they didn't feel he had been a good president but he would have been a big term president, and theodore roosevelt if he hadn't said he wasn't going to run again he would have had a third term. your question is roosevelt then became a powerful hugely admired president because of the third term that he needed world war ii and the success he had to make that third term valuable. i've been asked whether or not one time is enough because you have the potential for what we see in places i would say that our system is from that point correct but we don't want the third term. thank you. any other questions? >> yes. >> there is a question over there. yes. >> with all the studies that you've done on the characteristics of the current leader, is there a person or a couple of people but today not romney and not obama that you see what have those characteristics to lead the country through? >> and who wants to be president? [laughter] that is needed. i think the office is strange requirement and i did have a section in the paper but ideally suited specifically because it is on the second term. but whether or

and the teddy, theodore roosevelt if he had not said that he was not going to run again, he would have had a third term, there's no question because of his popularity. so i think your question is -- roosevelt then became the powerful, hugely admired president because of his third term. but he needed world war ii and the success he had there to make that third term valuable. i've been asked whether or not we should only have one six terms. i think the idea of allowing the american people to choose or not choose the re-election of a president one time is enough because you do have the potential for what we see in places like with chavez and so forth. so i would say that our system from that standpoint is correct, but we -- i think we don't want third terms. thank you. any other questions? uh-huh. yes. there is a question over there? yes. >> al, with all the study that you've done on the characteristics of a good leader, is there a person or a couple of people that today -- well, not romney and not obama, that you think would have those characteristics to lead the country through the issu

the correct answer there is -- >> theodore roosevelt.all their ages. >> tell us. 1901, theodore roosevelt became president at the age of 42 years and 322 days, youngest president. after his, kennedy, 43 bill clinton, third youngest, 46, then ulysses s grant and barack obama, fifth youngest president, sworn in at 47 years and 169 days. >> wow. back across to kath. >> nice lady from upstate new york what is the name of the new nbc television series based on a family at the white house, like "life at the white house """commander in chief" "1600 penn" or "the situation room"? >> 1600 penn. >> good for you. >> that's not even on yet? >> it is not. comes out january 10th. bull pullman, president in "independence day," place comedic president and his wife was jenna elfman from "dharma & greg," this trophy wife first lady. >> that was weird. back across to kath. >> from new york city, which president got permission to build a swimming pool and a movie theater in the white house? was it george washington -- movie theater -- well. franklin delano

that's what theodore roosevelt did. he took train rides to his presidency. obama has to get out of the white house bubble and he's so good in the campaign because that chemistry is there and he's feeling what they're feeling. he needs to leave the white house more in these next four years and get back with the people. that's where his strengths come from. >> rose: just a moment looking back at the past, that's the very thing he was accused of not having before the campaign, that this sense of connection with the people. it's surprising for someone who came in 2008 with such fanfare to have have lost that. >> i think the white house becomes that kind of bubble today more than it ever did before. if you are a person who gets their strength from that connection you have to figure out how everyday you build into your schedule -- i don't think the letters work enough. he has letters from ordinary people. you have to go see the people. you have to feel the people. and somehow like lincoln had these public opinion baths every morning where people would roam in and

theodore roosevelt came up a lot. and t.r.for president obama very important, because theodore roosevelt stood up for universal health care. he was able to go after corruption in wall street and, you know, become a trust buster. you see the power that an executive has. just a few weeks ago in california he saved cesar chavez' home. executive order did that. a lot of latino newspapers celebrated it quite a bit. there are many things you can learn from past presidents, how to use executive power. what was his demeanor like? what was the kinds of things he was questioning you all about? >> you're listening to having somebody like bob karo there, you get to recognize for all the great society accomplishments that linden had. he also had about 67 senators to rubber-stamp a lot of legislation. this president had to grapple with obama care, affordable care act around 60. ronald reagan interested him a lot, particularly that reagan could do business with people like tip o'neil, ted kennedy, and he felt with mitch mcdonnell there was n

