world. he discusses his book "a call to action" with "the washington post"'s sally flynn and david ignatius. for a full schedule of authors and books in this weekend, visit us at booktv.org. >> next on booktv, bernard schwartz, who grew up in depression-era brooklyn and later became ceo of a defense electronics firm talks about his life and what the u.s. needs to do to regain its economic footing. s this is about 50 minutes. [applause] >> okay. >> good evening. it's an honor for me to be here. bernie schwartz is somebody i would like to be. [laughter] he's had a remarkable life to where he is today in this room with people who are friends of his and admirerrers of -- admirers of his. he's written a book, a lovely title -- just say yes -- i love the idea of just say yes and a sense of mission and a sense of this will be fun and you'll get a lot of out of this. i should say from the get go that he's been an enormously good friend of mine and supportive of the work i've done, and i'm deeply appreciative of that. he's an interesting man for many reasons, because he's had a full life in terms of public and private and building something that was remarkable. having earned the respect of people across sections. business people he's worked with, colin powell said he had as much integrity as any contractor at the pentagon that they dealt with, president clinton, secretary of state clinton, a remarkable group of people. and it has to do with human qualities that he has learned in his life. growing up, as he would say, and the kind of life he's had knowing heads of state around the world. so i want to begin with understanding this life he has lived and at the same time understanding his own analysis of people and also his assessment of where this country is today, in march of 2014. clearly, he has ideas about america's infrastructure, how to create jobs and all those things from a lifetime in public and private sector. i want to, also, each of you to know that this will work best if what he says resonates and you have sort of yes, but questions or you have things that you would like to say vis-a-vis to him, with him and the lessons learned. let me just begin with the thing that interests me also is negotiation. he's been a superb negotiator, and how do you do that? is the secret simply being able to say somebody just say yes and you've got a deal? that's not quite it, is it? >> no, it is not. [laughter] >> why did you call the book "just say yes"? >> at loral, we had a free and open exchange among the executives, and that was a part of our style. and we had open discussions and often aggravated and involved discussions. but there used to be a time at the end of a discussion, at least i thought it was the end, we would make a decision. decisiveness was very pointer to us. and we'd -- was very important to us. but some would continue to talk and argue. and after a while i would lean forward and say, just say yes. [laughter] and it got to be not an irritant for the people of loral, it got to be a joke. and i was saying it more than i thought i should, so that's how it came about. >> you understand negotiation, and one of the principles that you have lived by is that they work best if it's a win/win. >> well, not always. i think everybody has his own style. i was successful when it came to loral. i had a business experience that was in several areas. i dealt with a lot of people. i used to buy all the companies, and he used to sell them sprk he said you're a lousy seller because you won't get my price. and i used to be a good buyer because i wasn't getting my price, i was getting our price. the price that was good for the seller as well as the buyer. if it wasn't a win/win situation, it was not long term. and we were building a long-term structure, a long-term company, a long-term executive group. them being onboard was as important as making the deal. >> you always wanted to know what was important for the person sitting across the table. >> that's what made it happen. when i came to the defense industry, it was not doing well as a business. i saw opportunities in it that others did not see, and after some due diligence, the interesting thing about the defense industry was that everybody was down on it. i saw the possibilities. and, therefore, i was able to build not only loral, but other companies could come on board with the promise that we were not going to cut out your legal department because we have a legal department, we're not going to count your accounting department, your public relations department. we're going to build rather than cut down for long term. is and i made them believe that through experience. and it worked for us. it worked extremely well for us. >> before all this, when you were growing up in benson hurst, what kind of life did you think you would have? >> it was a lower/middle class jewish neighborhood in brooklyn. it represented what my family was, a typical middle class, honest, hard working group. my father was an entrepreneur. i played stickball in the streets, my father was a baseball player, he taught us how to play payable. what changed -- to play baseball. what changed my life was city college. when i went to city college, it opened up an entire life that prior to that we only