made at yalta. when roosevelt died at 145, the new president had no idea of the secret meeting. rue -- truman realized that at yalta thrrn all these secret agreements and he has to figure out whether they should be upheld. >> let me she you some video so f.d..n see stalin and >> in yalta. >> president roosevelt, winston churchhill and stalin, outline the steps of victory over germany. roosevelt's personal press tidge, his words of council -- prestige and his words of counls were invaluable. president roosevelt met with stalin and churchhill. the war was going very well. >> how cordial were those three men? >> they were fairly cordial. they all got along very well, surprisingly well. roosevelt got along with people -- even people who was in his best interest to get along with, someone like joseph stalin who was responsible for the death of nine mill yonl soviets. he probably killed more people thanl hitler did. but he was good at it. now we get to potsdam. truman now? president. and he has no experie

in yalta. [video clip] president roosevelt, winston churchhill and stalin, outline the steps of victory over germany. roosevelt's personal prestige and his words of councils were invaluable. president roosevelt met with stalin and churchhill. the war was going very well. brian: how cordial were those will three men? a.j.: they were fairly cordial. they all got along very well, surprisingly well. roosevelt got along with people -- even people who was in his best interest to get along with, someone like joseph stalin who was responsible for the death of nine million soviets. he probably killed more people than hitler did. you arethan hitler did. but he was good at it. now we get to pottsham. truman now president. and he has no experience in international relations. he's never met stalin. you are on never met churchhill. him and and three months into his presidency. he doesn't know if the bomb is or you willhe doesn't know if the bomb is going to work yet. a he has to sail across the country -- i

first, i want to make a comment, yalta was a triumph, not a tragedy.he notion that roosevelt did anything wrong or somehow gave away eastern europe to the communists is a canard that is beyond unbelievable. it is untrue. he did the best anyone could have done, he did three great things. as you point out, he agreed on the occupation zones in germany. the agreement that the russians would join the war against japan. number 3, the agreement on the us to say in any way, and it is fake news, that is what it is. it is time for us to stand up for franklin delano roosevelt and the great things in this country and around the world. we would have lost world war 2 rubber, hitler would have won it. you can't prove it but there is nobody in the american political scene who could have been president in 1939-1940 who would have done what franklin roosevelt did. that is my comments. my question to you is my usual question. if you could ask franklin roosevelt one question, what would you ask him and what do you think his answer would be? >> i would ask him what his fav

and he is about to leave a few weeks later for his summit conference at yalta with winston churchill and josef stalin. their earlier conferences had been about wartime strategy. but now the war is almost over in january 1945. the germans are on the run. we are approaching the rhine, island hopping against the japanese. so this conference at yalta is to talk about what is going to happen with the peace and to create something called the united nations. vandenberg, and fellow republicans, but a lot of democrats as well, know that roosevelt's health is weak. nobody knows how weak. he dies a couple of months later. but they don't know what the americans will be negotiating. so he stands up in the senate -- and you saw that speech where he talks about working together -- he had been known throughout his career in the senate as an advocate of american neutrality, talking in that earlier speech about no entangling alliances -- that is a line that alexander hamilton wrote for george washington in george washington's farewell address. now vandenberg stands up and says the time has come for co

yalta, heoes that postpones the discussion in the debate and says we will have to renegotiate poland from scratch. but serious -- spheres of allowing russia in the sphere of influence goes american institutions and world order in general. when we think about history, it is not a healthy solution overall. -- there is a good argument to be made. the territory was occupied by the soviet union. there is no other way around. countries still have their own agency. ukraine?ened to no one expected them. that is another example that -- that they have their voice. going back to the old policies of containment of this -- at this point don't make much sense. also, for all the reasons i mentioned, russia inclusion and involvement in the outside world. but i don't think, going back to personalities and comparing and whoever in the future will be in the white house, i don't think a person with diplomacy is really the way forward. sees basically -- i don't the possibility of outsmarting are fortunate in that sense. they belong to different categories. again, there is a lot about cold war, about cont

normally, yalta is short for the world divided and influence. it made one of the sides in that cold war much stronger. there's a good argument to be made, there was no other way around. to date there is no occupation per se, countries in the potential sphere influence have her own agency, what happened in ukraine, no one expected that. indication one more that things can be decided at the very top and the societies of the region have their voice. i suggestion in that sense is that probably going back to the old policies of containment at this point don't make much sense. also for all those reasons that i mentioned, and russian inclusion in involvement in the outside world. personalities to stalinparing putin to and the future and whoever's in the white house, i don't think personal diplomacy is really the way forward. with the current is president, don't see any possibility of them outsmarting or charming putin in that sense. it looks like they belong to different categories. but there is a lot about the cold war and containment, maybe i would t

but when he got to yalta in february 1945, churchill's position -- [inaudible] wrote in his diary the president is suffering from hardening of the arteries in the brain, he'll be dead in three months' time, and he called it right on the mark. so also i think what roosevelt believed was hundreds of thousands of people, millions of people were perishing in this conflict, and if i were going to die, it was part of what the whole war was about. >> thank you. it's just past one. we have some time left, as we always do, we want to turn to the audience. remember, this is being taped, so if you could wait for a microphone, and i will move around. the first gentleman in the third row, if you could wait for the microphone, and short question and we'll continue. >> bob, without the attack on pearl harbor, how would roosevelt have got us into the war? >> say again? >> if pearl harbor had not been attacked, how would roosevelt have got us into the war? >> yeah. it's a wonderful counterfactual question. nobody, of course, including roosevelt knew the exact answer, but he was waiting for some incide

. -- yalta. immediately after his ,naugural, a light -- arriving president roosevelt met again with churchill. brian: how cordial were those three men? a.j.: they all got along fairly well. roosevelt is very good at getting along with people. get probably killed more people than hiller did but he was good at it. no you to pot stand, truman is now president and he has no international experience. three month into this presidency, he does not know whether the bomb will work and he has to sail across the atlantic. by this time, the war in europe is over and the whole world knows. the whole world knows this is going on now. the american people are really expecting their new president to bring something home to them. there is an enormous amount of pressure. truman goes to sit up these -- sit at the table with these two themen to essentially map out te future of the world. brian: how much did he know about what was going on in the war? a.j.: let me frame it for you this way. she was an expert on the ho