standing next to richard nixon. he was never really comfortable in front of the camera, so he had this sort of fascination of being surrounded by celebrities, and this particular picture has historic significance because samny davis jr., you know, was disinvited from kennedy's inauguration who produced the show by frank sinatra. it was his interracial marriage that was at stake, so politically they decided that wasn't going to be the best thing for the country to see. >> you say sinatra declared jfk an honorary member of the rat pack, correct? >> yes. sinatra did do that. jfk was one of our most charismatic presidents, i think you'd have to count him even more so than, say, a ronald reagan who was an actor. and, you know, he was not only a member of the rat pack, but peter love ard, who's on the cover, was in the rat pack and married into the kennedy family, and it was really considered the first marriage of politics and hollywood. >> i want to go back to sammy davis jr. very quickly because you said that sammy davi

to richard nixon. he was never comfortable in front of the camera and so he had this sort of fascination of being surrounded by celebrities and this particular picture has its historic significance because sammy davis jr. was disinvited from kennedy's inauguration by frank sinatra who produced the show which was very surprising to me but it was his interracial marriage that was at stake. so politically they decided that wasn't going to be the best thing for the country to seek at inaugural -- kimmage you say that sinatra declared jfk and on every member of the rat pack; correct? >> yes, sinatra did that. jfk was one of our most charismatic president and i think you have to really sort of count and even more charismatic than save ronald reagan who was an actor, and he wasn't on the member of the rot pack but peter lawford, on the cover, was in the ret pact and married into the kennedy family and it was considered the first marriage of politics and hollywood. >> of one to the back to sammy davis jr. very

, appointed by nixon to the seventh circuit. all of these people sort of knew of each other but they hadn't worked together. i'm talking about justice scalia, and justice scalia did not meet our really vet john paul stevens when he was to the supreme court. about all the fell two and later then became the attorney general. this is all in the post-watergate era where the nation went through several attorneys general. >> , and there was a lot of turnover. >> guest: so you can imagine, this is where justice scalia essentially comes of age in the administration. >> host: tell me. i am interacting you, but i want you to tell me about the office of legal council. i know a little bit about it, but i think that the people watching this program would want to know, this is part of his formation. he was a professor, and then served in the administration, and insert in the office of legal council. it's an interesting position. >> guest: it is. and the job is essentially to be the constitutional lawyer to the president to say what constituti

i would always tell her, nixon was my problem, clinton is yours. nixon destroyed himself. he destroyed himself. his hatred destroyed himself. and took a lot of conservative energy down with him to say nothing of southeast asia and millions of people. never forget that. millions of people. the first editorial i firstfo wrote for "national review", th ere was a jesuit that said the khmer rouge killed thousands. that was a lowball. it was also nixon bringing himself down. it was the final piece of that. >> reagan. >> reagan, the two things he did, you cannot do many things. you can do two things as president. the two things he did was he stopped the economic slump and he did say, i forget now who he said this to. here is my strategy for the cold war. we win, they lose. and he set in place for the conditions in which that happen. >> jack kemp. >> it was so thrilling to be in his presence. he was so ebullient and energetic. i think he kind of went off some of the rails with some of his ideas. he could also like the sound of his own voice. he could also think, i am the only pers

>> guest: sure, he started in the nixon administration and he started with a new office created while he was there. the office of telecommunications policy. and he was general counsel for that and then he moved into more of an administrative position where he was in charge of sort of ideas to streamline the bureaucracy. his break came when president nixon who was in the throes of watergate nominated him to be an assistant attorney general for the office of legal counsel, an office you know well and he was nominated by richard nixon by was not approved until later in august of 1974 after richard nixon had resigned in the aftermath of watergate. so he can essentially a gerald ford appointee and really cut his teeth in the wake of watergate in the ford administration and his very first assignment as an assistant attorney general was to determine who owned the watergate papers and tapes. no easy task right when you come into office. but he -- his opinion on behalf of that office was next in owned those tapes and other documents from his tenure the congress quickly reversed that and that i

this is richard nixon and elvis presley. >> a great photo of elvis and nixon. the most requested photo from the national archives which out of every -- when you think of everything that the national archives keeps in storage, this is the one that people want to see the most over the years. >> is it true that elvis had asked richard nixon to allow him to carry a badge of some sort. i've heard this story many times. >> he did. he rolled into town in washington and he was concerned of the hippy culture at the time. and wanted -- he actually rolled his limousine right up to the westgate of the white house and asked the guard to see richard nixon and wanted to be made a federal marshall at large to help with the drug problem of young people. of course, he was turned away but only for a few hours because when the word got to nixon that this kind of incredible request had taken place at the west gate, nixon reconsidered, hmmm, bring him over. let's do this. he called up his director of narcotics and had a badge sent over and that day elvis presley became a federal age

