no mention of eisenhower because he doesn't like eisenhower. that's joseph mccarthy but that's the person that wayne is big nest port of. and big jim is a story of a tough guy, big jim, constantly mentioned he is 6'3" or something like that throughout the movie. he is working for the house on american activities committee. this is big jim. and big jim goes out to hawaii to break up a communist spy ring. that is mostly made up of doctors in hawaii. and in the end what he does is he finds where these guys are having their meeting and rushes into the meeting and quite literally beats the communist out using his fists in a big fight, and then what transpires is he follows the story out and says they went back, testified to the committee, and they got off, okay? and he starts to say something along the lines of, maybe the constitution isn't all that great. maybe these congressional committees aren't the right thing to do. maybe we should just bare knuckle it with communism. have a few more fistfights and less congressional committees investigating a

eisenhower. that is the person that wayne is the biggest and supporter. dick jim mcclain comes in 1950 to come the story of a tough guy, big jim and constantly member -- mentions that his six feet three inches on many occasions. he is working for the house un-american activities committee, big jim and big jim goes out to hawaii to break up a communist spy ring mostly made up of doctors in hawaii. in and what he does is defined for these guys are having their meeting and rushes into the meeting and quite literally beats the communists up using his fists, a big fight. whited in spires is he follows the story out and he says they went back and they -- and i got off. he starts to say something along the lines of you know maybe the constitution isn't all that great. maybe the congressional committees aren't the best thing to do. maybe we should bare knuckle it with the communist. maybe we need to have few less congressional committees investigating and is that style of -- dewayne personifies and mccar

president eisenhower had had a lot of discussions with the secretary of state about the way the united states was seen around the world because of a lot of the racism that was going on and people here about and read about. the fact that this seemed to be a lot of episodes that kept happening and whether it was launching or some kind of discrimination that was taking place in the country so that the idea was eisenhower said that he was going to ask congress to set up a civil-rights commission which would put the facts on top of the table. i am told by one of the people who was at the meeting that he sent the table and said another going to put the facts on top of the table. and commissions, as we know, who do policy sometimes set up because their is a tough problem and people don't want to do anything about it. this set up a commission to make a report, and it goes away. this commission was supposed to put the facts on top of the table. its future would depend on what it found out, how aggressive it was, and what the public thought about what they're doing. >> initially set up as a rela

eisenhower's second inaugural he gets up and eisenhower's quite articulate and comes up with wonderful phrases. the domino theory and he comes up of force with the military-industrial complex which has come down through the decades but in his second inaugural he said before we can finalize their plans and the word finalized with such a discordant term that there were editorials where people were wringing their hands. there was a special column for parade magazine. eisenhower from creating this verb out of the word final and they haven't even heard the word prioritize yet but it was this angry sort of reaction that we use used without where that was astonishing. eisenhower did have a very nice way of talking. and created some nice stuff. counterproductive is eisenhower's words rakove the first example was counterproductive which sounds like a military democratic term that somebody would say in a war. this is counterproductive. i am building up to who i think is the king of them all so it's a little bit of a -- lyndon johnson picked up a couple. lyndon johnson and again i'm using every a

i happen to love president eisenhower. i remember the jingles we used to sing when he was up for reelection. but about the role of government things have changed significantly since then and i think his words could be applied today with very good effect. and if you bear with me, i have a sentence or two that i quoted. may i read it? host: please do. caller: should any political party attempt to abollish social security, unemployment insurance and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. there is a tiny splinter group of course that believes you can do these things, among them are h.l. hunt and a few other texas millionaires and an ockal business man from other areas. their number is nenthable and they are stupid. quote president dwight d. eisenhower. this is on page 51 of a book called the people's tension. i think that mr. eisenhower had a rare ability for balance and i would certainly like to see people in government that matched his caliber of leadership on

