Transcripts For CSPAN QA Peggy Wallace Kennedy The Broken Road 20240712

Or listen live on the free cspan radio app. Today, i have stood where once Jefferson Davis stood. And took an oath to my people. It is very appropriate that in this cradle of the confederacy, this part of the great anglosaxon southland, that today [indiscernible] time and again through history. Let us rise, and send our answer. In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth. I draw the line in the dust before the feet of tyranny and i say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever. Susan Peggy Wallace kennedy. That is one of the most famous clips of your father, four time president ial aspirant. You have written a book about your life with him. What are you doing with the book, the broken road, what do you want to accomplish . Ms. Kennedy i wrote the book, it is the culmination of years i have spoken to people about reconciliation. The book is really about the legacy i am leaving for my two sons. But its really how i came to terms with my past. Not to forget my past, but to accept my past. And leaving a painful past behind is not always easy, but is always right. Susan why do you think this book, beyond your family concerns of course, because you want people beyond your family to read it why this book right now . Ms. Kennedy because i hope this book can be a hope for change in our divided america. I hope that it will give people a chance to see that they can live a life where they can overcome their painful past also, and that they can live an inspirational life and inspire others. Susan where did you get the title, the broken road . Ms. Kennedy the broken road is actually a physical place. When we were young, and especially after the 1958 governors race, things did not go well after my father lost that race. And my mother took us to the broken road. She would drive from clayton through tuscaloosa and over the bridge, over the black river and say look for the broken road. It was an abandoned road on the side of the road. It was asphalt that was heaved up and covered with vines and shrubs. We thought it looked broken, so we named it the broken road. It was very close to my grandparents house, so my mother would say look for the broken road. She would turn down, and we knew when we saw the broken road that it meant unconditional love and kindness, no secrets, no angered voices. When she turned down that road, i would look for the house with the flowers on the porch. When i saw it i would roll down my window and wave, and happiness was waving back, and we were at my grandparents house. Susan so the broken road is a positive for you because it led you to a safe place . Ms. Kennedy yes. I wish everyone could have a broken road in their life. Susan the subtitle of your book is a daughters journey to reconciliation. You mentioned you have been working on this for the past 11 years. What got you started . Ms. Kennedy well, back in 1996, we took our young son burns, who was nine at the time, to the Martin Luther king Museum Historical site in atlanta. And we went to his church and to his grave, and we went over to the museum. It was being newly constructed at that time. And we went to the exhibits and we came to the exhibit, the alabama exhibit. And it showed the Edmund Pettus bridge, the bombed out 16th street church, fire hoses and dogs, birmingham, and George Wallace standing in the schoolhouse door. And burns looked up at me and he said he was so sad. Why did pa do those things to other people . And it broke my heart. And i said, he never told me why he did those things to other people. But i know he was wrong. So maybe it will just have to be up to you and me to help make things right. And that was in 1996. So from 1996 until 2009 i raised my children. My husband in his political career. And then i got invited to walk with john lewis over the Edmund Pettus bridge in 2009. To walk with john lewis over the Edmund Pettus bridge was one of the greatest honors and privileges of my life. John did Something Else for me. He showed me that unconditional love, reconciliation, and forgiveness can heal a human heart. But he also gave me the courage to find my own voice. Because when we were smaller, growing up in a political family, you did not really have a voice. No one asked for your opinion. I knew i wanted to do something with that voice, so i decided i was going to speak up and speak out about peace and reconciliation. So i thought back about burnss question, and i thought maybe this would be a way that i could help in some way. So, for the last 11 years or so, my husband and i have been traveling all across the country talking about peace and reconciliation. Susan as you make your travels, what are your observations about the state of Race Relations in the country . Ms. Kennedy well, i think that we have come a long way. But i think that i think that things are slipping back. I think that america is somewhat divided. I think america is hurting right now. America is strong. I think there is hope for