i think world war ii overshadowed it and world war i is not the good war. it does not have that feel-good narrative to it. when you say why did we get in? nobody can give you a good answer. when you say what did we accomplish? there is no good answer. we like wars to have clean narrative and this war does not have that. >> in britain and the commonwealth it is called the great war. that name never caught on here. >> it was a european war. >> it was called the war to end all wars. >> wilson never said that. hg wells said that. i didn't say wilson said. >> larry, they are going to bring a microphone to you. >> let's assume that germany had not started unrestricted submarine warfare and the united states had not gotten into the war, which all of you are inclined to believe had that not happened we would not have entered into the war. the question i have for you is what would the likely result of the war have been? isn't it almost inevitable if not likely that the germans would have won and what was the result in europe have been and how would we have countered

was world war i probably a land war or a naval war? >> by the time the united states got in the war, it was almost entirely a land war. there had been one real naval battle that took place during world war i, in 1916, the battle of jutland, which is a british attack. the american navy played a significant role more in line with the destroyers, not so much the battleships, as this caller mentioned. both the iowa and the texas were famous battleships during the spanish-american war and both of them also saw significant service in the second world war. in the first world war, when the american troops were going over on transport ships that were former ocean liners that the british had lent us, there was such a fear of the german u-boats prowling underneath the atlantic ocean and that the ships were vulnerable. the u.s. navy provided destroyers and they would travel from the ports along the east coast, primarily off of new york and norfolk and virginia. a two-week voyage to get from the east coast to one of the british or french ports. alo

was world war i primarily a land war or naval war? >> by the time the united states got in the war it was almost entirely a land war. there had been one real naval battle that took place during world war i that was in 1916, the battle of jutland which was a wish attack. the american navy played a significant role more in line the "w" the destroyers, not so much the battleships that this caller mentioned although both the iowa and the texas were famous battleships during the spanish war. but in the first world war when the servicemen were going over in former ocean liners that the british lent us. there were such a fear of the german u-boats that were prowling underneath the ocean and made the ships vulnerable. so what the u.s. navy did was provide destroyers and they would travel from the ports along the east coast, primarily off of new york but even off of norfolk in virginia and it was about a two week voyage to get from the east coast to one of the british ports or french ports and along the way the destroyers would guard these shi

he have this book war against war. talkshrough 1918 that about the putnam peace coalition before entry into world war i and then what happens to it during the war itself. we also have bill england, a pulitzer prize winning journalist and author of his new ofk march, 1917 on the brink war and revolution. it is amazing how much happened in one month. talking about what is happening in america, europe, how the events intersect. and finally we have ryan ballow, the professor of history at the university of virginia. he is the cohost of one of my favorite podcasts, and if you are fellow history were -- nerd, i suggest checking out back story. gives the background stories of a lot of things happening in the news. it is hosted by a quartet of top historians. hear a greatse national prostitution center welcome for michael kazen, will england, and ryan fellow? [applause] >> thank you, all three of you, for being here. before we turn to what was happening in the u.s., i would like to back up for a moment and think about briefly

but lincoln is willing to compromise early in the war if it means avoiding war or ending the war early. one of the measures of radicalism of these four years is the first 13 commitment that goes through the state for ratification would have made slavery perpetual in the states where it are the existed, unless they even the pit of their own volition. so you see, -- so you see a seismic shift in those four years. with the word began, there was a large coalition of northerners and make it very clear that they see the potential for the war to turn into an eye slavery war, and if it does, they would withdraw their support. in july of 1861, there is a resolution cap in congress -- there is a resolution passed in congress saying the war is being caught to preserve the union, not to destroy slavery. johnson is andrew johnson, the only senator from a slave state to remain in congress after his state secceeded. so, early in the war, northerners affirm their food desire to remain this a war solely about union -- their desire to remain that this was a were solely about union. emancipation proclama

he kept us out of war.al policy of the united states to stand aloof from the politics of europe, but also because it was manifestly our duty to prevent the indefinite extension of the fires of hate and desolation kindled by that terrible conflict and to seek to serve mankind by reserving our strength and our resources for the difficult days of restoration and healing. when peace will have to build a house anew. >> the debate reached every corner of american society. voices for and against the u.s. joining the war included not only politicians, but men who would likely be called to serve, women, african-americans, and native americans fighting for an equal role in american civic life. american arthur bullard who had lived in wartime france and england, wrote in early 1917 -- >> "whatever the diplomats may like to call it, this is war. and we do not know how to fight. we have no american general whoever commanded an army corps, not one of our naval officers fought against a dread knot. none of our artillery m

