a lot of things that went to washington, d.c. are burned when washington is burned in the war of 1812. we lose a lot of those early things. so that is one of the challenges with a building like this, is you do not necessarily have all of the things what you try to do the best you can to give people the sense of what it looks like when men like james madison or young andrew jackson were sitting in the room as members of the house of representatives. well, we are in the senate chamber here at congress hall in philadelphia. the room, as you can see, is quite a bit more grand than the house of representatives would have been, and there are a couple of reasons for that. our roots as a nation go back to when we were british, of course. the british have a parliament with two houses, the house of lords, the house of commons, and there's definitely parallels with our congress. the house of representatives is very similarly set up to the house of commons, and the senate would therefore be based on the house of lords. but obviously we're no

he received some earlier sketchy observation from washington and shares schuyler's notes with washington and washington writes a full and remarkably important set of recommendations in september of 1783. this document from september 7th is remarkably important and i want to share a few experts from it. to the proper line of conduct coincides precisely with those delivered by general schuyler. to suffer a wide extended country, to be overrun with land jobbers, and scattered settlers is inconsistent with the wisdom and policy or that an enlightened people ought to adopt. two things here to note right away in this letter. it deals with practical concerns. but it deals with philosophical ones and you'll see this come up time and time again in this important letter. he proposed that, quote, the indians should be informed that after a contest of eight years for the somvereignty of this country, greeat britain has seeded this land. george washington advised that congress should explain to the native peoples, as they engage with them diplomatically, that they were going to pursue a policy of pea

the washington state senate passes by a bigger majority. and on february 25, 1909, the governor signs a bill to create the opportunity for washingtonians to vote for the suffrage for women in washington state. so, there's -- that vote is going to come up before washington men in november of 1910. so, the suffrage amendment passes on november 8, 1910. and washington becomes the fifth state in the union to pass suffrage. the people coming west were people who were probably risk-takers, who were looking to break out of some conventional life that they might have experienced in the east. and a lot of suffragettes came from the east and worked hard because they saw the opportunity. >>> since the seneca falls convention in 1848, 71 years would pass before congress proposed a 19th amendment to the u.s. constitution, prohibiting the denial of voting rights based on gender. the amendment would require ratification by 36 states. by august 1920, 35 states ratified the amendment with the tennessee legislature set to vote on the matter. on the eve of th

washington, d.c., and at one point she was supposed to speak in congress, but because she would not agree not to talk about slavery, if that's clear, they wouldn't let her speak and so instead she spoke in a unitarian church, and all sorts of politicians, including southern congressmen attended and of course she spoke about slavery because that was always what she was compelled to speak about. but during that particular trip to washington, d.c. in 1843 she also met president tick tyler and his line about lucretia mott was, you know, i think i'll turn mr. calhoun over to you. you know, you can negotiate with john c. calhoun for me. so that was sort of the level of her ferocity and really intransigence on the issue of slavery. lucretia mott first met elizabeth katy stanton in 1840. elizabeth katy stanton was younger than her, 22 years younger than her. and when they met, they met in sort of unlikely place, which was at the world's anti-slavery convention in london, england in 1840. so you have, you know

in the 12 years in washington? and i said the most significant accomplishment was running five campaigns for president, being chief of staff for two different presidents, being secretary of treasury and secretary of state and leaving washington unindicted. and i think my experience as a lawyer and my training as a lawyer really helped me in that. peter and susan write in the book about how i kept a file of every inappropriate request i was asked for. when i was chief of staff. when i was secretary of state or anything else. and you know, i think i learned that because i was a lawyer. and remember, i came to washington in the immediate aftermath of watergate. so i saw what could happen to upeless people when they go there. that's a tough environment. and chief of staff at the white house, i was the longest serving chief of staff in the white house in history, up until my successors came along. and i tell people, it is the worst job in government, because you walk around with a target on your front and on your back.