america. But if people could see other people with their hearts rather than their minds, that would teach a lot of lessons of unconditional love. I think dr. Kings teachings are needed now more than ever. In our world. Especially in the united states. John lewis says we are one family, we are one america. America is about all of us, not just some of us. So i think we are somewhat divided. And we cannot go back. We have to keep moving forward. But i think that its not as good as it should be. Susan clearly, the walk with john lewis across the bridge is important for you, gives because you both opened the book with it, and he closed the book with it. We found a piece of video from 1968 of your father on cbs news talking about his interpretation of what happened that day. Lets watch, and we will come back. I am not the chief aider and abettor to the breakdown of law and order of civil rights programs, anything of that sort. In alabama, contrary to what you might know, we dont have a breakdown of law order in that state. We had some demonstrations. No breakdown . No sir. We had some demonstrations, we put water on people and arrested some folks. What happened after the selma march . One woman was shot by some thugs. People are shot every day in washington. But nobody got hurt in the marching. Susan what is your understanding after really studying it and seeing it at the time what really happened that day on the bridge . Ms. Kennedy both of them, he and sheriff clark, they came ready to beat those marchers. They wore gas masks, they had tear gas, they bad bats that were wired, they were on horses, and they came to beat those marchers. And so, thats what they did. And for my father to have not fired him, arrested sheriff clark, and fired all the troopers who were on horses and participated, was a mistake. It was wrong. He should have done that, and he did not. Susan did you ever have an opportunity to challenge him on why he made those decisions . Ms. Kennedy no, i did not. Susan where were you the day that it happened . Ms. Kennedy well, i was 15. My mother and i were at home watching a movie. And they cut in, and they showed the film, and she and i really didnt say much about it, but a little later we talked about the man in the tan trench coat, because he seemed to be the one who had fallen back. And it was john lewis, because they beat him severely. And she and i mentioned later on about the man in the tan trench coat, not knowing that 50something years later that i would call him brother and he would call me sister. Not knowing. Susan was that call to walk across the bridge, was at the first time you had met him, or had you met him before . Ms. Kennedy yes. Susan and did he reach out to you . Ms. Kennedy yes. I was asked to come to selma to introduce thenattorney general eric holder, because i had been a great supporter of barack obama. And i had written an article for cnn, and it was from a big hit, i guess you could say. And because of that article, they asked me to come and introduce him. I had not given a speech since high school. So, they put all the speakers in one room. There was Joseph Lowery and jesse jackson, eric holder came in, john lewis. And john lewis came over and sat next to me, and we started a conversation. And we have loved each other ever since. Susan what is john lewiss explanation for your father . When you have talked about why he approached his own citizens of his state, people of color, the way did, how does john lewis process the way your father handle things . Ms. Kennedy you know, we never discussed that. Susan he does not have an assessment of his personality or what drove him along the way . Ms. Kennedy well, yes, i have read things that john has he did not tell me personally, but i have read things that john has said. And john is right. My father created a climate in alabama with his words and actions that made other people go out and hurt people, and bloodshed and violence. And i have read many things where john said that. Susan your book is really not only your own personal memoir, but also the story of your fathers political career. And it really falls into three distinct parts. His early years, his path to national prominence, and the time after his shooting. I want to spend a little bit of time on each one of those. Lets start with the early years, because you contend that he did not start out this way. So where was he born and what were his early influences . Ms. Kennedy well, i think he was born in alabama, and his mother and father his mother was very stoic and very not very loving. His father was a drunk, and died at the age of 40. His biggest influence, my fathers biggest influence was his grandfather, who was a doctor. And he would let my father ride on the back of his horse. And when he would go out into the rural areas and see patients. I think that was his biggest influence. But his mother was driven in a way that, i think that is where my father later on, being driven to be governor. She was driven in ways that she met my fathers father she was driven