theodore roosevelt was far from dull. people called roosevelt names, his enemies attacked him, but nobody accused him of being dull. it was his robust lifestyle that made it surprising he became president because to get there he took the office of vice president. he was not all that excited about it. he got the nomination to run with mckinley in 1900, as his vice presidential running mate is that mckinley's previous vice president died in office. the reason roosevelt was nominated for the job was because there were people in the republican party who wanted to get him out of new york. he was making a nuisance of himself in the eyes of conservatives. they said, how can we get rid of him in in new york? well, someone had a great idea of kicking him upstairs, so to speak. and after all, the vice presidency was harmless. most people in the republican party weren't bothered by that. one who was bothered was mark hanna, who said, in discussing roosevelt's possible nomination, he said, don't any of you realize that there will onl

roosevelt declined for which he earned roosevelt's lasting contempt. incidentally, roosevelt's youngest son quentin was killed, and some believe it drastically deserved roosevelt's belligerent attitudes. in any case, by the time he died in early 1919, and he was not an old man, late 50s, i believe. he worked to secure his legacy. what was that legacy? theodore roosevelt made many contributions to the aggressive movement. he was unique, well equipped by his perseverancperseverance. he seldom grabbed onto any political leader before or since. he was not a man with whom the american public could identify. a popular poem at that time described the following rhyme. t.r. is chasing a senator, t.r. is chasing a bear, he is breaking national trust by likes t.r.. as one observer put it, he was just a great big boy. i was charmed by his personality. you could not resist the man. historian versus generally agreed with the popular feeling of his contemporaries, teddy roosevelt was unique in modern american history. as one of them put it, if the rough rider was not

in any case, the two roosevelt had -- two roosevelts had some similarity but were also quite different in their personalities. tr was a fiery, pugnacious tort. always ready for a fight, either physical or political. ranklin was more sophisticated. always eager to solve problems medically and amicably. as a young man, fdr seemed to have everything. wealth, social position and restige. he was charming, handsome, sophisticated. his most glaring fault people sometimes felt was he was a bit overbearing, pompous, conceited, e might say. some found him to be plain arrogant. after 1921, that changed dramatically. that was the year that roosevelt was stricken with polio, infantile paralysis. child's disease generally. the disease -- roosevelt's disease was misdiagnosed for a long time. one reason being the doctors could not imagine a grown man, nd apparently healthy, strong, young adult could have polio. but indeed, that is what he had. the terrible fight he went through to recover from that disease gave him a compassion, tolerance and the strength of will he had never exhibited efore. many per

roosevelt was incensed at that. he called it the most rottenness thing -- coated the rotten nest thing said -- it contribute greatly to supporting the allied war effort. it is surprising that after all this emphasis on the war in europe, when we did go to war, it came not from europe but from the far east by invitation of japan. that country had been neighbor, china for many years and in the 1930's invaded a chinese province. the united states tried to front ways to force them out. -- try different ways to force them out. roosevelt took the unusual step of appealing directly to the japanese emperor to demand japanese withdrawal from china. he received his answer the next day. received thepublic answer the next day. roosevelt announced it this way on the radio address. yesterday, a date will live in anthony, -- live in infamy -- that sneak attack on the u.s. naval base in pearl harbor. in the destruction of virtually the entire american battleship fleet in the pacific. the loss of some 2400 men. in the immediate wake

roosevelt died. the man who had guided the nation through the worst internal troubles since the civil war and the worst foreign war in its history was suddenly gone. an indescribable sense of shock spread through the country. a generation, if you think about those four terms, a generation of americans had grown almost to maturity without knowing another president. when they heard the news, many people wondered what will happen now? they could not conceive of any other leader. men and women everywhere broke down and wept openly without any shame. in retrospect, it seems difficult to deny to roosevelt the mantle of greatness. the crisis he faced when he took office in january -- march of 1933 was so desperate that "had roosevelt harbored imperial ambitions, he probably could have obtained dictatorial powers from congress. had even a socialist, he could have set the country on the road to extreme collectivism. awever, he was neither fascist or communist, simply old-fashioned american with traditional vi