i would always tell her, nixon was my problem, clinton is yours. nixon destroyed himself. he destroyed himself. his hatred destroyed himself. and took a lot of conservative energy down with him to say nothing of southeast asia and millions of people. never forget that. millions of people. the first editorial i firstfo wrote for "national review", th ere was a jesuit that said the khmer rouge killed thousands. that was a lowball. it was also nixon bringing himself down. it was the final piece of that. >> reagan. >> reagan, the two things he did, you cannot do many things. you can do two things as president. the two things he did was he stopped the economic slump and he did say, i forget now who he said this to. here is my strategy for the cold war. we win, they lose. and he set in place for the conditions in which that happen. >> jack kemp. >> it was so thrilling to be in his presence. he was so ebullient and energetic. i think he kind of went off some of the rails with some of his ideas. he could also like the sound of his own voice. he could also think, i am the only pers

one is for nixon and has its particular slant. and what is for henry's personal files and that's when we tell the real story. so i'm trying to get out the right documents. i did ask dr. kissinger about this. he said yes if i had known now what i knew then about the documents i could never have written a dissertation using

nixon in 1973. >> larry: nixon proposed a lot of liberal things. >> and our idea was a simple one.a rage in the country as healthy as this that poor people can't get health insurance. >> larry: why did that fail? >> nixon got overwhelmed -- >> larry: did they fight snit. >> keep the government's big feet out of it and give the people money to by an insurance policy. >> is it pregenting anything from happening? >> i don't know. i think it's that it's that it's very, very complicated and we're making it more complicated instead of less. i usa like to think, is there a way to solve the problems with more freedom. and the fact that we we got is not works does not mean that is the only way out. i may agree with stephanie on that. >> larry: let's turn to the former governor of alaska. sarah palin continues to provide fodder for the late night comics. here san example. >> a man was arrested at the mall of america yesterday for throwing tomatoes at sara palin. as she calls them, italian aps. he threw two tomatoes, neither came close to hittinger and instead they hit a cop. they released hi

nixon in '73. >> larry: he proposed a lot of liberal things. >> he was a very liberal republican.ur idea was simple. outrageous in a country as wealthy as this that poor people should not get adequate health insurance. we'll give poor people money to buy health insurance. we won't have the government step in with health options, choices, what kind of medical care they can get. >> larry: why did that fail? >> because nixon got overwhelmeded by watergate. >> larry: did the insurance companies fight that? >> i don't think they fight it. i still think it's a good idea. but keep the government's big feet out of it. give the poor people who don't have enough money to buy a private insurance policy. >> larry: is it lobbying that's prevented anything from happening? >> oh, i don't know. i think it's that it's very, very complicated. and we're making it more complicated instead of less. i always like to think is there a way we could solve some of these problems with more freedom? and the fact that what we got is not working does not mean this is the only way out. i think i might agree with

you can go back to the early 1970's, and out of the nixon administration, there were voluntary controls in the hospital sector under carter because the risks concern that there would be mandatory controls. we saw a big dip in and inflation and health care during the managed care revolution of the mid-1990s. in the past couple of years, the distance between growth in wages and growth in health care costs has slackened in part because we are bruce deductibles and co- payments. there are ways in which we can control health-care costs. i think they will continue to exceed the economy. if we have to come we will find ways to cut the rate of growth. they will not be pretty ways and intel reductions in benefits. i do not subscribe to the idea that it will spend out of control. having said that, we need to do something about medicare before 2017. >> that is when it is supposed to run out. >> alice, i know you want to respond to this. if you would, you were there during the clean administration when health care was at that time in the headlines, much as it is now. and it was seen as really detri

