mrs. nixon is a main character. alice roosevelt longworth, who was approaching 90 at the time of the watergate scandal, teddy roosevelt's daughter, still very sharp and still very humorous and witty. she is my one witch's chorus in the book with long historical memory. howard hunt, one of the burglars, whos with only person i knew actually. i knew him when i was in the magazine business. he once wrote an article for me when i was at gentleman's quarterly. i had him review norman mail letter's spy novel. harlan's ghost. he used to write spy novels and had been a spy. elliot richardson from investigative side of things and a few more, relatively minor figures. the president's secretary, rosemary woods, who like fred larue lived in watergate. a great players haed their homes are. mitch shells lived there. it wasn't just the headquarters there to be burgled. >> thomas mallon, we interviewed and spent time with david and julie nixon ice hen hour at the national book festival. do they feature in the w

. >> mr. nixon -- if which god forbid, mr. nixon and mr. agnew be reelected that may not be for four more years of senseless war. >> he was best known for opposing the vietnam war but george mcgovern's service to his country began decades earlier as a decorated bomber pilot in world war ii. he was inspired to enter politics after hearing advice stephenson's acceptance speech. mcgovern was elected to congress where he was -- he would later campaign against the vietnam war. that platform and his popularity within the democratic party vaulted him to the top spot in the 1972 presidential ticket. a campaign that was riddled with missteps. most notably his pick for vice president ed bennett he received electroshock therapy -- his pick for vice president illinois 10 admitted he received electroshock therapy. >> each one of us love the title of peacemaker more than any office in the land. >> however mcgovern found no peace from the private battle his daughter faces an alcoholic. she lost that fight in 1994 after freezing to death in a snowbank. he

>> mr. nixon, would you like to comment on that statement?> i have no comment. >> the sweat pooling onyxen's chin while kennedy is over there cold chillin'. was the presidential race decided right there because of heavy perspiration on the vice presidential mug? can you see who won the first televised presidential debate with the sound off or is that an oversimplification of a slew of factor sfls do campaigns matter or does the man with the best platform for that moment in history actually win? our next guest studied the last six decades of campaignsin exploring thorg. how campaigns do and do not matter. christopher, how are you? >> great. >> i'm of the school that campaigns do matter. that you have to present your ideas and present your candidate in an effective way that coke is not better than pepsi they market it and distribute it better and hence that's a metaphor for what we're doing here in the presidential campaign. you think that campaigns matter in the way that we present people makes a difference? do we ever see somebody who runs --

and mrs. nixon was somebody i tried to bring to life in the book. >> you have written several historical fiction books, nonfiction, novels. how do you approach historical

president mr nixon called it a day. in japan the average height for men is one hundred eighty two centimeters ten centimeters shorter because of that some employers refused to hire me one of them even told me directly that i was too short to deal with the client computers already spent three months in this hospital and plans to stay for another four to add the coveted seven santa majors to his stature invented by the famed soviet author p.d. is good for you is there a fifty nine hundred fifty s. these frames were initially used to treat fractures in deformities by cutting bones and slowly pulling them up or therefore stimulating tissue regeneration it was out of was able to receive arms and legs and people who thought they were crippled for life be sent to the other patients shattered bones in their shattered lives to go when professing designed his first brain using bicycle parts sixty years later his invention is increasingly being used to help people quite eager to fracture their legs to become a few centimeters tall

i think mr. nixon is an effective leader of his party. i hope he would grant me the same peer the question before us is -- which point of view and which party do we want to lead the united states? >> mr. nixon, would you like to comment on that statement? >> i have no comment. >> the next question to vice- president nixon. mr. vice president, since the question of executive leadership -- >> you got the point. let's go to the next chapter. this particular piece -- by the way, go ahead to the next chapter. that is the 1980. go to the next chapter please. that is joe biden in 1988. could you pause there? now, could you turn on the lights please? i need to look at folks here. bentsen/quayle. do you remember what happens? the "you are no jack kennedy" line. dan quayle, the republican nominee, and lloyd bentsen, the democratic nominee. there are three things after this particular debate that we learn. ben, i need you again. could you stand here? amanda, come on down. i need one other person. go on that side. thank you. there is a researcher out

