Transcripts For CSPAN3 C-SPAN Cities Tour- U.S. Politicians 20240711

Home to the house and senate since 1800. But it is their home districts and states that send members to washington, d. C. Over the next 90 minutes, a look at pivotal u. S. Politicians as we travel the nation in search of their stories. Coming up first, u. S. Congressman and senator, former wisconsin governor, and 1924 Progressive Party president ial candidate, robert fighting bob la follette. There is work for everyone. It is large. It is a glorious service. This service for the country, the call comes to every citizen. It is an unending struggle to make and keep government representative. Bob la follette is probably the most important political figure in wisconsin history, and one of the most important in the history of the 20th century in the United States. He was a reforming governor he defined what progressivism is. He was one of the first to use the term progressive to selfidentify. He was a United States senator who was recognized by his peers in the 1950s as one of the Great American senators of the 1950s. He was an opponent of world war i. He stood his ground, advocating for free speech. In the era after the civil war, america changed radically from a nation of Small Farmers and small producers and small manufacturers, and by the 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, we had concentrations of wealth, growing inequality and we had concern about the influence of money in government. United states senators were elected by legislators. There was huge sums of money going into those campaigns. There was corruption. And you had a group of individuals who were looking for a way to change the status quo. And around 1900, the idea of progressivism coalesced. You had reformers nationwide looking at how did we get into this problem and what can we do about that . What the progressives were especially interested in was changing systems. They were concerned that the game was fixed so that the big money folks, the corporations, the special interests were going to be able to get their way. They werent advocating equality of result but they wanted everyone to be at the starting line, the same starting line. La follette went onto United States congress as a member of the house of representatives and was a rather congressional congressman. Voted the party lines. In the early 1890s, something happened to bob la follotte to help change him. 1891 he was called into the office of senator sawyer, republican u. S. Senator, and sawyer was involved in a law case which was going to be tried by la folletes brotherinlaw. Sawyer offered him a retainer for legal advice. Heres 50. Hell get more when the case comes out right. La follette said, im being bribed here, got up, walked out. His brotherinlaw excused himself from that case. The story started making the rounds. And la follette alienated himself from the rest of the Republican Party establishment. According to his own story, thats when the insight hit him. This is what politics right now is about, its about money, about those who can afford to buy justice, about those who can afford to buy offices. And he believed that the system needed to be reformed. So, he spent the later part of the 1890s giving speeches all over wisconsin. If you wanted a speaker for your club or your group, bob la follette would give a speech. He went to county fairs. He went to every kind of event you could imagine and built a reputation for himself. By 1900, he was ready to run for governor, advocating on behalf of the people. And he had two issues. One, the direct primary. No more selecting candidates in convention. Two, stop the interests. Specifically the railroads. Wisconsin farmers were dependent on railroads setting prices. And they believed those prices were being fixed through collusion as the major railroads agreed on those prices, railroads gave out free passes to legislators. A free pass was like getting a free rental car because this is the way you got around, via railroad. So, if you gave a free pass to every member of the legislature, they would look kindly on you. Youre getting Free Transportation from them. So, la follette ran on that. And through the connections he made, throughout the state and speaking, through the data he gathered about who would likely support him, he won that nomination. La follette was opposed by the conservative republicans in the legislature. Didnt get the legislation that he wanted. Tried again in 1902. Was elected governor. He was still being blocked by the stalwart republicans. And in 1904, he went on the campaign trail against members of his own party. He started reading roll calls at these meetings. Who voted against regulating the railroads . Who voted against the direct primary . 1904 was the tremendous victory for bob la follette because he not only won reelection, he won enough of his progressive supporters in the legislature. The other thing that la follette was successful in doing is he believed in referendum, recall, and initiative. And he was able to get the legislature to agree that a primary bill would be passed but only if it was passed by a referendum. Well, la follette when he campaigned he distributed literature on one side of it supported bob la follette, on the other side was a reminder to vote yes on the referendum. So, he would use his Campaign Machinery to campaign for both the cause and the man. At the time bob la follette was governor, United States senators were still being elected by the state legislature. One of the progressive reforms that progressives all over the country advocated was the direct election of senators. 1905 a Senate Position opened up in wisconsin and bob la follette announced he was going to run for senator, but he was not going to resign his position as governor until his reforms were passed. So, he was successfully elected senator, stayed in wisconsin for the first nine, ten months of his term, and not until the legislature adjourned after passing his program did he assume his seat in washington, d. C. In 1906. That began a 20year period of service in the United States senate. Bob la follette was trying to repeat on a National Level some of his successes in wisconsin. La follettes methods of politics had to change because he was dealing with persuading a majority of 96 senators to support his position. And la follette was a master tactician. Just like on the state level, he was able to gather data on who would support him, who he needed to make contact. He was a master of rules in the senate. So, bob la follette used the filibuster to stop legislation that he felt was harmful. He was recognized in the u. S. Senate as a leader of a small group of progressives there, whose votes were needed by the majority to pass legislation. La follette was a republican, as were most progressives in the u. S. Senate. That group of 12 or 14 votes that he controlled and allowed him to negotiate. In terms of bob la follette, spreading the idea nationally, he used two techniques. One he started a magazine called la follettes magazine, great at promoting the cause and the magazine. That magazine still exists today. Its called the progressive. Secondly, bob loved to speak in public. If you wanted a speaker, bob la follette would go anywhere in the nation to speak. He did this partly because he was not an independently wealthy man. He needed the income from speaking. But he would go to chautauquas around the country and various events