no one knew ronald reagan better, and this is ronald reagan on attorney general meese. if edwin meese is not a good man, there are no good men. welcome. >> thank you. [applause] >> i have two quotations, both from 1982. one is the historian arthur slessinger junior. after a visit to moscow. those who think the soviet union is on the verge of collapse are kidding themselves. the second is ronald reagan addressing the british parliament. quote, in an ironic sense, karl marx was right. we are witnessing a revolutionary crisis, but the crisis is happening not in the west, but in the soviet union. close quote. how did ronald reagan of illinois miss what the great historian arthur slessinger of harvard -- i think your pardon, what did ronald reagan see what arthur slessinger junior missed? >> ronald reagan went into the study of communism with an open mind and it was not determined by his ideology, as i suspect mr. slessinger's was misguided by his own ideology. with ronald reagan, most people don't realize, ronald reagan was a voracious reader. he liked to study. he had stud

and i give ronald reagan a lot of credit for that. i mean, i found very quickly, and i began by saying i'm a lifelong democrat, didn't vote for reagan, i found very quickly in my research and my time writing things to really admire him for. and this was one of them. this was definitely, this was a big one. yes. anyone else? here we go. >> during your introduction, you mentioned three different biographies you wrote about the beatles, julia child and this most recent one with reagan. did you see any similarities that behind the scenes drove these people to become successful, to rise out of obscurity? is there anything you can mention about that? >> wonderful question. yes. i always believed that you can't know anything about a subject until you know where they come from. so the first thing that i do in each of my research strategies for the book, is to make a beeline to their hometown. in the beatles' case, i went straight to liverpool. julia child's case, right to pasadena, california. in reagan's case, i went to illinois and then dixo

previously served as vice president to ronald reagan, and had beeniu president to ronald reagan, and correspondent for the daily beast, andrew,, i wonder what do you think some of the details will be about any kind of funeral or ability for americans to mourn? just ability for americans to mourn? just a couple of months agojohn mccain, the us senator passed away, and there was this outpouring of emotion, notjust in the united states but worldwide, and he was given presidential treatment in a way, as someone who was given presidential treatment in a way, as someone who was widely regarded of course as an american hero, just as george hw bush was, and body who served in our military and body who served in our military and almost died many times doing so, i think you will see at least some sort of ceremony in the capital rotundo, where the former president will lie in state which is the highest honour any individual could receive in american politics —— rotunda. i think we will see other things in his home state of texas in the houston area where he lived and resided, and i think at the

the great cold warrior, ronald reagan, in the heart of the evil empire. literally in red square. going to be very special. >> i distinctly remember president reagan getting on marine one and somebody yells a question, you know, what are you hoping for? and he says something like, sometimes the final act is the best act. >> you also have to know when to lead center stage. that's the other line he used. >> the moscow summit came to a end and kind of a summation-type summit, but yet reagan was always true to his beliefs. bret: reagan truly believed this much, that for all the talk about glasnost and perestroika, gorbachev was kidding himself if he thought he could reform the soviet union into a free, equal and productive society. he sensed that the soviet leaders were not ready for real change, the soviet people were, and he intended to make his case to them. >> seemed fair, the president wanted to send a message not just to america but to the russian people as well that we really care about you, and we really want to see your lives changed. bret: that began day one. >> nancy says,

>>> for 40 years no critic at been more forceful then ronald reagan. f america's fear of communism he declared that his view of the cold war was we win and they lose. as they befriended the russian leader had the 77-year-old reagan softened his views or changed his mind? >> as reagan prepared to leave his staff was in negotiation of the language of the statement he would deliver. they wanted him to issue a statement that declared peaceful coexistence was a universal principal. george believed it was a sneaky way of returning to the 1970s detente. when reagan rejected the language he rashed it up to pressure. >> he really got anger. he said don't listen to george or colin powell, makeup your own mind. he was sitting right next to me and i saw him takeout a piece of paper abdomen pas and pass it t. he looked at the paper and said we won't make changes. you could see he was confused and dropped his shoulders. when he looked up and smiled and said let's go. >> after that the wall comes down under george h.w. bush. >> i don't think anybody thought that would

