we work in the support of great leaders like presidents ronald reagan. -- president ronald reagan. [applause] >> thank you general. we meet here, on what he would describe as the 68th anniversary of his 39th birthday. we celebrate what can best be described as a great american story, whose early hero is him as a lifeguard saved the lives of 77 of his fellow citizens. he went on to college, where he worked part-time as a dishwasher, which he later described as the best job he ever had. he reached the heights of hollywood movie stardom. he took the reins of his new home state, serving two successful terms as governor as california. the reagan revolution had begun, leading to the presidential election that was the largest landslide in american history. here, this history is presented for all to see. this is not so much to look back, but to look forward. this library should not be about the success of the past, but about the promise of the future. his legacy is one of civility and respect. he fought hard and did his utmost to defeat his opponents, but never to destroy them. there was a

reagan family members, friends, ladies, and gentlemen. i miss ronald reagan. i miss that engage smile that affected americans with his and the nature optimistic belief that each of us can make the best of ourselves if we only dare to dream of a better future. i miss his dynamic blue eyes. the ones that twinkled when he saw the good in a tough situation or a cantankerous adversary. that could also turn very steely as they did when he stared down striking air traffic controllers. -- i miss the stature of a man who stood tall in the face of wrong like he did in berlin's brandenburg gate when he said, general secretary ifbachev, if you seek peace, you see prosperity for the soviet union and eastern europe, open this gate. mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall. [applause] battled darker forces in the world, he remained lincolnby what abraham described as the better angel of our nature. to his ear, the mystic chords of memory where the unifying verses that americans have sung about freedom and prosperity since the founding of this land. are nash -- by, as as our nation

the last book was called ronald reagan making history. in this book he comes to the conclusion that he is alongside washington, lincoln, franklin and roosevelt are the criteria being that they saved many people, and i think that is the best valuation is what do they do to free or safe people. obviously, there are afforded opportunities, but do you want those opportunities and do you want to take on the approach path hand or do you want to take on gorbachev and soviet union at the end of the cold war, do you want to take on the greatest army of george washington or take on the south and confront slavery head on, they are great challenges but they also rose to the occasion. ronald reagan to me is a compelling figure suis washington and franklin roosevelt. i wrote a book in the suburbs 1941 about the month of december from the civilian viewpoint coming out of the military but civilian viewpoint and i went through the diaries and henry stimson and all this and i came to appreciate how great a president franklin roosevelt was and without him a

ronald reagan was a very popular marines. amongst i believe most of them can associate with how the former president went about the business of the nation. all of this can be summed up in a few of his own words. he once said, "liberty, freedom, and fairness are things worth fighting for." indeed, every marine would agree that liberty, freedom, and fairness are worth fighting for. we are grateful for the example and support of great leaders like president ronald reagan. thank you very much. god bless america. >> thank you, general calais. we meet here on what ronald reagan would describe the 60th anniversary of his 39th birthday. we celebrate what can best be described as a great american story, a story about a young man from the nation's heartland whose early heroism saved the lives of 77 of his fellow citizens. after graduating, he would follow his dream, first to be a sports announcer and then to continue west to reach the heights of hollywood and movie stardom. with nancy at his side, he took the reins of his home state, t

-- ronald reagan in the white house. the lessons of president reagan can give courage to americans who struggle to make sense of today's politics, based on the destructive belief it is better to yell let each other over our differences than to work together to find solutions to our common problems. that lessons can remind us words do have consequences. president reagan said what he meant. he meant what he said. were he alive today, it is impossible to imagine him away from a redline he himself had said. he understood the power of the president's words. reagan canssons of ronald teach us that the globalization of the world economy is an opportunity, not a threat, for american workers and businesspeople. as the president who struck the free trade agreement, the president ronald reagan understood there are countries you can be hurt by free trade, but overall creates economic growth, and that is what creates jobs. he understood that free trade means even more than just economic prosperity. it promotes geo-strategic stability

republican party since ronald reagan? >> a lot of the reagan democrats, the people who brought -- he brought into the party have not stayed with the party. particularly if they're not strongly religious evangelicals, they went back to voting democrat in national election for most of the elections after the fall of the berlin wall. and it wasn't until donald trump in 19 -- in 2016 that you started to see a lot of the same places and the same people or descendants of those people vote for a republican for president again. it was really quite an amazing occurrence. >> did he appeal to them in the same way that ronald reagan did? >> well, in a much cruder way. let's be fair about that. ronald reagan was a man of soaring rhetoric and sunny optimism and donald trump is neither, but what i think he did do that was similar was place his focus from the minute he came down the escalator in trump tower on them. he said, you're americans, you've been given a raw deal by the people in power. the people in power prefer foreigners over

