For complete Television Schedule visit booktv. Org. Booktv, 48 hours of nonfiction books and authors this inaugural weekend. Television parsers readers. Michael medved offers his thoughts on American History. And now its my pleasure to introduce our speaker for tonight, Michael Medved is a radio show host, an author and the film critic. He is the former chief film critic of the New York Post and cohost pbs weekly film review program sneak previews. He hosts a daily radio program, the Michael Medved show which airs on over 300 stations across the country and reaches 5 million listeners. He has also written a 13 books including the bestsellers hollywood versus america, at the 10 big lies about america. His latest book is the american miracle Divine Providence in the rise of the republic. Please join me in welcoming Michael Medved. [applause] thanthank you, thank you, everybody for coming out and sampling some of the joys of the christmas season. We can say christmas season. We can say Holiday Season if you prefer but president elect trump says we can say Merry Christmas again. Merry christmas to everybody, happy hanukkah. They actually fall about the same time this year. In fact exactly the same time this year which is unusual. Before i begin i want to introduce that dedicate the of this book, my wonderful wife. We are coming up leawood or not to our 32nd, she doesnt want me to say it because she doesnt recognize she is 32, i robbed the cradle. Doctor diane medved. [applause] and her new book is coming out in march from regnery and it is called dont divorce. Its not addressed to anyone in particular. Its addressed to everyone in general, and its a terrific book and i cant wait to be sitting in the audience for her presentations about that book. I also cant wait for your questions and i think that is particularly because were fortunate enough to cspan with us tonight. I think that will be particularly important as dramatic and i look forward to it. I want to begin by anticipating three questions that are inevitable. They are going to come up anyway so lets deal with them right now your question number one, which i actually will get to at the end, question of what is, pardon the expression, the elephant in the room. It is the obvious question and something i wasnt expecting to have to deal with when i set out to write this book. The question is, okay, you, medved, argue in the american miracle Divine Providence in the rise of the republic, you argue, medved, that their special protection, special blessing for the United States of america. And yes, i do. I emphatically agree with cauda von bismarck, the chancellor, they guy who really well together a modern german state in 1898. Chancellor bismarck said, god gives special protection to imbeciles, drunkards, lost dogs and the United States of america. He recognized it. Generations of scholars have recognized it, but how can we recognize that special protection in a season when we had just experienced a president ial election with the two least popular candidates ever cracks ever. I mean, the disApproval Ratings for secretary clinton and for president elect trump were sky high. There no doubt president elect trump has momentum. Hes been rising in the polls. There is much greater approval but rising in the polls, he just won an election, right . His Approval Rating just skyrocketed all the way to 50 . Its much better if it was down in the 20s at one point. But still, if god protects american, if the will of history protects this country, how did we end up with is particularly election where virtually everyone i know, whichever side you ended up on, was agonized and wringing hands about the decision, about the process and whats happening to our country . How did that happen . Question number two is much more straightforward and you hear that all the time. And that is, how is it that you ended up writing this particular book . What was it about the topic that saying to you, that got you to do this book . We will get to that. And the third question is, lets say theres a skeptic out there, probably is skeptics here tonight. Who say okay, this is just coincidence. The stuff that you write about in the american miracle really isnt so miraculous. Its just a bunch of random circumstance that fits together. In fact, the very first, we have been very fortunate. We actually got into official bestseller territory over at amazon today, and the reviews on amazon have been basically all five star reviews. First hostile review appeared yesterday. The guy may precisely that point. He said, i disagree with medved because basically what hes talking about is easily explained. You dont have to use any kind of supernatural to explain it. Its just lucky. Its just fortunate it happens. Okay, and by the way, a more sympathetic party wrote back in response, people can go back and forth like that on amazon, such obviously didnt read the book, which he didnt, because medved anticipates that argument. But the truth is he acknowledged in response, diesel enough, that no, he only read the sample chapter that you can get on the website. So is going to try to take them the book without even buying it. Thats a terrible thing. In any event we will get to to the third question as well. So let me take that middle question first, which really shouldve been the first one in order but i wanted to get the first one out there, and then, rent at the end to close the circle and then open it to your questions. First question, what was it about this book, about this topic, about the subject, about this line of argument that was so compelling to me . It really has to do with family history. I did this book in part in memory to my late father. My father was an american miracle. And he really was. Ill tell you the story. My grandfather came to this country in 1910. He was, he never went to school. When i said never went to school, he never went to school. I mean, lincoln went to school a total of six months and ended up being arguably the best prose stylist in the history of the english language. My grandfather never fully learned english. He spoke yiddish. He was from ukraine. He lived in a tiny little town. He was originally from a town called i know it all sounds like you are clearing your throat and its one of the great things about yiddish names or at least the pronunciation of ukrainian names from ukraine. My grandfather comes to philadelphia in 1910. And he has a plan, and his plan is basically is that better . Okay. His plan is basically that he is going to work long enough and earn enough money to send money home so that his wife, my grandmother and her six children can actually make it across the ocean and join him in philadelphia. That takes a lot of work and saving when youre working as a barrel maker. To be able to do that. And what happened was, and again, this is family lore. I grew up with his and then had the opportunity to check it and it really is true. You can check the shipping records and all of that. My grandmother, with the six children, and her father, started out and started riding the train and riding the train, and they are riding the train through ukraine and to the border with what was then germany, and they arrived the beginning of august in 1914. And war had just broken out, world war i, and there were not allowed to cross the border because they were suddenly enemy alien. The bloodiest front of them were argument of course was between russia and germany and austria. So back they go. They ride the train all the way back, and during the course of the war, the russian revolution, three years later, and then the russian civil war which lasted six more years, the russian civil war did not end until 1923. They are struggling far away, separated from my grandfather, and five of my fathers sisters, they were all girls, died. One survivor, my uncle, and finally in 1924 they got out. They came to america. My uncle was 20. My grandmother was in her late 40s, and my grandfather was just turning 50. And they came to philadelphia. They reunited and it was tearful. Can you imagine separated for 10 years, having lost five children and buried five children, and then the tragedy is that my grandmother got sick right away when she came here. And she was terribly worried because they had no money. They couldnt pay for doctors and she couldnt keep down her food. She was absolutely convinced there was a tumor in her digestive track, because she couldnt eat, she couldnt keep her down, and she felt this thing rolling. She went to see a physician, a doctor, its actually my uncle isaac. And he