of the dysfunction in washington. our nation's infrastructure has been crumbling for decades. the failure of washington has in falling t bridges, failing public health schools, and an entire generation of americans who are falling behind. washington, people on both sides refuse to give up little to get a lot. oads and bridges crumble while democrats and republicans insult each other on social media. the cost of education and quality health care are out of reach for out of everyday americans. one party wants to impose solutions that would create more problems than they would solve and the other party, too often, offers no solutions at all. the result is a crumbling vision of the american dream. the the average citizen is completely fed up with politics as usual. they think washington has been fiddling while america burns. on the world stage, china threatens not just our economy, our farmers, and our standing in the world but even the values we stand for. prosperity, liberty, and freedom. meanwhile, one party in washing

who ran washington" and the life and times of james a. baker, iii. two brilliant books about two complicated and fascinating men. they were born a decade apart. baker in houston in 1930 and holbrooke in manhattan in 1941. baker a republican trained as a lawyer, holbrooke a democrat foreign service officers student of foreign policy. their lives are very different and they are project trees but they both ended up in washington where they became major power players. peter, picking up on that this is a man with great ambition and i was there even before he came to washington. >> yeah it was. he was a family of aristocracy. his family built modern houston and he was expected to do great things. a very dominating father who is in part done him the legacy of his family. one thing they were not meant to do with politics. he was told at the time he breaks away from his father's domination over his life at age 4020 suffers this great family tragedy. his first wife dies of cancer and he ran the country club tennis courts and george h.w. bush the tw

and how did he combine that with getting things done in washington ? >> so if you things, personal of overlapping themes between peter's book in mind. one is ambition and one is tennis. holbrook played a ton of tennis and i have the feeling that he rose up through the hierarchy in saigon and in washington by whipping people on the tennis court or by being so competitive they had respected . the first anthony closest friend and beer in foreign service in saigon and they were of a friend for 10 years and that friendship mysteriously is integrated with great consequences for them and for us foreign policy i think later when they were working together on bosnia under billclinton . then he starts playing tennis against west moreland and maxwell taylor in saigon and eventually got to bobby kennedy in washington and this is how holbrook maneuvered and work his way to the best dinner tables in georgetown, the rest of them holding april, he revered this postwar generation of american statesman from april herrington to george kennan, clark the third, george mars

but in the years the city of washington, d.c. is being built, philadelphia serves as our temporary u.s. capitol. this room serves for the house of representatives. the second floor of the building that we'll see in a moment was the united states senate. the house of representatives, each representative at that point in our history represented 30,000 people. we had a population at our first census of about 3 3/4 million. we had six members of the house would sit in this room and eventually from 16 states. the story of the u.s. capitol is the story of where we're taking a new constitution and actually operating it, doing things like adding new states to the original 13. also the bill of rights would become a part of our constitution while philadelphia was the capitol. in fact, secretary of state thomas jefferson would formally announce the amendments to the constitution by basically coming to congress here in this building and officially announcing that we've changed our constitution, which the bill of rights is a huge part of our

well, monroe the argument with washington and with washington in particular is that washington didn't appreciate what he had done and monroe was nearly killed at the crossing of the delaware and taken out of action and not given the commission he thought he deserved and i think all of those things aid him feel as though washington was turning his back on him. the war did that to monroe and to washington of course and it was an opportunity for glory but it was also a tough loss. one of the things i admired about him was that no matter how tough he conveyed an aura of competence. not at the beginning. it was interesting that at the beginning his troops were worried about his indecisiveness and as the war went on and people came to maybe understanding him better it was that rockhard confidence or the ability to appear confident and that was very important. >> right. it speaks to the eye dia of projecting confidence more broadly among all four of them had a very distinct even those and i don't know what the right word is but there a public appearance and washington obviously having to lea

at that point franklin looks at the chair where washington sits and says look behind washington's head. there's a carving of a half sun on the back of the chair. all summer i've been trying to decide whether that half sun is rising or setting and i could not make up-mile-per-hour mind until now. now at length i have the happiness to know that that is a rising and not a setting sun. he felt good. he'd been working for this since the 1750s, this kind of unity of the american states, and he finally sees it happening. one of the great stories that comes afterwards is he's supposedly asked what kind of a government they have created here in philadelphia, and he would say it's a republic, if you can keep it. his last warning to the rest of us, to make sure, but think about the united states. one of the things i like to finish with is this idea that we're still using that same constitution. we're still using that same government, but it's also allowed us, maybe not quickly, but it's definitely allowed us to improve because ultimately slavery in the united states doesn't really end by the civi

israel lobby group in washington. you are right, he was not always a strong supporter of israeli policy. he was part of the republican party the time that disagreed with the settlements. that was an obstacle to peace. there was some friction there between bush and baker on the one side and israeli leadership on the other. that has changed, obviously. today, republicans are staunchly pro-israel and there is no room for criticism of policy. that is an indication of the evolution of the republican party over the years. him asow hard was it for a trump campaign, as the 2016 election approached, was he torn over how he would vote? guest: he was very torn. was walking ings parallel the rise of donald trump and baker's visible discomfort and angst about what to do about it. he had been supporting jeb bush, his friends son, in the republican primaries. we talked with him as he wrestled with this decision. i think in a way it for us helped us to understand the plight of the modern republican party certainly the establishment p