greatrthand, that is a example of how ronald reagan, what is the difference between ronald reagan and george wallace? the enemy black people. making the enemy the racial other. that is the politics of rage and george wallace. and the political innovation of ronald reagan -- and one of the things about reagan's political career -- yet this remarkable ability to take political policies and ideas that when said in our southern accident i george wallace or strom thurmond racism butblatant ronald reagan, in his humorous, kind of offhand way could sell the nation on conservativism. that ithe differences the not make government problem, it makes welfare the problem. the problem with welfare as it is designed to trap poor people. that is part of the rhetorical strategy and differentiation which was very important in thinking about how conservative republicans like ronald reagan succeeded. that is a great distinction. ?ny other questions ok. thank you so much. see you on monday. [applause] everycer: join us saturday evening as we join students and college classrooms to hear lectures on topics

and i look forward to being a part of the reagan library and i love ronald reagan. in this institution that exists is wonderful. writing this book was literally a labor of love. >> with president reagan ever given an award by the academy of motion pictures like the oscars? >> funny you should ask. no. no. he was not. that was a sore .1 of the few times i saw him with his feelings hurt he was a tireless advocate for the movie industry and was proud of having come from hollywood. twice elected president of the screen actors guild, and forever changed actors relationships with their employers and he believed the industry was a good place out on the warner bros. lot and to take it to her and spend some time there and i recall he said it was like a family he loved the movie business. one day a former president of los angeles said you would think given what i have achieved nhs that to mean the presidency, the academy would have recognized me in some way. unfortunately politics took over and it was clear i don't know if he felt loved but he was hurt because he knew the pol

ronald and nancy reagan have now taken a backseat. ladies and gentlemen it is my privilege and honor to introduce my dear friend mark weinberg. [applause] >> the funny thing about that rocky movie how little reagan is in it but i had forgotten all about that. to be honest with you i'm sitting with a group of friends so thank you joanne it is a treat to see all of you. how many of you are here to see if i really do have a wife and children? [laughter] i do and they are here. stand up. let everybody see you. [applause] take good luck they are due back at the warner bros. prop department at 10:00 o'clock. [laughter] i will do a reading. here we go. as pretty much everyone knows speaking from the podium is not my comfort zone. that is what i am not most experienced in. i was the guy who made sure the podium was where it was supposed to be and retreated to the back of the room or backstage with the staff. that was my comfort zone. so i apologize if i am less than a great communicator but i will try. but if i did not mention that today is t

to ronald reagan. -- hard truths to ronald reagan. i see no evidence that that is happening in this white house and quite frankly john kelly is out of his depth politically. host: how do they run the white house on a daily basis versus how it's being run now? guest: well, you know, in a functioning white house that's firing on every cylinder, everything flows from an empowered white house chief of staff who executes the president's agenda. you cannot overestimate how important the job is. he's not only famously the gatekeeper who creates time and space for the president to think. he's also the honest broker of information who makes sure that every decision is teed up with accurate information on every side and will also make sure that only the toughest decisions get into the oval office. he is in charge of key medications and making sure that -- communication and making sure that everyone is on the same page. he's a so-called heatshield taking all the flak aimed at the present. executed person who the president's agenda and the person

[impersonating ronald reagan] hello, general powell. this is ronald reagan. yes, sir. >> would you fix your tie, please? david: well, people wouldn't recognize me if my tie was fixed, but ok. just leave it this way. all right. ♪ david: i don't consider myself a journalist. and nobody else would consider myself a journalist. i began to take on the life of being an interviewer, even though i have a day job of running a private equity firm. how do you define leadership? what is it that makes somebody tick? we are here today at city college, a place that you graduated from a number of years ago. colin: thank you, david. david: why did you pick city college? colin: i was accepted at ccny. and i was accepted at nyu. and the reason i went to ccny is nyu was charging $750 a year. i couldn't handle that. family couldn't handle that, so i took ccny because it was free in because it was easy to get to and i had heard a lot about it. david: you grew up in the bronx? >> i was born in harlem about a mile from here. i grew up in the south bronx, the hunts point section. d