. >> i think mr. nixon is an effective leader of this party. i hope he would grant me the same period which point of view and party to we want to leave the united states. >> mr. nixon, would you like to comment on that statement. >> in the constitution they had in mind that we would talk, we would elect officials based upon recent arguments. you cannot argue against the image, an image is just that. you have to counter with an image. and in the world with a whole lot of problems in the world, all lot of problems in the country, this argument has to dominate. it does not when it is on television. >> the history of presidential debate since 1960 with john spillane tonight at 8:00 eastern and specific -- pacific on c- span3. >> in the walter political director for abc news. welcome back. from your web site, cramming for foreign policy for the last debate, the president's camp david and mitt romney in florida of preparing for the debate that will take place tomorrow night. does it matter, does the third debate matter. those foreign policy matter wh

>> mr. nixon, would you like to comment? the constitution, it had in mind that we would deliver it, that we would elect officials based upon a reasoned argument. you cannot argue against the image. and the image is just that. and you ought to color it with an image. but in a world with a whole lot of problems in the world and a whole lot of problems in the country, argument house to dominate. but doesn't when it is on television. presidentialry of debates. an c-span 3 american history tv. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are talking about foreign policy and campaign 2012 with mattew lee, a state correspondent for the associated press. and guy taylor, the state department correspondent at the "washington times." whereby to start by talking about libya. president obama was on a daily show last night with jon stewart, japan had serious, it is talking about -- he had serious comments. >> part of the investigation, helping communication between its divisions of a not just what happened in benghazi, but what happened --

and mrs. nixon was somebody i tried to bring to life in the book. >> you have written several historical fiction books, nonfiction, novels. how do you approach historical fiction? >> i always tell people who are contemplating writing it if they have not before, don't leave too much about the time you're writing

mr. nixon do you want to comment on that statement? have no comment. >> going head-to-head with john kennedy in 1960, nixoning looked uncomfortable compared to a relaxed kennedy. nixon lamented that performance in a candid conversation with his white house chief of staff. >> remember, even on the first debate. we made the mistake of not -- for that one. well, or -- we got prepared. worked like hell. >> but you didn't have time -- >> nixon never made that mistake again not when he ran in 1968. >> nixon didn't want to debate in '68 because he had the experience of 1960 behind him. >> not in 1972 when he was up senator george mcgovern challenged him to a debate. historian ken hughes from the university of virginia found these tapes of president nixon. in this never before heard recording nixon cites national security concerns as a reason for not debating. >> it wouldn't serve the interests of the country particularly at this time when very important negotiations are taking place involving matters of very great importance to the nation and

>> mr. nixon told you like to comment on that statement? >> in the constitution, they had in mind that they would deliver it. we would elect officials based on reasoned arguments. images just that. you have to counter with an image. but in a world with a whole lot of problems in the world and a whole lot of problems in the country, the argument has to dominate, but doesn't when it's on television. >> on friday's "washington journal," look at positions of president obama and mitt romney with two reporters who cover the state department. this is 45 minutes. >> host: we are talking about foreign policy and campaign 2012 with matthew lee chemistry to permit corresponded with the assist you to press, thanks for being here. and also guy taylor, correspondent of the "washington times." thanks you as well, guys. we want to talk about libya. president obama was on "the daily show" last night was john stuart and besides the humor, also had some serious comments talking about the killings in benghazi back in september. so let's take a listen to the ex

