CSPAN3 — Jon Meacham American Struggle
20260816 045100 UTC
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[00:00:00] TO THIS COUNTRY DURING THE TIME THAT YOU WERE CARING THE MAIL
[00:00:04] DURING THE PANDEMIC?
[00:00:06] I THINK ALL OF US HAVE TO
[00:00:10] DELIBERATELY TRY TO REMEMBER HOW ISOLATING THOSE FIRST MONTHS OF
[00:00:13] THE PANDEMIC WERE. WE WERE ALL STUCK AT HOME.
[00:00:16] AND IF YOU LIVED IN THE SUBURBS OR MORE IMPORTANTLY, IN THE
[00:00:20] COUNTRYSIDE, THAT MEANT YOU WEREN'T GOING INTO TOWN.
[00:00:24] YOU WEREN'T BUMPING INTO NEIGHBORS AT THE GROCERY STORE.
[00:00:26] YOU WERE COMPLETELY ISOLATED.
[00:00:29] AND IT'S IN THOSE NATIONAL EMERGENCIES THAT BE THEY
[00:00:34] HURRICANES OR TORNADOES OR ICE
[00:00:37] STORMS OR A PANDEMIC THAT THAT
[00:00:40] THE POSTAL SERVICE IS UNIQUE.
[00:00:42] STRENGTHS ACTUALLY COME INTO PLAY.
[00:00:46] IT WAS I OFTEN WAS THE ONLY
[00:00:50] PERSON THAT WASN'T A DIRECT FAMILY MEMBER THAT PEOPLE HAD
[00:00:53] SEEN DURING THOSE FIRST 6 OR 9 MONTHS OF THE PANDEMIC.
[00:00:56] YOU CAN WATCH THE REST OF THIS PROGRAM AND ALL OF OUR BOOK
[00:01:00] PROGRAMS ANY TIME ONLINE AT
[00:01:02] BOOKTV DOT ORG.
[00:01:06] BOOK TV CONTINUES NOW.
[00:01:08] TELEVISION FOR SERIOUS READERS.
[00:01:12] WELCOME TO EVERYONE GATHERED
[00:01:14] HERE AT ROOSEVELT HOUSE, AS WELL
[00:01:16] AS THOSE WHO ARE WATCHING ON
[00:01:18] BOTH ZOOM AND C-SPAN FOR WHAT
[00:01:22] PROMISES TO BE ONE OF THE MOST UNUSUAL PROGRAMS WE'VE DONE AT
[00:01:26] ROOSEVELT HOUSE. I FEEL A LOT OF ENERGY IN THIS
[00:01:30] ROOM, AND THE WEIGHT OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR MAKING THIS
[00:01:34] WORK. WE'LL SEE. I WANT TO CERTAINLY THANK THE
[00:01:38] BOARD MEMBERS WHO ARE WHO ARE
[00:01:40] JOIN US, WHO HAVE JOINED US ARE
[00:01:43] CHAIR RITA HAUSER IS HERE.
[00:01:50] JILLIAN SORENSEN IS HERE.
[00:01:56] I THINK SUSAN STEINHART IS HERE.
[00:02:01] YES. AND A FEW OTHERS WILL AMBLE IN. I'M HAROLD HOLZER AND I HAVE THE
[00:02:04] HONOR OF SERVING AS DIRECTOR OF
[00:02:08] ROOSEVELT HOUSE AND VICE.
[00:02:13] ON BEHALF OF HUNTER COLLEGE PRESIDENT NANCY CANTOR, WHO IS
[00:02:17] HERE WITH US THIS EVENING.
[00:02:21] IT'S A PLEASURE TO INTRODUCE A
[00:02:25] DISCUSSION THAT WILL BE AUGMENTED BY DRAMATIZATION,
[00:02:29] DRAWN FROM THE LATEST BOOK FROM A PULITZER PRIZE WINNING AUTHOR
[00:02:32] WHO HAS DEVOTED HIS CAREER TO
[00:02:37] EXPLORING AND, IN EFFECT, SUMMONING THE SOUL OF AMERICA,
[00:02:41] EVEN WHEN IT SEEMS FOR MANY TO BE MORE LIKE A LOST SOUL THAN A
[00:02:45] LIVING SPIRIT. IT'S TRULY AN HONOR TO WELCOME
[00:02:49] TO WELCOME BACK. IN THIS CASE, SCHOLAR, WRITER,
[00:02:53] JOURNALIST, PUBLIC HISTORIAN, TELEVISION COMMENTATOR,
[00:02:55] PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER AND ORATOR IN HIS OWN RIGHT.
[00:02:59] THAT'S JUST ONE OF OUR GUESTS,
[00:03:02] THE MAN, WALTER ISAACSON HAS
[00:03:04] CALLED OUR PREEMINENT HISTORIAN
[00:03:07] OF AMERICAN VALUES, JOHN MEACHAM.
[00:03:09] AND I'LL.
[00:03:16] WHAT BRINGS US TOGETHER ALONG
[00:03:19] WITH OUR OTHER SPECIAL GUESTS, WHOM I'LL INTRODUCE A LITTLE BIT
[00:03:22] DOWN THE LINE, IS HIS NEW BOOK,
[00:03:25] AMERICAN STRUGGLE DEMOCRACY,
[00:03:27] DISSENT AND THE PURSUIT OF A
[00:03:29] MORE PERFECT UNION, AN ANTHOLOGY
[00:03:33] FILLED WITH SOME OF THE MOST
[00:03:35] EERILY RELEVANT, INSPIRING AND
[00:03:39] OCCASIONALLY DISPIRITING WORDS
[00:03:41] OF THE 400 YEARS OF AMERICAN
[00:03:43] HISTORY IT COVERS FROM A 1619 LETTER THAT SEEMS SO ORDINARY,
[00:03:49] COMMENTED ON THE ARRIVAL OF ENSLAVED AFRICANS TO JAMESTOWN
[00:03:53] TO A.
[00:03:56] 225 TO 20 OVER 25. COMMENT A COMMENTARY ON
[00:04:01] AUTHORITARIANISM. AND IN BETWEEN THOSE TWO DESPAIR WRITING ENTRIES ARE JUST A
[00:04:07] WONDERFUL GOLDEN BOOK OF THE BEST OF US.
[00:04:10] WHEN WE REACH OUR BEST UPLIFTING
[00:04:14] SPEECHES THAT REMIND US AND JOHN'S WORDS THAT AMERICANS
[00:04:18] SCRIPTURE IS PERHAPS MOST DRAMATIC.
[00:04:20] WHILE THE AMERICAN EXPERIMENT SEEMS MOST FRAGILE.
[00:04:24] SO TONIGHT, WE'LL HEAR AND DISCUSS WORDS THAT REMIND US OF
[00:04:27] BOTH THE FOUNDING AND PROMISE OF
[00:04:31] REMAINING CHALLENGES TO THE AMERICAN EXPERIMENT, AND ALSO
[00:04:35] REMINDING US THAT AMERICAN
[00:04:37] POLARIZATION IS NOT NEW, THAT
[00:04:41] THE VOICES OF THE PAST, HOWEVER,
[00:04:43] CAN INFORM THE WISDOM THAT WE
[00:04:47] NEED FOR THE FUTURE AND MAKE PROPER CAUTION. IT THE PRESENT.
[00:04:51] SO TONIGHT, WE'LL TALK ABOUT THE
[00:04:54] BOOK AND HEAR SOME OF THE WORDS.
[00:04:56] IT FEATURES NOT NOT THE CONTRARY
[00:05:01] AND THREATENING MESSAGES, ALAS, BECAUSE IT JUST WOULD TAKE TOO
[00:05:05] MUCH TIME TO DIRECT YOU. AND THEN RE INSPIRE YOU.
[00:05:09] SO WE'RE JUST GOING TO DO THE BEST OF THE BEST, BUT WE'LL TALK
[00:05:11] ABOUT ALL AND WHAT A SPECIAL
[00:05:16] TREAT IT IS TO BE INTRODUCING THIS FORMAT AND THE ONE TIME
[00:05:19] HOME OF TWO OF THE AMERICAN
[00:05:23] ORIGINALS WHOSE WORDS ANIMATE THIS BOOK AND WHOSE WORDS WE
[00:05:25] WILL HEAR TONIGHT. FRANKLIN AND ELEANOR ROOSEVELT.
[00:05:29] AS MANY OF YOU KNOW, FDR RECOVERED FROM POLIO IN THIS
[00:05:33] HOUSE, RAN HIS GUBERNATORIAL CAMPAIGNS AND HIS FIRST
[00:05:37] PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN. FROM HERE, GAVE HIS FIRST
[00:05:40] FIRESIDE CHAT UPSTAIRS AND
[00:05:43] WORKED WITH HIS BRAIN TRUST TWO
[00:05:45] FLOORS ABOVE US TO FORGE THE NEW
[00:05:47] DEAL AND ELEANOR LAUNCHED HER
[00:05:51] OWN PUBLIC SERVICE CAREER UNDER THIS ROOF.
[00:05:55] IF ONLY AT FIRST TO ESCAPE. THE MOTHER IN LAW WHO BUILT THIS
[00:05:59] HOME AND THEN EXTENDED HER DOMINANCE.
[00:06:03] BUT ABOVE ALL, WE'RE GRATEFUL THAT JON MEACHAM IS BACK.
[00:06:06] HE HOLDS THE ROGERS ENDOWED
[00:06:08] CHAIR AT ON THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY AT VANDERBILT
[00:06:12] UNIVERSITY AND ALSO SERVES AS
[00:06:14] CANON HISTORIAN OF THE
[00:06:17] WASHINGTON NATIONAL CATHEDRAL. HE'S WRITTEN ABOUT PRESIDENTS
[00:06:20] THOMAS JEFFERSON, ANDREW JACKSON
[00:06:23] AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN, GEORGE H.W.
[00:06:25] BUSH, AND OF COURSE, FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT.
[00:06:28] HIS ENTRY TO THE HOUSE AMONG HIS
[00:06:29] MANY AWARDS ARE NINE HONORARY
[00:06:33] DEGREES AND THE HONOR OF SPEAKING AT THE 2020 DEMOCRATIC
[00:06:36] NATIONAL CONVENTION. SO WE'LL SPEND SOME TIME TALKING
[00:06:40] WITH HIM AND THEN ADD THE PERFORMANCE ELEMENT WE THINK
[00:06:43] WILL BRING THE AMERICAN STRUGGLE TO LIFE AND WITH THAT, PLEASE
[00:06:47] WELCOME TO THE STAGE, MY DEAR
[00:06:49] FRIEND, JOHN MEACHAM.
[00:07:01] WHAT I TOOK AWAY FROM THAT IS I CAN'T HOLD A JOB.
[00:07:07] JESUS. IT'S A LOT OF JACK OF ALL TRADES. YEAH.
[00:07:11] YEAH. AND MASTER OF MANY. NO, NO, BUT WE'RE TRYING.
[00:07:16] SO, JOHN, WE'RE APPROACHING AMERICA.
[00:07:19] 250, SO IT'S PROBABLY OBVIOUS
[00:07:22] WHY YOU PRODUCED THIS NEW BOOK
[00:07:24] WHEN YOU DID AND WHY YOU THINK
[00:07:28] IT'S IMPORTANT, BUT HOW DID YOU
[00:07:30] CHOOSE THE SPEECHES AND LETTERS
[00:07:32] THAT YOU INCLUDED ON BOTH THE UPLIFTING AND THE DISPIRITED VARIETY?