to spread his word. You started getting progressive candidates in the democratic party. Woodrow wilson getting elected governor of new jersey in 1910 as a progressive. Teddy roosevelt nationally was viewed as a progressive with the kind of crustbusting he was interested in doing, fighting against monopolies. There were reformers around the nation who were concerned about the use of children in factories and eliminated those. Bob la follette opposed war. He voted for Woodrow Wilson in 1916, even though bob la follette was a republican he voted for wilson because he believed in wilsons pledge to keep the United States out of the war. In april of 1917 Woodrow Wilson asked congress to declare war on germany. Bob la follette he was only one of six United States senators to oppose that war. He was concerned that only munitions makers, profiteers would benefit from that. That the people would suffer through the loss of loved ones in the military. He was concerned that the government was not telling the people the full cost of the war. His principle concern was the suppression of Civil Liberties. In 1917 Congress Passed a bill called the espionage act. That bill didnt have anything to do with espionage. It wasnt about spying. It was about suppressing opposition to the war. Newspapers could be shut down and were shut down as a result of that. People were jailed for their criticism of the war. And bob la follette believed the bill of rights was not repealed because the United States was at war. An event on september 20, 1917, was a critical turning point for la follette. He gave a speech in st. Paul, minnesota, and at that meeting, bob la follette was critical of the war effort. He said, we have grievances against germany, but those grievances are not sufficient to go to war. The Associated Press reported him as saying, we have no grievances against germany. That news story created a national uproar. In wisconsin, 90 of the faculty of the university of wisconsin signed a roundrobin petition opposing la follette. There were calls and an investigation in the United States to expel bob la follette from the state. There were threats on his life. His point was, i didnt say this, but the war hysteria that went on, that explanation didnt carry much weight because he did oppose the war. It wasnt until may of 1918 that the Associated Press apologized for their error. It wasnt until 1919 that the United States senate cleared his name and said there are no grounds for expelling la follette. And la follettes fame and the respect that he has comes from his stance for Civil Liberties when he was one of the few people in the country speaking out on behalf of the right of people to exercise their free speech rights under the institution. Bob la follette, i think, was interested in being president from the very beginning. 1908 bob la follettes in the United States senate two years and throws his hat in the ring. Teddy roosevelts term is coming to the end. Everybody expects William Howard taft is going to get the nomination. Bob thinks he would be a good candidate. Hes an unsuccessful candidate to be president of the republican convention. 1912 was the year that la follette thought would be his year. He sounded out teddy roosevelt. Teddy said, im not going to be running. Bob la follette was going to be the leader of the progressives, challenging William Howard taft for the republican nomination. After antitaft forces start developing in some strength, roosevelt changes his mind, throws his hat in the ring. La follettes outraged at this. Hes not going to support roosevelt in the convention. And takes his fight to the convention. And William Howard taft gets the nomination. Teddy roosevelt runs as an independent on a progressive bull moose ticket. He finally did run for president on his own progressive ticket in 1924. La follette looked at the two parties, davis and democrats, coolidge and the republicans. He said, both of these are conservative parties. Neither of them are running on progressive reform issues. And he created a third party that ran burton wheeler, a democrat as his Vice President , and la follette for president. It was poorly funded. They had about 250,000 to spend nationally. That was comparative to about 4 million that the republicans had and about 2 million the democrats had. And la follette relied on his old speechmaking ability. Each one has a patriotic duty to build at least a part of his life into the life of his country. Amazingly, la follette got about 17 of the vote nationally in that election. That was at the time the second best run of a thirdparty. Ross perot in 1992 matched and slightly exceeded la follettes effort. He carried wisconsin but he came in second in about ten other states. That was la follettes last hurrah in 1924. The name has kind of magic in wisconsin. The two sons went ahead and created that Third Political party, the Progressive Party in wisconsin, and then attempted to take that party nationally in 1938, carrying on the issues that old bob fought for, which were important in the context of the 1930s. So, you saw things like unemployment compensation, you saw many of the ideas that you found in the new deal emerged out of wisconsin. Franklin roosevelt delivered patronage in wisconsin through wisconsins progressives rather than through the Wisconsin Democratic party. And that idea continued right down through bronson la follette, a third generation, who was wisconsins attorney general. Many of the ideas that bob la follette fought for are still open issues. La follette called for the direct election of president as opposed to using the electoral college. He wanted to see the elimination of the influence of money in campaigns. He wanted popular review of judicial decisions being able to overturn Supreme Court decisions. And he wanted referdas on calling war, that the United States would not be able to go to war except in a defensive fashion without a popular referendum. Some of those ideas are still being debated today. That it shall not corrupt but shall obey the government that guards and protects its rights. Near passive citizenship is not enough. Men must be aggressive for what is right if government is to be saved from those who are aggressive or what is wrong. Robert la follettes time in the u. S. Senate coincided with Charles Curtis of kansas, who was the Senate Majority leader from 1924 to 1929. From 1929 to 1933 he served as 31st Vice President and broke ground as the first in that position to be of native american descent. I came to know Charles Curtis after i moved to topeka and im actually resident historian at the cemetery where he is buried. So, i came to know more of his story. The more i found out, the more fascinating he became and the more i realized how undertold his story is. Hes reduced to a trivia question. The only Vice President of American Indian lineage or ancestry. And he deserves a lot more than that. Ive been doing some Curtis Research for 20 years. Its gotten more serious in the last couple of years. His journey has become more remarkable to me in the last couple of years, as i realize exactly what he did. Hes born on hes born in north topeka in 1860, so hes born during the territorial period. Hes osage, french and white descent. Curtis. He comes originally, you know, his descendants, or ancestors are passengers on the mayflower. You know, a lot of hay is made with that when he is a candidate. Hes got the indian on one side, the pilgrims on the