[applause] >> our thanks to william eggers, co-author of the book. thanks for your comments this evening. my name is joe epstein. i am a past chair on the board of governors, and i will be moderating tonight's audience question period. we have a lot of questions here for you, and we are about to begin. many of the questions addressed your new book's central theme, that being the process of ideas through implementation. let me begin with this question. how would you rate the obama campaign for its design and implementation strategies during the election process of 2008? >> that is a great question. i actually wrote the whole thing that did not make it into the book about how the campaign actually performed from the standpoint of execution.

special thanks go to william eggers, co-author of the book. we also thank the audience that is here and on the radio, television, and the internet. the program has been part of the american values series. i am joe epstein, and this meeting of the commonwealth club of california, where you are in the know, is adjourned. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> coming up on c-span, a recent speech by secretary of state hillary clinton on human rights. a former cia analyst looks at policy in afghanistan and pakistan. later, historians discuss the life of senator ted kennedy. >> now available, when abraham lincoln, great american historians on our 16th president. from $56, journalists, and writers, from his early years in the white house and his relevance today. now in digital audio to listen to any time, available or digital audio downloads are sold. >> recently, secretary of state hillary clinton laid out the obama administration's human- rights approach during

. >> today, on c-span, william eggers talks about what government does and does not do well. then secretary of state hillary clinton on human rights. bruce randall looks at u.s. policy in afghanistan and pakistan. richard burr kaiser remembers the life of the magazine's founder, william s. buckley. >> we will talk with clark kent irvin, henry farrell, and ken walsh. "washington journal" starts at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. no available is c-span's book "abraham lincoln, great american historians on our 16th president. it is in hardcover at your favorite bookseller and now in digital audio to listen to any time, available where digital audio is sold. >> author of williame eggers spoken sentences go about his book. this is just over an hour. >> it is wonderful to be here in beautiful sunny california. a lot of my cousins are here. it really means a lot to me. we can put a man on the moon. how many times have you heard that phrase. if we can put a man on the moon, why can we not hear homelessness. if we can put a man on the moon, why can we not fixed schools. if we can put a m

special thanks go to william eggers, co-author of the book.he audience that is here and on the radio, television, and the internet. the program has been part of the american values series. i am joe epstein, and this meeting of the commonwealth club of california, where you are in the know, is adjourned. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> coming up on c-span, a recent speech by secretary of state hillary clinton on human rights. a former cia analyst looks at policy in afghanistan and pakistan. later, historians discuss the life of senator ted kennedy. >> now available, when abraham lincoln, great american historians on our 16th president. from $56, journalists, and writers, from his early years in the white house and his relevance today. now in digital audio to listen to any time, available or digital audio downloads are sold. >> recently, secretary of state hillary clinton laid out the obama administration's human- rights approach during a speech at geo

then come up william eggers shares his thoughts. -- then, author william eggers shares his thoughts.>> in the 1990's, newsweek named him one of the 50 most influential people to watch in cyberspace. since then, he has created a social network black planet.com, founded a charter school in brooklyn, and explained new technologies on oprah. tonight, he talks about his current studies at harvard and what is ahead. >> now available, c-span's book, abraham lincoln, great american historians on our 16th president, a great read for any history buff. it is a contemporary perspective on lincoln from 56 scholars, journalists, and writers. from his early years to his life in the white house and relevance today. in hard cover at your favorite bookseller, and in digital audio were ever done most are sold. require average download -- wherever downloads are sold. >> historians and journalists were joined by edward kennedy's widow. this is just over an hour. clock>> i think you for coming o this very special forum, and i think those watching on c-span or listening on wbur. for me, this hall will fore

following that, william eggers analyzes the successes and failures of the u.s. government.lso a discussion on u.s.-muslim relations. journal," a discussion on u.s. foreign policy. after that, a look at president obama's achievements in his first year in office with steven hess of the brookings institute. that is live at 7:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span. >> now available, c-span's book, abraham lincoln, great american historians on our 16th president. a great read for in the history buff. it is a new -- a unique perspective on lincoln, from his early years to his life in the white house and his relevance today. in hardcover, at your favorite bookseller in and out in digital audio to listen to any time, available or digital audio download are sold. >> former cia analyst bruce riedel now gives a historical perspective of the past eight years, the president's decision to send additional troops, and the process for defeating the insurgency. this hourlong talk came at a recent conference hosted by the jamestown foundation. >> think for that very kind introduction. it is a special

