nixon. well, while we waited, susan, we lived in the closet in my office, which was on the third floor of the old executive office building sometime in the dead of night. she was still of that office out of my closet and landed the office of someone who had said or done something detrimental to women. it's. so i of course, i had to go pick her up in the morning, put her back closet. but it was known that the spirit of suits and the anthony row wound the white house at night. so if you're a man, beware, what's the best? well, a final note about that. i think it was quite appropriate that mrs. nixon was the one to receive this symbolic gift, because i do think that she was an inspiration. and as jim said, behind the president's move to advance what and so we're grateful to her as well as be grateful to the president. so thank you all for coming. i as i said, i wish i were there with you. i think will have an informative and inspiring and i hope you will leave with the momentum and the desire t

nixon legacy forums since 2010. and the the archives is particularly pleased with the work that we do because. they say we make their documents come alive and we do them here or we do them in washington, d.c. we are the only administration producing programs on various public policy initiatives of our administration. today's forum is going to be moderated by chris to move to my right, he's he's he and i were there together. all the panelists were there at the time. but chris and i were young. young colleagues on president nixon's white house staff, and he worked for patrick moynihan on urban affairs. so chaired the white house task force on environmental policy. he then taught at harvard's school and then came back under the reagan administration and was, in essence, deregulation czar at omb. he spent 25 years at the american enterprise institute, including 22 years as its president. and then he spent a little over ten years as, a distinguished fellow at the hudson institute, and recently switched within the last ye

voice we remember richard nixon with.as you all know. shrinking violet when it came to communism. he built his on anti-communist crusade. it was h negotiated a missile treaty with the soviet union. it was he who pulled the united states opened up relations with china. president nixon praised the approach that his secretary of state. of course, henry kissinger which in its normal smains the pragmatic advancement of nationalpon real conditions and not ideology. realpolitik recognizes that their agents must be seen as they really are rather then we wish they would be. and president nixon's time the official position was the ccp illegitimate regime and that the true government china fled to taiwan 1949 and still time to rule the whole ofwo decades we maintained pretense at the communist ld reach only the free world. it was the beginning of coming to terms with reality. it was moving to opt out fantasy. today, u.s. foreign policy is based on egregious and far more dangerous than daydream. we seem to think we are still where we

my to rollback that spending to the eisenhower mi existed when president nixon, vice president nixonwas vice president and eisenhower was president. that was the level in 1960. if that was enough at the height of the cold war, it should be enough today. words, i will push for a 50ercent reduction in military expenditures in my first four years in office withto come thereafter. in the end, we are going to have a stronger, smarter, better targeted national i will use those savings to rebuild our country in every way military spending is that tality. china spends one third what we spend on the military. we have 800 basis abroad. the chinese have one and a half. have one. ng the. with -- during the periodpent a trillion dollars airports, schools and hospitals in our failed war on terror, the chinese are spendi same amount building roadsthey were projectin power abroad rather than military power. oóour wars made enemies across the gl at home. china's investments in contrast made it print across the globe and brought it influence in every corner of the world. china is now the biggest credi

there has never been applause for such as that for pat nixon. mrs. nixon approached floor. and even if you go back and look the video now i have fairly recently it doesn't begin to to take into account the sustained nature of the applause and the camera keeps going back to the same space in the in the crowd in the audience. if you could have scanned that crowd, she mrs. nixon was just loved and it dated far back. it went back to 52 and 56. and all the years that she had herself been to national conventions. but she just it and she handled it so gracefully. and jimmy stewart and ronald reagan were seated right on the dais and they would not help her. she was trying to get them to help. and they even she had a gavel, a gigantic gavel, where she tried to gavel the crowd. silence some kind, and they wouldn't have anything to do with that. they were just cheering. there were tears and i say, i've been to two conventions before and after, and it was nothing like that. that 72 convention with mrs. nixon. and maybe that had to do with what happened. but i applied for a white house

