[inaudible conversations]. That is autor j. D. Vance, hillbilly elegy. Bestseller the past year or so, talking about 25 minutes. The next author at National Book festival will beonal b New York Times columnist, tom friedman. Thank you for being late. That is his latest book. Were pleased to be joined here at the Washington Convention center, historian, David Mccullough. His most recent book american spirit, who we are, what we stand for. If you live in the east and central time zones an want to talk to mr. Mccullough, 2027482001. For those in the mountain and pacific time zones. Youre familiar with his work. Familiar with all his book. John adams, harry truman. Johnson flood. The wright brothers. That is couple of the books hes. Has written. American in paris. The greater journey is the name of that book. You know what you want to ask him. Were here to to facilitate that conversation. At jenette in sarasota, florida, youre on booktv with historian David Mccullough. Caller good morning, mr. Mccullough. Thank you. Caller you were in sarasota and i wanted you to autograph your john adams book, but i couldnt get a ticket. Here is my question. When you were writing about Abigail Adams, but we know john adams wife was the most liberal lady in america but when she was in england and went to see othello, she was, she said some things that she felt brought some prejudice out in her that she didnt know was there. She talked about how black othello was, the blackest man she had ever seen. And she was really repulsed by the fact that othello was touching, you know the skin of the fair desamon, called othello that associatety heretic. Host what would you like mr. Mccullough to respond to . Caller i would like him to respond to that. I dont know if it is really a question. Host lets hear his thought. Thank you very much, jenette. David mccullough. Guest first of all im unaware of the incident youre talking about, but i do know Abigail Adams was ardently, passionately convinced and dedicated abolitionist and she and her husband, her husband was the only founding father who became a president who never owned a slave. It was largely because she was so adamant on the subject. And it was the next president who had never owned a slave was their son, john quincy adams. So, if she ever did say anything like youre talking about, thatt was something im not aware of but her actions often, as they do, speak he had louder than words. Host would you agree with jenette she was a socalled liberal for her time . W guest well, no, i dontan think she was a liberal. She was a puritan. The puritans adamantly for education. Most of them against slavery and adequately for freedom of religion and, or opportunity and they werent a bunch of stiffnecked, unemotional people as theyre often portrayed an in many respects the puritan traditions were a part of the bedrock super structure of our country and our way of life. And Abigail Adams was one of the bravest women of her time. She looked after her family while her husband was away as an ambassador in europe. And her oldest son was also gone. Sheminded the home. Sheminded the farm. She kept them going in their absence. One of the best writers of that era than anybody. Her letters are phenomenal. To me she is one of the truly most admiral women, not just women, americans of that extraordinary and formativeot time. Host bob calling in from easton, pennsylvania. Good afternoon, bob. Caller good afternoon, mr. Mccullough. Pleasure to ask you a question. I enjoy your writing and enjoy your speaking very much. Y can you describe a typical day when youre at home . I understand you live on a vineyard, your writings, what you do for the course of the day and just something im interested in. Guest thank you. I like to get up early. My favorite part of the day is the early morning. When i was working on my book about harry truman i read how he took a walk every day to get his machinery going. I usually try to take a walk every day. I love brake fast. I love breakfast, not only the most important meal of the day but often the most dell schuss and i go to go to work. I try to get to the office at 8 30. I work all morning. I come in for lunch, see if there are any phone calls, messages and i have some lunch. I go back to work. I work every day, very often seven days a week. And the time goes by faster that way than anything i do. I love my work. W i dont, i dont play golf. I dont play tennis. Im not a big say lore. I just enjoy my work. I love to paint, im often sketching or painting, particularly when the weathers good. And then at the evening we have dinner and i usually read for a while after dinner. And go to bed. Its a good day. If i have a particularly productive day, i have written two pages, typewritten, double spaced pages that i consider all right for the timebeing at least. Consid and then when i finish a chapter, usual around 25 or 35 pages, i put all the pages together. If it is good weather i find a nice, comfortable i find a nice outdoor cha under a tree, i brilliant editor i am, i try to make sitting or less more acceptable. One of the things of being a writer, being a good editor of yourself. I often tell students and others that aspire to write, learn to edit yourself and youre almost halfway or more. Host do you use a typewriter or computer it . Guest i use a typewriter, manuel typewriter, which i bought, started work on my first