nixon and stuff. i kind of told this to the audience and they liked it. it was really a terrific evening, and i just really have some great pictures and fond memories of meeting him and all that. >> i was backstage for that, i remember it happening, but i was back sta backstage. i did watch, to prepare for your interview, your interview with nixon at usc. richard nixon's party had a lot of democrats in it. he had a lot of spectrum of politics. when you staffed up, was that part of what was bothering you, was making sure everyone was represented in your administration. >> i felt his presidency was very successful because he was so kind of open-minded in that way. i think that lincoln was the first one that really hired, you know, to make part of his team. people did actually compete against him. so i think the whole idea of having a diverse group, people maybe don't agree with you, but they give you good insight of a different point of view. i think it's very healthy, and because of richard nixon when

you came to open it with president nixon. i do not even know how you came to be connected with president nixon. tell us about that. arnold: i was always a big fan of richard nixon. i talk about this in my republican speech at the republican convention in 2004, i became a republican because of richard nixon. i moved to this country from 1968, which was a month before the actual election , the presidential election. i listen to hubert humphrey talk and then i listen to richard nixon. friend,cky to have this a jewish friend of mine, who spoke german fluently. he translated for me. my english was not good enough. said, what party is he? he said, he is a republican. and then i said, i think i will be a republican. he sounded so fantastic, what he was talking about. he was talking about trade, getting government back, no taxes, decreasing taxes, a strong military, personal freedoms, and i said, oh my god, this sounds so refreshing compared to what humphrey was talking about. he was campaigning in austria for socialism. that is when

richard nixon was a great administrator in that area. >> before i turn to the nixon legacy and you, so behind me is my studio, i'm from the buckeye state, so the arnold sports festival, was the first thing i remember being canceled, by governor dewine with your support, do you hope that it will be back on the agenda for this spring in columbus? >> i hope that the arnold schwarzenegger fitness festival will be back, if it will be back in the beginning of march, or if it would be delayed for a few months we don't know yet, because we don't know yet what's going to happen with the coronavirus and what effect it will have when we get the vaccine and all this, but ohio has been a fantastic place for the world championships in bodybuilding and we have 88 sports, activities there and they cover 22,000 athletes every year so is really like you said it's the coronavirus made reduce down, the participants and sports competition, but not having the fitness expo anymore which really tracks tune in 50,000 people but we're going to continue on with all these competitions and we will do you know we w

and because of watergate under nixon, because of the war in vietnam during the kennedy, johnson, nixoniod, outsiders had some advantage. ofy could be very critical the national scene, because they had not been a part of it. rest of ford and the the family would all pitch in. together they reached out to -- to touchture and the nation. he had goals that he fervently hoped to attain. election night, 1976. >> that is the way it stands. ,lectoral votes, president ford 1037. jimmy carter is the next president of the united states. --in the end he fell force he fell by less than one percentage point. january day in 1977, the new president's first words expressed profound gratitude from the man from grand rapids for healing a divided nation. into an and a half years gerald ford had restored the presidency to the people of the united states. it is no exaggeration to say he gave us back our government. in the season of doubt he restored our faith in our leaders and in ourselves. think thelook back, i american people, whether everybody agreed with my policies or not, they knew they had a new lea

nixon put it, at variance of what he told the american people. >> rumors of president nixon's imminentnation swept washington and the world today. >> president nixon reportedly will announce his resignation tonight. >> i, gerald r. ford, do solemnly swear that i will faithfully execute the office of president of the united states. >> and will, to the best of my ability -- >> and will, to the best of my ability -- >> preserve, protect and defend -- >> preserve, protect and defend -- >> the constitution of the united states. >> the constitution of the united states. >> so help me god. >> so help me god. >> congratulations, mr. president. [applause] ♪ my fellow americans, our long national nightmare is over. i have not campaigned either for the presidency or the vice presidency. i have not subscribed to any partisan platform. i am indebted to no man and only to one woman -- my dear wife. i have not sought this enormous responsibility, but i will not shirk it. ♪ >> gerald ford brought to the oval office the values first learned in a very different place. grand rapids, michigan. born in 191