so pippin's war is over. he has been wounded to the point that high is never going to be able to fight again and the war torments him for years and years. he just can't get the war out of his head. he tries writing but he is very poorly educated. you can see from this picture i have earlier that pippin, he never regains use of his right hand so the way he actually paints is by putting the brush in his right hand and using his left hand to basically move his hand around so he can paint. he becomes one of the most famous artists of any race that comes out of the war. his paintings are considered some of the the best paintings we have from a front line soldier's perspective of what it meant to fight. a lot of the paintings represent the way in which the combat experience just dominated his thoughts even after he came home. pippin became famous and was discovered by the philadelphia art community and his paintings were brought. in a sense, you would think that would help him readjust but it never left him. i am n

was about, the war to end all wars, the war for e turn all peace, perhaps he could reconcile his beliefs with that notion and he does. in a sense i think alvin york, his story represents to many people things we like to believe about how we go to war, we are reluctant to fight but yet once we are convinced our cause is righteous we are fantastic at it, and with what he represents, exactly the kind of poor man's it gets caught up in draft nets. a few months you shouldn't have been drafted, out of the purview of the government, he comes from the impoverished community in tennessee, and he is not so sure that the end he made the right decision. he is very famous and makes a lot of money, builds schools, roads, good works in his community, through the act of taking lives. and god will punish them for killing. he put that behind him quite so easily. the last soldier i want to mention is horace pippin, an african-american soldier who fought with the 369th infantry regiment which is one of the most famous african american regiments in the first world war but for many people at home the idea of

the american revolution was a european war and the war of 1812, the war of 1812 was what wilson was worried about as the president. -- as a precedent. he like most historians thought it was a mistake. we were forced into a war we should not have gone into and fought on the wrong side as well. that is what he wanted to avoid. wilson could be surprisingly superstitious. he was worried because he and madison were the only graduates of princeton who became president that history would appear itself. gallery -- rights in hisnel howell writes it in diary/ /. out, it war broke endorsed to the feeling of american nationalism -- exceptionalism. the great turning point in terms of bringing the war home to america was the lusitania. "dead wake"book except it ended on a false and note. it ends with remember the lusitania but there was no lusitania cry back then. times" as every reporter in the country to cable in about public opinion and they got only 1000 people. i like to ask my class, how many do you think one into good to , and they never got close because of the answer was 6%. well what was going

. >> congress declared war on germany, entering world war i. a panel of authors and historians looked at what motivated the u.s. to get involved in what was called the great war. that promised mexico territory in the southwest united states. wilson'stalks about decision making progress in asking congress to declare war. his 45 minute event took place at the national world war i memorial in kansas city missouri. >> i am privileged to be one of the commissioners of the centennial commission. help organize to this symposium. i want to thank all of the participants and all of you in the audience for coming this afternoon. this is being live streamed. myould like to introduce moderator and panels. on the far right is rob. he is a well-known author in military historian specializing in american forces. he has written a couple of books. one is for sale outside. i am going to be a shill and encourage you to buy his book. this is the distributor for the park service. is also acting secretary of the abm see. is most important to me as our chairman of the

against the war. >> and the germans themselves understood and they resumed submarine warfare. they said america was going to enter the war. it really wasn't a terrible surprise that wilson did change his position and enter the war. in some ways he did not have any choice. >> the german ambassador went to the secretary of state, robert lansing, and told him that this decision that the german government had made to resume on the uber warfare, he walked away with tears in his eyes. he knew they would lose the war. >> the die was cast. >> and the first three ships that went down, a german u-boat was surfaced, gave warning, the cruise off onto the votes, no casualties of any time that any kind. this was driving teddy roosevelt crazy. dishonored the united states, behind the skirts death we are hiding behind the skirts of the british navy. you can make a case for the ship, it used to be british, it wasn't carrying timbers to italy or more materials. he was still trying -- i think he also knew shipping was k