examined her and she was tearful. My grandmother who i knew was a very cheerful person. She could, as they say, she could cry on a good piece of chicken. She liked to cry. She had bright blue eyes by the way, like my wonderful wife. In any event, so uncle isaac examined her, and so they sit down together and shes crying and she says, do you want me to tell you what it is . She cries yes, yes, its a tumor. He said no, its not a tumor. Its a baby. She says thats not possible. It cant be a baby. Ive been away for my husband. Im in my late 40s. She says basically i am not in the way of women. And the doctor, uncle isaac smiles and said, well, your name is sarah, isnt it . And it was, and the baby was my brother, the american miracle. His name and south philadelphia really, really, really, and i knew people who still refer to my dentist wycombe his nickname was tumor all which means little tumor. Because this was neighborhood lore. Everybody knew sarah medved had a tumor and the tumor turned into my dad. And my dad growing up in south philly with people who would never been to school was kind of a star in school and he won the mayors scholarship in philadelphia, and then he fought for the u. S. Navy in the war and then he got out of the war and went to university of pennsylvania in philly, and undergraduate and two masters degree and ph. D in physics, and he was, he had an amazing life, just an amazing life. And the one thing that he never ever shied away from was a sense of wonder and blessing and destiny. About his parents coming to this country. The first americanborn child, and he was conceived right after my grandmother came in to the United States of america. This random new life, this land of fresh start, this amazing, blast, spectacular land. My dad was 22 when i was born, and he used to take me around in philadelphia to historic sites, the Independence Hall where both the constitution and the declaration of independence. I write a great deal about the constitution and the Constitutional Convention and the miracle of the constitution is in the book. And he infused in me the idea that this is amazing stuff. It took me out to valley forge, and i remember my dad used to do word pictures. This is where George Washington was on his big course and i was like four years old. And he would say, that men, they didnt have uniforms and they didnt have shoes. And do you know what happens when its really cold and their snow and you are walking on the snow . You leave bloody footprints on the snow. This grossed me out when youre a little kid of course it does but also you remember it. And this sense of gratitude toward this country, that made my fathers life possible to go from an unschooled barrel maker to being a successful physicist scientist, business entrepreneur, academic. He taught at ucla, all of this is one of the reasons, even during periods of my life, even during periods of my dads life, when we werent particularly religious, i became more religiously involved as an adult. My dad became a sabbath observer for the first time in his \50{l1}s{l0}\50{l1}s{l0}, and after his sons had already gotten involved. But before that, i wasnt raised with any doubt, there was something special, unique, distinctive about america. And if you have that sense, you love history, because its not just a bunch of irrelevant stories. Its not just a bunch of accusations that are supposed to make you feel guilty. Its a series of miracles to make you feel grateful. And thats the impulse the lead me to write this book, and its something that ive always tried to pass on to our own three children, that ive tried to communicate in the radio show. That history, you know, its falconers great, great quote. Faulkner writes the past isnt dead. The past is an even past. And thats exactly the point. We need to live with this sense of gratitude for the amazing existence of this country, and the survival of this country. The other question, before we get to the question about how could a god who protects the United States and imbeciles and lost dogs and drunkards and small children, how could that god allowed a choice between trump and clinton . Well get to that in just a moment. The other question was, how do you argue that this is not just coincidence . And was fascinating to me is that basically the fellow who did the negative review on amazon, and im focused on it, focused on what actually is to me the most obviously bazaar, strange story with which i open the book. Its a story that many of you know and its a story of one day, one remarkable 24 hour day in 1826, july 4, 1826, its the 50th anniversary of the signing of the declaration of independence and the beginning of this great country, and people being very biblically literate at that time, and most americans at the time were religious at least in one form or another. There was a sense that this is the biblical jubilee. In the bible you have every 50 years you have jubilee, and you are supposed to proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all the inhabitants thereof and that is the inscription on the liberty bell. People are getting ready to celebrate this great jubilee year, this grand jubilee of jula population has quadrupled. The country has gone from a straggling little group of settled colonies into basically an economic and even military powerhouse in a very short order. People are celebrating and celebrating partially because the two great giant would allowed that declaration of independence to come into existence, the guy who fought for and argued for relentlessly, relentlessly on the continental congress, his name was john adams. He was 90 years old and alive and well and his son was in the white house as president , john quincy adams, amazing. Similarly amazing, thomas jefferson, the guy who adams had chosen to write this declaration because he recognized jefferson was the best writer of the 50 people who were there in the continental congress, jefferson was also a live. 855 people who are fixed the the name to that declaration, only three were still living, john carroll was old and maryland, plus adams and jefferson. Imagine both president s, jefferson is 83, adams is 90. The typical Life Expectancy at the time is 2 20 years less than that, much more than 20 years less. People thought we were incredibly fortunate. John adams dies that night on july 4, and reportedly his last words were, jefferson survives. But he didnt. Jefferson died actually six hours earlier. The only two president s to die on the same day. Okay, so this guy who writes in, this guy who writes in says wait a minute, wait a minute. November 22, 1963, the british novelist huxley dies and joh jo. Kennedy dies, so what . By the way, you will pardon the expression i can talk back am also one of them to a 63, cs lewis dies. So you have three big east whats the connection between all of them . This is like a joke. Its like three guys, and british novelist and a great theological thinker and a president of United States walked into the bar. They have nothing in common. Jefferson and adams have everything in common. And by the way, november 22, 1963, was just another day until that death happened, the death of john kennedy. July 4, 1826, was a was a special day even before the two giants died on it. People tried to calculate the odds of this suggest that the odds of this happening, and i cite this mathematical analysis iin the book because i find it fascinating, yet about the same odds of this happening, of the 50th anniversary of july 4 and 2 president s to die on the same at july 4, which is the 50th day in there that the thing, i the only way the only other present to die on july 4, five years later, james monroe was also a founding father, the fifth president picked in any event the odds of this happening are about the same odd as drawing a royal flush 4 45 times in a row, okay . Its not normal. And that story, and one other story that i will tell very briefly, has to convince you that something is going on. I have three chapters in this book that are devoted to Abraham Lincoln, he gets Abraham Lincoln is such a familiar figure. We sort of think that we know him and we know what he looks like. We really lose the sense unless you go back into the guts of the story, just how weird everything about Abraham Lincoln is. Its incredibly weird. It is utterly illogical that he ever became president. Im not just because he grew up poor. He didnt own shoes. He didnt have formal education at all. He went to school a total of six months. He did not come from a distinguished background. He came from