the day that i became commandant ronald wilson reagan officiated at the marine barracks, washington, d.c. and it was one of the most memorable days of my entire life. and as time went on, i became, believe it or not very close to the president. very close in a number of ways. but that particular night i remember so well because as the baritone that we have, some of you have been there, the baritone sang god bless america, and i was sitting next to president reagan, he said to me, wow. he said, after that i'm not sure i can be -- i can make it. and i said, well, thank you, mr. president. i am the first speaker. and he said, well, we'll see about that. so then as the night progressed he gave me my first order. and i still have the memory of that order. let me share it with you because it kind of brought out a lot of the things which later melded into the what i think very close reputation tsh-not reputation but friendship that i had with ronald wilson reagan. probably number one because he and i had a common love, and at that was common love of a horse. so believe it or not, at his sug

the day that i became kmen dant, ronald wilson reagan, officiated in washington, d.c. it was one of the most memorable days of my entire life. and as time went on i became, believe it or not, very close to the president. very close in a number of ways. but that particular night i remember so well because as the bare tone that we have for some of you have wlo have been there the bare tone singing "god bless america." and i was sitting next to president reagan. he said, wow. after that, i'm not sure if i can make it. i said thank you, mr. president. i am the first speaker. and he said, well we'll see about that. so then as the night progressed, he gave me my first order. and i still have the memory of that order. and let me share it with you. because it kind of brought out a lot of the things which later meld into -- what i think are very close reputation, not reputation, but friendship that i had with ronald wilson reagan. probably number one because he and i had a common love and that was common love of horse. so believe it or not, at his suggestion, the park police wh

religious presidents and secretaries of state, people like william mckinley woodrow wilson, harry truman ronald reagan and others. but this top-down influence could also be rooted in political calculation. here i would use richard nixon as an example of someone who invoked religion quite a bit, not someone like eyesisenhower or truman or george bush, and we can tell that because they didn't match up to his political statements. that's the first to top-down influence. the second is a bottom up. obviously it's the opposite of a top down influence. it's the bottom up influence of people who i call ordinary americans who bring tremendous amount of pressure to bear on foreign policy. even when politicians and policymakers have wanted to ignore religion, they found it difficult to do so because of this relentless pressure from below from a wide variety of religious groups and religious actors, groups that are comprised of very highly motivated people who don't wield power or hold political office but who are emphasizing the importance of values in -- hi guys, come on in. find a seat somewhere. there are lot

ronald reagan was president. i went into the office of the new senator wilson, pete wilson. he was a republican. i knew him when he was mayor of san diego and i was young reporter there. i went to see him. he said, come in, close the door. we were catching up on california stuff. i said -- you been there a few weeks. i said, who is her favorite senator? he said, oh, ted kennedy. without hesitation. teddy came here, met me, we had a cigar. he sat right in the seat where you're sitting and we smoked a cigar. i think i can work with them. that was eye-opening. my question is, could that happen today? have you guys met a democrat you think you can be friends with and work with? >> sadly, they don't let a smoke cigars in the capital. [laughter] i think it will. i think it comes down -- we have the opportunity to set the tone. we have won the majority. we controlled the house and the senate. we're the ones who need to reach out to those members who i think exist and would be happy to have that conversation, and let them know we want to have it. then as we move into our tenure, we need to be those lead

ronald reagan was trying to get done. there is much to what is being done today by republicans like bill well and john engler and christie whitman and pete wilson there is much we can share with each other. we plus replace the welfare state with a new virn. the balanced budget is the right thing to do, but it doesn't have the moral urgency of coming to grips what's happening with poor americans. i commend to all of you "the tragedy of american compassion." the author deps back 300 years and looks at what has worked in america, how we have reached out to save people. he may not have the answers, but he has the right sense of where we have to go as americans. i don't believe that there is a single american who can see a news report of a 4-year-old thrown of a public housing project in chicago by other children and killed andart of your heart went. i think of my nephew in the back kevin. how would any of us feel about ourq%ei- how can any american read about an 11-year-old buried with his teddy bear because he killed a 14-year-old and then another 14-year-old killed him and not have some sense of my god where has this country gone? how can we not

ronald reagan, bill clinton and both bush administrations. he's a vice president and distinguished scholar at the woodrow wilson center in washington tiered hisost recent book is "the end of greatness: why america can't have (and doesn't want) another great president". we are privileged to have an hour of your time. >> thank you. happy to be here at the miller center in particular. >> thank you. let's start with the second president bush bush 43. there is a president six years ago was deeply unpopular at the end of his presidency and viewed widely as a poor precedent, a failed president. you say almost as much in the book approval rating at the end had been in the high 20s to the low 30s. yet today when americans are asked in polls in 2014 about president bush 50% say they give a strong approval rating. so a failure six years ago is now a great president? >> let's start this way. presidents like fine wines age with time. the reality is they are much more popular once they sever their relationships with the american people in contemporary political terms and they are remembered in ways that are driven by many factories including who succeeds t

ronald reagan was trying to get done. there is much to what is being done today by republicans like bill well and john engler and christie whitman and pete wilsonhere is much we can share with each other. we plus replace the welfare state with a new virn. the balanced budget is the right thing to do, but it doesn't have the moral urgency of coming to grips what's happening with poor americans. i commend to all of you "the tragedy of american compassion." the author deps back 300 years and looks at what has worked in america, how we have reached out to save people. he may not have the answers, but he has the right sense of where we have to go as americans. i don't believe that there is a single american who can see a news report of a 4-year-old thrown of a public housing project in chicago by other children and killed andart of your heart went. i think of my nephew in the back kevin. how would any of us feel about ourq%ei- how can any american read about an 11-year-old buried with his teddy bear because he killed a 14-year-old and then another 14-year-old killed him and not have some sense of my god where has this country gone? how can we not de