she was going to marry him, so she did everything she could to get to marry him. So she did, and thats how she was driven, and that went over to my father. Susan your father married your mother at a very young age, 16. How did they meet . Ms. Kennedy how did they meet . She worked at a drugstore and he went in and bought hair tonic from her. A friend was waiting outside and he my father bet him that he could get a date with her. And so my father went back in and found out her name and got a date with her. Susan is it true that he told her at that very early part of his life that he was going to be alabama governor one day . Ms. Kennedy yes. Susan where did his interest in politics come from . Ms. Kennedy i think from his grandfather. As his grandfather would go in and take care of his patients, my father would stay outside and talk to the relatives, and he would go around to each one and he would just talk. There would be a crowd of relatives, and he just loved the crowd. And i think that is where he got his interest. And i think he just loved that, and he loved talking to people, and i think that is where it came from. Susan he had two early positions in state politics. One was state legislator at age 27, elected right after he came back from world war ii. And also as a circuit judge. What characterized his approach to Public Policy and Public Service in those days . How would you have described him . Ms. Kennedy he was very interested and very concerned about the poor. Black or white. He cared about people. He wanted a better life for those who were less fortunate. And that was the way he was. Up to the time that he ran for governor in 1958. Susan i think people would be somewhat shocked to read about the conditions he left your family and as he was pursuing his political career at this point. What was life like for your mother and your siblings and you . Ms. Kennedy in 1958, we were very happy, and he was a judge, and things were ok. But after he lost that 1958 race, he was very devastated. And he would just be gone for days and days. There was no paycheck coming in or anything. Mother took small jobs in clayton, but it was just not enough. So, it was very difficult for her. And she did the best she could. But there were sometimes, he was we just did without. But she did the very best she could. Susan did you have a sense as a child of being poor . Ms. Kennedy no, because my mother just had a way about her that made you feel that you are loved, and she comforted you in such a way that, no, you did not feel that way, even though you didnt have anything to eat. She still comforted you, and you felt like you had anything. That was just the way she was. Susan how many brothers and sisters do you have . Ms. Kennedy i have two sisters, one is deceased, and i have one brother. Susan and where were you in the lineup . Ms. Kennedy i was the second. Susan our next piece of videos from the 1958 governors race. You write an ebook that that is what changed everything for your fathers political career and your family life. Lets watch. It is a pleasure always to come back to mobile, alabama. I feel very close to this great section of the state for many reasons. This is george junior coming up here. This is peggy. And this is bobby, my first child of course, born 13 years ago at the Air Force Hospital here in mobile, alabama. Susan so, do you remember as a child going out and campaigning with your father all the time . Ms. Kennedy no. [laughter] i dont remember that one, but i have seen that clip many times. I remember going to montgomery on the night of the returns in 1958. I member that, because i remember the little slippers my aunt gave me. And then i remember that he lost. He lost. And up to that point, i loved my daddy so much, i just did not think he could lose anything. And i was devastated, because i just could not believe that he had lost that. That that was my daddy, and he could do anything. But he lost. And i couldnt believe it. I was very, very upset. And he comforted me. Susan some other things to know about that race, because it was so important in changing his future direction. His opponent was John Patterson. How did mr. Patterson approached the race, and why is it that your father lost to him . Ms. Kennedy well, John Patterson was have the support of the had the support of the klan, and alabama wanted segregation. So John Patterson ran on that, and he was elected. My father ran on good roads, better school. Thats not what alabama wanted, so John Patterson they had a runoff and John Patterson pulled that one out. Susan what was your fathers take away lesson from that race . Ms. Kennedy he would do anything to win next time. And thats what he did. He chose power over principle. And he used racism and segregation to win the 1962 governors race. Susan how long did it take for him to decide whos going to run again in 1962, and what was it like in your family during those years he was making that decision . Ms. Kennedy well, i think he decided the day after he lost that he was running. So