counterproductive is eisenhower's. the first example they can find of the word counterproductive which sounds like a military, bureaucratic term. it sounds like something somebody would say in a war room. this is, doing this is counterproductive, it doesn't get us anywhere. i'm building up to who i think is the king of them all, so there's a little bit of -- um, lyndon johnson had some nice ones, but lyndon johnson picked up a couple -- lyndon johnson, again, i'm using every authority i can find, but i'm sure he picked this up. pressing the flesh was a johnsonism. i'll be down there pressing the flesh. and ladybird gets credit for motorcade. that doesn't exist before she comes up with motorcade, and it's picked up by "time" magazine. there's no at least written example of that being used before that. um, richard nixon has some nice ones. he -- depending on your point of view -- but silent majority is his, deleted a coinage of his speech writers when they're going over the records of the watergate, their use of term ins

set ultimate by president eisenhower in 1957. this is about a half an hour. >>> on your screen now on booktv is a well known face for c-span viewers. that's mary francis berry. professor at the university of pennsylvania. she's also the author of several books. at the university of pennsylvania today to talk to her about this book. "and justice for all." "and justice for all: the united states commission on civil rights and the continuing struggle for freedom in america" mary francis berry, when did the u.s. civil rights commission begin and why? >> well, it started in 1957. president eisenhower had a lot of discussions with secretary of state about the way the united states was seen around the world because a lot of the racism that was going on that people would hear about and read about. and the fact that there seemed to be a lot of episodes that kept happening whether it was lynching or some kind of discrimination that took place in the country. so the idea was eisenhower -- said he was going to ask congress to set up a civil

the other hero of the book is eisenhower. i think eisenhower is underrated. the job of managing the allies, of dealing with the british, the french -- >> montgomery was -- >> montgomery is a piece of work. at one point -- montgomery won't come see marshall, so september 10, 1944, i'm sorry, montgomery won't meet ike so ike flies up to brussels. he can't get off the plane because he wrenched his knee. so montgomery comes to see him, pulls out the memoranda and says did you write this? shia rubbish. essentially eisenhower says steady there, i'm the boss. it's fascinating to me how that is a typical relationship of the british and they're realizing that we are replacing them, not only in combat effectiveness but as a superpower. how eisenhower kind of let them down easily, manages that, doesn't fire montgomery authority sorely came close to do so several times. if you think i'm exaggerating eisenhower's achievement, thing, they have seniority and put george patton in that job. >> things might not done so well spent i think we would've ended up in war with the br

from eisenhower to obama. an inaugural parade, charlie says, always reflects the president's personality. so eisenhower -- >> he's a military man. he's probably saying "i got to get back to the white house and do some work." >> reporter: and kennedy? >> kennedy is "let's party." >> mr. president -- >> reporter: he has made mistakes. like the time he asked george w. bush if he would throw out the first pitch at a nationals' game. >> a minute later, this big burly guy gets right in my face and says, "don't ever say anything to the president direct." >> reporter: bet you never did it again. >> never did it again. >> reporter: all these years, and charlie has never gotten a penny. four years from now, are you right back here? >> i am thinking about retiring when i'm 120. >> reporter: kate snow, nbc news, washington. >>> another break, and we'll be back with what al roker insists was the first interview with the newly reinaugurated president. he newly reinaugurated president. how did i know? well, i didn't really.

the other hero of the book is eisenhower. eisenhower is actually under rated. the job of managing the allies, and dealing with the reddish, the french. montgomery is a piece of work. you know, at one point montgomery will come see. -- i'm sorry, mike gummi woke me take a miss though he can't get up the plane because these french disney, so montgomery comes to see him come full text by miranda insisted she write this? essentially eisenhower he says that if they are i airbus. it's fascinating to me how that typical relationship with the british if they are realizing we are replacing them not only a comment, but at the superpower. how eisenhower can have it send out easily, manages not, doesn't fire my komeito he sorely tempted to do so several times. if you think i'm exaggerating eisenhower's achievement, think of the fall of seniority but george pat and not job. >> things may not gone so well. >> we probably would've ended up in more with the british. last night so after world war ii, are there any heroes or was it a long story of decline click >> know, two pers

