guest: there is an abiding fascination because this enigma of richard nixon went from one extreme to the other. there will always be fascination until another in the wreck comes along. other presidents are straightforward compared to the complexity of nixon. nixon was a man who never had any small talk. he was a great pro politician. five minutes of small talk before the meeting actually began. i went down to a session to negotiate the terms. you would not see the editorial programs. there was five minutes of small talk, in which we would admit that the president does not have any. there was a picture of brezhnev in the paper, so i mention this. his response, "i would not want to be a russian leader. they never know when they are being taped." he had no sense of dramatic irony. host: a twitter, "was the movie actor about your life and your interviews? guest: i agree. i think that is one of the reasons the reviews are so terrific because people know it was an independent film. those 10 minutes of fiction, there are one or two bits of the throughout. but basically i thought they did a f

any reaction from what you have heard from richard nixon and your own dealings with him in the 1970's? major revelation in the last 30 years contradicting what has been in the nixon interviews. but there is this interesting stuff coming out. i missed some of it on the plane yesterday, but it is amazing that it is still coming out, and it is an indication, and i guess the movie was even more of an indication in the abiding fascination with richard nixon because he was such an enigma, so difficult to read and understand. he was the most fascinating press that we have had, really, for all of reasons. ully clear, mr. president. >> what were they talking about there? host: that was >> what were they talking about there? >> they both wanted to grab the credit as far as they could for themselves, for the good things, and they couldn't knock their opponents because in the judgment of history, they would have an umbilical cord. what happened is, nixon, making his bid for maximum credit, would say things like, henry kissinger was brilliant. he is unreliable at times and doesn't follow through.

we will hear an excerpt in a moment but any reaction what you've heard from richard nixon and his dealings in the 1970's? >> guest: in fact i don't think that there has been any major revelation and the last 30 years that has contradicted anything in the interviews but there was this interesting stuff coming out and i missed some of it on the plane over here yesterday it's amazing that it is still coming out and it's an indication which i guess the movie was even more indication impersonation and richard nixon because he was such an enigma, difficult to read, so difficult to understand. he's the most fascinating president we have had really for all those reasons. >> host: that we share with you and the audience when of the excerpts of the conversation from january of 1973. >> we are not to have any advanced information. the message is not to be from your, is that clear? my name is not to be mentioned. there is no appreciation. there is to be no response to anything he says singing glad this is over. on what no responses to anybody in that sort, either individually or government of the, is

did you ever talk to him about richard nixon? >> guest: not very much. i was interested in the war in the years that he was still alive. remember, he died in 1969. nixon had only been president for less than a year when eisenhower died. eisenhower was ambivalent about nixon, as most people who knew nixon were. he admired certain things about nixon; he regretted quite a lot about nixon. he found it amazing that nixon could live a life without any personal friends. he used to shake his head at that. "i don't understand how he could do that." he used to say that nixon spends too much time trying to look like a nice guy instead of just being one. for myself, i began as a nixon-hater. i went to the university of wisconsin. i was a liberal, and i thought nixon was just the worst of the worst -- a man without character, a man who everything he did was contrived. there was no spontaneity to the man, as far as i could see. everything was done on the basis of, will this hurt or help dick nixon politically. so i was right up there with the nixon-haters until i began

it was richard nixon who spoke out most eloquently on behalf of wild horses, and was really not since u.s. grant was something of a horse whisperer himself. he used to dress down salters and you his command in the civil war for mistreating horses. it was not since u.s. grant that a president had spoken out on behalf of wild horses. so since 19 is it 1, that bill has been the law that protects our wild horses, but people have been trying to unravel it since then. and something i discovered after i began looking into the massacre that i mentioned earlier, is that in the american west, a bizarre war is under foot. it is a variation of the old range wars of the 19t 19th century, and it is waged by stockman and sage brush rebels, with copies of the second amendment tucked into their back pocket and it is backed by republicans and democrats and a federal agency that circumvent the wild free roaming horses and burrows act of 1971. along with small town officials who march to the great american battle cry, don't tread on me. their target is the wild horse, and the war rages most intensely in