he was gone all the time. Things got very, very bad. For his family, the life went. My mother in 1959, she left him and took us to our grandparents. She filed for divorce. And when she did that, then she realized she held all the cards, and she was the strong one. So, eventually he came, he realized that he could not run that race without her. And so he came and got her, and they reconciled. But he did run by using racism and segregation, because that is still what alabama wanted, and he promised he would stand in the schoolhouse door, block any africanamerican that wanted to go to school. Susan so, that moment for your mother seems like a real moment of empowerment for her. Ms. Kennedy yes. Susan that she said he need to be, and she would hold the cards. Did you have a sense of her really changing at that point . Ms. Kennedy you could feel it, and you could see it. And then she just was a very strong person after that. It became equal. She said, were equal now, so and he agreed. So she said, you know, youre not going to ignore me anymore. You know, that kind of thing. So, it was she had been strong all along, but i think having to decide to go to the broken road, take us and leave, was really the best thing she could have done. And for him to realize that she had left him with the children, there is no way he could have run for governor being divorced and having children running around, you know, wondering where their daddy was. And she knew that she held all the cards. And when he came like i said, when he came and got us, he knew it, too. Susan how did your familys life change, going from a place where you were almost impoverished, to living in the Governors Mansion . Ms. Kennedy it was like a fairytale. It was wonderful. And i remember my mother saying, you can have anything you want to eat. And i dont know if that was her way of apologizing, for all those days in clayton, or if that was just, you know, i think it was her way of apologizing. It was a wonderful time. And she was a wonderful first lady. And we all just it was wonderful. Susan your father was sworn in in january of 1963. 1963 is an entire chapter in your book, because it seems like history accelerated, a year of one momentous event after another. It was also the time when your father Went National on june 11 with the standoff in the State University door. We have some video from that time we are going to watch. George c. Wallace, governor of the state of alabama, by my action raised issues between the Central Government and the sovereign state of alabama, which the issue should be adjudicated in the manner described by the constitution of united states, and my duties under the constitution of the united states, the consultation of the state of alabama, and seeking to preserve and maintain the peace and dignity of the state, and the individual freedoms of the citizens thereof, and hereby denounce and forbid this illegal and unwarranted action by the Central Government. I take it from that statement that you are going to stand in that door and you are not going to carry out the order, and you are going to resist us from doing so. I stand in front of the statement. Susan people might be surprised to read in your book that you discovered that both sides, the Kennedy Administration and your fathers administration, orchestrated the outcome there. Ms. Kennedy well, it worked out. My father did not want any violence or anything to go on. And so, i think that they worked out a plan where he could stand in the schoolhouse door, and then he would federalize the national guard, and a general would come up and say, you have to move, i order you to move. And that was the plan. Because i think there were concerns, you know, well, if we arrest him, do we pick him up, physically pick him up . I mean, there was a lot they had to consider. Cary kennedy and i are very good friends. Today. And i admire her father so much. And so, we have often talked about that. It was my father got to do what he wanted to do, and they got to register. And my father did put security on campus for most of them. Susan the outcome that the kennedys probably would not have wanted what happened though, but he made his debut on the national stage, and it lightened his ambitions. That next year he made his first bid for president , 1964. But he had problems back at home because he was term limited, and you say that is one he came up with the audacious plan for your mother to succeed him. How much did she want to do that . Ms. Kennedy well, my mother wanted to run. And she called each one of us children in one at a time and asked our opinion. And i did not want her to run, but she said, peggy, i want to do this, this is something i want to do. And so it was not until years later that i found out she had cancer. Susan did she know she had cancer . Ms. Kennedy she knew, yes. Susan and she had enormous success. 