eisenhower era. among the people or among president obama in america in american political discourse absolutely not so you think that we've got people at the reagan revolution is going to remain intact i think the freedom agenda is going to remain intact and that the american people are going to wake up and say you know what actually government is part of the problem so security takes away our freedom. and i think it's medicare time to take some of the. characters were if no insurance very nice examples socialist government he's going to take care of your old age but he's going to run obamacare and if you want obama can't same way he runs everything else there won't be the money what you saw this speech was is a gigantic shriek of squirrel squirrel squirrel economy's going down the tubes and he's going to talk about rights for gays and he's going to talk about climate change we will pick up that conversation in fact with that right after this more with our with our big picture politics panel after th

eisenhower ate a hearty meal. the vice president and his wife, followed by the nixon's two children. even the solemn ceremony could not dispel the humor of her black eye. what are little girls made of? sam, joe martin and mark. the chief justice and his wife. former president hoover. senator and mrs. bridges, along with members of the joint inaugural committee and their wives were host to the party. ♪ as the president and his wife waved to the cheering multitudes, they start the drive to the reviewing stand in front of the white house. down pennsylvania avenue, the inaugural parade is led by a platoon of washington metropolitan motorcycle police. the president, in an open car, waves to them all, the thousands who lined the parade route. as the parade approached the treasury building, they turn up 15th street. the president and maney -- mamie are followed by the vice president and pat nixon. >> now john f. kennedy's 1961 and not duration as the country 's 35th president. the day before us to be sworn in in, a sno

when they went in his second term, eisenhower worked quietly behind the scenes of the senate majority leader, brendan jones said, to gain approval of his legislative agenda. ronald reagan began the democratic speaker of the house, tip o'neill to compromise as they were. i may be cynical to postulate some of nixon's rather liberal legislation were prompted by a democratic control of congress. woodrow wilson was the target of the republican party that wanted to even many squabbles they had the president. he defeated both william howard taft and theodore roosevelt to win his first term. he spearheaded legislation and the approval of the league of nations that would be selected to good republican party hostility to wilson. the treaty was never proved. for those who care for approval for the president allowed compromise. the wilson stood firm. it was the president, not congress who refused compromise. one of the most successful relationships between a president and congress occurred during the second administration of the clinton. he had encouraged the democratic party to move more closely

eisenhower era. among the people or among president obama in america in american political discourse absolutely not so you think that the reagan revolution is going to remain intact. i think the freedom agenda is going to remain intact and that the american people are going to wake up and say you know what actually government is part of the problem takes away our freedom. very nice example of social security he's going to take care of your old age but he's going to run obamacare and if you want obamacare the same way he runs everything else there won't be the money you stole the speech was a gigantic shriek of. economy going down the tubes and he's going to talk about rights for gays and he's going to talk about climate change we will pick up on that conversation in fact with that right after this more with our with our big picture politics. technology innovation. developments. the first submission of free accreditation three times for charges three arrangements three. three stooges three. old free b

he said eisenhower was deeply not do anything. an and lbj but he knew to make things work you had to have this getting along. the key difference here is johnson, rayburn, o'neal, they could deliver. this president does not have someone who can deliver and in the senate, republicans have abused the fill bupser. -- filibuster. >> describe eisenhower? >> he was devious. >> he was the most devious person nixon had ever known. you said, i mean that in a positive sense. >> they could work together. >> reagan was not actually dealing with a house my majority, -- minority, that there was a conservative majority in the house. when you add the republicans and conservative democrats. what we had was ideological sorting since then of the the parties were nor geographical. nowadays if you're conservative, you're republican. if you're a liberal, you're a democrat. obama is up against an actual majority of conservative house members. reagan didn't have to face a majority of liberals. >> how do you have to account for obama in the area of negotia