knew something about. i was the first person in my family to go to college. and the city became my campus, our campus. and we were all over the city and all over the cultural values that and so many resources that were available. and i became a different person. finish and that's part of what payback is all about, you know? i met my wife there which was not so unimportant. [laughter] and we had a very lucky life. and paying back with part of that to the other kids who are coming up, they're different kids today, but every once in a while they invite me to a brown bag paper lunch, and we talk. it's just a conversation. and they're different in that they talk with an accent. there are a lot of russian kids, black kids, asian kids, but they're the same kids. and it's wonderful to be with them. >> when you were practicing law, did you ever think you would be running a business? >> yes. i always thought i was going to be in business. my father was entrepreneurial, my older brothers were entrepreneurial, it was just where we were going to be. >> how did loral come about? >> loral was with interesting because, as i say, i was involved with other companies, and we had done well and i had done well. bob ho to des was a lawyer, the head of -- [inaudible] in new york. he called me one day and said would you have lunch with some of the directors of loral? i'm a director, and we're not doing well. so i got some standard & poor's sheets and studied them for about 20 minutes, and when i met with them, i said you're in a lot of businesses you know nothing about. you ought to get rid of those businesses. you're in one business, you know something about, you should stay in that business. i said i don't want to leave what i'm doing to go to loral. that's what happened. because i saw in the military business an opportunity to work together with competitors and customers and build a society within the atmosphere of the business that had a morality to it, that understood that building was important, that sharing the wealth was important. everybody at loral got rich, and it was because we had set up a stock option program, one of the largest at the new york stock exchange where everybody participated. and everybody felt that they were part of the success. and then later on as we with got bigger, we began to go to the bigger companies like ford and goodyear and ibm and said you're not doing well with your military business. we can do well with your military business. and they were happy to sell it to us. and so we made 16 acquisitions in a period of time, we grew tremendously. $100 investment in loral in 1972 when i started was worth $17,000 when we sold out. >> that's a nice appreciation. >> yeah. >> you mentioned saul steinberg. you were chairman of his company? >> i was -- i was president. and later vice chairman. saul was my friend, he was my employer, he was my partner. we did a lot of good things together. >> but you seem like two very different people. >> very much so. >> how so? >> well, first of all, i was older and he was just a kid. second of all, he was very, very smart. he knew a lot about business. he knew instinctively things that should be done. and we just got along well together. >> but had a different philosophy about negotiation. >> totally. he was -- politically, for example, saul steinberg be, i have to be careful, he has family here in the audience. [laughter] >> i don't think you'll say anything they don't know. >> no, they know this. he had the political attitude to the right of attila the hun. mine is a little bit left of who knows who -- >> henry wallace? [laughter] what does that say? that you can find friendship aside from politics. an idea we've lost in america. >> i hope not. politics comes down to people. it's people. and we need -- [inaudible] to do things that make us better than we are. and that's why we need good leadership. i'm an angry democrat. i believe -- >> angry democrat. >> i believe in the democratic philosophy. i have respect for the republican philosophy. i believe that they understand that from their point of view that business should be paramount, that government should be out of business, that individuals should get along on their own and make it on their own. i believe in the social contract. i believe that people in business have several constituencies not only to stockholders, but the other people whom they deal with. i believe that in small management groups, we had a very, very small staff at loral, we traveled everywhere. we used to go to the divisions for our reviews rather than going to new york because walking the halls, going into the offices, seeing the people was important to us. it worked for us, as i say. and it was based on people. >> but at the same time, you said you were an angry dem can accurate. why angry? >> well, because i thought -- i think we have surrendered too much to the financial community in this country. i think the investment bankers don't understand what makes america great. i think they have a great understanding of what makes them great, of what makes them rich -- [laughter] but i've given up the idea that they have a responsibility for accountability. i think that's too bad. >> do you think they've changed since 2008 and the collapse