but sometimes the conservative even broke with ronald reagan. think it's important to understand that conservatism is timeless if you believe in individual rights, freedom, dignity, and privacy. it is derived from the enlightenment. but if you want to lower the amount of vitriol in the amount of yelling and screaming in hatred and nastiness out there is to get people back power and take it away from the elites of corporate america. [applause] >> i would recommend to bring back civility and respect her dark democracy that we establish better listening and encourage listening. by that will fully acknowledge that right now is not safe for everyone to listen to their opponents. for example the very obvious existence of racism in this country and because of that it's not safe for some people to listen to those who think there something less than human. but i think listening is important democracy. what a democracy is is a form of government in which we make decisions about each other and how to govern the lives of other people. if we do that with ver

ronald reagan, not so much. but reagan understood somethingt that jimmy carter never grasped and that donald trump has yet to grasp. that is that an outsider present above all needs a consummate insider like jim baker, chief of staff the reagan had who knows capitol hill and also comfortable telling the president hard truths in until donald trump figures that out he won't be able to govern effectively, in my view one washington post headlinest this morning, trump turnover breaks white house record. 42% of staffers have left or changed jobs. jack in buckeye arizona, republican. your next speaker he first of all, thank you for taking my call. i'd like to methodically make a few comments before i ask your guest a question. let's look at what he says. number one, he's been there one mr. whipple went all negative on saying what his accomplishment are. getting rid of all regulation, executive orders and if you consider all of this great, it is great for all the people about 35 states on the map that i saw the voted fo

that is what ronald reagan had to do in 1980. mississippi goes republican in 1980 for the first time since reconstruction. the first time you have this republican government in mississippi after the civil war. and it is not easy -- if i put up 1980 electoral map it would of redo fred -- a sea because reagan won in a landslide. that was a late-breaking landslide. it was not clear, a divorced hollywood actor is going to be able to win the states of the south if he is going to defeat the southern governor. he is running against jimmy carter. so going to a place like neshoba county allows reagan to connect with those voters. and you see how republicans in the 1980 election are those old dixiecrats who had not joined the party butted then had not joined the republican party because they thought it was too moderate. they thought the party was really conservative. one of the famous things that happens in 1980, during that campaign, there is an event in lotton, mississippi, trent introduces the main speaker on behalf of the reagan campai

as ronald reagan drives by in his limousine. thinking those people haven't made a bad choice in their lives by not choosing to be rich. and that really good -- that really underscores his opinions that you had to help the poor and you had to understand the properties and institutions and not make assumptions about why people are poor. he do a lot of cartoons about the need to support the poor by providing better housing, better nutrition , better ventricle care -- better medical care. we can see that herb block have some great ideas. the line is not as steady. pencil has a tendency to smear in a way that whacks crammed is not. here we have george herbert walker bush. involved in he was the iran-contra scandal. what mr. bloch is showing is while he is denying his involvement in the scandal, the testimony of the people who were are goingpal players to ensnare him anyway. mr. bloch like to draw that president bush with large lips. he was only saying to people, read my lips. here bill clinton is shown in a masterful attempt at tight

. -- ronald reagan. if you go to booktv.org, type in craig shirley and book, you can see all his past appearances on booktv. >> a look now at some of the authors recently featured on booktv's "after words," our weekly author interview program featuring best selling nonfiction books and guest interviewers. former "usa today" editor-in-chief joanne litman. tear rah westover -- tara westover. and former democratic senate of staffer ira shapiro shared his thoughts on partisanship in the senate. in the coming weeks on "after words," human rights campaign press secretary sarah mcbride will discuss her life as a transgenders person and lgbtq rights. james swanson retraces the events leading up to the assassination of dr. martin luther king jr. and this weekend economist brian kaplan argues against college for everyone. >> obviously, there is about a trillion dollars of government funding at all levels on the side of the status quo. very much we're keeping that in mind. this means that we have a very accessible