the civil war was not just america's civil war it is also a war from the world.plause] we have time for questions. >> with your opinion would britain have declared war? arms to theling of south -- >> those are good questions, i will take the second first read it is about complicity with selling shares to the confederacy. yes i would say that the british government said they did not know what was going on. also with military grade ships were being used with the confederacy, if they acknowledge that that would have country gained the declaration of neutrality. they said they did not know what was going on but they had a very good idea what was happening. that is why after the civil war with the alabama claim, the government had to face recognition of that fact. the next question concerned the trent affair which we did not have time to get into. that is a fascinating story about two confederate diplomats in the slidell being arrested on a steamer by u.s. officials. really long complicated issue of international law. great britain was up in arms with public opinion w

we consider the second world war a necessary war, one we had to fight. we should consider the first world war just as necessary because we could not have taken the chance that an autocratic german empire might dominate the europeans. furthermore, with peace negotiations, we would not have experienced the success we did during and after world war ii. it took two world wars for the united states to come of age as a great power in an age of instability and an unstable world. those were lessons hard won with the blood, sweat, and tears of two world wars. and now, speaking of myself, todd mentioned i got involved in world war i through memorializing the rainbow division with a memorial in france. i was also amazed -- speaking of propaganda -- that mcarthur went to war -- when the war was declared, was appointed in the office of the secretary of war as director of public relationship and censorship. i absolutely like putting together public relations and censorship. it sort of speaks millions for it. he was definitely a very good propagandist. censorship is al

and other military forces to use animals in world war i and world war ii? chelsea: it was really quite common up until right after world war ii going into the korean war. in world war i, you had all types of animals, such as horses, the largest group, followed by pigeons, war dogs, camels, elephants occasionally, depending on the terrain and location, oxen and bull. if you can think of any kind animal, it was probably at least in the war, whether it was a pet or mascot or working animal. bill: what were pigeons used for? chelsea: pigeons would be used for carrier pigeons and homing pigeons to convey messages across the lines. bill: messages attached to them? chelsea: yes. one of the more famous ones that the american military used in world war i, its name was sharame. it is credited with saving the lost battalion in 1918. bill: is it because the message it was carrying? chelsea: it was shot numerous times and basically died as soon as it landed back at headquarters. bill: is that pidgeon memorialized in any way? chelsea: it has its own memorial, and it has

one of the things that it it, it gives the war -- when president wilson decided to call the war a war for democracy, whether he meant to are not, he did not mean to, he opened up a door. he gave activist for any number of different kinds of rights, women's rights, african-american rights, immigrant rights, a way into charging the u.s. to be the democracy that it is reported to be wanted the world to see it was. it was an international spotlight on the domestic freedom special. african-americans recognize that, they used that and they would continue to use it over the next several decades so that when folks strategically delegitimized white supremacy and world war ii, they are drawing on a strategy that they learned in war -- world war i when the use the spotlight of the cold war to charge american freedom to be something that i had not yet in. they're using a strategy that they had learned in world war i. even more than that, what you see with the african-american soldiers and the people, spamming members, allies who embrace their cause, you see a sort of crystallization of a politica

we call this year's installment, won the war, lost the war. centennial legacy of world war i, to establish this symposium theme to suggest its direction. this morning it is my particular honor to introduce colonel robert dalessandro. connell robert dalessandro, is among relatively small group of world war i historians in america today, having written extensively on american expeditionary force in the great war. currently, colonel dalessandro is acting secretary of the american battle monument commission and former director of the united states army center of military history. colonel dalessandro's special interests is suggested by his celebrated publications include military insignia, especially as worn by the officers and men of the american expeditionary force, and the african-american soldier. his book, organization and insignia of the american expeditionary forces, 1917-23, received the army historical foundation award for excellence in writing, which, okay, of particular note to officers on active duty is his army officer's guide, which h