[00:07:36] WELL, THIS IS FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU TO HAROLD AND EVERYONE
[00:07:40] FOR HAVING ME BACK.
[00:07:42] AS SOMEONE WHO HAS A DIFFICULT
[00:07:44] MOTHER IN LAW, I LOVE BEING HERE.
[00:07:48] LET'S HOPE SHE DOESN'T EVER SEE
[00:07:51] THIS COULD BE A PROBLEM.
[00:07:55] AND JUST THERE'S NOTHING MORE
[00:07:59] IMPORTANT THAN THE TACTILE NATURE OF HISTORY AND THE
[00:08:03] PRESERVATION OF A PLACE LIKE
[00:08:04] THIS WHERE YOU CAN STAND AND SIT
[00:08:10] IN PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S CASE,
[00:08:13] WHERE EVERYTHING HAPPENED AND
[00:08:17] ONE OF THE THINGS I FIND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND PART OF THE
[00:08:19] IMPETUS BEHIND THIS BOOK WAS AND
[00:08:23] THERE'S AN EXTRAORDINARY HUNGER
[00:08:24] IN THE COUNTRY TO TALK ABOUT IT,
[00:08:27] BUT NOT TO TALK ABOUT HIM.
[00:08:32] ANTECEDENTS. IT'S CLEAR RIGHT?
[00:08:34] AND IN MANY WAYS, THIS BOOK IS A
[00:08:36] SEQUENTIAL VOLUME TO A BOOK I DID IN 2018 CALLED THE SOUL OF
[00:08:41] AMERICA, WHERE I ARGUED THAT THE
[00:08:43] SOUL WHICH IN HEBREW AND IN GREEK MEANS BREATH OR LIFE IS
[00:08:47] EXCEPT IN THE MOST EXTREME
[00:08:49] CASES, IS NOT WHOLLY GOOD OR
[00:08:53] WHOLLY EVIL. IT'S AN ARENA OF CONTENTION
[00:08:56] WHERE OUR WORST INSTINCTS DO
[00:08:58] BATTLE WITH OUR BETTER ANGELS. AND IF WE'RE LUCKY, OUR BETTER
[00:09:02] ANGELS WIN A FEW. NOW I KNOW YOU ALL ARE BETTER
[00:09:06] PEOPLE THAN I AM, WHICH IS NOT HARD. SO DON'T GET COCKY.
[00:09:08] BUT I KNOW THAT IF I DO THE RIGHT THING 51% OF THE TIME,
[00:09:12] THAT'S A HELL OF A GOOD DAY. AND I DON'T HAVE THAT MANY OF THOSE.
[00:09:16] AND SO WHY WOULD A POPULAR
[00:09:18] GOVERNMENT THAT'S BASED ON OUR
[00:09:20] DISPOSITIONS OF HEART AND MIND,
[00:09:23] A DEMOCRACY, WHY WOULD THAT BE ANY DIFFERENT?
[00:09:26] AND SO WITHOUT UNDER STANDING
[00:09:30] THESE STRUGGLES WHICH ARE
[00:09:32] PERENNIAL AND ARE FUNDAMENTAL
[00:09:35] HUMAN DEMOCRACIES ARE ABOUT GIVE AND TAKE.
[00:09:39] AND IT'S A HELL OF A LOT MORE
[00:09:40] FUN TO TAKE THAN TO GIVE, RIGHT? EVER SINCE THE SECOND CHAPTER OF
[00:09:45] GENESIS, WE'VE BEEN TAKING A PIECE OF FRUIT.
[00:09:48] WE WERE TOLD NOT TO TAKE IT. WE WANTED IT. WE TOOK IT.
[00:09:50] MAYHEM ENSUES.
[00:09:52] RHYME AND SO WHAT I WANTED TO DO
[00:09:56] IN MANY WAYS IS GET OUT OF THE
[00:09:58] WAY IN THIS BOOK I TOLD A
[00:10:01] STUDENT AT VANDERBILT A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, SHE ASKED WHAT
[00:10:04] THIS BOOK WAS ABOUT. AND I SAID, WELL, IT'S THE BEST
[00:10:08] BOOK I EVER XEROXED.
[00:10:10] AND AND SHE SAID, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
[00:10:12] SO THAT WASN'T GOOD.
[00:10:16] BUT I WANTED I WANTED I WANTED
[00:10:18] TO LET BOTH THE HEROES AND THE VILLAINS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.
[00:10:22] AND THE SELECTION, SOME OF IT IS
[00:10:26] ESSENTIAL. I'M NOT GOING TO SAY OBVIOUS, BUT ESSENTIAL. BUT YOU PUBLISHED SOME THINGS
[00:10:28] THAT WERE THAT SURPRISED ME WHEN YOU DID JOE MCCARTHY AND OTHER
[00:10:34] THINGS. YEAH, WELL, YOU YEAH, I MEAN, IF WE WANT TO DO A HEROIC BOOK, THAT'S FINE.
[00:10:38] BUT WE'RE NOT GOING TO LEARN FROM SAINTS. WE'RE GOING TO LEARN FROM
[00:10:40] SINNERS AND THERE ARE A LOT OF THEM, WHICH IS GOOD GIVEN THE
[00:10:43] RELATIVE PROPORTION OF THE TWO IN THE POPULATION.
[00:10:45] THERE'S A LOT MORE TO LEARN. NO, I DON'T THINK WE I DON'T
[00:10:49] THINK WE DO OURSELVES ANY FAVORS AT THIS POINT BY EITHER
[00:10:54] PRETENDING OR ASSUMING THAT, BECAUSE THE REPUBLIC HAS
[00:10:57] ENDURED, IS GOING TO CONTINUE TO ENDURE.
[00:10:59] I DON'T THINK THAT'S AUTOMATIC AT ALL.
[00:11:03] I'M SOMETIMES ACCUSED OF BEING
[00:11:05] OVERLY OPTIMISTIC, WHICH REMINDS ME OF MY FAVORITE STORY ABOUT
[00:11:09] BEING OVERLY OPTIMISTIC.
[00:11:11] IT'S A QUICK STORY ABOUT GREAT TWEETS.
[00:11:15] IT'S LIKE FRENCH MILITARY VICTORIES IN THE 20TH CENTURY. IT DOESN'T TAKE VERY LONG.
[00:11:19] THERE AREN'T MANY OF THEM. BUT SOMEONE TWEETED OUT ABOUT A YEAR AGO THAT IF DORIS GOODWIN
[00:11:23] AND MR. ROGERS HAD HAD A ONE NIGHT STAND, I WOULD HAVE
[00:11:28] RESULTED AND I THOUGHT IT WAS
[00:11:32] GREAT, RIGHT. DORIS WAS KIND OF IRRITATED.
[00:11:35] SO SHE LEARNED HOW TO USE HER CELL PHONE. AND SHE CALLED ME AND IT POPPED
[00:11:38] UP AND I SAID, MOM, SHE SAID, THAT'S NOT FUNNY. AND I SAID, WHY ISN'T IT FUNNY?
[00:11:42] IS THAT THIS IS GREAT. SHE SAID, I DON'T MIND BEING YOUR MOTHER, BUT I DON'T WANT TO BE A FLOOZY.
[00:11:46] AND I SAID, LOOK, YOU THOUGHT THE SNEAKERS AND THE SWEATER WERE HOT.
[00:11:50] IT'S OKAY. IT'S OKAY. WE DO HAVE TO SEE EACH OTHER AS
[00:11:54] NEIGHBORS. THAT'S THE CENTRAL INSIGHT. I BELIEVE WE'RE LOOKING AT THE
[00:11:57] FOUR FREEDOMS HERE AT THE BACK OF THE ROOM, A CENTRAL INSIGHT
[00:12:01] OF THE MAN WHO LIVED UPSTAIRS
[00:12:04] WAS THAT WHEN DEMOCRATIC CAPITALISM WAS IN ITS HOUR OF
[00:12:08] MAXIMUM DANGER, TO USE A PHRASE
[00:12:11] THAT MR. SORENSON HELPED WITH,
[00:12:14] WE HAD A PRESIDENT WHO INSISTED
[00:12:19] THAT WE SEE EACH OTHER NOT AS
[00:12:21] ENEMIES IN THE SAME WAY WE DID
[00:12:25] IN HOLZER'S ERA.
[00:12:26] NOT WHAT KIND OF LITERALLY, BUT
[00:12:30] WITH LINCOLN, WE CAN HAVE RIVALS
[00:12:33] AND OPPONENTS. WE'RE SUPPOSED TO HAVE THOSE,
[00:12:36] BUT WE'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO HAVE ENEMIES BECAUSE OF IT.
[00:12:39] IF THE STAKES OF A DEMOCRACY ARE
[00:12:42] YOU DESTROY THE PERSON ON THE OTHER SIDE.
[00:12:46] THAT'S NOT DELIBERATIVE GOVERNMENT, RIGHT?
[00:12:48] THAT'S TOTAL WAR.
[00:12:50] AND THAT WAY MADNESS LIES.
[00:12:54] SO I'M GOING TO ASK YOU ONE MORE QUESTION BEFORE WE INVITE OUR OUR COLLEAGUES TO JOIN US.
[00:12:59] BUT I WOULD LOVE YOU, THREE FOLKS, TO SIT. THERE ARE THREE SEATS HERE.
[00:13:02] SO THREE OF YOU MAY SIT.
[00:13:05] WHO IS YOU? I MEAN, YOU'VE GOT JEFFERSON AND LINCOLN.
[00:13:08] WHO ARE THE SURPRISE GREAT WRITER. IS THAT YOU?
[00:13:12] THAT YOU PUT INTO THE WELL, ONE OF MY FAVORITES IS AND HE WAS A
[00:13:15] VERY GOOD WRITER, NOT WILDLY
[00:13:17] ARTICULATE IN PERSON. AND YOU ALL WILL REMEMBER THIS.
[00:13:21] GEORGE H.W. BUSH, WHO WAS ON
[00:13:27] PAPER REALLY GOOD.
[00:13:29] AND HE LEFT A DIARY ENTRY ABOUT
[00:13:33] RUNNING INTO A HARD CORE RIGHT
[00:13:38] WING REPUBLICAN IN THE PRIMARIES
[00:13:42] OF 1988. AND IN THIS CASE, IT WAS A PAT ROBERTSON SUPPORTER.
[00:13:46] AND AS HE PUT IT, SHE WAS
[00:13:49] STARING THING AND MEAN AND HARSH.
[00:13:52] AND IT REMINDED HIM AS HE PUT
[00:13:54] IT, OF THE JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY
[00:13:56] BACK IN TEXAS IN THE EARLY 1960S.
[00:14:00] AND SO THAT WAS AN INTERESTING GLIMPSE OF THAT.
[00:14:02] AND THEN THERE'S THE LETTER WHERE GEORGE BUSH, AFTER THE
[00:14:06] NRA, SENT OUT A FUNDRAISING
[00:14:10] MAILER THAT CALLED AFTER
[00:14:12] OKLAHOMA CITY AND RUBY RIDGE
[00:14:15] THAT REFERRED TO FEDERAL AGENTS
[00:14:17] AS JACKBOOTED THUGS AND BUSH
[00:14:21] WENT INTO HIS OFFICE ON A SATURDAY MORNING IN HOUSTON, SAT DOWN, DIDN'T TALK TO ANYBODY
[00:14:25] ABOUT IT, AND WROTE A LETTER TO WAYNE LAPIERRE, RESIGNING AS A
[00:14:28] LIFE MEMBER OF THE NRA.
