and as always i'd like to thank pearl for putting together this terrific program so lees enjoy. thank you. thank you very much robyn. i want to make a couple of announcements before we start. if you would please turn off your cell phones so that not to disturb the presentation tonight. and during q and a-line up behind extending mic in the center row, and please make all the your questions only to be directed to our author shirley, thank you. we're privileged tonight to have two extraordinary people as our guests analyst craigly and woman who chose to be the interviewser of the evening monica crowley. monica crowley is a well respected journalist, best selling author, radio tack show host. tv analyst, with and brilliant woman for the american people. yeah, thank you. [applause] she's a true believer in our constitution and it is incredible founders. monica is a great patriot. who speaks to those of us who have no voice. and we her for that and now introduce to you someone you know very well monica crowley. [applause] thank you and for that incredible introduction after that i think i have to take her everywhere i go. [inaudible conversations] the supermarket thank you you so and thank you for having me here today and good evening to everybody. thank you for taking time out of your day to join us for tonight. we are -- i think i'm so honored o a personal note that craig, a couple of weeks ago is extending invitation to me to enjoy all of you tonight -- special place in my heart in new york. but also because i still respect shirley extraordinary man, and been throughout or years, ups and downs politically, et he's a loyal friend and i want to thank him on that level as well on a personal note. craig, thank you so much. >> thank you. i know tonight we have a fascinating and important conversation with with craig because for those of you who are not familiar with craig shirley and i can imagine many of you aren't familiar with craig he's a -- widely respected and widely known leading presidential historian. and one of the most important biographers of ronald reagan the author of -- [inaudible conversations] reagan revolution, last ax, the time year emerging legacy of ronald reagan and "new york times" best seller december 1941 which is one of my personal favorites, craig. also visiting reagan scholar at eureka college and lectures at reagan library and reagan ranch and if you have not spent time at the reagan library or ranch i highly advise that you go because those places are incredibly beautiful and incredibly important to our history. he's also regular throughout the media and been seen on television and radio and gurud t the firm and not author of the brand new book a book that we're here to celebrate tonight called reagan gathering and 1976 and 1980. please give a warm welcome to my friend craig shier shirley. [applause] introduce right now. yeah, i beg your pardon. they don't let me out much. ronald reagan said middle age when your face was temptation it and get you home in beds by 9:30. i plan on being home in my hotel bed 9:0 tonight. i chose this film, this going by eight minutes long -- speech by ronald reagan because i consider it to be maybe his most important political speech of his life. certainly the 64 speech for gold water which launched in national political figures that is to be considered one of the most important certainly one of the most important by a private citizen in the 20th century. henry and this one 64 reagan on a path which leads to the california governorship and then later leads to a presidential campaign is that -- the response to that speech was absolutely enormous you know money plodded into the republican national committee, and everybody viewed as one of the few bright spots in an otherwise campaign when gold water lost in landslide to lyndon johnson. but this speech in '76 let me set it up for you and then we'll watch it reagan has just lohse nomination to gerald ford. out of 2,259 delegate votes cast reagan losing by 69 votes that's roughly 2%. and don't forget too is that he's a out of office. he's been out of office for two years he's a private citizen. he's going up against gerald ford who is not elected but still incumbent president of the united states. prd has all of the powers of the presidency at his disposal and he has the white house. he has air force one. he has marine one. he has invitations to steak tirns priests meetings in the oval office and is in 1996 we don't have uncommitted delegates but 1976 uncommitted delegates who would go to convention and vote the way that their own preference not to weigh anybody in their state or even state party chairman might tell them but vote for whom they thought would make best nominee -- i turned off my cell phone. [laughter] and the president did not turn off her cell phone some more equal than others. [laughter] and a square drive -- something like that. so reagan reluctantly gets into the 76 campaign don't gerald ford is not elected he's confirmed by the congress and then by nixon resignation and as he becomes president august 1964 but he has little hold on republican party because nobody has ever made a connection in gerald ford by actually casting vote for him outside of one congressional district in michigan so a hold on the part. but still he controls party a a apparatus and eventually gets nomination by hook or crook sometimes both also reagan thought, and high jinks in the hodel gigs and the the pennsylvania delegation and the knock new york delegation and in new jersey. you have a chance from rochester who people referred to as