Solemnly swear that i will support the constitution of the United States and the constitution of the commonwealth of virginia and that i will faithfully and impartially discharge all of the duties incumbent upon me as governor of virginia, according to the best of my ability. So help you god. So help me god. Congratulations how did you know you wanted to get into politics . I didnt want to get into politics because i didnt want to go around smiling and begging for votes and asking for money. I thought politics was what i would call a representative of people. But i ran my mouth all the time, from day one as a kid. I get so much about things and people said, why dont you run. They didnt really mean to run, they meant run away from them and quit running your mouth. I just felt that people, particularly those that i had come to know that were part of my ilk, a part of my being, they didnt have representation to the extent that they needed. If lincolns words were of any meaning all the people for the people by the people, werent we people . Then why werent we there . To that extent i ran to be a part of what i would call politics, the decisionmaking process in this country and state and locality. Where did you grow up an what was virginia like during that time . I grew up in the east end of richmond, 28th street right across from a Famous Church i only went to when i was late going to my church, an african baptist church. All my Elementary Schools were obviously not up to snuff and no it had outdoor toilets in the city of richmond, it had no cafeteria, no auditorium. And the principal was white and all the teachers were of color. But the finest and best teacher in the world, because they looked upon us as their children, and they had corrective responsibilities as well, but it was something you didnt know about it. With that backdrop, i was maybe about 10 blocks from the church where Patrick Henry made his famous speech, give them liberty or teeth. Or death. I would ask my mother, what does it mean as to inalienable rights. No one can take them from you, she said. Does it apply to me . She said, absolutely. When you tell a kid that, in this case i believed so much of what my mother would say, that i really believed that there was something that was wrong and that i still nevertheless could overcome that. Her thing was youve got to be the best of what you can be. And i tried. What was going on in richmond during that time . Everything. Segregation. The only way to get on the street cars, when the street car was a block from my house, it wasnt full and my mother would always tug me a little bit to move into the center of the street car. I would say, why dont you sit here . She would say, lets move back a little bit. She never would explain to me that colored, et cetera, et cetera. And then she did tell me what it meant. She said, that will change. That will change. You just do what you have to do. What was that First Experience like, stepping into politics . Well, i was never encouraged by the leadership in the what you would call the black community, not the leadership. But the people. I found it very interesting because i was running from the city at large and they never had a member of the senate since that short period of reconstruction. I was the first person to be elected to the state senate since that short period. It wasnt lonely because i was able to form friendships in the senate pretty quickly, and to i didnt understand politics. I didnt know that much about it. As a matter of fact, i knew nothing. I found out how little i knew once i got there and i said, wow. But i was very lucky to be able to form some of the friendships. I had a best friend of mine from south hampton, bill rawlings, a senator. It was a slave revolt that took place. He would come and say, look, dont vote for that bill. Im going to vote for it. Hes my desk mate and my friend. He said, dont you vote for that because it isnt doing what some people might think. And the differences looking at what or means or may or sell means, just take that one word out, just take you shall or this organization may do this, in other words, the state shall boom boom boom boom, it changes everything. I was able to learn all that. When i first got there, we didnt have offices, so people would gather on the floor and talk beforehand and then go to lunch. I would see some of the guys, two or three of them standing up and talking. And i would push myself into the crowd and nod like i know what theyre talking about. Said, i guess we should get together. A half hour out of the session, that okay . Thats fine with me. I had pushed myself into it and some call it sharp elbows. I learned people could disagree with you on occasion but they were united with your cause. I would have people that say, i go to lunch with you, you are voting against my bill, you say, yes, if i hadnt voted against your bill i wouldnt be here next election cycle to vote for anything because my people would not allow it. They dont know. I had people virginia was the first state to have a legislative holiday for Martin Luther king. It took me eight years to get it. I would get it passed in the senate, the house would kill it. I would get it passed in the senate and house, the governor would veto it. I get it passed in the house and senate, and that process went on. When youre changing the constitution, you have to wait until a brand new election of the forebody comes in. Thats why it took eight years. Many of the people who voted against the measure ultimately ended up being patrons of the bill and helped me