the most disadvantaged imaginal background. And he wasnt a successful politician. He wasnt a famous billionaire or tv rarely start our former secretarsecretary of state or fr u. S. Senator. Heck, lincoln ran for senate three times and lost every darn time. He won only one major race previews elected to use congress for a single term and then he went to congress and depose the mexican war, destroyed his local popularity and so goes his National Political career. The fact that he was nominated is a miracle prick the fact that he won is a miracle. But even more than that who he was. And the journey that he took from it being a religious skeptic who, because of the same faith in america, as a predestined land of promise, not Promised Land but land of promise, that that made lincoln simply amazing. And one of the three stories that i tell about lincoln that a highlight in the book involves the emancipation proclamation. In the summer of 1862 he drafts it by himself, no speechwriter, no president ial assistant. He drafts the emancipation proclamation. He reads it to his cabinet, and secretary steward, who was his principal advisor, secretary of state, who was not an exxon Oil Executive but he was a u. S. Senator and former governor of new york, fairly remarkable guy in his own right, said no, mr. President , you cannot issue this proclamation now. We have lost battle after battle after battle. They just lost the battle of the second bull run. They had lost the peninsula campaign. They lost the battle of bull run. The federal army was beaten at every turn by the rebels, by the southerners, by the confederates. You cannot issue this proclamation. And lincoln agreed. And he told his cabinet he would put it in is a drawer and wait for a sign. Wait for a sign from where . From god through the forces that control this world. Sign came in an unlikely way. Robert e lee is invading the north. Marching at the head of the triumph the army of Northern Virginia in some description the most formidable man for man fighting for ever. The guys were motivated. Their morale was high. They won victory after victory, now they are invading the north to end the war, to secure the defense of the confederacy, of states rights and yes, of slavery. The union army has a switch and generals. All of a sudden lincoln brings back general mcclellan. About mcclellan, you can truly say he was a legend in his own mind. And you read the letters that mcclellan wrote at the time. His sense of grandeur and his own importance, its insufferable. He referred to lincoln in letters to his wife regularly as the original gorilla. He was a man, highly educated, highly polished. Lincoln was this backwoods lawyer. Lincoln brought hi them back afr having fired him before, brought them back to lead the army to try to stop this invasion of the north, which was going to end the war. Britain is on the verge of recognizing the confederacy, which would make it a member of the family of nations, the first new member of the family of nations, based upon the principle of chattel slavery. Its very core. The 44th indiana volunteers are marching all night as part oof his effort to intercept the confederate invasion. They arrived at the count of frederick, maryland. They lie down in a grassy open field, and a 42yearold corporal named Martin K Mitchell waits while his buddy, Sergeant John mcknight, is brewing some coffee on the campfire. One of a very few pleasures. And then theres another pleasure. Just as Corporal Mitchell is lying down stretching out, he reaches out with his left hand and attach a something in the tall grass in the field where they are. And what it touches are three cigars. They are an smoked. They look pretty good. He starts asking for a light, and his buddy, sergeant, says wait a minute, once those papers they are wrapped in . They look at the papers covered with dense handwriting and assess on the top, general order 181. This looks serious. And it is signed by adjutant general rh chilton, chief of staff, robert e lee. Woe. They take it to the captain. He takes it to the major. They go on and on and on up the line with these orders because this could be important meanwhile, the cigars are lost which is considered a tragedy. The three most important cigars in American History. They take general order 181, te famous lost dispatch, they take it to general mcclellan. Mcclellan has the good sense to interrupt a counselor with its associated generals to look at his papers. He said it must be a fraud. It must be a fake. Robert e lee is trying to set a trap for me. Because this cant really be, this information that has the plant of all his troops and all his plans, and all the sudden he says this was written by Lieutenant Colonel chilton, the adjutant to generally. And someone comes up and says i know that chilton from the regular army. Why . Its one of these amazing stories. Theres a guy named sam pitman who is on mcclellan staff. He says he was stationed out in detroit, working at a bank in detroit, michigan. There was a small army base. Chilton used to come in all the time to develop deposits. He says i know his handwriting. He looks at the handwriting, since im sure thats authentic. So mcclellan clutches this and says with this paper, if i dont beat bobby lee, its time to go home. The battle of antietam follows. The invasion of the north is stopped. Lincoln gets his sign and tells the cabinet, and to cabinet members write it down. I have received the sign i have been waiting for. And now he will free the slaves. The emancipation proclamation follows. There is not the possibility of believing that this is random chance. And this is the basic argument in the book. Yes, you can say one thing or another saying this thing or that thing or these various stores or the fact that gold was discovered in california come in the same week that United States of america got title to california which we did only because there was a clerk in te state department named nicolas dressed who defied president polk with a respite you been fired by the president. He was not supposed to be representing the u. S. He signed the papers anyway with mexico not knowing that 60 miles away at that very moment they were discovering gold. Okay. You can say its all a pattern of happy accidents. A pattern of happy accidents is still a pattern. And that is what emerges with tremendous clarity in the american story. And that brings me to the final question, and then opening it up to your questions. What do you say about clinton and trump . Okay, what i say is, is there anyone in america who is said that the campaign is over . I mean really, really . This is a seriously depressing campaign, but have you noticed this, and yes, i get some of the credit to mr. , in some of his decisions, i do. The mood in the country is better. It is better now. During the campaign it was so dark and the divisions were so horrible, and yeah, theres things that are happening that are strange. I think that Rex Tillerson is strange. I dont know. It will work out for the best im sure, i hope. The meeting with kanye west today, im not sure which cabinet position kanye is up for. Secretary of music. Fortunately we dont have that position. Okay. Look, the mood in the country is better, and here is one of those things. One of the things i learned in writing the american miracle was at this. The profound truth that you can find any book that was revered by our founders, even those who rejected it, and there were some, its called the bible. In the book of exodus, in exodus 33, moses wants to see god face. He wants to see gods glory. He says god, show me your core. God says no man ma may look on t and live. I will show you my back. He hides moses and a clutch in the rock, and then he can see gods back. The tradition understanding and arduous tradition of that very, very strange passage is that it is possible to see history after it happened. And to understand it. In a way that it is impossible to understand it as it is happening. To bring us back to bismarck, i cant resist. Such a good quote. Bismarck says, in another place, it is of the job of the statesman to listen for god footsteps marching through history, and then to grab onto his coattails and hang on. Thats our job. There may be reasons why this Difficult Campaign and mr. Trumps election really could contribute to good things in america. Anybody here expect the market to be caught up the way that it is . The market isnt everything, i mean, another great day today. Things are going better than people expect. And heres the one good thing. If anyone can identify