and the effort to come back, because there is a recovery underway. >> i do not think they've changed. unfortunately, i think there's still, there are some toxic assets in the system. there are some practices that are still not good. we changed a little bit. 2008 changed us to the respect that there is some accountability, but just think what's happened in the newspaper. the largest bank in the world had paid the government last year billions of dollars, billions of dollars of penalties. and the ceo got one to have largest bonuses -- one of the largest bonuses you could imagine. that could not have happened at loral. people would have been let go if we had that kind of experience of 2008. and remember what happened in 2008 was not unusual. everybody knew what was happening. of it was in the newspapers all the time. i mean, bankers -- >> you mean we had an overleveraged society. >> i mean, bankers like bear stearns and a good one, lehman, they were good houses, they were leveraged 40, 50, 60 times against their capital. the sec was told not to regulate. the regulatory agencies that rated companies were corrupted because they did business those companies. there was no responsibility for anything that happened, and 2007 came, and it was in the newspapers every day. everybody understood what was happening, and nobody did anything about it. now, we've changed some of it -- >> thank good. >> think of the rivers of paper. in 1998 it was something in the double digits. maybe about 2, 3, $4 trillion a day outstanding. in 2002 that grew to about $12 trillion. in 2008 it was of $45 trillion of derivative paper in which banks had some responsibility but didn't know how much they had. can you imagine a banker making a loan and not knowing what he was going to collect and what he had to collect? well, that was of the system. it was corrupt because it was all transaction. a banker did not have the responsibility that he once had before glass-steagall. he didn't have the responsibility before they went public. now they were like everybody else; they got the commission, and they left. >> you told your banker this, i'm sure. >> i told my banker this, i told the president this, i told anybody that would listen. [laughter] >> and do you think, do you think that dodd-frank will cure a lot of this? >> a little bit. i think today can-frank is a -- dodd-frank is a good step but it's too complex, and it has to be managed by government. but it's a plus, there's no question about it. >> let me talk about back to when you went to loral. we'll come back to politics and the condition of the world today and china, which you know something about. in '72 you took over loral, right? >> yes. >> the vietnam war was winding down. >> yes. >> you were outspoken against the war. >> yes. >> and did you have anybody listening to you? >> no. [laughter] everybody listened -- anybody who would listen i would talk to. but the interesting thing, and this'll give you some insight. during that time i spent a lot of time with the military. it was my business. and i was talking to general officers. i was talking to the top people in the administration in the defense department. and we would have lunch together, and we would talk politics, okay? and i would be outspoken about what they were doing, what they were in favor of. and then we would go up and have a business discussion. and not once were we ever adversely affected by the fact that we were against the war. and people find that hard to believe, but you should understand that about our military. i think they try to do the right thing. i have great respect for them even though i wish they were less influential in in the administration. >> in this administration or every one? >> starting with clinton. but there's one thing about the military, it is the most meritorious organization i have ever seen. people of all classes, all types without any influence join the military and through the want of their own investment, their own activity, their own contribution get ahead. it is meritorious, and they want to do a good job. >> yeah. and they do have a good system of a sense of measurement of skills along the way. >> they know how to measure things. i wish they knew how to measure the situation that's going on now -- >> but an interesting, president clinton said to me once in answer to a question, i said is there anyone you wish you'd add -- any experience, and he said i wish i'd have been in the military. i just wish that i'd had that experience coming into the presidency. >> it was a unique experience, and it changed everybody's life. nobody goes into the military without having either positive or negative effect. i personally think both of them have a positive effect because you're dealing with human beings. if you're in combat, which i was not, you learn something that is very important, and that is you are not alone. and if you are alone, you get sick, unfortunately. but you find you have to depend on people. and you serve your part in that dependency. it's a great experience. >> for business or life. interesting, i've interviewed lots of medal of honor recipients and lots of other people who have been in combat and they always say to me, you know, it is not what you think about constantly. i