other. So, its a great pr piece. What makes him so remarkable, i think, is hes mixed blood growing up in a time that makes that very difficult. And he somehow, i think, by sheer force of his personality, makes all that an advantage. I know one historian said he played the indian card when it worked, he played the white card when it worked. That might be true, but its i think its it oversimplifies his experience and i think its a little unfair to him. I think he chose the white mans world. He says that. Thats his words, because of his experiences. And its unfortunate that society forced that choice on him. His mother has an allotment of land as a part of her mixed Indian Heritage, so he always has means. When he is when his mother dies, when he is only 3 years old, he goes to live with his indian grandmother on the reservation at council grove. By then the caw had been reduced to the council grove. So he grows up with an indian identity. He talks about his childhood as being idyllic. He was riding ponies and hunting and fishing. Its a great life. The turning point came in 1868. Hes only 8 years old. The cheyenne uncharacteristically come pretty far east to attack the caw. Now, this is not a pitch battle. It turns basically into a standoff. But its an incredible show of force of the cheyenne. Charles curtis, by his own account, is selected to walk to topeka 60 miles to alert the authorities that the cheyenne have attacked them. Some accounts say that his uncle that he actually came with his uncle, but charles spoke english. He spoke french, caw and english. So, he comes to topeka. And tells governor crawford that the cheyenne have attacked. I think a lot of this is due to the fluff his grandmothers but his white grabbed mother in topeka said, thats enough. Youre coming to live with us and have a civilized life. His indian grandmother agreed. So, when the indians then when the caw tribe is being removed to the indian nations or the indian territory, what is now oklahoma, he really wants to go with them. Thats 1873. So, hes 13. It was only a twoyear program so it was not unusual for people not to have graduated then. But he worked. He had one horse and a buggy and he borrowed or rented another horse and he basic really runs a taxi service. So, hes running the legislators and the attorneys back and forth around the capital. He becomes interested in the practice of law. So, he reads for the law, as was not uncommon at that point. Thats how he passes the bar. Curtis had decades of legislative experience. He was both in congress, he was the first republican Senate Majority leader. He was, to some people, some newspaper editors of the day said that curtis was the most powerful man in washington as Senate Majority leader. He did not rule from the front. He ruled from the back. He sat by the door. He knew every man in there intimately. He knew what they wanted. He knew their childrens names. He knew what motivated them. He was a master at compromise, at getting things done and almost never rose to speak himself. In the 1928 president ial campaign, curtis was hoping to get the top spot. He was campaigning for president. Not second place. When the convention met in kansas city that year, he was very disappointed and made it known that he was disappointed not to be chosen as president. During that campaign, because probably he was already Senate Majority leader and a really big deal, almost all the newspapers make him a mythic figure. This rise from teepee to washington. Whether or not he ever lived in a teepee, im really not sure. That was the myth. Again, this indian and pilgrim background, it was just turned into such a colorful story. Nobody could match that story. So, by then he had so ensconced himself with business that i dont believe his Indian Heritage was a negative. It doesnt appear to have been. So, hes hoovers Vice President. Hoover obviously is not real popular because his administration was, some people think, responsible for the depression, and at least ushered in the great depression. So, Nobody Associated with that is very popular. And as Vice President , curtis was something of a nobody. All Vice President s are to some extent, but curtis became kind of a caricature at the time. Its very unfortunate because he was a very remarkable man. The house, a very, very beautiful house. Just almost unbelievable how beautiful it still is. This is actually called eclectic. Victorian. Eclectic is because it has the moorish gnomes and italianate and some stained glass windows and curved windows. Its just a lot of different styles of the Victorian Era thats been put together. They call it eclectic victorian. And we just love the building. People love to come here. They love to see the house and the furnishings and talk about curtis and its just a very wonderful retirement for us because its kept us on the go. Well, my husband and i purchased the house in 1993. When we purchased the building, it was actually stated to going to be demolished by the state because nobody was interested in purchasing the building. It actually has 12 rooms. And furnishings in the house are of curtis era. He would have used most of these furnishings in that era. We do have some curtis items in the house that are very important. We have the grandfather clock that was there when curtis was here. We have a book case, a chair, a quilt and a few dishes. But we have a lot of memorabilia of curtis. And when we take people on a tour of the building, they we just tell them the story of curtis first. And now curtis story is becoming more popular. The people in our city didnt know about curtis. And i thought that was very strange, but of course that was many years since he had been in office, you know. And the more we read about him, the more almost unbelievable to think that you could take one year of High School Education and go on to do all of that. As republican Charles Curts was ending his time as Vice President in 1933, huey long was beginning his in the u. S. Senate. But this former governor of louisiana had his career cut short as he visited the State Capitol building in baton rouge in september 1935. You know, on the date of huey longs assassination, he was the u. S. Senator, but he was in baton rouge visiting the louisiana legislature, in particular the house of representatives. And visiting with the speaker of the house at that time, allen ellender. They were here. If you like to accompany me, well walk to the speakers desk where huey and ellender had just finished a conversation or were discussing everything. Youll get an idea that from there, you can see the entire chamber. You have to remember, huey long, while being a handson governor, he was also a handson senator. And never really felt like he was no longer governor. Okay allen was the governor at the time, but huey long still wielded great influence in the legislature, even more so, some say, because now he was a u. S. Sitting senator. So, as we walk, this is where they would have been. And the last known photograph taken of huey long was prior to his assassination was huey long standing right about here where this chair is, and the speaker of the house, who was presiding, watching the happenings, was leaning over, talking to senator, former governor, huey long. It was after those conversations were finished that they walked down the chamber, walked down the hall right there, outside of the chamber, and were returning to remember, the Governors Office. Huey long wasnt