i would always tell her, nixon was my problem, clinton is yours. nixon destroyed himself.wn with him to say nothing of southeast asia and millions of people. never forget that. millions of people. the first editorial i firstfo wrote for "national review", th ere was a jesuit that said the khmer rouge killed thousands. that was a lowball. it was also nixon bringing himself down. it was the final piece of that. >> reagan. >> reagan, the two things he did, you cannot do many things. you can do two things as president. the two things he did was he stopped the economic slump and he did say, i forget now who he said this to. here is my strategy for the cold war. we win, they lose. and he set in place for the conditions in which that happen. >> jack kemp. >> it was so thrilling to be in his presence. he was so ebullient and energetic. i think he kind of went off some of the rails with some of his ideas. he could also like the sound of his own voice. he could also think, i am the only person in the party understands the problems of black people and there was back patting, but what

john sears had been nixon's delegate in 1968. he was a republican consultant operative in the early 1970's. the reagan folks are out here after 1974 he leaves the second term governorship and they are intimidated by national politics because it is dominated by the east coast party operatives, dominated by the national media. they don't know the national operatives very well, they don't know the national media very well and this guy john sears, who got passed over because stew spencer and roger martin and others were running at. so he ends up running reagan's campaign but this is a great accusation in the eyes of the media because they didn't know much about this guy, reagan, from california. even after all of his career in hollywood and the g and the lecture circuit is 3,000 models is a long way, a telephone call. he didn't of the internet, cable television, talk radio, cell phones. it is a big country and most of those guys 3,000 miles away. so the guy that they do know, john sears call this national political experience, he's

i would always tell our, nixon is my problem, clinton is yours.he destroyed himself and took a lot of conservative energy down with him, to say nothing of southeast asia and millions of people. the first thing i wrote for the review was about cambodia. there was a jesuit there, and he said the khmer rouge has killed several hundred thousand people. he was low balling it. they killed millions of people. and the communists, it was there enablers on a left that enabled them, but also there was a final piece of that. reagan, the things he did, he teaches a lesson that you cannot do many things, you can do a few things as president. he stopped the economic slump. and he said, here is my strategy for the cold war, we win, they lose. and he stuck in place the conditions for that happening. it happen on george bush's watch, but he put it on place. it was thrilling to be in jack kemp's presence. he was soaked abelian and energetic -- energetic. >> george w. bush. >> i'm going to see what i said at washington and lead just before he left. there was a dinner

john sears was -- you know, had been nixon's delegate-hunter in 1968.he was primo republican operative. and the reagan folks, you know, out here he leaves the second term governorship here and they're intimidated by national politics because it's dominated by the east coast party operatives. it's dominated by the national media. they don't know the national operatives very well. they don't know the national media very well and up pops this guy john sears who had wanted to run actually ford's campaign but then got passed over because, you know, stu spencer and rog morton and others were runing it so he ends un, you know, running reagan's campaign but this was a great acquisition in the eyes of the national media because they didn't know much about this guy reagan from california even after all his careers in hollywood and the ge lecture circuit is, you know, 3,000 miles is a long way, a long distance telephone call. you don't have the internet or cable television or talk radio, you didn't have cell phones. so it's a big country. and most of those guys ar

john sears was nixon's delegate hub. he was a primo republican operative in the 1970s. the reagan folks were out here, you know, after 1974, he leaves the second term of the governorship here. and they're intimidated by national politics because it's dominated by the east coast party operatives. it's dominated by the national media. they don't know the national operatives very well. they don't know the national media very well. up pops this guy, john sears, who had ran ford's campaign but got passed over because, you know, drew spencer and rog morton and others were running it. so he ends up, you know, running reagan's campaign but this is a great acquisition in the eyes of the national media because they didn't know much about this guy, reagan, from california. even after all of his careers in hollywood and the lecture circuit. 3,000 miles is a long way. you don't have the internet, talk radio, cell phones. it's a big country. and most of those guys are 3,000 miles away. so the guy they do know, john sears, who has got all this national political experience -- he's goi

richard nixon, in 1960, when vice-president nixon ran, he got about 30% of the black vote. >> can you tell me what happened that began the shift? >> it was not just one moment. i trace it back to the republicans in dealing with a construction. if you want to come into the mid-20s century, you can book that harry truman. what has to be noted is that the republicans began to retreat from some of their commitments. as a result of black migration, democrats began to get a new black voters that they had to beg -- had to deal with. the final straw, i would say, was the 1964 goldwater campaign which was an abomination to most black people. >> you are married to a woman that is a lawyer? >> yes, my lisa. she is a wonderful woman. i am lucky because i married up. she probably cannot say the same pain. she is a lawyer. i am very proud of her. it she is the highest ranking attorney in the company. she has been there for 13 or 14 years. >> wanted to name your daughter sunshine? >> -- why did you name your daughter sunshine? >> that is not her official name. her official name is loading. but she i

