arthur schlesinger jr a few know schlesinger scholarship it's like being asked by the whole thing to write about the birth. this was a big deal and i was honored to get the request and this whole event is in some ways in great honor to arthur schlesinger her, jr.. it's quite true jackson's father died before he was born, killed by a tree falling on him and the circumstances of his mother's death and brother's death during the revolution i think were very particular. his mother died basically trying to nurse relatives and friends from the area of north carolina and south carolina charleston. she got the cholera and died and his brothers -- to both perished during the revolution so is entirely family was wiped out by the revolution over. and i think that to jackson there's been some psychologizing about jackson as well as his parents but more than anything else he was abandoned by his mother and all this mutual footing. be that as it made the only problem of that interpretation is there is no evident which is inconvenient for historians. but i do think that it burned into his soul a ha

arthur schlesinger began life with a wonderful book about the age of jackson.k it's his best book. and he then went on to write some very important books about modern history and the age of roosevelt and the kennedys and biographies and so forth. and i very much admired arthur schlesinger because he was right in the thick of it. he wasn't afraid to take office. he helped jack kennedy with his administration very substantially. and he learned about how government works and how decisions are taken. and that improved the quality of his history. so i think there's a lot to be said for historians entering into the thick of things. i think mccauley was a better historian because he held office and had served in parliament. and i like historians to have a spell in congress or even a spell in government because they learn a lot about it. and to revert to the aei -- one of the reasons i found it so valuable is that some of the people there who were writing books and so on had actually served in the administrations. and, therefore, knew how things were done. so i like of

arthur schlesinger began life with a wonderful book about the age of jackson.ink it's his best book. and he then went on to write some very important books about modern history and the age of roosevelt and the kennedys and biographies and so forth. and i very much admired arthur schlesinger because he was right in the thick of it. he wasn't afraid to take officeh historian because he held office and had served in parliament. and i like historians to have a spell in congress or even a spell in government because they learn a lot about it. and to revert to the aei -- one of the reasons i found it so valuable is that some of the people there who were writing books and so on had actually served in the administrations. and, therefore, knew how things were done. so i like of a historian to oscillate between government and the writing of ho er. i think that results in better government and better history. >> host: mary ann sends in an email, how did winston churchill's relationship or lack thereof have an influence with his ultimate connection with fdr and the usa? >>

arthur schlesinger got three volumes out. he got distracted.e got a job in the kennedy white house. and this happens. franklin roosevelt tends to capture biographies.w -- biographers. there are other presidents who do this. i'm sure robert caro has essentially been sucked into the lyndon johnson whirlpool and will be at least another few years before he gets out. and the result of this was that when those students would ask me what i can read on franklin roosevelt, i didn't have an answer. there was no one-volume biography of franklin roosevelt that i could point to that i thought was quite satisfactory. and the other thing was -- and this get to the -- i'll admit the imodesty in me that i could writÔ÷ a better biography of franklin roosevelt than was on the market. it's not that i was trying to fill a hole that no one had tried to fill. it's just that i thought -- i happen to believe that if a story is good, it's worth retelling. if you can tell it better than other people have told it, then give it a try. i will leave it to critics. i will l

written on kennedy and johnson and fdr, a short book on ronald reagan at one point, but arthur schlesinger will have a series of very short biographies of a presidential biographies, asked me if i would do the one on harry truman. i had never written about truman and i thought this would be a very interesting thing to take on, and part of the challenge was to contain it is in 150 pages. harry probably would of complain bitterly had been confined to 100 for dupage is but no more so than when lyndon johnson who had an even bigger ego. truman to my mind is a fascinating figure in the sense that he was the most extraordinary of ordinary men. and he found himself at the end of world war ii burdens with this challenge to transfer american power, the american and in colossus which had a ball that the world war ii into a nation at peace. and the burden on him was in part to to continue what people saw as the franklin roosevelt tradition. roosevelt was seen as someone who had been masterful in establishing rapport with the soviet union and in particular with joseph stalin. now, roosevelt was a mast

and i'm not sure that -- i praised arthur schlesinger. i think he was a very great man. i like edmond wilson, myself. i often read his books. and i'm -- i find his book on the civil war particularly good. there's a lot of americans today who are writing in certain publications. for instance, the new criterion. i get that every month and i enjoy it very much. i enjoy national review. i think that's another very good paper that i read. >> i think there is some very good writers writing in the ball street journal today. somebody mentioned bob cod qwest was strictly speaking he is of englishmen but has lived in america for many years it always has very good and sensible things to say. he is another person i would praise and distinguish. there is no shortage of good writers in america are breaking about important subjects. of what of my reading is spent treating american publications and books. >> host: we are live with paul johnson. we will take a break of seven minutes then come back with your lives of phone calls and e-mails and tweets. he received a presidential medal of