he was mercilessly teased and became just plain ulysses. then when a local congressman nominated him from west point, he bungled the name and send it as ulysses s grant. his own wife didn't know what the s stood for. rollback this funny letter and says the s stands for absolutely nothing. it's not going to be a hip-hop musical.[laughter] but it will be a feature film and it will be directed by steven spielberg which is very exciting. [applause] >> produced by leonardo dicaprio which is also exciting. looks like i will again be the historical consultant. [applause] >> you've written about washington and hamilton and now grants. are there any lessons you've learned through studying these that you think is worth sharing? >> it's a very good question be one strange thing when people have asked me about a common denominator to these lives. 20 with every person i've written about, they had to cope at an early age with a difficult and even impossible parents. i know that sound like a strange response to your question. there was the washington with

ulysses s. grant. my day is made. you guys are icing on the cake. ulysses s. grant has been of particular interest of mine and has been for a long time. about a facetalk of his command that isn't very well-known. this is the sort of thing that when i think about it it is always something i have been passionate about and interested in. classes ig college don't often get to talk about it. you are -- you are in for it today. when i was first doing research on my dissertation and my book one oftary intelligence, the great figures in civil war military history was a guy named -- he he wrote a book telling the story of military intelligence in the civil war. guy, he hadderful been researching this thing for 40 years. thinking, is that how long it's going to take me? it didn't. he told me -- he said not to be too disappointed if my work didn't attract a much attention. he said intelligence historians don't give a dam about the civil war. in civil war historians don't give a dam about intelligence. that

ulysses s. grant used military intelligence to help defeat confederate counterpart, robert e. lee. museum inal civil war harrisburg, pennsylvania posted this hour into and minute event. should be close to 1:00. good morning everybody. my name is wayne, i and the chief executive officer at the national civil war using them. we want to welcome you to our monthly lecture for august 9. c-span forthank covering us and giving us a national audience today. we want to thank the sponsors for making this possible and for all of you coming out to the civil war museum today. it is an honor to introduce our speaker. i have known a speaker for three decades. bill and i went to school together and were in the same program. i was not in the same link as bill when he got to the military history department at ohio state university. if you want to be one of the best historians and i country, you have the pedigree our speaker does today. ingraduated with a ba history, political science and english from the universi

ulysses s. grant. so my day is made. i need nothing else. you guys are icing on the cake. ulysses s. grant has been of particular interest of mine and has been for a long time. what i will talk about today is a facet of his command that isn't very well-known. unless of course you read my book. this is the sort of thing that when i think about it, it is always something i have been passionate about and interested in. in teaching college classes i don't often get to talk about it. you are in for it today. let me get started. when i was first doing research on my dissertation and my book on u.s. grant and military intelligence one of the great , figures in civil war military history on intelligence was a guy didn't edwin fischel. in 1996.came out i worked with him and he was a wonderful guy. he had been researching this thing for 40 years. no, is thating, oh how long it's going to take me? it didn't. he told me as i was researching with him not to be too disappointed if i worked at not attract much

he was mercilessly teased and became just plain ulysses. then when a local congressman nominated him from west point, he bungled the name and send it as ulysses s grant. his own wife didn't know what the s stood for. rollback this funny letter and says the s stands for absolutely nothing. it's not going to be a hip-hop musical.[laughter] but it will be a feature film and it will be directed by steven spielberg which is very exciting. [applause] >> produced by leonardo dicaprio which is also exciting. looks like i will again be the historical consultant. [applause] >> you've written about washington and hamilton and now grants. are there any lessons you've learned through studying these that you think is worth sharing? >> it's a very good question be one strange thing when people have asked me about a common denominator to these lives. 20 with every person i've written about, they had to cope at an early age with a difficult and even impossible parents. i know that sound like a strange response to your question. there was the washington with

write something in the preface of the ulysses s.rant book, no scholarly work focusing on grant presidency has appeared since the 1930's was one of the reasons you wrote this. there have been to w o graham books as you know in the last year and a half, i assume the other books are not known as scholarly books on grant, is that correct? charles: that is correct. brian: what does that mean? a historian comes to his work full of skepticism. after the seminar that i took at yale, one of the things he drilled into us was go to the original resources. i think that popular writers are willing more often to use secondary sources, more convenient sources. it took about five years to research this book. booke to say the grant took as long me to produce as grant was in the white house practically. grant's administration was so encrusted with myth and controversy that i felt i had to unpack it all and to go to the original resources. i think that is one of the key distinctions between a popular writer and a scholarly approach. not that a scholar