chancellor because he ran the republican party like -- like a person general, and he exacted revenge on anybody for reagan in new york delegation in 1976 an actually my stepfather's brother was state senator from rod rochester a reagan delegate 1967 state senator? new york and he made his life very, very uncomfortable for a long time because he was for ronald reagan that's where gerald ford. so we would go through 30 primaries and conventions and over that period of time it is a sea saw battle first head for the first five sets and primary and then reagan zooms ahead with win withing north carolina -- about indiana, other states, and then it goes into 30 state convention and ford goes ahead. reagan and goes ahead a sea saw battle as i called it [inaudible conversations] the battle between the two political heavy had weights. for the republican nomination of 1976 there you go to the kansas city convention is by the way anybody here kansas city in 1976? i wanted to point out my wife's dream was there in kansas city 1976 there on the floor when rae began gave this historic speech at the arena. she was about well about 8, eight or nine. yeah. okay. [laughter] ford now has won nomination by march and proceeding over a divided party. half party is for gerald ford half of the party is for ronald reagan he knows if he has a chance of beating jiminy carter who is presided over a convention leading here in new york city which was unusual in that new york city actually hospitality the week the democrat were here and democrats had a joyous convention with the democrats rarely do is that -- carter is now ahead of the polls by in the polls by 30 points over whoever eventual republican nominee will be so ford knows if he has a chance he has to unify and present don't forget not just 17 thorks people in the arena uh-uh but million hads around the country are watching live on, you know, this is days of gavel-to-gavel coverage and abc, abc, and cbs and millions watch the convention, and divided to mention they lose in the poll. yiented convention tend to win in the poll and think over the last 30, 40 years in 1964 republicans were divided and lost in '69 in thes were lost. and divided and in '76 democrats united and republicans will be divided until -- ford the last minute on the last night of the convention calls rongd reagan to the podium to make a speech pleading for party you unity. reagan does something quite different. ford expected reagan to give a confessing speech and a expected him to u humble a little bit at the lecture. ford had given an uncharacter -- uncharacterly good speech and not known of good speech fire, and he practiced before tell prompter and staff so it was quite good -- especially for jared ford and refer ared to falling downstairs and air force one, and pumping head into marine one and getting in and falls with his dogs legs around leashes. you remember -- that was beginning of chevy chase during "saturday night live" mocking jared ford for falling down and now all sorts of things like that but ford gives good speech and preside aring over a divide party so he calls reagan to the podium . now reagan has no intention of going to the podium he done the interview just a few minutes before and a talked to live on nbc and said governor are you going to speak tonight? reagan said no had i'm not going to speak tonight. it is jared ford's night and not so behind the scenes dynamic is that ford and reagan really don't like each other and which is kind of strange because these are two of the most likable men in american politics yet reagan is bitter because he's feel like ford stole nomination and ford feels like he done a good job as president and didn't deserve a primary challenge in the form of ronald reagan, and -- truth be told is that mrs. reagan and mrs. ford couldn't be in the same room with each other. that had animosity was, so why don't we go ahead and yes please this is reagan august 19th, the last remarks of the convention in kansas city. [applause] we are all a part of this great, great republican family that will give leadership to win on november nd i would like, honored on your behalf to ask my good friend reagan to say a few words at this time. [cheering and applause] >> thank you very much. >> mr. president, mrs. ford, mr. vice president. mr. vice president to be -- [applause] the distinguish here and you ladies an gentleman i'm going to say fellow republican here but those who are watching from a distance all of those million democrat an independent who i know are looking for a cause in which to rally which i believe we can give them -- before you arrive tonight these wonderful people here when we came in asked myself a welcome that that, plus this, plus your kindness and jean ises arety honoring by brings us down here will give us a memory that will live in our hearts forever. [applause] on television the last few nights, and i've seen you also with the warmth you greeted nancy and you also filled my heart with joy when you did that. may i just say some words? [applause] there are cynics who say that a party platform is something that no one bothers to read and doesn't very often amount to much. whether it is different this time that it ever has been before, i believe republican party has a platform that is a banner of bold unmistakable colors with no failed shade. [applause] we have just heard a call to arms, based on that platform and a call to us -- to really be successful in communicating and reveal to the american people that difference between this platform and the platform of the opposing party which is