i used to work for mr. nixonwas constantly complaining the bureau of labor statistics was cooking the numbers and he thought it was because there was too jews there and made efforts to fire some of the jews there. they are not cooked. the number of people are given up and discouraged. any one can say he is is discouraged or beaten down and can't look for the numbers. it doesn't matter. the real numbers how many people within the labor force are looking for jobs and cannot find them and that number is still astonishingly high that is the main point after spending $5 billion a day more than we are taking in for three and a half years that number is still incredibly high. is the real story. it is astoundingly high. >> shannon: the romney campaign says it is 23 million unemployed or underemployed. >> if mr. romney wins and the democrats are challenging him next time around they will cited the discouraged number, too. it is a meaningless number and i'm sad to see my friend and idol mr. romney using that number. i don'

mr. nix unions -- nixon is an effective leader of his party. the question before us is, which point of view and which party do we want to lead the united states. >> mr. nixon, would you like to comment on that statement? >> i have no comment. >> in the constitution they had in mind we were deliberate, we were tough, we would elect officials based on around arguments. you cannot argue against an image. and an image is just that. and you have to counter it with an image. but in a world with a whole lot of problems in the world and whole lot of problems in the country, reasoned argument has to dominate, but doesn't when it's on television. >> the history of presidential debate since 1960, the university of maryland's john spl aye -- splaine. >> an advicer to presidential candidate mitt romney today said the former governor is serious about his pledge to label china as a currency manipulator. this is a forum on trade and manufacturing hosted by the aspen institute. >> the appointed amount of time. if i could have your attention. let me -- my name i

. >> i think mr. nixon is an effective leader of his party. hope he would grant me the same greedy question before us is, which party do we want to lead the united states? >> you like to comment? endicott >> tuition, they had in mind we would deliberate and talk and elected officials based on reason and argument. you cannot argue against an image. and images just that. you just have to counter with an image. in a world with a whole lot of problems and the world and a whole lot of problems in the country, a reasoned argument has to dominate but it doesn't when it is on television. >> history of presidential debates as 1960 sunday night at 8:30 eastern on american history tv on c-span 3. >> [video clip] "continues -- >> we have the financial editor at the new york times and we're here to talk about reverse mortgages. for the sake of this discussion, what exactly is a reverse mortgage? guest: the official term is a home equity conversion loan. it will not really be simple. does a pretty complex home loan. the best way to understand it is in a tra

ficti mrs. nixonwas somebody i try to tried to bring to life in the book. >> you have written several historical fiction books. you have written nonfiction. you have writtenro novels. have you approach your right? >> i always tell people who aret contemplating writing, if they haven't done before, do not reay too much about. not that you are writingou abou. read more from the period. if you want to know how people thought and spoke, with theire o minds work. are read what came out of the fict period.se i in other words, eliminate thent middleman. this is why some historians are not fond of historical fiction.o because it tries to do something different. you know, historians -- theyasoe have to say, with welcome at this point, it is not unreasonable to suppose that etchard nixon might have thoughh

mr. rogers had been challengedness day back in 1969. nixontened to cut $10 million for pbs in a very similar fight. mr. rogers went to congress and gave this testimony. >> i'm very much concerned as i know you are about what's being delivered to our children in this country and i've worked in the field of child development for six years now trying to understand the inner needs of children. i give an expression of care every day to each child to help him realize he is unique. i end the program by saying you've made this day a special day by just you're being you. there's no person in the whole world like you and i like you just the way you are. >> the head of that committee said he was so moved by that that he had goose burns and decided fine, we will give you the funding. i guess we know the tunes when is the last time anybody was actually swayed by an argument in congress no 1969 and mr. rogers did it. that's not what people are swayed by now. is it a legitimate offense for president obama to go down this route? there was something interesti