this time he had a knockdown fight with ulysses s grant. they came to a deadlock and garfield was nominated as a dark horse, so blaine became garfield secretary of state. he didn't keep the job long because garfield was assassinated. he was mr. republican really and in many people's eyes. the harrison people in 1888 realize that you have to cultivate these people. they will have so much to say about who wins this nomination. what they wanted to do was to say it is a wide-open convention, which it was. i think 14 people were voted for on the first ballot. the idea for the harrison people was let's line-up second choice people and see what we could do to get them after several ballots to come over to us. the key to that strategy was the blaine contingent. harrison did not travel around the country after he was nominated. blaine had done that in 1884. he made speeches on a six-week tour. in new york, there was a couple of serious gafs that some people say cost him the election. harrison said i will not travel, a candidate who stays at home may

but i have david's questions here today and i just happened to be a big admirer of ulysses s grant and ron's books so i think we will have a fantastic time at the book festival. before we talk about grant, we need to ask a question about alexander hamilton. how could we not? lin manuel miranda first approached you and said he wanted to create a hip-hop musical based on your book, what was your reaction and did you think it would become a cultural phenomenon? >> people say when you are writing the alexander hamilton biography, did you have any idea it would be turned into a hip-hop musical. i always think the question answers itself. when i first met lin manuel miranda in the fall of 2008, he was co-storing incostarring in musical, the height. it asked me to be this historical advisor to this yet nonexistent show. i said you mean you want me to tell you when something is wrong. he said yes, i want historians to take this seriously which was music to my ears. i was a little skeptical but i was quite intrigued. i thought nothing could be more delightful than to watch the evolution of a br

we looked at the activities of ulysses s. grant and willie t sherman, particularly at fort henry and donaldson. i will begin with a retrospective on one of those characters. then we're going to begin looking at an issue i find quite fascinating. that is an element of what is referred to as the northern homefront. i would like us to look at two groups. i was but most of our time looking at the u.s. christian commission. we also look at the u.s. sanitary commission. you probably recall the usec from a few limited references, but also the u.s. senator -- sanitary commission features prominently. we will make sure we address that during the course of today's lecture. first, a brief retrospective. aided by a crutch, the age where -- the aged warrior hobbled to the front of the platform to address curious and admiring well-wishers. the multitude of nearly 10,000 had gathered in ocean grove, new jersey on an august afternoon, 1884, for a reunion of the u.s. christian commission and other civil war benevolent organizations. speaking

after his second term as president, ulysses s. grant and his wife julia went on a world tour for two years. many world leaders, he was well respected around the world. when they arrived back in the states they were looking for a place to settle, because they came out of the white house two years earlier. , it was always an easy decision, even though they owned multiple properties, the decision for granted because he was always a devoted family man was to be close to family. he chose new york city where his two sons were living. they moved into a home in the andr east side of manhattan their children lived nearby. they enjoyed a few years out of the limelight. enjoying the winters in it new york city's with family and summers at their new jersey cottage. when grants arrived back from his world tour was in need of income, which is a head scratcher for most people. he was a general and a president and people wonder why he did not have a pension of any kind. it turns out he given up his military pension to take the presidency. at the

one of the great what it's in history, if ulysses s. grant had been in that box at ford's theater with lincoln, which it had his security detail? with his military instincts, which it sensed the assassin entering the box? or it's possible that booth would've killed grant as well as lincoln we will never know. >> how did grant managed to k wn the nomination, the republican nomination in 1868? had he to shoot ann aptitude fr politics producing? >> not really. it was a great guessing game that went on in terms of what grant's party affiliation was. came from i week family, whose only vote had been for james buchanan for president. no one knew exactly where he stood. he was in the right place at the right time. since appomattox had a certain symbolic standing in american life as the victor of the war and also reconciliation between north and south. what happened in 1868 there was a failed attempt. they did impeach andrew johnson which weakened -- not convicted, lost by a single vote which weakened the radical republicans in congress. grant