mean, you're there for your fellow soldier. that's where you are. that's exactly the mission that you have, to be there for him or her. >> may i tell you a very quick story. a few years ago during the iraq war i felt i was not doing enough or i did not understand enough. so i called bob kerrey and said can you get me to visit veterans hospital in washington, d.c -- >> this is when he was a senator in new york. >> yeah. he said, why? i said, i don't know, i just want to go. he said, i'll go with me. i said, no, i don't want you to go with me because i don't know what my attitude's going to be when i speak with these people. but he came anyway because -- >> he spent some harrowing years in a military hospital. >> we went around and spoke to people who had lost limbs, men and women. we went into one room, and the guy must have been about 24 years old, 23 years old, and he lost his left limb above the knee. and we talked to him a little bit, and now i had been in the army. i thought i knew these people, but i never had the connection that bob kerrey had. bob kerrey walked inside that room, and there was immediately a connection between these two people. they both had lost part of their leg. bob kerrey said to this guy, what are you going to do when you get out? he said, well, i'm not going to get out. i'm going to go back to my unit. your unit where? iraq. so kerrey said why do you want to go to iraq? because my buddies are there. so bob sat down on the bed and held him by the wrist and said, listen, you don't have to go back the guy said, i do can. he said, no be, you have done your job. and for a minute they stared at each other. i think this kid heard him. >> i just came from the tet conference yesterday, came if late last night, and there was not a dry eye in the room. a man who had lost two legs and not in a military conflict, but in an accident mountain climbing. he was a double amputee, and he talked of his experience. and then there was an hit doctor who had -- mit doctor who had designed a prosthetic leg for a woman injured in the boston marathon who was a dancer, and she came out and danced. and it was the most amazing sort of emotional experience you've ever seen. but it was, in a sense, you know, about the human spirit. >> yep. >> and about the possibilities of commitment to other people. >> and the sense that these people feel they have to give back more. that they haven't given enough. you have to admire people like that, the courage is extraordinary. >> we're jumping around, but that makes it good. the present occupant of the white house, president obama, you supported in 2008, you supported in 2012. if 2008 in the primaries -- in 2008 in the primaries you supported your great friend, secretary clinton. you may have been the largest contributor to her campaign. >> i hope so. i don't know. [laughter] >> you closer to her or him? -- are you closer to her or him? >> that's a good question. that's a good question. it's hard not to be close to bill clinton. when bill clinton comes into this room and shakes hands with everybody, it's because he wants to meet everybody. he wants to talk to everybody. he connects with everybody. it's extraordinary. his personality is very overwhelming. she is a little bit different. she's a little bit more reserved. she's a little bit more serious, i think, than bill clinton. they're just different people. i'm hopeful that as this experience moves on. >> she will understand -- she will understand that she has to be her own person. >> there was an article in "the new york times" saying some of her friends wished that she will not run. you're her friend. do you want her to run? >> absolutely. shul. absolutely. and i don't have any fears about that. the clintons have one spectacular quality, i notice it in many other families, other people. they are service-oriented, they believe in service. their service is to the united states. i think they will do whatever they can do and should do that will enhance their contribution. i think hillary clinton is totally committed on running. two years is a long time -- >> in other words, something could happen to change her mind, but as of this moment she's doing everything in terms of fundraising -- >> no, she's not doing everything in terms of fundraising. >> there are people out there -- >> no, people doing it, but she is not doing it so much as she will -- what i am saying is this, she has a certain reserve about what she should be doing now i think that's both political and both from the point of view that she recognizes there are some limitations to where she is. and she doesn't want to be critical of the president and of the people who have office. i think she wants to do the right thing, but is she committed about running? i think the answer's absolutely yes. >> do you think the country has buyer's remorse? >> buyer's remorse? >> buyer's remorse. >> yes, i hope so. [laughter] >> do you think the opinion of the president will harm a democrat's run in 2016? >> no. i think the president will try to be helpful -- >> no, no, he'll try to be helpful to her, but his ratings, as you though -- >> yeah. i think what happens in the mideast will affect the next election. i think what's happening with russia will aeducate the next