nixon was either the best bowler, in the white house. >> according to nixon. >> according to nixon. with a primary coming, up there are many bowling terms, so i will try to extend the metaphor right now. and talk about oh bjp in 1964. we know that return accent quit. we may not know that oh beach a quit as well. he just didn't make it public. he talked about it to a couple of his closest allies. a couple of his oldest friends. and he talked to his wife about it. so i am going to talk about the most sincere political -- of lbj. i've been doing lbj for over 20 years, it's going to take me seven to talk about it. nixon quit because of a lot of reasons. also made up, because he's a baby. so i grew up in rural texas, louisiana, they would say his mom raced him. right i want testa focus on what happens on august 25th, 1964. this is two days into the democratic national convention and atlantic city. it's two days before lyndon johnson gave his acceptance speech. grant. thing exploding fireworks. it was the perfect coronation of johnson and his political career. two months after this moment

the nixon foundation provides the video. >> i am pleased to welcome everyone to the nixon foundation. we are celebrating on december tax -- december 2. nixon signed an order that got the agency into being. we have assembled a great panel of experts who are here to talk about the past years. kristin.sed to welcome governor whitman served over -- under george w. bush. she is the 50th governor of the state of new jersey, serving as its first women governor until 2021. she earned praise from republicans and democrats for her commitment to preserve a record amount of new jersey land as permanent green space. she is recognized in the defense counsel. as epa administrator, she promoted common sense and improvement, such as watershed-based retention policies. requiringoned action nonroad diesel engines to reduce sulfur emissions by 95% and a host of other environmental innovations. william was the administrator of the epa under george w. bush. he served as the president of the world wildlife fund. in 2010, he was appointed by barack obama to cochair the national commission on the -- oil spill

nixon had made a commitment with mr. brezhnev of the soviet union he would have a meeting with him in russia to negotiate relations between the soviet union and the united states. when i was in congress, i was one of the experts on military funding, military programs, including the program we had in the united states for our nuclear weapons across the board. so i agreed to carry out the commitment and meet with russia, i was fully prepared because of his background to sit down at the negotiating table with them to argue how the two nations could mutually reduce the nuclear threshold. it was a major challenge i turned out to be a very successful negotiation. >> and other bold strokes ford took american policy to the doorsteps of communist china and eastern blocks of communist countries. >> the helsinki accord was the final blow to communism and marxism behind the iron curtain. to get them to agree that human rights was a right for a people on a worldwide basis was a major accomplishment. there is no question that the ford

nixon foundation provides the video. >> i am pleased to welcome everyone to the nixon foundation, we are celebrating on december 2nd, 2020 at the nixon foundation, president nixon sunny and order which brought the agency into being. and earlier in the year he signed the national environment act, and we've assembled a great panel of experts who are here to talk about the last 50 years and look forward as well. here's christine witman, she's part of the with men strategy group. governor witman served under george w. bush as a member of the epa, from 2001 till 2003 of june that year. she is the 50th governor of the state of new jersey. first woman governor from 1994 to 2001. unpaid praise from both republicans and democrats, to preserve green space. she is recognized as a natural resource defense counsel, and beach monitoring system in the nation. she had common sense environmental improvement, and water protection policies, governor we have also looked at regulations regarding diesel engines, to reduce sulfur admissions and a host of other ad viral mentally crucial initiatives. william

nixon.t his problems out of the white house so that my concentration could be on the economy, the diplomatic problems, military problems including how we could end the conflict in vietnam. there was some in congress that said i made a deal with mr. nixon in order to become president and in return i would grant him a pardon. that was a total incontract fabrication. the only way that i could put it on the record under oath was to respond to a request by the house committee on the judiciary to go up to fill and lay out the facts. i went up to capitol hill and testified under oath that there was no deal at the decision was made strictly on what was best for the american people. . >> on the third floor of the white house, he is a husband and father first before he is president. >> and during our time in the white house and after, it was a total dedication, openness, frankness, and a real strong belief in the handling of her breast cancer surgery. >> jerry and betty ford were committed to honesty.