our guest is william eggers.was successful in integrating civilian and military leadership. can you compare this -- this is really kind of an unfair question -- can you compare this to the role that paul bremer play after saddam hussein after the fall of iraq? >> we did look at iraq. there has been so much said about it. in terms of iraq, we go into a number of the traps that we talk about in the book. one of those traps was tolstoy's syndrome where, when a decision was finally made to go when and you're looking at reconstruction, but they failed to do is that -- there were people in the state department and elsewhere who had a lot of knowledge and look at this as a democracy in iraq project for many years and argued about all the things that could go wrong and all the different problems and possibilities. a lot of the administration did not want to hear that. they did not want to hear contrary voices. they were then shut out of the process. one guy named tom warrick was infamously kicked off the team by rumsfeld

after that, william eggers analyzes the successes and failures of the u.s. government over the last 75 years. >> beginning monday, a rare glimpse into america's highest court threw unprecedented off the record conversations with 10 supreme court justices about the court, their work, and the history of the iconic supreme court building. five days of interviews with supreme court justices, starting monday at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. get your own copy of our original documentary on dvd. it includes programs on the white house and the capital. one of the many items available at c-span.org/store. >> friends and colleagues of late senator edward kennedy joined earlier this month to discuss his life and legacy. they were joined by his widow, vicki kennedy. this is just over an hour. [applause] >> good evening. on behalf of the chair of the kennedy library foundation board of directors and the chair of the board of the edward m. kennedy institute, i thank you for coming to this very special forum and thank those watching on c-span or listening on the radio. for

and william eggers talks about what government does and does not do well. speech by secretary of state hillary clinton on human rights. >> beginning monday, a rare glimpse into america's highest court threw unprecedented on the record conversations with 10 supreme court justices about the court, there were, and history of the taconic supreme court building. five days of interviews with supreme court justices starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern. get your own copy of our original documentary on the supreme court on dvd, part of the american icons collection, a three disc set including programs of the white house and the capital. one of the many items c- span.org. /store. >> former cia analyst chaired president obama's initial policy review on afghanistan and pakistan. he now gives a historical perspective of the past eight years of american presence in the region, the president's decision to send additional troops and the prospects for defeating the insurgencies. hour-long talk came at a recent conference by the jamestown foundation. bruce is well-suited for all of

you're listening to the commonwealth club of california radio program and our guest today is william eggers, author and commentator, who is discussing when government works and when it doesn't. . . in terms of iraq, we fell into a number of the traps that we talk about in the book. certainly, one of those traps was a syndrome. when the decision was made to go win and we were looking at reconstruction, what they feel to do was -- there are a lot of people in the state department and elsewhere who had a lot of knowledge and had been looking at this as part of a democracy in iraq project for many years and actually argue about all the things that could go wrong, all of the different problems and possibilities. a lot of these administration did not want to hear that. they did not want to hear contrary voices. they were shut out of the process. one guy named tom workearrick ws infamously kicked off the team by rumsfeld. that was a big problem. they did more war-gaming in terms of congestion pricing than we did at the aftermath of a iraq. if they fell into the overconfidence trap. a lot of those

after that, william eggers analyzes the successes and failures of the u.s. government over the last 75 years. >> beginning monday, a rare glimpse into america's highest court threw unprecedented off the record conversations with 10 supreme court justices about the court, their work, and the history of the iconic supreme court building. five days of interviews with supreme court justices, starting monday at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. get your own copy of our original documentary on dvd. it includes programs on the white house and the capital. one of the many items available at c-span.org/store. >> friends and colleagues of late senator edward kennedy joined earlier this month to discuss his life and legacy. they were joined by his widow, vicki kennedy. this is just over an hour. [applause] >> good evening. on behalf of the chair of the kennedy library foundation board of directors and the chair of the board of the edward m. kennedy institute, i thank you for coming to this very special forum and thank those watching on c-span or listening on the radio. for