host: did ronald reagan, would ronald reagan today, if he were running, appeal to african-americans? guest: ronl reagan did not appeal to african-americans -- ronald reagan did not appeal to african-americans. it was something he was very sore about because ronald reagan was a man who was free of bigotry. he was raised by his parents who were democrats to see the good in average people. he was -- went out on the line for people of color and minorities when it was not popular to do so. he believed that his smaller government, not no government, smaller government through private initiative policies were the best for the african-american community. it always pained him that african-american leaders did not see it the same way. host: you write in the book, contrary to popular belief, reagan was not a supply sider. reagan never argued that fostture entrepreneurship and enacting low taxes on the rich were the primary reasons for his tax cuts. he argued for a humane economy, one which everyone's taxes were lowered and everyone's contributions why valued, in doing this he easily avoided the

this is craig, his two most recent books about newt gingrich and ronald reagan. craig, is there anything different in the conversation the republican party is having about itself today that when reagan was president or george w. bush was president? >> guest: i think was more intellectual them. there are great debate about what american conservative stood for and what the republican party stood for. seems to be more personality driven today unless about what is our policy on taxation and the soviet union. to re- support the ms missile abortion was only beginning to coalesce so the debates of the 70s and 80s were great intellectual debates which ironically claim 200 years after the great debate of the founding of this country. or do we reject the elite is some of london and strike out on her own is a new and independent nation. >> is it donald trump's party today? >> that's a great question. the republican party and conservative movement were made distinct and apart from each other. i was say that the republican party yes because the republican party is a party of

he was not big fan of ronald reagan. his moderate conservative chicago sense sensibilities was to take care of the poor. you had to look out for the little guy. what he saw in ronald reagan somebody who was turning a blind eye to the poverty and hunger and other issues that were happening in the united states in the the 1980's. we have a depiction of homeless person a sleep on a great in washington d.c. as ronald reagan drives by in his limousine thinking that those people had to make a bad choice by not choosing to be rich. by the end of his career that herblock had great idea. his drawing is getting little weaker. the testimony of the people who were principle players in the arms for hostages will ensnare him anyway. next we have bill clinton tight rope walking. trying to move a budget forward and keep the monica lewinsky scandal at bay. that maybe lost to people who look at the cartoon. we know that was his intention. lot of cartoonist made in the election. they drew him as stupid. cartoonist got to live longer came a

conservative movement sometimes broke with ronald reagan. so anyway, i got off on a tangent there, but i think that's an essential point for you to understand. conservativism is, american conservativism is timeless if you believe in individual rights and freedom, dignity and privacy. because it all stems from the individual, and that is -- american conservativism is derived from the enlightenment. so, but i if you want to lower,i think, the amount of vitriol, if you want to lower the amount of yelling and screaming and hatred and nastiness, whatever else out there, is to give people back power and take it away from the elites of corporate america and government. and that's the best way to bring around civil discourse. >> thank you. kathy? [applause] >> i would recommend to bring back civility and respect to our democracy that we establish a better ethic of listening and encourage listening. and by that i fully acknowledge that right now it's not safe for everyone to listen to their opponents. i mean, take, for example, i'll just take for for

a great question about ronald reagan, let's start over here. >> how much did ronald reagan's dementia or alzheimer's impact the second term in the white house, and do we have the proper safeguards today to prevent a situation in the future? they went to the clinic every year for a battery of tests. he passed every year for eight years and it wasn't diagnosed until five years after he left the presidency. and if you go back and look at the letter to gorbachev in 87, the three-page letter which is filled with detail, policy analysis or go online and look at the speech to the university of virginia law school students who went down to charlottesville and gave a speech and interacted for a good hour and a half, there's no sign of alzheimer's or dementia. he was with dozens of aides, cabinet officials, reporters, nobody saw any evidence whatsoever. he was tired, no doubt about it from after the seven long years. so we had missiles pointed at each other. any mistake or misunderstanding could lead to. john foster dulles o were in sorry, harry truman wrongfully said south korea wasn't a part

that is and, i think great example of how reagan -- what is the difference between ronald reagan and george wallace? george wallace makes the enemy liberals, black people, the racial other. political innovation theonald reagan and one of things about reagan's political career, he has this ability to take the lyrical ideas and policies said in a southern sound like blatant prejudicial policies. way,s humorous offhand could sell the nation on conservatism. one of the distinctions is that if it does not make the other the enemy, it makes egg government the enemy -- big government the enemy. the problem with welfare is the way it is designed to trap the poor people in the nets. that was part of the rhetorical strategy and rhetorical differentiation that was howrtant in thinking about a conservative republican like reagan succeeds. any other questions? thank you so much. we will see you on monday. announcer: sunday, we continue our series of looking back 50 years to 1968. the focus is the presidential election. it was hubert humphrey versus richard nixon with a cast of characters dominati

