and mondale was obviously a well regarded.ndidate for president himself. >> what president carter saw in vice president mondale, what president reagan saw in vice president bush, someone who would bring maybe a different background, maybe more experience in washington, d.c. and in government service to be able to help that president move their agenda forward. >> for me, i was looking for someone who could balance the absence of knowledge about washington that i did not have. i had never served in the house or senate. i had never served in washington in any capacity. and mondale had good experience there and a good record. so as a former governor of georgia and a peanut farmer, you know, there was a lot of things about the operation of the federal government that i did not know. so that was an important consideration too. >> jimmy carter knew he needed someone who had significant legislative experience and some foreign policy experience. so he brought walter mondale in a different way than other vice presidents had been brought

walter mondale did that in 1980. if you look at the video of walter mondale, or i should say 1981, the 1980 election, it's lovely because it shows you the way that democracy -- what it should be. he announces that ronald reagan and george h.w. bush have won, and he and jimmy carter, mondale, and lost, they only got 49 votes. and mondale is joking with tip o'neill, the speaker of the house, and one of them says, really impressive, 49 votes. and the other one says, yes, it was absolutely terrific, a landslide. >> walter mondale who just turned 93 a few days ago. >> 93 years old. >> indeed. michael beschloss, thank you so much, we'll check back with you. >> we are moments away from the start of the joint session of congress with the electoral votes from the moments away fro start of had joint session of congress where the results of the 2020 presidential election will be delivered and where we'll be expecting there will be some objections dragging out and adding drama to what is normally a standard affair. basically a c

he knew at that point he was going to crush mondale.t even so, it rollins, you know when you were there they went to reagan and said you know he's at the mondale campaign, and they only won minnesota by 6000 votes and we want to do a recount, and reagan just rejected that out of hand. >> not surprised you know. >> do i have the story accurate? >> i was unaware of that, and i knew about asked you no ask when he's on and i knew there was some talk of him going to minnesota the last weekend of the campaign and he just said no. >> right right. okay was there any concern in 84 was there any concern about walter mondale? >> well he was a capable guy and he had been in politics a long time. he was a you know >> he was a good man. >> he still is a good man. >> and i think the handicap, that he could never overcome was it wasn't the mondale administration, and we use the word carter mondale so much, was the fact that it was one guy in the first name was carter in the last thing was mondale. so you know, and it was inconceivable to us, that after

and his last name was mondale. so, jimmy -- you know, so that -- it was inconceivable to us that after four years, you know, in such a pretty good economic record that they would basically turn back the clock. >> right. >> so, you know, i think that was pretty much -- i think the only way it could have happened is, you know, if the public saw reagan as just being too old and out of it and that kind of stuff. >> right. >> which that's why the first debate was so concerning. >> was disastrous. >> it was disastrous, yes. it was -- it was a terrible performance. and you know, sometimes people just have an off night. what can i tell you? >> it was one of the very few debates reagan actually lost. >> he just didn't do very well. well, again, i mean, yeah, there was a lot of concern. so, the rehearsals for the second debate, you know, there was kind of tension around and was kind of clear that we had to do a better job in the second debate. and he did. frankly, it wasn't -- it wasn't as good as his '80 performance, but it

we use carter mondale so much, there was one guy, his first name was carter, and his last name was mondale. so you know, after four years, with such a pretty good economic record that they would turn back the clock. so i think that was probably pretty much the only way it could have happened. is if the public saw reagan as just being too old and out of it. and that kind of stuff. >> which -- >> that is why the first debate was so concerning. >> it was disastrous. >> disastrous, yes. a terrible performance. sometimes people just have an off night. >> one of the few debates he lost. >> he just didn't do very well. again, yeah, there was a lot of concern. so the rehearsals for the second debate, there was more intention around -- it was clear that we had to do a better job. and he did, frankly it wasn't as good as his 80 perform, but it was good enough "i'm not going to use my opponents youth and inexperience against him. even mondale laughed about that. >> but again, politics being reduced to one dimensional -- that is now, i'm not going to -- what was the line? it was -- i'm not going to ex