ulysses s. grant could go no further. .e was helped to a seat year, cancera claimed the life of one of america's most celebrated war heroes. ymca leaders at the start of the war viewed the civil war is an unparalleled opportunity to convert young men to christ. the field of battle would become the field of ministry. the ymca is known for its asphalt court and a disco song rather that it's evangelism. elias assad to courtney its efforts to administer to the needs of the union soldiers. christian workers felt it was their duty to administer to both sides, they focus especially on the wants of the boys in blue, many of whom were ymca members, prior to the start of the war. the members of the christian commission realized that the needs of the troops were spiritual and temporal. it would difficult, if not impossible, for them to attract it meant to christ if their physical needs were not met first. therefore, the various activities were, at their base, directed toward preparing soldiers to receive a

you ulysse i'm sure why do you see it would be. the girls. wouldn't something gives. you room to take. it has been one year when my son did continuously in one school for the boss one had the raise his nose three you did it in five different cities i had so many chance was. incomplete his no seen one school the best bard to an old. as you say i will go mental this has a lot of charm so the base to go meant office said i would say he's the one who comes to office signs off the five schools often with very cool for him one of the . hood all his or her children it is the base life i would say but if you want to do something different today he want to change the way things are going london life is really. because the change that a hundred of people who are attached to the old system would really don't wonder at the system should change to meet. you or he might even have the we may be. going to the right i think. for you the key to the thank you oh buddy. buddy come. become willing. to change has been really tough if i think that they've got up done. lost everyone and. the

you've seen it before, it's called "ulysses." and if you don't think it works there, it's really terrific when it's "e.t." annenberg media ♪ and: with additional funding from these foundations and individuals: and by: and the annual financial support of: hello, i'm john lithgow. welcome to "american cinema," a 1o-part series that looks at a great american success story of the 20th century. american film is international, popular the world over. from japan to france to brazil, their appeal is universal. what makes a hollywood movie a hollywood movie? is it the story? is it the style? or is it the director? well, it's all of these and more. for almost a hundred years, the american film industry has produced films that have truly engaged the audience. pure entertainment, these films are a sophisticated art form, using highly skilled craftsmen and technological know-how. the style of these films, perfected in the 20s and 30s, isn't easy to see. in fact the classic hollywood style is almost invisible. but that is its aim: to make you,

in which he explores the way ulysses s. grant used military intelligence to help defeat confederate counterpart, robert e. lee. the national civil war

we looked at the activities of ulysses s. grant and willie t sherman, particularly at fort henry and donaldson.

dressed just like you see mark there w his cowboy boots on sitting in the cafe reading james joyce's "ulysses," i kid you not. he's always been a music aficionado and went to work in the various punk rock and music clubs, starting at the fabled mabuya in north beach and later in the dna lounge and oasis in the '80s, all the background that you need to join the san francisco police department, which he did in 1990, when he entered the police academy as a member of the recruit class number 166. he served at mission station, at engleside station, and for as long as anybody can remember at central station q2 for life, mark alvarez. he worked a radio car for eight years on the midnights, and got to know a lot of folks, and he then was the partner of the fabled foot beat, the late great john brandt, who recommended that he inherited that beat, which he has now been doing for the last 21 years. and if you want the definition of community policing, there are more people in the neighborhood who have mark's cell phone number than have mine. "the san francisco chronicle" did a really, i think, lovely pi

we looked at the activities of ulysses s. grant and willie t sherman, particularly at fort henry and donaldson.

. >> so el paso, this town that i was born and raised in, where amy and i are raising ulysses and mollied states of america. and what makes us so safe is we are a city of immigrants and we treat one another with respect and dignity. i think that's fundamental to security, to success, to safety. ( applause ). >> stephen: do you want-- do you want to see-- do you want to see the dreamers protected? >> absolutely. >> stephen: chuck schumer was willing to trade president trump the wall for the dream act. would you take that deal? >> no, i wouldn't. and i think the people of texas can lead on this. i'll give you an example. republican senior senator john cornyn and i worked on a bill to improve border security by investing in our por entry, so facilitating more legitimate trade and travel and vague better idea of who and what is coming in to our country. we don't need walls. we is can have smart security solutions. and we can free dreamers from the fear of deportation by making them u.s. citizens today so they can contribute to their maximum capacity, to their full potential. ( applause ) and