i and the great war reader. his most recent books include dance of the furies and outbreak of world war i. and the remaking of europe, the blood of free men, the liberation of harris, 1944, the orange community will be interested in his book making citizen soldiers, rotc and ideology of american military service. in his free time that i don't know he has much, michael neiberg is a self-described fan of all pittsburgh sports teams and bruce springsteen. the book is working on now, the path towards following the american reaction to the early events of the first world war and trace their nation's courses from that to belligerence showing how it became a moment of national self-determination. let's welcome doctor michael neiberg. >> thanks to everybody especially lindsay who is dealing with all the logistics and difficulty with my travels so thank you for everyone's effort. what i want to do is talk about what jennifer talked about an hour earlier how the united states got involved in this war, what the united stat

war, world wars one and 2, iraq and the war on terror. congress criticized george w. bush for being too aggressive and barack obama for not being aggressive enough. and recounting how our presidents declared and waged wars, baron shows these executives get their way without openly defying congress. i am interested in the sections of the book that follows the iraq war, there will be a lot of questions on how all this is in the age of the drone and the idea that we may not have large war like this in the future, going to congress and making it obsolete. they came here in the 19th century, his advice the american president has more power under the americans don't know it. is that true? judge baron, the united states circuit judge, court of appeals. it includes the district of maine, massachusetts, puerto rico and rhode island, the professor of public law at harvard law school, previously served as acting assistant attorney general of the office of legal counsel, the department of justice, commander in chief, at the lowest end, the books that

his war did not turn out as well. women afterome young the war. the hello girls stayed as long as most doughboys. years.re there for two why? because of logistics. the other woman who died died after the armistice. ramonere louise and libertone. the women came back expecting a hero's welcome and they found something different. unlike the navy and the marines which gave women full veterans benefits --veteran's benefits and aing war insurance flag on their coffin and all the benefits that comes to a veteran after the war. the army did not do that. the army said they were contract employees. there is one point in the 1930's when they said they did not even find the oath yet they had gone to the national archives in st. louis and if they had opened up a personal record -- a personnel record, they would've found dozens of both --dozens of oaths. woman would not take it lying down. it would take 60 years before she eventually triumphed. this story is so much about what women did but it is also about the men who believed in justice and who were there for

you see that switch from the civil war to the first world war and then world war 2 and vietnam and koreathey weren't censored so their letters are very different. think overall that in iraq and afghanistan, we see a generation of writer that is absolutely brilliant and have gone on to write book sponsors screen writers or playwrights and it's proof how intelligence and how i think artistic a lot of the memberses of the military are and don't get credit for and if have crafted some beautiful works. so thank you. >> any other questions? this side want to be represented? >> my dad was in world war ii, and wright right now i'm in the midst of reading all the letters he wrote and that my mom wrote to him. there must be close to 300 from the time he first went into the military for training, and i've been just amazed. the power of seeing my parents' hand wrighting and reading what he said but there's so many. i'm in midst of this right now and i just figured there were so many that maybe no one would be interested in these. so, d. >> well, we are definitely interested. and this is a great oppo

explicit war powers. not surprisingly, this congressional advocation has resulted of a consolidation of war powers the executive branch. madison would have arguably found this concerning and most unhealthy for our republic. most agree that the president has the authority to use military force -- in the short term, and cases of eminent national emergency. but no reasonable definition of such an instance should include engagement of the u.s. military forces in protracted hostilities. in foreign countries, absent a declaration of war or authorization of use of military force from congress. in short, i believe that this failure by congress to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities related to war powers is not good for our country. third, i share concerns with my colleagues regarding the ability to detain isis fighters in guantanamo. in a well argued legal memorandum last month, they argue that a new aumf is needed to eliminate any legal ambiguity related to the authority to detain members of isis. law of

civil war, world war i, and world war ii, which were massive mobilizations of the entire people for a grand cause. everybody was part of the war, the home front. vietnam as we said before, who fought? johnson arranged the economy in various ways to minimize the economic impact on taxes and other things in the vietnam war. one of the decisions made towards the end of the vietnam war, which we are living with today, and i hear nobody talking about this and the republic -- president nixon ended the draft and moved to a volunteer army. we see stories about young american soldiers who've been on the sixth, eighth, ninth two are -- ninth tour to iraq and afghanistan. our country is being defended by professional mercenaries. not by citizens anymore. we don't have much of a citizen army. if you don't volunteer to go into the guards are the reserves, you have to worry about the military. you have to have some sergeant kick your but. t. since 1969.ns up in whenever he ended the draft. >> 1969, second year of the lottery was 1970. mr. young: we have been trying to be a great power of the world

