polk, all of polk's letters are being published in multiple volumes, all of which i have. and polk kept a diary during his presidency, four volumes, 500 pages each. i pretty much had to memorize that diary. and he poured his heart into the diary. he told his diary what he was really thinking and feeling, and he was feeling beset by his political opponents a lot of the time, so i was able to get a little bit of life into it that way. >> i want to come back to the diary and the letters and all that, but paint a picture of him as -- just physically as a person? >> well, not an imposing man particularly. he was not an unattractive man. he was relatively sort of medium height, he was about 5'8". he was relatively small compared to the giants of the time. thomas hart benton was big. andrew jackson was big. henry clay was lanky and tall. and polk didn't have that. i describe him in the book as small of stature and drab of temperament. he was a bit of a -- he was a standoffish kind of a guy. he didn't like people very much. he was somewhat self-righteous, so a little bit sanctimon

than polk. that was going to be a disaster for him. he had to maneuver to get the "global" out of there so he could create the "daily union." but a man that he revered, and you jackson, love the blair. jackson could not understand why his two great proteges and friends and people that he loved so much could not get along. the poll pulled off and got blair added there to create his own newspaper, "the daily union." >> what is the difference between the editor of the post today and the blairs? >> it is different because there's a significant pretense and desire to reach for object to it -- objectivity and our newspapers. we do not always live up to that successfully, but that is the rule that we try to follow. don graham is up that tradition, not a partisan press. >> you went to the university of washington and also columbia, that master's degree. you wrote for the "national observer," which a lot of people do not remember. and then the "wall street journal quoted >> dow jones started "the desert

polk. nevin says this at a dinner. robust description of what was actually said so i combine that. why could have taken -- i could have taken a more clipped rendition of the play so i put the two together with a note that explains how i did that. >> and other journalists of note was here five years ago. >> he would have been right at home in today's acidic washington political environment. i think he would have been up to the needles and digs and knives that are real did. -- that are weilded. he was a man for his time. there is very critica little thu could say he left. both of the administration's, harrison and the taylor administration, were interrupted by the deaths of the president said. he did a great deal. >> what do yo(/ñr think? do you agree? >> one interesting highlight, the book that he wrote was part of the american president series that was put together. he told me when we talked about this that the only thing that was to be changed was that he thought he slighted the idea of the mexican warÑi. sessa injur

president jackson and lincoln, certainly in van buren's time, maybe a little bit in the beginning of polk'stime before their falling out and certainly through andrew johnson's time, as long as he was president. >> and no president took more advantage of that hospitality than abraham lincoln. >> i'm sure that lincoln felt that he could come across the street any time for a chat, and i think that's how blair house really functioned. it could be an escape, it could be a place of privacy where things were not overheard. as far as we know, the president could relax in front of a warm fire with a nice brandy and talk over difficult issues and get good, sound advice, as well as a sympathetic shoulder. the last blair to live in the house, when he was just a 4 or 5-year-old boy, remembers abraham lincoln sitting in his father's study off the blair front entrance deep in conversation with their feet propped up on the fireplace mantel. so confidences were still shared. there was a closeness. and certainly the night that robert e. lee was invited by both montgomery blair and his father, francis preston

my favorite polk actually is one we've released it was formerly called playing the enemy but we named it the case. it's about this movie just released by clint eastwood starring morgan freeman with matt damon. it's an absolutely incredible book in that show such a short period, a short space less than 300 pages he takes us from mandela on the island all the way to the world cup of 1995. incredible book. incredible lesson for the country. >> are they releasing that in the paperback form now that the movie is coming out? >> caller: yes, sir and they've called it invictus. >> host: the christian science monitor as the future of reading. the next chapter is digital but the story doesn't end there is the headline here on christian science monitor and latest edition. they are talking about the books, the kindle and other books and the right inside the christian science monitor on this piece about 40 books the sales remain a minuscule part of the publishing industry just 1.4% of the total 10.9 billion of sales in the first nine months of this year. that's 2,009 according to the association o