election. -- affect the next election. i think what's happening in our economics will affect the next election. but i'm on the to mystic about the -- optimistic about the economics of this country -- >> you optimistic and agreeing with the policies that have been acted on and enunciated with respect to the economy? is. >> no. that's why i am angry. [laughter] i'm to angry because they don't -- i'm angry because they don't listen. >> are you angry at the congress, the president, business leaders? who are you angry with? >> yes. [laughter] but i am most angry at democrats. and i'm angry at -- i'm not angry at the republicans. they're doing what they should do and do and will do. >> which is to just say no. >> well, no. [laughter] i think there are good republicans. i think it would be nice if -- it would be better for the democrats if the republicans put in good people. that has not happened over the last maybe four or five elections. the democrats did not win the last election or the last three elections, republicans lost it. i don't think that john mccain could have ever as a person with cancer ever win the presidency. >> really? >> well, how could that happen? i don't think the person -- >> oh, i think so. i disagree with you. i think a person with cancer could win the election if people thought it was in remission. >> perhaps so. he was not the strongest candidate. but should we not have known that a good man, a person with a vision, an individual who wants to do good for the country but has had no more experience than being a local leader at a local level -- >> state senator. >> a state senator. >> so you're saying president obama did not have the record of experience to make a good president. >> i think given the competition he had in terms of experience, the democrats made a mistake, and it was of a serious mistakement and i blame them. i blame my friends. i blame bob rubin who is really a decent and good person for holding on to an economic principle that cannot do well for the united states going forward, that he's afraid of borrowing money to invest, invest -- not spend -- in america because it'll increase the debt. he believes that. >> investment for you is spending on infrastructure and things like that to make the country more competitive. >> that's right. to make us stronger and were the. we can afford more money. these are the people who have warned us -- i'm talking about geithner and larry summerrers -- these people i'm friends with. and they're decent people. but they were wrong about the economy, and they continuously are wrong. >> a lot of people give geithner and the fed chairman, bernanke, and hank paulson credit for bringing us out of the midst of that crisis. you disagree with that judgment? >> i think they did well in getting us out. they didn't do so well in getting us in. >> in other words, they failed to see what was coming. >> they failed to do anything about what was coming, and they failed to take responsibility for what was coming. >> i mean, the leader of that group became the head of citibank. and when the vice chairman said that's not my responsibility. >> you're talking about bob rue by? >> my friend. yes. [laughter] you know, and geithner and summers. i mean, they knew what was happening. and if they didn't can know what was happening, they should have known what was happening. >> do you think the leaders of those financial institutions knew what was happening? >> yeah, of course. >> they did? >> they did not know there were $400 billion of bogus paper out there? of course they did. they knew what the leverage was, of course they did. >> so they didn't do anything about it because -- >> i don't know why. the banks were taken care of. you know, they invented something called too big to fail. too big to fail means that before glass-steagall commercial banks and investment banks were separate by law. glass-steagall i allowed them to get together. now, commercial banks were created to give mortgages mostly to people in america and made america the most independent country in the world in terms of home ownership. and they served a purpose. investment bankers were able to take risk on their own. glass-steigel put them together. now, they knew what they were doing, and the investment bankers took over the other bank, and when they failed, they went to the government and said we're too big to fail, save us. >> back to qualifications to be president, i mean, clearly, you've said being a state senator and giving a keynote speech and just being a newly-elected senator is not enough. do you think when you look at the experience that hillary clinton has had, first, first lady, united states senator, secretary of state, she is much better prepared to be president and a good president than the 42nd president of the united states? bill clinton? better prepared -- >> yes. >> -- has more credentials? >> i think she is one of the most credentialed, experienced persons in the country. >> and what role if she's elected president do you think he will play? >> i hope very well. [laughter] seriously. he's a good friend. you mentioned china. i had a problem with china that was bogus, and it was wrong, and republicans took advantage of it. they went out of their way to be identified with