to war. and with his book judge opens with the continental congress because of thein british invasion congress ordered him not to do so and he obeyed and that takes us through all the wars that followed. 1812, a mexican war, a civil war, spanish-american, world war i, a world were to occur viet vietnam iraq. he criticized george to view bush for being too aggressive and president obama said not to be aggressive enough. but by a recounting of our presence to show these executives get their way without defining congress. i am particularly interested in the section of the book that follows the iraq war and i know there will be a lot of questions on how this applies on the age of the drone with the ada we may not have a large wars in the future like a second world war if they go to get authorization to make that obsolete so his and vice. judge barron is a circuit judge court of appeals for the fourth circuit that includes maine, massachusetts, rhode island and puerto rico and is from harvard law

we call this year's installment when the war lost the war the centennial legacy of world war i. to establish the theme and suggest a direction. this morning it is my particular pleasure to introduce colonel robert. having written extensively in the four centigrade for. currently, he is the acting secretary of the battle monuments commission and former director of the army center of military history. his special interest is suggested by the military insignia especially as worn by the officers and men of the american expeditionary force and the african-american soldier. received the army historical foundation for excellence in writing. a particular note to officers on active duty is his army officers guide which was continued to edit. among the favorite hobbies is leaving the battlefield historical sites in the united states and europe. this morning he will speak to us on the american extraordinary force in france. on behalf of both the symposium at the university, we welcome the kernel. [applause] thanks for the kind introducti introduction. i feel very connected to this place be

it starts even in world war i where you see that switch from the civil war to the first world war and world war ii in vietnam and korea, their letters were very different but i think overall, iraq and afghanistan we see a generation of writers who are absolutely brilliant and some have gone off to write their own books or screenwriters or playwrights and it is proof how intelligent and how, i think, artistic, a lot of members of the military are and they don't quit credit for it and they crafted beautiful works. any other questions? >> my dad was in world war ii and i am reading all the letters he wrote and my mom wrote to him. close to 300 from the time he went into the military for training and i have been amazed. the power of seeing my parents's handwriting little and reading what he said. i am in the midst of this and no one would be interested in these. >> we are definitely interested and this is a great opportunity to talk about the project. if anyone has letters we love getting originals, the personal meaning to them it is a double-edged sword. we can't let go of the originals

entitled "power wars ." charlie savage is a pulitzer prize-winning journalist and the washington correspondent for "new york times" covering post-9/11 legal policy issues since 2003. also a hoosier, he graduated from harvard college and holds a masters degree from yale law school. ," afirst book, "take over best-selling account of the administration's efforts to expand presidential power was named one of the best works of 2007 by the "washington post," "esquire" and other institutions. join me in welcoming both mr. preston and mr. savage. [applause] >> i thought we would start off by going back in time a little bit if we could. the senator gave his three reasons for congress, for congress reasserting what he believes is their constitutional role in the authorization for use of military force against isis. he said that one, it sends a message to the troops that it is their constitutional duty, secondly and third, he thinks that with respect to the more limited issue of guantanamo, it might add more legal clar

war powers.ot surprisingly, this application has resulted of a consolidation of war powers in the executive branch. madison would have found this concerning and unhealthy for our republic. most agree the president has the authority to utilize military force in the short-term. in the cases of eminent national emergency, but no reasonable definition of such an instance should include the engagement of u.s. military forces in protracted hostilities in foreign countries absent a declaration of war or authorization of use of military forced from congress. in short, i believe this this failure by congress to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities related to war powers isn't good for our country. third, i share the concerns regarding the ability to detain isis fighters in guantÁnamo. in a well argued memorandum from last week that i encourage everyone to read they argue that it's needed for legal ambiguity related to the team members of isis. law of war detention is essential to keeping enemy comba

it takes us back to images of world war i and world war ii. a country where half the population is displaced. chemical weapons featured in world war i were being used. we look at what happens in iscle and think how on earth this war against iraq and isis going to create some sort of stability. we think about the meeting today, where the new rising power -- the country that seeks president xiworld, jinping -- those issues form the context in which we will talk with a reference point to the end of world war i about this issue of how you create a stable order. a stable structure in which nations and ethnic groups can -- emma to start off. about theiscussion agreement between britain and france to carve up the ottoman world, anticipating its collapse after the end of the war. emma, it has become a truism to the sykes-picot agreement world is over. something toll be do like to talk about the cluster of issues. it is hugely complex and always difficult to know where to start. are they new problems that materialized? when the first world war was goin