. >> i think mr. nixon is an effective leader of this party. i hope he would grant me the same. the question before us is, which point of view and which party do we want to lead the united states? moderator: mr. mixon, would you like to comment. >> i have no comment. >> in the constitution we would talk, elect officials based upon reasoned arguments. you cannot argue against an image, and its just that, and you have to counter it with an image, but in a world with a whole lot of problems in the world and a whole lot of problems in the country, reasoned argument has to dominate, but doesn't when it's on television. >> the history of presidential debates since 1960. sunday night at 8:30 eastern and pacific. on c-span 3's american history tv. >> on tuesday, north carolina's lieutenant governor walter dalton debated former charlotte mayor in the state's race for governor. this debate took place at unc studios. >> good evening and thank you for joining us for the second north carolina association of broadcasters educational foundation gubernatorial candidates debate. we have with us

nixon he is at the moment. worse case? do you think this guy mr.nly have the force of will to betray the right? have you seen a single case when romney's broken free from the mob that's brought him this far, a single sister soldier when he says of the trumps, sununus, neocons, no, this time you ask

mr. mondale. >> vice president bush, the last three republican administrations, eisenhower, nixon, ford, met with the soviets and got agreement on arms control. the soviets have not changed that much. can you tell us why president reagan has not met with soviet minister's at all and that only met with foreign minister of the soaring -- only met with the foreign minister a month ago. >> there have been three separate soviet leaders. in three and half lead -- three and a half years, three separate leaders. the soviets have not been willing to talk. we went to the table. we had a good and moral proposal. banned an entire generation of intermediate nuclear force weapons. do not leave the soviets with 1200 of these things and the alliance with now. we do not think that was the way you deter aggression and keep the peace. the first thing the president did when he came into office was make a proposal on the most destabilizing weapons of all. the soviets said, we do not like that proposal. we said we would be more flexible. at the urging of the president, i went to geneva and laid on the table a treaty t

nixon he is at the moment. want to hear a worst case? do you think this guy mr.y who will service the right wing so sweetly will suddenly have the force of will to betray it? have you seen a single case when romney's broken free from the mob that's brought him this far, a single sista souljah when he

how all the debates were won and lost all the way going back to nixon and kennedy, often it was a good one liner that summed up someone. >> mrident you are entitle custody your own airplane and house but not your own facts. >> he has been running for 18 months on the tax land now, five weeks before the election, he is saying that the big bold idea is, never mine. >> i didn't see a game changer. clearly, governor romney was the more aggressive and he needs to be the more aggressive especially at this point in the race but i did not see the game change. >> he was able to articulate well why it is that someone with great business experience is what we need to turn this economy around. >> under governor romney's definition there are a bunch of millionaires and billionaires who is small business. donald trump is a small business. >> president obama called donald trump small business. that is so foolish it is not worth talking about. >>neil: we will probably see in the second debate going if with low expectations and seeing how great they d i have no problem with that i built a college career on it, some of you argue a professiona

in 1969 president richard nixon wanted to cut proposed funding for cpb in half. the late mr.peared before the senate subcommittee on communications and gave what proves to be a timeless defense of programs like those offered by pbs. >> we made a hundred programs for een, the eastern educational network, and then when the money ran out people in boston and pittsburgh and chicago all came to the fore and said we've got to have more of this neighborhood expression of care. and this is what i give. i give an expression of care every day to each child. unfortunately levar burton had a travel delay and could not join us tonight. we'll have him on the program next week if he is available. this story isn't going to go away. politics takes funny turns now and then. for the life of me i will never understand why mitt romney thinks this is a huge problem in the federal budget deficit. it's amazing. karen finney stays with us tonight. what is the strategy here, karen? why would mitt romney -- this is such a sliver of the federal budget. why would he use something so small yet something t

mr romney that you have not flip flopped on. obamacare which romney is trashing was originally romney care and before that it was nixon care this was the program that richard nixon proposed in the united states back in one thousand nine hundred seventy two and the day you know teddy kennedy made the decision that he was going to go head to head with richard nixon on that it was going to be single payer or nothing and we ended up with nothing and i you know from everything i've read teddy kennedy regretted that for a lot of years. it's you know for for romney to be going off on this and for his campaign for that matter to be saying that they're opposed to national health care programs in the united states when that's what he did in massachusetts and that's what he said repeatedly should be done nationwide and now he's trying to take a back and say oh no no i mean just at the state level quite quickly it just makes no sense that's it for my take your take my take tonight now an exciting announcement tomorrow will be debuting a new segment your take by take a live where you will have the opportunity to call into the big picture an