me. and took the political pressure. all i'm suggesting is that he's the most popular guy in the world,s there's no question about a it. people love him. and they have a right to love him, and he is well directed, and he's well experienced -- >> we've been praising you, and here's an interesting thing, most people know about this. there was a -- because of your relations with china, you came under intense pressure be, and there were serious accusations made on the floor of the house -- >> yes. >> -- about you, calling you a traitor having to do with business transactions you had with china. there was an investigation. tell me what it was like for you to go through that, and what did you earn from that? was -- learn from that? because later they looked -- they opened up the investigation, and it turned out that you were guilty of none of the things that had been alleged. >> well, innocence and confidence that you did the right thing are strong weapons. i thought i was doing the right thing in china. by -- i was doing what the defense department wanted me to do. it wasn't what some of the republicans wanted me to do, so they attacked me. the point i'm making is having the confidence that i thought i was doing the right thing gave me great courage, and i was not too much concerned about the outcome. never once was i concerned about the outcome. >> but then you took loral into bankruptcy -- >> that was a different issue. >> i know it was a different issue, but it was also part of your corporate experience. >> one of the things about loral being so damn successful for so long, in 2007, 2008 or thereabouts the business turned bad, particularly the space business. and the industry did not sell one satellite for two years. that was a bad experience for everybody. >> yeah. >> i had made a deal in washington to sell our u.s. fleet of satellites for a billion dollars. we were in good shape, but i needed and wanted the billion dollars. their lawyers said they're afraid there will be bankruptcy because china had suesed us for $250 million. but we were in pretty good shape. but i went into bankruptcy to allow their lawyers to say go ahead, sold them my fleet, and we paid off every credit. we never asked for one dollar's reduction in the bankruptcy. and at the end of bankruptcy when i finally came out and continued to run loral, we were the largest space, commercial space organization in the world. and the most successful. so the bankruptcy did not hurt that part of it. it hurt a company called global star which was one of our companies, and that was a mistake. one of the good things about me is when i do good things, they're very good and they're good. when i do bad things, they're very bad. [laughter] and that was -- and i hurt the stockholders of global star, and i'm sorry for that. >> of all the people you've met internationally whether it's in china, in europe or latin america, africa, i mean, who are the people that stand out that you would say this was a conversation and a relationship that went to the top of my list of profound experiences? >> i won't do this in order, but it comes to mind the prime minister of israel. my family and i visited him, and he came to visit -- as prime minister, he came to visit us in our suite. and be he asked irene, and he spoke to my son-in-law and my children. and he had an hour's conversation with them. that impressed the hell out of me. >> yeah. >> clinton is a fabulous individual. he was a fabulous president. peace and prosperity for eight years, not bad. and he likes people. there are so many people, colin powell's an exceptional human being, a republican, okay? >> right. [laughter] >> and there were so many people that i met who were helpful. i was a very lucky person. that's what i say in the book. people say luck is what you make of it, and if you're really good, you're going to make, you know, it's really yourself. that's bologna. my brother was shot down if an airplane with 11 soldiers. he was the only one who survived. when i was in the army, they wiped out half the cadets that were in the air force and sent them into military combat. i was one of those to say as a ca tet can, look, luck is a very large ingredient. and the wind was at our backs when we started loral and we started into business. but i have to tell you that all along the way i had men to haves, people who -- mentors, people who had been successful in business, who had been successful in their lives, who transformed, transmuted to me their experiences. and that was so lucky. >> all right. i've got a thousand more questions but, look, a microphone somewhere. we always like somebody to come up and start asking questions. so, i mean, just think about and resonate, and let resonate with you the things that bernie's been talking about so that, you know, your own curiosity -- here. yes. >> bernard, what are you most bullish about? >> what am i what? >> what are you most bullish about? >> bullish. >> what are you most concerned about? >> i'm bullish about the economy. i think that we have recovered very slowly from a very, very difficult situation in 2008, but we are recovering. and we are recovering for not what we're doing, but for a general, cyclical development, a fundamental improvement in the