ronald reagan's wing man. that is who he was. n look to him as being so incredibly important to his legacy and readjust on or to ask people that come to the library today to pay their respects and you know, leave their name and maybe a note behind for the bush family. that we will make sure to pass on to them. >> absolute. if you're in the area in the simi valley, coming out, this is one way to show respect to george h. w. bush. but you mentioned the relationship, they were political rivals before they were on the same ticket. talk to me about the developing of the relationship between ronald reagan and george h. w. bush. >> this is a difficult time for the two men. many prognosticators would never have felt reagan would have chosen bush to be his vice president. but it turned out to be one of the smartest decisions president reagan ever made. how could you find a man you know, more loyal and more capable than george bush with this remarkable amount of experience in government? he really was a wing man for ronald reagan. one of th

how did you get to know ronald reagan and when did you get to begin serving ronald reagan? >> well, it all began right after he was elected as governor of california in 1966. at that time, i was in the district attorney's office in alameda county. that's the county in california that has both oakland and berkeley. both rather significant cities for various reasons, and i enjoyed my work there, i enjoyed working with the police. i enjoyed trying criminal cases, and i'm going to say reasonably successful, so i was not looking for a job. but one day out of the blue, i got a call, would i come up and meet the new governor or the governor-elect at that time? december of 1966. i guess i really didn't learn until much later how he had gotten my name, but actually, when i was in the district attorney's office, our boss, the district attorney of alameda county was the chairman of what was called the law and legislative committee of law enforcement in the state. the chiefs of police, the sheriffs, the district attorney's all had one committee that represented them in the state legisl

and at that moment, ronald reagan was sold on the bushes, and the two became as close of friends as ronald reagan would have in official life. bush's vice presidency is really an interesting period. his role during the attempted assassination of president regan in late march of 1981 was a case of statesmen being at the end of hamlet. there is this chaotic afternoon. bush was in texas and flew back and walks into "the situation room" and suddenly everybody feels like order has been restored.the situation room" and suddenly everybody feels like order has been restored. and suddenly everybod feels like order has been restored. he went from the house to the u.n. to china back to the c.i.a. and had really run for president from a base as he used to put it as friends and christmas card list. he had no natural political base. he never won a statewide race in texas until the 1988 primaries. it was an unconventional political life. that's something worth remembering. he rose to the top on a kind of quiet persistent charisma. it's not a word you hear much associated with george h.w. bush. you hear i

ronald reagan doesn't think that. brit: one incident that dispel thunder that notion was when he stood up to dan rather. >> it's not fair to judge my career by this one thing with iran. how would you like to be judged' for the 7 minutes you walked off the stage. >> it's interesting that it expressed doubt. you think it went okay. better okay. brit: bush won the nomination by getting tough with his republican competitors. >> bush went negative and won the primary and pushed on to victory. brit: his first big decision was to pick a running maitd. he picked a relatively unknown senator from indiana, dan quayle. >> he said we want to keep it a surprise. i said i just was watching television and they said it's not doait'snot dole,'. they might figure out it might be me. he said this is your first assignment. don't screw it up. >> i'm proud to have dan quayle at my side. >> bush wanted to be bold and generational. the quail decision was the first decision bush was able to make a totally independent way since he went on the

ronald reagan ahead his debut as a presidential candidate. our guests are robert merry, editor of the american conservative, and author of where they stand, the american presidents in the eyes of voters and historians. matthew dalik, george washington university professor in the graduate school of political management. he's the author of the right movement, ronald reagan's victory, and the decisive turning point in american politics. first, here's richard nixon accepting the republican nomination for president in miami beach august 8th, 1968. >>> we make history tonight, not for ourselves, but for the ages. the choice we make in 1968 will determine not only the future of america, but the future of peace and freedom in the world for the last third of the 20th century. and the question that we answer tonight, can america meet this great challenge? for a few moments, let us look at america. let us listen to america to find the answer to that question. as we look at america we see cities envel lopped in smoke and flame. we hear sirens in the nigh