an ideology attached to donald trump, other than that he believes in itself, i think he does, but this is not an ideologue. And this is a guy who really, really does seem, since his election, to be trying in his own imperfect way to be the president of all the people. I think that the possibility of even this Difficult Campaign, working out for americas benefit, is a very real. And one of the things that it seems to me is beneficial about the campaign, so much of the whole campaign was petty and small and talking about email servers and talking about Trump University and this scandal and that scandal. Right now its going to be refreshing because we will be talking about changes in policies and issues. And i am hoping that this new year and the inauguration of the new administration can bring the best things to the United States of america. People who abet against our country, thats a losing bet. All of our patriotic songs, really all of them if you look at the second, third, fourth version sometime, they all mention god. They are mentioned the idea that this has been a god entangled land. We are so fortunate, and if you deny the providential nature of the american miracle, youre left with really really at the idea of a pattern of happy accidents, which is still a pattern. You are left with only one other idea, which is that america got to be the dominant power in the world from being a string of very random thinly settled settlements, clinging to the eastern seaboard, that we got to be the dominant power in the world because we were cruel, we were exploitative. We were dominant. Oh, we were so cruel and so horrible and so guilty. Heres the problem, the run a lot of of the country that were much worse, particularly colonial powers like spain and portugal and france, and even holland. Far more harsh, far more bloody than anything that the british colonists who became americans ever did. They didnt succeed. We did. We did. And may we continue to succeed, and with the continuation of providential protection, and the understanding that that blessing confers not special privileges but special burdens and special responsibilities. May we continue to cherish and to nourish this greatest nation on gods green earth. Thank you very much. [applause] lets, if we can, go to some questions. Spirit so are you saying that the election of donald trump is, was a Divine Providence . Its hard for me to say, especially given people who listen to my radio show know that i never supported mr. Trump and i didnt vote for him. Spirit it must be Divine Providence, right . Not necessarily. In other words, and discuss one of the key questions about any talk about Divine Providence in Human History. People will say well, you believe that god has blessed the United States, then why did he allow the Great Depression . Why did he allow september 11 . Why did john allow john kennedy assassination . Why did he allow lincolns assassination when he was most needed . By the way thats the last big question, the last question is about that and its called the messenger and his message. Basically i would say this. I dont believe that everything that happens in america is confidential, but i think that a great many of the big things are. The same way that lincoln asks the question in his second inaugural, why would god who is always favored this nation allow this, what he calls in the second inaugural, the mighty scorch of war . And what he puts forward is what americans think of ar working on even during the war which is that it was punishment for slavery and it was a price that needed to be paid. Now, whether mr. Trump turns out to be a punishment for something or a deliverance for the county in a challenging time, one of the things ive resist and people who listen to the radio show know that i think its folly for people to say that these are dark days for america. Its not. This is not a terrible time. And by the way, ive also resisted and people know this, people say barack obama is the worst president weve ever had, look at what hes done to destroy the country. He wasnt a successful president. I didnt vote for him. Its not my idea of what a president should be or should do, but you know what, the country is okay. Really it is. And you look at the way we live and some of the indications of progress and the every much there. So to answer your question, i hope that will be able to look back and say that there was something providential about trumps election. The one reason i might be inclined in that direction is it was so unexpected. Did you think he was going to win . I did not. Me neither. And my wife said to me last night, i still can be hes president. He isnt yet but he will be here and who knows what god has in mind . There have been more unlikely things that ive written about in the book than that this really could be an amazingly beneficial and helpful time. What other things i think is very good is there will be, we went through eight years in which people on the left didnt get everything they wanted, but particularly during president obama is first two years. People of the left got a lot of what they wanted in terms of financial reform with dodd frank, in terms of obamacare, in terms of the ledbetter act and all these achievements president called attention to when he was running for reelection. Now i think were going to be able to see some of things that conservatives havent talked about a very long time and with Republican Senate and a republican house, i am a great admirer and supporter of speaker ryan. I think we may see not radical reform or americans blowing up our things being wrenchingly changed, but things moving anymore free market, more conservative direction for a while. Thats the kind of bounce i think thats always help america spirit so maybe its a colonoscopy for the country . A cleaning out as it were. Again, this by the way, let me say another word. Anybody who is hesitant at about getting a colonoscopy, its really worth doing. You should really do it. And thank you. But i like that analogy. Because colonoscopies are necessary. Yes, they are. Spirit other questions. Those who listen to the program know that you not only lead tours to israel but you have a brother who is a journalist there. If you still practicing . He is still practicing judaism, and, and jonathan does write columns and things like that but is primarily a businessman, not a journalist. He makes an honest living. My brother jonathan is actually come and im very, very proud, hes my kid brother, and he is probably the leading venture capitalist in israel, and he is been a very big part of the israeli hightech boom, which is been a miracle. And again theres a saying thats a tribute to david bengurion, he once said in israel, we dont believe in miracles. We rely on them. And the are aspects to that. When you look at things that are completely not believable, there is a wonderful from 1854 by Henry Wadsworth longfellow called the Jewish Cemetery at newport. Newport, rhode island, is the oldest continuous jewish congregation in the United States. And longfellow and his palm says how strange it seems these hebrews in their graves close by the seat of his fair seaport town silent beside the never sideways that rest and all this moving up and down. The point of the poem is, g, interesting people, too bad they will have they will never have another nation. Again, and the entire poem, and he was sympathetic to this design is a dream which by the way inspired America Christian zionists in the 1840s. Its an amazing story, but in any event, my brother is now the grandfather of is it six or seven . On asking diane. I think seven grandchildren now. And yet, it is, its seven. In any event, and doing very well, and despite a Beautiful Life in israel. But i think in terms of gods will in history, the fulfillment and remarkable fulfillment of biblical prophecy in israel is very much a part of the story spirit what i was going to drop his exact what you just said. I will frame it as a question or. The fact that if our country is recognized for its immigration and for everything else, look at israel. Sure, its coming home but look where it came from. Everywhere. To create the homeland. It is biblicallybased you could argue. Its gods payback. My question to you, not raising the issue of your brother. Have you had conversations with him about this mr. Trump situation . And what is, israel i look on his being kind of the other little outpost that is so much like us, and the only one in that region i think its fair to say, and what do they think about whats going to be