they are all of the washington -- all over washington. why? why we had all these columns? so it was the kind of assignment that simply whet my appetite, and that's just the direction in which i headed. we do like to turn it over to the folks? >> i'm sure they have got some questions. >> but i like yours. >> i'm coming back just to say thank you. that was just lovely and we hung on every word. and to turn over to jay, our historians resident at eei to continue the question and sort of monitor the questions in the audience. i just couldn't resist coming back on and saying thank you to both. just a wonderful conversation jay, take it from here. >> thank you, robert. my name is for those you don't know my neighbors jay cost, and the gerald r ford visiting scholar at eei. it's a real pleasure to be with both of you today, dr. cheney, vice president cheney. had some really interesting questions. the first one i want to ask you about is the quality of statesmanship among these men. i am really struck that pointed all of their professional lives, they wanted to go home for the wan

we do not need washington to dictate really need washington to get back together. need washington to make it sier, not harder to solve problems. we need washington to be a partner, not an impediment. a large majority of americans are thoroughly convinced their political system is fundamentally broken,hat we as a people are tragically divided. th washington is completely dysfunctiona most ofs are sick and tired of the angry divive politics. americans, civility and pragmatism, they think the raight talk is more valuable than empty rhetoric. these arehe things my party is going to have to focus on if we want to win national elections again. americans are not as divided abou politics and social media which suggests. the problem is not t american people. the problem is thatoliticians think the only w to get elected is to feed the extremes in a fire up the base and the only way to govern is through winner take all combat. the extreme voices that dominate social media, cable news and talk radios, i a tiny sliver of americans on the far left or the far right. over 70 peent

i have not been back in washington since february. i am looking forward to come back and seeing folks face-to-face and really engaging with them, but i am very, very happy and pleased to have this opportunity that we have now through technology to stay connected with them. >> should broadband, this is a question for both of you, be included in any infrastructure bill that might come before congress? >> let me start with the answer. athink broadband is today certainly critical element of our nation's infrastructure. there is no doubt that what we have seen over the past six months has really emphasized and underscored the need for broadband connections. and i do think that there are important things that congress and the fcc can do by way of an infrastructure bill or any kind of infrastructure movement that will really help to solve many of the gaps that might still exist. for instance, our members have done such a great job of serving their communities and meeting the need and keeping americans connected with so many of our members st

we need washington to get his -- its act together. we need washington to make it easier, not harder to solve problems. we need washington to be a partner, not an impediment. a large majority of americans are thoroughly convinced that our political system is fundamentally broken, that we as a people are tragically divided and that washington is completely dysfunctional. most of us are sick and tired of the angry, divisive politics. americans believe in civility and pragmatism. they think straight talk is more valuable than empty rhetoric. these are the things that my party is going to have to focus on if we want to win national elections again. americans are not as divided as our politics and social media would suggest. the problem is not the american people. the problem is that politicians think that the only way to get elected is to feed the extremes, to fire up the base and that the only way to govern is through winner take all combat. the extreme voices that dominate social media, cable news, and talk radio have been a tiny sliver

we need washington to get its act together. we need washington to make it easier, not harder, to solve problems. we need washington to be a partner, not an impediment. a large majority of americans are thoroughly convinced that our political system is fundamentally broken, that we as a people are tragically divided. and that washington is completely dysfunctional. most of us are sick and tired of the angry, divisive politics. americans believe in civility and pragmatism. they think straight talk is more valuable than empty rhetoric. these are the things that my party is going to have to focus on if we want to win national elections again. americans are not as divided as our politics and social media would suggest. the problem is not the american people. the problem is that politicians think the only way to get elected is to feed the extremes, to fire up the base, and that the only way to govern is through winner take all combat. the extreme voices that dominate social media, cable news and talk radio represent a teeny sliver of