>> well, you have to remember that his real hero was richard nixon and this is primarily because his -- he's a son of a serbian immigrant, and most serbian immigrants at that point were republicans when they came to the united states. number one, because they were very angry at roosevelt -- roosevelt and -- well, actually eisenhower -- i'll continue -- anyway, because what happened at yalta, in essence, they felt the many serbs felt yugoslavia had been given away to the iron curtain by the democratic leadership. so -- and they really loved general dwight d. eisenhower because he had liberated the prison camp, german prison camp. so many serbs including roddi blagojevich were staunch republicans and that affected him for dwight d. eisenhower passed it on to richard nixon so in this blagojevich home where only serbian were spoken, the republicans were the party of choice except his mother was second -- first generation. she had been born in the united states and her parents were from bosn bosnia. they lived in thomas keen's ward out on the northwest side and she had a job as a ctia tic

eisenhower passed on to richard nixon. so in this blagojevich home where only serbian was spoken, the republicans were the party of choice. his mother had been born in the united states and her parents were from bosnia and she was a democratic. they lived in thomas keen -- do you remember alderman thomas keen ward and she had a job as a ticket taker that she probably got as a political job so she was a chicago republican. so there was always sort of this clash. >> chicago democrat. his brother remains a staunch republican. he probably wishes he had never joined his brother's political persuasion since he also is now indicted. so there was that split. i think rod eventually figured out that his political career would be a lot better off if he's running the city of chicago as a democrat so he did move over. >> one of his first jobs -- first political jobs was working with edward verdoliac who was a democratic. those of you who don't know chicago politics, he was a big time chicago democratic alderman who converted to the rep

i read a transcript from the nixon tapes where ehrlichman tells richard nixon that garret edgar kaiser is running things with health care, all the incentives are toward less medical care. but less care they get them, the more money they make. when we talk about health care and socialized medicine, i think people need to understand that this is the sort of thinking that went into the formation of these for profit medical entities. i am concerned that when i hear a republican congressman and senators talk about the cost of madison, they don't consider the cost that is imposed by the profit motive. guest: we are a program of kaiser foundation, which is totally different from kaiser permanente. i want people to know that we have nothing to do with kaiser health insurance. also, the earlier comment was that members of congress are saying what you said, that they are getting options their constituents are not, and they want to try to level the playing field. host: republican line from new hampshire is next. caller: i am concerned about businesses that are starting to cancel their employees'

he's probably best known for his presidential biographies of john kennedy, richard nixon and ronald reagan. his latest book, however, was a biography of new zealand physicist ernest rutherford in which he repeated the experiments that lead to the atom. he describes that as a labor of love designed to show his graduates that he was not as dumb as he thought he was. [laughter] >> so to begin, i wanted to invite each of our panelists to make some -- to offer some opening thoughts. and sort of thought we'd start with the question of, you know -- we're here today to talk about biography and history and i wonder if you would each talk about some of the challenges of telling history through the development of characters. paula, you're award winner. you want to go first? >> thanks a lot. [laughter] >> well, i think the greatest challenge -- it took me a long time to write this book. and for many reasons, of course, lots to do with research and the fact that you have to have a full-time job as well write. but also i had to learn about biography specifically. i'd written books about history before.

government and the environmental protection agency created, if you remember, during the presidency of richard nixon with a democratic congress, that ultimately the creation of the environmental protection agency and the ability of the federal government to come in when necessary and mandate that local officials and local industry do what it needs to do for safe drinking water and clean air is a lesson we all should learn. today as one of only 14 american heritage rivers, the cuyahoga flows through the cuyahoga valley national park where bald eagles nest. throughout ohio our clean water supply such as the cuyahoga are critical to farming and clean energy development and regional economic competitiveness. water-related recreation and tourism provide jobs and billions of dollars in revenues for communities, cities like lorraine, cities in lake county, cities like my wife's hometown of ashtabula, cities like throed. wildlife depends on -- like toledo. we must continue to protect our wetlands and our streams to bolster our fisheries, to increase habitat restoration and recreational opportunities through