going down . Okay, first of all let me just emphatically agree with you, the similarities between the United States and israel are profound. These are the only two countries that are not based on blood and soil. They are based on good ideas. And i say that, what about having say israel is a base of blood because its jewish people but they are jewish people from all over the world. Judaism, many people dont realize this, has obviously had a long history of conversion based on ideas. Its not just yes, you are jewish, automotive europe born to a jewish mother but theyre also in your states today the estimate more than one out of 10 american i was a call by choice. People are not necessarily born jewish. Israel is based on a good idea and a series of good ideas. Americas based on a series of of good ideas. America didnt just evolve randomly. It was based on intelligent design. Israelis would like to believe the same. My brother is a businessman. He will be working with the trump administration, and i would say i think its safe to say that my brother has shared semiskepticissome skepticism ap during the campaign, but hes also been very encouraged by some the things that mr. Trump has said and done since he was elected president. And i do think in terms of the relationship between the United States and israel, that things should be even closer. And by the way, im doing another book, my new book, which im supposed to be writing right now instead of talking to you and getting on an airplane later tonight, my new book is called disfavored land, and its more american miracles. The story of providential protection from 1865 to the present day. And by the way, the reason i mentioned that, apart of what many, many, many people, when i see many people, a great number of scholars have made the point that america has benefited from something that is promised in genesis 12, three. Ill give you to biblical tonight. But in genesis, abraham is told those who bless you will be blessed and those who curse you will be cursed. No country in the history of the world has blessed jewish people the way the United States of america has. And that something that you think anybody who knows jewish history have to be conscious of. And the connection between that blessing and the blessings that we receive as americans, a lot of christian believers and jewish believers really hold that that connection is real. Thank you. Michael, which concepts and ideas from your message of the american miracle would you most like to share with seattles High School Students . Thats a great question. And let me say this. That the appropriate response to American History is not guilt. Its gratitude. And that doesnt mean, by the way, that america has been a perfect nation. American exceptionalism doesnt mean american perfectionism. And the idea that we have been specially protected in this country doesnt mean weve always deserved it. There are times when the manifestly have not and there are issues on which we manifestly have not. But one of the problems with so much of what you get in education today, particularly history in education, isnt this long litany of complaints about america. America has spoiled the environment and native americans lived in perfect harmony with nature, which by the way is not true, and things were at peace, like eden and in the white man came and everything was rude and everything was spoiled and everyone was exploded and everything was cruel and miserable. Okay, thats wrong. Its also wrong on the other side to say that from the very moment that people first came to jamestown, that they were righteous end of a good and everything, lived in harmony, its history. But the important point that i would share with the High School Students is that history is more exciting, more meaningful and more true when you focus on the heroic. And when you focus on things that truly are amazing in terms of giving us this good life that we should appreciate. And the idea that the study of history should lead people to not a special burden of guilt, but a special sense of responsibility. And a special sense of the capacity in america to lead these amazing lives. America has always been the land of new life, the land of fresh start. Thats why people keep you. Thats why the cost big oceans. Thats why they left home. Thats why my grandfather came. Thats why the pilgrims came. By the way, one of the things, this in itself is very important for thanksgiving, right . I really didnt care very much that people get this right, the pilgrims did not come in because they were fleeing religious persecution. They teach this in schools and its nonsense. India but remember, where did the pilgrims come here from . Holland, the most religiously tolerant country in the world. There was no religious persecution in holland. They came here seeking righteousness, and seeking a perfectible society. Not simply seeking freedom from persecution. And the idea that there has been a general are of doctor kings birthday you will be celebrating a january 15 here at townhall, dr. King says the moral arc of the universe bends upward. The moral arc of American History most certainly does. And teaching that the kids, the idea that what we really need to do is not focus on reasons to feel guilty but reasons to feel grateful would be the primary message. I have a twopart question. To me, one of the clearest signs of gods touching america is the history of George Washington, particularly when he was a Lieutenant Colonel. So the first question, what you think is the most spectacular sign of gods will and the life of George Washington . Cycling as you may not have an answer for this, can you think of anything at all similar in the life of general mattis . The second part of the question, first, i dont know general mattis personal history. I mean, i know hes from pullman washington. I think grew up around richland. Hes one of her own washingtonian, j, tina. You will notice i am wearing my husky purple tie in honor of the forthcoming confrontation with alabama. I mean, the crimson tide sound like something that washes up on shore, right . Okay. So general mattis i wouldnt speak about. But when you read stories about this guy and you hear from people, and ive spoke to people that served with him, a remarkable man and a remarkable choice. And for people who are deeply skeptical about mr. Trump, very, very reassuring that the Defense Department which is arguably the most important appointment that people make, that the appointment is one that is universally praised, i think its very encouraging. George washington. I dont know if youve read this section of my book yet, but [inaudible] spirit ive always suspect about what the native americans had to say about George Washington. I had the entire story about that called the indian prophecy, and the story is unbelievable because its very complicated. Our source for the indian prophecy is dr. Craig who was a lifelong friend of washingtons and was an eyewitness to the story. The story is that apparently washington went out about, before the revolution. It was about eight years after a battle, radix defeat which is 11 of the worst days in the history of the british army. One of the worst days basically they marched into a trap along the road that they were trying to build and marching very slowly with heavy equipment, and the words the woods were filled with french sharpshooters and the native american allies, some of the native canadian allies. And a shot at the british. There were 70 officers on horseback, but his officers and american militia officers. 