. >> edmund, this was a case of leadership that is perhaps a little bit more like theodore rooseveltin the sense whether it's christie or obama, seemed a take-charge attitude. >> appearance matters. they were masters of action on camera. and what the american people relate to, particularly during an election season, is the president in action. and here we've -- if i were running for re-election to the presidency, i would pray for an emergency like this, because we look to our presidents to dramatize and to make sense of natural catastrophes. theodore roosevelt had the san francisco earthquake to deal with which he greatly enjoyed and reagan had several great theatrical moments, the assassination attempt. >> the "challenger." >> yeah. >> so he was very good at articulating that. we want to see and hear our presidents articulating the way we feel. so i should think the president right now is a very happy man. >> do you think ronald reagan could get that republican nomination today? you know, on so many issues he would be considered somewhat moderate. he was in favor of gun control for

i will tell you a little story -- when i started with theodore roosevelt, i showed him the first chapter, maybe two or three chapters, a while back. he liked it, but said, you have not brought him to life. i said, what do you mean? he said, you have to tell stories. and he did not use the word novelistic, but i went back and did a lot of rewriting on at theodore roosevelt to bring this boisterous, larger-than- life character best -- back to live in a book called "lion in the white house." i started with truman some years later and was able to read just one chapter -- that is all i had before lost him. he had the same comment. he said, i want you to bring harry truman to life. the first chapter takes him into the army. he said the same thing, apparently i had not learned my lesson. he said, bring him to life more. i went back -- he was right. i was being an ordinary biographer -- one fact piled on another. it moves in a straight line. i said to myself, we have got an enormous pile of notes and anecdotes and descriptions. go back and listen to david and make this man come to life. it is a

chris rock, "head of state," and robin williams as "theodore roosevelt at "night as the museum." >> they'reusly not calling us. >>> i'm lynn berry. this is "first look" on msnbc. "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. >>> the re-election in hand, president barack obama turns now to face the challenges of the next four years with house speaker john boehner saying, quote, we are ready to be led. the question is do we have any reason to believe the two parties in washington will get along better in a second obama term? we'll see. >>> an ugly nor'easter complete with rain, wind and snow whips into the same parts of new york new york and new jersey that were wiped out by hurricane sandy. the question s what does the new storm mean for those still waiting for the lights to be turned on ten days now a

the first american, about benjamin franklin and tea are about theodore roosevelt. together these books comprise not haphazardly but purposefully a history of the united states for the last 200 or so years. a number of these books have been best sellers. traitor to his class and the first american were both finalists for the pulitzer prize and you can see h. w. brands on tv all the time if you go to the history channel or turn on the tv, there he is. this book is -- i will hold this up again so you can see and recognize it easily at the book signing tend, it is a tremendous biography of ulysses grant filled with stuffed i certainly never knew and was delighted to find out. it is very authoritatively and readable. before we get to grant himself i wanted to ask bill a broad question about biography. here at the book festival there are a number of biographers. i have read several of these already, robert caro's latest volume in his massive history, biography of lyndon johnson. janet reed's biography leonard cohen, all these people at the book festival among others. dav

fittingly, one of those practitioners, theodore roosevelt presided at the dedication of sheridan's 14-foot high statue in washington in november of 19 away. president roosevelt told the crowd sheridan, as he put it, shared his greatness with genius. [applause] >> i'm happy to take any questions. i am sure there are some. >> [inaudible question] >> yes, it is. there is a very good reason for that. all of the tapers were burned in the great chicago fire of 1871. the great chicago fire wiped out the headquarters. we don't have that much to go on. we have to rely heavily on people who served with him that the autobiographies official record of the civil war, of course, he wrote his personal memoirs that he had papers after that point. so i think that is probably one of the main reasons for the material. >> i don't know anything about sheridan, but it raises the question that i've had for a long time. which is the generalship of the confederacy was so poor compared to the eastern society, they had faced the same kind of general is confederate issues. >> it is possible, yes. all the general