nothing but a revamp and a reissue and a running of a late, late show of the thing that we've been hearing from them for the last 40 years. [applause] if i could take a moment and i had an assignment the other day someone asked me to write a letter for time capsule in los angeles 100 years from now u, that sounded like easy assignment they suggest i write something about problem and issue of the day and i set out to do so riding down coast in an automobile looking at the blue pacific on one side and mountains on the other and i couldn't help but wonder if from years from now and then as i trieded to write let your own minds turn to that task. you're going to write for people sew 100 years from now who know all about us. we know nothing about them. we don't know coif a world they'll be live in and something else they'll be the domestic problems and which the president spokes here tonight. but challenge is confronting us. erosion of freedom that what is taken place under democrat rule in this country. thieves invasion of private rights, that control and restrictions on the vitality of the great free economy that we enjoy. these are u our challenges that we must meet and then again there is that challenge on which he spoke that we live in a world in which the great powers have poised and aimed at each other horrible missiles of disruption nuclear weapons, that came in a matter of minutes arrive in reach other's country and destroyed. virtually civilized world we live in and dawned on me those who read this it letter 100 years from now mr. know whether those missiles were fired. they will know whether we met our challenge. whether they have the freedom that we have known up until now. will depend on what we do here -- about will they look back appreciation and say thank god for those people in 1976 who headed off that loss of freedom who kept us now 100 years later free. who kept our world from nuclear disruption and if we failed, they probably won't get to read letter at all because it has spoken of individual freedom and they won't be aloud to talk of that or read it. this is our challenge, and this is why -- here in this halling to better e ever done before we have to quit talking to each other and about each other and go out and communicate to the world that we may be fewer in numbers than we've ever been, but we carry the message they're waiting for. we must go unitessed, determined at what a great are general said a few years ago is true. there is no substitute for victory. mr. president -- [applause] thank you. thank you. >> couple of words about that speech. one, something is you'll remember the actor ford he was in the audience there. he was old frentd of ronald reagan he was not movie 30 seconds other tokyo and then that sitcom. yeah, very good he was the -- widow father of the sitcom hazel he was a big reagan fan. another is that as reagan is heading down there reluctantly he turns it a old friend of mine, my favorite he says, -- [inaudible conversations] and he does. he gives -- and a answer this -- the grace with reagan handles this. he's going to speak before an audience 17 thorks and before millions on the the network and on pbs, he has no prepared speech. he has no notes. he had no teleprompter. yet you talk about, you know, john kennedy talk about under pressure. talk about under pressure is to give this type of speech with no preparation, no notice. just come down and give this speech with literally sets him and right there -- that is the beginning of the campaign and grew to and after he gives his speech and popular as he was both an his part resulted for years ago told me that reagan was traveling around the country giving speeches for candidates,° fundraisers going down to tonight show with johnny carson they noticed in enormous upswing in grassroots support of police officers, and pilgrim aids and desk clerk and hotels all of them you've got to run again. just important to run again. that probably as much as anything convinced him he needed to run one more time in 1980 so anyway. i find this speech -- [inaudible conversations] >> strike me about that speech and remarkable is the fact that you can hear a pen drop in that convention hall and for anybody who has attended a political convention or covered one, you u know how hard that is to do and in the palm of his hand and that had kind of charisma part of a message he was delivering you could tell that he wasn't, his political career was not ending up -- >> no. elite side it was and 65 thought it was but for american people that speech, with some years ago speaking at the institute at kansas, and afterwards at dinner with some of the faculty and including head of the communications school at the university of kansas. her last name carly -- lovely woman and i remember her saying, is that -- what had did you think? she said perfect, perfect, perfect. perfect. it is an academic in materials of content, delivery, and all of the criteria go within making a great speech got a couple of questions for ifing craig an questions you may have -- and thed idea of movement. with a popular movement led by one man donald trump we have the conservative movement led largely by one man ronald reagan. so i think glad you played this speech is gold water got the conservative movement ball rolling in 1964 reagan picked it up in 1976 and it took it over o finish line in 1980 plus a little bit about what reagan set apart from other republican and conservative leaders that established him as intellectual political and practical leader of the conservative movement. >> well -- is it that