. sy hersh has been on this show. numerous time

they keep saying that lyndon johnson fulfilled the policies of kennedy and nom and various other places. he didn't, he 180 degrees opposite. kennedy was withdrawing from vietnam and issued orders to such mcnamara and bundy both confirmed it in books and so have several other people . it's just our historians have not called up to that yet. all right, i'll stop you there more from all of us down after this break as well as the man who is chief of staff the colin powell, george w bush's secretary of state, played by jeffrey wright in all of his stones w ah, when our show seemed wrong, when old joe don't any room to shape out the scene because after an engagement equal the trail, when so many find themselves will depart, we choose to look for common ground in the welcome back. i'm still here with the iconic director of such hills as wall street w amplitude of a stone given it's your birthday. i must also ask about the film you did so much work on it never came to pass. sy hersh has been on this show numerous times. will we ever get to see the my lai massacre film? is it we never going to s

they keep saying that lyndon johnson fulfilled the policies of kennedy in vietnam and various other places. he didn't, he 180 degrees opposite. kennedy was withdrawing from vietnam and issued orders to such mcnamara and monday both confirmed it in books and so have several other people. it's just our historians. i'm not caught up to that. yeah. all right, i'll stop you there more from all of us going up to this break as well as the man who is chief of staff the colin powell, george w bush's secretary of state, played by jeffrey wright in oliver stone's w. the is the biden presidency in terminal decline this administration, handling of the coven pandemic, the economy, and not least, afghanistan sees this president underwater, in the polls in a big way in the country today is just as divided as you're from. can this president things around join me every thursday on the alex simon show, and i'll be speaking to guess in the world, the politics sport. business. i'm show business. i'll see you then. me the welcome back. i'm still here with the iconic director of such films as wall street w ampli

they keep saying that lyndon johnson fulfilled the policies of kennedy and nom and various other places. he didn't, he 180 degrees opposite. kennedy was withdrawing from vietnam and issued orders to such mcnamara and monday, both confirmed it in books. and so have several other people. it's just our historians have not caught up to that yet. all right, i'll stop you there more from oliver stone after this break, as well as the man who is chief of staff to call him pal george w bush's secretary of state. play by jeffrey wright in all of us jones w back size or finance or survival guide. when customers go buy, you reduce the price. now well, reduce the lower cutting that was good to food market. it's not good for the global economy. mm. welcome back. i'm still here with the iconic director of such films as wall street w amplitude, all of us down. given it to your buddy, i must also ask about the film you did so much work on it never came to pass. sy hersh has been on the show numerous times when we ever get to see the my lai massacre film is it. we never going to see it. i wish we'd be ab

in 1963 lyndon johnson reaches out to him as one of two members of the house of representatives. but that the commissioners on the committee that's investigating the assassination of president john kennedy, the warren commission. we go to the next slide to use his own phrase he was going to be a workhorse, not a show horse. not someone who's going to make his name by things giving speeches on the floor but someone is going to make his name by work on committees and learning the mechanics of congress. he was known for his constituents, that's what we see on the left. he's sitting at his desk reading constituent mail. he had a standing order that all constituent phone calls and letters would be answered within 24 hours. his constituents in his district appreciated that. in 13 elections they return him to congress each time with not less than 61% of the vote. we call it at the library the ford it's an aggressive calendar you might see where he jotted down, not every day but often we would get a sense of his work. for him it was not a monday -- friday job. he was often in the office

after the 1964 election were barry goldwater lost badly to lyndon johnson, the republican party was kind of in a rebuilding soul-searching mode. they were very explicit. nixon's campaign advisors new, as michael said after the 1964 election it had already been happening. the trend in service african-americans were fleeing the republican party in droves. and republican strategists after 1964 new they had to make up for that lost support somewhere. latinos were the prime candidates. there long business idea that latinos are natural republicans as reagan famously said a couple decades later tina's are natural republicans i just don't know it yet. there'd also been this logic among mexican american republicans primarily that the democratic party had ignored them over the course of decades. so their theory was that latinos had built up a lot of loyalty to the democratic party ever since the new deal. because fdr was helping them find jobs. was helping them put more food on the table, money in their pockets. they developed according to mexican american republicans this blind loyalty to the dem

wife answers thehe phone and she says the one —- he says i'm robert caro and i write books about lyndon johnson says he has been waiting his entire life for you to call. so you have so much of the turn every day on page. so could you take us to the wonky in the need discoveries like what were the goodies in your research process? >> there were so many. you know there is a moment in the book, it's one of those things if i were writing fiction i would not even use it because it would feel to broad or ontw the nose it's too perfect but the beauty of nonfiction it is what it is so arthur sackler the original three brothers were very secretive. all of themm are but there's not a ton of interviews they have ever given an arthur gave more interviews than his brothers but not many at all. so then alsoer felt that there is some out there hiding and what i think about a lot is there is the internet and then there's everything else i think there is a tendency these days the tools we have available to us make it so easy to find things on google and then you push a little deeper then your mind proquest that

the phone and he says the ultimate understatement my name is robert caro i write books about lyndon johnson. she said he has been waiting his entire life for you to call. you have so much of what caro has called turn every damn page so if that is the most wonky in the lead discoveries that people that is averaging am so what were the goodies in your research process? how did you find them? >> there were so many. there is a moment in the book it isl one of the things if i was writing fiction i would not even use it because it would feel toe. broad and on the nose but it's too perfect. but the beauty of writing nonfiction the truthso is what it is. so arthur sackler the original three brothers were very secretivee. all of them are but there are not a ton of interviews they have ever given about their business or theirnd lives and arthur gave more than his brothers but not many at all. and i thought i knew i felt probably there are some out there hiding and what i think about a lot as a reporter there is the internet and then there's everything else and i think there is a tendency these days t

when lyndon johnson passed that, he had 150-seat majority in the house and 68 seats in the senate.o it is tough. but, yes, i think even grading on a curve for the narrowness of the majority, this is a moment that democrats have to kind of stare in the mirror and understand that the president's party usually loses seats in the midterm. to hold the house by historic standards would be the upset. this is their moment to, you know, make their imprint on american life. and if they can't find a way to overcome their differences, i remember what dick gephardt said in 1994 when he was the house majority leader for democrats and they were facing a similar crisis. if he said, we can't overcome our differences, we don't deserve to be in the majority. well, they didn't overcome their differences and they lost the majority. i think that's a reminder of what's at stake for them. >> it's a really important point. the significant aspect of this is democrats can't even get on the same page themselves. >> yes. >> going forward, how destructive is that politically with those midterms looming large? >

politics is the way under our democratic system that you get the right to practice policy as the lyndon johnson said said you can't be a statesman until you've been elected. it is true politics is the way we get to practice policy and even if you're politics politics not successful you are giving back to your country when you participate in politics, it's our system. it's not it's in very imperfect, but it's better than most other systems better than all others. just so i would encourage all of your students to to be find a way to participate in politics. if you want to just go straight to public service you can do that go take the foreign service exam and and go into one of the nation's international policy agency, but there are ways to their ways to to get to do the george bush used to say the way to get into politics is to go out and do something else first successful, which is what he did. it's richard what i did i happen to mine was being a lawyer. but whatever you do remember this is the finest country in the world and it's incumbent upon each of us to give something back the way you givi