believed that nixon had won.hink mr. nixon is an effective leader of his party, and i hope he thinks the same about me. the question before us is: what point of view and what party do you want to see leading the usa? nixon had just left the hospital, refused television makeup, and did not look very impressive. this is how this moment is depicted in oliver stone's film. became kennedy, they joked that television viewers chose him, and radio listeners voted for a republican, but my image and ability to react quickly turned out to be more important than intelligence. already in the 2000s it became known that nixon was actually a healthier person than kennedy. he had problems with his spine and suffered from odisson's disease. before his performances it was necessary to take painkilling injections of navacaine. after his murder in dallas. the debate was interrupted for 16 long years. the practice was resumed only in 1976 by jimmy carter and gerald ford. republican congressional minority leader ford. became the only p

with president nixon.as the only one down here i am a collection of all the signatures that i've been collecting since i was little boy. i wrote president nixon and thee mid- 70s and asked him, his is the one signature i was■; missi. and o he wrote a very long and gracious and sent a lot of his business cards. his signature it was very graceful of him. my family had an adversarial politically for■yi advertiser op president and accent. but my uncle always held a really deep personal affection before they ran because they were both world war ii veterans. they had that in common. and they respected each other for president nixon, although they were political adversaries at thead time, the people at each generation they were more like ch in the next generation. they both had this extraordinary curiosity about history, a deep encyclopedic knowledge about history. they're both playing for history which is i important for a president to have. they were both writers and president nixon wrote his own speeches, as m

addressed the nixon library and spoke about immigration and voting rights.s about an hour 10 minutes. [cheerin [■ it was the one signature.■ it pursued wrote president n on and he sent me a lot of business cards, enough to all sides. sweet and myn adversarial advef president nixon, but my uncle always held him in deep affection and personal affection before they ran,ki thy were both world war ii veterans and they had that in common and ected each other for that and president nixon had many political adversaries at the time. they were like people were more like each other than anybody for a deep■n knowledge of histoy and that's important for a president to have and they both were brilliant writers his present speech. h] the use of power and urgency that few presidents have had nce then. so i'm honored to be here ■Ñ wa get a plug for one of the things that the nixon m sponsor american civics campaign and the american civics campaign is to return the teaching of we had civics courses and everyone had to take one when we were kidsivics was abandoned, i think, so

united states versus nixon and that is when then sitting president nixon claimed he was immune from complying with the subpoena in the watergate investigation because of executive privilege. in that case the supreme court managed to move much more expeditiously. >> good evening. the u.s. supreme court acting as swiftly as it ever has. today it announced it will review the special watergate prosecutor's complete against president nixon. it was just one week ago today when he asked the court to rule on the presidents defiance of a subpoena. it was yesterday when the president's lawyer asked the court not to rush to judgment and allow the case to be heard in the court of appeals. but this afternoon the court said it would hear oral arguments in about five weeks which set the stage for a possible confrontation between the president and the high court on the issue of executive privilege. >> at 3:30 the conference ended. 10 minutes later the chief justice issued a single sheet of paper, setting in motion the biggest constitutional test of presidential power since the civil war. in the case now enti

, california, home of the nixon presidential library and the nixon foundation where independent presidentialdidate robert f. kennedy, jr. gave an address on foreign policy, which the los angeles reported including cutting the national defense budget pxby ha. mr. kennedy: august 9 will mark the 50th anniversary of president nixon' resignation from office. although want to his some extent, there is one thing we will remember for and rightly so in a very positive light. president nixon china in february 1972. it was a major milestone in the history of the cold war. say it was a strategic maneuver to drive a wedge between china and the soviet union, and perhaps to some extent it was, but it was much more than that. because today we are facing bete world's most powerful powers, russia, china, and the united states. threat of nuclear war is greater than at any time since thba. maybe there was something important today we can learn action -- n's approach more than 50 years ago. we nixon with admiration for initiating talks with the soviet union. president nixon was a hard-line red hb/ter. the true