reagan was different in that, you know, republican party -- democratic party since the time of 1972 up until 1976 had been party of the future and america has always been america is an america with the country of the future -- and we as americans have always believed in a better future or ourselves and for our children that's part of being an american is that it makes us unlike any other country in the world and always believe that we can improve our lives and improve lives of our children and we can improve our economy. we can improve our right. we're always in the search of a more perfect union. and so in the democratic party, from the time of franklin roosevelt you know, happy had to be here again through john kennedy -- pardon of the future from 1932 in the 1976 and republican party have been the green eye shape eat your spinach party a balanced budget no you can't do this. no you can't do that. all the time with the uncle who was always saying no to the kids. and the only rejoin with the party is that we can run government better than democrats that's the only they have which isn't a compelling message let's face it is carter done something remarkable at 1976. he throws away the man tell of the democratic parties, party of the future. he embraces a future of scarcity and a sacrifice. now part of it is because of his culture he's a -- don't smoke you don't drink, dance, is that your life on a good planet is meant to be a sacrifice and say no to temptations. and to achieve a better afterlife. but this, his cull culture outlook combined with his own personal southern baptist outis look and combined with a more prevalent outlook at the time. one of the famous books at the time was remember culture -- and you know of the left is also preaching this -- feature is no good for all of us ask that a member of the population and books that predicted worldwide famine. worldwide star starvation and nuclear war and that the left adopts the -- so the democratic party makes his own into the party of the past and appearing of the future and as this is happening reagan is always personally optimistic but now his own message begins to change and each gold water -- is made to remember a great speech and it is historically important but reagan is often angry and at lyndon johnson and angry at the great society. by 1977, with '78, '79 conservatism hasn't changed but his deliver of fundamental conservatism has he's talking about future, prosperity, he's talking about to be the soviet union and radical at the time. ... so, it comported well a natural optimistic person, and naturally happy go lucky because what is superofficial. he thought deeply about things he read greatly. he had all -- you know had an economics degree but it was never static but always learning and self-taught is that -- something you know he didn't fly for almost from 1945 up until 1966. so almost 20 years. he got two bad experiences flying one was from a plane from catalina island back to los angeles they ran into a terrible storm and couple of years later at a war bomb drive and he was landing with a celebrity in chicago, and again there's that bad circumstances, terrible snowstorm. barely lands he gets out kisses ground says i'm never trying again so for 20 years, so when he was with g.e. all of those years you know you remember ge theater but hosted but also had his contract and had to go to ge theater factories around the country and give talk with employee and give motivational speeches and at the time hundreds of g factories all over the united states. so he would only travel by train, so going from los angeles to boston -- it he doesn't go to the club card and chase and not drinks with other businessman but he gets a private compartment and he loads in article, and the whole time traveling across the country he's in there reading by himself. and years later a friend of mine edwards who is official for the american conservative movement was doing an interview with reagan in the 60s out in los angeles at the house in palisades. while he was waiting there he was in the library, and hundred was books there, he starts pulling out books and every one of them -- passage underline dog year, notation and didn't use books as decoration but books to teach himself. so he is a fully functioning intellectual conservative by 1976, and thousand he has the needs at his dispoflt to disposal to communicate and radio commentary, and i did an interview earlier today with breitbart, and i said look if reagan was alive today, he'd be twitter using the way donald trump has been using twitter. [laughter] but think about it. in 1930s it was the new phenomenon yet reagan mastered it in 30s talking pictures yet reagan mastered that. in 1960s commercial televisions of new and reagan mastered will and mastered press conference and soundbites he used regular commentary and column and i'm convinced today if reagan was alive he'd be using facebook, twitter as remember, there was a famous phrase in 1980s over the heads of washington. right when reagan wanted to stir american people to support him for some initiative, you know, there's a time and praise to the white house was what trump is doing now and convinced reagan wouldn't the be saying exactly what trump is saying -- [laughter] >> might have better jokes as with but he would be using that technology. >> let's talk a little bit about that time period in the specific book reagan rising because i've always been fascinated by what richard nixon calls his wilderness view. and also referred to wilderness view that -- >> that book called wilderness, that