54 of the democratic vote in the primary with 10 candidates, and overwhelming success of course in the election. Was she popular with voters, or was it proxy vote for your father . Ms. Kennedy she was very popular with the voters. Very popular on her own. When they would campaign, they would go out, she would speak a few minutes off of her cards, and then daddy would be the main attraction. Well, as the campaign progressed, my mother would speak a little bit longer, a little bit longer, she built that confidence up, and then she became the main attraction. Thats where daddy did not speak it all, really. She became very popular with all alabamians, because she was just so genuine and personable. Susan so, while she was serving, your father made his first serious bid in 1968 for the presidency, running under the american independence party. What did they stand for . Ms. Kennedy well, i am not sure. [laughter] susan his message was stand up for america. So what was he talking about on the campaign trail at that time . Ms. Kennedy well, i think and he was talking to your white middleclass person, who really felt like they did not have a dream of any kind. And he was a candidate that said i can give you that dream back. Im going to stand up for america. But then there were no solutions given. Stand up for america was really kind of a coded message, really. But now, in 1968, he was able to get on the ballot in every state. Susan people should know that is very difficult. Ms. Kennedy very difficult to do. And he had a Great Organization that worked day and night. And he got on the ballot in every state. Susan so, in may of that year, not too long after he started, your mother passed away, aged 41, of cancer. What was her legacy as governor . Ms. Kennedy she is probably the most beloved woman ever in alabama. Susan and you were just 18 at the time that she passed. A bit of a difficult question, but what is her legacy to you . Ms. Kennedy wow. Everything that i am, that i have instilled in my children compassion everything she was is her legacy. Its her legacy to me. And i have instilled that to my children. She lived only to 41, i was just 18, but she taught me so much in that little span of time. Thats the only way i know how to explain it. Susan your father went back on the campaign trail. I want to tell people how the 1968 election turned out for him. He won 13 of the popular vote, 40 Electoral College votes. You said he never had any illusions about winning the race. What was his goal . Ms. Kennedy he just liked to run. He liked the people. He had gotten on the ballot in every state, and i think he just wanted to see what he could do. And thats what he did. And i think he was pleased with that. Susan he already had his sights set on running again in 1972, but first he had to be reelected governor in the state. You tell a story of the nixon administrations involvement in that race. Can you tell me that story . Ms. Kennedy well, i think that some money changed hands susan from his opponent. Ms. Kennedy from his opponent. And so, that was pretty much the gist of it. Susan you tell a story of Cash Payments going to the brewer campaign, and there was also an irs investigation started against your father. Ms. Kennedy against my uncle, uncle gerald. So, i think maybe things were worked out in the end. And the irs investigation was dropped. Susan and your father decided not to run as an independent, but instead run as a democrat . So are you suggesting there might have been a deal there . Ms. Kennedy i think so, yes. I think so, yes. Susan and by 1972 when he went on the campaign trail, were you campaigning with him at that point . Ms. Kennedy no, i was not. Susan what was his style like in 1972 . Ms. Kennedy well, he had a new wife, and we loved her, camelia. She had him all stylish and everything. He was very serious about that 1972 race. And he was very popular. And was gonna win a lot of states. And unfortunately, i think he was shot on a monday, and the next day, on a tuesday, i think he had won michigan, three or four states the next day. Susan before that, he had already won every county in the florida primary. Then there was that day, may 15, 1972 in maryland, just up the road from where we are speaking right now. We have some video from that from pbss American Experience back from 2000. We are going to watch that and then come back. It was a very calm crowd, very nice, congenial crowd. Everything just seemed really nice. So he came down and he started shaking hands. The secret Service Agent in charge asked wallace not to go into the crowd. Thats all right, wallace said. Ill take the responsibility. All of a sudden i heard dot dot, dot dot dot. Then time just stood still. [screaming] i thought they would shoot him again. And so i jumped on top of him. I tried to cover up his head and his heart and his vital organs, his lungs. There just was not anybody around. Susan although you lived through that experience and i know you have seen that many times, what is it like to watch that . Ms. Kennedy it is difficult to watch. Very difficult. Susan so the next day he not only won those two primaries, but found out he would be paralyzed for the rest of his