for example, at the first televised debate between kennedy and nixon in 1960. the favorite was not the future president kennedy, but it was the television picture that turned everything upside down. those who listened to the debate on the radio believed that nixon had won, and those who watched television believed were confident that the younger kennedy had won. i think mr. nixon is an effective leader of his party. i hope he thinks the same about me. the question before us is: what point of view and what party do you want to see leading the united states. nixon had just gotten out of the hospital and gave up television makeup. did not look very impressive, this is how this moment is shown in the oliver stone film. kennedy became president, they joked that tv viewers chose him, and radio listeners voted for the republican, but his image and ability to react quickly turned out to be more important than intelligence. already in the 2000s it became known that nixon was actually a healthier person than kennedy. there were problems with the spine and he suffered fro

there has never be ala for such as that for pat nixon. mrs. nixon approached floor.o back an look the video now i have fairly to to takenature of the applause and e cameraoik to the same space in the in the crowd in the audience. if that loved and it dated to 52 and 56. and all the years to national conventions. it and she handled it so and ronald reagan were seated right on the islp her. she was trying to get them to help. and they even e veñugigantic gad to gavel the crowd. silence some kind, and they wouldn't have anything to do with that. they were just cheering. there were tears and i say, i've been to two conventions befo afg like that. that 72 convention wit nixon. and maybe that had to do with happened. but i applied for a white house internship and so with a letter i had gotten theobth national committee, ended up at the white house in the office of william rudy, who later edited a journal that many of us have had had a hand in. and then i was i worked for it sounds like i was transferred a lot, but i worked for. brycein laird. and again, you can't learn fro

nixon, would you like to comment?have no comment.host: johnd nixon in a people in that era and aris looking back on that debate said mattered very much. do presidential debates still matteray in 2024? (202)-748-8001 for republicans. democrats, (202)-748-8000. 02. having this conversation in the first 90 minutes, a reminder that the house comes in at 9:00 a.m. it is a two hour show. a shorter program because we will take you to the house, gavel to g a.m. eastern. we start in do debates still matter? caller:es do matter. i'm excited to watch tonight's debate. that beingconcerns. anyone paying attention to politics thet years, regardless of their political stance, have toit mainstream media [indiscernible] ally cnn, but not to see some of the criticism over the years hasn't beenlot of it was. i have no problem with media and their perspective, but i wish intelligence by claiming not to be objectiven they clearly are. i truly wish it was c-span u are by far the only ones these days capable of moderating a truly unbiased d

we remember richard nixon with admiration fort union.ine red hathe true foundation of our natural resources. eÑ;ait is our national characte, our free constitution. these assets will us to excel in a multipolar age. ■ a cerprise depends not on making or running an efficient business of but on clinical influence. it becomes weak abroad, requiring constant government assistance. e economy only the most efficient and innovative companies can survive. become more and more like china as have captured a progress in the themselves and punish of the innovation class, the small businesses, to put them at disadvantage. we have to have confidence and who we are as a people. this is a noble experiment that we are a i in, and it is an experiment in self-governance, which means freedom, and we are supposed to be modeling these viruoes for everyone else in the world. they are going to work forthey e kind of country, the template for freedom■n that is not only going to enrich the world, but also inspiring, and that is our role i will pursue as president

nixon, would you like to comment? host: so that is a little bit from 1968.give us a little peek into what we might expect tomorrow night. we'll see. that was the very first question from journalists in the very first presidential in 1960 to john kennedy. gl we may hear some discussion on this topic tomorrowit age. is h young, his inexperience. and i would also invite as i said, but rather reflective, somber tone. kennedy praise his opponent as an effective leader of his party. richar nixon didn't wish to follow-up. there wa of praisingwe've come a long way in our presidential debates and i think there arens we could be learned as we look back at that very first q first presidential debate. host:in you added the audience to the mix is that a n the audience? >> i think what we analysis of the kind of debate candidates, some of the analysis tha in termse attacks, the ridicule that has increased exponentially in our presidential debates. and even more when i think of the one line reaction and certainly for those caeswe sa