time that leaders use to regroup, rethink their positions their place and in a political landscape and we invent themselves for i remember talking to president nixon about his wilderness years those with nixon between 1960, with and lost in 1960 and 1962 gubernatorial race and ultimate victory in 1968. .. >> >> he was out there publicly but spending a lot of time when he was not writing letters or clearing brush he would go for long horseback rides by himself and then the last thing in the evening and he would just ride around the ranch thinking about things that he would come back and write it all down between 1976 and 1980 he gave 186 radio broadcast he broke all of them himself and some of them are timeless of course, he was also writing a column twice a week for the newspaper said he was coasta lie reading and writing like churchill and nixon and he considers that in a very important time in his life not only running for president but what he would do as president and how to project a message. so now here he is before 17,000 republicans that he makes an open appeal to democrats there waiting for the message giving his acceptance speech he again makes the open appeal to the democrats to join the shared values with a microphone and the audience he could convince them he is always recruiting always making me open appeals to the democrats. >> host: also what is fascinating and of firm believer of cliches it happens for a reason because it is true and in 1976 and to having been elected in 76 but 1980 was the of perfect marriage so it is fascinating that you write about this because he was not meant to have the job at that moment may be needed some reflections or do what you wrote about in the book because everything happens for a reason. >> 82 think there is something to that with an synchronous city. but the fashion that notion basically things happen for a reason that this series of domino's settled altogether to produce a result that may we cannot be seen close up but push away to see the full picture over time and of consequences if think we all live in the of moment today with the new president donald trump sold this was one year after he left the republican nomination that was a very interesting speech because he introduced the craft to the new republican party to say this is beyond the stereotypes of the country club them the corporate boardroom so we've bill embraced the men and of women the farmer and the cops and must be the party of the individual that sounds very familiar and sounds like donald trump's though talking about the men that the similarities of being elected in 2016 especially the comparisons between the two men with the conservative movement and now the nationalist and populist movement. >> america is populism has a distinctly different velocity that overlaps between the two if you go back to the reagan analysis from 1975 that he takes of the washington buddy system the lobbyist is pure populist because reagan believes that centralized authority is corrupting to the diminution of personal freedom so the traditional conservatism but i would argue with anti-corruption in fact, this is where they're the most similar of all is day are part of a dialect of american history every generation has experienced a populist uprising and the centrality of the argument is anti-corruption jefferson said he regarded his election as the second revolution so just like the sedition act and then of course, to get a refresher course with the election of trump leading to american history and bank of america. >> and also was victimized by the biathlon time those who would write the most terrible and awful pamphlets and disseminated widely and then of course, abraham lincoln and the republican party was entirely slavery that continues that philosophy is the maximum freedom for all. so of course, teddy roosevelt so in many ways it is a populist reformer. and then when trump comes 27 years later so that dialect i am mad at myself thinking back hillary would win but i failed myself to realize that the trump election was not 42 o or inevitable before any of us realized a part of american history. >> what would reagan think of trump? [laughter] >> i think he would appreciate he is a politician and the fact that he continues to go against the establishment when reagan's whole career was defined to go against the establishment in 1966 led the entire establishment of new was the mayor of san francisco. suppliers of baltimore and york and los angeles christopher was bright and articulate moderate republican but reagan would run in the primary sunday matches christopher but it isn't even close sonia's broken down with the premature or chair and then you send your part the down in defeat? so then he defeats pat brown by almost 1 million votes so he was always better with the american people american people always understood him better with the similarities between him and trump that they would appreciate that better than the american delete. >> do think reagan and nixon would be amazed at have extraordinary respect for him. so let me ask you about the conservative movement because i think many of us are conservatives but feeling he is a populist or more of a nationalist so to watch this dynamic so talk about the growing populism the sense of donald trump is not from reagan and his legacy so what reagan is now receiving. >> it all think he would have a problem with it. and american liberal philosopher wrote in a book called the of liberal imagination with the edible mental gestures. [laughter] to not have a coherent philosophy so the founders