[00:14:32] AND HE SAID IT OFFENDS MY
[00:14:34] CONCEPT OF SERVICE TO COUNTRY TO
[00:14:36] REFER TO FEDERAL AGENTS IN TERMS
[00:14:39] THAT WE USED FOR THE NAZIS. AND SO THERE ARE THESE MOMENTS
[00:14:44] RIGHT? AND THE OTHER THING I KNOW WE'RE
[00:14:47] GOING TO HEAR IT, BUT I THOUGHT
[00:14:48] ELIZABETH CADY STANTON'S.
[00:14:52] TESTIMONY THIS IS THE BEST
[00:14:55] TESTIMONY EVER TO A CONGRESSIONAL HEARING WAS AMAZING.
[00:14:58] YEAH, THAT'S WHY WE SELECTED IT. EVEN THOUGH YOU'VE GIVEN THAT
[00:15:01] SURPRISE AWAY THAT A GREAT WELL, I'M HERE TO I'M HERE TO. YEAH.
[00:15:04] SO WE DON'T WANT TO UPSET PEOPLE.
[00:15:06] I THINK IT IS TIME NOW TO HEAR
[00:15:09] SOME SAMPLINGS FROM THE BOOK,
[00:15:11] FROM AMERICAN SCRIPTURE, AS IT WERE.
[00:15:14] AND WE'RE EXCITED AND FEEL VERY
[00:15:17] PRIVILEGED TO WELCOME TO AMAZING
[00:15:21] ACTORS TO ROOSEVELT HOUSE, ONE
[00:15:24] WHO HAS BEEN HERE BEFORE IS THE
[00:15:26] EXTRAORDINARY ACTOR AND WRITER
[00:15:29] STEPHEN LANG, A STAR OF SUCH
[00:15:31] STAGE TRIUMPHS AS A FEW GOOD MEN
[00:15:33] AND DEATH OF A SALESMAN AND.
[00:15:40] THE THE DANISH PLAY HAMLET,
[00:15:46] ALONG WITH HIS OWN ONE MAN SHOW ABOUT MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENTS
[00:15:48] CALLED BEYOND GLORY ON
[00:15:52] TELEVISION. NOW, IN THE SECOND SEASON OF AN
[00:15:55] AMAZING SERIES CALLED HOUSE OF DAVID. AND OF COURSE, FILMS LIKE
[00:15:59] TOMBSTONE AND GETTYSBURG AND THE
[00:16:01] RECENT DON'T BREATHE SERIES AND
[00:16:05] ALSO AS THE INDESTRUCTIBLE
[00:16:07] COLONEL IN THE AVATAR FRANCHISE.
[00:16:11] JOINING HIM THIS EVENING FOR HER FIRST VISIT TO ROOSEVELT HOUSE
[00:16:15] IS THE OSCAR TONY AND EMMY AWARD
[00:16:19] WINNING ACTRESS ELLEN BURSTYN,
[00:16:21] WHO MADE HER BROADCAST.
[00:16:29] WHO MADE HER BROADWAY DEBUT, BELIEVE IT OR NOT. AND YOU PROBABLY WON'T WHEN SHE
[00:16:33] COMES UP. 69 YEARS AGO AND HAS BEEN
[00:16:36] REGALING US WITH STORIES OF HER
[00:16:39] RECOLLECTIONS OF PEARL HARBOR DAY, WHICH INTERRUPTED HER
[00:16:44] BIRTHDAY. SHE'S THIS DECEMBER. SOME OF GAL SHE WON THE TONY FOR
[00:16:47] A SAME TIME NEXT YEAR.
[00:16:49] AND THE ACADEMY AWARD FOR ALICE
[00:16:51] DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE WITH
[00:16:55] ADDITIONAL NOMINATIONS FOR THE EXORCIST AND RESURRECTION, SHE
[00:16:58] ALSO HAS A NEW BOOK OUT CALLED
[00:17:02] POETRY. SHE SAYS IT BETTER. SO WE WE'RE KIND OF GLAD WE
[00:17:05] ASKED HER TO DO A POEM TONIGHT.
[00:17:07] AND THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME
[00:17:09] THAT LANGE AND BURSTYN HAVE APPEARED TOGETHER.
[00:17:12] HE PLAYED HER SON IN LAW IN A
[00:17:16] MOVIE CALLED TWICE IN A LIFETIME.
[00:17:19] AND THEIR THEIR SYNERGY WAS NOT ENOUGH TO KEEP THE MARRIAGE
[00:17:22] TOGETHER, BUT IT WAS A GREAT IT WAS A GREAT MOVIE. AND THEY'RE BOTH DEEPLY INVOLVED
[00:17:26] IN THE ACTORS STUDIO AND HAVE BEEN FOR MANY YEARS WITH WITH
[00:17:30] ELLEN BURSTYN AS AS THE PRESIDENT AND STEVEN ON THE BOARD.
[00:17:33] SO THIS IS THIS IS KIND OF ONCE IN A LIFETIME.
[00:17:37] SO PLEASE JOIN ME IN WELCOMING
[00:17:39] ELLEN BURSTYN AND STEVEN LAND.
[00:17:59] HELLO, EVERYBODY.
[00:18:03] SO WE'RE GOING TO START,
[00:18:05] APPROPRIATELY ENOUGH, WITH THE
[00:18:07] PREAMBLE TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
[00:18:11] JOHN, I'M GOING TO ASK YOU FIRST, JUST TALK A LITTLE BIT
[00:18:14] ABOUT JEFFERSON, THE IDEALIST, THE PRAGMATIST WHO, AS YOU PUT
[00:18:18] IT, COULDN'T MARSHAL HIS SENSE
[00:18:20] OF HOPE IN SERVICE TO REAL
[00:18:24] REFORM. I THINK THOSE ARE YOUR WORDS.
[00:18:26] HE WROTE BETTER THAN I DID, WHICH IS GOOD.
[00:18:30] THAT'S NOT A VERY ELEGANT SENTENCE. THAT'S MINE.
[00:18:32] YOU LOOK, THOMAS JEFFERSON WAS A POLITICIAN.
[00:18:36] THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER ABOUT HIM. HE WANTED TO BE SEEN AS A
[00:18:42] PHILOSOPHER, BUT HE WAS
[00:18:44] INCONSISTENT BECAUSE HE WAS
[00:18:46] HUMAN AND HIS HE SPENT 40 YEARS
[00:18:50] OF BIBLICAL, 40 YEARS AMASSING
[00:18:54] AND WIELDING POLITICAL POWER AS
[00:18:58] A YOUNG MAN, 33 YEARS OLD.
[00:19:01] HE WROTE WHAT BECAME THE MOST
[00:19:05] IMPORTANT SENTENCE, I WOULD ARGUE ORIGINALLY RENDERED IN ENGLISH.
[00:19:09] AND HE DID IT NOT SIMPLY BECAUSE HE WAS A BRIGHT YOUNG POLITICIAN
[00:19:12] OF VIRGINIA, BUT BECAUSE HE HAD BEEN IN A KIND OF FIGURATIVE
[00:19:15] CONVERSATION WITH THE PREVIOUS THREE OR 4 OR 5 CENTURIES.
[00:19:20] GUTENBERG, THE REFORMATIONS, THE ENLIGHTENMENT. THIS ENTIRE REORIENTATION OF THE
[00:19:24] WORLD FROM BEING SEEN AS VERTICAL TO BEING SEEN AS MORE
[00:19:26] HORIZONTAL, HE COULDN'T APPLY IT
[00:19:29] FULLY TO EVERYONE, AND HE FAILED
[00:19:33] IN THAT. BUT AS MY FRIEND, OUR FRIEND,
[00:19:35] ANNETTE GORDON-REED LIKES TO SAY
[00:19:38] WHEN SHE'S ASKED ABOUT THIS, HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT FROM ONE
[00:19:42] PERSON? SO THESE ARE THE WORDS THAT WHEN
[00:19:45] THEY WERE READ IN CITY HALL PARK
[00:19:47] OF THE GROUP OF LISTENERS, TORE
[00:19:50] THEIR WAY DOWN TO THE TIP OF
[00:19:53] MANHATTAN AND HAULED DOWN THE
[00:19:54] STATUE OF KING GEORGE WHEN WORDS
[00:19:57] MATTERED, THE IN CONGRESS, JULY
[00:20:03] 4TH, 1776, WHEN IN THE COURSE OF
[00:20:06] HUMAN EVENTS, IT BECOMES NECESSARY FOR ONE PEOPLE TO
[00:20:10] DISSOLVE THE POLITICAL BANDS
[00:20:12] WHICH HAVE CONNECTED THEM WITH
[00:20:14] ANOTHER, AND TO ASSUME AMONG THE POWERS OF THE EARTH THE SEPARATE
[00:20:19] AND EQUAL STATION TO WHICH THE
[00:20:21] LAWS OF NATURE AND OF NATURE'S
[00:20:24] GOD ENTITLE THEM, A DECENT
[00:20:28] RESPECT TO THE OPINIONS OF MANKIND REQUIRES THAT THEY
[00:20:31] SHOULD DECLARE THE CAUSES WHICH
[00:20:34] IMPEL THEM TO THE SEPARATION.
[00:20:38] WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE
[00:20:40] SELF-EVIDENT, THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL, THAT THEY ARE
[00:20:45] ENDOWED BY THEIR CREATOR WITH CERTAIN AND ALIENABLE RIGHTS.
[00:20:50] THAT AMONG THESE ARE LIFE,
[00:20:52] LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.
[00:20:56] THAT TO SECURE THESE RIGHTS, GOVERN MEN ARE INSTITUTED AMONG
[00:21:00] MEN, DERIVING THEIR JUST POWERS
[00:21:03] FROM THE CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED.
[00:21:06] THAT WHENEVER ANY FORM OF
[00:21:08] GOVERNMENT BECOMES DESTRUCTIVE
[00:21:10] OF THESE ENDS, IT IS THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO ALTER OR TO
[00:21:14] ABOLISH IT AND TO INSTITUTE NEW GOVERNMENT, LAYING ITS
[00:21:19] FOUNDATION ON SUCH PRINCIPLES. AN ORGANIZING ITS POWERS IN SUCH
[00:21:24] FORM AS TO THEM SHALL SEEM MOST
[00:21:27] LIKELY TO EFFECT THEIR SAFETY
[00:21:29] AND HAPPINESS.
[00:21:36] SO.
[00:21:40] AND YET THE PHRASE COVERED LESS
[00:21:43] THAN HALF THE POPULATION. IT EXCLUDED ALL PEOPLE OF COLOR
[00:21:47] AND ALL WOMEN.
[00:21:49] SO WE'RE DOWN TO ABOUT 32%.
[00:21:53] SO HOW DO YOU ADDRESS THE SLOW
[00:21:57] MARCH TOWARD AS CLOSE AS WE'VE
[00:22:00] GOTTEN TO THAT IDEAL OF
[00:22:04] EQUALITY? IN THE BOOK? WELL, BY HAVING THE VOICES THAT
[00:22:08] DISSENTED FROM THE ASSUMPTION
[00:22:13] THAT FREEDOM WAS UNIVERSAL AT THE BEGINNING, IT WASN'T.
[00:22:16] AND SO THE MOVEMENT FOR SUFFRAGE, THE MOVEMENT FOR
[00:22:20] ABOLITION IN THE VERY NOT PARTICULARLY COMPELLING OR
[00:22:25] EFFECTIVE OPPOSITION TO THE REMOVAL OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
[00:22:29] PROTEST IS COZY EVIL WITH THE
[00:22:33] AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
[00:22:37] 25% OF US DIDN'T WANT TO BREAK AWAY FROM BRITAIN.