69 of them were either killed or seriously wounded. Only one of them was not harmed. His name was washington, a 23yearold Lieutenant Colonel. Of the militia. And washington was a big, juicy target. He was 63 at a time when a typical american, a typical american was by 6. He stood out. He had two mounts shot out from underneath him and basically to survive after your horse is shot and falls and you fall and the chances of breaking a leg, he survived. He showed his close after the battle. There were four bullet holes in his closing, including his hat was shot off from his head. Okay, and this was so striking at the time that samuel davies, a famous pastor, and this at the very end of 1755, long before the revolution, washingtons is 23, but samuel davies, future president of princeton university, famous pastor, delivers a sermon as has that Shirley Providence has protected that magnificent youth, colonel washington, and sustained him for some Singular Service to his people. You can see the history of the world being changed if bullets go this way or that way. Washington was coming back and delivered and ultimatum to the french, had all these adventures based on his own recollection in the recollections of his companions, at one point they were thrown into the ice and he miraculously survived, in a river in western pennsylvania and it is cold, they survived but they were warning the river with rafts, the ice flow came and knocked the man. Washingtons companion is carrying a yardstick. I will be glad to carry a musket for you. Took the musket and took aim at washington. And fired at him from 10 feet away, it was close. As i say in the book, at this moment if someone were making a movie about this, you would see the bullet in slow motion as the entire history of the world depends upon this bullet missing it 63 quote target. It goes on, during the revolution it was well known washington could not be shot. The battle of monmouth, they were shooting at him, ferguson was the most famous marksman in the british army, had a chance to plug washington from a nest of snipers before the battle of brandywine and for inextricable reasons said that felt distasteful to him. This guy doctor craig, shared an account with the closest thing to a descendent George Washington had. Washington never had children. This is another thing, isnt that strange . The father of our country. The reason people believe and i believe, i am just as much a descendent of George Washington as anybody, so are you, so is everybody because he never had children, he had a stepchild, two stepchildren and step grandchildren because martha was a widow when he married martha and one of his step grandchildren wrote this play and wrote out the indian prophecy, washington together with his friends, and expedition in the woods, and indian comes out of the woods and says he came here because he wanted to meet the great chief, the tall one, that would be washington and told the story from the indian point of view, in the book, as described by washington app step grandson, about the indians concluding their bullets were useless against this one. On that day, the day of the great battle, they couldnt miss but they were powerless against George Washington. It is spooky stuff and struck people at the time. Washington died at the very end, this time of year. A few days after the end of the century he died, in 1799 in december. Thanks for your lifetime of scholarship and patriotism, given us so many years of enlightenment and entertainment, did he do it on rome and persia and alhambra maybe . With something as big as rome, something as big as the person empire, say there is something bigger involved. I was very involved, this is geek stuff but when i was 16 i discovered my Favorite Book of all time which is, still is, there really is no better novel ever written, war and peace by leo tolstoy. Tolstoy rights based on the idea, you can say all of this is a random accident, napoleon woke up one day and felt like invading russia which happens in war and peace, if some russian peasants wakes up and says i want to invade france it doesnt matter. You are talking about so many hundreds of thousands, millions of people left to make individual decisions and they all amount to something very big. We are talking about big stuff. If you believe that god didnt just make the watch and set the watch, let it unspool, if you dont believe god is directly involved, things in Human History represent something of the will of god, will of history if you will but clearly that timetable has been heightened. The roman empire was so cool that is so cool in so many ways, that corruption became worse after the end of the Roman Republic and beginning of the empire. I think the other aspect is they were pagans, they did not believe in one controlling force in the universe which it seems to me is one of the big differences between our point of view in the United States and the point of view of ancient civilizations, the babylonians and assyrians, and greeks. The idea that there was one script, was foreign to them. It was not for an to our leaders. That is one of the striking you will see from this book that will amaze you. Even those founding fathers, Great American leaders who we dont associate as being conventionally christian or religious at all believe that god was guiding United States, jefferson do it and played a role, one of the chapters is called providential purpose. How is it Napoleon Bonaparte who has the biggest appetite for gobbling up land in history, all of us in gives away this huge tract of land for a song, america didnt ask for it. We went to the town of new orleans. How about the whole kit and caboodle, the louisiana purchase, the price of a penny an acre. The hero of saratoga when he heard this news says there is an air of enchantment, Alexander Hamilton wasnt just a holy joe. He said unquestionably this is providence. The same providence that guided us so firmly during the revolution, that made this purchase possible and that would seem the big difference, you dont really see that in terms of one script. What you read in the odyssey and the iliad, fighting against each other, not the idea of one god who is god of all of all time. Is providential america has founding geniuses like hamilton, madison and others who formulated and almost perfect constitution, it works better than any other system. An acquaintance who is a middle School Teacher in portland on his Facebook Page made a comment after the election they kicked out the elites, that is people who stayed awake in civics class. I resented that a little bit. I was at a dinner conversation and told them about this and i said the rust belt guy, the machinist in michigan and the truck driver in tennessee have a better innate sense of how the Government Works in civics than this middle School Teacher and of course my interlocutor in the debates says they are just out of a job. You know what . I am going to stick by my side because we have people like you teaching civics and i think part of the reason trump won, providential or not was people sensed that the government had gotten out of control, the president was using dictates to govern when he should have worked with the legislature and the Justice Department and irs were completely out of control. The common man did have an understanding of civics. I wonder what your opinion of that argument is. You are probably familiar with William F Buckley who i have the privilege of knowing a little bit. Indubitably a great man. Made this wonderful comment, i would much rather be governed by 2000 names in the boston Telephone Directory chosen at random, 2000 members of the harvard factory. It is not a fundamental truth recognizable john adams, that franchise was limited at that time. Most people dont know at the time of the constitution, there were six dates that had religious tests for voting. Catholics were not allowed to vote let alone jews and atheists, only protestant christians were allowed to vote in new hampshire. This is before they federalize the First Amendment, the 14th amendment, so there was a different point of view on the part of the founders. What you said is profound, you are right, basically everybody talked in this election about the appetite for change and people voted for trump because they were bored and frustrated and didnt like it and tired of hearing the same drift in the same direction, lets knock down all the chess pieces and start over. Mister trump with his selections in the cabinet so far by and large is trying to get people what they want, this is going to be different. The sense of inevitability, predictably, is gone. The fact, the mood in the country is better, people are paying attention. They are interested. To i think mister trump will usher in a new golden age quote mac make America Great again . I think america was great before but is it possible we will be greater and a strengthening of particular people, that we are not following some kind of inevitable decline, i do think that is dissipating. You can feel it dissipating. Yes, there are people in the center and people on the left and some people on the right who are terribly worried about what trump could do but basically i think our country is better than that at this is the one area where i do tend to disagree with mister trumps most enthusiastic supporters. This is not a country that is going to rise or fall on the strength of one leader. Part of what we have seen may involve a reinvigoration of american politics to get more people involved to pay attention. Talking about the end of the world and in the streets and crying, they didnt vote. They didnt vote. Certainly not enough voted in wisconsin and michigan and pennsylvania and florida to make a difference. Wisconsin, michigan, pennsylvania, all 1 margin. One other thing about the founders. Another question before we wrap up. Seeing about the founders this Remarkable Group of people. We live in a very big country, 330 million people. People lived in the United States of america at the time of the constitution, 3. 