and the framers had that philosophy which was based on individuality of the of british rule and moneychangers whether you believe is an populism or judeo-christian heritage and to be left unencumbered so truly the highest level ambition for a government and that is part of that nexus of conservatism and of the ways to appreciate of trump being underestimated even after he was president. so he would appreciate the way trump does go about those things but when he was president with the first female circuit -- a secret service agent and it was hard to stand aside to let her go through the door first in mr. president you have to go. >> whether other told me ladies always go first there was no problem for reagan to walk through the door ahead of a woman and that the treasury department said mr. president you cannot look at her as a woman she is an agent you have to do when she tells you to do. he had a heck of a time to get past it. >> a true gentleman in his diaries he would write in the negative the negative with double hockey sticks. >> they had a great relationship and a great relationship and a conversation so i would put my arms around both of them and squeeze. but i would send them to the president first he wrote there you are a rose between to someone's. [laughter] that is my prized possession so what about did of reagan was around today with the advice would you give to the current president? >> got in talk to the american people which is what reagan did reagan read his mail he told his secretaries i want to read 10 pieces of mail per day. people who loved him, he did him and virtually all of those letters he wrote a letter of response they are treasured letters he got into the window of the american psyche but by reading his mail he got a letter from a woman and he wrote her back then he notices and calls the woman appears the president of the estate's calling a woman in indiana said why didn't you cash the check benches set wanted to keep it as a souvenir he said i will send you second check in new cash to but don't negative both of them. so he gained a perspective from the american people and gave a lot of speeches that is what the trump is doing that i think is so smart to get out of the bubble getaway from a "washington post" because ultimately if you watch his speeches there slow and halting the as the speech goes on there is a true energy from the audience to be more animated so by the end there behind him cheering him on. so don't listen to deal beat get out and read your mail talk to the american people as much as possible. >> great advice i think that is the president trump is already falling the level never lose touch with the people who put me here. so in many ways that is like ronald reagan birkenau be will take some questions. >> [inaudible] >> there were four or five occasions as a patron of the arts or a couple of times but it was very cursory. i don't think it ever had dinner together or had trump in the oval office but they did meet as two ships passing in the night. >> is there any public figure currently that is rising? >> reagan was truly generous i enjoy the question because of forces me to think many times because of those political figures to be future oriented with the heads of principle but i know anybody out there that is the whole package. but what is johnson and franklin and why aren't the about these improvements movement and anti-war movement so while we are making these investments in the book he says he is one of our greatest presidents and then to measure if they are successful. in to try to take including barack obama. and tad delaware time magazine but obama is best friends rather have blind but he did pay homage to ronald reagan that is a nice complement and all of those that come the closest that is not afraid to shake up the status quo but decoded martha stewart and washington and jefferson of want to be the next july 8 eisenhower but he was perfectly happy just to beat ronald reagan never expressing the doubts of what jimmy carter did. but to show his self-confidence he was giving a interview to then your time and said the fact the feeling that maybe one can be president but maybe one should be president and then to reverse those values . >> thanks for your hard work so there is a couple of things that he did from the middle east. >> and he wrote in the diaries the greatest failure sending those troops in in not providing enough materials to defend themselves never once went to the middle east but what was on his mind was hegemony but several years after they would ask him about the middle east. >> host: let me tell you the nile was raising going to the flood stage and the scorpion said kerry meehan across and won't sting you he said you will use the that is ridiculous we will die so the score being gets on his back and then stings the fraud and said why did you do that and he says this is the middle east. and that was is insoluble for millions of years so that made sense so the only time was then a military action was to send the troops into beirut to. because they were going to the foothills so did regret to stop the israelis. >> what about the reactor core. >> those something probably and private but as president of the united states something that is the most reassuring to the world but that was geopolitical because it undermines the saudis and the price of the consumer dropped but also undermines the sale of soviet whale and undercuts the ability to keep igo wing that was the real reason. >> thank you very much for coming tonight i watch donald trump and i often they defeated