presidential historian michael beschloss, "washington post" columnist sally quinn, james peterson, directorfricana studies and associate professor of english at lehigh university and "newsweek" and "daily beast" contributor eleanor clift. welcome to all four of you. history unfolding before our eyes today in the blue room of the white house. here is president obama officially taking the oath of office for his second term as commander in chief. >>> please raise your right hand and repeat after me. i, barack hussein obama, do solemnly swear. >> i, barack hussein obama, do solemnly swear. >> that i will faithfully execute. >> that i will faithfully execute. >> the office of president of the united states. >> the office of president of the united states. >> and will to the best of my ability. >> and will to the best of my ability. >> preserve, protect, and defend. >> preserve, protect, and defend. >> the constitution of the united states. >> the constitution of the united states. >> so help you god? >> so help me god. >> congratulations, mr. president. >> thank you, mr. chief justice. thank you

the next four years joined by doris kearns goodwin, jon meacham, bob woodward, bob caro, and michael beschloss. >> i know it's the consensus that we're -- barack obama has to do is get along with the republicans. i'd like to say something about that. president obama is fond of quoting-- and if he isn't, i am-- martin luther king's statement "the moral arc of the universe bends slowly but it bends towards justice." in the first term, president obama did bend that moral arc. he got health insurance, peace of mind for more than 30 million people. the bill may be floored but it's passed. in the second term i see a sort of differently. everyone's attacking the moral arc of justice-- social security medicare everyone's saying we have to cut it bck. that's the great safety net for the american people. i almost see him as a defender. he has to defend social security and medicare in a fiscally responsible way. >> rose: inaugural day 2013, assessment by journalists and looking forward with historians when we continue. >> rose: today barack obama was sworn in for a second time as president of the united

the simple fact is-- and michael beschloss is an expert on this issue-- the president has to rally the country. not just his own party or series of interest groups and rallying the country at this time with the media that operates 24/7 mean you've got to find some way to include the -- in the case of obama the 60 million people who voted for mitt romney. and there needs to be a strategy in the strategy of sticking your finger in these people -- in his eye all the time i don't think will work. >> and that's one reason why an inaugural address for a second term is so important. here we are inauguration day. you have a president who probably is addressing the biggest audience he will ever have for the rest of his life. it's one of the few opportunities the president has these days given the media cacophony that bob is talking about. >> rose: doris kearns joins us from boston. we are taping this on friday in anticipation of the inaugural address on monday and looking at the analysis of what has the not do. from all the second terms of all the presidents that you have known what's the most

. >> woodruff: plus michael beschloss and richard norton smith talk about potential historical turning points of the past year. that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the old year ticked down today, and with it went any hope of meeting the midnight "fiscal cliff" deadline. house republicans opted not to hold any votes on the issue tonight. so-- officially, at least-- more than $600 million in tax hikes andpending cuts begin taking fect tomorw. in the meantime, senate republicans and the white house continue working on a possible deal. . >> are running out of time. americans are still threatened with a tax hike in just a few hour

joining me, nbc news presidential historian michael beschloss.ame here, alex. >> let's talk about the debt ceiling fight because that seems to be front and center. could that be a legacy trap for the president? could that rob him of his image to redefine relationships with republicans? >> oftentimes, second term presidents wish for a minute they hadn't kept the job, but only for a minute. often, they're amazed how little power they have with congress. lbj in '65 in an enormous landslide controlled both houses of congress. yet he said my first year i have exactly six months to get what i want passed. if you look back at the great society, most of that was passed in the first six months of his term. >> when nbc's david gregory asked the president to name a single goal for the next four years. >> there are a couple of things we need to get done. i've said that fixing our broken immigration system is a top priority. the second thing we've got to do is stabilize the economy and make sure it's growing. number three, we've got a huge opportunity around

. >> joining us now is michael beschloss, nbc news presidential scholar and historian. mr.ts and their second terms end up focusing on foreign policy, maybe more than they intend to, maybe more than their first terms. why is that? >> the main reason probably is when a president comes in for a second term, he usually has about six to eight months to get things through congress. it may seem small, but even lbj in '65, with 61% presidential landslide, more democrats in congress than any other time in the 20th century except for roosevelt, he knew enough about the senate and the house, he said i've got six months because i'm going to be asking democrats and some republicans to cast some risky votes. after a while, they're going to start rebelling because they're going to look to the election next year. foreign policy is something you can do without running to congress for permission ever day. >> ah. it's the can when you can't do other things. >> indeed. >> they're always from history. in terms of the president looking ahead at six to eight months, what they're telegraphing rig