to get it passed. That single experience showed me that as hard as it is to understand virginia, of all places, being the first state to have a legislative holiday for Martin Luther king, if that could happen, other things could, too. Can we talk about when chuck dod had come to you to try and rally the chuck robb. Sorry, robb. The minority vote, what was your reaction when he first came to you asking this . Well, i helped him to get to be elected lieutenantgovernor, and that was done relative to showing he could bring a change. He did say prior to running for lieutenantgovernor, if doug wilder is going to run for lieutenantgovernor, im not going run because im not going to oppose him. I said, im not going to run and i repeated that in 1977 describing the office of the lieutenantgovernor as a vacuous position, only exists to vote in this case of a tie or preside over the senate. Far more influential here in the senate. When i decided to run later on, i said, didnt you say that before . I said, yes, this is now. When chuck asked me about that, i spoke to one of his persons who was his minority advisor, arthur murphy, from the africanamerican chain out of baltimore, i said, arthur, i tell you what im doing, im forming now in 1972, i think i started, the black Democratic Caucus of virginia, not the legislative caucus. I didnt want elected officials, i wanted people in the communities, legislative leaders, community leaders, church leaders, fraternity leaders. I wanted people who could not only reach people but they had the respect, if they said something, people believed them. So i was able to finally get that done. I referred to it in the book, and roanoke, through 500 people to attend on a friday evening, in roanoke, you dont know how hard it is to get to roanoke, virginia. I wanted to a small room because i didnt want the tabloids to show how few people came. You couldnt get into the room. After that after we formed and started developing strength, said to him, i said, chuck, i told to it murphy as well, these are things i want you to commit to. One, definitely that you will sign the bill for the Martin Luther king holiday because im going to get it passed again, that you will believe in the opportunities for registration, i called it postcard registration at the time, that you will end the sending of moneys to the schools that segregate, the private schools, vouchers, et cetera, even as they existed. A bunch of Little Things and he signed on to it. The night of the election, when the returns were coming in, it was shown he was losing by 75,000 votes and people were coming to me and giving me a fit, if it hadnt been for that damn letter you had sent out and saying this is what he was doing we wouldnt be losing this election. I said, i understand, just wait. Later in the afternoon, when folks started coming in, when he won by 100,000 votes, and the numbers of the turnouts were attributed to the africanamerican community, thats one of the times in modern times that that vote was shown to exist in virginia for a purpose. Unfortunately, some of that is disappearing across America Today, and people continue, in some instances to take that vote for granted. When you hear people think that vote is being taken for granted, when you hear young people, especially minority people today say they dont vote and dont get involved, what is your reaction to that . I understand it. I clearly understand it. When youre talking about we have to go to the base. What base . What have you done for the base . Tell me what do you see today that means that the people who still live in terrible conditions, housing, the problems of education, everybody that runs for office is going to do something for education. If youre going to do something information education, then how did it get to how it is that me and you did it . If you are in charge, one of the things i employ is that if we are going to be involved in the political process, then i want to be a part of the politics, the decision making. I speak up quite frequently, is what guides me is being part of how money is spent. I believe in spending for necessities. If theres a time for that to come, good. Right now, were interested in what we really need. What happened, president obama, in his plans for infrastructure development, he had a great plan for that, one of the best speeches i ever heard him make was when i was mayor of the city of richmond in 2008 in the miami u. S. Conference of mayors, he said our cities are not the drawbacks to metropolitan growth, theyre the engines and we need make certain we keep that. Well, they didnt want to give him the supplemental two, the plan he put forth to spend a second stimulus plan. It would have been if he could have looked back on it, i bet now you would say, okay, the first Stimulus Program should including some of these things, which means he had already bailed the banks out and insurance companies, what are their obligations to plow back . Trump is going to take much of what obama puts in place and move it. Is going to get the money and going to get a lot of the credit for it because what obama, as he says, look at the cities. Look at education. Look at the numbers of people who are not even in school. So we are indeed today want more people in our communities to be leaders than elected officials because they form their own groups. I know as a former elected official it sounds a little strange but dont get away from the people. I dont follow polls. I tell people i take a poll everyday when i go to the streets. People know me well enough to be able to