Legislative and judicial and executive. But there is a fourth factor. And when we stand up to say no more, when we say there is a person right there doing the right thing we will get behind them then make sure that attitude becomes potent and decisive. When someone reads about Margaret Chase smith and says thats what i willwh do somebody in the government right now it will happen out of the necessity to survive we will expect that. I believe and you write we are centrist nation basically a country where 30 or 40 or 50 percent of the people are in the middle and want government to get something done. We aint doing it. That doesnt mean we wont. We have come through very hard times and baffling times and pessimistic times. And inappropriate behavior with the part of leadership but we have come to thembu all and very often when we do come through these difficult times the dark clouded sky times, we were better off for having done it. People talk about it was a simpler time. No itt wasnt. I
Good evening, every saturday night throughout the summer booktv is putting on several hours of a wellknown author. Kind of our twist on binge watching. Tonights featured author s historian David Mccullough the author of a dozen books including bestselling histories on the american revolution, the invention of manned spaceflight the settlement of the Northwest Territory and the creation of the brooklyn bridge. He is a two time winner both Pulitzer Prize and National Book award and appeared on booktv and cspan over 75 times. Coming up over the next several hours we will show you some of those programs. First up in 1992 he appeared on cspans book not programmed to talk about his biography of president harry truman. The book won the Pulitzer Prize for biography and hope to change the view of the truman presidency. Here is David Mccullough from 1992. David mccullough, and your last chapter called citizen Truman Truman had held to the idea of the mythical roman heroes cincinnatus. Whats that
They period i can to focus on whittemore the early part of that art and its the improvisational nature of that the really fascinates me more than anything else but its because the nation was founded in a world of monarchy, and the United States was a republic. What that means wasnt so clear at that moment, and people knew there their target something that wasnt that. Were not going to degrade a monarchy of the president is not going to be a king, but beyond that there was g a lot of open ground. Theres a i lot of improv in the early decades about what the nation is, how it functions, the tone ofun the government, how ts nation is going to stand amongst the nations of the world of the kinds of nations. What does it mean to be a republic in the world of monarchies . How was this patient going to any degree of respect, and equally if not more significant as far as the inside of that nation is concerned, what condition is a going to be . That is true, the question is on every level you can
Freeman talks about her life in writing, she appeared in her monthly call in program in depth in september 2019. Joanne freeman, youre gonna hate this opening question. [laughter] trace the arc of our nations history from 1783 to 1861, the political history of our nation. Wow. I wont use the word hate. [laughter] thats a little daunting. Trace the arc. Im gonna do historian thing and speak generally. I guess i would say if youre looking at american politics from the beginning straight to we could even go past the civil war you are talking about paradoxes and conflict and improv. The periods i tend to focus on really more the early part of the earth and its the improvisational nature of that that really fascinates me more than anything else because the nation was founded in a world of monarchy and the United States was a republic beyond that there was a lot of open grounds theres a lot of improv in those early decades about what the onation is, how it functions, the tone of the governme
Have them here virtually from his home and we are going to talk about his new book about the 1948 election. Were going back 72 years another Election Year. You will be amazed at how it sounds the same in some ways but in some ways very different. The difference is the politicians were all younger than they are today so thats one big difference but a. J. Take it away and tell us about the overview of the book and which is a very good. By the way. Thank you. I like to say couple things first rate thank you so much for having me pay the Commonwealth Club is a wonderful place to be at here we are with a lot of people going through a lot of pain and suffering. Im just reminded why he fell in love with reading when i was six years old. Books can really transport you to another time and place and during all of this is really been a blessing. Regarding my last time with you id started this book back in 2017 when i talked about the accidental president and the book came out during the 2020 elec