i think nixon was kind of an israeli figure in many ways. he gave electoral and republican respectability to an issue that had not previously been thought and really most of the years since has not been considered by republicans their issue. i once asked prime minister thatcher wlie it was in britain there seemed to be so little ideological conflict about environment and environmental protection. and she said i think it's pretty simple. we're just a highly dense and developed little island, and we have to get along. well, that's an interesting insight about the community and the need to do things together if you really want to tackle something important. i'm so pleased, chris, you mentioned the sulfur dioxide tax proposal and the lead tax proposal. no one ever mentions it, but we worked on that at the counsel of environmental equality and nixon was ahead of his time. i think he would have approved the clean air act uh-amendments that george h.w. bush approved. and it proved more aeffective, more cost-effective than even we who were proponent

and because of watergate under nixon, because of the war in vietnam during the kennedy-johnson-nixon period, outsiders had some advantage. they could be very critical of the national scene because they had not been a part of it. >> betty ford and the rest of the family would all pitch in, together, they reached out to touch the nation. the president had yet to receive the mandate that comes with victory of the polls, it was a goal he fervently hoped to obtain. 1976.on night, >> that is the way it stands, electoral votes president ford, carter 272, jimmy carter the next president of the united states. >> in the end, he fell short by less than two percentage points, yet he had one far more than he had lost. on a crisp january day in 1977, the new president's first words expressed profound gratitude to the men from grand rapids for healing a divided nation. in 2.5 years, gerald ford had restored the presidency to the people of the united states, it is no exaggeration to say that he gave us back our government. in a season of doubt, he restored faith in our leaders and ourselves. >> when

it is a nixon library audience. john whitaker is the fellow who first passed off the foundation to me in 1989. >> a fine man. >> president nixon had a lot of environmentalists. not just administrator reilly and you, but john whitaker and john ehrlichman and the -- people don't remember this, can you expand on how that was part of the agenda in 1989? >> that is well said. >> yes, and i first got involved in august of 1969 in the white house. we had just been through a battle royale over welfare policy. and the president was looking ahead, and i got summoned into the oval office along with john ehrlichman and john whitaker, both of whom were committed environmentalists. whitaker was a geologist. ehrlichman had been a land-use lawyer in seattle, very attuned to conservation issues. the president said he wanted me to work on his first state of the union address, which would be in january of 1970. he had been there for a year, but when you come in, you give an inaugural address. this was going to be a new decade. he beli

nixon, and the others in our party.e this wall and think back to the great history of this people and they will have an opportunity, as we have had an opportunity to know the , chinese people and know them better. one of the results of our trip we hope may be the walls that are erected whether they are physical walls like this, or other walls, ideology and philosophy, will not divide peoples in the world. that peoples, regardless of their differences and backgrounds and their philosophies, will have an opportunity to communicate with each other, know each other, and to share with each other those particular endeavors that will mean peaceful progress in the years ahead. all and all, i would say finally we have come a long way to be here today, 16,000 miles, and many things that have occurred on this trip have made me realize that it was worth coming. i would say if i were to look at -- i would say, as i look at the 16,000t's worth coming miles just to stand here and look at the wall. do you agree with me, mr. secretary?

next on "reel america," nixon in china. this compilation of film and audio recordings was produced by the richard nixon presidential library in 2012 and consists of films by the naval photographic center, informal movies, and white house agency's sound recordings. >> president nixon's departure for china. south lawn, 17 february 1972. [ applause ] [ applause ] [ applause ] >> mr. president, mr. speaker, members of the congress and members of the cabinet, i want to express my very deep appreciation to all of you who have come here to send us off on this historic mission. and i particularly want to express appreciation to the bipartisan leadership of the house and senate who are here. we, of course, are under no illusions that 20 years of hospitality between the people's republic of china and the united states of america are going to be swept away by one week of talks that we will have there. we must recognize that the government of the people's republic of china and the government of the united states have had great differen

as newsweek put it, kennedy did not show that he was nixon's master but he did show that he was nixon'satch. that was enough. subsequently, kennedy recognized that nixon's willingness to debate him was "an enormous break for him" and he was told later that nixon "was a fool to debate me on tv." it may seem superficial. much of kennedy's success was related to his immense personal appeal. at a time when television was gaining paramount importance, kennedy's physical appearance and charm were assets. according to one reporter who covered the campaign, kennedy acquired a "star quality previously reserved only for movie idols and other like those in the atmosphere." campaign to ais rock concert. then there was kennedy's wit, typically quick and dry. nixon was always under meticulous restraint. one standard line of kennedy's was, "mr. nixon had been calling me and ignoring this, a pied piper and all the rest. i just confine myself to calling him a republican. he says that is getting low." he said, "you have seen those elephants in the circus, they have ivory, thick skin, when -- no vision co