polk, a country of vast divine, he looks at the life and times of our 11th president.n c-span's q&a. >> now available, c-span's book abraham lincoln >> and u.s. officials as talks between president barack obama and chinese premier have moved to step forward towards a possible climate deal. both leaders directed or negotiate to work on a possible deal after me for nearly an hour this morning at the un climate conference in copenhagen. the move came after president obama's speech to the conference. we're going to show that to you, plus we begin with speeches by other world leaders. it's about 50 minutes. >> please accept my apologies for this delay. i also like to take this opportunity to inform everybody that this is as i emphasize, an informal high level event hosted by the danish government, and we will later today have a formal setting. i would like to use this opportunity to welcome the many heads of state and government who have joined us in copenhagen for this historic conference. i am indeed gratified that so many of you have accepted our invitation. your presenc

the title says quote, old age benefits, and polk. shame on you he said for putting an unfair title on such a nefarious bill. old age benefits, think of it he said. oh what a travesty. mr. chairman what is the hurry? nobody is going to get it done until 1942. what is the hurry about crowding and then constitutional proposition like this to the house. if you listen to some of my colleagues will hear the same thing. what is the rush? as a matter of fact they had 45 amendments sent back to committee. what is the rush? people are losing their health care every day. in 2016 our people will be paying almost that of their it income for premiums. we have got to do this and we started it seven months ago and 100 years ago teddy roosevelt republican president put it in his platform. what is the rush? what is the rush? i want to tell you another republican, congressman j. william tether of pennsylvania, this is what he said during a debate on social security. he said security for the individual whether workers or aging will be a mockery and a sh

manifest destiny, and in his new biography of james capel, robert mary looks at the life -- james polkt, at a briefing on the u.s. strategy in pakistan and afghanistan. the associated press reported on a missile strike on the afghan border that killed 15 people, including seven militants, possibly what officials are calling a high-profile target. this is 35 minutes. >> i think a lot of you know me, but for those that you doñr not, the defense secretary for afghanistan and pakistan and central asia. i have copies of our joint statement to discuss our relationship -- defense relationship with pakistan, particularly in light of the president's revised strategy and most digitally come out recently patika -- recently completed defense talks hosted last week. you will hear me youdcg -- you will hear med say dcg, referring to defense consultative group. i want to stress, and this is the same thing that secretary florin always stresses at the beginning of our talks. i want to appreciate -- express our admiration for the pakistani military and people as they face a very mixed -- a very severe e

polk a country of vest designs. stilling time for the holidays american icons on the beady, c-span's three original documentaries on the iconic homes of the three branches of american government, the special three disc collection is only $24.95. for this and other gift-giving ideas from c-span this its c-span.org/store. >> while defense spending was the official business on the senate floor today senators spend much of the day talking about the health care bill that was set aside for defense debate. health care is expected to come back to the senate floor tomorrow. here is what republican and democratic leaders had to say about the debate today. >> mr. president the majority leader has signaled that we will finally unveil, that he will find the andel the most significant piece of domestic legislation in modern history sometime on saturday and and force a vote in the middle of the night about 36 hours later. this is truly outrageous. this will be a bill that none of my constituents have seen, that none of the majorit

polk, a country of vast delife and times of our 11th president. tonight on c-span's q and a. >> now friday's hearing on contract oversight for security forces training in afghanistan was held by the federal commission on wartime contracting. members recently returned from a trip to afghanistan where a training local security forces has been made a top priority by the obama administration. >> good morning. i'd like to call the commission on wartime contracting in iraq and afghanistan to order. our hearing. >> this opening statement is made on behalf of my cochairman michael tebow who is not here because of a family emergency, my fellow commissioners and myself. the other commissioners at the dais are -- also participating is robert dixon the executive director who heads our staff of 50 and deserves your sympathy for having eight commercials who are his bosses. our hearing could not be more timely. afghanistan to overthrow the taliban regime, that it sheltered al-qaeda terrorists, the united states has about 70,000 troops in the country. our preside