1970's, legislate force in scholars condemned the imperial presidency under lyndon johnson and richard nixon, premised on the vietnam war. in the 1980's and 1990's, the shoe was on the other foot. some leveled charges against an imperial congress under democratic speaker jimw wri ght and the republican speaker, newt gingrich. there was the so-called dictatorship of abraham lincoln . then there was what some dubbed "congressional government." is this pendulum swing built into the constitution? is it an invitation to struggle? does the constitutional separation of powers in power and bumbhumble presidents and congress? we found the anti-federalist opponents of the constitution careful of the presidency. the federalists responded that energy in the executive was a leading characteristic of good government. federalists alexander hamilton and james madison found themselves at odds over it shortly after the ratification of the constitution. they did such an effective job of drafting the constitution. they found themselves at odds over executive power across the constitutional divide that is now de

teddy roosevelt called for it, harry truman called for it, richard nixon called for it, jimmy carter called for it, bill clinton called for it. but while significant individual reforms have been made such as medicare, medicaid and the children's health insurance program, efforts at comprehensive reform that covers everyone and bring down costs, have largely failed. and part of the reason is because different groups involved, doctors, insurance companies, businesses, workers, and others, simply couldn't agree on the need for reform, or what shape it would take. if we are honest, another part of the reason has been fierce opposition field by some interest groups and lobbyists, opposition that has used fear tactics to paint any effort to achieve reform as an attempt to socialized medicine. despite this long history of failure, i am standing here because i think we're in a different time. once thing that different, the senate passed a bill that will protect children from the dangers of smoking, a reform the ama has long championed. [applause] disorganization went nowhere. when it was pro

richard nixon called for it. bill clinton called for it. while reforms have been made such as medicare and medicaid and the children's program, a comprehensive reform that covers everyone and brings down costs have largely failed. part of the reason is because the different groups involved, doctors, insurance companies, businesses, workers and ore others simply couldn't agree on the need for reform or what shape it would take. and if we're honest, another part of the reason has been the fierce opposition fueled by some interest groups and lobbysts. opposition that has used fear tactics to paint any effort at reform as an attempt to yes, socialize medicine. despite this long history of failure, i'm standing here because i think we're in a different time. one sign that things different is that just this past week the senate passed a bill that will protect children from the dangers of smoking. a reform the a.m.a. has long championed. [applause] so this organization championed, it went nowhere when hfs proposed a decade ago. i'm going to sign t

last week. 11 days ago. 1 billion seconds roundabout when richard nixon resigned the white house by bob 1,000,000,000,002nd? 30,000 b.c.. bad is 50,000 years before any human being is the but on the continent and we're spending two of those each year. that is an astounding number you cannot even get your head around it weird about china and the chinese economy and the fact they may overtake the united states as the next superpower we spend almost the entire chinese gdp on health care loan. theirs is 2.5 trillion dollars and reese spent 2. 2 trillion on health care is not just how much we're spending but how much it is growing year to europe days year-to-year since 2000 premiums have gone up 75%, double inflation as a matter of fact if you grab about where spending is going i call it the tsunami graph because it goes up and buy 2082 we are either all patients were all doctors and that is it the entire economy is health care of. [laughter] we have to get that under control progress takes money away from everything else we have whether education or travel or infrastructure and then there's

richard nixon in 1967, he said opposition to the war is the greatest thing working against the successfulvictory india not. some of us, there are a few of us here t old enough to remembe. >> the picture that he would see after this revolution of what, you know, the country would look like? >> it's a great question. he didn't really. they are better at how they're going to get there than what they are going to do afterward. but i can tell you his younger brother, you know, who cried and cried when emile henry was executed, he ended up having -- he sold eggs and butter and cheese. and then in 1968 who tried to set up an anarchist commune in northeastern france rider the belgian border, but in 1968 you can still find these old people. present a hated each other's backs and the whole thing fell apart. they are better at how to get from here to there than what's going to happen. the one who really describe what's going to be like afterward is the earth two and arcus, and he wrote properties that in 1841. shot across the bow. he didn't mean all property was deft. he was impressed by the small p

four years later the people elected richard nixon. you will see these various points of view about what a republican is in for the party is going. eventually republicans will select their leader. if they will be successful as a party bringing in support you will see them coalesced around the leader. but at this time, and it is too soon now, obviously, there is no identifiable leader of the party. as for the round table's, i do not have much to do with george stephanopoulos. and who he decides to put on his program on sundays. he has the same relationship with me. he has a program, i have a program. we have conservatives on our roundtable. david brooks of "the new york times" is a frequent visitor to the show. he is one of the best columnists today. i simply do not agree with you. i would have to say, there is so much out there right now that you can get it anyway you want to. to be truly informed person has to depend on more than one source of news in getting their information. host: you sat down with a former vice president a couple

he also talked to richard nixon. ..