5 million. And about a 10th of those people were slaves. We are talking about 100th of the population. You have franklin, hamilton, madison, adams, jefferson, john j, ehrenberg for better or worse, these are big people, john marshall. John marshall in law school had the opportunity of going to law school with bill and hillary clinton. You can ask me later if they inhaled. It is incredible. If you think of the big six revolutionary leaders, and are you kidding me, you could say this explains why america seems if it was designed, it was designed by remarkable people, the country didnt just evolve, it was intelligent design, pardon the phrase. Those guys, all of them, to be the authors of the design, its instruments. And Divine Providence, this is amazingly consistent even among people who were religiously people like thomas paine who is antireligious in some respect, who ripped out parts of his bible he didnt like and that was a lot of it, franklin who is atheist, and spoke to the Constitutional Convention. And try reading it aloud. The hair stands up on your forearms. They are about to drop this idea of creating a new constitution to bring it back together, we have to begin each session with prayer. We have forgotten to pray. I use it as one of the epigraphs in the book. They were not mormons or baptists, one of the things that is fascinating, stunned by this is the wine bills, madero wine is very sweet, the miracle at philadelphia, you get this done, another question. Im thankful for this opportunity, to get a hold of michael on his radio show, a rare, i have not been privileged, i thank you for the history lesson, i actually had a question for you. As i was waiting for my turn, a couple comments, i appreciate your work even more, and i have a slight difference of opinion, i will go home and do my homework in regards to your comment about people in the United States not necessarily for religious freedom. The filibuster. I think about the huguenots and others. I was going to go home and study, not everybody did, not everybody did. You win, you win, you win is just speaking many others did come to the United States to flee religious persecution. The colony of pennsylvania was founded by william penn, one of the more amazing figures who became a convert to the quaker state which is considered the hippies of the time. They were ruthlessly persecuted not only in old england but new england. They banned quakers in massachusetts so there was serious religious persecution, maryland was founded by the calvert family by the church of england authorities, 100 right, my point was not the pilgrims. In regards to that, and many components, have to go home and buy more of your books, extremely impressed. You talk about relief factors. My question is in regards to i have been in education 45 years watching the pendulum swing back and forth, it can relate to what i am saying. In regard to wonderful things that made our country great and i agree with you, i do wonder in regards even though it is such a pleasant thing to say, how are you and have different opinions to do with republicans, you have a different point of view and not feel we hate each other which i really appreciate. In regards to separation of church and state which i feel is one of the positive things even though going from one extreme to the other to have any thoughts in regards to the future of our country, our ultraconservative people that are coming income any thoughts in regard to any of that, how will the pendulum go with regards to the wonderful thing about separation of church and state and i love our freedom and freedom of religion and all those things which i am a conservative so im not asking about it in a negative way. This is a great question and a profound question. We should understand, the phrase wall of separation between church and state does not come from anything in the constitution or anything in the bill of rights or anything in legal documents of the United States, it comes from a letter president jefferson wrote to the danbury baptists in 1805 where they were writing to president jefferson because at the time Baptist America suffered serious persecution and they were parts of the country where baptists were having a tough time being allowed to vote and participate as citizens. Jefferson wrote back and used this term while of separation at a Later Supreme Court case they cited that term and injected that into our jurisprudence. But the key thing to remember from jeffersons original intention and from all the subsequent jurisprudence, the main idea of a wall of separation is not to protect government against religion, it is to protect religion from government. Jefferson is not worried there would be religious attempt to take over the government to impose one religious standard, that is why the First Amendment is worded the way it is. It is important people know this. The First Amendment does not say anything about the wall of separation between church and state but Congress Shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. Or limiting the free exercise thereof. That is why what you learn in Law School First year of commonlaw, class i was in with hillary clinton, they emphasize their two part of the First Amendment. The no establishment clause and the free exercise clause, and they run against one another. The basic point america enjoys religious freedom which is totally unprecedented in the history of the world, we have a free market of ideas here. This is where john adams was wrong and jefferson and madison were right. He was you start arguing about which church do we support in which one of the official churches. England still has an established church, the church of england is the official church of england supported by the government. It is. Nobody goes. It is supported by the government. In america most recent surveys, pew research surveys, 36 of americans go to church at least once a week or more. 36 , a lot of people. In britain the numbers 5 . We have this tapestry of religion and its free competition and you can get into argument that universities, arguments on buses if you can hear yourself, and arguments anywhere with people and freedom to try to convert people and argue with them and you can choose. That is another amazing thing. In america today, about half the people who describe themselves as religious are in a different denomination than the one in which they were raised. Theres a lot of that going on. A show of hands, are there people here who are in different denomination the religious groupings . It is extremely common in the United States and it is glorious. It is why religion is so much stronger here than it is in other parts of the world where there is no religious liberty. This goes to the point that the establishment clause is very firm. The establishment clause does not mean the United States must embrace a state religion of atheism or secularism and they worked this out pretty well in the congress of the United States, Congress Today paid attention to Benjamin Franklin. When Benjamin Franklin called for opening every day with prayer, what happened . They dropped it. They said no. Not because they thought prayer was a bad idea, they thought it was a good idea, they couldnt afford it. They had no money in the budget and they were worried they would have to pay taxes and that was a point hamilton made, secretary of the treasury. The point about this. In congress of the United States they have chaplains who come in. It used to be a chaplain in the house and senate would be one guy, now they have everything, imams, buddhist priests, buddhist monks, every imaginable rabbi, every denomination and it is beautiful. This is one of the wonderful things the freedom from Religion Foundation is pushing for. They want somebody atheist to lead prayer one morning and you know what . As long as he doesnt use it to attack religion, why not . Why not . This has been the great strength of our country. People say what you are saying all the time. What if the christian right takes over. What are you afraid of . What kind of