by ulysses s grant. at first i did not know what to make of this. we think of a postmaster of is a bureaucratic position. but it is a patronage job. when a party comes to power, all the old parties postmasters are kicked out and the faithful are rewarded. each postmaster is supposed to be the head of a partisan army. he has it in his army to appoint other of the party faithful to positions in the post office. it was understood that a postmaster ship was a steppingstone to political influence. benjamin franklin was a postmaster. if you had a postmaster ship of a major city, it carried a nice salary. so here elizabeth van lew is appointed postmaster of richmond. because she let a spy ring during the war. white richmond earth railed against the appointment of a female spy to be postmaster of richmond. but no one charged her with craziness yet. in her eight years in office as postmaster of richmond, van lew by her own account tried to project a public fairness of fairness and efficiency. -- image of fairness and efficiency. she was friendly to the goodm

. -- ulysses s. grant. crazy uncle grant, as some people called him. they have a sawmill, a pump factory. they are busy. isfield is involved -- frank -- as a young man, working in these businesses. then his father gets a patronage appointment as postmaster through the president, which is because of whoever is the party in favor. so he gets a great job there as a clerk, you know, and that sort of begins the postal career. but before that, he was very dapper. he did not want to get his hands dirty. he did not tolerate fools, at least that is what he thought. useried to charge -- charm, his fists, whatever it took to win those arguments. it seems to pay off in some respect. in other respects you had people that did not appreciate what he was doing. eventually, as he is working through politics and positions, he has a great opportunity and is appointed a post office inspector through patronage. you had to prove yourself once you were appointed. scott: you were talking about how frank used his fists. this was not a big guy. this is not a man criminals would

which i was appointed expired, we went to essentially a restoration of the tradition that began with ulyssesant and had been the tradition for lo, those many years. we depend on the executive branch to engage in a certain amount of self-policing, including saying let's go outside to appoint this particular investigator to investigate the president. >> let the record reflect ken starr is in good health and indeed has authored a book, and there it is. the choice of the cover art does show it is a correction of the record. it is called "contempt: a memoir of the clinton investigation" by the man who knows, ken starr. counselor, thank you very much for joining us on the air. >> thank you, brian. >> on a wednesday night here in new york. >>> coming up, three new polls have democrats up by double digits in generic ballot races. is it necessary -- necessarily because of the president's numbers headed in the opposite direction? we'll talk about that when we come back. >>> three new so-called generic cancer ... it's very personal. each of us is different. and each cancer is different. how it reacts,

you've seen it before, it's called "ulysses." if you don't think it works there, it's really terrific when it's "e.t." annenberg media ♪ and: with additional funding from these foundations and individuals:

ulysses grant is brought forward and he over aspirations has a new plan. his plan is to use his forces to strike at the enemy's forces. strategic locations, capitals thesecondary to destroying army. he tells george meade, robert e . lee is your objective. sherman has to convince grant it is as smart a plan to turn his army as it is to chase after it and try to corner it. war, he ister the very loyal to his friend. he has lots of doubts. even up to almost the 11th hour. he is sort of saying, you really think it is smart not to go after hood? and sherman has to play a bit of a con game on grants. it's an interesting series of communications. he puts general thomas in tennessee. this is all in the official records. you can read it. menus that i12,000 have. 6000 have not shown up. 4002 not have any guns, and 2000 are on sick call. to grant andrites says, thomas is in great shape. it's a good plan. let me go. and ultimately, grant says, i trust you. go ahead. make the march to the sea. there's that human element as well. want to wrap up with a little bit of the

ulysses grant is brought forward to take over union aspirations and he has a new plan. his plan is to use his forces to strike at the enemy's forces. strategic locations, capitals are secondary to destroying the enemy armies. he tells george meade, robert e. lee is your objective. not richmond. he tells sherman joe johnson's army is your object. sherman has to convince grant it is as smart a plan to turn his back on hood's army as it is to chase after it and try to corner it. which he thinks will be a complete waste of time. grant, after the war, he is very loyal to his friend. he immediately supported sherman. read the dispatches. he has lots of doubts. even up to almost the 11th hour. he is sort of saying, you really think it is smart not to go after hood? and sherman has to play a bit of a con game on grant. it's an interesting series of communications. he puts general thomas in charge in tennessee to stop what hood is likely to do. this is all in the official records. you can read it. well, that's 20,000 men you say that i have. 6000 have not shown up. not have any