but in the years that the city of washington d.c. is being built, philadelphia serves as our temporary u.s. capital. this room serves for the house of representatives, the second floor of the building we will see in a moment was united states senate, the house of representatives each representative at that point in our history represented 30,000 people. we had a population in our first census of about three and three quarters of 1 million. we had 106 members of the house, that would sit in this room. and eventually from 16 states, and the story of philadelphia as the u.s. capital is a story that we're taking a new constitution and actually operating it, doing things like adding new states to the original 13. also, the bill of rights would become part of our constitution while philadelphia was the capital. in fact, the secretary of state's thomas jefferson would formally announce the and manage to the constitution in -- by basically coming to congress here in this building, and officially announcing that we've changed our constitution

he came to philadelphia in washington's birthday, 1861 on his way to be inaugurated and washington's birthday and he actually said in this room that he would rather be assassinated on the spot than fail the ideals of the founding fathers. exactly the kind of strength that america needed at the time, and then sadly, four years later he comes back having been assassinated, but having succeeded in saving the united states and they put his casket literally almost next to the liberty bell and they ran about 100,000 people through this building in a day to pay their respects to lincoln and in this space you had lincoln laying next to the liberty bell in the space where the united states was born and the ghosts of the founding fathers was present at one time and that's the kind of thing that makes the room so great and the park service comes in in the 20th century after world war ii and unfortunately, the one thing that had changed the walls and made them fancier. you know, it's a room and it had things like, and our thing was let's get it back to the way it looked to the plainer walls you

in a lot of things that went to washington, d.c., are burned when washington is burned, in the war of 1812. we lose a lot of those early things. so that's one of the challenges, with a building like this. it's you don't necessarily have all the things, but you try to make do the best you can, to give people that sense when they come in to see what it looked like, when men like james madison or young andrew jackson was sitting in this room. as a member of the house of representatives. >> we're in the senate chamber here in philadelphia, the room as you can see is quite a bit more grant in the house of representatives would have been. there's a couple of reasons for that. our roots as a nation go back to when we were british, of course. the british have a parliament with two houses, an upper house the house of lords, the lower house, the house of commons. and there's definitely parallels with our congress, today. the house of representatives is very similarly set up to the house of commons. and then the senate, they would be left to be the house of lords, but obviously we are gonna have

was washington. monroe and sit down and write e scathing letters, memos to washington telling in what a worthless person he was and how he was leaving the country into monarchy. this is fascinating, and i don't think we have been able to pay enough attention to it before. but to see this aspect of this character, and then realize that this fight, what seems like lia grievance flaw, his ability to anchor so quickly and easily, he was a good president. he didn't preside over great defense like the louisiana purchase, though of course he was there at the louisiana purchase doing some part of the negotiating. but his achievements were great nonetheless. it was monroe with john quincy adams help that made the united states a continental nation. the air of good feeling people always make fun of this description of mine rose -- his terms in office come his two terms, was in some sense real. there was a calm in the country and there was a calm in the presidency. he had the most stable cabinet of any of the p

washington -- theodore roosevelt had with booker t. washington? i thought a lot about that as i was working on the presentation. about the potential similarities between the current president and theatre roosevelt. i would say they are seemingly alike. because it is a calculated relationship. so, that was similar. theodore roosevelt and booker t. washington, they both had very direct, set objectives. they worked together to meet those objectives. what is really, really inherently different about the situations is, theodore roosevelt early liked booker t. washington. readerse kind of nerdy and talkers and engagers. they appreciated that in each other, a lot. i think if they did not have the political interest and were not a black man and -- and white man in 19 oh one, they probably would have been buddies. that is why i talked about it a lot in my paper. to answer your question, yes, i think it is similar. they got together because they saw a way to push both agendas, but i do not believe -- i believe it was a more sincere relationship for the good

monroe's argument with washington -- i them with washington in particular -- his big argue. was that washington didn't appreciate what he had done . monroe is nearly killed at the crossing of the delaware. taken out of action. not given the commission he thought he deserved. and i think all of those things made him feel as though washington was turning his back on them. the war did that to monroe and to washington, of course. an opportunity for glory but it was also a tough slog, and one of the things i've admired about him is that no matter how tough the slog, he conveyed an air -- an aura of confidence. not at the beginning. at the beginning his troops were worried but this indecisiveness but as it -- as the war went on and people came to understand him better, it was that rock hard confidence or the able to appear confident. that was very important. >> right. it speaks -- idea projecting confidence, more broadly, all four of them had a very distinct ethos -- i don't know what right word is -- their public appearance and washington obviously having to lead men and what was