the governor, but he continued to use the Governors Office as if it were his. Now, were entering the area of the hall where the assassination took place. But this is also first the double doors here were the entrance to the Governors Office. Now, while huey long was really the senator, he still acted like the governor. He would stay at the Governors Mansion with governor allen and he was coming to use governor allens office. As he walked past this column, it is, again, i wasnt there. From all accounts and from talking with one of the body guards when i was a lot younger, who was with mr. Huey long, mr. Weiss, dr. Weiss was somewhere in this area, walked out and approached senator long as he passed by to go in here. Now, a verbal altercation of some sort took place, as huey and weiss exchanged maybe heat words, arguments, who knows what, shots rang out, huey long was shot. As we know, theres still remnants, still bullet hole mark here. This is marble. You can see the hole. Senator kind of stumbled. It was one gut shot, i would call it. One shot to the abdomen area. He was weakened and he started by that time his body guard, another body guard, who was i call him colonel, the colonel, bill falquer, from my hometown, was his personal body guard, had gone up to move the car. The senator was leaving the house chamber, going to check in here, maybe return some phone calls and then they were leaving. He turned the corner, rushed up here. He, according to the information i was given, did not fire a shot because he caught the senator as he collapsed, carried him down the stairs, put him in the backseat of a black sedan. I remember that vividly. It was a buick. And took him right around the corner from here, around the back of the capitol. There was a hospital called lady of the lake hospital at that time. I mean, at that time it was located on the other side of the lake. Brought him in the emergency room there. And kind of the rest is history. Long all the way was muttering, why did that blankityblank shoot me, whats what and by this time hes in some pain. He goes in. He refuses to let the physicians and all at the emergency room treat him. He thought maybe there was a conspiracy or something. He knew he was still alive. Now, im getting this, what im relaying to you is what was given to me by the body guard in the mid70s, mid1970s. The body guard stayed with him the whole time. And as hes staying with him, the question kept coming up, what was he doing . Why did he shoot me . Why . And at that time huey would not let those doctors work on him and wanted the doctor who was the head of Charity Hospital to be the surgeon, who would treat him. By the time they made the phone calls to new orleans remember, were talking again, and i have to keep reminding folks, now new orleans to baton rouge was an hour and a half drive. Back then it was four hours on a narrow tworain road through the marsh. It took four hours to get the doctor here. By the time he got here, the poison and the other things from the gut shot kind of set in, the infection. And huey long ultimately died several many hours later. Who shot huey long, all sorts of speculation. Brought him in the emergency room there and kind of the rest was history. All the way was muttering, why did that blankety blank shoot me. By that time hes in pain. He goes in and refuses to let the physicians in the emergency room treat him. He thought maybe there was a conspiracy or something. He knew he was still alive. What im relating to you is what was given to me by the bodyguard in the mid1970s. The bodyguard stayed with him the whole time, and as hes staying with him, the question kept coming up, what was he doing . Why did he shoot me . Why . At that time huey would not let those doctors work on him and wanted the doctor who was the head of Charity Hospital to be the surgeon who would treat him. Well, by the time they made the phone calls to new orleans and remember, were talking, again, and i have to keep reminding folks, now new orleans to baton rouge is an hour and a half drive. Back then it was four hours on a narrow twolane road through the marsh. It took four hours to get the doctor here. By the time he got here, the poison and the other things from the gunshot kind of set in the infection, and huey long ultimately died many hours later. Who shot huey long . All sorts of speculation. I can tell you firsthand account it would be secondhand account from the bodyguard who was with him. Colonel fake, called him chief also because he was chief of police, said, i was there. It was one small caliber bullet. I was there when it was taken out of his stomach and i took it to the lab. I held it. I know for a fact. And rumor and many books i have read and others out there said huey long had done some things to the weiss family, and because they were antilong back then, and thats what provoked weiss to maybe do what he did. He was a mildmannered, nice doctor who for whatever reason did what he did. Of course, everyone has denied the real meaning because rice was killed in a confrontation with the bodyguards. I think huey long knew weiss family, it is said, and some of his wifes family more than he knew weiss. And, you know, as colonel fake used to share with me some of the stories that it was not uncommon for huey to really go after someone. If they were against him in a particular parrish, he would do what he could to bring that parrish to his knees, to that leadership, to keep his folks in place. Could that have had something to do with it . I really dont know. I never really explored that in great depth other than all of the rumors. The newspaper accounts from that time, its just you want to think of it as one of those unfortunate instances that changed the course of history. And the reason i say changed the course of history, look what he did in louisiana. Many have speculated that there was a conspiracy to take him out because he could have been a president ial candidate. You know, there have been many books written about who was huey long. If you could get inside his mind, if you could figure out who he was, i like to think of him as a unique individual, a one of a kind who just happened to be at the right time in our States History where we needed someone of his persistence, someone of his sheer determination, someone of his ilk. And yet humble background to take our state forward. I like to say he brought us, in a way, kicking, screaming into the 20th century. And he had a vision. People dont want to admit it. He had a vision. He brought public highways to louisiana, he put a lot of paved roads to the rural community, farm to market roads, he brought them in, realized if you dont have a highway, you cant get your goods and products to the market, to the city. Public education as we know it started with huey long. Free textbooks started with huey long. I know i said in my tenyear speaker, a chicken in every mans pot. He was a populist and he believed in doing for the people. Ive heard stories and ive read stories and read books on it. If he saw you as genuine and sincere and you werent personal, he could relate to you. When you made it personal, it was over. And if you truly believed and were of conviction about whatever you were discussing, he could relate to that, because he was of the same ilk. And in politics, youve got to learn as youre coming up and as you progress through it, you cant burn all the bridges. And i think he understood that. But he also