feel they can talk and come up to me. Look, i want to ask you something. Fine, lets talk. I keep an ear to the ground. People are always playing to politics. Always, politics hear what they want to hear and people hear what they have to hear. A lot of people dont know, virginia has the smallest voting population of minority black voting population of any of the southern states, its only about 15 . Youd be surprised to hear that. Most people dont know that. It means i have to go out into the community to that other 85 of the people. Where do i go . The first place i started my campaign was that in southwest virginia. Coal mining country. Went into the mines, talked to the people, stayed in their homes. I never would stay in hotels. I only stayed in the homes of the people that i met or that i had known from my legislative experiences. I never campaigned didnt campaign on the interstates, i campaigned in the Country Stores and barber shops. I was learning one of my friends in southwest virginia said, if you go into these Country Stores now wherever you go you have to shake every hand because if you miss anybody, theyre going to tell it. If you miss one store theyre going to tell it. I went to this store and he said the bread man will be there or cocoa la man will be there. I know hes coming to your place. I also learned going to the local newspapers and local radio establishment, people read their local newspapers, they listen to their local radios. I went to every one and they welcomed you. Also, id like to emphasize i stayed 60 days straight xaing against every independent city in town in virginia, some near 300. I never had a Single Person to refuse to shake my hand, never, or to deny me access for being able to run. I was pleased with the reception. You get an illustration you cant take people for granted. I went into one store, a man was sitting there with bib overalls, i shook everybodys hand and had gone through and the person with me said, you didnt shake this mans hand over there. Good. Hi, im running for governor. I used to carry a grip card in my left hand and take it in my hand to give that to the person and shake their right hand. I always wait to look behind as i was leaving to see if they had thrown it into the trash yet. Did that to everybody. As i was leaving, somebody said, hey, you didnt shake that mans hand over there. I said, youre right. I went over, the man was sitting on the top of a bible with a straw hat on, bib overalls, red bandana around his neck, tobacco grease is in his jaws, sir, im doug wilder and want to ask you wanted to know if you would read this. He said, i thought you were going to pass me by. I said, no. He said, i have something i will ask you. I said, thats why im here. I want to talk about this abortion. I said, oh, my god, i could have gotten out of this store and dont have to stay here. I give him i started my speel, the government has no right to interfere in the most personal. He said, it aint no mans business no way, is it . I said, no, wow. Now, who would have believed that man sitting on that looking as i described it, would have that view back in 1989 . Virginia. Southwest virginia, but he did. Was certainly an awakening experience for me, reinforced my belief you dont judge people how they look, talk or walk, or where they lived. It reinforced what i was raised to believe, were the same people, we just need to see more of it. There are more things that connect us and unite us than divide us. We should emphasize that. Where do you think this disconnect comes from . Theres so many places you could put it. There are many people who believe the government to be professional, politics to be professional. I still have it by the simplicity of lincoln, of the people, for the people, by the people. I think it comes from overvaluing the estimation of those who serve as pundits and look how they totally missed this last election, totally, and still havent recovered from it in terms of saying we were wrong. They just cant say, look, we didnt get this right. What is it that you didnt get right . Anybody that takes a poll everyday to find out whats going on, thats not the name of what america is. Where we are today in america is a reset for a period. Bernie sanders was hitting on the left, but donald trump was hitting on the right. I saw something there. I saw people becoming disaffected on the democratic side, i saw people on the republican side not being united at all. No one would have believed i lost money, i thought jeb bush would have been the nominee. I voted for Hillary Clinton but i also knew that in so doing she needed a relativity. Thats why i supported tim kaine because i thought he could provide that. As it turned out, unfortunately he wasnt utilized in the way i thought he may have been utilized and trump moved into the vacuum. Where we are today, were in as Theodore White would say in some of the books he wrote making of the president , the last one i read he wrote was called america in search of itself every 30 years or so there is a psych like reform that takes place in america. We are still in search of ourselves. Can we get to where we need to be but we wont do with rand paul and fingerpointing as president johnson said, come, let us reason together. Do you think it maybe has something to do some people have brought up about maybe diversifying the people out there for people to really maybe see more of themselves, more minority representation and maybe even more minority involvement in politics . All right. I said to someone yesterday, we have more minority representation