vice president mondale and my cabinet and hundreds of others who served

vice president mondale and my cabinet and hundreds of others who served with me in the last four years i wish to say now publicly would i have said in private. i thank them for the dedication and confidence they brought to the service of our country. but i don't owe my deepest thanks to you, the american people. because you gave us knee this extraordinary opportunity to serve. we face great challenges together, and we know that future problems will also be difficult. but i am now more convinced than ever that the united states more than any other country can beat successfully whatever the future might bring. these last four years have made me more certain of the inner strength of our country, and unchanging value of our principles and our ideals. the stability of our political systems and ingenuity and decency of our people. tonight, i would like first to say a few words about this most special office, the presidency of the united states. this is at once the most powerful office in the world and among the most severely constrained by law and custom. the president is given a broad respo

chief justice, mister president, vice president bush, vice president mondale, senator baker, speakerll, reverend moma and my fellow citizens. to a few of us here today, this is a solemn and most momentous occasion. and yet in the history of our nation it is a commonplace occurrence. the orderly transfer of authority is con for in the constitution, routinely takes place as it has for almost two centuries and few of us stop to think how unique we really are. in the eyes of many in the world, this every four-year ceremony we accept as normal is nothing less than a miracle. mister president, i want our fellow citizens to know how much you did to carry on this tradition. by your gracious cooperation in the transition process, you have shown a watching world that we are united people, pledge to maintaining a political system which guarantees individual liberty to a greater degree than any other. i thank you and your people for all your help in maintaining the continuity which is the work of our republic. [applause] the business of our nation goes forward. these united states are confronted

that was a blind spot in my knowledge and how to get and keep the black vote i think that it was mondale. i feel like sometimes a book feels like a test. maxine waters was on the top of that list so there was the ultimate universe where george hw bush debated. i wish i could have seen that. that all starts with this relationship. there are so many people who when i started writing about her they were like welcome. tell me what you know about elisha cummings. >> we have our icons. they like each other. >> but now i have another context. i want to go state-by-state writing about the politicians. >> you were talking earlier about the local news and how we were starving for that representation but it's true there's been these icons that we have been ignoring for some reason. next question what do you think has been her most important accomplishment? >> she would have a different answer she has not been the most prominent member but she worked in partnership with barney frank for years and had a close relationship. she had a hand in a lot of the consumer protections that we see today and she

i have to go to you now, mondale.ed you wrote in the "dallas morning news" was like a sunday morning sermon. i want to read a quick line. usually progressives lose elections due to antiquated engagement strategies misguided by a consultant class that fails to understand how to move black communities to the polls and the result stays the same. liberals left shopping candidates to white-leaning candidates who rarely vote for those candidates doing less work turning outings the party's natural base, black voters. my friend, when it comes to black men few enter that in conversation. obviously you know the black women do. how it feels to see people leapfrog over us and try to go after suburban women, euphemism for white women, who left a long time ago. school us on centering black men, another key component, to the democratic voting base. >> thanks for having me. it is absolutely crucial that we acknowledge that. when you talk about leapfrogging demographics, black voters definitely are leapfrogged and black men, especiall

think the first true partnership of the modden era, certainly the first one i got to see was carter mondale. with that in mind and president/v.p. relationships we've known over the last couple of decades, what kind of vice president do you think vice president harris needs to be and intends to be? >> well, the thing about vice president, you can only be the kind of vice president your president will let you be. the good news for kamala harris is that joe biden has served in that role for eight years. he has a accepts of how it can be used effectively. how the relationship can work best, so i think that indicates that he wants to have the kind of vice president that he was to barack obama and that is someone who is in the room, someone who had the president's ear, especially at that final decision making moment, no question, it's the president, not the vice president who makes those decisions, but i think that kamala harris is going to be in a good position to have a loud voice, a powerful voice in this administration and i think we saw -- i think we saw an easy relationship -- you agree you