[00:22:39] WE'VE BEEN FIGHTING SINCE THEN. ALL RIGHT.
[00:22:43] SO I THINK THE REMARKABLE THING.
[00:22:46] LOOK, I'M A BORINGLY HETERO, ASEXUAL, WHITE, SOUTHERN MALE,
[00:22:50] EPISCOPALIAN. I THINK THINGS WORK OUT FOR ME IN THIS COUNTRY. RIGHT.
[00:22:53] THE POINT OF THE COUNTRY IS THAT
[00:22:55] IT'S SUPPOSED TO WORK OUT FOR EVERYONE.
[00:22:58] AND IT'S TAKEN US TOO LONG TO
[00:23:00] RECOGNIZE AND REALIZE THE
[00:23:03] IMPLICATIONS OF THAT SENTENCE.
[00:23:05] BUT WE DID IT VOLUNTARILY,
[00:23:11] POWERFULLY, POWERFULLY. READ ONE POWERFULLY WRITTEN.
[00:23:16] AND IT WAS THE MISSION STATEMENT.
[00:23:19] AND EVERY EVERY GENERATION HAS,
[00:23:22] I THINK, BEEN ABLE TO JUDGE
[00:23:25] ITSELF BY THE DEGREE TO WHICH IT HAS FULFILLED IT OR THE DEGREE
[00:23:28] TO WHICH IT HAS FALLEN SHORT OF IT.
[00:23:31] AND THAT'S WHAT LINCOLN THOUGHT.
[00:23:33] AS YOU KNOW BETTER THAN I DO. YOU KNOW, HE SAID IT.
[00:23:37] YOU KNOW, HE PRAISED JEFFERSON
[00:23:39] FOR HAVING THE COOLNESS FOR
[00:23:41] CASTE AND CAPACITY TO INSERT INTO A MERELY REVOLUTIONARY
[00:23:45] DOCUMENT AN ABSTRACT TRUTH WHICH SHOULD AT ALL TIMES BE A
[00:23:48] STUMBLING BLOCK TO REAPPEARING
[00:23:50] TYRANNY AND OPPRESSION.
[00:23:53] AND AND WHEN DR. KING REACHED
[00:23:57] THE PERORATION OF THE MARCH ON
[00:23:59] WASHINGTON SERMON, WHAT DID HE SAY?
[00:24:05] LIVE UP TO YOUR CREED.
[00:24:07] JUST FOLLOW WHAT YOU SAID.
[00:24:11] AND THAT IS, IN FACT, THE
[00:24:17] STRUGGLE. SO I KNOW THAT YOU'VE ALL BEEN
[00:24:19] GLUED TO RECENT HOUSE TESTIMONY
[00:24:23] AND THE THE HIGH LEVEL OF
[00:24:25] REPARTEE AND DISCUSS IN THIS
[00:24:32] WHAT WE'RE GOING TO HEAR NOW FROM HIS BURSTON IS TESTIMONY IN
[00:24:35] THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES BY ELIZABETH CADY STANTON AND HER
[00:24:40] APPEAL TO BROADEN THE PARAMETERS
[00:24:43] OF THE DECLARATION.
[00:24:47] IN DISCUSSING THE RIGHTS OF WOMAN.
[00:24:51] WE ARE TO CONSIDER FIRST WHAT
[00:24:54] BELONGS TO HER AS AN INDIVIDUAL
[00:24:56] IN A WORLD OF HER OWN.
[00:24:58] THE ARBITER OF HER OWN DESTINY,
[00:25:02] AN IMAGINARY ROBINSON CRUSOE
[00:25:04] WITH HER WOMAN FRIDAY ON A SOLITARY ISLAND.
[00:25:08] HER RIGHTS UNDER SUCH
[00:25:12] CIRCUMSTANCES ARE TO USE ALL HER
[00:25:14] FACULTIES FOR HER OWN SAFETY AND
[00:25:19] HAPPINESS.
[00:25:21] SECONDLY, IF WE CONSIDER HER AS
[00:25:23] A CITIZEN, AS A MEMBER OF A
[00:25:25] GREAT NATION, SHE MUST HAVE THE
[00:25:29] SAME RIGHTS AS ALL OTHER MEMBERS.
[00:25:33] THIRDLY, VIEWED AS THAT WOMAN AN
[00:25:36] EQUAL FACTOR IN CIVILIZATION,
[00:25:40] HER RIGHTS AND DUTIES ARE STILL THE SAME.
[00:25:43] INDIVIDUAL HAPPINESS AND DEVELOPMENT.
[00:25:47] THE STRONGEST REASON WHY WE ASK
[00:25:50] FOR WOMEN A VOICE, A VOICE IN
[00:25:53] THE GOVERNMENT UNDER WHICH SHE
[00:25:55] LIVES IN THE RELIGION. SHE IS ASKED TO BELIEVE.
[00:26:01] EQUALITY AND SOCIAL LIFE WHERE
[00:26:01] SHE IS THE SHE CHIEF FACTOR, A
[00:26:05] PLACE IN THE TRADES AND
[00:26:08] PROFESSIONS WHERE SHE MAY EARN
[00:26:10] HER BREAD IS BECAUSE OF HER
[00:26:14] BIRTHRIGHT TO SELF SOVEREIGNTY.
[00:26:16] BECAUSE AS AN INDIVIDUAL WILL,
[00:26:19] SHE MUST RELY ON HERSELF.
[00:26:23] NO MATTER HOW MUCH WOMEN PREFER
[00:26:26] TO BE PROTECTED AND SUPPORTED,
[00:26:29] NO MATTER HOW MUCH MEN DESIRE TO
[00:26:31] HAVE THEM DO SO, THEY MUST MAKE
[00:26:35] THE VOYAGE OF LIFE ALONE.
[00:26:39] AND FOR SAFETY IN AN EMERGENCY
[00:26:42] SEA, THEY MUST KNOW SOMETHING OF
[00:26:45] THE LAWS OF NAVIGATION TO GUIDE
[00:26:49] HER OWN CRAFT. WE MUST BE CERTAIN.
[00:26:51] WE MUST BE CAPTAIN, PILOT AND
[00:26:55] ENGINEER WITH CHART AND COMPASS
[00:26:58] TO STAND AT THE WHEEL TO MATCH
[00:27:00] THE WIND AND WAVES AND KNOW WHEN
[00:27:02] TO TAKE IN THE SAIL. IT MATTERS NOT WHETHER THE
[00:27:08] SOLITARY VOYAGER IS MANNED OR
[00:27:14] WOMAN.
[00:27:19] JOHN, YOU. YOU.
[00:27:22] YOU MENTIONED LINCOLN'S INTERPRETATION.
[00:27:24] YOU READ AN EARLY VERSION. AND OF COURSE, HE REACHES HIS
[00:27:28] OWN RHETORICAL APOGEE AND MAYBE
[00:27:32] THE AN EXTRAORDINARY RESURRECTION OF THE MEANING OF
[00:27:35] THE DECLARATION AT GETTYSBURG,
[00:27:37] WHERE YOU'VE SPOKEN NOT QUITE AS
[00:27:40] MEMORABLY, BUT YES, LESS LONGER,
[00:27:45] THOUGH. MUCH LONGER. MUCH LONGER. SO HOW DOES THAT FIT INTO THE
[00:27:49] AMERICAN GOSPEL, IN YOUR VIEW?
[00:27:51] WELL, WHAT'S STRIKING IS WHAT MISS BURSON READS IS THE
[00:27:57] INTELLECTUAL INSIGHT. YOU NOTICE THAT ABOUT THE
[00:27:59] HALFWAY MARK IS THE SOVEREIGNTY
[00:28:01] OF SELF.
[00:28:03] IT'S AN ECHO OF WHAT STEPHEN
[00:28:07] READ. WE ARE CREATED EQUAL.
[00:28:10] THERE IS A SOVEREIGNTY.
[00:28:12] THERE IS A INHERENT DIGNITY TO
[00:28:15] THE HUMAN SOUL.
[00:28:17] AND THE ENTIRE POINT OF THIS
[00:28:20] EXPERIMENT, WHICH IS UNDER SUCH
[00:28:22] STRESS AT THE MOMENT,
[00:28:24] ELECTIVELY, WE'VE CHOSEN 49.9%
[00:28:27] OF US HAVE CHOSEN TO DO THIS.
[00:28:33] THE EXPERIMENT WAS CREATED TO
[00:28:38] FULFILL WHAT HAD BEGUN WITH MAGNA CARTA.
[00:28:41] IT UNFOLDED THROUGH THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION.
[00:28:45] THIS IDEA THAT, IN FACT, WE WERE
[00:28:49] CREATED EQUAL BEFORE THE BAR OF THE LAW, THE BAR OF HISTORY AND
[00:28:52] THE BAR OF GOD AND EVERY MOMENT
[00:28:56] THAT WE CELEBRATE IS A MOMENT
[00:29:00] WHERE WE HAVE MORE FULLY LIVED THAT OUT.
[00:29:03] AND EVERY MOMENT THAT WE ARE SHY
[00:29:07] ABOUT AND I WOULD ARGUE ASHAMED
[00:29:11] OF, IS ONE WHEN WE HAVE IT AGAIN, I'M A SOUTHERNER.
[00:29:14] AND SO IF EVERYBODY OF MY
[00:29:18] GENERATION WHO THINKS THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN ON THE PETTUS BRIDGE
[00:29:20] WITH JOHN LEWIS INSTEAD OF AT THE FOOT OF THE BRIDGE WITH THE
[00:29:24] TROOPERS, IF EVERYBODY WHO THINKS THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN ON
[00:29:27] THAT BRIDGE, NOBODY WOULD HAVE
[00:29:28] HAD TO BE ON THE BRIDGE RIGHT.
[00:29:32] AND SO I'M NOT THE POINT OF THIS
[00:29:36] BOOK. THE POINT OF THIS ARGUMENT IS NOT FOR US TO FEEL SUPERIOR TO
[00:29:39] THE PAST. QUITE THE OPPOSITE. I THINK WE SHOULD DRAW SOME
[00:29:45] INSPIRATION FROM THE FACT THAT
[00:29:45] THEY GOT SO MUCH WRONG RIGHT.
[00:29:49] AND SO IT'S SORT OF A I DON'T WANT TO SAY IT'S A RELIEF, BUT IT KIND OF IS.
[00:29:53] IT MEANS THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO GET EVERYTHING RIGHT.
[00:29:57] WE JUST NEED TO GET THAT ONE BIG THING RIGHT.
[00:30:00] ABRAHAM LINCOLN, WHAT, INTO 63,
[00:30:05] 64 WAS OPEN TO SENDING BLACK
[00:30:10] PEOPLE OUT OF THE COUNTRY. HE WAS NOT A RACIAL EGALITARIAN
[00:30:14] DURING THE WAR. HOLZER'S GOING TO GO CRAZY HERE
[00:30:17] IN A MINUTE. BUT HE WAS IT. HE WAS ANTI SLAVERY, BUT HE WAS
[00:30:23] NOT A RACIAL EGALITARIAN.
[00:30:25] AND THAT'S LINCOLN.
[00:30:29] AND HE WAS FUNDAMENTALLY WRONG.
[00:30:33] SO LET'S LEARN FROM IT. LET'S NOT DISMISS HIM.
[00:30:35] LET'S NOT BE CONDESCENDING.