nixon. h%our ta merely one of itemizing that wholly necessaryr e from the farm.need us to tell them of theirunemployed miners and textile workers know that the decision is before them in november. the old people without medical care, the families without a decent home. the parents, the children without a decent school. they all know that it's time for darkness.ot here to curse the we are here to light a candle. as winston churchill said on taking office. some 20 years ago, if we open a quarrel between the president and the past, we shall be in danger of losing thee. today, our concern must be with that changing. the old era is do abroad. the balance of power is shifting. new and more terrible weapons one third of the world may but one third is the victim of a cruelep third is rocked by poverty and hunger and influence has penetrated into asia. it stands in the middle east and now festers off the coast of florida. er the taliban and neutrals have slipped and areti as ourkeynotee by going to korea japan. the world has been close to war before, but no man who surviv

nixon. our task inot merely one of itemizing republican far is that wholly necessary for the fami from the farm. you do not need us to tell them of their the unemployed miners and textile workersre them in november. the old people families without a decent home. thewithout a decent school. they all know that it's time for a change.we are not here to curse the darkness. here to light aas winston churchill said on taking office. some 20 years ago, if we open a quarrel between the president and the past, we shall be in danger of losing the future. today, our concern must be with thate world is changing. the old era is ending. do abroad. thenew and more terrible weapons are coming into use. one third of the world may be, but one third is the victim of a cruel repression, and the other third is rocked by poverty and hunger andt influence has penetrated into asia. it stands in the middle east and now festers some 90 miles off the coast of florida. ra has staliban and neutrals have slipped and are

nixon. our task is not merely one of itemizing republican failures, nor is that wholly necessary for the family forced from the farm. you do not need us to tell them of their plight. the unemployed miners and textile workers know that the decision is before them in november. the old people without medical care, the families without a decent home. the parents, the children without a decent school. they all know that it's time for a change. we are not here to curse the darkness. we are here to light a candle. as winston churchill said on taking office. some 20 years ago, if we open a quarrel between the president and the past, we shall be in danger of losing the future. today, our concern must be with that future. well, the world is changing. the old era is ending. the old ways will not do abroad. the balance of power is shifting. new and more terrible weapons are coming into use. one third of the world may be, but one third is the victim of a cruel repression, and the other third is rocked by

caller:50 years ago in august that richard nixon resigned. president ford pardoned richard nixon. as such appear that they both knew that richard nixon had no immunity. all of america knew that richard nixon had no immunity. the appellate court held a hearing for why there was no immunity for president trump. why is the supreme court taking this case up? it is obvious it is politically motivated and why the court would be taking this case up when most of those who know the history of america know not have immunity when it comes to criminal when out of office, that the hello -- have no immunity when it comes to the law. host: let's get a response. guest: it that gerald ford pardoned richard nixon and it arguably applies to could have been a prosecution. i am strongly against the notion that the former president enjoys absolute immunity. the supreme court took this case because there are interesting arguments that there may be more limited immunity in certain contexts and there was criticism of the d.c. circuit judge case, around some of its reasoning. i think the court believes it

including the influx of women into the fed the nixon administration through the late 20th century and role played by america's first ladies. and then at 7 p.m. american history tv series historic convention speechesk by presidential nominees and other political figure from the past former georgia governor jimmy carter accepts 1976 democratic national convention in new york city. 9:30 p.m. eastern on the presidency the presidential library foundation ceo edward o'keefe talks shaped theodore roosevs watch american history tv saturdays on c-span2 and if find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online ♪♪ >> if you ever miss any of c-span's coverage it anytime online at c-span.org. videos ofates and other events feature markers or that that guide you to interesting and newsworthy highlights. these points of interest markers appear if you hit play on select videos-this tool makes it easy to quickly get an idea of what was debatedashington. scroll through and spend a few minutes on c-span's points of interest.>> with the university of akron the dean of the college of arts and it c

in august '74, nixon resigned.wilson published an article in which he stated that the george w. bush administration launched the war in iraq on the basis of deliberately false intelligence. in 2002, he traveled to niger, where he became personally convinced that saddam hussein was not was going to buy yellow uranium for the production of weapons of mass destruction, but the white house deliberately did not make this information public. a week after the article was published , an action followed: together the press published material that revealed the identity of his wife, undercover cia agent valerie plame. this put an end to her career and endangered her loved ones. the white house denied all allegations. in november 209, before the un climate summit in copenhagen, the so -called climate gate erupted. hackers leaked correspondence of eastern university employees england in norwich, from which it followed that it was american. climatologists deliberately distorted data on global warming; in correspondence they disc