you are telling a story about roosevelt. and in a demeaning way, empty household name for public institutions, the banking legacy. can you tell us about him and what you found so compelling about him as an agent, an actor within this story, this landscape you are drawing. >> guest: when i started looking at this time period i knew a lot about roosevelt than i did about morgan as is true of most. this was morgan's world, that roosevelt quickly and abruptly in terms of wall street, and by the time roosevelt became president morgan was at the peak of his power. he was the king of wall street, literally called jupiter and zeus. on the eve of the inauguration, the first billion-dollar company in the world. that was a company that employed more than any other for the steel production, was a huge monopoly. just a few months into roosevelt's presidency, morgan created the second-biggest company in the world which is the focus of the book, $400 million which would be $11 trillion. the two biggest companies but beyond that morgan cont

the1897 roosevelt, roosevelt during his presidency, the progressive roosevelt? roosevelt is manuel valls and is a different person at bullmoose then he was when he was in the harness as president of the united states. but it can't believe roosevelt at any point would have lost his deep love for our beloved in states navy. other questions? this is a typical question, but in the naval war of 1812 -- 1912, tr [inaudible] any idea what that rating was? capt. hendrix: yes, it is the number of guns. of 1812, youwar would put uss hornet 18, so it is uss hornet of 18 guns. what he doesn't get into until you get back into the annexes the poundage of those guns. you can say a ship had 18 guns, but what is the throw weight of that gun, whether it is 32 pound or 20 pound come etc., etc., that is back in the annex. but if it says the name and number, it is the number of guns. admiral? he is senior. [laughter] roosevelt'stheodore transition over his lifetime, [inaudible] i would like you to address your views on fleet size at the size of ships, and whether you think the 500 p

at the start of roosevelt's second term in 1937, roosevelt surprises everyone. he had not consulted the congress before making this announcement. he wanted six new seats added to the supreme court. how is this possible? the constitution allowed -- a number of seats on the court has been as small as five at the end of the john adams administration. afterge as 10 immediately the civil war. nine is the norm. it was nine for a while before the civil war. nine mostly after the civil war, too. congress could change it at any point. one other thing before we move on. notice the way the controversy is being portrayed in the cartoon. you have representatives of each of the three branches of government. this authorple thinks matters in terms of this controversy with court packing our elected officials. nowhere in this cartoon is public opinion on display. say no for the very first time. they shoot down a request of president roosevelt. that helpshing congress find the courage to stand up to roosevelt and if the court packing was the supreme court changed its mind. it larg

this is the door roosevelt. -- theodore roosevelt. one of my favorite the adult roosevelt quotes -- it was my graduation quote -- do what you can with what you have, where you are. this could have been the mantra of booker t. washington. clevern were extremely and socially attuned to their audience. twitter and instagram been around in 1901, they would have both been fans of it and had shtagsle accounts and ha their legacies were also similar, controversial, and criticized by their own people. although they were both men of words, they were men who valued deeds more than words. mensimilarities between the , it also helped them overlook inherent or socially acceptable prejudice toward each other and their respective races. they shared a common goal of being better and making america truly exceptional. flow -- though, they were different men. tr had little room for failure and pushed others. he was judgmental and laser-focused on outcome. booker t. washington was more encouraging, and understood profoundly that not every man is given th

roosevelt declined, probably wisely so, for which he earned roosevelts lasting contempt. and incidentally, roosevelt's youngest son, clinton, was killed in the war. some observers believe drastically commission -- diminished roosevelts belligerent attitudes. in any case, by the time he died in early 1919, he was in his late fifties i believe, roosevelt had already done a lot by that time to secure his legacy as one of america's greatest presidents. so what was that legacy? theodore roosevelt made many contributions to the progressive movement. it's quite likely that it would never have flourished without his energetic leadership. the laws that he passed, demonstrated ability to bring through reform through the legislative process. certainly roosevelt's greatest service to the progressive movement is not to be seen in any one law or set of laws that were passed, but rather to be seen in the impetus that he gave to reforming in general. he served most effectively as a popular -- popularize or, a spark plug, a cheerleader for reform. roosevelt was the greatest publicity man

roosevelt surprises everyone. he had not consulted with congress before making this announcement, but he wanted six new seats added to the supreme court. how is this possible? the constitution allows congress to set the size of the court. as number had been as small five and as large as 10 immediately after the civil war. nine is the norm. it was nine before the civil war and it was nine after the civil war. one other thing before we move on. you have representatives of each of the three branches of government, the only people that --s author things matter things matter our elected officials. nowhere in this cartoon is public opinion on display and congress does say no. for the very first time, they shoot down president roosevelt. the other thing that helps finds the courage to stand up to roosevelt was the supreme court changed his mind. they start striking down new deal policies. there's the minimum wage law for women in march 1939. then there is the wagner act. that was the national wet -- national labor relati