life. So what happened in the immediate aftermath . How did he begin to put his life together . Ms. Kennedy well, it was very difficult. You know, um, they wanted him to come to the convention, speak at the convention in miami. So, once he was well enough to do that, we went there, and he went straight from there to rehab in birmingham. Stayed there. And then we went home. And you know, it was just very, very difficult for camellia, it was difficult for me. My daddy and i were very close. We loved each other very much. And it was just very difficult. Susan did most people in the political world assumed this would be the end of his career . Ms. Kennedy i am sure they did, yes. Susan and yet he had two more terms as governor and another president ial run. Where did he get that from, the fortitude to keep going . Ms. Kennedy it was just built in for him. And i think he had a lot of supporters, and a lot of people that said you can do this, you can do this, whether you are paralyzed or not. Susan in 1974 he won governor of alabama by the largest percentage he had ever had in his political career. What do you think the people of alabama were saying to him, and how well was he able to govern at that point . Ms. Kennedy i think they were saying, we love you still, and we know that you can do what you have always done for alabama, and that is to make alabama better, like you have always done. And we have faith in you. And i think that was good for him. Susan but he was in persistent pain at this point. What about drugs and alcohol . Were they part of his life . Ms. Kennedy yes, the drugs. He was he became addicted to the painkillers. And so, he had to be weaned off that. So that was very, very difficult to watch. Very difficult to watch. Susan in 1976, despite the pain, he made an early bid for president again. Some a small note in that chapter is that jimmy carter, who was seeking the nomination, wanted an endorsement from your father. Does that surprise you . Ms. Kennedy no, it didnt. Susan and he won that endorsement. Your father endorsed jimmy carter. At that point after the 1978 election, he was term limited once more, and his third marriage was coming to an end. You write that this is where you think his heart really began to change. What was happening . Ms. Kennedy i think that i think his change started when he got shot. And then it just slowly just started changing. He was he was just a in his heart, i knew him well, and i could see it in his eyes. When the congresswoman came to visit him in the hospital when she came, and Ethel Kennedy also came, i saw something in his eyes that were different. And through the years after that, i could just see a change in him. It was slow and it was beautiful to watch. His personality was changing. And he was becoming the man i knew, and the father i knew in 1958. And the last two years of his life, he would have mark and i come over late at night, he wanted to talk. And he would talk about how wrong he was about race and segregation. He did most of the talking, and he would talk around those points. And mark was a judge, and he had been a judge, so they had a lot in common. And it was just we were so close, and we loved each other so much. That was his way of having us over time and time again, of his way, and the only way he was capable of asking for my forgiveness. Of the way that he had made my life difficult. And i forgave him, because i knew that was the only way he had. The only way he knew how. And i loved him for that. Because my father loved me the very best that he could. He learned how to love from his mother the best that he could. And i never asked for any more than he could give me. Susan he also reached out to africanamerican leaders, and asked them for forgiveness, too. We found a clip in our Video Library of john lewis talking about how he for gave your father. Lets watch. I saw George Wallace as a brother. A bull connor, a share claw. I mentioned in my book that when you see someone, that look in their eye, of someone that is beating you, you have to think at some point this person was a little child, somebodys little baby. They did not come into this world hating and putting people down because of their race or color. Something happened. And we all have to have the power and the capacity to be able to forgive and to understand. Susan he was reelected in 1982 for his fourth turn with a great deal of support from black voters in alabama. What is the lesson to be learned from that . Ms. Kennedy forgiveness. Asking for forgiveness, genuinely asking for forgiveness. Admitting that you have caused pain for other people, for the acts that you have done. And you ask for that forgiveness. And you will and you are forgiven. Susan from a policy perspective, how did he use his last term to right some of his earlier wrongs . Ms. Kennedy well, he appointed more africanamericans to government jobs in alabama than any governor ever has, or has since. In his cabinet, too. Susan we have our last piece of video, from your father himself. This is from 1986, and