war." makeg time ago, i want to old high school in may. kentucky, and in my senior year, the high coed of school newspaper, "the cardinal." classmates, anita prince, got married to burton folsum, she got to history degrees and that -- got two history degrees she got two history degrees. her co-author and has been is burton folsum, jr., who holds a phd from the university of pittsburgh. pittsburgh last follows saw something i had never heard of, which i am surprised at -- the cathedral of learning, which is the second tallest university building in the world, the tallest one, as you might guess is in moscow. building things bigger was doing something better, but this is a 42 story building. the first few floors are built like a gothic cathedral. it is an amazing thing. a few are ever in pittsburgh, go if yound some time -- are ever in pittsburgh, go and spend some time in the cathedral of learning. burton folsum serves as a senior historian at the economic of education. he has published sev

the war was a world war. by the time yorktown was fought, britain was fighting five nationstates, the united states, france, britain, the dutch republic, and the kingdom of mysore in india were all fighting britain. battleary, during this -- during this war, 200,000 french and spanish soldiers and sailors fought, as compared with about 250,000 to 380,000 americans. they were as invested in this war as we were. thatwant you to know america could never have won the war without france, and france would never have fought the war without spain. when i hope all of you take away is this, that america did not achieve independence by itself. as aad, it was borne centerpiece of an international coalition which worked together to defeat a common adversary, that is pretty much who we are today. the centerpiece of international coalitions striving towards a common goal, and that is why we remain the indispensable nation. thank you. >> thank you. [applause] professorl have france offers than berg talk about his book -- fra

of civil war monuments and memorials. she touches on the controversy surrounding the museum's decision concerning a donated jefferson davis statue and then takes a look at how social forces during different time periods in america influence the creation of civil war statues and monuments, especially in the south. this hour-long talk was the opening session of a day-long symposium held at the library of virginia in richmond. >>> as you know, we're here today to explore an aspect of civil war history that's very much in the news. it actually has been often in the news for many years. some of you no doubt find the often rancorous public debates about civil war monuments troubling and just wish the debates would go away. but you know it won't just go away. so the constructive thing to do is to accept the debates as evidence that the subject of our institution, the american civil war museum, is relevant today. many of you are regulars to the events, history buffs who love to study the lessons of history. i would like to add a

world war i. more than 4 million american men and women served in uniform and more than 100,000 died. next american history tv marks the 100th anniversary. we travel to the national world war i museum and memorial in kansas city, missouri, to speak to authors and historians to speak about what was then called the great war. we learn about the creation of the memorial to honor those who served and about artifacts in the museum's collection. this is about two and a half hours. >>> 100 years ago on april 6, 1917, president woodrow wilson signed a declaration of war against germany, entering the united states into world war i. more than 4 million american men and women would eventually serve in uniform and more than 100,000 americans died in the conflict. the influx of u.s. resources changed the tide of the years' long global war bringing it to a close on november 11, 1918. to mark the 100th anniversary of what was then known as the great war, american history tv is live from the national world war i

army war college. before that, he taught at the air force academy and then at university of southern mississippi. he writes widely on both world wars. he is recipient of numerous prizes and honors for his work such as the tomleson prize for the best english language booshgs in world war i, a book on the second battle of the mar, and the choice outstanding academic title award for fighting great war or american history. he has edited a number of important collections like arms of the man, reference works like the atlas of world war i and the great war reader. dance of the furies, europe and the outbreak of world war i, the end of world war ii and the remaking of europe and the blood of freeman, the liberation of paris 1944 are his books. and making citizen soldiers, rotc and american military service. in his free time, he is a self described service to a dog and three cats and a fan of all pittsburgh sports teams and bruce springste psteepringsteen. the book he is working on now traces our nation's corr