in august '74, nixon resigned.mat joseph wilson published an article in which he stated that the george w. bush administration started the war in iraq on the basis of deliberately false intelligence. in 2002 he went to niger, where i witnessed it first hand. a week after the article was published an action followed, and the press published material that revealed the identity of his wife, an undercover cia agent, valerie plame. this put an end to her career and endangered her loved ones. the white house denied all allegations. in november 2009, before the climate summit in copenhagen, the so -called climate gate erupted. hackers leaked correspondence from employees of the university of east anglia in norwich, from which it followed that american climatologists deliberately distorted data on global warming. correspondence they discussed what tricks could be used so that in the graphs about the increase in global temperature, it would not be noticeable that in some of the years the temperature not only did not increas

>> at work, with the peace talks stalled nixon won the election. he prolonged the war in order to get elected. the delay, and nixon's subsequent illegal expansion of the war cost 20,000 americans lives and millions of laotian and cambodian lives. a similar thing happen again in 1980. that election, jimmy carter was facing a foreign-policy crisis of his own. >> good evening. the american embassy and tehran is in the hands of muslim students and i, spurred on by they stormed the embassy, fought the marine guards for four hours, overpowered them and took dozens of american hostages. >> more than 50 americans were being held hostage in iran. it was a political disaster for carter and it was later discovered his opponent, ronald reagan, set up a secret back channel of his own. reagan alec, former texas, john connolly, traveled to a number of middle eastern countries in the summer of 1980, worrying a encouraged the leaders to pass along a message to iran, as the new york times, don't release the hostages before the election. reagan will win and give you

>> next home of t nixon prid foundationhere independent presidential jr. dress on foreign policy, which the los angeles reported including cutting the mr. kennedy: august 9 will mark. president nixon'ses■jtion from office. although want to his en there is one thing we will remember him for and rightly so in a very positive light. president nixon visited china in ua 1> milestone in the history of the cold war. a cynic might say it was a strategic maneuver to drive a between china and the soviet union, and perhaps to some extent it was, but it was much more than that. because today we are facing ens between the world's most powerful ps, chinad states. the threat of nucl war is greater than at any time since the cuban missile crisis. maybe there was something important today we can learn from president action -- ■wnix's approach more than 50 years ago. we nixon with admiration forpresident was a he red hathe true foundation ofnat. it is our national character, our freend o constitution. these assets willow us to excel in a multipolar age. c lina athe success

nixon. we sd, gosh, nixon versus fitzgerald, that is somethg courts shouldn't get engaged in because presidents have al manner of motives. and again, i'm not concerned about this case, but i am concerned about future uses of thcrinal law to target litical opponents based on accusations about their motives. whether it is reelection or who knows what corrupt means in 1512 -- we don't know what that means. mae will find out sometime soon. but the dangerousness of acsing your political opponent of having bad motives, if is -- if that is enough to overcome your core powers or any other limits, reactions, thgh? >> yeah, i think yo're raising a very difficult question. >> that is the idea. >> that is the idea. >> testing the limits of both side arguments. >> and i'm going to say something i don't normally say, which is that is really not involved in this case. [laughter] we don't have bad political motive, in that sense. >> i appreciate that, but you also appreciate that we are writing a rule for t

that's even more than in the nixon case where ford pardoned him before trial. but then i looked at hunter biden and the empathy that so many people feel towards addiction and the disease of addiction and i thought that by mentioning he deserves to be commuted in any sentence. now that he's been held to the principle of the rule of law. and senator j.d. vance, who i praise in his book about the addiction in hillbilly elegy has great book would i think be tremendous to join me in a bipartisan way to call upon the commutation for hunter biden as well here's some of the reaction and put something up on the screen and i'll read it aloud. >> some of the reaction that lanny davis has received joe biden pressuring governor hochul to pardon trump because that's what it would take as you recognize, would quite possibly cost him the election dems would be so incensed that they would stay home in droves to think anything else is simply ludicrous, lanny, what would be the political impact of what you recommend? >> well, first of all, that individual use the word pressure. i