i would always tell her, nixon was my problem, clinton is yours. nixon destroyed himself. he destroyed himself. his hatred destroyed himself. and took a lot of conservative energy down with him to say nothing of southeast asia and millions of people. never forget that. millions of people. the first editorial i firstfo wrote for "national review", th ere was a jesuit that said the khmer rouge killed thousands. that was a lowball. it was also nixon bringing himself down. it was the final piece of that. >> reagan. >> reagan, the two things he did, you cannot do many things. you can do two things as president. the two things he did was he stopped the economic slump and he did say, i forget now who he said this to. here is my strategy for the cold war. we win, they lose. and he set in place for the conditions in which that happen. >> jack kemp. >> it was so thrilling to be in his presence. he was so ebullient and energetic. i think he kind of went off some of the rails with some of his ideas. he could also like the sound of his own voice. he could also think, i am the only pers

richard nixon was the subject of a border fee title one of us in which he described nixon as having empathy with the suburban white middle-class voter. today, one of us is entirely different. our demography is our destiny. know we're out the part that we have been waiting for to get your questions. thank you. [applause] >> the hostesses will collect. can you hear me? no? held. i have a microphone but i have a couple of questions already. hot while most of us would agree tolerance is preferable to intolerance, is of the new cultural individualism at odds with the community of the democratic party values? >> yes. there is a great line that we have a two-party system because if we didn't they would have to be invented. we have a republican party that of course, the use freedom and individual rights and more libertarian minded but democrats have always placed and value those they also very much value equality of opportunity. i think it is that particular value in many respects that is on the rise. unquestioned. we go through moments in our political history, it is not one or the other but we wa

he opposed three of president nixon's supreme court nominees.gislation as a republican for the appointment of a watergate special prosecutor. he was the first senator in either party to call for president nixon's resignation. any council president ford against pardoning the ex- presidents. as demonstrated the same kind of independent thinking as a member of the kerner commission which president johnson committe appod because of the race riots. the commission warned that america was "moving toward two societies, one black, one white, separate and unequal." after leaving the senate, he served on the panel to investigate the damage and japanese americans, citizens who were placed in internment camps at the outbreak of world war ii. five years of delays later, congress passed a resolution doing just that. that is leadership. i probably sit in the senate seat once occupied by ed brooke. my greatest booster was his mother, who lived to be 100. ed brooke turned 90 just last monday. [applause] in 2005, i have the privilege of writing the senate resoluti

you don't like us, i am not talking to you. >> sent many messages to nixon about that. if that happened with kim jong-il, i would be with you. >> i'm close to ben stein's view. i would try sanctions and i think my friend ron was being too cavalier about this. south korea has become a democracy with our help. the people's republic of china is failing on its responsibility and not helping us put pressure on north korea. nuclear weapons is a scary thought. >> larry: we thank you guys. african-americans helped president obama get elected. how do they feel about him now? that's next. by changing her medicare prescription plan. all we had to do was go to cvs.com and use the free savings calculator. we learned that changing your medicare part d plan could save an average of $612. woman: we just entered my prescriptions, and it compared plans for us. it was easy to find the right plan for the prescriptions i need. your cvs pharmacist can help, too. come in today, or go to cvs.com before december 31st to find the best plan for you -- at cvs/pharmacy. >> larry: an article in the

. >> president oba has flowed richard nixon's great dictum, that a leader s to be challenging his ba at any moment to really be a leader. he was certain challenging his base. his candacy was launche on his anti-war position in 2002 against thiraq war, a position which i think has been vindicated and valated by the arguments made to vance that war -- weapons of mass destruction, wave of democracy sweeping across the islamic world, and no connection to 9/. that is where his base and enthiasm came from, and right now, disilsionment, and certainly at the best, lack of enthiasm. >>hold that thought. leme play the nger version of the sound bite we pyed at the beginning of the brocast. >> i definitely did notxpect it from him as our new president. thats something i wouldave expected from bush. it has tak me byurprise and i don't agree th >> it. >> we allnow about the youthful oma brigades that turned o during the campaign. how disillusioneof these people going to be as nsequence of this? as i said, i thinkast week, heas a window here. if they don't start to be some real resultsn afghanistan