was sworn in today in front of a million people on the washington mall is the first president since eisenhower to win more than fifty one percent of the vote twice and today he signaled a major political shift in america first here's what ronald reagan said about government in his inaugural we don't have a so ok well i'll just tell you. came out in his first inaugural address and he said government is not the solution of the problem government is the problem and that was a major is shit. from the notion that was that on which this country was founded when when thomas jefferson and his compatriots when he and and george mason and john adams the two of them along with ben franklin edited the declaration of independence and then we was forty three people signed it every one of them the moment that they signed it became traitors to great britain and were doing and the declaration was that they would be hung until dead every single one of them these men fought in a revolutionary war at least many of them fought revolutionary war about a third of them watched everything they had as a consequence of

eisenhower said the reason i want to get it passed by congress to set up an executive orders because my attorney general tells me that's the only way they can subpoena anybody. some people may not want to come to testify, said the commission has the most important power and so they went in the south and looked over the place to see what problems were and made recommendations that were controversial, but seemed to make sense. after they had been there a while, it is clear they needed to be reauthorized and continue to work on these issues. and then of course the whole civil rights movement started to heat up so it was clear there was a need. then the commission spent the next three years figuring out what to recommend to the government to bring to fruition what these people were protesting in the streets. in other words, people were protesting and going to jail and what they did is to make recommendations about what legislation would look like that might do something to alleviate these problems. >> host: professor barry, were all the members originally presented by eisenhower? >> gues

eisenhower says, just go to every base and tell them that they will get another star if they cut. i guarantee you will be killed in a stampede. >> charles wants a commission that has these thoughts and congress votes on it. we had that. it was called simpson-bowles. the republicans have talked that effort. i agree, defense spending can be cut, but look at one thing, personnel has skyrocketed because of an all-volunteer force. >> what can we afford? walter pincus had a column in "the washington post) this week talking about the reserve policy board. we can no longer afford the all volunteer military if we plan to pay allowances and retirement benefits for the troops and their families. >> one tricky thing is we have very generous health benefits from the military. the military deserters society's protections, but if you look at those numbers, -- not just soldiers -- but it is their families and extended families. it is a sacred cattle. that is the kind of thing you have to do. >> every defense secretary has wanted to cut it for a couple of decades now and congress has no. >> the st

was sworn in today in front of a million people in the washington mall is the first president since eisenhower to win more than fifty one percent of the vote twice and today he signaled a major political shift in america first here's what ronald reagan said about government in his inaugural we don't have a so ok well i'll just tell you. came out his first inaugural address and he said government is not the solution of the problem government is the problem and that was a major is shit. from the notion that was that on which this country was founded when when thomas jefferson and his compatriots when he and and george mason and john adams the two of them along with ben franklin edited the declaration of independence and then i believe was forty three people signed it every one of them the moment that they signed it became traitors to great britain and were doing and the declaration was that they would be hung until dead every single one of them these men fought in a revolutionary war at least many of them fought revolutionary war about a third of them lost everything they had as a consequence of

when the democrats won majorities in congress during his second term, eisenhower worked quietly behind the scenes with the senate majority leader, lyndon johnson, to gain approval of his legislative agenda. ronald reagan developed a close relationship with the democratic speaker of the house tip o'neill, to somehow fulfill his legislative goals, compromise as they were. it might be cynical to postulate that some of nixon's rather liberal legislations forays were prompted by his desire to get along with a democratic-controlled congress. woodrow wilson was the target of republican party that wanted to even many a squabble they had with the president. he defeated both william howard taft and theodore roosevelt to win his first term. he spearheaded liberal legislation they opposed, and got approval of the league of nations that would be selected to vent republican party hostility to wilson. the treaty was never approved. the votes were there for approval, but the president allowed compromise, but wilson stood firm. it was the president, not congress, that refused to compromise. one of the