take over . I have not heard anyone who woulds to enforce biblical law. I shouldnt say anyone. It is a big country but it is such a tiny percentage of people. Really, you want to have the Death Penalty for adultery, it would solve the population problem. It is one of those things, did we have religious freedom in this country when they began in the state of new york with new york state regions prayer, it was called, you know what the text of the prayer was, dear god, we thank you for this day, for this school, for our parents and our beloved country, amen. Is that so terrible . I am not sure it is constitutionally for bid. Right now it is but we will see what the Supreme Court decides. What i can assure you is we wont go back to a situation where any state can disenfranchise people based on religious faith, any fears people have of trying to impose a theocracy it seems to me are false fears. In just a few minutes, thank you for your question. Anything else . Any last question here . Then we can wrap up in just a moment. I am grateful for this opportunity and i love talking about this book and i may have mentioned there is a second book on the way after contracting the same publisher of the good people at random house, the name of the sub publisher. This is my fourth book in a row. The new book is called this favored land. The subtitle, more american vehicles, continued providential protection. There are stories that just need to be told. The battle of midway, right . Completely inexplicable. These guys in the battle of midway couldnt understand it. Four minutes, they sank three japanese carriers in four minutes. And crippled the fourth. So it couldnt be used. It was miraculous. They said it was if something was guiding our bonds. It was 1 40 from an Aircraft Carrier and without the battle of midway, that was the turning point in world war ii, one of the decisive battles in history. The Franklin Roosevelt recognize the role of providence. One of the things the second book is going to feature is his dday prayer which is profoundly religious. Today if a president spoke like that, the president said, he delivered a prayer, dear god, dear lord, protect our young men, and he said in the course of that prayer, we are fighting for christianity and civilization. This is fdr who an imperfect individual in many ways, so are we all. So were all those people who have been used by the god of history preserving and promoting the United States of america. I come back in conclusion to the one point that is most important. You hear Michael Medveds theme that god has special protection for america. It doesnt make americans better. It makes us more obligated. To those whom much is given much is expected. What is it spidermans armada, with great power comes great responsibility. America has to demonstrate that is one of the wonderful quotes featured at the conclusion of this book is a quote from historian Walter Mcdougall who taught for many years American History at my fathers alma mater and professor mcdougall says try to imagine some kind of mystical time traveler, flying dutchman, lost ship where someone comes into our world from the year, say, 1616, not that long ago, 400 years ago. The guy looks around the world, and lets see. We have islam, aggressive, angry, in much of the world in 1616, fighting with a section china, vast empire with tremendous possibilities, great sense of its own superiority and yet not much real power. The french, superior to everybody else, particularly in cultural matters, you look around the world, russia, vast potential, what they say about russia in 1616 and in 2016 is what some people say about brazil, russia is the country of the future and it always will be. You look around the world and only part of the world where there is something this time traveler from 1660 will not recognize is here, the United States which no one would have thought in 1616 that the dominant civilization on earth in terms of military might, economic power, cultural influence would be in north america. In terms of the indian civilization am a Indian Tribes and cultures in north america, none of them comparable to these massive and advanced civilizations the aztecs built and the mayans, the mayans disappeared before the europeans, the mayans were human. Even disappeared before the europeans got there. This is the emergence of the United States of america is by far the most significant Historical Development in the last 400 years. The development of this country has changed the course of everything everywhere. The ideas of this country, the influence of this country and everyone is part of the american experience. Let me try one more story from the book, one of those stories that i didnt know before i did this book, the story of someone whose name you may have heard but you dont know a lot about him. I dont know if there are other sam houston fancier but i became a fan of sam houston. His father was a virginian. He was a friend here in north carolina. Sam went out when he was a young man, according to some reports that was a big guy, either way a giants for the time. He wasnt he runs away and he is adopted by the cherokee and they give him a name, the raven. He loves the cherokee way. Took with him one of the things he inherited from his father which is a book, a translation of the iliad and he is teaching the pms homer and living happily there and continues to live with the indian until he volunteers to fight in the war of 1812. He becomes a conspicuously successful warrior and servant the remarkable general David Andrew Jackson forming a lifelong devotion and friendship with jackson. A very long story and make it a little tolerable. Sam houston advances in politics, because a general of the militia. A congressman from tennessee and is elected at age 34 which is pretty young as governor of tennessee, and president jackson says pretty much to everybody, next president , he is his protege, jackson is incredibly popular. Only one problem. Want to go become president you got to find a wife and houston wrote in one letter i dont know what is wrong with the girls, they he is the governor of tennessee. He is set up with the most beautiful girl in the state, it is a storybook wedding, houston is involved with the messages in indian spirituality, his indian name, cherokee name, on his way to his wedding a raven drops dead in front of his horse as he is writing to the wedding ceremony and he took it as a bad omen. This is the most disastrous wedding night in American History. There are all kinds of theories about what happened, general houston, governor houston and his young bride lose what we do know happened is the next morning she said she hated him and wanted to kill him. This wedding night did not go well. The result was the new first lady of tennessee leaves governor houston and he is forced to retire because of the humiliation. He goes back to live with the indians but has a new indian name, his new indian name is big drop because he is drinking heavily and drinking his life away. A combination of circumstances lead him encouraged by president jackson to start a new life. Goes back to washington, halted by a guy named william danbury, 300 pounds at the time, only one photograph of him, looks like jabba the hutt, danbury accused houston of stealing from the treasury, stealing from the indians so houston finds him in the street in one of his trips to washington and starts beating him with a hickory cane where he cut the hickory rod from a piece of hickory tree in hermitage, tennessee. Danbury fires sam Houston Point blank. The gun misfires. Houston finds his way to texas. Now there is an eagle riding before him across the border in texas. He arrives in texas just in time to take command of the Texas Military forces in the war for independence. It was a big disaster, everybody is massacred at the alamo. Prisoners are shot and killed, 900 americans all killed. And santa ana who describes himself as napoleon of the west and savior of the motherland is determined to capture general houston. 18 minutes of conflict, he wins the battle which doesnt happen, texas and new mexico and arizona are still a part of mexico. So what . Is that so terrible . It is a very different america. The idea that houston had about god leading him every step of the way. Of the wedding night had gone better he would have been governor of tennessee and there wouldnt be an independent texas. The stories of how the battle happened against all odds, against a far superior force, unbelievable
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