however, it was quickly overshadowed by nixon's own malfeasance in watergate.nure and his subsequent down fall are quite reminiscent of the guy who will be out of a job in exactly 45 years. he was a pop you list declaring war on enemies and let's not forget, a blatant racist. the book is called "bag man." joining me now for the very first tv interview about her new book my friend msnbc's own rachel maddow. rachel, thank you for being with us. i am excited about the launch of this book. i want to talk to you about the parallels because many people see spiro agnew as trump before trump. you write in your book, quote, his default setting was attack mode. he cheerfully derided liberals, the establishment, ivory tower professionals, and the press. it wasn't that he was prost la advertising for his own cause, instead he made a marquee act out of just taking a flame thrower to the other side. it is easy to see the similarities between agnew and trump. i am wondering what were the differences between the two men? >> well, agnew got run out of washington on a rail. inst

as newsweek put it, kennedy did not show that he was nixon's master but he did show that he was nixon's match. that was enough. subsequently, kennedy recognized that nixon willingness to debate him was an enormous break for him and he was told later that fool to debate me on tv. seem superficial. much of kennedy's success was due to his immense personal appeal. at a time when television was gaining paramount importance, kennedy's physical appearance and charm were assets. kennedy acquired a star quality previously reserved only for like those and other in the atmosphere. kennedy's wit, typically quick and dry. nixon was always under meticulous restraint. one standard line was mr. nixon had been calling me and all the rest. i just confine myself to calling him a republican. he said you have seen those elephants in the circus, they skin, when thick they move around the ring, grab the tail of the elephant in front of them. inhard nixon grab that tail 1952 and 1956. but in 1956, he is running, not eisenhower. gallop poll called it too close to call and it was. the narrowest margin in histor

nixon is like i'm get crazy phone calls every day from nixon and nixon is in the hospital with pneumoniathe watergate is gearing up and richardson is clear that nixon is holding on by a thread in terms of the presidency. what happens if nixon goes. agnew goes into the oval office and he knows that agnew is taking cash bribes as vice president and it is a whole different type of felon and this is a national security imperative. the idea that the country might collapse if a president is forced out from book a crook, immediately elevating his vice president who is then has to be forced out for being a cook. i mean, what happens? so it really put the fire, i think, under richardson in terms of how to deal with it. and that is one of the things where there isn't a parallel of trump because there is no way to force him out of office for facing indictment but that is where they landed with agnew. >> and the thing that is fascinating is that you confront this country, confronted this question about whether or not you could indict a president. but there is that olc memo on whether or not you coul

one of nixon's attorneys general, one who didn't go to prison, one who nixon fired for not doing hisidding. richardson is like, all right, i'm getting crazy phone calls every day from nixon. nixon at one point in the story is in the hospital with pneumonia. the watergate stuff is gearing up and getting bad and nixon is going kind of nuts. richardson is clear that nixon is holding on but a thread in terms of the presidency. what happens if nixon goes? agnew goes into the oval office. and he knows that agnew is taking cash bribes as vice president. it's a whole different kind of felon. that becomes this real national security imperative. the idea that the country might collapse. if a president is forced out for being a crook, immediately elevating his vice president who then has to be forced out for being a crook, i mean, what happens? so, it -- >> yeah. >> it really put the fire under richardson, i think, in terms of how to deal with it. that's one of the things where there isn't a parallel with trump because there's no way to force him out of the office in exchange for indictment. bu

you brought up nixon going to china.xon could go to china, of course, it was sort of the catch phrase around that for historians because he was such a fierce anticommunist domestically and nixon of course gave us the epa and moved in the direction that few people would have expected the congressman elected in '48, moving in the direction that nixon moved. what are some of the areas where joe biden could move to surprise those -- that might be expecting more of the same old line thinking? >> well, right away, he has to find things where there's common interests. he needs to establish some trust because right now there's no trust. he's got to find a way to get to mitch mcconnell, if that's possible. he's got -- there are a couple of moderate senators there. he's got to build some bridges, infrastructure, before you can try the chancy stuff. he has to find a way to signal to the moderates and to the right that he's not in bed with the progressives, that he's not going to be a creature of the democratic left. that's a tricky