[00:30:38] FATHERS, LAISSEZ WE'RE USED TO
[00:30:40] SAY SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS IN RETROSPECT IS EASY. ALSO CHEAP.
[00:30:44] BUT LET'S LISTEN TO THESE FOLKS.
[00:30:46] LISTEN TO ELIZABETH CADY STANTON
[00:30:51] AND PERHAPS THE GREATEST 2.5
[00:30:53] MINUTES IN AMERICAN POLITICAL RHETORIC.
[00:30:56] AND STEPHEN, YOU'VE YOU'VE PERFORMED THESE WORDS AT
[00:31:00] GETTYSBURG MANY TIMES.
[00:31:02] SO THESE ARE THE WORDS FROM
[00:31:05] NOVEMBER 19TH, 1863.
[00:31:12] FOURSCORE AND SEVEN YEARS AGO,
[00:31:15] OUR FATHERS BROUGHT FORTH ON THIS CONTINENT A NEW NATION
[00:31:19] CONCEIVED IN LIBERTY AND
[00:31:21] DEDICATED TO THE PROPOSITION
[00:31:23] THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL.
[00:31:29] NOW WE ARE ENGAGED IN A GREAT
[00:31:31] CIVIL WAR, TESTING WHETHER THAT
[00:31:34] NATION OR ANY NATION SO
[00:31:36] CONCEIVED AND SO DEDICATE AND
[00:31:39] CAN LONG ENDURE. WE ALL KNOW THAT ON THE GREAT
[00:31:44] BATTLEFIELD OF THAT WAR, WE HAVE
[00:31:46] COME TO DEDICATE A PORTION OF
[00:31:49] THAT FIELD AS A FINAL RESTING
[00:31:53] PLACE FOR THOSE WHO HERE GAVE
[00:31:55] THEIR LIVES THAT THAT NATION MIGHT LIVE.
[00:31:59] IT IS ALL TOGETHER, FITTING AND
[00:32:01] PROPER THAT WE SHOULD DO THIS.
[00:32:05] BUT IN A LARGE SENSE, WE CANNOT
[00:32:11] DEDICATE, WE CANNOT CONSECRATE,
[00:32:16] WE CANNOT HALLOW THIS GROUND.
[00:32:19] THE BRAVE MEN LIVING AND DEAD
[00:32:24] WHO STRUGGLED HERE HAVE CANCER, CREATED IT FAR ABOVE OUR POOR
[00:32:27] POWER TO ADD OR DETRACT.
[00:32:30] THE WORLD WILL LITTLE NOTE NOR
[00:32:32] LONG REMEMBER WHAT WE SAY HERE,
[00:32:34] BUT IT CAN NEVER FORGET THAT
[00:32:37] WHAT THEY DID HERE.
[00:32:42] IT IS FOR US THE LIVING RATHER
[00:32:46] TO BE DEDICATED HERE TO THE UNFINISHED WORK WHICH THEY WHO
[00:32:50] FOUGHT HERE HAVE THUS FAR SO NOBLY ADVANCE.
[00:32:53] IT IS RATHER FOR US TO BE HERE
[00:32:55] DEDICATED TO THE GREAT TASK
[00:32:58] REMAINING BEFORE US, THAT FROM
[00:33:00] THESE HONORED DEAD, WE TAKE
[00:33:02] INCREASED DEVOTION TO THAT CAUSE FOR WHICH THEY GAVE THE LAST
[00:33:07] FULL MEASURE OF DEVOTION THAT WE
[00:33:10] HERE HIGHLY RESOLVED, THAT THESE
[00:33:12] DEAD SHALL NOT HAVE DIED IN
[00:33:15] VAIN, THAT THIS NATION, UNDER GOD, SHALL HAVE A NEW BIRTH OF
[00:33:19] FREEDOM AND THAT GOVERNANCE MEN
[00:33:22] OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE SHALL NOT PERISH
[00:33:28] FROM THE EARTH.
[00:33:39] JOHN, LET'S LET'S TACKLE AN
[00:33:42] ISSUE THAT HAS BEEN VEXING AND
[00:33:43] DIVIDING US FOR 230 YEARS, AND
[00:33:49] THAT'S IMMIGRATION.
[00:33:51] THE VERY IDEA OF WELCOMING
[00:33:56] CATHOLICS, EASTERN EUROPEANS, ASIANS, LATINOS, --, AFRICANS,
[00:33:59] MIDDLE EASTERNERS HAS
[00:34:03] CONSISTENTLY AROUSED OPPOSITION,
[00:34:05] EVEN HATRED.
[00:34:07] AND YET ARRIVALS FROM OVERSEAS
[00:34:13] INEVITABLY ENLARGE AND ENHANCE
[00:34:15] THE COUNTRY.
[00:34:19] SOME OF THE SOME OF THE COMMENTS
[00:34:21] I DON'T THINK EVERYONE WILL KNOW THIS.
[00:34:25] SIEM RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES.
[00:34:25] I MEAN, AND IT'S BEEN GOING ON
[00:34:29] SINCE JOHN ADAMS. YEAH.
[00:34:33] THE ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS.
[00:34:35] AND THIS AGAIN IS SOMETHING THAT JUST BECAUSE IT'S HAPPENED
[00:34:38] BEFORE DOESN'T MEAN IT'S NOT HAPPENING NOW. JUST BECAUSE IT'S WORKED OUT
[00:34:42] BEFORE DOES NOT MEAN IT'S GOING TO WORK OUT NOW.
[00:34:45] BUT HAROLD IS EXACTLY RIGHT. WE SHOULD APPRECIATE THAT.
[00:34:48] THIS IS A PERENNIAL ILL
[00:34:50] INSTINCT, AND IT'S BASED NOT ON HOPE, BUT ON FEAR.
[00:34:54] AND EDMUND BURKE HAS GREAT LINE
[00:34:58] ABOUT THERE IS NO MORE UNREAD
[00:35:01] REASONING, EMOTION THEN FEAR. IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, WHEN
[00:35:05] YOU'RE BACK AS AGAINST THE WALL, YOU'RE GOING TO LASH OUT.
[00:35:09] AND WHEN YOU'RE TOLD THAT THE
[00:35:13] PEOPLE WHO ARE PUSHING YOU AGAINST THE WALL ARE IMMIGRANTS,
[00:35:17] YOU'RE GOING TO LASH OUT AT THEM. WHETHER THE FACTS BACK THAT UP
[00:35:21] OR NOT.
[00:35:23] AND YOU HAD THIS IN THE 19TH
[00:35:26] CENTURY, THE CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT.
[00:35:29] YOU HAD THE.
[00:35:32] EDITORS OF HARPER'S AND THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY.
[00:35:35] IT WAS ENTIRELY RESPECTABLE. MADISON GRANT, YOU KNOW, THE
[00:35:40] ANGLOS, SAXON MYTHOLOGY, WHICH
[00:35:45] GAVE WAY TO ANGLO-SAXON RACIAL
[00:35:47] THEORIES, FALSE THEORIES OF ANGLO-SAXON RACIAL SUPERIORITY.
[00:35:53] AND IT CULMINATED REALLY UNTIL NOW.
[00:35:57] I THINK IN 1924. SO EXACTLY 100 YEARS AGO, THE
[00:36:01] MOST RESTRICTIVE IMMIGRATION ACT YOU CAN IMAGINE PASSED IN 1924.
[00:36:06] THOSE QUOTAS WERE STILL IN PLACE, WHICH IS WHAT THE STATE
[00:36:09] DEPARTMENT DECIDED TO FOLLOW WHEN THE ROOSEVELT
[00:36:13] ADMINISTRATION, BECAUSE WE MUST SPEAK TRUTH. WHEN THE ROOSEVELT
[00:36:17] ADMINISTRATION DID NOT DO ENOUGH TO ACCEPT REFUGEES FROM NAZI
[00:36:20] GERMANY, FULL STOP.
[00:36:22] AGAIN, FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT,
[00:36:25] SAVIOR OF DEMOCRATIC CAPITALISM,
[00:36:28] RESCUER OF LIBERTY WITH WINSTON
[00:36:31] CHURCHILL, GOT THAT WRONG.
[00:36:35] WHY? BECAUSE HE WAS A HUMAN BEING.
[00:36:40] SO 100 YEARS AGO, THE KU KLUX
[00:36:42] KLAN WAS RE FOUNDED AT STONE
[00:36:45] MOUNTAIN, GEORGIA, NOT FAR FROM
[00:36:47] WHERE I GREW UP TO TWO 6 MILLION
[00:36:49] AMERICANS JOINED THE KLAN 100 YEARS AGO.
[00:36:51] THERE WERE FIVE GOVERNORS WHO WERE MEMBERS OF THE KLAN.
[00:36:55] 100 YEARS AGO, TEXAS AND
[00:36:57] GEORGIA, BUT ALSO INDIA AND
[00:37:00] COLORADO AND OREGON HAD KLAN
[00:37:04] GOVERNORS 100 YEARS AGO. AND AS I LOOK AROUND THE ROOM, I
[00:37:06] THINK SOME OF YOU ARE LIKE ME. 100 YEARS USED TO SEEM LIKE A
[00:37:10] LONG TIME.
[00:37:14] IT'S NOT QUITE AS LONG NOW, IS IT?
[00:37:17] THIS WAS 20 MINUTES AGO, AND IT
[00:37:20] WAS A CENTRAL PART OF THE GREAT SOCIETY.
[00:37:23] WHEN LYNDON JOHNSON SIGNED THE
[00:37:25] IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION
[00:37:29] ACT OF 1965, IT FINALLY UNDID
[00:37:34] THAT 1924 ACT.
[00:37:36] SO NOT BEFORE WE KNEW THAT YOU
[00:37:38] HAD ISSUED AN ANTHOLOGY OF YOUR
[00:37:41] OWN OF YOUR FAVORITE POETRY.
[00:37:42] WE ASKED YOU TO READ OUR OUR
[00:37:46] ASPIRATIONAL IMMIGRATION MOMENT IN AMERICA.
[00:37:49] AND THAT IS, OF COURSE, EMMA LAZARUS POEM, THE NEW COLOSSUS,
[00:37:54] WHICH SUPPOSED TO INDICATE THAT WE WERE LIGHTING THE WAY FOR NEW
[00:37:59] AMERICANS.
[00:38:01] THIS WAS WRITTEN IN 1883.
[00:38:05] IT'S CALLED THE NEW COLOSSUS.
[00:38:09] NOT LIKE THE BRAZEN GIANT OF
[00:38:12] GREAT FAME WITH CONQUERING LIMBS
[00:38:16] ASTRIDE FROM LAND TO LAND.
[00:38:18] HERE AT OUR SEA WAS SUNSET GATES
[00:38:22] SHALL STAND A MIGHTY WOMAN WITH
[00:38:26] A TORCH WHOSE FLAME IS THE
[00:38:29] IMPRISONED LIGHT NING.
[00:38:32] AND HER NAME MOTHER OF EXILES
[00:38:36] FROM HER BEACON HAND GLOWS
[00:38:40] WORLDWIDE, WELCOME HER MILD EYES, COMMAND THE AIR BRIDGED
[00:38:45] HARBOR THAT TWIN CITIES FRAME.
[00:38:49] KEEP ANCIENT LANDS YOUR STORY.
[00:38:52] POMP CRIES.
[00:38:54] SHE WAS SILENT LIPS.
[00:38:58] GIVE ME YOUR TIRED YOUR POOR,
[00:39:02] YOUR HUDDLED MASSES YEARNING TO
[00:39:06] BREATHE FREE.