i, world war ii, the wars in korea and vietnam. as a writing team of a nurse and a psychologist, co-author dr. evelyn monahan, we have a combined 50 years of experience with the department of veterans affairs. now, you may be as surprised as we were to learn that the agency and the majority of its employees knew little, if anything, about the service of of america's military women any more than the average person on the street. this is undoubtedly the main cause that in 1989 the va published a bulletin for veterans' day that had only male veterans on the cover of that bulletin. it was evident to us that including women in military history had a long way o go. our interest in world war ii history started when evelyn and i were kids. evelyn grew up in new jersey and hearing war stories from world war ii. on a weekly basis, she went to the vfw with her father and listened to the male veterans talk about their military experience in world war ii that they shared with each other. my experience was really different. i had two female cous

can see the weapons of war. what you don't see are the thousands of people, the millions of people who answer the call who have small towns and farms and big cities to go thousand says of miles away to fight the biggest war in the history of mankind and prevailed. they gave us the lives that we have today. i call them the greatest generation and i am proud to say that it is a label that endures. so watch with me now, a special rebroadcast of the greatest generation. >> you didn't ask somebody were you in the military. there were 15 million of us in the military and the answer was, wasn't everybody? >> some of my earlier memories are of men in uniform. my father worked at an army base and i saw soldiers on the way to war. i was 4 years old so to me the soldiers looked grown up. i realized later most of them were not men. not yet. >> they were kids. think of them as a bunch of kids on a high school football field. that's how they went to war. it was a lot of fun for many of them. an escape from their families and

more from the seven years war until the war of 1812, was one long war. to maintain their territory, to keep the americans and british out of their territory. ultimately losing more. but there were several different points where things could have turned out differently. it's not hard to imagine things turning out differently. one of them is when you are referring to. when the french and americans signed this alliance, americans committed themselves not to negotiate peace with britain. the broke that. they broke that commitment. it's largely because they fought -- they were probably right that the french would try to keep the ohio valley as neutral territory. so americans didn't want that. they got this concession from britain by negotiating a eace.ate p from the canadian perspective, it's a complicated question. first of all there is no canada until much later. it's really british north america. things get reappropriated. not too long ago in the 200th anniversary of the war of 1812 -- the government at the time was mobilizing -- which always made me laugh

if you go back to what woodrow wilson claimed this was about, the war to end all wars and a war for eternal peace. he would be able to reconcile his beliefs with that notion and he does. and so in a sense i think alvin york, his story sort of represents to many people the things we like to believe how we go to war. that we are reluctant to fight, yet, once we are convinced our cause is righteous, we are fantastic at it. if we end york's story there we miss some important elements what he represents. first of all exactly the kind of poor man that gets caught up in the draft net. he is a few months out of his 30th birthday. probably shouldn't have been drafted. somebody this close out of the purview of the government, yet he comes from this impoverished community in tennessee and he is caught in it. he is not so sure at the end he made the right decision. he has doubts almost his whole life. he is very famous. he makes a lot of money. he builds schools, roads. does a lot of good works in his community. almost like trying to make amends having become famous through the act of taking people's l

war is declared, the next that you are at war. the u.s. had a procedure in an impromptu way, brought upon industry. they contacted at&t and sat down and said how are going to do this. battalions,ed bell taking people wholesale to france to do things like this is the paddle of the somme -- i am sorry, i am a professor. you are not taking notes. the battle of the somme, a great war for the british in world war i. you can see them running telephone lines there. this next picture shows you men under gas attack repairing the wires. think of the heroism, think of the courage that took of bombs flying all around, running through the trenches and the craters that littered the territory of northern france and jumping in and out, fixing the lines. but that is the hardware. that is how the signal gets transmitted. but you also had to have somebody transmitting it. the army did not like the idea of using women. on the left-hand side you see secretary of war newton baker. he so disliked the idea of using , women possibly as telephone operators, even at

they have problems with them throughout the war. from hi hazel's grove, somewhere so frustrated they stopped using explosive rounds. they would detonate prematurely or not at all. at gettysburg they seemed to designate late, so the full effect of the bombardment fell on the reverse of cemetery ridge then on the western side where the fire was directed to go. work has been done with the ordinance records suggesting the ordinance having these problems, and i think they manifested themselves at gettysburg. very noisy. alexander said the bombardment, the usual time you see from two hours, from 1:00 to 3:00, forander said it lasted less than an hour. he might have known something about how long it went. >> does alexander say something about how lee missed the best chance to win the war by failing to take grant in the flank when grant leaves cold harbor and goes across the james? prof. gallagher: he does not say that. he thinks the confederates lost a great chance during the seven days. lee at they hard on seven days. maybe a little too h