book. It this is more than 50 years ago. The manuel typewriter was secondhand when i bought it. I paid 75 for it. It is 25 years old. I have written everything i ever written on the typewriter. Every art dell, every speech, every book. There is nothing wrong with it. It has been full service for over 50 years. I have to change the ribbon once in a while. But other than that, they didnt have any notion i guess at royal typewriter about planned obsolescence. There is nothing obsolete about it. It is a marvelous machine. Sometimes i think maybe, maybe, just maybe, it is writing the books. Host next call for david mccaul law comes from hawaii. This is stu in hawaii. How are you . Caller how are you. Aloha. Host aloha. Stu, please go ahead. Were listening. Caller the question for mr. Mccullough was, personal aside, i feel the will of the American Voter has been thwarted twice in the last 16 years because of the Electoral College in his opinion. In his learned opinion, is there any future for the americas Electoral College in the future. Host the Electoral College, sir. Guest that is a very, very good question. As we know mrs. Clinton received almost three million votes above what was voted for president trump. And, thats, raises a big question. And, i have learned not to talk about something that i dont know as much about as i need in order to talk about it. My opinion is, my sense is, we need to reexamine that process and do so seriously because it is, in a sense, a violation of the will of the people. But we have a lot of problems to solve before we get that to that one. Host David Mccullough won Pulitzer Prizes for two books on president s, john adams and harry truman. The next call from kevin in. Hartford, connecticut. Youre on booktv. Caller hi gentlemen. Mr. Mccullough, i have a question for you. The first book i bought of yours was 1776. I followed that up with john adams. I love what hbo did with the miniseries. I know you put a lot of work in that as well. I cant help by wondering, have you ever thought about, desire on your part to be involved on a similar project for 1776. I think this would be a fantastic miniseries or docudrama on your part . Guest not only is it under consideration, we have a numberr of people already have done important work on the idea. And is tom hanks the one interested in it. Rested he is the one that you know, produced had very Important Role in the creation of john adams miniseries on hbo. So the answer, question is yes. I hope it will happen, hope very much it will happen. Host who was running the country between the Constitutional Convention of 87 and George Washingtons presidency . Guest congress. And congress had some difficult issues so settle. For one thing we were in the midst of a terrible depression. People dont understand that the depression lasted as long as thn war had, and most people dont understand how long that war lasted, eight 1 2 years. Except for vietnam, it is longest war weve ever beenow involved in. And the, the plight of people, particularly new england, wass really serious. People were going to jail for debt, which is not what they fought the war for. It led to what is known as shays rebellion. It was unsettled and unsettlinge time and it was the northwest ordinance that was passed by that congress, one of the most farreaching decisions that any congress ever made, that provided the opportunity of inexpensive land for veterans of the revolution in lieu of the money they had been paid which was called scrip which was only worth 10 cents of the dollar. It was opening up of the west, because it was unknown, old northwest, which is north and west of the ohio river, which ultimately became five immensely important states ohio, illinois, indiana, michigan and wisconsin. That is among the most important decisions of that congress. That came just before the decision on the constitution which happened, that same year, 1787. Host there is a new book on the Northwest Territory coming out, isnt there . Guest it is in the works, yes it is. Im very deep into it and enjoying greatly. Host next call for David Mccullough for fawn from abington, maryland. Hi, fawn. Are you with us . Tell you what, well move on from fawn. Lets hear from ron. Ron is calling in from valencia, california. Ron, were listening. Go ahead. Caller hello, mr. Mccullough. I own and have read several of your books, but one of my most fond memories and thoughts of you is when you did a political roundtable with David Halberstam and george will. I wonder if you would talk about that for a minute. Guest i would like to talk about that, both david and george are wonderful men. David of course, no longer living. Ar the honor of sharing innermost thought, feelings, interpretations of what wasp haing in the world with thosest two two spirited men and one ofe the despite of my professional life. David halberstam was always full of good cheer. And he spent his summers on thee island of nantucket. And i was went over to give a talk on nantucket, which i dont very often go to. And my wife and i, before the event took place, were taking a stroll on the main street and a car came along and a window rolled down. The voice was David Halberstam, shouted off, get off this island, mccullough there is not room enough here for two of us. I thought there is a truly good guy. Wn i never let his name or his importance go to his head. He maintained a sense