he opposed three of president nixon's supreme court nominees.a republican for the appointment of a watergate special prosecutor. he was the first senator in either party to call for president nixon's resignation. any council president ford against pardoning the ex- presidents. as demonstrated the same kind of independent thinking as a member of the kerner commission which president johnson committe appod because of the race riots. the commission warned that america was "moving toward two societies, one black, one white, separate and unequal." after leaving the senate, he served on the panel to investigate the damage and japanese americans, citizens who were placed in internment camps at the outbreak of world war ii. five years of delays later, congress passed a resolution doing just that. that is leadership. i probably sit in the senate seat once occupied by ed brooke. my greatest booster was his mother, who lived to be 100. ed brooke turned 90 just last monday. [applause] in 2005, i have the privilege of writing the senate resolution awarding t

i think as ben well knows, his former boss, president nixon engaged with a really bad guy mao tse-tungho was running china. the issue is whether or not we are going to engage. is it whether writing a letter or picking up the phone? look, i'm not going to speak to what are the mechanics of how we engage with people we don't like. but we came up with a foreign policy where we treated our interests like a video game where we said, you don't like us, we're not talking to you until you do exactly what we say when we say it. >> he had already said he wanted to have a rapprochement with the united states and sent many messages to nixon and kissinger with that. if that happened with kim jong-il i'd be with you entirely. it hasn't. >> i'm very close to ben stein's view. i would try sanctions. i thought my friend ron was being too cavalier about this. this is a terrible man who has done terrible things. south korea has become a democracy with our help. we should be very proud of that. the people's republic of china which wants to be a responsible nation is failing on its responsibility by not he

host: michael indiana "the new york post" -- a photograph of president nixon with mau.writes that is surely a hopeful sign that president obama had the courage to recognize the historical achievements. it would be better if he would follow their examined to win follow their examined to win their peace in our time i use that as a way of background to share with our audience -- he began as a republican and became a democrat. this is an interview that he did on cbs' "face the nation." >> you could not be more wrong. you could not make a more unsell legal segment than the one you have just made. it is an old policy, that foreign policy belongs to the president of the united states. belongs to the american people. >> where does the president fit into this? >> what i am saying is, under our constitution, all the president is is the administrator of the people's foreign-policy. i am pleading with the american people to give them the facts. . . people be given the fact. >> the american people cannot formulate and execute foreign policy. >> you are a man of little faith. i have

i would always tell her, nixon was my problem, clinton is yours. nixon destroyed himself.he destroyed himself. his hatred destroyed himself. and took a lot of conservative energy down with him to say nothing of southeast asia and millions of people. never forget that. millions of people. the first editorial i firstfo wrote for "national review", th ere was a jesuit that said the khmer rouge killed thousands. that was a lowball. it was also nixon bringing himself down. it was the final piece of that. >> reagan. >> reagan, the two things he did, you cannot do many things. you can do two things as president. the two things he did was he stopped the economic slump and he did say, i forget now who he said this to. here is my strategy for the cold war. we win, they lose. and he set in place for the conditions in which that happen. >> jack kemp. >> it was so thrilling to be in his presence. he was so ebullient and energetic. i think he kind of went off some of the rails with some of his ideas. he could also like the sound of his own voice. he could also think, i am the only perso

richard nixon temporarily imposed price controls during his administration and also fought to introduce universal health care. richard nixon has been accused of being many things by his allies and enemies but nobody has ever accused him of being a socialist or more access. host: 05, california, you are next. caller: i hope everybody had a merry christmas yesterday. professor, i am a longtime student of politics. i had a fellowship at the school of communications at usc. i go back and forth between extra in disagreement and some agreement with you. the agreement part is your phrase "girls tried to re-brand them selves as progressives." what is progress of about being a socialist? i agreed with the description of obama earlier. my main point of disagreement is that i just understand this -- you went back to nazi germany, that was the national socialist party of the left. r)ethe nazis a limited other socialists in a political power push parenth. there were in direct competition with the bolsheviks and others. the nazis were of the left. the direction of this country is very much now social

host: there is a photograph of president nixon with mao.would be indefinitely better if he would follow their example and win the peace in our time for street. even alfred noble created by an inmate before establishing his peace prize. i use that as background to share something that you put together for your book. . easy -- and then it you" this senator who served from 1945 until 1969. he began as a republican and became a democrat. this is from the interview of cbs. >> the sole responsibility for the conduct of foreign policy. >> could not be more wrong. it could not make a more unsound it could not make a more unsound legal staff and then the when you just made. this is a promulgation of an old fallacy that foreign policy belongs to the president. that is nonsense. it belongs to the american people. >> where does the president fit in? >> under our constitution of the present is is an administrator of the people's foreign-policy. i plead the american people be given the fact. >> the american people cannot formulate and execute foreign pol