it% under eisenhower? >> defense spending as a percentage of the federal budget has declined, true. >> and in absolute terms, the defense budget has doubled in the past 10 years. it has doubled in cost. you're telling me that there isn't that in there to be cut? i would point out, at the risk of being a johnny one note, before the all-volunteer service a private first class in the military was paid a principal sum of $960 a year. in contracts, $22,000. you have immediately incurred costs. now you have a very military. when you had 18, 19-year-old draftee to be served -- now we have half of the truth being married and three-quarters of the officers. you talk about health care costs, a family costs, all of which we want to do, class in te military was but that just invites the cost of the military as well. >> as a private i made $66 a month and i spent all on breakfast. >> you did not, you spent it on beer and cigarettes, just like everyone else. >> we are not going to bring back a drafted we should pay soda

he said i should just be ready when are you suggesting that president eisenhower was a minus lawrence jump in the problem with the cia goes beyond drones and. assassinations and the like the probably one of the one of the particular problems is that in the middle levels of the intelligence agencies particularly the cia but in the defense intelligence agency and the state department etc at those middle levels you have very competent very good analysts who essentially know their territory know the languages and produce data produced produced intelligence that is valuable for for the use in policy formulation however if that intelligence does not match up with the opera you are a political positions or ideological attitudes of the president or of the democratic or republican parties or whoever the who controls the congress and cetera the intelligence is ignored and that's a serious problem i mean that happened in the second iraq war which where they just you know mind the data for whatever whatever they wanted and ignored what the analysts were telling them and it actually happened in th

he said you can just be ready when are you suggesting that president eisenhower was a minus lawrence jump in the problem with the cia goes beyond. assassinations and the like the problem one of the one of the particular problems is that in the middle levels of the intelligence agencies particularly the cia but in the defense intelligence agency in the state department etc at those middle levels you have very competent very good analysts who essentially know their territory know the languages and produce data produced produced intelligence that is valuable for for the use policymaker formulation however if that intelligence does not match up with the opera are a political positions or ideological attitudes of the president or of the democratic or republican parties or whoever the who controls the congress and cetera the intelligence is ignored and that's a serious problem i mean that happened in the second wrap war where where they just you know mind the data for whatever whatever they wanted and ignored what the analysts were telling them and it actually happened in the early stages

it was then picked up by eisenhower. it is based on football. and that sort of becomes a big change in language. the president takes on a popular metaphor for explaining things. and it was explained in much more legislative, bureaucratic type of language. where all this of a sudden we just can't get to first base. >> [inaudible question] >> that's a good question. i mean, they have had them all along, so there are some people who argue that some of the best up was written by speechwriters. there's a question as to whether or not eisenhower actually wrote military-industrial complex or wasn't really one of his aides. maybe they have homogenized it. i still think that there has to be some degree of spontaneity. i think probably what obama said snowmaggedon, which was an obvious blend of snow and armageddon, that he probably just had that pop into his head. again, it may have dumped him down to some degree. president obama -- he had about 20 slogans. together we win and so i think sometimes maybe some of the crispness goes out of it. but it's a goo

he said because they read it well and are you suggesting that president eisenhower was a minus lawrence jump in the problem with the cia goes beyond jones and. assassinations and the like the probably one of the one of the particular problems is that in the middle levels of the intelligence agencies particularly the cia but in the defense intelligence agency in the state department etc at those middle levels you have very competent very good analysts who essentially know their territory know the languages and produce data produced produced intelligence that is valuable for for the use in policy formulation however if that intelligence does not match up with the op priority political positions or ideological attitudes of the president or of the democratic or republican parties or whoever the who controls the congress and cetera the intelligence is ignored and that's a serious problem i mean that happened in the second iraq war where where they just you know mind the data for whatever whatever they wanted and ignored what the analysts were telling them and it actually happened in the earl

he said he was just a resident in are you suggesting that president eisenhower was a minus lawrence jump in the problem with the cia goes beyond. assassinations and the like the problem one of the one of the particular problems is that in the middle levels of the intelligence agencies particularly the cia but in the defense intelligence agency and the state department etc at those middle levels you have very competent very good analysts who essentially know their territory know the languages and produce data produced produced intelligence that is valuable for for the use in policymaking formulation however if that intelligence does not match up with the op priorities political positions or ideological attitudes of the president or of the democratic or republican parties or whoever the who controls the congress and cetera the intelligence is ignored and that's a serious problem i mean that happened in the second wrap war with where they are. for whatever whatever they wanted and ignored what the analysts were telling them and it actually happened in the early stages of vietnam too so even