their marriage, fdr, the merging of the oyster bay long island roosevelt and hyde park roosevelt which come from the still futile - but families on the hudson valley where a remarkable collection of land and gentry and governor's mother was the merging, in new york, the displacer is at a high society sorts, an amazing collection of names of new york. she moves among new york, and she stuck in ground stone society, eta for naps land. .. equal measure in the american, in the american dream but also essentially that was created with all that wealth that overtook families like eleanor's and the roosevelts. they were old new york, and she was from old new york, and she actually, i think, kept bits and pieces of that all, you saw the statue of eleanor roosevelt and the great roosevelt monument in washington, d.c. next to the tidal basin there. the new roosevelt monument of the 2000s or late '90s, i guess, and eleanor was deliberately shown in that statue without fur. well, she wore furs everywhere. she carried her handbag everywhere. she arrived with view e lets. she always -- violets. she a

the roosevelt, you talk about the roosevelt marriage, merging of the high part roosevelt comes from thehe family up in the hudson valley were a remarkable collectionnd anna hall, owners mother, she was emerging in the halls they hung out in new york, it is in this amazing collection of names of new york. in many ways, i think o eleanor roosevelt, your book is portrait of new york and of course it goes to washington but it's, she is new york girl sheoves among new york and a much as she tries to get away fm that, she is stuck in tt society and then her mother-in-law the vanderbilt my divorce but the donors do not. it was a library that he shipped home from europe. these names in history come back into the lives and sor of talk to them. >> ve much the ones in charge of that time. in general, where the older version of great wlth. what struck me about new york, there was so much left on the floor. ... the world eleanor was going to transcend was also th world she was in some ways going to be committed to reshaping and saving. soany of the things that were reformed out smh and then eleanor

it was franklin roosevelt. franklin roosevelt had died, and truman became the president. for a year after, many people referred to truman as his accident see. he was carried a big low there trying to continue with roosevelts programs, certainly they were very big shoes to fill. so, these are the qualities professor dallick teaches us of the effective presidencies. what about the least successful presidents of the 20th century? he tells us that they lacked vision. or they failed to come up with simple statement or phrased to explain where they hope to lead. i'm thinking here of three presidents of the 1920s. warren harding, calvin coolidge, and herbert hoover. i'm wondering if you ever studied this in history class or political science or even in communication, if you remember anything particular about any of those three? does anyone have any memories of them? haley? >> i remember during the depression they called a lot of the rundown and homeless people towns hooverville. that's one of the things i remember. and i think there was a hice i went to a high school named after

theodore roosevelt, woodrow wilson, franklin roosevelt, harry s. true man, dwight eisenhower, john f. kennedy, banes johnson, richard nixon and ronald reagan. now, the professor's analysis only looks at the 20th century. i'm going to throw in some of the presidents from the 21st century as we go along. so if we can go to the first slide. the professor talks about these six points. the first one he says is vision. the second is charisma. i'm going to go back and talk about these. the second is charisma, the third in pragmatism. we'll move to the next slide. the fourth is consensus building, followed by trust or credibility, luck, and then i'm going to throw in, which is on the last slide, and that is something that i'm going to call communication competence. we're going to leave the slides behind for right now. so let's start with vision. vision, according to dallek, is that presidents come up with an idea and they help us to develop something that's going to pull us altogether. it's going to be something that is going to unify us. sometimes it come

i cannot think of a better persono be a part of the series than eleanor roosevelt her an roosevelt are such seemingly large figures and elear in particular are such an inspiration particularly at this time for inclusion and diversity, she is such a role model one fan is my partner so tell us about you and him and ask your qstion. >> i'm apologize to be late. i'm the head of special collecons at the state library from the stateouse in downtown boston with the depository and relating the things of massachusetts history. margaret and i have written some queions for david and also compiled questions tha came from people when they registered and we wi be watching for questions that come iduring the talk. i am auge fan of eleanor it alsoncludes questions for other people. here is my first question. my favorite line in th whole book and there were many favorite lines was right after the dedication page but bore the table of contents a quotation that says i felt oblid to notice everything. to me, that sentence can apply to everything that happens to her in the book anshapes her life. can you g