situation. people need homes. they have not bought homes for a long time. i read in the paper the other day that the limousine fleet in the united states is 11 years old. the it's going to have to be replaced. seem are going to buy homes and upgrade homes. i believe america's future opportunities are going to be real. i don't know that it's going to help all the people in america, and that's what our challenge is. twenty million people are unemployed who can't find jobs who have middle class skills. i think we have to do something to help them, and that's why i'm in favor of infrastructure. i also believe that the world has improved tremendously. the idea of us having another war as we had in the last century several times is impossible to believe today. i don't think we're going to have that kind of war. we're going to have revolutions and individual conflicts but not a grand scale where 20, 40 million people are killed. we are doing better than we ever have before. we live longer. we live better. and we have technology in this country that opens up things not only like health and like communication and oceanography and aerospace, we're leaders in these things. the world looks to us -- >> and what concerns you most? >> concerns me most is that we will not have the political will to do what is within our power to do, and that is to help those people who do not participate in that. equal -- >> the income inequality. >> the income and opportunity inequality. >> right. >> i don't believe we should all end up the same way. i don't believe in tax policies that take away from the rich and give to the poor. i think the you earn something, you should keep it. -- if you earn something, you should keep it. but i think should be an uneven tax structure, the rich should pay more, but every kid should have the opportunity to get there. >> yes, sir. >> one of the most interesting parts of the book, bernard, is your larger vision in terms of philanthropy. it's very different than most philanthropists. it was all about ideas,s it was about think tanks, it was about institutions in new york, it was about politics. and so if you could, it'd be interesting to see how you weaved those different ideas together that's created sort of this schwartz philosophy. >> well, aye reap -- irene and i when we founded the town indication, we decided there were three things we wanted to do. one was develop new experience in health. the second thing was to look to new york city and help the cultural resources of new york city. and the third was to be involved this political think tanks and other progressive organizations that believe in the social contract. i think we met that to a very large degree, and the payback has been a rich experience for us. and i'm hopeful -- and america, generally, has that feeling. there are more floss philosophers in new york than the world. i think that's a good thing. >> yeah. america has a much deeper fill an philanthropic vision than anywhere. yes, sir. >> i'd like to tie back to one of your stories about when you visit city college the young with people may be from different countries and dressed in different style, but they're the same. i red from your book and was taken about you leaving the pizza parlor to go over to your first interview, and from your experience there to helping your brother go public to -- i just kept feeling this is the same. not much has changed. would you reflect for a moment what you see the differences green the business community then and now -- between the business community then and now, please? >> well, things were very relational than when i started this 20, 30 years ago. competitors work differently together. you work differently with your bank withs. they were interested in your success because they had a responsibility for it. today everything is transaction. the banker writes his ticket, he gets his commission, he's gone. he has no responsibility at all for the success of the mission. that's not the kind of relationships we had before. and i think it was a better world before. but i'm not sure we're ever going to be able to recapture it. >> yes? >> hi, mr. schwartz. we've talked tonight a little about the tremendous success that you have achieved despite very modest beginnings and despite very significant challenges during your life at different times. you talked a little bit tonight about the role of luck -- >> of what, of luck? >> of luck. but i wanted to ask you about what personal qualities you think have contributed to your ability to succeed in many different ways over the years. >> the singlemost important quality to my life was my family, is my family, was my family. my family, which -- my immediate family -- is really not very much interested in business. but they were so supportive. and, i mean, in one year i visited 13 countries. some of them several times. but we also had a very big, large, full family life. it was supportive of the effort. so my advice to you is parry well, have good children and tbrfn. [laughter] and grandchildren. the second thing is something that charlie mentioned before. if you have an attitude of win/win, that you don't have to be the winner at the table, that every deal that you make is going to be a forward-thinking, forward-building