he said it was just a rush when are you suggesting that president eisenhower was a minor lawrence jump in the problem with the cia goes beyond drones and. assassinations and the like the probably one of the one of the particular problems is that. of the intelligence agencies particularly the cia but in the defense intelligence agency and the state department etc at those middle levels you have very competent very good analysts who essentially know their territory know the languages and produce data produced produced intelligence that is valuable for for the use policymaker formulation however if that intelligence does not match up with the op priority political positions or ideological attitudes of the president or of the democratic or republican parties or whoever the who controls the congress and cetera the intelligence is ignored and that's a serious problem i mean that happened in the second erap war where where they just you know mind the data for whatever whatever they wanted and ignored what the analysts were telling them and it actually happened in the early stages of vietnam t

john eisenhower, with the nixon's children. even a solemn ceremony could not dispel the tumor -- humor of black eyes. and chief justice earl warren. and mrs. warren. former president hoover. a senator and his wife, along with members of the joint inaugural committee. as the president and his wife leave, they go to the reviewing stand in front of the white house. down pennsylvania avenue, the inaugural parade is led by a platoon of washington d.c. motorcycle police. the president, in an open car, waving to them all, the thousands who lined the parade route. as the parade approaches the treasury building, they turn up a street. the president and his wife are followed by the vice president and pat nixon. >> harry truman was inaugurated as the 33rd president. he had already served as president since 1945. as vice presidents, he took office after the death of fdr. this was televised live to the nation. it is coverage of the event from universal newsreels. this is about 20 minutes. >> inauguration day, washington, 1949. the biggest i

during world war ii, general eisenhower was having a long-term affair with an attractive young british driver named case summers be. you know, what general hires a young female model to be his aide and if you will. a major middle letter. now, imagine if eisenhower's affair with case summers became known during world war ii and, as happened with patraeus, if we got rid of him before d-day? during the great depression. franklin roosevelt was having affairs. franklin roosevelt had two very long-term affairs. one with margaret, his personal aide and secretary and cook and dresser and vinedresser, apparently. what if we found out about fdr's this behavior. what if we threw fdr out of office and demanded his resignation as the economy was recovering? all the way back to the french and indian war of very young george washington was riding very romantic letters to a woman who was not mrs. washington. her name was salutary bear facts to my very attractive, older, sophisticated never. what if washington's letters have become public during the french and indian war or the revolutionary war? much

president eisenhower praised both nixons for their work on the trip. even the american press noticed pat's role on the tour. the new york journal american explained that although she did not make any speeches or or carry on high policy discussions, she bore her full share of the workload. her love of travel, her opennesses to new peoples and places, her quick smile and genuinely kind heart endeared her to the people she met and made her a wonderful unofficial ambassador for the united states. in fact, in 1957 journalist earl mazo labeled her this country's most effective female ambassador of goodwill after accompanying pat and dick on a tour through africa and italy and watching as she, quote, charmed peasants by the thousands and potentates by the dozens, end quote. without talking politics, pat managed to win over not only the, quote, ragged women in a monorove yang salt market, but also sultan mohamed sank who granted her an unprecedented formal audience. her goal, she told mazo, was to convince people we enjoy being here and are genuinely intereste