it was franklin roosevelt. and franklin roosevelt died, and truman became the president, and for a year after, many people referred to truman as his accide accide accidentcy. kind of carrying a big load there trying to continue with roosevelt's programs, certainly they were very, very big shoes to fill. so these are the qualities professor dallek teaches us of the effective presidents, but what about the less successful presidents of the 20th century? dallek tells us that they lacked vision, or they failed to come up with simple statements or a phrase to explain what they, where they hoped to lead. i'm thinking here of three presidents of the 1920s. warren harding, calvin coolidge, and then herbert hoover, and i'm wondering if you ever studied these in history class or in political science or maybe even in communications, if you remember anything particular about any of those three? does anyone have any memories of them? haley? >> i remember during the depression they called a lot of the really rundown homeless

index card was her mom or theodore roosevelt cousin or eodore roosevelt oyster bay cousin. it's a love intere. i don't know why yellow but it worked and white is quotations from oth sources that need to be saved a white index card. those are more akhil as we useful and helpful in rms of keeping things straight at the beginning and you can expand the colors. summerville was an -- allen r. circuit with franklin and bame purple. purple is for people who are franklin and eleanor people people who were go-betweens. theyere in folders in chronological order. the main principal i learned it years ago when i was dog a profile about his friendship with gucci every single thing that came into his life and was complicated by information thering. internet. he thought globally much of his work was global. he realized the only way to keep ings straight was to fil everything from logic we. every tim you have a piece of information if you put a chronologically into a chronological file of where came into your own life in 2010 and 2011, 2012 you remember it better. it also wanted t conologi

army lieutenant quentin roosevelt, theodore roosevelt's youngest son was shot down and killed near the village of chamery, france during world war i. american history tv visited a memorial fountain in the village with historian joe?

many did nothing he could fill roosevelt's shoes.hey walk out of that theater whereen we take you to harry truman came from, his experience i world war in, the maybe in his life that gave him the leadership abilities he would have to use later as president. then we bring you back to the presidency and his first four months of presidency, which were certainly one of the most romantic four-month periods -- dramatic four-month periods of any president. ending the war, using the atomic bomb. it is such a dramatic four months of his presidency that it brings you back into the drama of the moment. herman: it sounds like a great way to open too. it crams people by the throat right away. you mentioned the theatrical experience at the beginning. we have a similar thing that deals with the great depression. we put people in a small theater where there is a dramatic visual presentation of the crisis going on. that raises a question of audiovisual elements. they play a big role in modern history museums. i think they are very effective, but they

i loved eleanor roosevelt my entire life and now i love her even more. thank you for that. >> i think david will come back on. >> thank you both so much. >> i went to extend my thanks to all three of you for coming up with those good questions and i'm sorry we didn't get to the ones we talked about i'm sure we've been happy talking for a long time and thank you for giving us this work of scholarship and archival work and any of us around our age or older or younger than us she remains the quintessential first lady if you think of what the president spouse should be like when you measure up against eleanor roosevelt i think this book makes it clear why she got to that place and i appreciate the insight what history can tell us for the times we are in now going in 100 years after her husband's presidency i will remind everyone again the book will be signed by david thank you again i'm sorry some people had a problem with the platform this is wonderful thank you for joining us . . . . between donad steve bannon who would become a strategist in his

one - - of the work and the statue of eleanor roosevelt and with that bible basin. and then i was shown in the statute first. what she refers everywhere. she carried her handbag everywhere and arrived with violence and always have something for you. her courtesies were a civilized woman of her class and time. she never gives up whenever worried about being identified as well but accordingly she was who she was. so that kind of freedom and then those like him uncomfortable. >> so in the section that covers the first years i was struck by the house similar of what we are going through it now with the financial crisis climate disaster. it is very similar to what we are going through right now. and how she reacted to all of these things. >> there are two good answers right off the top of my head. she may listening part of the job description of first lady. was deep and sincere had a profound listening and how that might affect the other people in their lives i think she is my a.k.a. doctor. and then to make diagrams of the rest of the family to understand what kind of i

she went to boarding school in england that her roosevelt aunt the sister of theodore roosevelt. have gone and become the it girl of that era. she was a charismatic french woman who was progressive in her politics who emphasized one thing above all others. that woman needed to learn to think for herself. the idea of education at the time. was thought to actually be harmful to women's health want young woman might get ideas. you might need to send her away to someplace if you got too carried away with this education stuff. it was almost radical in the sense that they were taking the young women of the time they were not being told at home to think for themselves not only must they think for themselves. and to carry the argument through and to defend their part of the argument skills that today i think are not natural to a sixth grader. they stayed with the madam. his favorite she became. it was more a sense of position. sort of a graduate student. it was almost assistant professor role. where she have things to teach younger girls. she had responsibilities. she was what she became