theodore roosevelt presided at the dedication of sheridan's 14 feet high statue in washington, november, 1908. president roosevelt told him besides being a calvary leader and a great commander, sheridan also as he put it, speed shared his greatness which we call genius. [applause] be happy to take any questions. i am sure there are some. you mentioned at the beginning the historical focus has been placed on him. why is that? pretty amazing. >> there's a good reason for that. all of the papers were burned in the chicago fire of 1871. the commander of division he had moved the district to chicago because of the railroads going through, and the great chicago fire wiped out the headquarters so we don't have that much to go on and rely heavily on people that served with them as the biographies are the official record of the course and then he rode his personal memoir and he had papers after. so i think that is one of the main reasons. yes, sir. >> i really enjoyed the book by the way. >> thank you. >> a question i have for a long time is why is the generalship of the confederacy so poor in t

judge andrew napolitano, senior political analyst for fox news argues presidents theodore roosevelt and woodrow wilson disregarded the constitution to promote their own political agendas in theodore and woodrow, how two american presidents destroyed constitutional freedoms. in far from the tree parents, children and the search for identity, national book award winning author andrew solomon examines how parents are challenged and changed by exceptional children. fox news host greg thatfelt presents his talks on political debate in the joy of hate, triumph over wiener's in the age of phoney outrage. mark jenna lee, contributing editor for rolling stone magazine and native of the detroit area reports on the influx of people working to reach imagine his home town in detroit city is the place to be, the afterlife and american metropolis. in the outpost, untold story of american valor, white house correspondent for abc news jake tamper reports on combat outpost in afghanistan and the pentagon investigation that determined the post was a necessary after numerous soldiers already lost their liv

what would theodore roosevelt or george washington do -- i don't know. times are so different. one of the things he learned studying presidential history ig that greatness is not by any means intrinsic and individuals. not intrconfluence of individuals and context. so the president that will lead us out of the mess that we are in today, he is probably thes president would not have been at all equipped to deal with the civil war reconstruction. so that mwaight be an unsatisfactory answer, but that's the best i've got. [applause] >> thank you, bill brand. >> this event took place at the 17th annual texas book festival in austin, texas. for more information about the festival, visit texas book festival.org. >> we continue our look at the literary culture of montpelier, vermont. we hear from howard coffin about his book, which details several civil war accounts detailed in his new book. >> hello, i am howard coffin, i'm a seventh generation vermonter, and i had a least six ancestors who fought for the vermont regiment in the civil war. i have written three books on vermont and the

the incumbent, william howard taft won the republic nomination but then former president theodore rooseveltd in and formed the bull moose party. roosevelt called taft a fat head with the brains of a guinea pig. taft called roosevelt's followers radicals and neurotics. democrat woodrow wilson did his best to stay on the sidelines. the strategy worked and wilson won in a land slight 100

to give you an example of two other people who supported the league, theodore roosevelt and william howard taft, wilson's opponents in the presidential election. so it leak was well within the mainstream of american foreign-policy. they believed in it but wilson is the negotiator. he gives part of the treaty and then he comes back to united states and the senate has to ratify it. their 96 centers at the time in 80 of them have said that they want the united states to ratify the treaty and join the league of nations under some conditions. 80 is well more than enough to make the ratification. >> host: they need two-thirds. >> guest: two-thirds, yes. ratification is not hard. you need 64 or 65. the problem is the senate republicans led by henry cabot lodge who wilson had known for many decades, they don't want to give wilson a try and. some of them are opposed to joining the treaty and they have reservations about the sovereignty. many of them are willing to join the treaty with a condition. these reservations are not huge. the british for example will eventually say they have no problem with