>> i would go back to the eisenhower rate. you know what eisenhower was taxing people out? 70% to 90%. you want to go back to a rate where there is a supertax on the very rich and millionaires. you want to get rid of the loopholes. look at the capital gains tax of 15%. we are taxing work the barely taxing wealth region but barely tax and wealth. that is the wrong priority. -- we're taxing work but barely taxing wealth. the robin hood taxes an idea whose time has come. radicals light nicholke nicolasy and angela merkel have a tax on currency transactions that would bring in $350 billion a year. some of my heroes are the nurses of this country. national nurses united heal america. tax-loss >>> there are a slew -- tax on wall street. there are a slew of good things that 1%ers are for. >> he is not really offering of a lot. >> he is talking about being taxed less than his assistant. there is a group of patriotic millionaires. it is the belief that you owe backe to a country that has helped to make you what you are. steve jobs -- we had a tough column in the last issue. it was t

. >> our special guest, susan o z eisenhower taking on the web ad about the obama daughters. >>> and surprise, even bo obama gets into the act as the first family greets unsuspecting tourists at the white house. with, in fact, a fist bump from the commander in chief. >>> and good day, i'm andrea mitchell live in washington. a busy day here, secretary clinton final facing tough questions from senate republicans about benghazi. >> i'm glad that you're accepting responsibility. i think that ultimately with your leaving you accept the culpability for the worst tragedy since 9/11, and i really mean that. had i been president at the time and i found that you did not read the cables from benghazi, you did not read the cables from ambassador stevens, i would have relieved you from your post. >> well, joining me now for our daily fix, chris cillizza, msnbc contributor and nbc's capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell, and david sanger. welcome, all. chris, we've seen these kinds of dramas before. this one was pretty tough. of course, the house side yet to come. how is hillary clinton, do y

someone they love get sick and eisenhower, conservative eisenhower, his wife's mother has a health episode. all of a sudden i guess mr. health care. he decides to have a year of health care. this is a guy who didn't think you should submit a budget to congress because congress should be the budget authority. and all of a sudden you of health care. he discovers health care in part because his mother-in-law get sick. so that's one thing driving this presidents. but there's another thing. health care is problematic. people get sick of the problems of health care, cost, access to health insurance, america's health in general is a problem that presidents can't avoid. so they're driven by personal reasons because people they love get sick and they're driven because of the problem that won't go away. the issue, boring, complicated, convoluted, but presidents can't avoid it. we went to every presidential archive and studied the memos written and so forth and discover lots of unexpected things. but our favorite story is the lyndon b. johnson story. so when we went to the archives, derrick tapes. re

eisenhower gives in. a great speech immediately. and then dallas refused to two days later and the united states takes the hardline cold war policy. we have had a lot of chances to reverse things. and 1989 was another one. the new york times talked about the wins apiece blowing across the world in 1989. reaching out. bush does not reach back, does not reciprocate are meeting halfway. the situation, and of the stalemate in the 1990's. and then at the end of the decade. but the assumption is still there. the woodrow wilson idea, now the world will realize that the united states is the savior of the world. madeleine albright as secretary of state says that if we use force is because we are the united states of america. we are the indispensable nation. we stand taller and see farther than other countries, and that's the way it looks from the united states standpoint. samuel huntington who died of usually agree with said something i found very profound. the west won the world, not by the security -- superiority of its ideals about the su

>> i'm going to give maney eisenhower a little credit, because she did have quite famous bangs. but i think the bangs look create. i don't read anything more into them other than it's been four years, she's going into a new chapter in her public life, so why not have a new hairdo? >> sure. why not, right? she can pull it off. many believe, though, that michelle obama has this style, and a real accessibility. you know, she can wear anything from target to talbots to jason wu. but you once wrote, again, here, "avoiding the appearance of queenly behavior is politically wise, but it does american culture no favors if the first lady tries so hard to be average that she winds up looking common." i think you were writing about when the first lady was wearing shorts, right? so that was a fashion faux pas? >> and i would add, that she was stepping off of air force one and there are like men absolut her and she was in shorts. >> so should she be more formal? >> i think first ladies in general are loathe to think of themselves as sort of removed from the average person, and i think they ma

