of the first standing committees established by the senate. it is also one of the most powerful committees, and one of the largest. we are so grateful to the generous donors who helped make this evening possible. , independentca community bankers of america, , leonardoor america l , and mr. terry ehrman. thank you all so much for making tonight possible. we will begin the evening with the presentation of the colors and the pledge of allegiance. please rise. > i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. .> please be seated several distinguished guests have joined us this evening. senator that cochran, chairman of the cochran, chairman appropriations committee, senator patrick leahy, vice chairman of the committee, several current community in committee members, including barbara mikulski, former chairwoman of the comm ittee. and i saw suzanne c
but somebody needs to carve it out. and he died short shortly there after and oxford turned to me and said, how would you like to be the guy to carve it out. that s how i got involve in this project. how much did you have to write yourself? about 20% of the book. he had 250,000 words. my job, all they wanted was 150,000. i boiled it down to 120,000 of his words and added 30,000 of my own words as well as, what, 1400 footnotes and extensive bibliography and, you know, i knew what i was getting into for three years down the road. and, indeed, it s been every bit as challenging as i thought it would be. great fun and very satisfying. give us a specific on something that you thought had to be changed? overall, writer for 30 years for time magazine. he had kind of a time magazine style. some inverted sentences. things that really didn t ring terribly well in a general book of this nature. so throughout, i ve been out throughout the book, i went and kind of changed th
chief congressional correspondent, came to the hill in 1949 when he retired in the mid 1980s we went to work on a quick one volume history in the senate. he spent 17 years trying to write that. needless to stay he came by our office on numerous occasions. we ended up getting to the habit of going and having a lunch from time to time and so we had wonderful conversations. near the end, he passed away in 2008 and it was clear he was probably not going to finish it. so he was basically say all right, this is it. oxford university press agreed to publish the book. sent it out to the viewers. i got it and read it and said this is going to be a 700 page book. didn t know when to stop writing. it happens a lot to dedicated authors. my review said this is a great book lurking in the 700 pages but somebody needs to carve it out. he died shortly there after and oxford came to me said how would you like to be the guy that carve it out. how much did you actually have to write yourself?
an insider s history with neil mcneil and richard a. baker. how did you get together with neil mcneil and do the book? the il mcneil is one of gigantic figures who not only do time magazine s chief congressional correspondent for 30 years, came 1949.e hill in he retired in the mid 1980s, he went to work on what he hoped a quick one-volume history of the senate. nd he spent 17 years trying to write that and finish it up. needless to say he came by our the historical office on numerous occasions. e got a habit of going and having a lunch from time to time. we had wonderful conversations. he passed awayd, in 2008. and it was clear he was probably to finish it. and so he was you know, he okay, this issaid, it. he had the oxford university agreed to publish the book. sent it out the the viewers. anonymous f the reviewers, got it, read it. his is going to be a 700-page book. didn t know when to start writing as happens with a lot of authors. and so my review said, this was a
overall, writer for 30 years for time magazine. he had kind of a time magazine style. some inverted sentences. things that really didn t ring terribly well in a general book of this nature. so throughout, i ve been out throughout the book, i went and kind of changed that a bit. and other than that, it was really the major change was just boiling it down and then adding those cursed quick notes. you acquired in 2009, how long did you work on the book? about three years. going to show you video. out of context. out of the chronology of the book. but it shows some oratory of a couple of famous senators. the first is going to be huey long. before we show the video, when was huey long in the senate and what impact did he have? he had a huge impact on the senate. in the senate for a short period of time, from the early 1930s until he was assassinated in 1935. but he, you know, decided that he was going to use the filibuster as a as a major legislative tool. he did