so washington is put on ice. here he is cooling his jets for two weeks in philadelphia trying to get the attention of lord loudon. he is finally allowed to see him and what does he did. he says i have no interest in hearing your ideas, young man. washington is only 24 at the time. he has very little experience, and he is a provincial to begin with, so he doesn't know about warfare. so not only do they go on the offensive, but the virginia blues, the regimen, that he trained in, he will have to lose some of his men and those will have to be sent to south carolina. washington emerges from a meeting completely humiliated and angry. and writes what i called the smoking gun letter that he writes to the ylieutenant governor, and he says i cannot con soouf that americconceive t americans, because they're not british, will be denied the rights of british subjects. how come we are not treated equally with the british. he goes on to point out there is no other regimen that served three bloody campaigns without recognition.

a lot of things that went to washington, d.c., are burned when washington is burn in the war of 1812. we lose a lot of those early things. so that is one of the challenges with a building like this, is you do not necessarily have all the things but you try to make do the best you can to give people that sense when they come in to see them of what it looked like when men like james madison or young andrew jackson were sitting in this room as members of the house of representatives. we are in the senate chamber here a congress hall in philadelphia. the room, as you can see, is quite a bit more grand than the riot house of representatives would've been. there are a couple of reasons for that. our roots, as a nation, go back to when we were british. the british have a parliament with two houses, an upper house, house of lords, lower house, the house of commons and there is definitely parallels with our congress today. the house of representatives is very similarly set up to the house of commons and then the senate would therefore be left to be based on the house of lords. obviously we are

hamilton -- you spoke about the washington post. hamilton jordon and jody powell specifically snubbed martha graham, declining invitations, refusing to return phone calls. that can't be a really good idea for an administration that's supposed to be transparent and a breath of fresh air. it doesn't include icing out the most powerful publisher in washington. so i think he tripped on his own good intentions in many ways, but if you look back at his conclusions about the press, he was -- he believed that the press negativity and cynicism was the worst obstacle he faced in his presidency. >> so coming back to ted, we're going to wrap this up pretty soon. ted, you quote john adams at one point saying democracy never lasts, never lasts long. there never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide. and that's a really rather dour statement. -- rather dire statement. i can understand, you know, quoting it in a book about lincoln coming to washington on the verge of a civil war, but what is your feeling about our current democracy today,

washington? >> so, a few things. first of all, there's some overlapping themes here between peter and susan's book and mine. one is ambition and one is tennis. holbrooke played a ton of tennis and i have this feeling that he rose up through the hierarchy in saigon and then in washington by whipping people on the tennis court or by being at least so competitive they had to respect him. first there was tony lake, anthony lake, his close friend and peer in the foreign service in saigon and they remained friends for 10 years and then their friendship mysteriously disintegrated with great consequences for them and for u.s. foreign policy, i think later when they were working together in bosnia under bill clinton. and then he played against west morland and eventually got to bobby kennedy in washington. and that's he holbrooke maneuvered to get to the best dinner tables in georgetown, and he revered this post-war generation of american statesmen from able herryman to george chrennen, clark clifford, george marshall, he tho

and the territory enacted women's right to vote in washington. it was only women in wyoming and utah who had the right to vote after the civil war until women in washington. it was quite challenging, as you might imagine. there were concerns that women would vote for prohibition. if they had the right to vote, they could also serve on juries. and there was a series of cases that came before the supreme court, first upholding the right to vote, and then the right was invalidated on a technicality. finally in 1910, women in washington permanently received the right to vote. >> this year marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment, giving women the right to vote. wyoming was the 27th state to pass that amendment. however, decades earlier, there were suffrage laws in the u.s. we explain why this territory was a prime spot for this historic legislation. >> we are in the women's hallway of the laramie museum in wyoming. this tells the story of why wyoming was so unique, granting women the right to vote, hold property, and elec

unfoundednt you made that the washington post isn't interested in pursuing these stories, the washington post is constantly in touch with election officials of both parties to investigate the election and to make sure we are getting a great tally at our own website and our paper about where the cap stance in various intes -- count stands various states. we are keeping up with the legal challenges from president trump, you can go to washingtonpost.com and read the coverage. host: our guest hosts a number of live events, another one coming up today, 1:00 p.m. eastern you will be interviewing bob casey of pennsylvania. the keystone on the election itself. what are you hoping to focus the conversation on today? guest: it should be interesting to have senator cooney senator toomey and bob casey from northeastern pennsylvania. he is a moderate democrat. pennsylvania was a key battleground in 2020, it is a state both campaigns competed for. it is representative of where this country is moving. you see the new democratic coalition emerging in pittsburgh, the thought of the area. the trump coalit