in America Today than ever in the history of the country. Are things better or worse . I leave that answer to you. But i will further respond to you by saying, thats not the answer. The question isnt who the representatives are, the government of the people, i keep going back to lincoln, its simple, if we have those who understand that their responsibility is to represent us, not themselves, and that in so doing, if they dont, we dont need you anymore. Well get those who can, and if what you are doing isnt proposing to be representative of us, we want that changed by the next group of people we put there. No, i dont think the answer comes as the necessary racial quarter bases are increasing that number. The question is, in america, the representation of people has grown to being more selfserving than serving the people. Look at Lyndon Johnson, who was likewise the president of all people. He fought for Thurgood Marshall to be put on the bench. He used his persuasive capacity to get eastland and mississippi and georgia, from georgia, russell, to come on out. Look, im going to do this now, now, you tell me what you need. Now, having said that, i think obama really did try. I was one of the first persons to publicly come out that had political status, to endorse obama. Hillary had most of the black caucus. There were very few people endorsing obama. I did because of that very thing you mentioned, the hope and possibilities. Now, having said that, one of the things that i hear so much of Thurgood Marshall was more than just a vote on the Supreme Court bench. I knew him personally and worked with him because he had appointed me to be his virginia representative for the naacp defense and education fund. That is what is here in the book as well. Thurgood spent time educating the other members of the bench, saying, look, this is what were talking about. This is more than black and white in terms of a law, this is what this effect is and the lack of it. Contributions really havent been met in that regard but the effect of it has been. To the contrary, thomas making it clear to you im not here to represent certain people, im here to represent everybody. Look at decisions 81, civil rights proposals, a man beat almost to death out of prison in georgia and the court decided his civil rights had been violated. Thomas voted no. Now, why do i give you that background . Because people are saying, who represents that group of people on the Supreme Court today . Who would you ascribe as being a representative of the black voice on the Supreme Court . You wouldnt say thomas, right . No. What if the president had Three Chances to at least name a black person, whether that person got nominated or not, got confirmed or not, at least show your belief. That didnt happen. Very few president s most president s dont get a chance to name one look at some of the things he did have been applauded, closing guantanamo, of course. Pulling us out of a war we shouldnt have been in, of course. But its difficult. But the time spent in doing that takes away from the things he could have and unfortunately those advising him spent more time saying this would be the safer course to take, take the road less traveled sometimes. Whether its safe or not, to make a rule, make a highway where there was only a path. I think obama has been a good president , its too early to talk about the legacy, but people who thought that their time had come unfortunately there would be those who were saying to them, you had your chance. Thats unfortunate. I dont think cyclical events should be a part of the governing process in america because it still goes back to lincoln, of the people, for the people, by the people. Do you think that speaks to a lack of undering of Race Relations in this country understanding of Race Relations in this country these issues were ignored instead of set aside . I do. Lets get past that. No one else gets passed the deprivations of the past . They address them. Have we or do we . Unfortunately, its not a matter of an apology but americas never been the great nation. How can we go back to what we werent . We are still in search of ourselves. The education process has to take place whether rooted in this home or community. The unfortunate thing in America Today is weve lost the communities. Is it irreparable, no. Can we reclaim them . Yes. How do we do that . Its not just by listen to me, i am your leader, your representative. When the crowd was challenging at bastille and he was outside drinking wine and looking out of his mansion, where are those people going . After all, i am their leader. There is no such thing. Today, we need to drill down, drill back and bind our wounds, as Lyndon Johnson said again, lets reason together. There has to be a reason and has to be a recognition there is more that unites us than divides us. Lets get past that. Next, well visit hollywood krem cemetery, the burial place for james monroe and john tyler and several other notable figures. This is 15 minutes. The master scams, the woven score of settled harmonies before a note is stirred. And nature now is pondering the tidal symphony of spring as yet unheard. This is a poem by John Bannister tab, american poet buried in Hollywood Cemetery. Here at Hollywood Cemetery we are anticipating the coming of spring. Now, many of the trees are glum. Soon, they will break forward with tremendous color and life. Hollywood kem cemetery was established in virginia and an architect was to lay out the grounds and extensive row of hollywood trees on the ground and he transformed this wooded area