[00:39:10] THE WRETCHED REFUSE OF YOUR
[00:39:12] TEEMING SHORE.
[00:39:14] SEND THESE THE HOMELESS TEMPEST
[00:39:20] TOSSED TO ME.
[00:39:24] I LIFT MY LAMP BESIDE THE GOLDEN
[00:39:30] DOOR.
[00:39:48] JOHN FDR GAVE HIS, AS YOU KNOW,
[00:39:51] GAVE HIS FIRST FIRESIDE CHAT IN
[00:39:54] THIS VERY BUILDING THE DAY AFTER
[00:39:58] HIS ELECTION IN 1932, WHEN HIS
[00:40:01] REPUBLICAN OPPONENT DID NOT CONCEDE.
[00:40:03] IT MUST IT MUST BE A THING NOT TO CONCEAL.
[00:40:07] IT JUST SHOT BY THAT.
[00:40:11] WELL, HE WON EIGHT STATES OVER. SO. YEAH.
[00:40:15] TALK TO US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT
[00:40:17] THIS EXTRAORDINARY MARRIAGE OF
[00:40:22] ELOQUENCE AND VOICE AND
[00:40:24] TECHNOLOGY THAT FDR JUST SEEMED
[00:40:26] TO BE POISED TO TAKE THE FULLEST
[00:40:30] ADVANTAGE OF IT. EXACTLY. AT EXACTLY THE RIGHT TIME.
[00:40:32] GREAT LEADERS MASTER THE MEANS
[00:40:35] OF COMMUNICATION OF THEIR TIME.
[00:40:37] AND SO JEFFERSON AND LINCOLN
[00:40:39] WERE MARVELOUS WRITERS, IS WHAT
[00:40:42] YOU HEARD STEPHEN READ IN BOTH
[00:40:44] THOSE CASES, AS WERE WRITTEN
[00:40:46] ALMOST FOR THE EAR. RIGHT.
[00:40:48] SO THEY EXPECTED MORE PEOPLE TO
[00:40:51] READ THEM AND PERHAPS READ THEM
[00:40:54] ALOUD THAN WERE EVER GOING TO
[00:40:56] HEAR IT, FOR ALL THE OBVIOUS REASONS.
[00:41:00] WHAT PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT SAW,
[00:41:02] WHICH IS WHAT WINSTON CHURCHILL
[00:41:05] SAW, AND TRAGICALLY ALSO WHAT
[00:41:07] LEADERS, FASCIST LEADERS ALSO
[00:41:09] REALIZED WAS THAT RADIO WAS, IF
[00:41:13] YOU WILL, THE IPHONE OF THE ERA.
[00:41:17] RIGHT. SPEED IS A RELATIVE THING.
[00:41:19] AND SO IF YOU WERE THINK ABOUT
[00:41:23] IT, IF YOU WERE AN AMERICAN
[00:41:24] HOUSEHOLD OR UNTIL 1925 OR SO,
[00:41:28] YOU TOTALLY CONTROL THE FLOW OF
[00:41:32] INFORMATION AND CULTURE INTO YOUR HOUSE.
[00:41:34] YOU DECIDED WHAT MAGAZINES TO SUBSCRIBE TO, WHAT NEWSPAPERS TO
[00:41:38] READ, WHERE TO GO TO CHURCH,
[00:41:40] WHAT BOOKS TO CHECK OUT OF THE LIBRARY.
[00:41:44] SUDDENLY YOU BUY THIS MACHINE
[00:41:46] AND IT GOES IN THE PARLOR AND THERE'S PEOPLE ON THE COASTS.
[00:41:52] HOLLYWOOD IN NEW YORK, WHAT THEY THINK SUDDENLY MATTERS BECAUSE
[00:41:55] IT COMES INTO YOUR HOUSE.
[00:41:59] ONE OF THE REASONS WE'RE WHERE WE ARE IS BECAUSE THAT PHONE IS
[00:42:05] NEXT TO PEOPLE'S HEARTS. IT'S IN YOUR POCKET.
[00:42:08] IT'S WITH YOU. IT'S DISTORTING IN THAT WAY.
[00:42:12] THERE'S AN INTIMACY TO THE
[00:42:14] MECHANICS OF DIVISION.
[00:42:16] AND SO EVEN IF YOU'RE NOT
[00:42:20] THRASHING YOURSELF, YOU FEEL YOU
[00:42:22] ARE BECAUSE THIS IT COMES TO YOU.
[00:42:26] WHAT PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT, THOUGH, DID IS HE USED TECHNOLOGY FOR THE GOOD HISTORY.
[00:42:30] I THINK I NEVER I THINK HE NEVER
[00:42:33] GOT OVER WANTING TO BE VINDICATE PEABODY, THE HEADMASTER OF
[00:42:38] GROTON, WHO ALWAYS SAID HE LOVED
[00:42:43] PLAYING THE HEADMASTER. RIGHT.
[00:42:45] AND HE LOVED BEING AN ACTOR.
[00:42:47] HE ONCE SAID TO ORSON WELLES, YOU KNOW, ORSON, YOU AND I ARE
[00:42:50] THE TWO BEST ACTORS IN AMERICA. YEAH.
[00:42:55] AND HE WATCHED HIMSELF IN A NEWSREEL ONCE AND SAID, THAT WAS
[00:42:57] THE GARBO IN ME. A BIT OF A REACH THERE.
[00:43:02] BUT. BUT THAT VOICE, AS YOU KNOW, THE
[00:43:05] FAMOUS STORY OF WALKING DOWN THE
[00:43:09] STREET STREETS IN CHICAGO FROM WINDOW TO WINDOW.
[00:43:12] AND YOU COULD HEAR THE WHOLE SPEECH BECAUSE EVERY HOUSE WAS
[00:43:16] LISTENING TO IT. SAUL BELLOW WRITES ABOUT THAT AND HE GOT OUT OF A CAR BECAUSE
[00:43:20] OF THE TRAFFIC JAM. AND NEVER MISSED THE SPEECH BECAUSE IT WAS SUMMER AND PEOPLE
[00:43:24] HAD THEIR WINDOWS ROLLED DOWN.
[00:43:26] SO CONSIDER THE ENORMOUS IMPACT
[00:43:29] AND THE UNIVERSAL AUDIENCE AS WE
[00:43:34] LISTENED TO STEPHEN LANG READING, ONE OF THE MOST
[00:43:38] CONSEQUENTIAL OF THE FIRESIDE CHATS, THE ONE THAT FDR
[00:43:42] DELIVERED IN TWO DAYS AFTER
[00:43:44] GERMANY ATTACKED POLAND.
[00:43:47] SO THIS IS SEPTEMBER 3RD, 1939.
[00:43:52] TONIGHT, MY SINGLE DUTY IS TO
[00:43:54] SPEAK TO THE WHOLE OF AMERICA.
[00:43:58] UNTIL 430 THIS MORNING, I HAD
[00:44:01] HOPE AGAINST HOPE THAT SOME MIRACLE WOULD PREVENT THE
[00:44:05] DEVIL'S STATING WAR IN EUROPE
[00:44:07] AND BRING TO AN END THE INVASION
[00:44:10] OF POLAND BY GERMANY FOR FOUR
[00:44:13] LONG YEARS, A SUCCESSION OF
[00:44:16] ACTUAL WARS AND CONCERT AND
[00:44:18] CRISES HAVE SHAKEN THE ENTIRE
[00:44:20] WORLD AND HAVE THREATENED IN
[00:44:23] EACH CASE TO BRING ON THE GIGANTIC CONFLICT WHICH IS TODAY
[00:44:29] UNHAPPILY, IN FACT, IT IS RIGHT
[00:44:31] THAT I SHOULD RECALL TO YOUR
[00:44:33] MINDS THE CONSISTING AND AT
[00:44:36] TIMES SUCCESSFUL EFFORTS OF YOUR
[00:44:38] GOVERNMENT IN THESE CRISES TO
[00:44:40] THROW THE FULL WEIGHT OF THE
[00:44:43] UNITED STATES INTO THE CAUSE OF
[00:44:46] PEACE, IN SPITE OF SPREADING
[00:44:49] WARS, I THINK THAT WE HAVE EVERY
[00:44:51] RIGHT AND EVERY REASON TO
[00:44:53] MAINTAIN AS A NATIONAL POLICY
[00:44:56] THE FUNDAMENTAL MORAL BLATTY'S
[00:44:58] THE TEACHINGS OF RELIGION, THE
[00:45:02] CONTINUAL ATION OF EFFORTS TO RESTORE PEACE.
[00:45:05] BECAUSE SOMEDAY, THOUGH, THE
[00:45:07] TIME MAY BE DISTANT, WE CAN BE
[00:45:09] OF EVEN GREATER HELP TO A
[00:45:13] CRIPPLED HUMANITY. YOU MUST MASTER AT THE OUTSET A
[00:45:19] SIMPLE BUT UNALTERABLE FACT IN
[00:45:21] MODERN FOREIGN RELATIONS BETWEEN
[00:45:25] NATIONS, WHEN PEACE HAS BEEN
[00:45:27] BROKEN ANYWHERE, THE PEACE OF
[00:45:29] ALL COUNTRIES, EVERYWHERE IS IN
[00:45:35] DANGER.
[00:45:42] SO THEN THERE'S THE WOMAN OFTEN
[00:45:46] DESCRIBED AS FDR, AS EYES AND EARS.
[00:45:49] ALTHOUGH I THINK THAT IN A SENSE
[00:45:51] IS DENYING HER OWN VOICE.
[00:45:55] AND OF COURSE, I MEAN, ELEANOR,
[00:45:57] JOHN, TALK ABOUT HER EMERGENCE
[00:46:01] IN YOUR BOOK AND INTO THE
[00:46:03] VOCABULARY OF DEMOC RACY.
[00:46:07] WELL, IT BEGINS IN TRAGEDY, RIGHT? AND SHE HAD AN UNIMAGINABLY
[00:46:11] HORRIBLE CHILDHOOD. RIGHT. HER FATHER WAS A TERRIBLE
[00:46:15] ALCOHOLIC, WROTE INTO A TREE
[00:46:17] RIGHT ON A HORSE AND DIED THAT
[00:46:23] WAY.
[00:46:23] AND I THINK IN ONE OF THE WORST
[00:46:28] ARGUABLY THE WORST DOMESTIC
[00:46:30] MOMENT I KNOW ABOUT IN WHITE
[00:46:32] HOUSE HISTORY WAS WHEN MRS. ROOSEVELT WOULD GET ANGRY WITH
[00:46:36] PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT FOR HAVING TOO LONG A COCKTAIL HOUR.
[00:46:38] HE WOULD SAY, IT'S NOT MY SIDE OF THE FAMILY WITH A DRINKING PROBLEM.
[00:46:42] YOU KNOW, IT'S LIKE PRETTY ROUGH, RIGHT?
[00:46:44] BUT OUT OF THAT MARITAL, OUT OF
[00:46:48] OUT OF MARITAL TRAGEDY IN 1918,
[00:46:52] THE DISCOVERY OF FDR, HIS AFFAIR
[00:46:57] WITH ELEANOR'S FORMER SOCIAL SECRETARY, HE WAS ON HIS WAY
[00:47:01] BACK. HE GOT DOUBLE, DOUBLE PNEUMONIA
[00:47:04] ON HIS WAY BACK FROM A VISIT TO
[00:47:07] WORLD WAR ONE, THE GREAT WAR.