in 52 he knows eisenhower is a great champion of conservative causes. probably also knew that eisenhower would not be that aggressive and anti-communist but wanted to win. to keep this reasonably concise but to finish the thought because it is important, rusher believed that moderate republican administration under dwight eisenhower, was president for eight years, just wasn't ideological enough, wasn't anti-communist enough either at home or abroad, believed there was a significant communist threat in the united states, more documentation of that has come out in the last 20 years after the ex soviet archives. buckley also a couple years younger than rusher, all of you know that he wrote god, man and yale after graduating from yale. he has two beasts with yale and rusher was a graduate of princeton prewar and during the war. insufficiently respectful of religion despite religious heritage and religious heritage, most elite academia, they don't present the free enterprise side of economics. they're too keynesian and claw the socialist. "national review" -

guest: dwight eisenhower took very personally nixon's defeat. he said he knew how the condemned man felt, watching the scaffolding being built. host: people are talking about vice president biden in 2016. is that the measure of a successful presidency? guest: it is, but history argues that the last time that happened install martin van buren. arguably, americans were voting for a third reagan term albeit kinder and gentler. one of the problems for the first president bush was, he spent the first four years with the true reaganites looking over his shoulder. it complicated his political host: during his acceptance speech in 1988, he talked about a kinder, gentler nation, nancy reagan said, kinder or gentler than what? that is how the story goes. [laughter] a caller from hastings, england. welcome to the program. caller: the speech that in winston churchill made, i want to quote part of that. it relates to what the gentleman has just been talking about, technology. it said, "the stone age may science, and what might now destruction." i think he is

knew that eisenhower wouldn't be that aggressive and anti-communist, but he wanted to win. well, to keep this reasonably concise but to finish the thought because it is important, russia believed the moderate republican administration under dwight eisenhower was president for eight years just wasn't ideological enough, wasn't anti-communist and have either at home or abroad, rusher believed there was a communist threat within the united states. more and more documentation of that has come out in the last 20 years after the opening of the soviet archives. buckley also a couple of years younger than rusher all of you know probably that he wrote god and man and yale. rusher was a graduate of princeton before the war and during war. bulkeley says it is in respect of religion despite their religious heritage of the academe in america. also they don't prevent. their cause i socialists. rusher agreed with all of that. but, i think a greater affinity with buckley can be seen in buckley and his brother-in-law's 1954 book mccarthy and his enemies she's made some errors in judgment bu

it was 16 percent under eisenhower. so they say these things and the press does not correct in. have you went public opinion that that? >> i think that was set on saturday night live, was the? david: no. taken seriously. >> well, first, you get a spokesman. the "wall street journal" said the other day, each house should get a spokesman. a spokesperson. one voice speaking for the leaders instead of having to and people go at once. another thing have to do is, but positive things. radical tax reform a different -- flat tax for having these non-negotiable ious with social security chained to a marketable bonds. you can make it debt payments. how about passing a law saying you cannot use the medicare money for obamacare. start throwing in offense. pass these things. that harry reid on -- dagen blocking a bill. david: is comments notwithstanding, the budget is lower than it was during a eisenhower, which is nonsense, we have seen the budget. we saw from 2009 when the budget went way up. but that just stayed there. we can show the figures from two dozen day through 2012 showing that w

truman, eisenhower, reagan, clinton, and bush. we're including truman because even though he wasn't elected in 1944, he took over after f.d.r. died just three months into his term in 1945. president nixon is out because he resigned before the second midterm shall abbinging. let's put up the numbers. in truman's second term, let's take a look here. as you can see, in that midterm of 1950 is democratic party lost 28 seats in the house. six in the senate. ike's second midterm in 1958 the gop got wiped out, losing 48 house seats. 13 senate seats. reagan, 1986. republicans lost five seats in the house, eight seats in the senate. not so bad. i'll tell you more about that in a minute. it did cost the republicans control of the senate m process. president clinton, of course, is the big outliar here, if you'll recall. he didn't lose anything in that second midterm. winning five house seats for his party. staying even in the senate. eight years later in 2006 president bush got hammered. republicans lost 30 seats in the house, six in the sen