the federal reserve system, back when richard nixon was president, he had a fellow by the name of charles burns, and he instituted some programs and the way to pay for them was to use the federal reserve because you could use inflation. that is when high inflation got started and continued on through ronald reagan -- i mean, through jimmy carter. it got so out of control with inflation, that jimmy carter tried to control it. basically, he was in the reagan years before -- you squeeze the equity out and it took different things to bring it back down. the government has used these systems, and that is the way our economy has run in the last few years. thank you. host: thank you. on the independent line, we have carlos from atlanta, georgia. caller: good morning, how are you doing? host: how are you? caller: i am good, thank you for asking. i think c-span for giving us -- i thank c-span for giving us the latest news and everything. one of the things that i have been hearing that the colors have interviews, and i understand all that. what i would like to point out is that if we are in the "un

it's not like doing conservation on richard nixon or something. this was a whole other thing. you can't understand the essence of theodore roosevelt if you don't understand his relationship with darwin, with the big game and forestry of america. >> who introduced roosevelt to darwin? >> that's a good question. roosevelt's father was an early reader of darwin. t.r. -- we don't know the exact moment he discovered darwin, but we do know when he was 14 years old and 15, he was over in egypt and he writes about darwin. in fact, brian, there is in my book -- he draws out how we evolved from the stork i just told you about the stork. roosevelt has himself involving -- evolving from a stork. he shows his brother evolving from apes. darwin's "origins of species" came out in 1958. by the time theodore roosevelt goes to harvard and majoring that naturalist studies, darwin was the rage. and it was a revolution. people talk about something being markist idiolog, people became darwin idiologs. he's the central figure in roosevelt's intellectual life. what some people don't like about roosev

i got a draft notice from richard nixon and i went to vietnam, and i got a phone call from president george bush and got a lot -- a job that i love. on either occasion, they did not ask me about abortion, gays in the military. it does not mean that people cannot have strongly held views. if you want to win, you have to broaden the base. i do not know how you win by shrinking the base. host: dan is on the phone, a republican line, from providence, rhode island. caller: when you were in office, what is the biggest obstacle about the border? i am a mexican-american, and i believe we should close the borders in give arms to mexico to protect our own border. i do you agree with that -- do you agree with that? guest: of the real challenge with the border is accepting some realities. the reality is we are not sure how many illegals are here. it may be 10 million, it 12 million, 14 million. we know we have got a lot. you say to yourself realistically, will we be able to identify and send all 10 million, 12 million, or 14 million people back chances are pretty good that it cannot possibly hap

he also talks to richard nixon and lot of what happened in terms of a progress on this happened fairlyearly on. people think that it wasn't until gorbachev got into office that anything happened, but, in fact, by the time reagan was reelected he had already met with your minkow in september of '84 and the agreed on a the elimination of nuclear-weapons. he stated in a speech to the u.n. a few days before he met with rave that the ussr continues to favor measures to reduce and ultimately eliminate nuclear-weapons and it turned ankle and was then head of the soviet union wrote to reagan right after it it was reelected and sen we are prepared to sit most radical solutions which would allow movement toward a complete ban and eventually the liquidation of nuclear arms. so at that point reagan had an agreement that the soviets at least were claiming that they wanted to do the same thing that he wanted to do and he said let's take them at their word and say okay, you agree with us, let's work on a way to do it. there is one final document. we have the first page -- this is from 1987. from a se

legislators and scholars condemned the imperial presidency under democrat lyndon johnson and republican richard nixonromised on the vietnam war. in the 1980's and 1990's however the issue was on the other foot with some charges against imperial congress under democratic speaker jim wright and republican speaker newt gingrich we were told was micromanaging expected its. going further back in history we witnessed the constitutional dictatorship of abraham lincoln during the civil war followed by decades of what scholar would for a wilson dubbed congressional government. is this pendulum swing built into the constitution? is the constitution and invitation to struggle as edward cohen suggested? was the constitutional separation of powers in power and humble presidents and congress? going back further in the ratification debate over the constitution, we've not antifederalist opponents of the constitution fearful of presidential office that, quote, squints towards markey, end quote. with federal lists responding, quote, energy and executive is the leading character in government, end of quote. yet federal