ors fall short under president nixon and clinton. with every step forward and back, he never saw it easyÑi he never stopped believing that in the freest country in history that would some day come to pass. the legislation guaranteing that no american would ever go broke because they got sick. no one would die because they didn't get the treatment needed. we will not, we must not let it slip through our hands. >> first of all, again, let me thank our leader senator reed. every team has a quarterback. he's been our quarterback. he's called the plays. we are going to go over that goal shortly there's a book called the good fight. i've said this before. he's going to have to have the revised edition and add another chapter on to that good fight. this is a good fight. harry reid has lead that fight and we've won it. fight." to max baucus who bent over backwards and not only went the extra mile but the extra hundred miles to involve the minority. to my great friend, chris dodd, who did a masterful job of leading our committee and getting t

have been in considerable a degree in liberal republican administration more akin to rockefeller, nixon and reagan. the second cluster of explanations for conservatism's focus is not so much on the external political but on internal factors, that is the structure and dynamics of the conservative movement itself. perhaps the most important thing to understand about modern american conservatism is that it is not and has never been unit focal. it is a coalition which many points of origin and the first tendencies, not always easy to reconcile with one another. now, so long as the cold war continued this coalition held together reasonably well. anticommunism, a conviction shared by nearly everyone, supplied much of the essential unifying simmons. but with the end of the cold war and the early 1990's and the departure from office of the ecumenical reagan, long suppressed centrifugal tendencies resurfaced on the american right, as we well know. without a common foe on him to concentrate their minds, it became easier for former allies to succumb to the bane of all coalitions, the sectarian tem

and when nixon went over. >> did you have a question? >> what about the chang kai-shek family in the u.s.? whether they up two? >> i don't know. by a of course, she never had children and i have only met wonder two of his relatives. >> but when you went to china were you retain the book and did you have eight opportunity to get comments of people's views? through interpreters? >> no. no. i went over as a normal tourist and in order to give in to certain places that i wanted to see, i pretended that i was crazy about the sister. [laughter] >> i was curious because i lived in china two years but i could never get them to talk to me about the way you talk about mao on any level other than and i had relationships as people living there but just to have a conversation with someone they would not say anything. >> no. you make me feel better. [laughter] because i have the same problem. >> in the letter said you read later between madame and her friend, when she candid about her marriage and bushy more intimate in those letters and perhaps? >> s

economic forces from nixon on have run roughshod over the division of east asia that came out of worlde korean war. a punctuational mom is certainly the reforms of 1978. everyone realizes in retrospect that it was important. -- a punctuational moment is certainly the reforms of 1978. it is not thought of in the same way as the berlin wall. we knew that sooner or later china would wake up and get rid of maoism and join the world system. it makes it less of an earth shattering event simply because it is what we would expect or predict. i think it is a huge thing. it transformed china immeasurably. >> you are absolutely right. i say in the paper that punctuational moments are not limited. these are very this similar events -- these are very dissimilar events. i wanted to compare them as moments that had dramatic impact on u.s. policy. it is in no way limited to those two. the way i am trying to use the term is as a unique moment when the long-term and short-term combined. you have long-term forces developing that have the triggering event. it becomes obvious to the most obtuse that things

. >> richard nixon once said in 1972 after he won a landslide reelection, i had to go out campaigning and shaking hands with these people when i really felt like kicking them. ted kennedy was the exact opposite. it also affected his career. at the same time, he had these great friendships across the aisle with people like orrin hatch and others. the founding fathers always hoped that members of the senate and all of america would it do get out during the day strenuously, but at the end of the day, have a glass of ale together. it is a quality that is not very present in the senate now. >> i don't think there was a republican in the senate he did not work with on something at some point. you asked the question, what is it about this guy who could be, who was such a strong and principled liberal, how could he do that? one of the paradoxes of politics is precisely because he knew where he wanted to go, he knew what he wanted and where the country should move, that only someone with that clarity can actually enter into compromises. in the end, if i can only get here this time, i will get