. >>> i have a vision of america in the '80s that's much, much different from ronald reagan's vision. >> by 1984, gary hart was eager to challenge president ronald reagan, whose first term had been marred by double digit unemployment and the bombing of the marine barracks in beirut which took 241 lives. >> for people scared of where the democratic party was going and where ronald reagan was taking us, we needed new energy and somebody who could pull things in a different way. >> there was a generational change that was occurring anyway and hart was there to be the carrier of the champion for a new generation. >> i'm glad you're all here because i have an announcement that i want to share with you. i am a candidate for the presidency of the united states in 1984. >> he said, let's do it. we have no money, we have no pollsters, we have no tv adds, we're zero in the polls. let's do it. >> there was no money coming in. we were existing on fumes. we had a campaign headquarters on capitol hill that used to be a porn warehouse. >> besides bare coffers, hart faced a daunting field of luminari

ronald reagan and tip were fierce political opponents. this goes way back to those days. their heritage was their bond. when it came to ireland, the only thing they would argue about who was more irish. reagan was saying he was old enough to meet st. patrick. and i'm a real honor to have you here. -- [applause] the speaker: my own family is om a small town in ireland outside of the black mountains. my wife and extended family and i visited visited the town a few years ago and found the family farm came from and my cousins and went to the and bee where our ancestors were married and buried and our cousin william o'shea farms the same place and hey had a great ceremony and d the local tv and the abott and will congresswoman o'shea was to kick things off and couldn't find a parking spot and all the festivals were waiting and he prayed out loud and said lord, if you find me a parking spot, i will give up drinking whiskey and go to church every sunday and at that moment, the clouds parted and the sun shown down on a parking spot and he said, never mind, i found one myself. [la

reagan but even when reagan became president the conservative movement sometimes broke with ronald reagan. anyway i got off on a tangent but that's a central point for you to leave here is to understand that conservatism is american conservatism is timeless if you believe in individual rights and freedom and dignity and privacy because it stems from the individual and the american conservatism is derived from the enlightenment. if you want to lower, i think, the amount of vitriol and if you want to lower the amount of yelling and screaming and hatred and nastiness is to give people back power and take it away from the elites of corporate america in government and that's the best way to bring around civil discourse. thank you. kathy mark. >> i would recommend to bring back civility and respect to our democracy that we establish a better ethic of listening and encourage listening. by that i fully acknowledge that right now it's not safe for everyone to listen to their opponents. take for example i will just take for example the very obvious existence of racism in this country and because of

ronald reagan and tip were fierce political opponents. this goes way back to those days. their heritage was their bond. when it came to ireland, the only thing they would argue about who was more irish. reagan was saying he was old enough to meet st. patrick. it is a real honor to have you here. [applause] the speaker: my own family is from a small town in ireland outside of the black mountains. my wife and extended family and i visited visited the town a few years ago and found the family farm that our family came from where ouro the abbey ancestors were married and buried and our cousin william o'shea farms the same place and they had a great ceremony and had the local tv and the abbott and will congresswoman o'shea was to kick things off and couldn't find a parking spot and all the festivals were waiting and he prayed out loud and said lord, if you find me a parking spot, i will give up drinking whiskey and go to church every sunday and at that moment, the clouds parted and the sun shown down on a parking spot and he said, never mind, i found one myself. [laughter] the

reagan's vision. >> by 1984, gary hart was eager to challenge president ronald reagan, whose first term had been marred by double digit unemployment and the bombing of the marine barracks in beirut which took 241 lives. >> for people scared of where the democratic party was going and where ronald reagan was taking us, we needed new energy and somebody who could pull things in a different way. >> there was a generational change that was occurring anyway and hart was there to be the carrier of the champion for a new generation. >> i'm glad you're all here because i have an announcement that i want to share with you. i am a candidate for the presidency of the united states in 1984. >> he said, let's do it. we have no money, we have no pollsters, we have no tv adds, we're zero in the polls. let's do it. >> there was no money coming in. we were existing on fumes. we had a campaign headquarters on capitol hill that used to be a porn warehouse. >> besides bare coffers, hart faced a daunting field of luminaries. >> john glen, jesse jackson and former vice president walter mondale. >> we need a

