it is william jennings bryan. convictions about revolution. the first part of the question is important. it is an interesting question because i get asked a lot. and that -- is an easy one for me to answer. in doing the research for this book came upon this amazing class of public defenders. the death penalty bar. and they work in texas, georgia, illinois, places where executions are carried on routinely. most of their clients are guilty . they list the horrible things they say they have done. they know they're not going to get them off, and yet they throw themselves into the defense of these on the principle that everybody needs an offense and if the death penalty is wrong. and makes collectively over the past and 15 years i think that they have, you know, helps change american attitude about the death penalty. we are switching back again away from executions. about ten years ago it was the thing to do and people were dying almost daily around the country. so this very unselfish, known, unrewarded group of defense attorneys that nobody knows

like a john melancon, emma goldman, walter wittman, khalil, william jennings bryan, thomas, lionel trimmings, huey newton, cornell west and harold bloom. while some were enlivened, by his writings and others were mortified by his writings, none were in different to the implication of his philosophy to the promise of american life. yet today i want to look at a different kind of reader. i want to look at a different kind of source, and mainly i'm going to look at the fan letters that were written by nietzsche's american readers and sent to the nietzsche archive in germany. i do so not only because they give us access to the intellectual bottle of, quote on "average americans often lost or at least overlooked by intellectual historians, but because the signal how and why nietzsche's philosophy of the image of the suffering martyred mad genius became so instrumental in american intellectual life. we see how americans pressed nietzsche into service using him to criticize the shortcomings of american democracy, the moral semidey of their priest, and the hollow promises of enchantment by the secul

william jennings bryan, the speech and movement, and the 1920's you have millions of complex clan marching in the north. become to the era, the. [indiscernible] you have the polarization between conservatives and outright communists. all idealists, all believing in their vision. you had the polarization of the cold war. you had in my generation, the 1960's and 70's, the vietnam era, we were certainly polarized , and much more so than today. but democracy always has these tensions. fortunately they only rarely erupt in civil war. the american civil war was the war, the first -- it force the country in which we live today. so grown-up for many reasons. some because of hearsay, some because of people espousing a particular cause, some because of generals trying to defend the reputation decades after the war but let's start with a relatively recent one by revisionist historians. this historian always has something new to write about. gettysburg was not really a decisive battle. the civil war went on for two years after gettysburg. why would -- how can? sometimes things are decisive because of

it was a great, it was a william jennings bryan evening. it was great.oding across the stage. well, didn't exactly explode because her speech didn't rise emotionally at the level i would have liked because i like that, for entertainment purposes if nothing else. she did say some things of substance but they were fleeting and quickly forgotten. what she did say that will be with us for a while, which i think the democratic party is going to struggle with, this us against them view. the fact that she created the consumer protection bureau. that the democrats are charging into the teeth of the terrible business people in this country. look, this idea of demonizing businessmen and women, large and small business, has got to stop. and i'm just giving them free counsel right now. this is blowing up in the face of the democratic party. if the president of the united states tonight continues with a theme of, elizabeth warren, and, the sudden populist drive of former president bill clinton clinton, election may be not close at all because the american people don'

after the civil war you have the populist movement william jennings bryan and in the 1920's had polarizationh the kkk in the north and in the time on radio between conservatives and outright communist. a survey there was polarization of the cold war and during the vietnam era we were more polarized the yen today. fortunately it was only in the civil war and that forced the country that we live today. some because the hearsay or causes with generals trying to defend the reputation the start with relatively recent men at gettysburg really was not a decisive battle. himself survived how could that be decisive? sometimes because of what doesn't happen. suppose robert e. the in the army had decisively met at the potomac and within one week these vagabonds would be marching down philadelphia the summer of 1863. this was a crisis of the union. people at the time recognized although they said the south never smiled with those four days the first second and third after falls to grant they could only try to believe the union. there was no hope to win the war. for them to maintain the fire of the belly

i think he gets less of a percentage of the popular vote in 1912 then williams jennings bryan does ingetting killed in 19 way. or something at that. it is really a low turnout. the party healed itself in 1960, comes down close to winning. it is all very good thing, but the party comes together enough that charles evans hughes goes to bed thinking that he is the president-elect. and he is not. woodrow wilson, before that was putting together a scenario where an kc lost him he was going to resign and he was going to point to the secretary of state come in and the vice presidency, the vice president would quit and they could take over. republicans win the congressional races in 1918. you don't need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind is warm. back to the first part of that statement, republicans face unprecedented problems in 1920, the logical candidate was dead, would tr have been the nominee if he had lived? >> absolutely. he was not only physically ill, and it is interesting that i think he makes a statement early on in his life that he's going to live that she's going to li

i think he gets less of a percentage of the popular vote in 1912 then william jennings bryan does in getting killed in 1908 or something like that. or i guess mckin lee. one of those years. really a low turnout. but the party heals itself in 1916, comes damn close to winning. >> host: tr. >> guest: tr is a republican again. all very grudging but the party comes together enoughy charles evans hughes goes to be bed thinking he's the president-elect and he ain't. and woodrow wilson before that was putting together a scenario where in case he lost, he was going resign, appoint secretary hughs secretary of state and then the vice president could quit and the republicans could take over, because otherwise you have to wait until march. republicans win the congressional races in 1918 and you don't need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing. >> host: so back to the first part of the statement. republicans faced an unprecedented problem in 1920. their logical candidate was dead. would tr, if he had lived, been the nominee? >> guest: absolutely. he was not only physically ill