understood youre either for me or against me. But in getting to that determination, we need to work it out. And if you were against him, how did he treat you . There was no treat. You were persona non grata. You knew it so you didnt bother with it. You just prepared. Prepare for what . Whatever was coming and it wasnt going to be pleasant. Do you have an example of something that occurred in history . Only the many stories of those who were against him. There was a swing vote coming up and they mysteriously got stopped by the police and were locked up in jail and had to spend the night, missed the vote. If they were in opposition or were going to speak against it, Little Things like that. Thats, you know, common. When did the bodyguards come into play . When did he start having bodyguards around him . Louisiana governors have traditionally had that. But huey in particular, as colonel fake would tell me, when they would travel, when he was governor, he maintained the mansion here right down the street from the old state capital, and he spent a lot of time in new orleans which was the largest city, in the roosevelt hotel. He said many days we traveled in two cars, and he used the words two forwards. He said, we traveled the airline highway, which is now u. S. Highway 61, between new orleans and baton rouge. It was a two, threehour trip, easy threehour trip. He said, we would run down that highway. He said there was a stop, i would make my phone call. Huey would get something to drink. I didnt know enough to say was it alcoholic, nonalcoholic . To this day that service station restaurant is still there. It looks art deco 30s style. He said, i would stop there and make my phone call, because all we had in our car was receivers. In other words, it would receive a radio transmission. They couldnt transmit back. It was, in effect, a police radio, but it was a radio. He said, i would make my call and we would leave. We traveled in two cars. I traveled with the governor or the senator, and there was always a car in front of us. It was not uncommon you would hear plink, plink, someone shooting at us along the way. He said, remember, we were rural. We were just coming out of the throes of the war was over, world war i was over, huey long was a populist. They had never had anyone like him as a governor who got around, used the media, the sound trucks. Baton rouge is what it is in large part because of the contributions of the governor. Think of this. Louisianas capital is here. It wasnt always here. One time it was in new orleans, one time it was in shreveport. It moved around. Building this building here was one of the first steps in really forming baton rouge as the foundation for the seat of government. Within a matter of a couple of years of this building being occupied, what we call the capital annex across the street from here was built and completed in, like, 1938 or 39. Government had already outgrown this building. So you consolidated. And by that time, in my opinion, it assured and ensured at the same time that baton rouge would always remain the capital of louisiana. From Louisiana State capital in baton rouge, we travel to montanas capital city of helena and to the papers of Jeannette Rankin, the first woman to serve in the u. S. Congress. We are in the Montana Historical society in the state archives. The archives is one of three programs that makes up the Research Center here at the historical society. Today were going to be talking about Jeannette Rankin. She was a woman from montana, the missoula area, actually, born in 1880. Her biggest claim to fame is she was the first woman elected to the United States congress. That was in 1916. She was elected again in 1939 just before we got into world war ii. So she served two different terms but lots of years in between them. Jeannette rankin, when she came into the congress, she came in with a bit of the fanfare. There was a bit of a honeymoon in which she was given a standing ovation when she walked into congress. She was given flowers. So it was a very positive time for her. That quickly ended, however, when she voted no for the u. S. Entry into world war i. This is a letter from anna garland spencer. Shes from meadville, pennsylvania. In it she talks about how difficult that it must have been being the first woman in congress, period, but then also being the first one to have to say no to war. It would have been so much better and easier for you if two or more women had been inaugurating element of our sex. Then as there probably wouldnt have been an entire agreement between them, the responsibility would have been divided and you would have stood not for womanhood but only for ms. Rankin in your first most serious vote. But im sure others will be with you later, and that in any case, your sincerity and right feeling will win the confidence of your comrades. One of the places that Jeannette Rankin took the worst beatings, if you will, was in the press. Unfortunately, the newspapers in montana were largely owned and operated by the Anaconda Copper Mining Company and they were very prowar, so a lot of the newspapers in montana really, as i said, vilified her. There is an old saying about death by a thousand cuts. I just wanted to provide one example of the slights that she Jeannette Rankin experienced all over the state. This particular one. She was supposed to sell liberty bonds in butte, make a presentation and sell liberty bonds, and when she got there the door was locked. She wondered why they werent letting her in, and they said, we had no knowledge you were supposed to be here. Her response, of course, was to stand in front of the building and give her speech, anyway. It shows she definitely had the wherewithall and the spine to be able to handle all these cuts, the death of a thousand cuts. But if you think about this, every town she went to, every time she went to give a speech, these kinds of slights were given to her. Despite the rocky start to her term, Jeannette Rankin actually did a great deal. She was the woman to put forward the susan b. Anthony amendment, which eventually became the 19th amendment, giving women suffrage. That was one of the big things she really wanted to have happen during her term. She also tried to get Child Welfare reform in and things like that. So there is a lot of issues that she worked towards, and i think one of the best examples of that fight for her relates to the speculator mine disaster that occurred in 1917. In the disaster, 168 men were killed and, of course, that left many orphans and women without any means of support. If there had been reforms within the mine, the safety of the miners would have been assured and the disaster would not have occurred at all. One more piece id like to show you. Its sort of a call to arms telling jeannette that she really needs to get to butte and to participate. It looks like your highest duty for you is to come instantly to investigate these conditions and methods firsthand. This knowledge will force congress and others to immediate action and a new note shall be sounded in the industrial world. My plan demands big courage, big comprehension and close discrimination. You can trust the people here. They will give you justice. Strict neutrality act to keep the United States out of what look like what might become european war. And so in that way he was a leader in the fight with Franklin Roosevelt as roosevelt was trying to engineer abe for Great Britain and people who