[00:47:09] MRS. ROOSEVELT FOUND LOVE
[00:47:11] LETTERS AND SHE WROTE HONESTLY
[00:47:15] AND WONDERFULLY.
[00:47:17] THE BOTTOM FELL OUT OF MY OWN
[00:47:20] PARTICULAR WORLD, AND I FACED
[00:47:23] MYSELF AND MY SURROUNDINGS, HONESTLY, FOR THE FIRST TIME.
[00:47:29] AND OUT OF RATHER BEING BROKEN
[00:47:31] DOWN BY TRAGEDY. SHE MASTERED IT.
[00:47:35] AND AS HEMINGWAY WOULD SAY, SHE BECAME STRONGER AT THE BROKEN
[00:47:40] PLACES.
[00:47:41] SO I, AFTER FDR, HIS DEATH AS
[00:47:45] I'M SURE YOU ALL KNOW, ELEANOR, BECAME CHAIR OF THE UN
[00:47:49] COMMISSION THAT DRAFTED THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN
[00:47:53] RIGHTS, WHICH SOME DAY SOME CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES
[00:47:56] WILL ADOPT FORMALLY, I SUPPOSE.
[00:47:59] LET'S HEAR HER DEFENSE OF THOSE
[00:48:03] RIGHTS. AND IT SEEMS AS IF THEY'VE NEVER NEEDED DEFENDING MORE.
[00:48:07] THIS IS A SPEECH THAT ELEANOR
[00:48:09] GAVE AT THE SORBONNE IN PARIS IN
[00:48:12] 1948, AND ELLEN BURSTYN, THE
[00:48:16] UNITED NATIONS HAS MADE IT CLEAR
[00:48:21] THAT IT INTENDS TO UPHOLD HUMAN
[00:48:23] RIGHTS AND TO PROTECT THE
[00:48:27] DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN
[00:48:29] PERSONALITY, TO REAFFIRM FAITH
[00:48:31] IN FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS, IN
[00:48:34] THE DIGNITY AND WORTH OF THE
[00:48:37] HUMAN PERSON, IN THE EQUAL
[00:48:38] RIGHTS OF MEN AND WOMEN, AND OF
[00:48:43] NATIONS, LARGE AND SMALL, AND TO
[00:48:47] PROMOTE SOCIAL PROGRESS.
[00:48:49] WE MUST NOT BE CONFUSED ABOUT
[00:48:52] WHAT FREEDOM IS.
[00:48:54] BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS ARE SIMPLE
[00:48:58] AND EASILY UNDERSTOOD.
[00:49:01] FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND A FREE
[00:49:05] PRESS, FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND
[00:49:09] ASSEMBLY.
[00:49:09] THE RIGHT OF MEN TO BE SECURE IN
[00:49:13] THEIR HOMES AND FREE FROM UNDER
[00:49:18] REASONABLE SEARCH AND SEIZURE
[00:49:21] AND FROM ARBITRARY ARREST AND
[00:49:25] PUNISHMENT. SOMETIMES THE PROCESSES OF
[00:49:30] DEMOCRACY ARE SLOW, AND I HAVE
[00:49:34] KNOWN SOME OF OUR LEADERS TO SAY
[00:49:36] THAT A BENEVOLENT DICTATOR LEADERSHIP WOULD ACCOMPLISH THE
[00:49:41] ENDS DESIRED IN A SHORTER TIME
[00:49:43] THAN IT TAKES TO GO THROUGH THE
[00:49:46] DEMOCRATIC PROCESS AND THE SLOW
[00:49:50] FORMATION OF PUBLIC OPINION.
[00:49:52] BUT THERE IS NO WAY OF ENSURING
[00:49:56] THAT A DICTATORSHIP SHIP WILL REMAIN.
[00:50:00] BUT NETHERLANDS OR THAT POWER
[00:50:05] ONCE IN THE HANDS OF A FEW, WILL
[00:50:07] BE RETURNED TO THE PEOPLE
[00:50:11] WITHOUT STRUGGLE.
[00:50:13] THIS, WE HAVE LEARNED BY EXPERIENCE.
[00:50:19] WE ACCEPT THE SLOW PROCESSES OF
[00:50:23] DEMOCRACY. SEE, BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT
[00:50:26] SHORTCUTS COMPROMISE PRINCIPLES
[00:50:28] ON WHICH NO COMPROMISE IS
[00:50:32] POSSIBLE IN A JUST SOCIETY.
[00:50:47] JOHN IN THE ROOSEVELT ERA, A LITTLE BIT BEFORE WE COME TO THE
[00:50:50] PERIOD WHEN PRESIDENTS HAVE
[00:50:53] PROFESSIONAL WRITERS IS AT THEIR
[00:50:56] BECK AND CALL TO HELP THEM WITH
[00:50:58] THEIR GREAT WORDS.
[00:51:00] TED SORENSEN, ONE OF THE GREATEST OF THE 20TH CENTURY
[00:51:04] PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH WRITERS,
[00:51:08] EVEN THEIR OWN CORRESPONDENCE IS OFTEN HANDLED BY BY OTHERS.
[00:51:10] SO HOW DO WE CREDIT PRESIDENTIAL
[00:51:15] UTTERANCES IN THE AGE OF THE GREAT SPEECHWRITERS?
[00:51:17] I THINK YOU ANSWERED IT THERE.
[00:51:19] IF THEY UTTER IT, IT'S THEIRS. RIGHT?
[00:51:24] I A FRIEND WHO ARGUES THE
[00:51:25] HARDEST THING ON PLANET EARTH IS
[00:51:29] TO GET ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. THINK ABOUT IT.
[00:51:33] 45 PEOPLE HAVE DONE IT OUT OF
[00:51:34] ALL THE PEOPLE WHO'VE BEEN ON
[00:51:39] EARTH IN THE UNITED STATES OF
[00:51:41] AMERICA SINCE 1789, 45, AND MY
[00:51:46] SENSE IS, I MEAN, MAYBE THERE'S
[00:51:50] THERE'S ALWAYS ONE EXCEPTION. SO WE'LL WE'LL LEAVE THAT.
[00:51:54] BUT I, I THINK WHEN.
[00:51:59] PRESIDENTS DO COMMISSION NEED
[00:52:02] PEOPLE TO HELP THEM CRAFT A MESSAGE.
[00:52:07] BUT IT'S, I THINK ALMOST AND IN
[00:52:10] SOME WAYS IT'S A MECHANICAL
[00:52:14] MANIFESTATION OF THE VALUES AND VISION THAT THAT PERSON HAS
[00:52:18] BROUGHT TO THE PINNACLE OF POWER. RIGHT.
[00:52:21] AND SO I MEAN, MAYBE IF YOU JUST START RUNNING IN SOMEONE'S
[00:52:24] WRITING FOR YOU AND YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY. BUT FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT HAD
[00:52:28] PLENTY TO SAY. I MEAN, HERE'S SO THIS SPEECH
[00:52:31] BACK HERE, THE 1941 STATE OF THE
[00:52:37] UNION. HARRY HOPKINS WAS LISTENING TO
[00:52:41] FDR READ THE DRAFT AND TO GO TO
[00:52:45] WHAT THIS PERSON WAS READING,
[00:52:47] WHICH IS A SEQUENTIAL CHAPTER. THE FIRST IS FREEDOM OF SPEECH
[00:52:51] AND EXPRESSION EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD.
[00:52:54] THE SECOND, FREEDOM OF EVERY PHRASE OF EVERY PERSON TO WORSHIP GOD IN HIS OWN WAY
[00:52:57] EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD. HARRY HOPKINS SAYS, YOU KNOW,
[00:53:00] MR. PRESIDENT, I WOULD CUT THAT EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD BECAUSE
[00:53:04] NOBODY GIVES A -- WHAT HAPPENS IN JAVA.
[00:53:07] AND FDR TURNED TO HIM.
[00:53:09] AND IN A WAY THAT PLAYING OFF
[00:53:12] THE POINT THAT STEPHEN JUST READ
[00:53:14] AND SAID, WELL, HARRY, THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE TO BECAUSE THE
[00:53:17] WORLD'S GETTING SO SMALL NOW.
[00:53:21] SO ROOSEVELT KNEW WHAT HE WANTED TO SAY. DID HE HAVE HELP?
[00:53:25] AND HOW HE SAID IT? ABSOLUTELY.
[00:53:29] AND AND NOT QUITE IN TANDEM WITH
[00:53:34] WHAT YOU'RE SAYING.
[00:53:34] WE'RE GOING TO HEAR A FIRESIDE
[00:53:38] CHAT NOW THAT UNLIKE THE ONE WE HEARD BEFORE, WHICH WAS WRITTEN
[00:53:41] BY SEVERAL PEOPLE, INCLUDING
[00:53:43] ROBERT EMMOTT, SHERWOOD, THIS
[00:53:47] FIRESIDE CHAT WAS FDR, AS
[00:53:51] OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT. IT'S LIKE A NIGHTTIME TWEET, I
[00:53:55] GUESS IN A WAY A LITTLE MORE.
[00:53:57] YOU KNOW, I LOVE YOU, BUT I GOT
[00:54:01] TO STOP YOU THERE. HA HA. MEANING AN INFORMAL ANNOUNCEMENT
[00:54:07] OF ENORMOUSLY CONSEQUENTIAL POLICY. THAT'S ALL. I MEAN, I DON'T THAT'S A LONG
[00:54:11] WAY AROUND. YEAH. AHEAD. WE TOOK THE LONG WAY. SO HERE HE.
[00:54:16] THIS IS THE WAY FDR TOLD AMERICA
[00:54:18] THAT THERE HAD BEEN AN INVASION
[00:54:20] OF THE EUROPEAN CONTINENT ON JUNE 6TH, 1944.
[00:54:24] HE DID IT IN A FIRESIDE CHAT, AND HE DID IT BY WRITING IT
[00:54:28] HIMSELF.
[00:54:29] HE WROTE A PRAYER.
[00:54:33] AND IN AN AGE IN WHICH OUR
[00:54:35] GOVERNMENT LEADERS ARE INVOKING
[00:54:39] GOD AS THE ANGEL OF HOLY WAR,
[00:54:44] HERE IS FDR ASKING GOD TO BLESS
[00:54:48] PEOPLE IN DANGER, IN A FIGHT FOR FREEDOM AND JUST STRIKES ME AS
[00:54:51] YOU MAY, WHEN TWO CORINTHIANS
[00:54:53] WALK INTO A BAR.
[00:54:57] SO FDR WROTE THIS PRAYER THE
[00:55:00] WEEKEND BEFORE IN THE SHADOW OF MONTICELLO.
[00:55:04] SO THERE'S A KIND OF A POETIC.
[00:55:06] HE WENT TO PAPA WATSON'S HOUSE, WHO WAS HIS ONE OF HIS
[00:55:10] ASSISTANTS WHO HAD A PLACE CALLED KENWOOD.
[00:55:12] IT'S STILL DOWN AT THE FOOT OF
[00:55:14] THE MOUNTAIN. JEFFERSON'S MOUNTAIN.
[00:55:17] HE USED THE BOOK OF COMMON
[00:55:20] PRAYER AT THE EPISCOPAL BOOK OF
[00:55:22] COMMON PRAYER AND THE KING JAMES BIBLE HE HAD AT HAND.
[00:55:25] BUT THAT WAS IT. SO THIS IS FDR IS D-DAY.
[00:55:29] PRAYER FROM JUNE 6TH, 1944.
[00:55:35] ALMIGHTY GOD, OUR SONS.