woman ever to be on the ticket and what ended up being a disastrous election for the democrat, walter mondale and that ticket. they were really frustrated at the lack of support around her. these founders were very frustrated by the lack of support around senate candidates. granted, there were not many women running for office but what would happen is they would get started and the establishment, and i mean the party, both parties, the democratic party and republican party, , but the democratic pary would say well, you can't win because you can't raise any money. well, the woman would say i can't raise any money because you won't invest and tell people i am a viable candidate. are like which are not a viable candidate because you can't raise any money. there you go. and so ellen malcolm, our founder who honestly is like a great american states woman, it's her shoulders i i stand n as a second ever president, figured out that what needed to happen at least initially was to get enough resources, not to fund the whole thing but to get enough resources around women candidates so the party structu

something that walter mondale had to deal with.hat al gore had to deal with in the most uncomfortable way possible. but they all managed to stomach it. and mike pence is going to be in that situation today. can you just put it in perspective for us, and talk about what an aberration it is, what we will see today with these republicans trying to throw out a democratic election. >> yeah, republicans trying to sabotage free and fair elections. the great thing that the united states is most proud of. the whole world has been watching and the truth of the matter is, we ran an ideal election in 2020. covid-19 pandemic was here, people did what they had to do, states got correct election results. there are very few errors anywhere. so we should be celebrating that triumph, but instead, we're watching the petulance of donald trump, the arrogance of wanting to be king of not a u.s. president. and to have a group of whacky senators thinking that they might get, you know, a pat on the back by donald trump, perhaps in 2024, are willing to go t

as he said on the stop he is first nominee without an ivy league degrees sense walter mondale and i thinkrries with him a certain openness to continue to grasp for that new piece of information. as i put it in the book, the thing that he knows you know that he doesn't know hewants that he's constantly seeking . i'm guessing he would probably talk to you about that and try to figure out what's happening. >> he would ask me questions about things i didn't know much about who would have the humility to want to poke you for information? at gets lost because he can talk, we all know that but he can listen. he's always filled with those questions and i can see that process in speaking out and soaking up information and informing his decision-making . an interesting question about an institution where all thinking about right nowwhich is the senate . brett says the senate is a unique and powerful legislative body in the us imagination. if you have spent more time in it and joe biden. i think his background as a us senator drives his understanding of the presidency and the role of government in g

we could argue for hours about whether mike dukakis and walter mondale were particularly economicallyheir think tanks in media and elsewhere really did help change the paradigm, really did convince, i think falsely, a lot of people that big government is bad, taxes are bad, a lot of things that allowed the economic right to hoodwink the good people of america to vote against their economic interests. that's sort of hedge fund we got here. then we just, you know, i remember, again, thinking, oh, this jesse jackson stuff in 1988, if we're talking about presidential elections, he was a full-on elizabeth warren bernie sanders leftist back then. i think, oh, that's ridiculous. that can't happen. that will never happen. as long as democrats keep saying, well, you know, we can't really present a distinct vision rather than an incrementaling softer slighter version of our hellaciously rough and unfair version of green market capitalism, they're never going to get there. so whatever lies and bigotries the right pulls up to to get, you know, two-thirds of white working class men to vote for the

1990s he was a big proponent of the things that a more moderate democrat, after the democrats lost to mondalehe was a favorite of those kind of policies and voted for that. i worry though, and he's a a fan of that. what i worry about is a center to thought that says, i stand for these things, not simply what is the rage for my party right now. and i do worry about that. but if you step back what does the president need to do to unify? if you find something where you can work with both parties to bring them together. george w. bush, his first priority was education reform which involved ted kennedy and the ranking democrat on education, george miller working with two republicans in the bush administration which is a note that you are left behind. where is that provided? >> the smithsonian's institutions, that is coming up to the tidal basin and we will keep following this. carl, stick around because there's a lot more to add to this. and that's a slew of executive orders aimed at reversing trump policies. we will talk about his calls for unity more, and what lies ahead for perhaps president tr