had become our allies against killer. And then after the war, in 1945, or late in the war, vandenberg came forward and said, things have to change what. In effect, reversed his own position and said, isolation was no longer possible for the u. S. As a global power that we had to take leadership underworld stage or relinquish it to darker forces. But by making that shift in the last months of world war ii, he pulled a lot of American Public opinion with him and really helped enable the changes in americas rise to leadership. As someone who grew up in grand rapids with an interest in politics, i had always been curious about vandenbergs life. Vandenberg one of these ambitious kids. His father had a thriving hernia business that literally went broke when vandenberg was nine years old. He was doing odd jobs and things to support the family, but once he was in high school here he thrives on he was editing the School Newspaper and he thrived on political news. He gave a speech that won him second place in an oratory contest in 1900, when he was a senior in high school on the peace conference in the hague in 1900. So already he is thinking about Foreign Policy as a teenager. He claims he started reading the congressional records when he was 15. We have no record of this but that is what he thought of himself. Four years before he built this house, at the age of 22, when he was a wound hurricane editor of a medium sized daily newspaper. So from then on he is covering every republican Political Convention and his men tour and part owner of the paper is a senator named william smith. Michigan senator best known for a having shared the titanic investigation. First public hearing first hearing held in the Senate Caucus room. Vandenberg has a mentor like that and then in 1911, vandenberg shares the campaign to put a statue that michigan had coming to it in statuary hall in the capital for an abolitionist senator name chandler. He gives a speech in statuary hall as a dedication as he would then be a 27 year Old Newspaper editor. So he is feeling the political excitement covering conventions, being mentored by a senator. Speaking in the halls of congress and he had the bug. He could not resist. So then it only became a question of, what does he run for . And as a young man on the go, he prided himself on being an order and was a popular after dinner speaker, lunch and club speaker. So people wanted him to run for congress or run for Lieutenant Governor or governor but he really wants to be senator. I mean he is in his twenties, thirties, and its like, i do not want to bother with this peanut stuff. I want to be senator. He arrived at the senate with a great advanced billing and an unwillingness to sort of be quiet and be on a packed bench for a while. No sign of humility, which did not sit well with some of his colleagues. He was kind of cocky about things and people really resented that. Two or three generations ago there was this understanding that if you are a freshman, you got away return and he was not willing to do that. So that rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. And then when the depression comes along, he really is he is accused of vessel laden he is sometimes supporting roosevelt and sometimes not so his fellow republicans are not sure what to make of him and he is certainly trying to leave a fine political line as michigan tilts more and more away from being a purely republican state. It also means hes not entirely reliable. Its in the eyes of his fellow republicans. Because he had been so visible before the war fighting in american involvement, he became, in effect, the republican spokesman in Foreign Policy after the death of one of his mentors, william barr, senator burrow, who died in 1970. Vandenberg was unquestionably the voice of Republican Party in foreign affairs. In 1943, as a 1944 election was coming up, the republicans that had big conferences in northern michigan, and vandenberg whats challenge was to unify the party around a platform for the 1944 election because in 1948 had been torn apart with when dull wilkie and robert taft having two very different visions of what the republicans should stand for. So vandenberg puts the group together at mcconnell island and gets them to agree that the republicans will support an International Organization after the war and what became the United Nations. Even as roosevelt was planning the creation of the United Nations, he was not talking about it because he did not want to have the british with their colonies or soviets concerned about eastern europe. Starting to argue and jockey for position because they were allies and we needed them to finish fighting the war. Vandenberg was addressing things that the democrats and roosevelt had kept bottled up. Kept from being debated. So he is taking the republicans who had been the isolationist to such a degree. He is taking them, expressing support for a new form of a league of nations for what became the United Nations when a time when nobody else is talking much about it. So that identified him with a new way of thinking both for the republicans and because the democrats were not talking much about it for the americans. When the United Nations was being discussed, Franklin Roosevelt knew that he could not make the mistake that Woodrow Wilson did after world war i when they created the league of nations and wilsons american delegation to the lead, which he led himself, contained no republicans of any stature. So he brought it back to the senate and the republicans, who are than the majority, said, what is going on here . You have not even consulted us. So roosevelt, despite despite seeing vandenberg as a rival, also knew that he needed him for the credibility of the american delegation to the United Nations. He did not want to choose him, but he had no choice. So this is in february and march of 1945. And then in april of 1945, roosevelt died. Harry truman becomes president. Roosevelt had really function as his own secretary of state. He had a secretary of state name edwards to tennis who was a capable u. S. Steel executive but really out of his depth in major Foreign Policy discussions. The secretary of state is not strong. Poor president truman had lunch once with Franklin Roosevelt and really had not been included in on what roosevelt was planning is on schooled and where things stand and so vandenberg goes to San Francisco as really the most influential american delegate and he has truman deferring to him. He has edward deferring to him and he is helping set the stage for the United Nations charters going to look like. No nation, hereafter, can immunize itself by its own exclusive action. Only collective security can stop the next great war before it starts. And so he found himself being lionized and found the country really looking to him as an outspoken voice for a rational approach. Nothing utopian. It was not going to be one world. One of his republican rivals, wilkie, had written a book called one world and people thought, maybe we should have a world government and then there were isolationists coming back out of the closet like robert taft saying, bring the boys home and lets wash our hands of whats happening in the world. Vandenberg said no, we cannot do that but we better look after American Interest as part of a global structure. And then vandenberg was an early advocate of dwight eisenhower. Vandenberg and robert taft were friends and rivals for control of the