polk, robert merry looks at the life and times of our 11th president. >> sports executives and broadcastersis two-hour hearing, the house judiciary committee hears from officials with major league baseball, espn, and ultimate fighting championship. also testifying, a representative from a website that allows its users to broadcast and share video online. >> this is a hearing on piracy of live sports broadcasting over the internet. the purpose of the hearing is to examine how the piracy of live sporting events over the internet impact sports leagues, consumers, broadcasters, and the unique challenges copyright owners space in attempting to enforce their rights on the web page. challenges copyright owners face in attempting to enforce their rights on the web page. more and more of our media, the music, the tv shows and sports is moving to the internet. piracy has increased, has increasingly injured artists and intellectual property owners as individual consumers have access to faster, more powerful internet connections. >> i look forward to hearing from our witnesses about how this can negati

polk, a country of vast design, robert ehrlich said the life and times of our 11th president sunday onports executives and broadcasters told a house panel that the piracy of live sports broadcasts over the internet is a rapidly growing problem. during this two-hour hearing, the house judiciary committee heard from officials with major-league eightball, espn, and ultimate fighting championship. also testifying a representative from justin.tv, a website that allows its users to broadcast and share video online. >> everyone, particularly our witness says. this is a hearing on piracy of live sports broadcasting over the internet. the purpose of the hearing is to examine how the piracy of live sporting events over the internet impacts sports leagues, consumers broadcasters, and the unique challenges copyright owners face in attempting to enforce their rights on the webpage. more and more of our media, the music, tv shows, and the sports is moving to the internet. piracy has increased as increasingly injured artists and intellectual property owners as individual consumers have access to fast

in his new biography of paul, robert merry looks at the life and times of our 11th president, james polkon the book, "a good coral." speakers include legal times editor, and several others. the each wrote an essay on the case for the book. at the georgetown law center hosted this discussion in washington, d.c., earlier this year. >> welcome and thank you for coming today for our discussion of the book recently released by the university of michigan press on oral argument to the supreme court. i will moderate the discussion of a good quarrel. this book is a unique volume. the editors and assembled a series of essays written by journalists who have covered the supreme court. each essay focuses on oral argument and a case before the supreme court and offers lessons on the role of oral arguments. as you know, the supreme court's decision making process is a uniquely closed process to the public. virtually all of the court's deliberations occur behind closed doors. one of the only exceptions to this secrecy is oral argument, with a court spends an hour in public discussion of the case. it rep

manifest destiny and in his new biography of james polk, a country of vast designs, he looks at the life and times of our 11th president sunday on "q&a". >> the senate banking committee votes on ben bernanke is nomination to a second term as federal reserve chairman. the senate homeland security committee holds a hearing on the country's fiscal health and economic future. later, world leaders speak at the u.n. climate change conference in denmark. . . >> secretary of international markets. u.s. department of treasury and stephen jakes the assistant specialist of public affairs u.s. department of development. we have a quorum. the ad vice of the colleagues the no, ma'am nation we all want to hear about is the federal reserve. briefly with senator shelby i was going to move those unless i was going to spend time with which of course i would accommodate. i i'd like to spend the time on the ben bernanke nomination. anyone want to comment one way or the other on this? why don't i - we have a quorum and i ask unanimous consent to consider the following three. no, ma'am nations in block. i'm in

polk. sunday. >> the climate change conference in denmark today heard from heads of state and representatives from developing countries. president obama will address the conference on friday when participants hope to reach a climate change agreement. this part of the conference is 40 minutes. >> so, once again, i still think, i still hope -- hope is green. that the future presence of so many heads of states of government in copenhagen will pave the way for a successful outcome. never before have so many world leaders gather together to discuss a topic of such global importance as climate change. your presence here makes one simple point -- we are, indeed, one planet. we share the same fate. and we are all in this together. on behalf of the conference, i would therefore like to thank everyone of you for joining us today. we will now begin hearing the national statements for the joint high level segment of our conference. we will begin with statements delivered on behalf of groups. with this,