i was able to meet amy, i raised three kids, ulysses, molly, and henry, i served my community at thel paso city council and i was able to represent 750,000 from my community in the united states congress. i have made the most i could with my second chance and my opportunity. what i do know is that as a white man in this country, there is a privilege that i enjoy that many african-american men and women do not. they do not have that second chance. they are forced to check that box on employment application forms. it makes it harder for them to get a job. they are ineligible for the pell grants that would allow them to attend smu, tcu, or any institution in this area. and their choices are narrowed. their options are constrained in their lives. everyone deserves a second chance. and if my experience can contribute to an understanding that allows me to work with republicans and democrats alike on real and meaningful criminal justice reform, to ensure everyone is able to live to their full potential and no one's mistake defines them for the rest of their lives, that will be something goo

presidential libraries, the library of congress has custody of the actual papers and documents of ulysses. grant, and what some of the presidential libraries do is what they will collect and make copies of things from different collections, about a president and -- >> that's right, yes. >> and that's how some of the presidential libraries have been established >> so when franklin roosevelt created the national archives, he also decided to have a presidential library. so technically his was the first. i'm convinced he was a closet archi archivist, he was passionate about his papers. he spent a lot of time hiring the first archivist, and spent a lot of time supporting that first archivist robert conner in his work as he was trying to figure out where the records are and more importantly to convince the agency heads to give up the records because that wasn't something people were interested in doing. so roosevelt created his own library. herbert hoover decided he wanted a library at that point. but this was all voluntary. it was all voluntary up until 1972 when thanks to president nixon, and

his most recent book is on ulysses s. grant. that is what he will talk about live at the washington convention center. one of the things booktv is doing here is something new. you can have your picture taken on the booktv set. you can see here, two young men, ben o'brien, and anthony davis about to pose in front of a green screen. wait until you see what it turns out to be. it looks like the booktv set. >> one, two, seven. thank you. i got you, good jobs guys. >> host: there is a line of people all day long having their picture taken here. we'll show you what the final product looks like in a minute as doug printed out. doug, has it been a lot of fun. >> a lot of fun, peter. a lot of interaction with our viewers. >> it has been pretty steady here. it has been great. >> it has been a lot of fun to be here. here is ben and anthony, see them behind the of the green screen. that is our actual set back at c-span. i don't think you need a set when you see this picture. it looks really terrific. >> [inaudible] >> oh did you really? too

letter to your mom and take a crap on your own time >> exactly and you go back to all of them, you got ulysses going on with him. >> i know. we've had tough times before no question. it's not like we're all of a sudden going over a cliff which we haven't gone over before. >> i don't know. the tough times are represented in mean tweets they're not represented in unemployment and wages not going up >> but people care about the company. i think that's it. >> you don't know whether that resulted in trump's election or from trump's election? >>ot bh. i think it's both. >> thank you so much doris kearns goodwin the book is "leadership" check it out cal: we saved our money and now, we get to spend it - our way. ♪ valerie: but we worry if we have enough to last. ♪ cal: ellen, our certified financial planner™ professional, helps us manage our cash flow and plan for the unexpected. valerie: her experience and training gave us the courage to go for it. it's our "confident forever plan"... cal: ...and it's all possible with a cfp® professional. find your certified financial planner™ professional at letsma

eisenhower, lyndon johnson, bill clinton, and ulysses s. grant.hat's from the fact checker in today's "washington post." this ism the national review, it trump's boom, not obama's. at first, they tried to deny the existence, then they said it was a fool's gold and now they want someone else to get credit for it. that's the short history of the ofnstream media's coverage the good economic news we have had ever since donald trump one in the november 2016 presidential election. knowing covered it with certainty how long the positive trends will last, but it is absurd to claim the democrats were shy about claiming credit for every kernel of good news they could claim during the anemic at your recovery from the 2008 financial crisis. the reluctance to give trump credit for the current boom is also absurd. financial markets took off the moment he was elected, despite some corrections, haven't really looked back. the economic optimism that is fueling both growth and the other strong indicators about employment and wages is the direct result of two factor