one could never get too close to ronald reagan. nobody that we could call a true friend. >> host: what are the chances that he would have been elected president if he were not selected by ronald reagan as vice president? >> guest: i've never considered that question. i think he would have answered in 1984 to 88 election as one of the pack. one of the remarkable things about the primary in 1987 and 88 is how far most of the candidates are trying to run away from the legacy. we think of ronald reagan of course through the lens of history as someone who is remarkably popular at the end. he was personally popular when his policies were not so specially the cold war and he still had to change the iran contra so most of the candidates were trying to criticize the legacy and i think given his experience in 1980 had he not a member of the administration he would have been first in line to criticize him in 1988. c-span: you start by telling about a man named gorbachev. here is video from the interview in 1988. when is the first time you met

on. >> by the end of that convention, it's clear that although gerald ford may be the nominee, ronald reaganrts and minds of conservatives. >> reagan did great damage to ford. look at the poll numbers. you'll see that jimmy carter starts surging over 30 points ahead of gerald ford. >> ford had a weak position in the national race, so he challenged jimmy carter to a debate. >> mr. president and i would like to explore a little more deeply our relationship with the russians. >> max frankel asked whether the united states was accepting of soviet domination of eastern europe. >> there is no soviet domination of eastern europe, and there never will be under a ford administration. >> i'm sorry, could i just -- did i understand you to say, sir, that the russians are not using eastern europe as their own sphere of influence? >> everybody's jaw just dropped. are you alive? are you aware? >> what he meant to say was, i will not accept any soviet domination of eastern europe. >> governor carter, can we have your response? >> charitably it was a momentary slip. maybe we do need to replace the president.

ronald reagan doesn't think that. one incident that dispel thunder that notion was when he stood up to dan rather. >> it's not fair to judge my career by this one thing with iran. how would you like to be judged' for the 7 minutes you walked off the stage. >> it's interesting that it expressed doubt. you think it went okay. better okay. brit: bush won the nomination by getting tough with his republican competitors. >> bush went negative and won the primary and pushed on to victory. brit: his first big decision was to pick a running maitd. he picked a relatively unknown senator from indiana, dan quayle. >> he said we want to keep it a surprise. i said i just was watching television and they said it's not doait'snot dole,'. they might figure out it might be me. he said this is your first assignment. don't screw it up. >> i'm proud to have dan quayle at my side. >> bush wanted to be bold and generational. the quail decision was the first decision bush was able to make a totally independent way since he went on the ticket

david: you were given a task by ronald reagan to help on the debates? mes: help negotiate the debates and help prepare for the debate. david: was it difficult to prepare reagan for the debate? people were not confident he was a good debater. james: a lot of his close people did not want him to debate. i wanted him to calm his old wanted them to, i think nancy wanted him to. i always thought he was terrific in front of the camera. the red light goes on and he is perfect. david: dragon wins the election and what do you think you are going to be offered, if anything? james: i don't think. i don't know. i had heard my name had surfaced as a potential white house chief of staff. i said that's not possible. you don't go to somebody who's run two campaigns against you and make him your wife's house -- white house chief of staff and guess what. i don't think it'll ever happen in american politics again. david: ronald reagan did offer you the job and you came chief of staff of the white house. was it as much fun doing that job as it is talking about it? james: wo