Republican Party throughout the 1940s. The taft understanding was that what vandenberg does Foreign Policy untapped policy but tasked with more isolationist so he was always chipping away at vandenberg. While vandenberg supports a lot of task domestic policies, sometimes taft takes a harder line but in 1950, vandenberg its back here ill but eisenhower is his hope for the future of the country and eisenhowers rival for the republican nomination in 1952 was taft. So eisenhower would later say that vandenberg was one of the people he most admired and vandenberg, in his last months of his life, weeks of his life, talked about hearing a radio broadcast of eisenhower and feeling like my legacy is going to live on through eisenhower. And so there are those strains of the Republican Party that we still see today being played out. That vandenberg was just immerse in and helped define. His greatest legacy is the notion of bipartisanship. When the first gulf war comes about and you have a republican president and democrats in control of congress, the cry goes up. Where is there a vandenberg among the democrats, among the opposing party . Few years later, when clinton is contemplating, i think it was response to bosnia and you got republicans in control of congress, the cry goes up. Where is there vandenberg . That role of a leader of the royal opposition, who is not going to sacrifice their own principles but who is going to work with the president and is really tough on Foreign Policy, that is when we most mid vandenberg and when he is most iconic is the best in american government. As time is coming to an, and william full bright was just beginning. And his papers at the university of arkansas in fayetteville tally story. James William Fulbright was a u. S. Senator in arkansas from 1944 until 1974. 30 years. Before that he was a representative. A u. S. Representative from the arkansas area. He was president of the university of arkansas, the youngest president United States at the time from 1939 to 1941 and worked at the department justice. He was a distinguished graduate and a lot of arkansas. Start football player, writer, hes an amazing guy. Hes also a native of fayetteville. As a u. S. Senator who is a very distinguished guy and lots of really important stuff, some stuff that has lasting implications. He was a leader in international affairs. He was the longest serving chair of the Foreign Relations committee for the u. S. Senate, which particularly during the cold war but it is always one of the most powerful positions in the United States and thus in the world. You control a lot of budgets but you also are a key negotiations and development of diplomatic policy. So he had that role. He was also a fierce advocate for the state and for the people of arkansas. As a representative, he was a dynamic political figure. As a u. S. Senator, he was a leading figure nationally. Senator fulbright gave his papers to the university of arkansas libraries in 1972 and required several different addenda or additions to the collection over decades. So we have a selection of those. Its a very large collection. We have associated archives to go along with it. So if we would look at everything related to senator fulbright and the Fulbright Programs, we would be here for weeks and weeks and months and months. Instead we are going to look at highlights from the papers as well as some images and a few books that the senator wrote. A couple of other things to highlight in his connection to the university of arkansas. We have here is one of the really important images that we were able to preserve and save with the fulbright papers. This one has went with turnout to have decades of significance. This is senator fulbright with president harry as truman. What they are doing as fulbright is witnessing truman signing the fulbright act. August 1st, 1946. That is the actual we established to understand the fulbright act later. Since then, scholars from all over the world, 150 countries all over the world, participated in the Fulbright Program. That is something he will hopefully be known for forever. Its not the, it is one of the most Impactful International Exchange Programs in the history of the world. He was elected to the house of representatives for northwest arkansas, representing us in d. C. In 1942. He just left his role as the president at the university of arkansas and he was only a rep from 1942 until 1944. Within the time, he did some pretty impressive things. He had already started to lay the groundwork for what would become the Fulbright Program later. He was also instrumental in the United States participation of what we come to understand as the United Nations of world war ii. This is a speech for what became known as the fulbright resolution where he is encouraging the United States to help establish this International Body to resolve issues, to help nations get along, to use Diplomatic Solutions instead of and really to avoid another world war. So this is fulbright as a very young representative from his state in washington. Presenting an idea, very forcefully making an argument for an idea, of what would become one of the foundational institutions that shape the 20th century and the 24 century which of course is the United Nations. What we are looking at here is a photograph from senator fulbright buts papers that show one of his pivotal moments in his career and also sheds a light on what the u. S. Senate perhaps looks like or what it could be at its best moments. So right over here is senator green from illinois, a republican. What he is doing is he is handing over the gavel for the Foreign Relations committee to senator fulbright. And then looking on are a couple of know where the individual. You have a guy who was about to become president and the next year. That is john f. Kennedy. And then the guy whos going to become president three years after that is johnson johnson. As a majority leader in the senate because the democrats have taken control of the senate and full bright has become the chair of the committee. There is 1959 and he remains part of the chair in 1959 until his resignation from the senate in 1974. This graphic is from 1963. Its a very significant scrapbook and that is the documentation and the official copy given to the senator of the signing of the Nuclear Test Ban treaty. We have senator fulbright over here but then we also have the premiere of the soviet union, kristie off right here in the middle. Kristoff looks a little serious. I think you always look serious. Fulbright very pleased with this has gone on. One thing as formulations committee, he was helping defuse conflict and helping diplomacy lead into the United States and other nations around the world to avoid very real nuclear annihilation. What we are looking at here some documents from the full bright papers that show the complexity of his political position as a southern senator. And also the compromises and maybe if you had the mistakes but and as senator fulbright makes over a long political career. Right here is the southern manifesto or a draft of the southern manifesto, which several different southern senators signed down to. They gave the remarks on the senate floor. Basically opposing brown versus the border of education in the federal intervention into School Segregation in the south. Several senators would have said, on a personal level, that they would not necessarily opposed to racial equality or School Integration