and nixon is going kind of nuts. it's clear that, like, nixon's holding on by a thread, in terms of the presidency. well, what happens in nixon goes? agnew goes into the oval office. and he knows that agnew is taking cash bribes and is a whole different kind of felon. so, that becomes this real national security imperative. the idea that the country might collapse, if -- if a president is forced out for being a crook, immediately elevating his vice president, who then has to be forced out for being a crook. i mean, what -- what happens? so, it -- it really put the fire, i think, under richardson, in terms hof how to deal with i. that's one of the things there isn't a parallel with trump because there is no way to force him out of office with exchange for facing indictment but that's where they landed with agnew. >> you know, the thing that is, also, fascinating. the country confronted, previously, this question about whether or not you can indict a president. but there is also that sort of olc issue of whether or not

if there is a villain in this, is richard nixon. and even if you can in some way sympathize with nixon at times he was a man it was just with injuries. they were so deep. they were so deep and he looked at that kennedy's any so they had everything. man looks and they had everything. he himself said, nothing that a person of people like. i put that in the book. but he also, while he had none of those things. and he lived his life and terror of the kennedys since two oh work on, it would really really there his presidency in fear of kennedy. that ted would conduct a kennedy restoration somehow. that's what the kennedys did, they were so good at that everybody was forgive them. and there was a restoration for chadwick. but the conflict between nixon and kennedy is extremely interesting one. shape the american political life for quite a long time. george: you quote nixon any any times in the book. so i knew he did a lot of research. did you get different transcripts or did you get it did you ever listen to tapes. neal: i did listen to a

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nixon had arrived in the presidency with the name tricky dick.was thought to be corrupt by the democratic side of our politics and everyone who voted against him. so there was this preexisting image for richard nixon that he ended up walking straight into, but there was no preexisting image for spiro agnew. >> right. and one of the things i found fascinating that i didn't know when i first started pursuing this story is one of the key people that catapulted spir spiro agnew from obscurity in maryland to vice president was pat buchanan. pat absolutely loved the way that agnew played the racist card in maryland and the way that he abused his black constituents and the way that he played up his abuse of them for the television cameras, the way he was willing to essentially sort of do a mid-atlantic version of what george wallace was threatening to do in the '68 election to rob nixon of his base in the southern strategy. they picked agnew because they thought he was provocatively and performatively racist enough that it could defend nixon's racist wh

, very close to richard nixon.e cox said we're really worried about the president. he was up talking to the pictures of former presidents, giving speeches. we're worried that he might take his own life. i don't think it has reached that point with trump, but that speech last night was one of the most bizarre performances i have ever seen. not only detached from reality, but he actually got somebody to write it. because he had a teleprompter there saying all these things that make no sense. and as carl points the number one calamity for this nation now is the pandemic. and for ten months trump has ignored -- when i did one of these interviews with trump, i said what's the job of the president? and trump said to protect the people. and he has failed in a way that truly is unimaginable to protect the people that he's supposed to lead. >> and carl, the comparisons to the final days of nixon, those details bob was just talking about are extraordinary. i'd forgotten about the maintain paintings and him speaking to the pa

rachel maddow ceasees parallels between the nixon years and now. rachel joins me to explain.er with a dedicated advisor, you'll make a plan that can adjust as your life changes, with access to tax-smart investing strategies that help you keep more of what you earn. and with brokerage accounts, you see what you'll pay before you trade. personalized advice. unmatched value. at fidelity, you can have both. ♪ more than this diabetes and raised triglycerides,... ...vascepa can give you something to celebrate. ♪ vascepa, when added to your statin,... ...is clinically proven to provide 25% lower risk from heart attack and stroke. vascepa is clearly different. first and only fda approved. celebrate less risk. even for those with family history. ♪ don't take vascepa if you are... ...or become allergic to icosapent ethyl or any inactive ingredient in vascepa. serious side effects may occur like heart rhythm problems and bleeding. heart rhythm problems may occur in more people... ...with persistent cardiovascular risk or who have had them in the past. tell your doctor if you experience

next on "reel america," nixon in china.nsists of films by the naval photographic center, informal movies, and white house agency's sound recordings. >> president nixon's departure for china. south lawn, 17 february 1972.