bush: i came second running for president to ronald reagan. i saw that i was defeated even though we won a couple of big primaries. iowa, new hampshire and all of that, new hampshire which i didn't win. so i went out and paid off a huge debt. i went across the country, mississippi was the last stop, jackson, mississippi. i say i want to go to michigan, to the republican convention and not owe a dime. you have helped me, and i hate asking you. i don't like to own money, or cheat -- oh money or cheat people out of what they are entitled to by going money. , successfulckson fundraiser, paid off every dime we have, half $1 million debt, went to michigan, head high, not expecting anything. there were rumors floating around president reagan would invite gerald ford to be his running mate. somehow that blew up. i was sitting in the hotel room, the telephone rang, and it was ronald reagan asking if i would be his running mate. brian: did you think about not doing it? pres. bush: no. all this stuff about people >> when did you make the decision you wer

he wasn't ronald reagan.reagan and he at any time want to be ronald reagan in the sense that reagan put enormous affect and import on the spoken word. bush felt wrongly or rightly, that the spoken word was one dimension of his presidency and that it was one aspect of being president. i think perhaps if he had to do it over again he might have put more emphasis on the spoken word. in fact, we talked about that after his presidency, but certainly he was capable of giving good speeches and i think he proved that throughout his presidency. he simply didn't put an emphasis on each speech throughout the four years as it regular be did throughout his eight. >> let me ask you about the way he approached his presidency in a historical context. i saw an interview with him this morning. he hated the "l" word. legacy. and his place in history. >> he had enormous lack of ego, an enormous self-afacement for any kind of politician let alone the president of the united states. he hated the "d" word in addition for dynasty. h

it was ronald reagan, asking me to be his running mate. brian: did you ever think about not doing it? pres. bush: no. people who say they don't want to, they do. brian: when did you make the decision, thing i'm going to go for the presidency? foraying i'm going to go the presidency? probably 1977. i have a network of friends. i was able to raise enough money to get my message out. next thing i knew, bigger names had fallen by the wayside. i was left standing. ronald reagan wasn't standing very long because he dusted me off somewhere after michigan and before california. brian: what did you learn? pres. bush: about loyalty and government and foreign affairs. everybody ridicules the vice presidency. there is a lot of substance to it. a man delegates certain responsibilities to you. return, i owed him my loyalty. i was lucky. ronald reagan, when i ran for iesident after eight years, would not have jumped sideways and say, i have known all along he should have done this differently. i didn't feel that way. iran-contra scandal that was not reso

bush emulates not his father as president but ronald reagan. her admires the grand vision that reagan had to defeat very unambiguously soviet tyranny and he -- i think he is intoxicated by that notion. now, as we know now it was botched experiment, and it becomes american adventurism, but cheney has this great influence in the administration. what barbara bush told me is that george had great faith in dick cheney, and in? a. yes, sir w. to make the right decisions given the still generalization he was getting and george h.d. did not intervene but one reason he doesn't intervene, say, junior, you're doing it wrong, is because he understands the office of the presidency. he also understands he doesn't want to be another burden to his son. there are so many burdens inherent in that office, he is not going to be -- contribute to a additional burden for his son. but i do think he has hesitation but the direction that dick cheney is taking his son in. >> he moved really far right and then w. bristles at the narrative that even shared by his family, th

it was ronald reagan, asking me to be his running mate. brian: did you ever think about not doing it? pres. bush: no. people who say they don't want to, they do. brian: when did you make the decision, thing i'm going to go for the presidency? -- saying i'm going to go for the presidency? pres. bush: probably 1977. i have a network of friends. i was able to raise enough money to get my message out. the next thing i knew, bigger names had fallen by the wayside. i was left standing. ronald reagan wasn't standing very long because he dusted me off somewhere after michigan and before california. brian: what did you learn? pres. bush: about loyalty and government and foreign affairs. everybody ridicules the vice presidency. there is a lot of substance to it. a man delegates certain responsibilities to you. in return, i owed him my loyalty. i was lucky. ronald reagan, when i ran for president after eight years, i would not have jumped sideways and say, i have known all along he should have done this differently. i didn't feel that way. he had the