that was after the civil war. ? you imagine the wife of edward bannister, andof the leading artists, she became involved on the underground railroad. she was a proud and consistent supporter of the u.s. colored troops. it is said by many scholars, she was there and helped frederick douglass present the colors to massachusetts volunteers. even after the war, she contributed time and money taking care of the veterans of the war and the african-american widows. that mightve folks have been able to go another way but chose not to. can you imagine, it was her sustained support of edward bannister,- edwin that allowed him to further his study and become one of the foremost african-american artists of the 20th century. the new capital in 1857. the moshing to an monument -- washington monument would remain uncompleted during the war. the capitol dome would be fairly completed by the time the war came. d.c. was in the process of making, but it is in the capital that i want to introduce you to another young lady. she deserves

entry into world war ii. this is about one hour. >> good afternoon and welcome to the cato institute in exile. we're glad to have you folks here and we're very proud to say that in about two months the construction on our building will be complete and we'll be back in the fay hayek auditorium but for now we're glad to be undercroft auditorium to discuss this book "fdr goes to war." a long time ago, i went to mayfield high school in mayfield, kentucky, and in my senior year i was the coeditor of the high school newspaper, the cardinal, and i think the features editor that year was my classmate anita prince, and she has gone on to bigger things. she got married for one thing to burt folsom. she got two degrees. she worked for president reagan and she was the president-elector and most recently she has directed hillsdale college's free market forum for five years. her co-author and husband is burton folsom, jr., who holds a ph.d. from the university of pittsburgh. i actually visited pitt for the first time last

this is kennedy's war.his is not something, from the get-go, we hear this in the tapes of johnson's phone conversations with friends and colleagues in the oval office saying, "i don't know how we will get out of this, but we cannot just pull out." losing is not an option. when losing a war is not an option -- remember, look at the 20th century wars. world war ii only a couple of decades in the rearview mirror, this great american victory. ferment -- for america to lose a war, to pull out of a conflict in a small, less developed country, to not be able to win that war, that would be a terrible blow. it would be a cold war blow because this was a proxy war for american democracy versus soviet communism. soviet and chinese communism, vietnam is one of those dominoes in the middle. so he escalates. by 1968 the escalation has been quite massive. one of the things that is propelling it is now that men are being drafted. as the war escalates, you need to draft more young men in the military. you need more soldiers

will he risk a war with us? no. that kind of conflict. >> after the berlin crisis, khrushchev tests the largest nuclear device ever. he basically is going to say to the americans, you can't scare me. i'm going to scare you. >> the west has nuclear jitters. people worry about fallout, about war. khrushchev has turned testing into a weapon of terror. >> there was tremendous anxiety and fear that if you got into a nuclear war it was going to mean the devastation of civilization. it was the apocalypse. >> let us face without panic the reality of our times. the fact that atom bombs may some day be dropped on our cities and let us prepare for survival by understanding the weapon that threatens us. >> the threat of nuclear war was the center of many of our lives. >> the fallout shelter could save your life in a nuclear war. >> the family room of tomorrow. it's a truly shipshape room only 8 1/2 by 12 feet in size but with an amazing amount of storage space. >> just seems unless we can control the use of such a thing as that

that is what caused the civil war. if andrew jackson could have stopped that, that would have been wonderful. if he could have stopped the secession of the south, if he could have helped the south to recognize and perhaps accept that slavery might be reduced and eliminated, that would have been great. but there is nothing -- there is no evidence that andrew jackson believed that the union should stay together and slavery should end. andrew jackson was a supporter of slavery. and there is no evidence that he would have supported the staying of the union and the elimination of slavery. >> i just want to read this, selena, and i want to get your response. cnn's editor at large chris cillizza wrote about it in an article. president trump wants to make the case that if jackson had been president the civil war wouldn't have happened in order to make the case that he like jackson will be able to avert crisis by dint of his unique background. that the facts don't back up the assertion is besides the point for trump. it's real