ronald reagan was the first guy to get the nuclear non-proliferation agreement to be signed. it was supposed to be 18 months for the agreement to go in. it took them six years. the iaea went in every year and got cheated along until 1998 until they had enough plutonium for two bombs. there were seven round of negotiations with them which produced just about nothing. so i think the caution is that north korea could right here be playing for time to miniaturize a nuclear weapon. that would be horrible mistake. china realizes for the first time this is very real. the arrival of donald trump as president, and in your face diplomacy is action-forcing event for china and north korea. what you see here is really rather remarkable historically. sanctions for the first time are sticking. china with those, president trump achieved succession of missile launches for the time-being and north korea is coming to the table. all of that is good. i say expectations have to be kept extremely low. what i think is that china realizes that donald trump could be the quintessential classic madman.

so we were a good second ballot. >> did richard nixon consider ronald reagan as the running mate even if they were both from california. >> we had staff, up there in new york. and for a while in those days, you couldn't close a six-point gap. at some point he was behind in the polls by six-points and there was a number of us that sent a memo saying you have to put reagan on the ticket. and there was a point over the vice president and talk of lindsey even if he was from the same state. nixon was going to have to roll the dice and make a dramatic choice. if he were going to do it, we thought it should be reagan. once the polls went out with nixon ahead, we went with the safe choice. >> 1968, year in turmoil and barbara perry and pat buchanan, columnist and author and formally with cnn. presidential candidate himself and a nixon aide in 1966, '67 and '68. prayerry, thank you for waiting. >> i have a comment and question directed to pat buchanan. i held a belief that had nixon won in 1960, he would have been a better candidate or president that he wound up being in 1968. had he won in 19

winston churchill did it, ronald reagan did it. president trump is doing it. >> harris: robert charles, you did what my husband did. he tells me i'm wrong but i'm right. had to. thanks. so good to see you. thanks for being here. >> thank you. >> harris: now we're learning more about the woman president trump has nominated to take over the nation's top spy agency. gina haskell would have been the first female director of the cia. will in fact if confirmed. national security con -- correspondent jennifer griffin is looking into this. >> and i'm told that gina haspel received the unbridaled support from multiple obama appointees when she was named deputy director last year. there's very few authorized images of gina haspel. but when she came to the pentagon, she greeted the saudi crown prince. she sat two seat downs from secretary mattis. if confirmed, she will be the first woman to head the cia. she joined the cia in 1985, she's 61 years old. over saw covert actions. she ran black site prison in thailand where top al-quaida leaders w

if he does it right they will remember him in the same breath as ronald reagan. trish: let's listen in right now to rex tillerson. >> i received a call from president of the united states a little after noontime on air force one and spoken to white house chief of staff kelly, to insure we have clarity as to days ahead. what is most important to insure an orderly and smooth transition during a time that the country continues to face significant policy and national security challenges. as such, effective at the end of the day, i'm delegating all responsibilities of the office of secretary to deputy secretary of state sullivan. my commission as secretary of state will terminate midnight march 31st. between now and then i will address a few of the administrative matters related to my departure, and move to a smooth, orderly transition to designate secretary of state mike pompeo. i'm encouraging my policy planning team and undersecretaries, assistant secretaries, those confirmed, as well as those in acting positions to remain in their post and continue our mission at

it's a funny thing. >> people close to ronald reagan who worked with ronald reagan, people like you, people like pat buchanan says ronald reagan never ever was concerned about a headline in the newspapers. now some of the conservative magazines like human events criticized him he would be concerned about that but he didn't stay up worrying about what the press was saying about him. one of my favorite store rees had to do with his biographer who went up to visit him and thought he would have a terrible interview because the "l.a. times" had one negative story after another negative story and he said he's going to be in no position to see me. he goes into reagan's home and there's ronald reagan looking at the "l.a. times" and his face is red and at that point he said oh, my god, he's read the paper, i might adds well just go home, he's going to give me nothing. reagan folds the paper, throws it at him, says "have you seen this story in the "l.a. times"?" he's like "yes, mr. president, i have." and reagan goes "i can't believe the o'malleys are going to sell the dodgers to murdoch." and