nixon. wanted in the 1970's. host: our next caller, what do you think of health care? is it political suicide? caller: yes, it is political suicide for both parties. most of the democrats -- i don't believe they are democrats any more. they are phonies. they are republicans who have been calling themselves democrats. they want to charge us -- they want to charge they want to charge people, they want to tax anybody who has a medical plan, they want to tax us and they want people to force people to pay for forced medical insurance. it is suicide for both sides. you need somebody in there like kucinich who, during the primaries, the iowa debate wore all about health care, run by the health-care industry, the iowa debate kucinich wasn't allowed in the debates because he was the only one for single payer universal health care not for profit. >> -- host: from "the washington times" james traficant, colorful, recently released from prison said thursday he is proud of being an ex-con and may try to

he was in charge of the new federalism for richard nixon and civil service reform for jimmy carter. ronald reagan came in and actually put the whitdwight in . he was kidnapped once by colombian drug lords while leading the war on drugs in the state department. soon after he retired. one story i love about dwight, he was in a meeting when kennedy was first elected. they did not have the national security council. he was sitting in on the limited nuclear test ban treaty. in that meeting, arthur schlesinger was there, the president's historian, very close to the kennedy family. dwight was arguing for the limited nuclear test ban treaty, and schlesinger was arguing against it. they got into really heated argument, and after the meeting, dwight went back and tendered his resignation. he peered they would not want him around any longer. -- figured they would not want him around any longer. the funny thing was, during the meeting, who was looking over -- he was looking over and realize that bobby kennedy was watching. he thought he would have to have another career and go into the private

. >> richard nixon once said in 1972 after he won a landslide reelection, i had to go out campaigningand shaking hands with these people when i really felt like kicking them. ted kennedy was the exact opposite. it also affected. >> he was absolutely happy to be a maverick on issue after issue but at the same time he had these great relationships. and that's spirit of the founding father's who always hoped that members of the senate and all-americans would duke it out during the day, but at the end ju$e day have a glass of and say we're all-americans and that doesn't get personal. >> interesting. that whole notion of ted keep dithe guy i worked with. i don't think there's a republican in the senate. didn't work on something at some point. >> extraordinarily owed use people. >> and he - you know you asked the quqáurjjy what is it about this guy who could be - who was such a strong and principal liberal. how could he do that and i think that's actually one of the paradoxes of politics. precisely because he knew where he wanted to go and he new where the country should move. any someone w

so the president nixon said that we were, we were going to hit their transportation and communicationsters, knock the hell out of 'em. and they were going to move -- did move -- half of our prisoners up there to the place where he was most centrally going to bomb. and i decided i'd take the risk. i said, half moved to dung hai, and they got it. so they didn't send the bombers there. so the communications were really important. not only for morale and for the chain of command because the senior managed to take over and decide what we couldn't do like a hunger strike or don't write anything, that kind of stuff, went on during the war. >> and you had a rule in your book you talk about it, there was one man who was, you know, just in terrible shape, and you had the distinction between amnesty and parole. will you explain that distinction for the -- >> yes. and it was sort of a delicate thing to handle throughout because in one case we wanted the guy to get out. he was an enlisted man shot down, captured at sea, a good man, and there was no reason for us to say, you can't go home. but in ge

on the other hand, robert bork, solicitor general in the nixon ford administration, said that he thoughtffice, he thought the anti- trust division was taking a division that was not as long, but ridiculous. he dutifully allowed the antitrust division, even though he personally thought they were not just wrong, but ridiculous. so how much did your own view and in to what to present to the supreme court? >> saying ridiculous is hyperbole, certainly. i am not surprised that bob would say that. but i see the role of solicitor general as a policymaker, not in the sense of government officials, but although we have very fine lawyers and solicitors general tend to have legal background, if we think a position is not likely to be effective, not the best way to present the issue to the court, counterproductive in some sense, i think it is the solicitor general's duty to let that be known, and indeed, in so many cases that have come before the solicitor general for resolution, it is not one entity that is only involved and effective. antitrust is taking a position that will affect the patent and t

. >> richard nixon once said in 1972 after he won a landslide reelection, i had to go out campaigningand shaking hands with these people when i really felt like kicking them. ted kennedy was the exact opposite. it also affected. -- it also affected his career. at the same time, he had these great friendships across the aisle with people like orrin hatch and others. the founding fathers always hoped that members of the senate and all of america would it do get out during the day strenuously, but at the end of the day, have a glass of ale together. it is a quality that is not very present in the senate now. >> i don't think there was a republican in the senate he did not work with on something at some point. you asked the question, what is it about this guy who could be, who was such a strong and principled liberal, how could he do that? one of the paradoxes of politics is precisely because he knew where he wanted to go, he knew what he wanted and where the country should move, that only someone with that clarity can actually enter into compromises. in the end, if i can only get here th