of humanity, which is what we all needed to maintain. Dont get too full up with ourselves. No matter who we are, or what w do. Host how a anonymous can you be these days . Guest at as much as the way it once was but i enjoy it. I dont mind people stopping me to talk or shake my hand. I like it. I have always liked being with people. I have always been raised to be open to everybody. And i try, when im teaching and lecturing at colleges, universities, i try to encourage students to talk to people, ask them questions, with the idea that you will never meet anyone who doesnt know something you dont know irrespective how much education or opportunity they have had. So dont turn your back away from keeping in touch with everybody as your experiences progress. Host if youve been watching our live coverage of the National Book festival this year you saw David Mccullough earlier in conversation with david rubenstein. 2500 people in a packed room. People waiting in line around our set here. Quite a crowd gathered to see mr. Mccullough. Raymond in mills borrow,iting delaware. Caller mr. Ma call law, honor to speak with you, have ao many of your books. As one of our most beloved and noted historians, can you comment on the most recent elevated efforts to take down the national statues, with stood time for over 150 years. Thank you. Guest i find it a complicated and emotionallycharged issue. When the statue was built, when the edifice was created in memory of someone, has a greate, deal to do with whether or not it caughtcome down. The statues to the heros of the confederacy that were put you up in the 1890s were put up at a time when racism was rampant in the south. When black people were being hanged by mobs. It was an ugly, awful comment on the, the ideal of a equality in our country. If it was a monument erected as per george washington, who owned slaves, and it was put, begun long, well before the civil war, then i say, no, that is not, how they felt about the subject then. It was very different. Keep in mind that the civil war was fought on the principle that slavery had to stop. Slavery was evil. And those who fought against that were saying no, slavery is all right. It can stay. Thats very, very different. And we lost more human beings in that war than any war weve ever been involved with and to ignore that as one side was right and the other was wrong is to hive in a kind of a haze of romanticism. Now, having said that, im more concerned about the monuments, statues we havent raised. Here we are in the nationses capitol, there is no monument, no building in the memory of john adams, one of the most important figures in all of our history. So we ought to be thinking more about the people we should be honoring. I think there ought to be statues to the most gifted and devoted and most importantnt influential teachers in our country in every city we have, in every town because they have been, they are doing the most important work of any of us, and they have been doing it all along. And they dont get enough credit. It isnt just that theyre not paid enough, we dont celebrate them enough for what they do for all of us, for our children, our grandchildren and for us. Host last call for David Mccullough comes from miguel, in corpus christi, texas. How are conditions down there . Caller good afternoon. Thank you for asking. Hello, mr. Ma cull mccullough. The storm went 30 or 40 mice west. We got some it. For surrounding communities, port aransas, and houston. They got the brunt of. Guest all of us should chip in and help the people in desperate need. We will and that is the way we are as americans. O, caller i lived in houston for a while and houston is ethnically and class, diversity. It is just an amazing city. Mr. Mccullough, my question is, his opinion regarding the electorate and how we select national candidates. Much has been written about the kennedynixon debate, how Television Changed how we vote for people. And now we are in a situation where social media, television, and generations that have grown up with that. And, i wonder, in the future, of the current president and when people vote in the future, has something changed in the electorate where what is valuedd in a candidate based on these, on this host miguel, i apologize, were getting close on time. I think we have enough to workin with there. David mccullough. Guest its a very important question and we will never really understand the impact of television on all of us, but itt is here to stay. It is part of our life. I for one think that the First Amendment is among the most important bedrock foundations of our whole way of life and civil. And i think that the, that the journalists who have been covering this presidency and the election that led to the presidency, journalists in print and on television, on electronic means of communication, have, with some exceptions have done a superb job and are doing a superb job, and they ought to get far more credit than they do. They are brave. They are professional. And we have to remember that having that kind of coverage is essential to our way of life. Host this is David Mcculloughs most recent book the american spirit, who we are, what we stand for. His next book is on the Northwest Territory, the northwest ordinance. Guest thank you. Host youre live coveraget from the 17th National Book festival. It now continues up to one of the rooms, here is