theodore roosevelt hung his picture in the president's office and said, "whenever i have a major decision to make, i always ask myself would lincoln would do." woodrow wilson, who was a son of the south, who remembered seeing jefferson davis in chains being led past him at the end of the war nevertheless developed something of a hero worship for lincoln. richard nixon, as a 12-year-old, was given a portrait of lincoln that he hung over his bed. nixon also justified what would later be seen as abuses of power by comparing america in the vietnam era to the country during the civil war. so over and over again, lincoln is always there if you want to cite him to justify the expansion of presidential power, particularly in war time. >> sreenivasan: why do you think it is that people keep coming back to lincoln to study and to write and rewrite? >> it's a great question. he's not washington or jefferson, about whom scholars obviously continue to write but who seem more remote. lincoln seems more accessible to us. in many ways, lincoln is one of us. a number of reasons for that. first of all, he

democrat who hated each other and ran against each other 100 years ago in the progressive era, theodore rooseveltodrow wilson. melissa: we're looking at giant government overreach? >> we're suffering today what they did magnified many times. i don't think they could imagine all the debt we have today. i will give you one number. woodrow wilson borrowed $100 million to finance world war i. we're still paying interest on the debt. it has not been paid back. that's when it began. melissa: tell me about the health care law. arizona is one of the states kicking it back to the feds. >> when congress enacted the law and president obama signed it said to the state it will raise taxes yourrown taxes and establish an insurance exchange for people that can't or won't get insurance elsewhere. and if you don't do so, we will do so for you and take the cost of it from what we owe you for other obligations we have to you, medicare, medicaid, et cetera. supreme court says that is coercive and you can't do that to the states. you can tell them to set up exchanges and they can tell you to go take a hike and pay fo

, we fought about in 1936, and if you go back even farther you can find more examples. 1912 theodore roosevelt talked about the money in elections. so we've been having the same arguments over and over and over again. this is mythology tells the same storiment we have a lot of the same fights in american history and when you put it in the context and the character of some of these really extraordinary people who who were behind the stories, that makes it interesting and compelling to kids. >> host: in 1998, don't know much about the bible came out. kenneth davis writes: underlying the "don't know much about" series is the notion that school doesn't end when we leave the classroom. i believe it is crucial for people to question the easy assumptions they grow up with about religion, history, or a ford versus a chevy and if your unable to get in through the phone lines, you can contact us series ya social media. facebook, twitter, or e-mail are all available. we'll put that screen up for you, so if you want to contact us that way go ahead, and we'll take the next call from j.d. in toledo, ohio. h

to give you an example to other people that supported the league theodore roosevelt and william howardtaft in the 1912 presidential election the most recent in the united states. so indeed was well within the mainstream of american foreign policy. they believe dennett. but he is the negotiator and he gets a part of the treaty and then he comes back to the united states and the senate has to ratify it. eda of them have said that they want the united states to ratify the treaty under some conditions 80 is well more than enough for the ratification. so 64. ratification is and hard in this scenario. uniques 64 come 65. okay. the problem is the senate republicans led by henry cabot lodge who wilson has known for many decades didn't really want to give willson a triumph. some of them are just opposed to joining the treaty. they have reservations out the sovereignty. many of them are willing to join the treaty with conditions they call reservations and these reservations are not huge. the british for example will say that they have no problem adding these to the treaty. it's not an obstacle f

that was theodore roosevelt, 1903. william howard taft, 1909. the people of the united states want to meet in their usual place of worship on a day of thanksgiving to return thanks to god for the great mercies and benefits which they have enjoyed. . during the past year we have been highly blessed. it is all together fitting we should humbly and greatly acknowledge the divine source of those blessings. therefore, i hereby appoint a day of general thanksgiving and i call upon the people on that day laying aside their usual vowcailingses -- vocations to repair to their churches and unite in appropriate services of praise and thanks to almighty god. 1912, officially proclaim this without any problem from the supreme court people claimed a god-fearing nation like ours owes it to its inborn and sincere sense of moral testify it's devout gratitude to the all-giver for the countless benefits it has enjoyed. for many years it has been customary at the close of the year for the national executive to call upon his fellow countrymen to offer praise and tha