into one of the most picturesque rural cemeteries in the United States. By the middle of the 19th century, americas cities and town had grown due to immigration and industrialization. The city church yards and burying grounds had become overcrowded. The cemetery was created to produce safe sanitary burial outside the city limits and provide park space for the citizens of the city. John knotman came to hollywood and builds an english landscape, there are hollys, populars and elms. To those trees he adds cypress, maples, magnolias, dogwoods and crepe myrtles and creates a picturesque english landscape the work of man and nature. The royal cemetery is a place for the living. It is a park, a garden, an Outdoor Art Museum as well as a burying ground. There are many notable tenants resting in hollywood including president s, Supreme Court justices, governors, generals, captains of industry and writers. Many of their stories are told through the artworks and symbols on their monuments. As we walk today, we will understand why hollywood receives visitors from the world over. We are now in the confederate section of hollywood. Originally, this was city land, not hollywood. In 1861 the government confiscated it for the soldiers. If richmond is a temple of the lost cause, hollywood is it inner sanctum. Among these honored dead are representatives of confederate states. President ial 18,000 of confederates buried in this section, 3,000 removed brought from the gettysburg from 1871 to 1873. Originally all the graves are marked with wooden head boards but none survived. Today, some of the families are coming back and marking with the new military style stones. The centerpiece of the soldiers section is the pyramid. It is 18 feet tall and made of granite. Youll notice there is no mortar holding the stones in place. This is a dry lay or dry stacked pyramid. The hollywood ladies that had this built wanted it to be the first thing you see when you came to the ground. For many years it was because when it was built in 1869 there were no trees here. Also buried in the soldiers section ways george pickett, a westpoint graduate and served in the United States and confederate army. He suffered two defeats in the civil war first at gettysburg, july 3rd, 1863, when his division was decimated by une yo union forces known as picketts charge. And in 1865, another defeat pickett suffered, that defeat hastened lees surrender at appomattox, just eight days later. The monument to James Pickett was placed by survivors of picketts division. What was designed for placement at gettysburg but the federal authorities would not give permission for its placement there so it was placed in hollywood in 1888. Resting next to picketts grave are the 3,000 confederate soldiers removed from the gettysburg battlefield. We are at the grave of j. E. B. Stewart. James e. Brown the great confederate cavalry officer gaining fame in 1862 for his daring ride around mcclellans army just before the seven days battle around richmond and two days later mortally wounded in ashburn, v. A. Hes buried here. His monument is an egyptian style monument that represents the sun at noon day. When its used as a grave marker it means that person lived a very fruitful and successful life. He was only 31 years old when he died. His wife, laura cook is here, the founder of the Virginia Female Institute in stanton named stewart hall, in her honor. Some members of the Stewart Manor continue the 17th tradition of having family reunions here. Sometimes we come here and find a tent with family members having a reunion at the grave site of j. E. B. Stewart. Next to the grave of stewart was ellen glasgow, a richmond writer who won the novel prize. She was student of enlightenment and wrote about the oppression of women in the south. She was very critical of the false sentimentality of southern society. Richmond didnt read her books. She was disappointed because she was worried richmonders were going to lose in the life of the mind. She said, well, richmonders are just a bunch of loquacious party goers. We are at the grave site of douglas freeman, a writer and won the Pulitzer Prize for his biographies of robert e. Lee and George Washington and wrote a book called lees lieutenant, about millimeter tactics and strategies, and was also a military advisor to general eisenhower and president roosevelt. Douglas southhall freeman was an editor over 30 years and radio minister and gave daily broadcasts each day. Its very modest with just his name and his dates and a small inscription. A very mod des stone for a giant literary figure. Hes buried next to his wife, inez. Were hearing some of the maintenance going on in hollywood. Winter is a time all of the trees are maintained. Theyre doing a little bit of maintenance on the trees. Thats the noise were hearing in the background. The artwork is cast iron, stone and stained glass. This is one of the most popular monuments, a cast iron dog cast by taylor bartlett. It was placed here in 1865 to prevent its confiscation by the federal government and sent down and melted down into cannon and bullets. During the civil war the confederate government confiscated all the ornamental ironwork in the city of richmond. People who had fences around their homes and cresting, those were sent down and melted down into cannon and bullets. All the church balls were surrendered. One church bell survived because one of the parishioners at First Baptist church paid in gold. They did not want the dog melted down, their children played on it. So he placed the dog here in 1865, its next