mr. mondale. >> vice president bush, the last three republican administrations, eisenhower, nixon, ford, met with the soviets and got agreement on arms control. the soviets have not changed that much. can you tell us why president reagan has not met with soviet minister's at all and that only met with foreign minister of the soaring -- only met with the foreign minister a month ago. >> there have been three separate soviet leaders. in three and half lead -- three and a half years, three separate leaders. the soviets have not been willing to talk. we went to the table. we had a good and moral proposal. banned an entire generation of intermediate nuclear force weapons. do not leave the soviets with 1200 of these things and the alliance with now. we do not think that was the way you deter aggression and keep the peace. the first thing the president did when he came into office was make a proposal on the most destabilizing weapons of all. the soviets said, we do not like that proposal. we said we would be more flexible. at the urging of the president, i went to geneva and laid on the table a treaty t

ran for president three times and was defeated by richard nixon in 1972. mr. mcgovern was united states ambassador to united nations food and agricultural agencies from 1998 to 2001. he won the presidential medal of freedom in 2000. and was the global ambassador in 2001. george mcgovern was 90. and our c-span cameras are live this morning in boca raton, florida. where operations are under way for the third and final three presidential debates. look at media outlets setting up there. sunday morning in boca raton, florida. watch and engaged with c-span as the presidential candidates meet for their last debate. as live tomorrow from florida. our live debate previous starts at 7:00 p.m. eastern. at 9:00 p.m., cbs news chief and a moderator bobb schieffer moderates the debate. after the debate, your reactions and comments, calls, e-mails and tweets. fall our live coverage on c- span, c-span radio and online at c-span.org. the topic of the final debate, foreign affairs, the second debate was from hofstra university on long island in new york. and we will assure you

mr. brownell then said general if you haven't thought about it very much, lucius and i believe you should go with richard nixon. nixon is young. he was in the navy. he is from california. he is a good record in the house and the senate, and in the house and the president said well, general eisenhower said according to brownell, i think i have met him. i think i have met him. cleared with attack people and epitaph people say okay that's fine. i can't say that is exactly how it happened but certainly that is what herbert brownell said was a the way it happened in mr. brownell was a key player at that time. >> i think that the first two presidents, vice presidents to be selected with the idea that they would be future presidents, the first two or harry truman in 1944 and there is an argument right now between roosevelt scholars and truman scholars over whether that is the case but based on stories that i've heard growing up, that is pretty true that truman was elected and 44 and the idea that roosevelt would not survive his term. the second was richard nixon in 1952. there is, and i have some personal insight int

mr. vice president, jimmy carter has called this the worst campaign ever. richard nixon has called it trivial, superficial, and inane. whoever started down this road first, of negative campaigning, the american people, from all reports coming to us, are completely fed up. now, do you have any solutions to suggest? is there time left to fix it? there are 26 days left. for instance, would you agree to another debate, before it's all over, so that the american people would have another chance before election day to compare you two? >> no. i will not agree to another debate. the american people are up to here with debates. they had thirty of them. we had seven of them. now we've got three of them. i am going to carry this election debate all across this country in the last whatever remains of the last three and a half weeks, or whatever we have and the answer is no. i am not going to have any more debates, we don't need any more debates. i've spelled out my position. in terms of negative campaigning, you know, i don't want to sound like a kid in the schoolyard -- he started