roosevelt was infuriated by this.rue, that the members of the court were quite conservative. they were also quite old. six of the nine members were 70 or older. so roosevelt, what could he do about it? they are lifetime appointments. unless you kill them, you couldn't do anything about it and even roosevelt would not have done that. he was a pretty strong leader, but he was not going to do that. so he was stuck. at least esteemed -- at least it seemed like he was stuck. she had to wait for the so-called nine old men to die off. roosevelt was not the type of man to wait, and so he came up with a plan that was known as the court packing plan. if congress passed the act, the president would be empowered to promote an additional member of the court to any member who was 70 or older who would not retire. at that time, that would have meant the proposition of a court of 15. because there were six over 70. he gave as his reason for this -- he could not come out and say i want to do this so they will approve my legislation. h

in 1928, life changed again for roosevelt. al smith, the governor of new york, the catholic who ran for president in 1928 against herbert hoover asked roosevelt to be his vice presidential candidate. and so after much soul searching, roosevelt agreed. they didn't win that. in fact it was a pretty cataclysmic outcome. herbert hoover won, as we know. but roosevelt became governor of new york and he served two two-year terms as governor of new york. well, in 1932, of course, the democratic party decided roosevelt would be the perfect candidate to run against herbert hoover. the heart of the depression, americans were really suffering, roosevelt ran an incredible campaign. his campaign song was "happy days are here again." even though nobody was too happy at that point. and of course he won the presidency and took office in 1933. now, many -- a number of scholars have looked at roosevelt and his character and feel that polio had an incredible impact on who he was as a person. what did you get out of oshinsky in terms of how -- wha

roosevelt ran an incredible upbeat campaign. his campaign song was "happy days are here again" even though nobody was too happy at that point. and of course, he won the presidency and took office in 1933. now, a number of scholars have looked at roosevelt and his character and feel that polio had an incredible impact on who he was as a person. what did you get out of oshinski in terms of what polio did for roosevelt as a man, as a person? did it have a positive impact, negative impact? >> i think so much that there was a stigma against polio, he realized if he could go in and be such a fundamental change in the government that other people who were down and out with the depression could do the same thing. the stigma didn't need to be there. i didn't agree with the fact he hid it from everyone, but it proved that just because you have a physical handicap doesn't wean you can't go on and do impressive things. >> >> and there were people who knew about it. and all the more that they would admire this man and see what he had been ab

roosevelt was infuriated by this.embers of the court were quite conservative. six of the nine members were 70 or older. roosevelt, what could he do about it? they are lifetime appointments. unless you kill them, you cannot do anything about it and even roosevelt would not have done that. strong leader, but he was stuck. she had to wait for the so-called nine old men to die off. roosevelt was not the type of mentor weight and so he came up with a plan that was known as the court packing plan. if congress passes act, the tosident would be empowered promote an additional member of wascourt to any member who 70 or older. that would have meant the proposition of a court of 15. he gave as the reason for this -- [indiscernible] was they were old and could not keep up with their work. needed youngblood to keep on schedule. at the justices that. the charges were untrue. the court was not but didn't work. it became apparent roosevelt was trying to pack the court with people who would uphold his policies. it brought the stronges

and before roosevelt was president, it was basically every man for himself. rugged individualism, you know. >> the only real contact that the american people had with the federal government is when they went to the post office to buy a stamp. roosevelt changed all of that. >> he changed it by offering information and hope says the professor at the roosevelt family estate. >> they would listen to the president explain what the government was trying to do. >> reporter: they were few in number but symbolic of a connection between the patrician, roosevelt and those suffering with poverty. something the president understood because he suffered. >> i would say that the symbol of his presidency, of his life is warm springs, georgia. >> reporter: roosevelt was stricken with polio and never walked again. he built a facility in warm springs, georgia for other polio sufferers and took charge of the operation. >> it helped him to relate to all kinds of people that is leaving a life of kindness and of respect and responsibility for the people that we know as well as for t