nixon, would you like to comment? >> i have no comment. [end video clip] host: john kennedy and richard nixon in a debate that many people in that era and aris looking back on that debate said mattered very much. do presidential debates still matter today in 2024? (202)-748-8001 for republicans. democrats, (202)-748-8000. independents, (202)-748-8002. having this conversation in the first 90 minutes, a reminder that the house comes in at 9:00 a.m. eastern, so it is a two hour show. a shorter program because we will take you to the house, gavel to gavel at 9:00 a.m. eastern. we start in pennsylvania, do debates still matter? caller: in my opinion, absolutely, presidential debates do matter. i'm excited to watch tonight's debate. that being said, i do have concerns. anyone paying attention to politics the past nine years, regardless of their political stance, have to admit the mainstream media [indiscernible] especially cnn, but not to see some of the criticism over the years hasn't been deserved, but a lot of it was. i have no problem with

more than two dozen national guardsmen with guns on the other unarmed activists angry at president nixon the guards opened fire on the students one of tens of thousands of students on may 4th, 1970, gathering on college campuses with plans to go a national student strike until the war that nixon had just escalated came to an end. our tuition money through the university's investment portfolio continues to profit from war and aggression. these students are going through what we went through in 1970, when richard nixon, our president, called college protesters bums, sperol agnu like industry. to the nazis and the kuchlux clan. we want the president of our university who has been stuck in this ivy tower here behind me to retract his statements that each and every one of you guys are hate mongers and are anti-semitic. we're here to advocate for human rights. so they're definitely complained because people don't know what they mean right? people think zinanism is judaism is israel, it's all the same thing and it's absolutely not. zionism is a 19th century, 20th century concept, it was not. st

nixon, would you like to comment? host: so thatfrom 1968.al debate in 1960 to john kennedy. interestingly, and we may hear some discussion on this top night, it was a question related to his age. is he too young, his inexperience. would also invite viewers to think about, again,er reflec, and we also heard john kennedy praise his oonrichard nixon di'o follow-up. e#there was a great deal of praising of one another. we've come a long way in our presidential and i think there are lessons we could be learned as we look at that very first question and the very first presidential debate. host: do you think if you added the audience to the mix, net pon it comes to adding the audience? >> i think what we have learned in our dialogue that happens with theandidates, some of the analysis that we looked at in terms of the name-calling, the attacks, the ridul, that has increased exponentially in our esential debates. and even more so when i think of the one line, trying to elicit an audiencen and certainly for those candidates. 2016 and also in 2020. and

nixon accepted a pardon, which is inherently an acceptance of wrongdoing. wrong and accepted the pardon in exchange for basically going away. he did so, and president ford did so, as a way to have a moment of national healing. but of course nixon wasn't charged. so it is a bit of an imperfect parallel. the other parallel people have discussed is eugene dobbs was the candidate for the socialist party in 1920, when he ran from jail, the only other candidate, not that trump will necessarily be in jail, but the only other candidate that has come close.- but the only other candidate that has come close. what sort of mark do _ that has come close. what sort of mark do you _ that has come close. what sort of mark do you think _ that has come close. what sort of mark do you think this i of mark do you think this guilty verdict puts on the office of the presidency itself? i office of the presidency itself? ~ . office of the presidency itself? ~' ., ., itself? i think there are two different ways _ itself? i think there are two different ways to _ itself? i think the

the same thing with nixon. gosh, nixon versus fitzgerald. that's somethingng courts shouldn't get engaged in because presidents have all manner of motives. again, i'm not concerned about this case but i am concerned about future uses of the criminal law to target political opponents based on act asians about their motives. whether it's reelection or who knows what corrupt means in 1512. we don't know what that means. maybe we will find out sometime soon. the dangerousness of accusing your political opponent of having bad motives. if that's enough to overcome your core powers or any other limits, reactions, thoughts. >> you are raising a very difficult question. that is the idea. >> testing the limits of both sides of arguments. >> is going to say something that i don't normally say, which is that's not really involved in this case. we don't have bad political motive in that sense. >> understand that. you also appreciate that we are writing a rule for the ages. >> yes. and i would start by looking at the statute and seeing what restrictions t