in 1971, richard nixon proposed a system of universal health care through an employer mandate. icy chairman conyers shaking his head. he remembers that. i was in high school, but i do remember the proposal. [laughter] >> obviously, there have been against most recently in 1994 in other reiterations since then. there is one common thread i hope is running through members of both parties and through both houses. i know it exists in the white house. this time there is going to be a law, not a discussion. and we are going to do our very best to make sure it's a law that works, and obviously that can pass. i think that today's discussions have been very fruitful and constructive in helping us get to that point. as i said to you, chairman, at the outset we hope this is the beginning of our interaction with you, not in. and with that i would like to thank the members and without objection members will have 14 days to submit additional materials or question for the hearing record. without objection. hearing is adjourned. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] tonight on c-

this weekend, c-span radio will air newly released recordings from richard nixon's presidential libraryom 1973. president nixon discusses the death of his predecessor president lyndon johnson and talks about the vietnam war and the presidential inauguration with his advisors. that's saturday afternoon at 3:50 eastern time on c-span radio. >> how is c-span funded? >> through donations? >> i think you get a little bit from the federal government. >> you know, grants and stuff like that. >> maybe from sponsors? >> it might get some government funding. >> viewers? >> how is c-span funded? 30 years ago, america's cable companies created c-span as a public service, a private business initiative, no government mandate, no government money. >> now a senate hearing on high speed rail. the heads of the federal railroad administration and amtrak are among the witnesses plus federal regulators and high speed real advocates. held by a senate transportation subcommittee, this is an hour and 45 minutes. approximate they just invite members of the audience to come up and make it will like there's a big

it's about 1948 in the life of richard nixon, lyndon johnson and john f.ennedy, which was recommended to me by senator barrasso, a senator from wyoming who's a voracious reader. there's also a book about the republican leader of the senate coming out june 15 by an author named john david dyche. it's called republican leader, a political biography of senator mitch mcconnell. i expect i will read that if not seen it, although i did -- was interviewed by the author and since it's about me i expect i'll read it. ..

it is about 1948 and the life of richard nixon, lyndon johnson and john f. kennedy which was recommended to me by senator grasso was also a voracious reader of american history. and all so interestingly enough there is a book about the republican leader of the senate coming out in june 15th by an author named john david died and it is called the republican leader, a political biography of senator mitch mcconnell and so i expect i will read that. i have not seen it although i did -- was interviewed by the author insists it is about may i expect i will read it. >> to seymour summer reading lists and other program information visit our web site at booktv.org. ..

book that has been out a while, the best year of their lives here go is about 1948 in the life of richard nixon, lyndon johnson and john f. kennedy. which was recommended to me by senator barrasso, who is also a voracious reader of american history. and also interestingly enough there is a book about the republican leader of the senate coming out in june 15th by an author named john david died which is called republican leader, political biography of senator mitch mcconnell. and so i expect i will read that. i have not seen it although i did it come i was interviewed in by the author. and since it is about me i expect i will read it. >> to seymor summer reading lists and other program information, visit our rating site and booktv.org. the publishing 12 of publishes 12 books a year, carrying gold stain is publicity director at 12. mr. goldstein, what are some of the books you have coming out and later 2,009? >> this summer we are publishing henry waxman, the waxman report in july, it is a look back some of the landmark legislation of the congressman has involved involved with, tobacco, clean air

i worked first with richard nixon, you may have read about him in your history books. i have a good sense of what politics is all about, the good and bad. i have a sense of what makes a leader. i have seen people emerge, become terrific leaders in this country, and others with great hope. you have so much faith that that would going to happen to you have seen that falter. i want to talk about that, in a little bit about leadership. let's talk about those who are here in this town. you come here thinking, many of you working for people you admire. you understand them to be the nation's leaders. i will argue that point. i will debate that point. we have few leaders in this town, few, but only a few. as i watched what has happened, and i don't know, most of your republicans that it doesn't matter to me, the same is true on both sides of the aisle. take for instance something you have become familiar with, the partisan, the party line vote, the vote where we have to go in on party-line. comes from the top, the president if he is a republican, or if he is a democrat, word c