brian: as popular as ronald reagan was, why did you think that did not sell? >> for a variety of reasons, one of which, it was a very boring book. it wasn't reagan's book. it was a book written with a collaborator, and it was written -- it was like a tailor made series. it was written to specification says. -- specifications. and i think the public kind of knew that. interestingly, many years later, a collection of reagan's letters, diaries, letters, was published, his voice, and it was a huge success. so many, many more times than the memoir. and why is it? well, the interesting thing about ronald reagan, one of the many interesting things about ronald reagan is, ronald reagan actually was a writer, better writer than people would have guessed. and he was especially good writing letters where he could express things that he would never say to you personally. reagan, in person, was almost extraordinarily impersonal. friendly, warm, gracious, elegant, but not there. on paper, there was a particular correspondence he had with a 14-year-old black kid in the distri

as ae, it wasn't running departure from the ronald reagan record. in not having to say, this is been a failure and so i will do it this way. i did not do that and i would not have done it anyway. the economy was doing reasonably well, reagan was a beloved president. -contra thing iran had calmed down despite the press fascination in trying to tar me about it. you haven't told the truth about it. i had. i don't remember when i began to make a specific agenda. i have specific views. brian: go back to when you had started your presidency. you have been vice president, you can watch this office, and one day you raise your hand. do you feel different? pres. bush: yes. brian: what happens to you? pres. bush: i vowed, brian, when i went to the white house as president, i would not complain about the loneliness of the job. if only somebody understood the burden on my shoulders, they this understand why i did or that, i am alone and i cannot turn to anybody -- that is a bunch of malarkey. dayuse i was blessed from one with the first-class team, a team of exp

as a result, when he was president, he understood having watched ronald reagan, as ronald reagan's viceresident very closely, and he watched general ford and richard nixon. so he had a great history of understanding the responsibilities of a president, and he knew that he should only make presidential decisions, not try to make every government decision. he was also someone who could be decisive when he had to be but it was almost like looking for the perfect time to make the decision so it could be implemented to live up to expectation. also he had empathy of understanding what it means to use your presidential power in such a way that you might put people at risk. that means he did everything he could to avoid going to war. but he also had the courage to go to war and understood there would be consequences, some of them unintended. i fuound him to be a good studet of government. he did his homework. was phenomenal at diplomacy and much of it was personal diplomacy, jot nunot just diplof tactics from the state department. he would actually speak to leaders around the world and become f

also people looking at ronald reagan, all eyes would go to reagan in terms of the charisma and the like but you have to understand for him it was public service to be ronald reagan's vice president. he saw in that moment that he was in fact lining up with someone who would be a 2-term president and he was loyal and faithful and a great servant in terms of trying to advance his political agenda. >> give us a final word. >> on a couple things, the relationship between george hw bush and bill clinton. for those of us who worked in the white house during that painful election of 1992, we all felt this person, george hw bush, was diminished in our eyes in that campaign. when they became such friends later i asked george hw bush's question on the plane to the funeral of john paul ii, this relationship between the two of you, what is it? i think i am the father he never had and it said everything about who he is as an individual, over anything personal. the other point juan williams made as a staffer in the white house i remember seeing the list of democratic congressman coming over to the whi

ronald reagan got even more criticism for his responding recognizing where they were hit byby this andatthew johnson's case shocked a lot of people. to remember in the early days of the crisis a lot of peoplesoft you caught it out of the air as if you just sent we are in the same room with somebody you are going to get all kinds of strange beliefs. jerry falwell believed this was god'that thiswas god's punishmee rise of the right to do. i try to look at this objectively in the sense that ronald reagan was slow but he didd respond and the elder geore bush was slow but he did respond and the younger george bush came along and blew me away with the money he put into fighting aids inta africa and he did that with his connections to the community so a lot of things can happen. it's different from the inside and looking at it from the outside but over time we should all learn some lessons and use them to make all of our lives better and i hope our current president picks up on that. >> caller: this is from massachusetts. can you tell me by president trump [inaudible] itself the military. >>