just be a little bit more like reagan but comparing nancy reagan, of what was her role ? . . pursue her own dreams and goals and things like that. nancy reagan is a fascinating figure. you know, she never, ever got involved with politics. she never said i'm not so sure about these tax cuts. there was never any pillow talk on tax code. by employing the 22 missiles by roston carter sat in. cap it never got involved with policy either. but they have a marriage that rivaled by local items and john adams. they were amount of each other, have been. just send it birthday, god love them, old friend of mine was reagan long time political guys. then rake in for governor. he called me once about nancy driving him to the train station, los angeles. and getting out and the two of them, the los angeles train station and coming and going. you know, the two of them, and they are embracing as if they are the only two people in the world. he told them he never witnessed a single devotion that day watching the reagans together. they were crazy about each other somebody once said -- jim carter once said if men he had been married to reagan when he was at its peak in hollywood, he would've won two academy awards. but the other thing said about reagan was if he wanted to be a shoe salesman, nancy would've made sure he was the best shoe salesman in the world. it just so happened he wanted to be president. she sometimes was the staff hu jintao for hurricane ronnie. she complained herself, did he get enough rest, but is he being properly treated by staff, properly briefed, speeches and scheduling times. that's where she divided her attention was around break-in, but not the policy around ronald reagan. >> a geoff rowley, almost crowley. i just have one comment and then i have a question. the comment on trump and nixon, i believe i read that pat nixon had predicted being president of the united states. >> yes, in fact donald trump back in the day told president nixon how incredibly impressive donald trump was and how she thought he could go into politics and be successful, although it to the presidency. president next town wrote to donald trump saying tell me you weren't credible. and last year he put that letter out. >> the question i have is just with reagan. how did he ever work with the independent democrats as well as he did because he was so conservative, but he was able to observe administer the same time. >> a certain element of the democratic party. the two parties are much different in the 1980s than they are today. for the reason many times they were able to make compromises to have a lot of conservative democrat and liberal republicans. part of the reason for this is that the parties both pratt just what was known as a balanced ticket. the liberal roosevelt takes the conservatives down later to conservative harry truman. the moderate dwight eisenhower takes conservative richard nixon. the more moderate -- and more conservative lbj, the more conservative nixon. so they operated in a sense of equilibrium for a generation or two. goldwater nominated in 1064. they should take nelson rockefeller or somebody else to unify the party. that takes miller his little-known congressman from buffalo, new york, even marcus surfeited and he is. goldwater at the time is fast by depicts miller and he said something like he paces off lyndon johnson even more than i do. but with the conservative ticket along with the process of delivering moderate liberal side of the republican party, so had john racing becomes a democrat with a republican, but also begins the process of the track to conservative democrats. the democrats and republicans to the republican and begins the process of reorganizing the two major political parties and a continuous and 72 by george mcgovern who picked the equilibrium liberal tom eagleton. the two parties represent pretty much monolithic ideology. they were able to work less together than they were a generation ago when reagan were put a moderate, democratic chairman of the house ways and means committee to reform the tax policy in america that we still live under today. the tax legislation in 1986. we still have essentially three tax bracket created by dan rostenkowski. also bipartisanship and national defense on the pershing two missiles. there is a lot more comedy between break-in and the boldly vote democrat than there is now between donald trump and the democratic party. that's to the democratic party sparrow because they are defensive, you know, how much has changed a generation or two. in 1975, they had near total democratic control of governorship in the legislature. republicans were down to 128 members of congress and couldn't stop in a democratic legislation. they were down to 32 senators which means they couldn't stop the democrats legislation. how much has changed in just a generation. the republicans control the white house. republicans control the president leave. republicans control the national dialogue, but all that has changed in many ways because of reagan's conservatism and ability to attract conservative democrats later known as reagan democrats that really shook up the political establishment. >> when reagan lost in that time period, and she's upset about losing the president be? the nomination? he said something like it wasn't god's plan. that was very interest me. thank you. >> yet, you bet. >> i'd like to follow up on the list said about failure and lebanon that this may be one of his legacies to ask that we have full control right now but had reagan done the right date, this would not happen. you had a similar