a century ago, president theodore roosevelt's invitation of booker t.ngton to dine at the white house was taken as an outrage in many quarters. america today is a world away from the cruel and prideful bigotry of that time. there is no better evidence of this than the election of an african-american to the presidency of the united states. let there be no reason now -- [applause] let there be no reason now for any american to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on earth. [applause] senator obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country. i applaud him for it and offer him my sincere sympathy that his beloved grandmother did not live to see this day. though our faith escher's us she is at rest and the presence of her creator and so very proud of the good and she helped raise. senator obama and i have had an argued are differences and he has prevailed. no doubt, many of those differences remain. these are difficult times for our country. i pledged to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through t

he did so with the same push and shove as his political hero, theodore roosevelt. he spent the last three years of his life trying to rescue the united states from the threats emanated -- emanating from a divided middle east, from the country's negligence about national securities, and the self-destructive synergy of current deficits and delusional economics. that is a sketch of a great patriot. a great fun, too. i will yield two others who are going to fill in that the trust, beginning with warren's close friend, the majority leader of the united states senate, senator reid. [applause] >> we just made a deal. [laughter] the vice president and i were going to meet in the morning. we will be in session tomorrow having votes. i also apologize. we have a bill that warren rudman was well aware of. i will have to excuse myself in and try to work that out. we have given john a little bit of time off from the for tonight. i will go back to see if we can speed things up a little. warren rudman was born with a fighting spirit. he learned that because of him being jewish. he

judge andrew napolitano argues that presidents theodore roosevelt and woodrow wilson disregarded the constitution to promote their own political agendas in "theodore and woodrow: how two american presidents destroyed constitutional freedoms." in "far from the tree," national book award-winning author andrew solomon examines how parents are challenged and changed by exceptional children. fox news host greg gu feld has "the joy of hate." the contributing editor for "rolling stone" magazine and native of the detroit area reports on the influx of people working to reimagine his hometown in "detroit city is the place to be: the afterlife of an american met pop police" in. in "the outpost," jake tapper, white house correspondent for abc news, reports on combat outpost in afghanistan and the pentagon investigation that determined the post was unnecessary after numerous soldiers had already lost their lives. look for these titles in bookstores this coming week and watch for the authors in the near future on book tv and on booktv org. >> 2013 should be the year we begin to solve our debt throu

the author highlights george washington and the whiskey rebellion, theodore roosevelt and the rest ofjapanese war, harry truman and the berlin airlift and george w. bush and the war in iraq. this is not an hour. >> why did you name your book >> bec character? >> because that is what it is ai about. i think their is a point to thek book. the point to the book is that ae lot of what we understand about the presidency, i think, is lotf wrong. ..the presidency is an exercisen intellect or exercise in ideology. i covered ronald reagan for six years. and if you want to discuss it some more, i can tell what you i learned in those six years of covering the presidency. it with a lot different than than what i thought it was going to be. it became clear to me that to a large degree, it is a test of the president's will and purpose. to believe in a few big things, to stand steady against the swirl of political controversy, opinion, nowadays, that's certainly not true for the presidents in this book. polls, advice from counselors, all kinds of things that would drive a president away from his cor

the first american, about benjamin franklin and tea are about theodore roosevelt. together these books comprise not haphazardly but purposefully a history of the united states for the last 200 or so years. a number of these books have been best sellers. traitor to his class and the first american were both finalists for the pulitzer prize and you can see h. w. brands on tv all the time if you go to the history channel or turn on the tv, there he is. this book is -- i will hold this up again so you can see and recognize it easily at the book signing tend, it is a tremendous biography of ulysses grant filled with stuffed i certainly never knew and was delighted to find out. it is very authoritatively and readable. before we get to grant himself i wanted to ask bill a broad question about biography. here at the book festival there are a number of biographers. i have read several of these already, robert caro's latest volume in his massive history, biography of lyndon johnson. janet reed's biography leonard cohen, all these people at the book festival among others. dav