in the 12 years in washington? and i said the most significant accomplishment was running five campaigns for president, being chief of staff for two different presidents, being secretary of treasury and secretary of state and leaving washington unindicted. and i think my experience as a lawyer and my training as a lawyer really helped me in that. peter and susan write in the book about how i kept a file of every inappropriate request i was asked for. when i was chief of staff. when i was secretary of state or anything else. and you know, i think i learned that because i was a lawyer. and remember, i came to washington in the immediate aftermath of watergate. so i saw what could happen to careless people when they go up there. that's a tough environment. and chief of staff at the white house, i was the longest serving chief of staff in the white house in history, up until my successors came along. and i tell people, it is the worst job in government, because you walk around with a target on your front and on your ba

and there even before we came to washington. and the family the modern houston and expected to do great things imparted on the family and one they were not meant to do was politics that's a time he finally breaks away from his father's domination and the world changes at 40 his first wife died of cancer. and with the country club tennis courts and then to put in the center of world events. >> the stories the books are so rich we could go in so many directions but to leave the stories together i use the word complicated why did you want to write about him? talk about his ambition and what drove him in the first quarter of the book is about vietnam. >> you decide december 1 - - he died december 2010 possession the secretary of state's office for the high drama characteristic. a few weeks later his widow offered me his personal papers. i knew holbrook a bit but not very well and i thought i have a chance to explore a flamboyant from a half century from kennedy to obama to vietnam. and an intimate look at his diaries so i said yes w

washington arrived. roosevelt said, why don't you stay for dinner? dr. washington did. the press, most of the press in the north and the black press for sure, reported this is a great milestone. abraham lincoln had had tea with an african-american journalist, frederick douglass, who was still a journalist when he had tea with abraham lincoln at the white house, he ran his own newspaper. but this is the jim crow era, and this set off the southern newspapers and southern senators in really vile ways. one senator said that black people would have to be lynched in greater numbers now because they would become so haughty about this social advance. to his credit -- i think roosevelt was casual about it, to his credit. to his discredit, i think the administration responded by first trying to deny the dinner had taken place, and then later taking that back in acknowledging that it was no big deal. so he did not use it as a wedge to widen access for african-american reporters or visitors. there was never another event of its kind again. there were events in his administration wh

parter writer for the "washington post." thanks for watching "washington post" live. this week on "the communicators" ought is the reporters roundtable discussion of the incoming byte administration and some of the communications and tech issues.

he came to washington. he ran the campaign against ronald reagan for george h.w. bush and ronald reagan shows him to be a white house chief of staff and he was seen as probably the most successful person at that job, this modern time. how did he do it? >> that's a great question because he didn't really have a background that was necessarily project that he would be successful. he was a lawyer and he ended up running gerald ford's campaign in 1976 coming in from nowhere in the wreckage after watergate. there were no republicans left in this generation and that's why the previous group had been convicted and sent off to jail and he opened up a world of people like jim baker, dick cheney brent scowcroft and a whole generation of people who came before. i think it's an example of a president that was an outsider coming in to washington but he wanted to get things done. he doesn't have the organizational skills to run the white house they didn't understand washington. this is a guy who ran not just one but two campaigns as his chief of staff but ended up being a smart

in the 12 years in washington? and i said the most significant accomplishment was running five campaigns for president, being chief of staff for two different presidents, being secretary of treasury and secretary of state and leaving washington unindicted. and i think my experience as a lawyer and my training as a lawyer really helped me in that. peter and susan write in the book how i kept a file of every inappropriate request i was asked for. when i was chief of staff. when i was secretary of state or anything else. and you know, i think i learned that because i was a lawyer. and remember, i came to washington in the immediate aftermath of watergate. so i saw what could happen to careless people who go out there. that's a tough environment. and chief of staff at the white house, i was the longest serving chief of staff in the white house in history, up until my successors came along. and i tell people, it is the worst job in government because you walk around with a target on your front and on your back. people c