brian: as popular as ronald reagan was, why did you think he did not sell? ter: a variety of reasons. it was a very boring book. it was not reagan's book. it was written with a collaborator and it was written to -- it was like a tailor-made suit. it was written to specifications. the public kind of knew that. ,nterestingly, many years later a collection of reagan's letters , diaries, was published. his voice. and it was a huge success. many more times than the memoir. why is it? the interesting thing about ronald reagan, one of the interesting things is, ronald reagan actually was a better writer than people would have guessed. he was especially good writing letters where he could express things he would never say to you personally. reagan in person was almost extraordinarily impersonal. gracious, but, not there. a paper, there was correspondence he had with a 14-year-old black kid in the district. which if you read it is really impressive. in person, very different. i worked with nancy reagan on her memoirs. i will tell you if you have time to quick stories.

bush: i came in second to ronald reagan running for president. i saw that i was to faded even defeated evens though we won a couple of big primaries. i went out and paid off a huge debt. i went across the country. mississippi was the last stop. jackson, mississippi. i said, i want to go to michigan, to the republican convention. i do not want to go a dime. to she people out yf what they are entitled to b y owing money. i went to jackson and with a successful fundraiser, we paid off every dime. i went to michigan not expecting anything. there were rumors that president reagan was going to invite gerald ford to be his running mate. that blew up. i was sitting in the hotel. the telephone rang. it was ronald reagan, asking me if i would be his running mate. brian: did you ever think about not doing it? pres. bush: no. all this stuff about people saying i do not want to be vice president. they do. brian: when did you make the decision, to say i'm going to go for the presidency? pres. bush: probably 1977. i ran starting off a as n asterisk. nobody knew

bush ran against ronald reagan and lost.e remade himself becoming a model vice president. loyal, dedicated, and gladly subservient. biding his time hoping his chance would come again. it did. that part of the story when we continue. i'm alex trebek here to tell you about the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85 and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three p's. what are the three p's? the three p's of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i just turned 80. what's my price? $9.95 a month for you, too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the number one most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed, and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime r

he was deeply loyal to ronald reagan, and reagan praappreciat that.e was different kind of conservative than reagan, but he added a lot. he came in with a loft foreign policy experience that reagan did not have, and i think he was a steadying voice in the reagan administration, and a person that president reagan really trusted, playly on national security matters. and that shows when he became president as well. >> i want to play this now. this is george h.w. bush the letter to president-elect and mrs. reagan written november 10th, 1980. you are vice president-elect. >> this will be all right for me, i think. >> this is just a quick thank you. thanks for making us feel so welcome. thanks for the joy of working with you. thanks for those little touches of grace and humor and affection that make life sing. please let us know that we both want to help in every way possible. i will never do anything to embarrass you politically. i have strong views on issues and people, but once you decide a matter, that's it for me, and you'll see no leaks in evans and n

he lost to ronald reagan, but reagan put him on the ticket, and served as vice president.1988, he had another crack at the presidency, this time successfully. but there were new uncertainties notably iraq's annexation of kuwait in 1990. margaret thatcher told him to stay firm, apparently saying, "this is no time to go wobbly, george." he didn't. iraq will not be permitted to annex kuwait. and that's is not a threat, it's not a boast, it'sjust the way it's going to be. a wide coalition was forged, and operation desert storm began. the ground war would lastjust 100 hours, in a decisive victory for american military expertise and superiority. i can report to the nation, aggression is defeated. the war is over. cheering. the 1992 election pitched the patrician bush against the young, charismatic, and hitherto—little—known democratic governor from arkansas called bill clinton. his clear advocacy of a new vision for america swept him to a decisive victory. so help me god. congratulations. within a decade, there was another bush in the white house, george w. bush senior was the l