if there's a villain in this volume is richard nixon. a man who lived in with resentment and he looked at the kennedys and they had everything, they had looks, and he himself, i'm not the person that people like. i quote that in the book. people don't like me but he he s resentful for that. he had none of those things. and he lived his life in terror of the kennedys but since two were gone, you know, he would really, really live his presidency in terror of ted kennedy even after chappaqua that ted could conduct restoration and manipulate because that's what kennedys did, they were so good at that and everybody forgave them. nobody forgave him for chappaqua and there was no restoration. the conflict between nixon and kennedy is an extremely one that shapes american political life for quite a long time. >> you clearly did a lot of research because you quote nixon many, many times in the book about lots of things and i was wondering, did you get that from transcripts or tapes or did you ever listen to his tapes? >> i did listen to many of t

nixon attorney general. who didn't go to prison. and nixon fired him for not doing his bidding.y phone calls every day from nixon. he's in the hospital with pneumonia. the water gate stuff is gearing up and he's going nuts. he's clear that like he is holding on by a thread. what happens if he goes. ago new goes into the oval office. and he knows he's taking cash bribes. he's a different felon. this is a national security imperative. the idea that the country might collapse if a president is forced out for being a crook. immediately elevating the vice president who is then has to be forced out for being a crook. what happens? it really happens? so, it really put the fire, i think, under richardson, in terms of how to deal with it. that's one of the things there isn't a parallel with trump because there is no way to force him out of office. but that's where they landed with agnew. >> this country confronted, previously, this question about whether or not you can indict a president. but there is also, that sort of olc memo issue, about whether or not you can indict a vice president

going back to the nixon period, you have a clear indication of what nixon's relationship with cia is going to be when at the ends of the transition period after we had provided the the president's daily brief to president-elect nixon during that november to january period, kissinger is the only one who read them. the copies that went to the president were returned to us in sealed envelopes. and very soon, we found out that nixon was not receiving the president's daily brief as a standalone product, but that henry kissinger was having the national security staff cook it, along with a lot of other information, into a morning briefing memo that his staff would write and he would use that when he met with the president in that morning briefing. cia is largely out of the picture during the period and that's the president's choice. is it going to be our leadership, dni, senior analysts? how is the whole process going to be structured that under eisenhower, intelligence was part only of a weekly national security council meeting. the president got the daily product, but it was simply not pa

nixon and his v.p.ter the doj which rachel maddow traces in her book and pod cast "bag man". >> what spiro agnew unleashed in the convention hall was an all out attack on the justice department, the likes of which nobody had really seen before in u.s. politics. >> ir resperespective of the clf certain individuals in the department of justice, it was not through my fault that this became a non-secret procedure but through deliberately contrived actions of individuals in the prosecutor system of the united states and i regard those as outrageous and malicious. [ applause ] >> you may know that hit pod cast, it is now a book bag man with history lessons on power, justice and the spectacular down fall of a white house crook. rachel is here live to discuss her work and this wild news week after the break. and this wild k after the eabrk. this year we got it done. and with free curbside pickup at walmart... you can get the perfect gift up until the last minute. let's end the year nailing it. ♪ let's end the y

robinson , and martin luther king senior campaigned for richard nixon in 1960. the slide began the 60 -- 1964 campaign with lbj and the civil rights act and other things. that has beenm thought about for many years, a problem that leaders have tried to confront for many years, and it is one that -- i don't think it is insoluble -- unsolvable. it is just coming up with the right formula and message to be more competitive. host: our guest has written many books on ronald reagan, and also a presidential historian, craig shirley joining us. thank you for giving us your time. guest: thank you, pedro. host: that's it for our program. another issue of "washington journal" will take place on christmas day. we will see you then. ♪ [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> you are watching c-span, your unfiltered view of government. c-span was created by america's cable television companies in 1979. today, they are brou