ronald reagan and third party candidate george wallace. this is 90 minutes. >> on the last evening in march, 1968, the stage was set. shortly before 9:00 p.m., washington time in the midst of last minute electronic preparations, president johnson put the finishing touches on his address to the nation. finally with the reassuring presence of his family seated nearby, the president was ready to deliver one of the most important speeches of his entire life. a speech that would alter the course of world history. >> good evening, my fellow americans. tonight i want to speak to you of peace in vietnam and southeast ease ya. no other question so preoccupies our people. no other dream so absorbs the 250 million human beings who live in that part of the world. no other goal motivates american policy in southeast asia. >> first addressing himself to the continuing problem of vietnam, the president de-escalated that conflict. >> i've ordered our naval vessels to make no attacks on north vietnam exsecept in the aa of the north demilitarized zone. wher

vintage ronald reagan. pat: i am honored to have worked as the gipper's communications director many years later. but that was the candidate i was most afraid of in the republican primaries. it was the possibility ronald reagan would get into the race, given his personality, his conservative views, and the likability of him that he could really stand those goldwater delegates and pull the nomination away from richard nixon. i never believed rockefeller could get it after what he did to barry goldwater in 1954. -- 1964. republicans would have walked out if rockefeller had been nominated. host: explain the reagan candidacy or possible candidacy in 1960 eight. -- what was he thinking? 1968. was the on the ballot? was he a serious contender for the white house? barbara: what is fascinating for him, for that clip for to kill -- for that clip particularly, the facility had with the audience and as a speaker, and that goes back to his days as an announcer for baseball where he -- he was getting the baseball game o

ist: from october 1967, that vintage ronald reagan. guest: i am honored to have worked for the director of communications many years later but that is the candidate i was most afraid of in the republican primaries, not rockefeller, but the possibility ronald reagan would get into the race and give that personality, his conservative views, and the lack of dignity that he could stampede the delegates and for the nomination away from richard nixon. i never believed rockefeller could get it after what he did to barry goldwater in 1964. republicans would have walked out if he had been nominated. host: explain the reagan candidacy or possible candidacy in 1968. what was he thinking? was he on the ballot? was you serious contender for the white house? guest: sure. what is fascinating, from that clip particularly, is the facility he had with the audience and as a speaker. of course, that goes back to his days as an announcer for baseball, where he was getting the baseball game over the wire but explaining it as if he was at the game. he had a

no other president has been denied that right. 30 years ago, ronald reagan nominated anthony kennedy in the eighth year of his presidency to be on the supreme court. ronald reagan's nominee got 97-0 votes, confirmation, because he was a capable, moderate, conservative and has proven to be that kind of jurist. judge garland would have been a supreme addition to the supreme court and should have been considered. host: you deal with clarence thomas, robert bork. what does history tell us about supreme court selections? guest: history teaches us a lot. one thing that democrats and republicans will always debate -- when did the institution start going down? was it bork, thomas, etc.? from my standpoint, what history teaches is what the authors of "how democracies die" really called forbearance. forbearance is important. so you do not nominate the most extreme conservatives you possibly can. you nominate people who can attract and generate broad support. i think the bork nomination was a mistake, and i think howard baker thought it was a mistake. he was chief of staff for the president the

to ronald reagan. -- hard truths to ronald reagan. i see no evidence that that is happening in this white house and quite frankly john kelly is out of his depth politically. host: how do they run the white house on a daily basis versus how it's being run now? guest: well, you know, in a functioning white house that's firing on every cylinder, everything flows from an empowered white house chief of staff who executes the president's agenda. you cannot overestimate how important the job is. he's not only famously the gatekeeper who creates time and space for the president to think. he's also the honest broker of information who makes sure that every decision is teed up with accurate information on every side and will also make sure that only the toughest decisions get into the oval office. he is in charge of key medications and making sure that -- communication and making sure that everyone is on the same page. he's a so-called heatshield taking all the flak aimed at the present. executed person who the president's agenda and the person

james a baker the third who was ronald reagan's quintessential white house chief of staff perhaps the best of the modern era was a guy who knew he was so politically savvy he could navigate those treacherous shoals with nancy reagan who was the personnel director for for ronald reagan and mike deaver who was almost like a son to reagan and baker was smart enough to make them allies and so when the real hard right wing came after baker he he he was able to fend them off. kelly is just not nearly as politically savvy as james a baker the third and i would have thought that kelly would find a way to finesse this and and manage to have questioner continue to function and and carry out whatever this portfolio portfolio is but it appears that it's coming apart and so it's but it's not easy dealing with family in the white house what is cushion is qualifications marked in some. sorry the middest he married the president's daughter i mean that's from what i can tell me he doesn't seem terribly qualified or steeped in you know any kind of deep mideast policy background at all so i look i mean