those americans are let go and able to come over its 1981 and ronald reagan is a president of the united states. it's an interesting moment in world affairs work on the one hand, you might think the new reagan administration could look toward this new islamist present in iran and growing presence in the region and say, we've got a new threat. we've got a new challenge. how are we going to resolve this issue? but that's not what ronald reagan's head was at. he's an old cold war warrior. he is focus on the soviet union. so the islamist presence, the challenge at present is basically put away deep in the background. we have a terrible relationship with iran. we don't resolve it during the reagan administration. we don't recognize the government. we keep, , as donald trump would tell us later, a huge hunk of their money hostage in our banks. we don't give it back to them. we just have a deteriorating back story relationship with iran. and, of course, the irony is it to during the same time that ronald reagan sees opportunity with a different islamist group, a group that eventually we call al

ran against ronald reagan and lost.e remade himself becoming a model vice president. loyal, dedicated, and gladly subservient. biding his time hoping his chance would come again. it did. that part of the story when we continue. >>> i george herbert walker bush do solemnly swear that i will faithfully execute the office of president of the united states. >> president reagan, on behalf of our nation, i thank you for the wonderful things that you have done for america. i've spoken of a thousand points of light, of all the community organizations that are spread like stars throughout the nation doing good, for a new breeze is blowing and a world refreshed by freedom seals reborn for in man's heart if not in fact the day of the dictator is over. >> a world refreshed by freedom, perhaps some wishful thinking on bush's part. just months into his presidency, a growing democracy movement in china was brutally crushed by authorities. the tiananmen square massacre targeting students gathered in beijing by the thousands, challengin

there is ronald reagan. his shirt is half off, he goes, well son, if you could spend the night on my back lawn, i could spend some time with you. what is the problem? he never let me down. i was a journalist for a while after i graduated from college. atest very tough questions press conferences. i asked very tough questions at press conferences. decided he would take me as part of his entourage. there were five or six people he took fro with him. i was with him every day. steve: that was an incredible campaign. he most of the early primaries -- lost some of the early primaries, then went all the way to the convention. rep. rohrabacher: the delegation gave a majority to ford, and it to happen, soed we lost. rep. rohrabacher: do you think you choseistake that his running mate to bridge the gap? rep. rohrabacher: they thought he was going to bring over a certain number of delegates with him, and he was unable to do so. because weh a try were behind delegates and lost anyway. steve: had he gotten the nomination

george h w bush was the 41stus president, and was vice president to ronald reagan. we will be live in the united states with the reaction. also this morning: another resignation over brexit. the universities and science minister, sam gyimah, quits, calling the prime minister's plan naive. aftershocks rock alaska, after a devastating earthquake strikes its biggest city. in sport: one of the biggest comebacks ever — that is how tyson fury sees his comeback to the ring, as he flexes his muscles for the last time before his heavyweight showdown with the man in the mask, deontay wilder. a right royal game of real tennis. i take on prince edward as he tries to breathe fresh life into a 600—year—old sport. good morning all. it is the first weekend of december, and it is a cloudy affaires for most of us. there is also some rain in the forecast, what it is not a complete washout. in fact, some of us will see some brightness later on. i will have all the details coming up shortly. it is saturdayi december, and we start with some breaking news. the former american president, g

republican party, leading the central intelligence agency, and i think also, people looking at ronald reaganof course, all eyes would go to reagan in terms of the charisma, the presence, the like, but you have to understand for him, it was public service to be ronald reagan's vice president, he saw, in that moment, that he was, in fact, lining up with someone who was going to be a two term president and he was totally loyal, faithful to president reagan, and a great servant in terms of trying to advance his political agenda. >> shannon: anita mcbride with me quickly dig it, give us a final word? >> the relationship between george w. bush and bill clinton. for those of us that worked in the right house during the very painful election of 1992, and we all thought that this person of george w. bush was diminished in our eyes through some of the rhetoric of that campaign, and when they became such friends later, i asked george h.w. bush this question on the plane to the funeral of john paul ii, and bill clinton was there, i said how about this relationship between the two of you? what is it? he