it was strange to me and sad that where you saw the statue of eleanor roosevelt in the great roosevelt monument in washington, d.c. next to the reflecting, next to the final days the new roosevelt monument of the 2000s come late '90s i guess. eleanor was deliberately shown in that statute without first. she wore first adored. she carried her handbag ever. she arrived with violence fictionalize it something. her courtesies with a courtesy of a civilized woman of her class andime. she never gave those up and she didn't ever worry about being identified or labeled accordingly. she sply was who she was, and that kind of freedom i think is, was a triumph for her. it allowed her to be herself anyways i think of the people like her we uncomfortable with. she never became uncomrtable with being a woman of her tim in place. >> that's a wonderful answer. >> o more before we take off on the rump of other questions? okay. >> the question i have actually is amalgam ofome of the people's as well that have come in already. in the section that covers the first years after fdr's election to the preside

it was strange and sad, the statue of fellow roosevelt. and the late 90s, and the courtesies were the courtesies of a civil or -- similar wom in the classic time, she didn't worry about being identified or labeled accorngly, that kind of freedom, is a triumph for her. and never became uncomfortle with becoming a woman of her time. >> one more beat for the realm of others questions, it is an amalgam of the section that covers the first years after fdr's election for presidency i was struck by something you mentioned how many conditions on the financial crisis, presidential elections, climate disaster, many more things, similar to what we are going through right w, how can we use what you learn from eleanor and how sh reacted to one of these things -- >> there are two good answers. she's listening to the job description of first lady and her listening was very dpnd sincere and profound listening to how that might affect, a doctor listens with her back, used to ke diagrams of the rest of the family, what kind of inesses you inherited, she was

income -- franklin d roosevelt. manontrast to this little for missouri seemed ordinary, even as appearance. harken back to the days of an earlier presidential misfit, warren harding. at least warren harding look like a president. truman set i look like any other 50 people you meet industry, and he did. he seemed to be hard to caricature, he had no particular distinctive features, sort of generic person. even his name, by the way, seemed inadequate. harry s. truman-to know the s stood for? nothing. he simply added the s because he thought his given name was inefficient. it did not stand for anything -- insufficient. the s did not stand for anything. his character i would be characterized as mediocre if that. he was for example the first president since grover cleveland and the only in the 20th century not to have a college education. he had been an average student in school and thereafter tried his hand at different occupations. including farming, banking, with little success at either. nor was he more successful soc

eleanor roosevelt knew -- i came across something once where mrs. roosevelt knew that mrs. harding had a very close friendship with a couple of reporters, women reporters, because some of those women reporters who covered mrs. harding, you know, ten years later, covered mrs. roosevelt. so they spoke to her about that. i think, you know, to my knowledge no other first lady has ever gotten involved in animal rights, but certainly in terms of advocating economic, political, educational and professional equity of women, you see eleanor roosevelt doing that. and later, lady bird johnson, and then mrs. carter and mrs. clinton and then laura bush. you see, also, the care of the veterans particularly. i think that's where her great legacy is, because many first ladies became advocates for the disabled and wounded veterans of world war ii, of the korean war, of the vietnam war. right up to mrs. obama, working with then second lady joe biden, creating a program simply and directly to help active military and their families. so i think that is a big part of it. mrs. lincoln did a litt

franklin roosevelt is looking for a fourth term.he war is still on and in 1940, he has dumped his vice president, john nance gartner, who had grown a bit too conservative for the new deal and he put in henry a. wallace, the secretary of agriculture. who is a very left-wing kind of new age kind of guy or back them. and he forces wallace on the ticket in 1940. the democratic party does not really want him. and in 1944, roosevelt is getting the word back, you keep this guy on the ticket, he could cost you a million votes. roosevelt is a great politician. he knows what this means. and he says, i have forced henry wallace on the party once. i can't do it twice. i can't do it twice. he has got to go. not in so many words, not in so many words, but he eventually slits wallace's throat. who did he replace them with? the guy he replaced them with is a guy that is not too southern, not to northern, not too conservative, not too liberal, respected by the union but not really in the pocket of the unions, and that is harry truman. he fits in all

roosevelt died in april of 1945. so that caused a huge change. movie theaters stopped collecting for polio. now they decided that the money they collected would go to the united way. which is a community and polio cases are on the ride. as yet there is no vaccine to off set this. so on to the scientists and on to the medical research. wondering if you found some of the behavior of these scientists as shocking as i did. . are we dealing with young children? or are we dealing with grown men? i know, oshinsky does a good job getting into the heart of this. so there is an effort by many researchers to fend an effective virus to off set the horrible disease. and three things had to be discovered about polio before any researcher could engage in effective research. what were those three things. >> they were how many strains or types of the virus there were, how it got to the body and the central nervous system, and how to develop a supply of the vaccine for each type. >> so they had to start typing the strains, and what did they find? >> only three str