richard nixon. >> guest: he was brilliant and our foreign policy is still shaped by him and my dad is still things he was framed. >> host: ronald reagan. we have done him. george w. bush we have done. bill clinton, let me throw you this -- you are part of newt gingrich's class of 1994. you were part of the impeachment process with clinton. looking back 10 years later, to the republicans go too far? did the republicans be smirch themselves out of? >> guest: i am reminded of jesus christ superstar. mary matalin saying i don't know how to love him, i still can't get my arms around bill clinton. i do know this that i was given to ron by anger, rage and bill clinton. i thought to bill clinton represented everything that was wrong with america. i am loath to emma. i had no use for hillary clinton. and i think it goes back to being a kid raised in the atlanta suburbs looking at the '60s radicals and looking at the world from my parents died in. of course, 10 years later i read about this in the book -- i'm embarrassed by some of the things i said about bill clinton that my goal and i think i

richard nixon did some awful things then history will remember him for those things but he also did some good things. the opening to china, the arms control agreements made with the soviet union. these were magnificent achievements. we remember them as just that, even though he got really bad press for what he did with watergate. so, in the and good policy-- could presidents are remembered for their good deeds. some tate man's it takes time for that to unfold but in the and it happens. >> and if you could just bend a brief moment, because legacy, is interesting that is a function of history which does take time and sometimes we like to rush to judgment on things. even with lbj in historical times, wasn't that long ago. >> well, i think that is exactly right and i have a personal rule and i got to this rules your personal experiences. that is, i think you ought to wait at least five years before you try to make even a preliminary judgment on the presidency and i say that, and i'm kind of learning it the hard way. in 1989 i wrote my first book. it came out, ronald reagan had just left offi

in this country and i was reading the transcripts from the nixon tapes where ehrlichman tells richard nixon, edgar kaiser is running his permanente a deal for profit and the reason that he can, the reason he can do it i had it edgar kaiser come in and talk to me about this and went into some tap all the incentives toward less medical care big test the less care they give them the more money they can make. i think when we talk about health care and socialized medicine and for proper medicine i think that people need to understand that this is the sort of thinking that went into the formation of these were proper medical entities. it's important to include that in this discussion. i am concerned that when i hear republican congressmen and senators talk about the cost of madison, they don't consider the cost that is imposed by the profit motive. i am using my rabbit ears, i will take my response on the air. >> guest: first let me tell you about kaiser news -- we are a program of the kaiser family foundation which is completely separate from kaiser permanente a sidelight that on the table and w

to help all citizens achieve equal access to health care system those of the rest of president richard nixon in 1971 when he introduced health care proposal which i think is not similar or identical to ours but how many elements of this shared participation but special responsibility to the federal government. we missed that opportunity back in 71. we can't miss this opportunity. i think we have to seize the moment and i would just say that we have begun this bipartisan process. we understand the end of the day in the senate's there'll be a huge bipartisan efforts on both sides to get a building can support with strong majority. i personally think one final point that we do need a strong public auction. we need a strong public option because at the heart of the proposal is to provide a competitive check on private insurance, competitive incentives for increased emphasis on preventive care and in the '80s exchanges we want to give people a choice. they don't have that choice today. they really don't animus i think we have a strong public auction that choice is not point to be a real one. so i

actually interviewed all of the men who were president, and all the people who ran against them since richard nixon that is just a thrill. to get to do that. this office is sine. it is the most powerful office in the world. everything the press does makes news or impacts on somebody's life in some way, so those are the ones i have always gotten the biggest kick out of. bob schieffer, it has been a thrill for all of us to have the spend time with us, share your insight, share your stories and student audience give yourselves a round of applause for excellent questions and interaction in the studio today. [applause] of course we welcome feedback from our television audience so please both positive and negative mac. visit us at close-up.org and newseum.org. next program is on june 12 with our guest claire shipman. we will be discussing their new book. we end close-up at the newseum each week with a dedication to a fallen journalist. this week we honor the one year commemoration of the loss of tim russert. tim was nbc news bureau chief and host of "meet the press." he passed away on june 13th after hav