wendell willkie is a perfect example of that. you have a presidential candidate who is willing to support his opponent's policy because in his heart he thinks it is right. he thinks it is important for the country. and is willing to say that and then after he loses is willing to say he is my president. we will support him. we don't really have that around and that is very disturbing. to get back to your point, it was just as bad or worse back then. gives us hope that maybe something can be resurrected out of this thing we are going through. any more questions? yes? >> given lindbergh's fear of getting into the public and the press, what combination of factors drove him to be one of the leaders against the war? >> u.s. really good questions. that is a really good question. charles lindbergh, one of the things about charles lindbergh he was always, whenever he took a position he always thought he was right. there was never any doubt in charles lindbergh's mind about what he should be doing or thinking. .. >> i think it was the bigg

another fascinating character is wendell willkie, the dark horse presidential candidate whose charisma swept him to the republican presidential nomination in 1940 even though, his liberalism and internationalism made him ante w outlier in the party. after losing to roosevelt, he became one of roosevelt's greatest allies in the public debate about u.s. involvement in the war. the christian science monitor review of "those angry days" called it an absorbing chronicle. olson doesn't so much revisit an historical period as inhabit iti her scenes flicker as urgently as a newsreel.or while highlighting lindbergh and fdr as its stars, "those angry days" embraces a cast of characters far beyond the book's titledr character. please join me in welcoming theo author, lynne olson. [applause] b >> thank you. thank you all for being here. thank you, george, for that absolutely wonderful introduction. this is a really sec tack lahr event -- spectacular event, and i'm very, very pleased to have been asked to participate. i'd like to give a big shout out to the city of gaithersburg for putting this on.

. >> wendell willkie was part of the isolationists and the president saw this so he sent him to to blendgland. in the middle of it, is fdr the greatest statesman of the 20th century. the man who led allies to victory over the dictators and did it with a broken body. he moves these five men around the world with enormous skill. >> michael: it's incredible too, willkie ran against him but you talk about hariman, willkie. how did these diplomats work to bridge the divide in america at the time? >> well, roosevelt had to navigate america on this very difficult transition from a nervous isolationist power into the global leader. he faced public anxiety and congressional opposition. rose vet's congress was trying to fence roosevelt off the rest of the world. he used these guys to wedge the right wing of the republican party to drama dramatize what was happening for americans in europe and why it mattered to them. he took these republicans with himmish, so by the time there was peter harbor, they were ready for the fight and marginalism was part of the force. >> michael: we had heard of isolati

they supported wendell willkie. willkie was appalled bier their vision as a fascist future. in a speech he gave that fall, he said, i see an america for which democracy will arise to a new birth. an america which will once more provide this war-torn world with a clear glimpse of the destiny of man. at noon on tuesday, october 29th, exactly one week before the november 1940 election, a lottery took place in an auditorium in washington. a few weeks earlier congress had passed the selective service act for universal, compulsory military training and service. it was the first peacetime draft in american history. now the lottery would determine the order in which american boys would be called up. on a table in the middle of the stage, sat a huge glass fish bowl that was filled with 9,000 blue capsules. each one contained a different registration number. the audience was packed with cabinet members, senators, congressman, young men, parents, and reporters. they grew quiet when they saw president roosevelt walk slowly on the stage on the arm of his assistant. he gave a short talk t