considering how difficult it was to go to yalta w did roosevelt agree to that location? >> at is point they recognize the balance of power has shifted now they need him more than heeeds them he had boots on the ground and ao a polish wakeboard cards. on that she holds more cards. al he had a fear of flying and then his doctors advised against traveling meanwhile he is dying. so there is some irony there but charge on - - but churchill is so important to have this meeting and to have this relatnship and to forge such a great advocate for a meeting in personn this dollars and churchill is the only one because he messes around so much that is how important it was and in that inhospitable location. >> didhey have any important impact of changing their father's mind on an iue? >> it w less advating for policy decisions and more a counselor durg that you emotionally charged time.

roosevelt knew that mrs. harding had a very close friendship with a couple of reporters, women reporters. because some of those women reporters covered mrs. harding and 10 years later covered mrs. roosevelt. so they spoke to her about that. i think, to my knowledge, no other first lady has ever gotten involved in animal-rights, but certainly in terms of advocating economic, political, educational and professional equity of women, you see eleanor roosevelt doing that. then later hillary clinton and laura bush. you see the care of the veterans particularly. i think that is where her legacy is, because many first ladies ame advocates of the veterans of the korean war, the vietnam war. write up to mrs. obama working with then-second lady jill biden creating a program directly to help active military and their families. so i think that is a big part of it. mrs. lincoln did a little of that, but for example, except for if they cross the path of an individual veteran of the civil war, first ladies from mrs. lincoln

is teddy roosevelt as delegate. and mark hanna says to mckinley, mister president you are only responsible for the next four years is to live. that's our only responsibility. and you could be shot and killed in september of 1901. interesting part of the story, whenever i talk about accidental presidents themselves, people love to say all the teddy roosevelt story, when he shot and the bullet penetrates his skin, and he looks at it and declares i'm an expert taxidermist, and i can survive an hour before the wound becomes fatal. but he wasn't president when it happens. that was in 1912, when he tried to torpedo william howard taft, as the republican president. but, tea are nearly does die in office. but a year almost a year to the day, after he ascends to the presidency. he is in pits field, and he is campaigning for the midterms. a charlie slams into his carriage. it kills his driver, it kills his bodyguard who is the first member of the secret service ever killed in the line of duty. and it would've killed teddy roo

the press liked roosevelt.ne journalist gave a great description of what it was like to cover the white house from the roosevelt era to the wilson era, they said it was like going from a foundry full of activity to a convent, a cloistered atmosphere with everyone very quiet. wilson came from a long line of newspapermen. one of his grandfathers had worked for a philadelphia paper, which had been founded to criticize george washington. wilson had been the editor of the princeton college newspaper when he was a student. his own brother was the editor of a daily newspaper. so he understood journalism, he just did not like journalists, and he particularly did not like them when they wrote about or inquired about his family. tr had been the same way but he had given up. he couldn't stop them from writing about his cute little boys and his eldest daughter, who smoked, rode in cars by herself and was independent and great copy. wilson did not like his daughters to be written about. when one photographer took a picture

roosevelt chose truman because he was not well-known enough to detract from roosevelt's own candidacy. well, truman was well aware of his limitations as vice president. there is a story one day he was walking down the street with a friend of his in washington. and they walked past the white house. the friend said to him, harry, turn around and take a look, you will live there soon, to which truman replied, i am afraid that i am, and it scares the hell out of me. when that did come to pass on april 12, 1945, the realization that he would now be president made him feel, as he told reporters, "the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me." there is ample reason for truman to feel awestruck. in addition to his limitations, it came at a time of extreme crisis. yet once he moved into the white house, truman performed with considerable ability, far exceeding the dire expectations many americans had at the time. the greatest immediate problem. there he is with roosevelt and being sworn in as president with his wife and daughter. bess and margaret. the greatest problem confronting

and so in that way he was a leader in the fight with franklin roosevelt as roosevelt was trying to engineer abe for great britain and people who had become our allies against killer. and then after the war, in 1945, or late in the war, vandenberg came forward and said, things have to change what. in effect, reversed his own position and said, isolation was no longer possible for the u.s. as a global power that we had to take leadership underworld stage or relinquish it to darker forces. but by making that shift in the last months of world war ii, he pulled a lot of american public opinion with him and really helped enable the changes in america's rise to leadership. as someone who grew up in grand rapids with an interest in politics, i had always been curious about vandenberg's life. vandenberg one of these ambitious kids. his father had a thriving hernia business that literally went broke when vandenberg was nine years old. he was doing odd jobs and things to support the family, but once he was in high school here he thrives on -- he was editing the school newspaper and he thrived on polit