a story about the 13-day train journey that lincoln took from illinois to washington d.c. to be inaugurated as president. these are two very different books. i'm going to hold up each of them. this is literally a mini biography, well, not so mini, it's a substantial book, but focuses on 13 days and this is harold holzer's book on the president versus the press. there's very different books, but they are both about presidents. and both authors are deeply with lincoln in the civil war era. to my mind, both folks actually have a theme, which is the notion that american politics has always been deeply partisan, contentious, and downright toxic, toxic. so ted, let's begin with you. you give us a vivid description of lincoln's dangerous train journey, and at one point, you refer to it, to the toxic climate of 1860. so, i wanted to ask you right off the bat, is it worse today? [laughter] >> no. it's horrific today, worse in 1860. it's such an honor to appear with harold because he literally wrote the book on this period. lincoln president-elect was constantly on my book shelf as

and a divided washington. next. ♪ anuncer: 24 is show. "washington week." funding is provided by -- >> when the world gets complicated a lot goes through ur mind. with fidelity wealth middleweight, a dedicated advisor can tailor advice and recommendations to you life. that's fidity wealth nagement. ♪ announcer: consumer cellular. additional funding is p tvided estate of arnold adams and koo and patricia yuen through the yuen foundation. the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again, from washington, moderator robert costa. robert: good eving and welcome to "washington week." days after a record num r of americans voted, the nearing a conclusion. is finally with former vice president joe biden inching ahead of president trump in several battle grounds states but t even as count winds down, the political war in this nation continues. president trump, asw, you k is insisting the election is far from over. he is alleging widespread voter fraud,ho w evidence and while some veteran

story foratever this today's washington post. what you see in georgia and across the republican party is a willingness to stand with president trump, with his claims of election fraud brought forward without evidence. the reason they are doing this, in part, is to make sure the republican base is energized and activated in georgia. in georgia, it is a fast-changing state. you look at the rising latino population, asian american population, can the influx of white liberals and black americans into the atlanta area. you see estate that symbolizes -- a state that symbolizes the deep south. as theyans want to win have struggled to do so in 2020. they need to turn out in the majority white suburbs of atlanta. to do that you have to stand with president trump who is so popular with those voters. voters in the atlanta area and throughout rural georgia. you can't start to somehow depart from president trump at this fragile moment in president trump's political career. host: when was the last time he had a chance to interview president tr

the one in washington d.c. was the largest, but william just how much of a threat are all of these demonstrations, all of these unhappy people, and how much do they threaten the transition to a new biden administration? it was the largest in washington, but of course was nowhere near that 1000000 person that they were claiming, you know, authorities and police were saying as a maximum, maybe 10000 it is a minority of a minority. you know, these are not all of donald trump. supporters of actually draws from a fairly broad spectrum which we saw from the election just how many votes you wonder how much support he does still have in the country. so while they are a minority make should not be given too much credit them too much attention. we just have to look back to recent history and 2009 when barack obama came into office. there was this upsurge of resistance to his, his administration that became the tea party, which itself was not an actual party. it really kind of meshed into the republican party and really p

. >> c-span's washington journal. every day, calls live on the air on the news of the day and we will discuss policy issues that impact you. tuesday morning, a discussion of the senate leadership elections with rollcall. then we will talk about the affordable care act case being heard by the supreme court with katie keith of georgetown university. a discussion of the biden presidential transition with karen holt, virginia tech's political science professor and white house advisory member. watch the washington journal 7:00 eastern. join with your phone calls, texts, and tweets. host: we are joined by scott long with the hill newspaper, covering congress for quite some time. you have a lame-duck session coming in here shortly in the u.s. but before we get to the next congress, tell us what the next few weeks or month looks like on the u.s. house side in particular. guest: the house of representatives will come back to washington after this historic election to hold their leadership elections. it looks like democrats are

next, washington representatives talk about the 2020 election at an event hosted by the washington post. the congresswoman, cochair of the progressive caucus, spoke about concerns about potential violence on election night and senator young addressed the appointment of justice barrett to the supreme court. >> good afternoon. it is monday, the day before election day and i am bob costa. welcome to washington post live, are program at 1:00 p.m. eastern everyday. today, we will hear from two leaders on the frontlines lines of the campaigns. we will hear from senator todd , ofg later in the program indiana, running all the senate campaigns for the republicans as they hold onto their majority. and we will hear from a representative from washington state, the cochair of the progressive caucus in the house. one of those leaders in washington who, regardless of who wins, will be a voice in the democratic party in the years to come. she is already campaigning across the country. and i will have two of my colleagues, who i have been waiting to hear from for a long emily, who will be with us later