polk, a country of vast designs, robert and mary looks at the life and times of our levins president sunday on c-span's q&a. >> now tomas perez of the assistant attorney general will be hearing about his agenda for his office with the justice department. the american constitution society for law and policy host this event. it's about an hour. >> good afternoon, everybody. i'd like to welcome you to today's event. i'm caroline fredrickson, the executive director of the american constitution society for law and policy. also known as acs. acs for those of you who are new to this organization is a national network of lawyers, law professors, policymakers, law students, and judges that promotes the vitality of the u.s. constitution and the fundamental values that express is, individual right and liberties, genuine equality, access to justice, democracy and rule of law. and we are so honored today to be joined by the assistant attorney general for civil rights, thomas perez. i think it's clear to all of us in the rim how vitally important for civil rights division is and how critical it is

polk, robert. look to the life and times of the president. >> on "after words," greg mortenson.> "washington journal" continues. xdhost: you saw the promotion fr book tv this weekend. the senate is going to be in, so you will lose some book to be on c-span2 this weekend. -- lose some book tv on c- span2 this weekend. but news organizations have put together the list of what they think are the best nonfiction books of 2009. you can find those lists at the website, booktv.org, right there in the center. you can see what the different organizations have put together as the best nonfiction books of 2009. we have a lot of them at the book tv website. we have covered a lot of the events on these books. you will be able to do a search at the top of the page, and you can search and watched some of these best of 2009 books. especially with the senate again interrupting book tv this weekend, we apologize for that, but we will keep you updated via twitter and on the air, and we will put up notices and let you know when the tv will be on. this is kimberley strassel's column in "the wall str

polk, robert merry looks at the life and times of our former president sunday on q&a. >> and now a discussiont might be ahead for the climate change issue from this morning's "washington journal," this is half an hour. >> thanks so much. host: senator you know better than anybody what's doing on behind close doors. let's talk about maneuvers with the reading of senator sanders amendment. things got very heated. what's your thoughts on where the legislature stands and what will happen? correct. senator reid is waitint to hear rom the congressional budget office as to the final analysis and scoring they've done on the bill and then he's also trying to be sure that we can get 60 senators to support doing ahead with what's called manager's amendment he's been preparing to make some changes. "tp'd to accommodate some of th concerns of the 60 members that he hopes will vote for the bill and then he would offer that and we'd go through i think the republicans are árying throw up all the obstacles they can so they require us to go through culture votes and essentially filly buster to keep us from get

in his new biography of polk, robert merry looks at the life and times of that president. buzz aldrin and other astronauts on apollo 11. >> a unique contemporary. abraham lincoln, in hard cover at your favorite bookseller. available when digital downlaods are sold. >> an update on preparations for the 2010 census. this si 45 minutes. we will get to you when we can based on the people in the room as well. >> and breedings. since my coming to the bureau in july, we have tried to do these every once in awhile to make sure everyone is up to speed on how we're coming along with preparations. as you know, since 1790, the consensus has been done every 10 years, and each of those 10 years, we have alerted everyone in the population and tried to place them at their residential location so we have all persons in their usual abode. this decade, we have the shortest in our lifetime, one that can be completed in any household. upcountry in minutes, so it is easy to do. let me give you a rundown of the basics of the timing this year. in mid-to-late-june, there will be a started advertis

president jackson and lincoln, certainly in van buren's time, maybe a little bit in the beginning of polk'seir falling out and certainly through andrew johnson's time, as long as he was president. >> and no president took more advantage of that hospitality than abraham lincoln. >> i'm sure that lincoln felt that he could come across the street any time for a chat, and i think that's how blair house really functioned. it could be an escape, it could be a place of privacy where things were not overheard. as far as we know, the president could relax in front of a warm fire with a nice brandy and talk over difficult issues and get good, sound advice, as well as a sympathetic shoulder. the last blair to live in the house, when he was just a 4 or 5-year-old boy, remembers abraham lincoln sitting in his father's study off the blair front entrance deep in conversation with their feet propped up on the fireplace mantel. so confidences were still shared. there was a closeness. and certainly the night that robert e. lee was invited by both montgomery blair and his father, francis preston blair, to din