case the court issued a unanimous opinion on july 24th, 1794 ordering republican president richard nixon to comply with the subpoena and surrender the tapes to investigators. that unanimous supreme court decision forced the president of the united states to resign the presidency because those tapes contained evidence of richard nixon committing crimes in the white house. each supreme court justice who joined that opinion knew that their opinion could bring an end to the nixon presidency by supplying evidence for impeachment, which it did. those justices knew the weight of the decision they were making , but it was, in essence, a simple decision turning on the simple principle that no one is above the law. after the current supreme court agreed to hear an equally simple case, maybe even simpler about the presidency, the republican controlled supreme court took eight weeks just to hear oral arguments of the case. it has now been seven weeks since those oral arguments, and the current supreme court still has not announced its decision on the simple question, our former presidents immune fro

each justice who joined that unanimous opinion new that their opinion could bring an end to the nixonency by supplying evidence for impeachment, which he did. those justices knew the weight of the decision they were making. but it was in essence, a simple decision, turning on the simple principle. but no one is above the law. after the current supreme court agreed to hear an equally simple case, maybe even simpler, about the presidency. the republican controlled supreme court took eight weeks just to hear oral arguments of the case. it has now been seven weeks since the oral arguments in the current supreme court still has not announced its decision on the simple question, our former president immune from criminal prosecution for crimes they commit while president. no one, prior to donald trump, and possibly the current republican supreme court justices have ever thought that former presidents could not be criminally prosecuted. it's the kind of case that the supreme court should have nailed to decide in 48 hours, at most. the shame of this rep -- republican supreme court is not just

so the first presidential debate happens in 1960 between richard nixon and john kennedy. difference between how the two men looked really dominated interpretations of that election. and so there are many reasons why john f kennedy won the 1960 election that had nothing to do with the tv debates. but in the mind of richard nixon and political consultants and media advisers, they argued that it's the debates and nixon's poor presentation has poor image that really he lost the election for him. and so in the aftermath of these debates, this effort to control television image becomes a political priority if we fast forward, it's not only controlling the image, it's also controlling the narrative out of it. absolutely. and this is, again, a historical development in the aftermath of the 1976 election. there's this one moment where gerald ford talks about the soviet domination of eastern europe and what happens is that immediately wasn't a defining moment. but carter's media team really grabbed a hold of that, and it really introduced this idea that that winning the narrative m

but of course nixon wasn't charged. so it is a bit of an imperfect parallel.ople have discussed is eugene debs was the candidate for the socialist party in 1920, when he ran from jail, the only other candidate, not that trump will necessarily be in jail, but the only other candidate that has come close. what sort of mark do you think this guilty verdict puts on the office of the presidency itself? i think there are two different ways to look at it. one, the mark that if trump loses, he is a former president that has been convicted. therefore he would have among the worst tenures, perhaszohn tyler competes with him because he sided with the confederacy after his presidency. treason is not great. the other piece that is important, if he is re—elected, it is an amazing statement to suggest the american people would elect a felon. and while there is no prohibition against that in the constitution, i think it is fair to say that the founders would be very surprised that that is something the american people would do. we heard yesterday both donald trump and joe bid

all three they were the three most powerful men in the nixon white house and nixon administration. when they went to jail after watergate, they were innocent men the probation officer visited with them about eight months into their serving their sentence. they were then guilty and very remorseful about what they had done as a result of that, the judge ended up shortening they're their sentences but somehow the reality of going to jail can make people think if they don't admit they're their wrongs and their misbehavior, they can come to understand it. i think trump's she needs some jail time. he is just totally unrepentant. he'll do it again. he'll do it again worse. he's on a road then you campaign. and so i hope this judge sends him to jail it's interesting. >> i had a julian zelizer on a little bit, just a little bit ago. and he, of course, of presidential historian and we were talking about the fact that back when nixon resigned it was so deeply unpalatable, an untenable for him to stay in office. the american people simply weren't going to accept a criminal being in office. >>