to his daughter, bernadine who died of scarlet fever, only 2 1 2 years old. Her stone is what we call a cradle stone, a french style marker reinforcing a sweet metaphor of death. Often on these cradle stones well see token of remembrance and see a scallop shell, a symbol of our pilgrimage through life and see a remembrance stone. This comes from the desert cultures, in the desert you have to pile rocks on top of the grave and that tradition has evolved into a token of remembrance. Sometimes youll find a coin left at the grave. That greek mythology represents the ferryman who takes us across the river 6 to the underworld. We are at the grave of Jefferson Davis and his family. He was a graduate of westpoint, a mississippi cotton planter, a member of the United States states house of representatives, a senator, secretary of war to frankl Franklin Pierce and the only president of the confederacy. He was married to verina howell, her family was from the north and grandstand father four time the governor of new jersey. Unfortunately she was from a large family, one of nine children and her father had difficulty supporting the family. So when she was 18, she was engaged to Jefferson Davis. He was 18 years her senior. The davises had six children, four sons and two daughters. None of the sons lived to their adult years. The two daughters are winnie, the monument is the angel of grief. Shes the youngest, the first daughter of the confederacy and margaret,s who mark is the angel in this pages of the bible. She is the only one who married and had children and her descendants continue to be buried at this site today. Jefferson was reburied in metairie and then in hollywood in 1893 after mrs. Davis chose this site for the family burying ground. The sons of confederate veterans celebrate the birthday with cannons, guns and flags. Were finishing our tour of the Hollywood Cemetery at the president s circle. A tomb of james monroe, our fifth president , is at the center. He was born in westmoreland county, virginia, had a home near charlottesville called ash lawn and was a veteran of the american revolution. The tomb of james monroe has been out for a year and a half being restored, assembled and erupted in 1858. Over the years it deteriorated and had to be taken down because 40 of it had to be recast. Reassembling of the monroe relic. This was designed by albert. Richmonder and built in philadelphia. James monroe the fifth was reburied in hollywood in 1858. He died 27 years earlier and buried at marble cemetery in new york. During the 1850s the general asemipli of virginia was trying to honor our revolutionary statesmen by bringing them back to virginia. The monroe family gave their permission, in a large ceremony july 1858, monroe was removed from the cemetery in new york and reburied in Hollywood Cemetery. John toller is buried in the president s circle chl the tenth president of the United States. While he was president john wrote an impeachment speech. He thought he was too supportive of states rights. He renounced his american citizen ship and went to work for the confederacy. He was elected to the confederate congress. For 20 years there was no marker at his grave. The state put up a small tablet headstone. In 1915 the federal government erected the monument we have today. This is a shaft with the bust of tyler. At the top theres an urn. With surrounded by two eagles. On either side on the right side of the monument is a al gor kal and on the left side there is an figure of the republic. With the seal of virginia. On their. And also the spears on the right side that are symbols of Civic Authority and government. He was born in charles city county, virginia. Died in richmond. He left his home sher wood forwest along the james and moved to richmond to work for the confederacy. And died working for the confederacy. Visitors can be seen walking, taking photographs. Sketching. And painting the landscape. And enjoying the art works in cast iron stone and stained glass. It is also a place where we renew our acquaintance with the men and women of American History. The men who birthed and built our city, our state and nation. This weekend cspan city tour takes you to springfield, missouri. While in pring speeld were working with media come to explore the literary scene and history of the berth place of route 66. In southwest missouri. Saturday at noon eastern. On book tv. Author talks about the conflict occurring along the kansas missouri border. In the struggle over slavery if his look the border between them. 1858 john brown having left kansas comes back to the territory. And he begins a series of raids into western missouri. During which his men will lip rate enslaved people from missouri. And help them escape to freedom. Theyll kill a number of slave holders and so the legend the notoriety of john brown grows. As part of this struggle that people locally understand is really the beginning of the civil war. Then sunday at 2 00 p. M. On American History tv. We visit the nra National Sporting arms museum. Roosevelt was probably the shootingest president. A very avid hunter. First thing he did when he left office was organize and go on a very large hunting trip to africa. This particular rifle was prepared specifically for roosevelt. It has the president ial seal on the breech. And of course roosevelt was famous for the bull moose party. And there is a bull moose engraved on the side plate of this gun. Watch cspan cities tour of springfield, missouri. Saturday at noon eastern. On cspan 2 book tv. And sunday at 2 00 p. M. On American History tv