carry and michael beschloss. >> i think part of what obama has to do in history is one line in the chart is the decline in household income. median household income. it's been falling for 12 years, the american dream a phrase going into the 1930's is in genuine peril, i'm not being yogi bear saying we're at the fork in the road and we should take the fork. it's a fact and the opportunity is going away. there may be a good business cycle coming but we know the long term trend here is heading in the wrong direction. >> rose: james taylor and presidential his historians and journalists when we continue. captioning sponsored by rose communications from our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose. >> rose: james taylor's one of the most recognized voices in american music. the five-time grammy award winner sold close to 100 million albums. he's equally celebrated for his guitar playing, his lyrics and his distinct baritone voice. in 2011 taylor was awarded national medal of arts from the whitehouse and highest arne for artistic achievement. yesterday he performed president obama's seco

they included doris kearns goodwin, jon meacham, michael beschloss, robert caro and bob woodward.s part two of that conversation. doris do you think when those historians met with the president they had any influence on him and what came out of those meetings even though you're not supposed to acknowledge you were there. >> no, you know, i think to go back to what bob said. the fact that you've got a president who reads history means that he's learning from previous presidents. he's not just learning from his first term but the stories and the try alls and the tragedies of previous presidents are in his head. harry truman read a lot of history, teddy roosevelt and so does barack obama and i think that's a really helpful thing. what history will tell you even though there is this second term curse idea, there's no great historic president without a second term. it's a huge opportunity because the country has already legitimized what you did in the first term as complicated as it might be during the recession. they wanted you back again. and now you've got a chance to build the base

michael beschloss, get us off of this subject and on to -- >> historian of hair. >> historian michaelloss will be with us the rest of the day today. we're sitting here watching these two polls of washington, the congressional part of it as they arrive and waiting for the president's departure. there has not been a lot of comingling. there have been complaints that this president, as we watched the vice president now depart, the white house, there's been some complaints the president hasn't pulled an lbj and had members of congress over, hasn't been the schmoozer in chief. not his style. >> not his style. lbj probably for 24 hours was not himself unless he called a member of congress and said what are you doing? lying in president, mr. president, just waiting for your call. i think you won't quite see a story like that during barack obama's period, but it's one reason why this ceremony is heaven-sent. because the founders wanted there to be unifying ceremonies like this that would bring the presidency and the congress together. james madison founded -- invented them so it would be in c

the simple fact is-- and michael beschloss is an expert on this issue-- the president has to rally the find some way to include the -- in the case of obama the 60 million people who voted for mitt romney. and there needs to be a strategy in the strategy of sticking your finger in these people -- in his eye all the time i don't think will work. >> and that's one reason why an inaugural address for a second term is so important. here we are inauguration day. you have a president who probably is addressing the biggest audience he will ever have for the rest of his life. it's one of the few opportunities the president has these days given the media cacophony that bob is talking about. >> rose: doris kearns joins us from boston. we are taping this on friday in anticipation of the inaugural address on monday and looking at the analysis of what has the not do. from all the second terms of all the presidents that you have known what's the most important lesson that comes out of that. >> i think i'd go back to what bob caro said because i could hear and i think being able to make the country un

. >>> deadlines, deadlines, deadlines, last night on this show, the presidential historian michael beschloss, hard number on all the representations that kicked off president obama's second term. a cold, hard number. >> when a president comes in for a second term he usually has about six to eight months to get things through congress. >> six to eight months? that is it? >> he usually has about six to eight months to get things through congress. may seem small, but even lbj in '65, with 61% presidential landslide, more democrats in congress than at any other time since roosevelt, he said i'm going to be asking some democrats and republicans to cast some risky votes. >> six months, six months, maybe eight? historically speaking that is the time frame that a president has at the start of the second term to get it done. if that is true, then tick tock, right? no time to waste, not after this big agenda that was laid out in the inaugural address. but yesterday, some news broke out on that front on the pace of what happens next. when we get an ultimatum, and a unilateral action, with some very imp

i'm joined now by nbc news presidential historian, michael beschloss. good to see you. >> wasn't that fascinating yesterday? >> i was taken by that moment because i was once -- it still gets me all chilled, on the day before an inauguration was allowed by a congressman to walk out on to that stage essentially and stand behind that podium. i thought i was going to pass out. the view of the mall, i can only imagine it filled with people. >> just amazing. >> tell me what your thoughts were yesterday. >> for a historian like me, yesterday was like woodstock. that's just what people like me live for. absolutely scintillating. one irony, today is the day that 40 years ago today, lyndon johnson died. i think he would have recognized and probably admired that speech yesterday very much. and i think one way of understanding it is to look at it as a reply to ronald reagan in 1981. in the same place ronald reagan got up and said government is not the solution to the problem, government is the problem. yesterday was sort of not only a response to that but almost a