richard nixon, george h.w. bush, bill clinton. he wrote an impressive, picture- laden book, "the president's table." and was invited to the finest anchor desks in town. >> barrys presidential historian... >> the story of the ultimate inauguration collector... >> simon: but when we met up with him in june, 2012, he no longer wanted to tell his story. he'd been convicted of the single largest theft of historic artifacts in the united states. he stole thousands of items, including hundreds of documents, signed by some of the most famous names in history-- george washington, thomas jefferson, francis scott key, marie antoinette, and voltaire. he'd pilfered them from museums and libraries all over the country. u.s. attorney rod rosenstein was in charge of the prosecution. he was a con man? >> rod rosenstein: barry landau was a con artist. and he used his reputation as a presidential historian in order to gain the confidence of museums and other people who had custody of important documents. and then he stole them. >> simon: it was a reputation, it turns out, that was the product of his rich imagination. landau claimed he'd worked for every president since lyndon j