mr. brownell then said general if you haven't thought about it very much, lucius and i believe you should go with richard nixon. nixon is young. he was in the navy. he is from california. he is a good record in the house and the senate, and in the house and the president said well, general eisenhower said according to brownell, i think i have met him. i think i have met him. cleared with attack people and epitaph people say okay that's fine. i can't say that is exactly how it happened but certainly that is what herbert brownell said was a the way it happened in mr. brownell was a key player at that time. >> i think that the first two presidents, vice presidents to be selected with the idea that they would be future presidents, the first two or harry truman in 1944 and there is an argument right now between roosevelt scholars and truman scholars over whether that is the case but based on stories that i've heard growing up, that is pretty true that truman was elected and 44 and the idea that roosevelt would not survive his term. the second was richard nixon in 1952. there is, and i have some personal insight int

mr. effective ways -- >> reporter: which did not go well for him. which lead to lesson three. appearances count above all. jfk, tan. nixonmakeup. reagan's people fussed more over his than mondale's did over his. reagan always had a glass of wean just before going on to get rosie cheeks. lesson four, real debate sowing -- lesson four, real debating, so far after 52 years, not actually required here. so relax. learn your lines. don't sneak in a look at your wristwatch. because that will definitely hurt you. beside, 90 minutes and you are done. possibly for good. john donvan, abc news, washington. >> possibly for good. nice line there. >> that's how rob gets his cheeks nice and rosie. takes it from the old gipper. >> nice, glass of wine, relaxes you, gives you the blush. it works. i think there is so much choreography that goes behind the debates. it really is fascinating what a made-for-tv event they have become since 1960 when they first started nixon/kennedy. >> i imagine you would be a great debater. >> go ahead and say it. >> no. >> a joke you, know you want to say it. >> not going to go there. >> yeah. more from abc c

mr. vice president, jimmy carter has called this the worst campaign ever. richard nixon has called it trivial, superficial, and inane. whoever started down this road first, of negative campaigning, the american people, from all reports coming to us, are completely fed up. now, do you have any solutions to suggest? is there time left to fix it? there are 26 days left. for instance, would you agree to another debate, before it's all over, so that the american people would have another chance before election day to compare you two? >> no. i will not agree to another debate. the american people are up to here with debates. they had thirty of them. we had seven of them. now we've got three of them. i am going to carry this election debate all across this country in the last whatever remains of the last three and a half weeks, or whatever we have and the answer is no. i am not going to have any more debates, we don't need any more debates. i've spelled out my position. in terms of negative campaigning, you know, i don't want to sound like a kid in the schoolyard -- he started

mr. obama all but later admitted in an interview. it is cold in the venue again, a mutually agreed-upon temperature of 65, to enforce the post-nixon political adage, never let them see you sweat. tonight the candidates will be seated. it will all be very close. they'll be separated only by our moderator tonight. she is martha raddatz, senior foreign affairs correspondent for abc news, and there's pressure on her as well after all the talk about the role of the moderator in the last debate. there are nine segments planned for in the evening, but we saw last time what happened. here's martha raddatz. >>> good evening and welcome to the first and only vice presidential debate of 2012, sponsored by the commission on presidential debates. i'm martha raddatz of abc news and i am honored to moderate this debate between two men who have dedicated much of their lives to public service of the tonight's debate is divided between domestic and foreign policy issues and i'm going to move back and forth between foreign and domestic since that is what a vice president or president would have to do. we will have nine different segments. at the beginning of

and mrs. nixon was somebody i tried to bring to life in the book. >> you have written several historical fiction books, nonfiction, novels. how do you approach historical fiction? >> i always tell people who are contemplating writing it if they have not before, don't leave too much about the time you're writing about but from it. if you want to know how people thought, how they spoke, the way their minds worked, read what actually came out of the time. in other words, eliminate the middleman. this is why some historians are not very fond of historical fiction because it tries to do something different. historians also have to hedge their bets. well, at this point it is not unreasonable to suppose that richard nixon might have fought. if you're a novelist you go inside his head and haven't ticket. is that history. it's more entertaining than is educational. it's one thing that genre can add to actual history. >> what is your day job? >> i teach at george washington university. >> talking here with th