situation with another extremely popular president eisenhower along with the soviet union. it took two more wars in the middle east, but eventually made peace with israel and today a piece of enough american policy in the middle east. i don't see any exit in lebanon with the middle east -- [inaudible] i would also like to ask who are some of reagan's political heroes? >> franklin roosevelt. he voted for franklin roosevelt. i might go back to this other thing. i've never met anybody yet who can confidently predict the future. no president has a special talent. i don't know anybody who does. they did the best they can under the circumstances. certain dynamics that would have been, but when it comes to the middle east, with so many competing factions and so much hatred, it's almost a full scare and to try to get in there and saw what his many people save as a problem. another president to skilled yet not. and into the future was franklin roosevelt because he was harming soviets to defeat the evil of germany. but nobody can fault roosevelt for contributing to the buildup of the soviet empire because he tried to feed what he perceived as the greater evil which was adolf hitler and of course the empire of japan. presidents do what they can do. they did the best they can do. i think we've been lucky as americans. we've had that presidents, always had bad man. in the federalist papers, jay m. campbell said anne madison right over and over the only two qualifications for president of the united states are experiencing character in experiencing character and the stiller character 20, 30 times. so we've had 45 presidents. i'm the one of them could've said it was truly a person with that care to her. people who are incompetent, people who are lost in power. people surrounded by bad people. we've had presidents who didn't know what it was right to say no. nixon should not say no to watergate, but also other presidents who didn't know when to say no to but i don't think we have the president. a long way of saying that reagan did the best he can with the middle east. the result were incomplete. the most presidents since the 40s were the result of that. the old one that had success with carter. they're still in force today. so carter probably had the greatest success of any president with the middle east. >> yes, i appreciate your not characterizing this. a lot of people look at him as the vote. >> no, no. you have to realize that washington was like in the 1960s and 70s. can you imagine going to work every morning trying to walk over it thousands of protesters, swearing, throwing bags of that staffers who are trying to do their jobs to get the white house were the president of the united states. it was -- it was out of control. the protesters were out of control. it didn't just start with him by the way. it started with lyndon johnson during one of his daughters weddings. lyndon johnson cursed about it because they could hear it during the wedding vows in the white house. 100,000 antiwar protesters circling the white house chanting hey, hey, lbj, how many kids did you kill today? the national news has never done justice about how out-of-control it was in the 60s and 70s and how much of a threat the antiwar protesters were two are very existence of the republic. >> having worked with president nixon myself everyday for four years, i can tell you he was really nice and generous and kind and warm and funny. [applause] thank you for that question. final question. >> just another guy from queens. i followed the other guy from queens from his sister to send down the escalator. i think his ability to manage this date set up that shiny object. and i was a huge fan of reagan voted for him proudly. do you see parallels in the way reagan was able to manage not the same manner, that that was part of his success politically. >> i think that he handled the national media better than republicans presidents. gerald ford was that the national media. they never gave him a chance. they always respected nixon, but they really didn't like nixon. this cultural warfare. dominated by one set of people, one set of values than one culture and nixon represented a completely different culture. they would never ever give him an honest break. reagan went out of his way to the gain them myself deprecating humor, with access to interview him, with one-on-one. he was very good as far as being acceptable to the media, which placated them to a certain extent. even the week of his funeral, the "washington post" wrote the wake of his funeral they wrote their reagan, not that he did, that he may have asked another's women and the nurse before he asked nancy. they even question his football career. that's how petty the "washington post" was towards break-in the week of his funeral. it was atrocious. day after day after day. this crystalline phase of the elites regarded ronald reagan. the new york city government closed to the funeral of franklin roosevelt, closed for the fear of john f. kennedy. closer to funeral fund and john. closer the funeral for a productivity and closed for funeral of martin luther king jr. the new york city government did not close for the funeral of ronald reagan. >> it says that all exactly. they always hated reagan. this is a break-in. -- they still hate break-in. i [inaudible] thank you so much. my wonderful guest today monica crowley. >> thank you so much. >> i was wanted to all of you line up and mr. shirley will sign his book right here at the podium. thank you all for coming. i really appreciate it. 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