it is a news 10 special from mobile. Wallace, the end of an era. Him talking about his record. Lets watch. In 1973, 10 years after fighting the integration at the university of alabama, he crowned the schools first black homecoming queen. Congratulations. You are a mighty pretty queen. By 1979 he had come full circle, admitting what some say he knew all along. He was wrong. I believed it was in the best interest of whites and blacks to be in the segregated school system. But i was wrong. And once we lost the legal battles, i think we all saw we were wrong. Susan i was wrong. So, the truth is that when he was running for office, and then especially when he was running for the presidency, millions of people heard his messaging. How many people do you think heard his admission of being wrong, his path to reconciliation, was that covered as much as the campaign was earlier . Ms. Kennedy probably not. But we hoped that the people who heard him went on and told other people, as he was certainly genuine. He was telling the truth, from his heart. Susan so, if you look at the full arc of George Wallaces life, from his early days, to really finding the path to power, to racial prejudice, and then coming full circle to a point of seeking reconciliation, what do you think George Wallaces legacy ought to be in our society . Ms. Kennedy well, hell always be the segregation governor that stood in the schoolhouse door. That will always be. But i would hope his legacy would be coming fullcircle. That he had the capacity to change and say that he was wrong. Because he was wrong. And he knew it. And he admitted it, and he said it, that he was wrong. Susan you have been talking about this issue as you said for 11 years, but writing a book is a very different kind of process. What did you learn about your father, and what did you learn about yourself by writing the book . Ms. Kennedy oh, my goodness. I knew i wanted to leave a legacy different to my two sons than for me. I learned that my father and i loved each other so much. Sometimes it was complicated, sometimes it was painful. But that we loved each other very much. And i know that he would be proud of me. I know that for myself, but i know it because john lewis told me so. And that was nice to hear. Susan your husband, justice mark kennedy, partnered with you on this book. You never told us how you two met. How did you meet . Ms. Kennedy met on a blind date. Susan and how long of you been married . Ms. Kennedy 46 years. Susan what was his role in this project . Ms. Kennedy well, we just put our thoughts together. I mean, he has lived 46 years of the broken road with me. So, he had a lot of ideas and a lot of memories, that kind of thing. So, when i started talking about my grandparents, he fell in love with my grandmother. And i wrote about her, he just loved her. He helped me a lot on difficult times that i had to write, he would help me with those chapters. Sometimes i would kind of take a break. But he was right there with me. And my two sons were very supportive. Susan one of your sons came with you today. How have your sons reacted to this book, is publication, and your reception as you travel . Ms. Kennedy of course the book is dedicated to them. They have been very excited and they are very proud of me. And i am very proud of them. Because it had not been for burnss question, there would not be a book. That is why he did those things to other people. Susan in your mind, what would be the best thing that could come out from this entire book project . Ms. Kennedy that people would, like i said, learn to see other people with their hearts rather than their minds. And that would teach them the lesson of unconditional love. We all need to believe and ourselves and we need to believe in our neighbor, believe in we all have causes, we all have dreams, we all have a history, because we are unique, and that is the fabric of our lives. Susan Peggy Wallace kennedy. The book is called the broken road George Wallace and a daughters journey to reconciliation. Thank you for telling cspan your story. Ms. Kennedy thank you. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] all q a programs are available on our website, or as a podcast at cspan. Org. Journal,s washington every day, were taking your calls live, on the air, on the news of the day, and we discussed policy issues that impact you. Coming up monday morning, a conversation on Race Relations and polishing in the u. S. Following the death of george floyd. Robert woodson, founder and president of the woodson center. Watch live at 7 00 eastern monday morning, and be sure to join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, facebook messages, and tweets. On wednesday, british lawmakers return to the house of commons, following twoweek recess, where the question Prime Minister Boris Johnson over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The Prime Minister and Party Leaders also commented on the death of george floyd and the protests across the u. S. Let us begin. Thank you, mr. Speaker