vintage ronald reagan. pat: i am honored to have worked as the gipper's communications director many years later. but, that was the candidate i was most afraid of in the republican primaries. it was in nelson rockefeller. -- it wasn't nelson rockefeller. it was the possibility ronald reagan would get into the race, given his personality, his conservative views, and the likability of him that he could really stand those goldwater delegates and pull the nomination away from richard nixon. i never believed rockefeller could get it after what he did to barry goldwater in 1954. -- 1964. republicans would have walked out if rockefeller had been nominated. host: explain the reagan candidacy or possible candidacy in 1960 eight. -- 1968. what was he thinking? was the on the ballot? was he a serious contender for the white house? barbara: what is fascinating for him, for that clip for to kill -- for that clip particularly, the facility had with the audience and as a speaker, and that goes back to his days as an annou

. >> reporter: ironically, it was signed into law by then governor ronald reagan. >> there's absol why out on the street today civilians should be carrying a loaded weapon. >> reporter: but as president,he trongly supported the n.r.a. and vocally defended the second amendment. as does the current president. >> i am also proud to be the first sitting president to address the n.r.a. leadership forum since our woerful ronald reagan in 1983. >> i'd be lying to you if i said the political arena has not affected our membership. people look at what's going on politically and see some of the comments that are made b h certain foigh places and it makes them a little unnerving. that has definitely been a part of our growth. >> reporter: while the new political climate is contributing to the interest ict personal pron among african americans. >> the reason i lled you over, your brake lights are out. >> reporter: part of the reason naag members aren't flocking to the n.r.a. is a policing culture that predates trump. >> sir i do have to tell you. >> okay. >> i do have a firearm on me. >> don't reac

james a baker the third who was ronald reagan's quintessential white house chief of staff perhaps the best of the modern era was a guy who knew he was so politically savvy he could navigate those treacherous shoals with nancy reagan who was the personnel director for for ronald reagan and mike deaver who was almost like a son to reagan and baker was smart enough to make them allies and so when the run hard right wing came after baker he he he was able to fend them off. kelly is just not nearly as politically savvy as james a baker the third and i would have thought that kelly would find a way to finesse this and and manage to have questioner continue to function and carry out whatever this portfolio portfolio is but it appears that it's coming apart and so it's but it's not easy dealing with family in the white house what is question is qualifications marked in. the middest he married the president's daughter i mean that from what i can tell me he doesn't seem terribly qualified or steeped in you know any kind of deep mideast policy background at all so now look i mean it's all about

this is ronald reagan. yes, sir. [laughter] >> and actually i think it was my husband who set the interview up, to be honest with you. david: did he get a finder's fee or anything from you? >> i am still paying that finders fee. >> no one plays a song when you walk into the room anymore. [laughter] >> laura didn't bring the coffee. [laughter] >> would you fix your tie, please? david: well, people wouldn't recognize me if my tie was fixed, but ok. just leave it this way. alright. ♪ david: i don't consider myself a journalist. and nobody else would consider myself a journalist. i began to take on the life of being an interviewer even though i have a day job of running a private equity firm. how do you define leadership? what is it that makes somebody tick? ♪ david: at what point did you realize that you had some skills that were maybe going to enable you rise up? >> my grandmother taught me how to read. so i grew up learning to read and read bible verses. the grace for me is that i did not spend a day in a segregat

(imitating ronald reagan) well, there you go again. (laugh (normal voice) he played er for eureka college.

backe serves as the ronald reagan distinguished fellow here at heritage and conservative movement leader she serves as the chairman of conservative action project and also advocates for the american conservation and advances energy and natural resources policy and generally and previously served as the vice president for external relationships and most recently led the restore america project. before joining in 1998, she served as the secretary of natural resources for therc commonwealth of virginia and the cabinet of them governor george allen in served rules of the the ronald reagan administration as the deputy assistant to the president for the presidential personnel, special assistant to the president and directorpe of hiss cabinet office and as well as senior special assistant to the attorneyl general ed meese and as interior deputy under secretary of the department as well as an assistan assistant sy fosecretaryfor fish, wildlife a. please join me in welcoming my colleague and friend. [applause] thank you. let me add my words of welcome. we love having people come to the heritage f