effort, i think you're ahead of the game. i had the great fortune to have a entrepreneurial father who used to take he to meetings when i was a kid. and i would see how he would talk to people and work with people. i had a couple older brothers who did the same thing to me. i was very, very fortunate in my life, so luck is important. so family, luck and being at the right place at the right time. >> yes. no, go ahead. >> mr. schwartz, i just wanted the ask you about your interactions with the young orer people today. i know that you said you were meeting with a lot of them, and i wanted to know what do you say to the generation y which seems to be a different generation, more entitled. definitely ambition in a different direction. how do you tell them to sort of go against -- go towards their drive and succeed? >> how do i view -- i'm sorry? how do you lead them towards succeeding? >> yeah. >> because they're -- >> i have a hard time talking to young people. [laughter] and the reason is i think we're treating them terribly. the idea that somebody should go to school for four years and come out with debt is criminal. i don't think that's at all the way -- and they can't get jobs like they used to. so i have a hard time with them. i'm very sympathetic to them. i'm very hard on people like the people in this room. why do we allow that? you know? >> what would you do about it? >> i would like to see a service program where every, every child this america has to give some kind of service whether it's in a school room or a hospital or overseas or in the army, but to pay off his debt or her debt from the point of view of service which they're going to learn something at the same time. but at least they'll come out free. i have, i'm sympathetic to the young people. and i encourage them, particularly the people this new york -- in new york. new york is a campus. take advantage of everything. >> thank you. yes, sir. >> one question, bernard. growing up in brooklyn, i was curious to know what impact jackie robinson had when he, you know, joined the dodgers and what impact that may have had in your community in benson hurst, your family, and perhaps did it change? >> i want you to know, i was in the stands the day jackie robinson walked to first, stole second, on an error went to third and stole home. [laughter] and everybody, everybody including the pitcher, including the coaches, everybody in the stands knew he was going to steal home. he was an extraordinary person. i have to tell you, i didn't know as much about jackie robinson then as i do now because there's been a lot written about him. he was truly a noble person. >> a movie made. >> yeah. he was truly a noble person and courageous. and i give him credit for the courage he had to go out there and be the only black person on the field. >> rockefeller, republican. >> yeah. but there you are. [laughter] >> so, you know, you wrote this book. are you going to write another book, or is this it? >> it depends if my children -- [inaudible] [laughter] i may, i don't know. >> and you look back, are there any great regrets, or do you look at your life and you say, you know, i had opportunity, sometimes i did better than expected, sometimes it didn't turn out like i expected, whether it was what happened to a friend or what happened to a president or what happened to the country. but on balance, this has been one hell of a ride, and i've had opportunities i never dreamed i would ever have to meet people, and i never imagined that i would be involved with. >> i never saw it in those terms. you know, there were certain opportunities i had. i took advantage of the opportunities. pardon me, did i make mistakes? sure. the biggest mistake i had from a financial point of view was global star. but even there, the stockholders -- the business stockholders, the individual stockholders did not get hurt badly. it was big corporate stockholders that got hur. but still, nevertheless, i put the last $500 million into global star from loral at a time when i should not have done it. it was a mistake. by the way, at the same time i bought $20 million of stock for myself. that was a mistake too. [laughter] >> have you ever spent the night at the white house? >> sore point between my wife and me. [laughter] we were invited twice to lincoln bedroom, and twice we said no for reasons that were stupid on the basis we'll get another opportunity. [laughter] i mean, what kind of people, what kind of people would not want to sleep in the room that lincoln slept in? [laughter] it was stupid, it was arrogant. i wish i had another opportunity. >> but you said no why? because you thought he'll always invite me again? >> yeah. i thought there would be another opportunity, and we were a little bit hesitant to go there anyway. i went to the white house often. >> right. >> but to stay in the lincoln white house was very awesome. and i just should have done it. it's a -- that's a sorrow of my life. >> really? >> not the sorrow but a sorrow. [laughter] >> it's been a great life. thank you so much, bernie. >> thank you for being here. >> thank you. [applause] >> thank you. [inaudible conversations] [applause] >> booktv is on facebook. like us t

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