going back to the nixon period, you have a clear indication of what nixon's relationship with cia ising to be when during the -- at the end of the provided the president's daily brief to president-elect nixon during that november to january period, kissinger was the only one who read them. the copies that went to the president were all returned to us in sealed envelopes. and very soon we found out that nixon was not receiving the president's daily brief as a stand-alone product, but that henry kissinger was having the national security staff cook it along with a lot of other information into a morning briefing memo that his staff would write. and he would use that when he met with the president in that morning briefing. the cia is largely out of the picture during that period. as i say, this is what the president wants. some national security councils have been highly structured. for example, eisenhower ran it like a big military staff. and whereas today we have just become so -- every day the president should get an intelligence briefing from cia or the dni. and that's the president

donald trump is a lot less ashamed than richard nixon was. know, that was our previous standard. we've now got a new one. >> nbc news presidential historian michael beschloss. thank you for joining us tonight. if it has not arrived already, a really nice bottle of scotch is on its way to you as a thank you for helping with my book event the other day. >> i just got it. i drank the whole thing in one sitting when i heard about the pardons but i'll wait until christmas eve. thank you so much. >> very good. i'll refresh it with another one once we're past covid and we can drink it together in person. thank you my friend. >> thank you, be well. >>> all right. we've got lots more news tonight. stay with us. some hot cocoa? mom, look! are you okay? head home this holiday with the one you love. visit your local mercedes-benz dealer today for exceptional lease and financing offers at the mercedes-benz winter event. >>> what a night, right? what a news night. now imagine you have just gotten the new job as the united states senator today and this is w

to mark the anniversary, nixon foundation president hugh hewitt interviews former california governor arnold schwarzenegger about president nixon's environmental record and the role such decisions had on his political career. >>> pleased to welcome now, former governor of california arnold schwarzenegger here to celebrate richard

donald trump is a lot less ashamed than richard nixon was. you know, that was our previous standard. we've now got a new one. >> nbc news presidential historian michael besh lass. thank you for joining us tonight. if it has not arrived already, a really nice bottle of scotch is on its way to you as a thank you. >> i just got it. i drank the whole thing in one sitting when i heard about the pardons but i'll wait until christmas eve. thank you so much. >> very good. i'll refresh it with another one once we're past covid and we can drink it together in person. thank you my friend. >> thank you, be well. >>> all right. we've got lots more news tonight. stay with us. t ts more news tonight. stay with us struggling to clean tough messes with wipes? try mr. clean magic eraser sheets. just wet, squeeze and erase icky messes in microwaves and on stovetops for an amazing clean, get the power of mr. clean magic eraser in disposable sheets. and my water broke. at only 23 weeks. andrew: we had to stay in the hospital for 10 weeks, 1000s of miles from fami

donald trump is a lot less ashamed than richard nixon was.nd, you know, that was our previous standard. we've now got a new one. >> nbc news presidential historian michael beschloss. michael, thank you for joining us tonight. if it has not arrived already, a really nice bottle of scotch is on its way to you as a thank you for helping with my book event the other day. >> i just got it. i drank the whole thing in one sitting when i heard about the pardons but i'll wait until christmas eve. thank you so much. >> very good. i'll refresh it with another one once we're past covid and we can drink it together in person. thank you my friend. >> thank you, be well. >>> all right. we've got lots more news tonight. stay with us. every minute. understanding how to talk to your doctor about treatment options is key. today, we are redefining how we do things. we find new ways of speaking, so you're never out of touch. it's seeing someone's face that comforts us, no matter where. when those around us know us, they can show us just how much they care. the fi

next on reel america, "nixon in china." a behind-the-scenes look at the diplomatic breakthrough.by the richard nixon presidential library in 2012. it consists of films by the naval photographic center, eighter -- informal super moviesd

even with nixon, it didn't feel it was in the streets like it is now.around for it so i don't know if that's how i'm reading it. but this feels like it goes down to the ground. the man on the street is involved in this level, if that makes sense. it is not a political thing, it is just a thing now. and i sometimes wonder, i go, coyou think we've gotten to the point now where your reality is only based on your political affiliation? and that's what i struggle with in america. you guys just have two political parties. i'm not used to that. here you just have it's blue or it's red. i'm like what about purple? what about green. and they're like it's blue or red. you're one who thinks about this and you convey stories and people respect you. i wonder if you grapple with that paradox that america is right now, where it's the united states that is no longer united because it's literally split downtown middle. >> yeah, and where we don't have an agreed-upon set of facts or where-- >> >> trevor: yes, definitely. >> one side believes whatever the facts are, we do