with the peace talks stalled, and nixon won the election.ay and subsequent expansion of the war cost 20,000 american lives and millions of vietnamese, laotian and cambodian lives. a similar thing happened in 1980 when the next democratic president was facing a foreign policy crisis of his own. >> good evening. the american embassy is in the hands of muslim students tonight, spurred on by an anti- american speech. they stormed the embassy, fought the marine guards for three hours, overpowered them and took dozens of american hostages. >> more than 50 americans are being -- americans were being held hostage and it was discovered his opponent set up a secret back channel of his own. john connell traveled to a number of middle eastern countries in the summer of 1980 where he encouraged the leaders he met there to pass on a message. don't release the hostages before the election. reagan will win and give you a better deal. it worked. and in a final twist of the knife, the hostages were released minutes after the new president was sworn in. all of

you mentioned 1960 between jack kennedy and richard nixon where kennedy's charisma negated nixon supposedthe other was the 76 debate between carter and ford where ford claimed the soviet union was not dominating eastern europe at the time. that was an election ford might have won that stalled his campaign a bit. most debates don't think move the needle. when they do i think it's because they reverse the narrative, as i mentioned with kennedy and nixon, as the other gentlemen noted. there's already been the narrative of this joe biden too old and people have already taken that into account whether that matters to them or not. this may reinforce that view but this is the earliest debate we've ever had in american presidential politics, it's only june and the election is in november and there are plenty of opportunities for joe biden to bounceback as he seemed to do today at the north carolina rally. his partisans certainly hope he performs better at the next debate, as ronald reagan did after he seemed old and his first debate. and this is the first time we saw two presidents debating each

nixon, would you like to comment? >> i have no comment.end video clip] host: john kennedy and richard nixon in a debate that many people in that era and aris looking back on that debate said mattered very much. do presidential debates still matter today in 2024? (202)-748-8001 for republicans. democrats, (202)-748-8000. independents, (202)-748-8002. having this conversation in the first 90 minutes, a reminder that the house comes in at 9:00 a.m. eastern, so it is a two hour show. a shorter program because we will take you to the house, gavel to gavel at 9:00 a.m. eastern. we start in pennsylvania, do debates still matter? caller: in my opinion, absolutely, presidential debates do matter. i'm excited to watch tonight's debate. that being said, i do have concerns. anyone paying attention to politics the past nine years, regardless of their political stance, have to admit the mainstream media [indiscernible] especially cnn, but not to see some of the criticism over the years hasn't been deserved, but a lot of it was. i have no problem with me

i don't think without those, if nixon didn't debate, nixon probably would have won in 1960. i think histories can look on why are we doing this debate in the spring. so it's a big deal for cnn. it's a giant moment, but it we usually wait, wait till september for this, so we're gonna be looking out. also a lot of body language. now, people are going to be looking at those weird moments of eye rolls and strange gestures. and it's, it's been helpful wolf to see that the story of the microphones, that even though they're turned off, somebody could mumble or talk and it could create a distraction. 4, the other, so it's really a psychological warfare game between these two standing there with trump really seething that he has those 34 felony counts and blames biden for going after him as you know, this will be the first time a current and a former president actually debate. it's the earliest debate in recent memory, and it's a complete transformation of the usual debate format as you know, just how his story correct. doug, is this moment unbelievably historic. you can't hype up th

the closest is nixon, and nixon resigned. this is just so unusual and shocking, and really, none of this is normal. and the fact that donald trump is running for re-election, having only had this one case go forward, is kind of shocking . and it really is a sign that our norms have not held. the guardrails did not really work. >> melissa, what is the solution to this? there may be no immediate solution right now, because obviously we would like to believe that we, that our ev supreme court is either strong and reliable, or can be made strong and reliable. what is your best sense of what happens after this? if joe biden wins re-election, does he need idto take more seriously reforms to the court? >> i think that has always been something that people have been pushing joe biden to do. in i mean, first to run on the court, to make clear that he actually has had a really good record of domestic progress. he has had student loan relief, he has achieved that. and those windsor borrowers got eventuated by this court. there are alway