and teddy roosevelt ends up as teddy roosevelt, by the way, the only vote against it is teddy roosevelt. as a delegate. mark hanna says to mckinley, mister president, you are only responsibility in the next four years is to live. and of course, mckinley shot and killed in september of 1901. now, an interesting part of the story whenever i talk about accidental presidents, who themselves nearly died in office. people love to say on the teddy roosevelt story, when he shot the bullet penetrates the speech, and penetrates his skin. and he looks at it in the clear as i am an expert taxidermists and i can survive an hour before the wound becomes fatal, and he gives a speech, and go to the hospital. but he wasn't president when that happened, that when he came back to run as a -- united, 12 to try to torpedo taft as the republican president. but, pr nearly does die in office. so a year almost to the day, after he incense to the presidency, he is in pits field, and he is campaigning for the midterms. and a trolley slams it is carriage, and it kills his driver, it kills his bodyguard, who is the

i cannot believe roosevelt would have a vp and not tell him about the manhattan project. >> roosevelt didn't think about it. he barely spent any time, he was either in warm springs in georgia recovering or he was traveling. it seems like there are a lot of you know, i did the interviews that i could for this book given most chapters in history, the people are dead. tyler's grandsons are useful about john tyler, but i asked, you know, i asked george h.w. bush this question, i did a number of interviews, kissinger, cheney, a number of others. they all have the same time comment which is i asked them about it in the context of fdr and kissinger's remark is quite amusing, if fdr was in denial about it, why would you want the person who is most likely to benefit from your death lingering around and fdr didn't want to set eyes on truman, if you know that you are dying and you are in denial about it, you don't want to look at the guy who is about to take over for you. >> you mentioned you were going to tell us about nixon and ford, so, please do. . >> so, if i am a revisionist and i want to

very much like eleanor roosevelt did. in the past, you might have a first lady like miss cleveland who got involved in a local charity. or for example mrs. taft who had a vision for the city, and sheet for example got involved in legislation that ended up in the first health and safety measures and standards in the federal workplace. but it was all still related to life in washington. or life within the federal government. eleanor wilson again, the whole issue of her seeking to read the city of what was deplorable housing without providing housing for the displaced people of color. you know there were those before her undertook these private -- mrs. harding had a national view. she saw the entire nation as her constituency. even when they made the western tour across the country and alaska, she began to speak and deliver informal speeches from the back of the train to the public. so she saw the first lady as a public role. that's her most important legacy. >> excellent. just for a final question. what specific impacted he

holzer: it was unlike franklin roosevelt.hink about fdr and his propaganda during world war ii organized -- film directors, to go and film the war so that america had the record of the tribulations and battles. war correspondents were at the front reporting back on the blood, the gore and the agony and injuries. it was all covered from the beginning. it was reported home. lyndon johnson, for all of his insane demand to control every message did allow the press to cover vietnam. and of course walter cronkite raised questions about the war, lbj says, if i have lost cronkite, have lost middle america, and it was the beginning of the downfall. the bush administration did not allow embedded cameras into the wars against terrorism. as they were called. we barely were able to see coffin upon coffin flag draped being brought back, almost on an assembly line. they were only occasionally glimpsed and unloaded from aircraft, because they did not want to stories like that to upset the american people or the electorate. rather they showed

currently the director of the roosevelt house public policy institute at hunter college.idmer, the author of eight books. professor widmer is on the faculty of mccauley's honors college. today we'll discuss his latest book, lincoln on the verge. a story about the 13-day train journey that lincoln took from illinois to washington d.c. to be inaugurated as president. these are two very different books. i'm going to hold up each of them. this is literally a mini biography, well, not so mini, it's a substantial book, but focuses on 13 days and this is harold holzer's book on the president versus the press. there's very different books, but they are both about presidents. and both authors are deeply with lincoln in the civil war era. to my mind, both folks actually have a theme, which is the notion that american politics has always been deeply partisan, contentious, and downright toxic, toxic. so ted, let's begin with you. you give us a vivid description of lincoln's dangerous train journey, and at one point, you refer to it, to the toxic climate of 1860. so, i wanted to ask y