but their stance was as many of us have heard before, it was a statewide approach. They did not think the federal government or the Supreme Court should be the ones forcing integration. We senator fulbright did sign onto the senator manifesto. In the 1960s, as he became very well thought of and revered for his stances against things like the vietnam war, this would dock him later in his career. And then after he left the senate and its something that his career would be staying by. His opposition to full integration early on. He was the u. S. Senator from arkansas and the state of arkansas does have a unique distinction of that but embraced integration right after we as of 1957 in 1958 with a little rock crisis, the state had come to an understanding. But as opposed to immigration especially in the way and looks like whats happening with federal integration, National Guard troops, all that. So fulbright made a political calculation. Over here is some writing that he did to help shape the southern manifesto in a different way. He was softening the manifesto. He did not want it to be an opposing forced integration. We are looking at here is a photograph from our picture collection with razor backhands and perhaps one of the most important events that have been here or one of the most disappointing event anyway. That is when the university of arkansas hosted what was the game of the century. The number one a number two teams in the country that was texas and arkansas. If you are political powerhouse at the time, you are able to get tickets. We had remarkable attend the game so in the stands right here, we have senator fulbright right here in his fine hat. Right there, observing the game. Closely observing it. We also have the Court President at the time in 1969. Its Richard Nixon attending a game right there. This gentleman over here with a beautiful but be texas button. That is paul hammer schmidt. A long congressman. It was the first time bill clinton would lose his First Political race against. Future president , george h. W. Bush is right there attending as well. Looking towards the camera. And then our libraries actually named after, david mullins. All right here watching the Football Game together. Its a proud moment at the university of arkansas even though it didnt end up losing that game in a thriller of a game. So what we have here are two letters of several actually. In the fulbright papers that are from president johnson. Johnson was a longtime leader in the senate, was a majority leader in the 19 fifties and then became president of course after kennedys assassination. He and fulbright, as southern senators, had very Close Relationships and were good friends but they also had a lot of disagreements over their time together as two of the Major Political leaders in the country. Of the letters we have, i selected to that i think really, really telling. Right here is on the president ial the white house letterhead from its an official letter but you see its actually a very long letter. Its a long piece to senator fulbright and what he is doing is explaining the state of asia as he sees it. So johnson has been to asia and has met with World Leaders over there, has met with people and says he has talked with people on the ground, he has talked with their military. And he is trying to convince senator fulbright that the people in asia actually would not want us there. But they want to support cambodias and other places, they want us fighting communism. He said the World Leaders of asia approve of the United States his efforts there. Of course senator fulbright is quickly coming to the opinion. This is 1966 again. That is not the case. The war is a mistake. This is a personal letter. Dear bill, were Lyndon Johnson is acts being well hes really explaining, not asking for fulbrights support. This is whats going on for real. This is the way i see it. Its a three page document on the letterhead saying, i am trying to understand it, i think what we are doing is the right idea and at the end of it he says, i wish you couldve been there with me. I wish you couldve seen what i saw. And then, a couple of years later, its a letter dated november 18th, 1968. It begins with, and i will read it, quickly,. It says, dear bill, congratulations on your reelection. You and i have had our differences on both foreign and domestic issues, yet we both served america in the best way we knew how in a period of intense challenge, swift change and, i believe, remarkable progress. And so fulbright has been elected yet again but johnson takes a time to write fulbright and this fulbright had opposed johnson on many, many key issues at this point. I know we agreed on so many things but we were both when they doing the best we could for the country. So what we are looking at here are two photographs really of a many of senator fulbright with the other famous but bill politician from arkansas, bill clinton. Bill clinton and bill fulbright had a very close and very friendly, very warm mentor, minty relationship for decades. So these are two photographs from fulbrights papers that show fulbright at the very end of his career, really at the end of his life after bill clinton has become a senate as the most powerful politician in arkansas. City afraid bill is dedicating but to town square. The governor at the time, bill clinton, is just sharing one of those war moments on the day as with his mentor, bill fulbright. And then right here is just a couple of years later. Of course bill clinton has since become president in 1992 and this photograph is from 1993 and clinton has the honor of presenting the president ial medal of freedom to his idol and mentor, bill fulbright. Fulbright buts records provide an insight of what nations can do to really invest in the future. He is somebody who saw a long way beyond just faith bill, arkansas. In international conflict, but cultural misunderstandings, these things are a part of human history. They had always happened. Nations like the United States and other nations around the world, do not want war, do not want conflict. We want to look forward to the future. Its fulbright one of those people who shows you how you learn about the world and how you use your talent and your guest. For him, it was scholarly research. How do you use your talents to shape the world . The spanish city tour travels the country exploring the american story with the support of local cable providers that history and literary life of a different city on book tv and American History tv. To watch videos of any of the places we have been, go to cspan. Org slash cities tour and follow us on twitter at cspan cities. Week this month, we are featuring American History tv programs as a preview of whats available every weekend on cspan 3. Tonight, we visit Independence National historical park in philadelphia to see congress hall, the u. S. Congress met in the building from 1790 to 1800. And ratified the bill of rights there. Our guide is National Park service ranger, matthew eiffel. Watch beginning at 8 00 eastern and enjoy American History tv every weekend on cspan 3. American news and often reflects or impacts different points in our countrys history. Over the next 90 minutes, we will take you across the United States and through time as we explore the music of a nation. We begin with a visit to nashvilles Ryman Auditorium as author dale you wing talks about how the venue became a place for political rallies, civil rights