washington showed up. and the other thing he did when he was there, he wasn't like the kind of general -- he wasn't an omar bradley. he wasn't a soldier's general. he is not trying to go into people's tents and be one of the guys in the middle of their adversity. he is trying to find them food and clothing. he's writing letters. he's getting the local authorities mobilized to support the foraging of this army. he is actively seen as trying to make life better for the army. he is not the one they blame when they don't have shoes, clothes, gun powder. they blame the continental congress, they blame their states, they blame the politicians. so washington is very popular among the soldiers. much of that spreads into the american people, as well. there is a reason he is the most trusted man in america by the end of the war. it's not just the soldiers but the stories they tell him about. these soldiers don't serve for most of the war. they served for short periods, then go back to being a farmer. it's likely tha

they were in washington's cabinet. hamilton was secretary of the treasury, jefferson was secretary of state, a pretty good lineup. eachwent after ejector -- other every day at cabinet meetings. two were said to be fighting cocks in a ring. jefferson did everything he could to dial back that regal atmosphere both in the way he conducted the government and also in how he presented himself and was kind of bound and determined to defeat hamilton. irony i think, the way things are different now, jefferson kept a bust of hamilton in his study at monticello for the rest of his life. even though they were blood enemies, he respected him and knew what a brilliant man he was and that he had a very respectable point of view. it just was not jefferson's point of view. rather than daemonic -- demonize each other, they respected if not admired each other. madison famously held a lot of social events, elaborate events at the white house after thomas jefferson's presidency. did you encounter in your research any information about any

franklin looks at the chair where washington sits and looks behind washington's head, this carving of a half sun on the back of the chair and says all summer i've been trying to decide whether that is a half sun, is it supposed to be rising or setting and i could not make up my mind util now. now, at length, i have the happiness to know that is a rising and not a setting sun. and he felt good. he had been working on this since the 1750's, this unity of the american states and he finally sees it happening. one of the great stories that comes afterwards as he is supposedly asked what kind of government they have created in philadelphia and he says it's a republic, if you can keep it. his warning to the rest of us. think about the united states -- i like to finish with this idea we are still using that same constitution. we are still using that same government, but it has also allowed us maybe not quickly but it has allowed us to improve because ultimately, slavery does not really and by the civil war. technically it is the 13th amendment. 15th amendment will give equality in voting by c

thank you very much we'll be talking throughout the night let's now bring in washington bureau chief outside the white house in washington out on the street in a fellow what's happening where you are what's the situation. well people are still pouring in ever since the news broke or washington kind of turned into one huge big party receive people you know from all different backgrounds you see very many young people they are so happy saying this is kind of how our future can be saved many of them very very unhappy about the fact that donald trump and his administration have left the climate the paris climate agreement so it's still a huge party but we always have to keep in mind yes this is the capital of the united states but it's not representative of the united states it's a very liberal democratic a bubble there are some trump supporters gathering on the other side of the white house it's a very small crowd but we hear from our colleagues out out and about so to speak as trump supporters also do come together but right here as you can see people are just like poor even they are c

good night from washington. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] announcer: corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> before we talk about your investments, what's new? >> well, audrey is expecting. >> twins. >> grandparents. >> we want to put money aside for them so change in plans. >> all right. let's see what we can adjust. >> we would be closer to the twins. >> change in plans. >> ok. >> mom, are you painting again? you could sell these. >> let me guess, change in plans? >> at fidelity a change in plans is always part of the plan. consumer cellular. boeing. additional funding is provided by - the estate of arnold adams and koo and patricia yuen through the yuen foundation. committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [gentle music] ♪ [machine whirring] [blade grinding] ♪ -

we need washington to get his act together. 20 washington to make it easier, not harder to solve problems. we need washington to be a partner, not an impediment. a large majority of americans are thoroughly convinced that our political system is fundamentally broken, that we as a people are tragically divided and that washington is completely dysfunctional. most of us are sick and tired of the angry, divisive politics. americans believe in civility and pragmatism. they think straight talk is more valuable than empty rhetoric. these are the things that my party is going to have to focus on if we want to win national elections again. americans are not as divided as our politics and social media would suggest. the problem is not the american people. the problem is that politicians think that the only way to get elected is to feed the extremes, to fire up the base and that the only way to govern is through winner take all combat. the extreme voices that dominate social media, cable news, and talk radio, have been a tiny sliver of americans on the far left for the far-right. over 70% of the re