. >> richard nixon once said in 1972 after he won a landslide reelection, i had to go out campaigningand shaking hands with these people when i really felt like kicking them. ted kennedy was the exact opposite. it also affected. >> he was absolutely happy to be a maverick on issue after issue but at the same time he had these great relationships. and that's spirit of the founding father's who always hoped that members of the senate and all-americans would duke it out during the day, but at the end ju$e day have a glass of and say we're all-americans and that doesn't get personal. >> interesting. that whole notion of ted keep dithe guy i worked with. i don't think there's a republican in the senate. didn't work on something at some point. >> extraordinarily owed use people. >> and he - you know you asked the quqáurjjy what is it about this guy who could be - who was such a strong and principal liberal. how could he do that and i think that's actually one of the paradoxes of politics. precisely because he knew where he wanted to go and he new where the country should move. any someone w

he served as a speechwriter for presidents nixon and ford and is a columnist for "fortune" magazine. from new york, mark hill, associate professor at columbia university and nationally syndicated columnist. finally, joining me here in d.c., peter beinart, senior political writer for the daily beast and professor for the city university of new york and author of "the good fight, why liberals and only liberals can win the war on terror and make america great again." we're out of time because you are all way too well credentialed. moving along you've written a book that sounds just right for this time. what do you make of what's happened today and the news that a report was at the cia about this suspect? >> well, clearly, this problem of sharing intelligence continues to be a major issue but i think the larger context here is that as we move further and further away from september 11, concerns about terrorism receded on both sides of the aisle. the balance between privacy and security tipped back toward privacy. that vote in the house on not allowing these body scan machines was a total

considered it a slap in the face when the timing is government was recognized by the un, and when nixon went over. did you have a question in the back there? i guess not. >> what about the family now in the u.s., what are they up to? >> i don't really know. i met one young woman who runs some wonderful chinese restaurant in new york. i don't really know. of course, she never had children. and i've only met one or two of his relatives. >> i'm not sure if you said during your talk emma did you go to china while you are writing the book? >> yes. >> and so did you have the opportunity to speak with just common people to get their vie views? >> i don't speak chinese. >> i meant with interpreters. >> no, i went over as a normal tourist, and in order to get into certain places that i wanted to see, i pretended that i was really crazy about the communist sister. >> i am just curious. i lived in china for two years, and even close friends that i have there, i could never get them to talk to me about the people you are talking about, about anyone on any level, other than -- eight and even though

that's the plan richard nixon offered ted kennedy and ted kennedy made the mistake of turning it down. he backed away from that deal under heavy pressure from fellow democrats who wanted to hold out for a single-payer system once the party recaptured the white house in the wake of the watergate scandal. well, 38 years have passed and single payer is still out of reach. not even on the table. some people want to give up what we have available to us here and repeat that greatest mistake? the lesson that teddy learned is this: that when it comes to historic breakthroughs in america, especially in social policies, you make the best deal that you can. and then, immediately, you start pushing for ways to improve the deal. let me share a quick story with you. we all remember how ted kennedy on the floor of the senate kept pushing and pushing to raise the minimum wage, which hadn't been raised in years. and, finally, he pushed so hard that robert dole, who was then the majority leader, who was then running for president, decided he couldn't run for president while ted kennedy was pushing that

administtion is this -- this -- this is an em, an sue, that has never come to thfloor for a vote under chard nixon, under bill clinton, under harry truman. w, it's passed bog -- now it passed both houses that's important but the important thinto member is this. we passed medica in the middle the 1960's which was probab the apex of american confidee. were doubling the nation's gross tional product in that cade and there was just a sense unlimited possilities. to pass this -- this major, major difference in a me of uncertainty ich itself produces uncertainty to --mong people, 80% of whom ve health ca -- 83% of whom have health care is a signal -- gnal achievement to do th, because ameran confidence and optimism are ong their lowest -- >> wh 35 or 45% support dending on how they ask the question with e majority opposing, which a risky thing too and the other thing i wod say is in the short-term if you oppose e bill or support the bill, there is think -- even the supporters acknowdge a short-term problem whicis a lot of the benefits don't kick in immeately, the tas do, second you're going to have this