there were larger personalities before and after. but i argue that he was a pretty important guy. his presidency was not a big success. but he reshaped the political landscape around him. he led an interesting life. i wrote a book that i really enjoyed writing. host: why did you begin in sorrento, italy? mr. widmer: that is where he went to write his biography. his autobiography. presidents did not do that then. but now it is almost required by law. that you write a long set of memoirs. he was the first one to do that. he went to a foreign country. he went to a foreign country, italy, to gather his thoughts about his long career in office at many levels. he never actually finished the autobiography. he wrote a lot but he did not wrap it up. it did not come out until 1919. a time when pretty much everyone forgot who he was. i thought that was interesting. he went to a foreign country to remember all that happened to him. host: what impact did it have on him if any that his f
host: who was martin van buren? mr. widmer: good question. a lot of people think we need to ask that question. he was the eighth president of the united states. he is often forgotten. his presidency was only four years. there were bigger personalities before and after. but i argue that he was a pretty important guy. his presidency was not a big success. but he read shaped the political landscape around him. he led an interesting life. i wrote a book that i was really excited to write. host: why did you begin in sorrento, italy? mr. widmer: that is where he went to write his biography. his autobiography. presidents did not do that then. but now it is almost required by law. that you write a long set of memoirs. it s not but everyone does it. he was the first one to do that. he went to a foreign country. italy to gather his thoughts , about his long career in office at many levels. he never actually finished the autobiography. he wrote a lot but he did not wrap it up. it did
house. the republicans the senate. to congress, new leaders. watch the process unfold on c-span. ted widmerk on q&a, discusses his biography of martin van buren. host: ted widmer, who was martin van buren? mr. widmer: good question. a lot of people probably need to ask that question. he was the eighth president of the united states. he is often forgotten. his presidency was only four years long. there were larger personalities before and after. but i argue that he was a pretty important guy. if his presidency was not a big success and it wasn t, still he reshaped the political landscape around him. he led an interesting life. host: why did you begin in sorrento, italy? mr. widmer: that is where he went to write his autobiography. and presidents did not generally do that then. but now it is almost required by law. that you write a long set of memoirs. he was really the first one to do that. he went to a foreign country. italy. to gather his thoughts about his very long career
i m the director of the program here at the center for the new american security. a washington, d.c.-based nonpartisan and bipartisan think tank committed to crafting policies to help u.s. decision-makers. we have a most profound challenge confronting the united states in thy great power as an increasingly assertive and powerful china. today s special event would be documentarian peter navarro, it is entitled crouching tiger what it means for the world and we are delighted to have not only am here today but also to distinguish fellows. we will hear from each of them after the main presentation. first let me say a few words to be framed the debate in the context of today s event. this is december 7 as a reminder of both strategic surprise and how the rising power might seek an expansion of its control throughout asia even at the expense of the power war. the concern today is that the reemerged naturalistic and increasingly revisionist china was bent on establishing the influen
and it really is. american history tv is featuring c-span s original series at 8:00 eastern on sunday nights throughout the rest of the year. c-span produced the series in cooperation with the white house historical association through conversations with experts and questions from c-span s audience, we tell the stories of america s 45 first ladies. now we look at two administrations led by widowed presidents and the women who serve as first ladies. we begin with rachel jackson and emily donelson. this is about 90 minutes. rachel was not a fan of anything that took andrew jackson away from the hermitage. her preferences apparently didn t strongly influence him but rachel was always the thing that he would come back to. she ran the plantation or the farm and kept everything in order. everybody loved her who worked there or was enslaved there. she might not have been like abigail adams but she could write a nice letter and she had nice jewelry. she was not as frumpy as s