and richard nixon was the first time it had been on the ballot forever. that's because education, public education is a bipartisan issue. you like no child leftbehind, whatever . kennedy cosponsored the bill. but you know, the speaker of the house on the republican side said this is our divide on the issues and we had a lot of stuff that was done and that's been done in democratic and republican states . this was a terrible bill and again, these are one of the most partisan moments in history. before the affordable healthcare act there was no legislation passed. they could not agree on content. in 2015, everyone said we've got to come together and do something. we are all inspired by this. is there anything we can do? yes, we should be on the rise for the public education act and 90 percent of the public in the last year of a difficult government period 90 percent of the government signs off on it but the point being no matter how bad things have been in the past we were able to come together and pass public education at both the state and federal level b

martin luther king senior declared that he was going to support richard nixon, the republican nominee, and he went so far as to say he was supporting nixon because he always voted republican, but also because he could not a romankennedy, as catholic. and dr. king's father eventually changed his mind when jfk and his brother robert intervened to secure the release of dr. king from a jail in atlanta. suggesttioned that to african-americans, older african-americans in particular, had this history of voting for the republican party. the republican party, as the questioner says, was still seen as the party of lincoln, emancipation and black rights. the 1936 until election of franklin d roosevelt, in which the majority of the african-american vote, and of course the african-american vote was concentrated in the north where african-americans had voting rights, the 1936 election was the first election in which a majority of the black vote voted for the democratic party in the national election, instead of the republicans. and even ina trend, these years, the majority of african-americans voti

that's how far we've come and even in nixon's case, there were worries that what would he do to stay use nuclear weapons? james schlessinger, you knew very well and i did was the secretary of defense. he told me and probably mentioned it to you as well that he gave an order that any order from nixon to move nuclear weapons would have to be countersigned by the secretary of defense to make sure there was no traction like that and of course nixon in the end did not pardon himself or his aides as donald trump is at least forecast to do by some people. and has pardoned aides already. >> right, and nixon did not pardon urlichman involved in the coverup. you've seen what's happened with flynn and manafort in this instance. also a secretary of defense who is an acting secretary and pretty much written off as a la lacky of president trump's and cleaning out, purging of the top veteran professionals, even veteran trump appointees at the pentagon. you've got a real problem now agency after agency. how unusual is the lack of a concession or even concession speech or even a concession? >> we've

richard nixon didn't think it would necessarily hold up. and remember, that is precisely why president ford was the one that pardoned nixon so it followed the standard order of a president pardoning someone else. take a look after nixon resigned. >> i became greatly concerned that if mr. nixon's prosecution and trial were prolonged, the passions generated over a long period of time would seriously disrupt the healing of our country. we have a long record of forgiving even those who have been our country's most destructive fauxes. >> this isn't a legal comment but forgiveness typically goes from one person to another. you cannot logically just forgive yourself. now, legally, the consensus among experts runs against self-pardons. which is part of why this has never been tested but i always want to give you the facts. that history does not mean we can say whether the supreme court would view this hypothetical as illegal or invalid. nobody knows. nixon didn't do it because even though he was basically a crook by history's judgment he often refe

another great story was with nixon, he had british nab up to camp david.ut he said he didn't know much about this camp david plays and was a little suspicious of it but he went anyway. but the party guy, richard nixon, he had the typical navy blue blazer for bereschnev, for when he got there, with the presidential seal. he also at the keys to this brandbbbe÷ new, navy blue, linkg continental car. it turns out bereschnev like cars. so he told nixon because in the passenger seat, and bereschnev got behind the wheel, i'm sure that the security was pretty press with this. so here is nixon in the passenger side, bereschnev has behind the wheel. they go down things curves, around a curve, downhill, and bereschnev hits 50 miles an hour in the lincoln, you can see dickson sitting there in his, slow down, slow way. and suddenly bereschnev slams on the brakes and they come to a white knuckle stop. and he says, very fine automobile. holds the ground really well. so he like that. i think the custom of the short-lived tradition of the presidency and automobiles, it kep