republican party, leading the central intelligence agency, and i think also, people looking at ronald reaganof course, all eyes would go to reagan in terms of the charisma, the presence, the like, but you have to understand for him, it was public service to be ronald reagan's vice president, he saw, in that moment, that he was, in fact, lining up with someone who was going to be a two term president and he was totally loyal, faithful to president reagan, and a great servant in terms of trying to advance his political agenda. >> shannon: anita mcbride with me quickly dig it, give us a final word? >> the relationship between george w. bush and bill clinton. for those of us that worked in the right house during the very painful election of 1992, and we all thought that this person of george w. bush was diminished in our eyes through some of the rhetoric of that campaign, and when they became such friends later, i asked george h.w. bush this question on the plane to the funeral of john paul ii, and bill clinton was there, i said how about this relationship between the two of you? what is it? he

dissent, of any separate agenda, he was jus utterly loyal at least to what the public could see to ronald reagan. reagan i think was certainly respected him and thoughtta i think president always feel tha the vice president is the one who because of the amendment that they can only serve two terms can carry on their legacy. if you get some buddy from the opposite party in this case it would've been michael dukakis, they will undo a lot of what th president has accomplished in his eight years. so reagan was very supportive o george h w bush, fort bush 41. it was a seamless transition from one to the other. it was interesting was one question as you pointed out earlier, reagan was so much larger than life in a way that bush would admit that he wasn't that he needed to establish a separate identity and one of th things he did at that new orleans convention in 1988 was he became the nominee was to talk about a kinder gentler presidency and approach to things. and a thousand points of life, and to establish what his agend was going to be. not different then, but something of a departure, something of

i came to the senate in 1978 and soon after that ronald reagan , cornered me and asked me to support him for president. i said that i would, not knowing that my friend george would enter the fray. hearing that i called and i said george, i want to tell you i would love to help, but i have already committed to ronald reagan. george's response? well, al, i'm sorry about that. i probably should have let you know sooner. and actually a guy doesn't get very many calls from a friend who says they can't support him. sound familiar? of course it does. because in george bush's life, during all the highs and lows, there was a simple credo. what would we do without family and friends? and when he became vice president, our friendship, our enjoyable friendship was refreshed and the four of us had many, many pleasant times together. my life in washington was rather tumultuous. i went from the a social list to the v. [laughter] >> and never came back to the a. [laughter] had one dark period, i was feeling awful low and all of my wounds were self-inflicted. all of them. george called me early one m

ronald reagan asked for, and received, my candor. he never asked for, but he did receive, my loyalty. and those of you who saw the presidents speech last -- the president's speech last week, and listened to the simple truth of his words, will understand my loyalty all these years. [applause and cheers] but now, now you must see me for what i am, the republican candidate for president of the united states. [applause and cheers] and now i turn to the american people to share my hopes and intentions, and why and where i wish to lead. and so tonight is for big things. but i'll try to be fair to the other side. i'll try to hold my charisma in check. [applause and cheers] i reject the temptation to engage in personal references. my approach this evening is, as sergeant joe friday used to say, "just the facts, ma'am." and after all -- [applause and cheers] after all, the facts are on our side. [applause and cheers] i seek the presidency for a single purpose, a purpose that has motivated millions of americans across the years and the ocean v

[cheers and applause] >> bret: bush was seen as a moderate alternative to ronald reagan, but dropped out of the presidential campaign after a poor primary performances. a short time later, he accepted reagan's offer to be his running mate. reagan won in a landslide. during his eight years as vice president, bush was credited with softening reagan's view of the soviet union, and pressed hard on issues like deregulation and the war on drugs. in a natural progression, bush became the republican party's nominee in 1988, with senator dan quayle from indiana as his running mate. the republican team defeated massachusetts governor michael dukakis and texas senator lloyd benson. >> i, drove herbert walker bush. >> during his presidency, the soviet union dissolved, the berlin wall fell, and my wall nor you go was in restaurant , securing the panama canal. when everything came to a head, when iraq's saddam hussein invaded neighboring kuwait. >> we are not walking away until our mission is done, until the invader is out of kuwait. >> bret: president bush reacted quickly, committing over 400,000