oliver wendell holmes wrote in 1958 fought in 1972 he wrote to the great empires in spain and russia, britain, each to to enter 50 years. in the empirical hegemony and the power leads to decadence and the short sleeves to short sleeves and generations from the exploration and exploitation to the decadence request for world approval to the welfare state and squabbles over inherited wealth and the notable feature he writes of the declining nations of the loss of physical energy. both recapitulate the human individual tendencies and like the individual human involved in the predictable directions the kunin light lived to be 120 years but no longer and will decatur the predictable stages as well the family. however wealthy and the state however powerful. and now we see we in america are at the outward end of the to hundred 50 years, and we see the signs positive. we passed through the ages of outburst conquest, commerce, of unscom into left and we've come to the age of decadence. this and all employers, she writes, can be identified by the defensiveness, pessimism, materialism, the welfar

is the zest for being at the center of national life for the intrinsic merit apart i think oliver wendell holmes said at one point* another i heard come out of the amount of kennedy with the actions had passion at the peril of being judged not to have lived. he has assessed that is palpable. now he has won the election when of the first crisis is desegregation of the university of alabama. this is from the 50 years ago to the day old mrs. march gain there 50th anniversary. if you have never been to the civil-rights museum they have these recordings but this is the president talking with of principal face of segregation at the time the safety of james meredith safety is in doubt. and they are doing and elaborate dance where president kennedy insist a couple of things have to happen. here is how it unfolds : [laughter] >> host: what was president kennedy's seat gain to accomplish? >> there is so much happening. you can hear in the tone that you don't get for reading the transcripts. he is asserting the right of the president of united states to order the governor of mississippi to restore order in

>> guest: it comes from a speech that oliver wendell holmes made about the civil war, and it seemed to me very appropriate. he said, "to our great good fortune and our youth, our hearts were touched by fire. and we learned at an early age that life was a passionate and serious thing." i haven't exactly quoted that, but the point is that people who were young during the civil war were inspired and matured in a way that perhaps hasn't happened to every generation. c-span: but the subtitle on your book is "the life, death and mythic afterlife of george armstrong custer." who was general custer? >> guest: well, custer was part of that generation that was touched by the fire of the civil war. he had a splendid, heroic career as a general in the civil war. and then afterwards, the time when he becomes very interesting to me, at the age of 25, he was one of 135 unemployed major generals. he had to redirect his life. for the first few years, it wasn't easy. and then he found a new career on the frontier. so he's a fascinating study. c-span: what was the battle of the little bighorn, and where

oliver wendell holmes wrote that in 1858, and in 1972 sir john glove, a british historian, wrote a pamphlet called the fate of empires, 197 is 2. and he wrote that the great empires, asyria, persian, greece, the roman, the arab empires, the ottoman empires, spain, russia, britain, each flourished for around 250 years, and this seems to be the space allotted for imperial he generalny. too long a period of power leads to decadence, so the empire goes from the pioneers to the innovators, to the bureaucrats, from exploration on exploitation to decadence, the quest for world approval, the welfare state and squabbles over inherited wealth. and a notable feature, he writes, of the declining nations is the loss of physical energy. he suggests, as does the bible, that the state of a human organism is no different than the family. both recapitulate human individual tendencies, and like the individual human, evolve in predictable directions. the human might, indeed can, live to be 120 years, but no longer, and will decay through predict blg stages as will the family, however well ty -- and the state,

mister justice oliver wendell holmes once said taxes are the prices we pay for our civilized society.ure way to determine the social conscience of a government is to examine the way taxes are collected and how they are spent. and one sure way to determine the social conscience of an individual is to get his tax reaction. taxes are for all of the dues we pay for the privilege of membership in an organized society. that society becomes more civilized. government, national and state and local is called on to assume more obligations to its citizens. >> that's fdr in october, 1976. he's running for re-election. it's not a lame duck -- that is about his fourth case. it sounds like another planet given the tax politics. in the history you have been studying, is that an outlier or close to what the argument has been? >> lawmakers made the argument in two ways. you clearly try to link the revenue raising that you want to do to the social investments. the malloy approach. >> exactly. >> the way to do it is training on the austerity that is going to result if you don't bite the bullet. look at c

gregg: do you want me to quote oliver wendell holmes. >> no, for crying out loud.rtest legal analyst on the channel. gregg: i won't do it just for you. merry christmas. >> merry christmas. heather: i knew that would be fiery. that did not disappoint. it is already christmas in some parts of the world and santa is on the move. take a look. we are tracking him, how you and your kids can track old st. nick. that is coming up. and a young cancer patient bringing holiday cheer to other sick kids. we'll tell you about her big plan that's already raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. [ male announcer ] the more you lose, the more you lose, because for every two pounds you lose through diet and exercise, alli can help you lose one more by blocking some of the fat you eat. let's fight fat with alli. ♪ a brave little girl diagnosed with canceree pit micing the christmas spirit after coming up with a grand plan to help out other kids in her situation. lauren demaco from our affiliate in d.c. has her story. >> gabriella million her is one very tiny nine-year-old but she has