[00:55:37] PRIDE OF OUR NATION THIS DAY
[00:55:40] HAVE SET UPON A MIGHTY ENDEAVOR,
[00:55:42] A STRUGGLE TO PRESERVE OUR
[00:55:46] REPUBLIC, OUR RELIGION, AND OUR
[00:55:50] CIVILIZATION, AND TO SET FREE A
[00:55:52] SUFFERING HUMANITY TO LEAD THEM
[00:55:56] STRAIGHT AND TRUE, GIVE STRENGTH
[00:55:58] TO THEIR ARMS.
[00:56:01] STOUT TO THEIR HEARTS, STEAD AND
[00:56:04] FASTNESS IN THEIR FAITH.
[00:56:07] THEY WILL NEED THY BLESSINGS.
[00:56:09] THEIR ROAD WILL BE LONG AND HARD
[00:56:12] FOR THE ENEMY IS STRONG.
[00:56:16] HE MAY HURL BACK OUR FORCES.
[00:56:18] SUCCESS MAY NOT COME WITH
[00:56:21] RUSHING SPEED, BUT WE SHALL
[00:56:24] RETURN AGAIN AND AGAIN.
[00:56:26] AND WE KNOW THAT BY THAT GRACE
[00:56:30] AND BY THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF OUR
[00:56:32] CAUSE, OUR SONS WILL TRIUMPH.
[00:56:36] THEY WILL BE SO TRIED BY NIGHT
[00:56:39] AND BY DAY WITHOUT REST UNTIL
[00:56:43] THE VICTORY IS WON.
[00:56:45] THE DARKNESS WILL BE RENT BY
[00:56:48] NOISE AND FLAME.
[00:56:50] MEN'S SOULS WILL BE SHAKEN WITH
[00:56:53] THE VIOLENCE OF WAR.
[00:56:56] FOR THESE MEN ARE LATELY DRAWN
[00:56:58] FROM THE WAYS OF PEACE.
[00:57:00] THEY FIGHT NOT FOR THE LUST OF
[00:57:04] CONQUEST. THEY FIGHT TO END CONQUEST.
[00:57:07] THEY FIGHT TO LIBERATE.
[00:57:09] THEY FIGHT TO LET JUSTICE ARISE
[00:57:12] AND TOLERATE AND SEND GOOD WILL.
[00:57:15] AMONG ALL THY PEOPLE.
[00:57:17] THEY YEARN. BUT FOR THE END OF BATTLE, FOR
[00:57:21] THEIR RETURN TO THE HAVEN OF HOME.
[00:57:25] SOME WILL NEVER RETURN.
[00:57:27] EMBRACE THESE FATHER AND RECEIVE
[00:57:31] THEM THY HEROIC SERVANTS INTO
[00:57:34] THEIR KINGDOM.
[00:57:38] AND FOR US AT HOME.
[00:57:40] FATHER, MOTHER, CHILDREN, WIVES,
[00:57:44] SISTERS AND BROTHERS OF BRAVE
[00:57:46] MEN OVER SEAS WHOSE THOUGHTS AND
[00:57:50] PRAYERS ARE EVER WITH THEM, HELP
[00:57:53] US, ALMIGHTY GOD, TO REDEDICATE
[00:57:57] OURSELVES IN RENEWED FAITH IN
[00:58:00] THE IN THIS HOUR OF GREAT SACRIFICE.
[00:58:04] GIVE US STRENGTH.
[00:58:05] LET OUR HEARTS BE STOUT.
[00:58:09] TO WAIT OUT THE LONG TRAVAIL TO
[00:58:12] BEAR SORROWS THAT MAY COME TO
[00:58:16] IMPART OUR COURAGE ONTO OUR SONS.
[00:58:20] WHERESOEVER THEY MAY BE, AND
[00:58:23] HELP US TO CONQUER.
[00:58:25] THEY ARE PUZZLES OF GREED AND
[00:58:28] RACIAL ARROGANCE IS LEAD US TO
[00:58:33] THE SAVING OF OUR COUNTRY AND
[00:58:35] WITH OUR SISTER NATIONS INTO A
[00:58:39] WORLD UNITY THAT WILL SPELL
[00:58:41] ASSURE PEACE.
[00:58:43] A PEACE INVOLVING HORRIBLE TO
[00:58:46] THE SCHEMING OF UNWORTHY MEN.
[00:58:51] AND TO PEACE THAT WILL LET ALL
[00:58:53] OF MEN LIVE IN FREEDOM, REAPING
[00:58:55] THE JUST REWARDS OF THEIR HONEST TOIL.
[00:59:02] THY WILL BE DONE ALMIGHTY GOD.
[00:59:08] AMEN.
[00:59:13] THAT WAS ACCORDING TO TIME
[00:59:17] MAGAZINE. THAT WEEK, 100 MILLION AMERICAN PRAYED THAT PRAYER, WHICH I
[00:59:21] THINK MAKES IT THE LARGEST MASS PRAYER IN HUMAN HISTORY. MM.
[00:59:25] IT IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE A WAR, A
[00:59:31] CONFLICT SACRIFICE IS BETTER,
[00:59:35] EXPLAINED OR TO REMEMBER THAT
[00:59:37] THERE WERE MOMENTS WHEN LEADERS FELT THE RESPONSIBILITY, THE
[00:59:41] OBLIGATION TO EXPLAIN HUMAN CONFLICT AND SACRIFICE, AND THE
[00:59:44] HUMAN SIDE OF THIS, TOO, IS ON
[00:59:49] JUNE 5TH, AS EISENHOWER IS GIVEN
[00:59:52] THE ORDER OF A DAWN ON THE 4TH OF JUNE.
[00:59:55] OKAY, LET'S GO. HE'D HAD TO POSTPONE ONE DAY. THIS WAS THE LAST DAY THEY COULD
[00:59:58] DO IT BEFORE THE THIRD WEEK OF
[01:00:01] JUNE, WHEN A HURRICANE HIT THE CHANNEL.
[01:00:04] SO IT WOULD HAVE BEEN EVEN WOULD HAVE BEEN DISASTER.
[01:00:07] BUT BOTH ROOSEVELT AND CHURCHILL
[01:00:10] ALL SPENT THE EVENINGS ALONE
[01:00:12] WITH THEIR WIVES IN THE IN THE
[01:00:14] MIDST OF THIS MASSIVE DECISION,
[01:00:18] LARGE WHAT CHURCHILL CALLED THE LARGEST AND MOST COMPLICATED OPERATION EVER.
[01:00:23] AND ROOSEVELT, WHEN PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT AT ONE POINT TURNED TO
[01:00:26] MRS. ROOSEVELT THAT NIGHT AND
[01:00:29] SAID, I WONDER HOW LINCOLN WILL COME OUT.
[01:00:33] LINCOLN WAS A TREE FARMER AT HYDE PARK.
[01:00:36] LINCOLN CAME OUT FINE, BUT
[01:00:40] THAT'S WHAT THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF WAS THINKING ABOUT WAS ONE
[01:00:44] PERSON ON THAT BEACH AND BY
[01:00:49] EXTENSION, EVERYONE ON THE BEACH.
[01:00:52] LET'S LET'S COMBINE TWO OF THE
[01:00:54] THEMES THAT HAVE CONNECTED THE
[01:00:56] READINGS TONIGHT AND THE BOOK,
[01:01:00] HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN.
[01:01:02] FOR A CLOSING EXCERPT FROM
[01:01:05] SOMEONE WHO HAS SPOKEN HERE
[01:01:07] SEVERAL TIMES, ONCE FROM THIS STAGE AND ONCE UPSTAIRS.
[01:01:11] HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON.
[01:01:13] IT'S IT'S POSSIBLE THAT NO FIRST
[01:01:15] LADY EVER GAVE A MORE
[01:01:17] CONSEQUENTIAL SPEECH AS FIRST
[01:01:19] LADY THAN SHE DID AT BEIJING AT
[01:01:22] THE GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS CONFERENCE.
[01:01:26] FOR WHATEVER COMMENTS SHE'S
[01:01:27] KNOWN FOR OR INDICTED FOR,
[01:01:30] SMALL, SMALL, I KNOWS THIS WAS
[01:01:33] TO ME HER HER SHINING AH,
[01:01:35] SHINING MOMENT. JOHN, DO YOU AGREE THAT IT WAS
[01:01:39] POLITICALLY COURAGEOUS FOR A FIRST LADY TO DO THAT? THIS IS 1995.
[01:01:42] SHE GOES TO CHINA TO TALK ABOUT
[01:01:44] THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND GIRLS. SO, YEAH, RIGHT. IN CHINA.
[01:01:48] IN CHINA. YEAH. SO HERE'S HERE IS HILLARY
[01:01:52] CLINTON IN CHINA.
[01:01:56] IN NOVEMBER 1995.
[01:01:56] THIS IS TRULY A CELEBRATION, A
[01:02:02] CELEBRATION OF THE CONTRIBUTIONS WOMEN MAKE IN EVERY ASPECT OF
[01:02:06] LIFE IN THE HOME, ON THE JOB, IN
[01:02:10] THE COMMUNITY, AS MOTHERS,
[01:02:14] WIVES, SISTERS, DAUGHTERS,
[01:02:16] LEARNERS, WORKERS, CITIZENS AND LEADERS.
[01:02:20] IT IS ALSO A COMING TOGETHER
[01:02:22] MUCH THE WAY WOMEN COME TOGETHER EVERY DAY IN EVERY COUNTRY.
[01:02:28] WE COME TOGETHER IN FIELDS AND
[01:02:30] FACTORY AND VILLAGE MARKETS AND
[01:02:33] SUPERMARKETS IN LIVING ROOMS AND
[01:02:37] BOARDROOMS WHILE PLAYING WITH OUR CHILDREN AND IN THE PARK OR
[01:02:40] WASHING CLOTHES IN A RIVER, OR
[01:02:44] TAKING A BREAK AT THE OFFICE WATER COOLER.
[01:02:46] WE COME TOGETHER AND TALK ABOUT
[01:02:49] OUR ASPIRATIONS AND CONCERNS.
[01:02:53] AND TIME AND AGAIN, OUR TALK
[01:02:55] TURNS TO OUR CHILDREN AND OUR FAMILIES.
[01:02:59] HOWEVER DIFFERENT WE MAY APPEAR,
[01:03:03] THERE IS FAR MORE THAT UNITES US
[01:03:05] THAN DIVIDES US.
[01:03:07] WE SHARE OUR COMMON FUTURE, AND
[01:03:11] WE ARE HERE TO FIND COMMON
[01:03:13] GROUND SO THAT WE MAY HELP BRING
[01:03:15] NEW DIGNITY AND RESPECT TO WOMEN AND GIRLS.
[01:03:19] ALL OVER THE WORLD. AND IN SO DOING, BRING NEW
[01:03:25] STRENGTH AND STABILITY TO
[01:03:27] FAMILIES AS WELL.
[01:03:29] THERE ARE SOME WHO QUESTION THE
[01:03:32] REASON FOR THIS CONFERENCE.
[01:03:34] LET THEM LISTEN TO THE VOICES OF
[01:03:36] WOMEN IN THEIR HOMES, NEIGHBORHOODS AND WORKPLACES.
[01:03:40] IF WOMEN HAVE A CHANCE TO WORK
[01:03:43] AND EARN AS FULL AND EQUAL PARTNERS IN SOCIETY, THEIR
[01:03:48] FAMILIES WILL FLOURISH. AND WHEN FAMILIES FLOURISH,
[01:03:53] COMMUNITIES AND NATIONS DO AS WELL.
[01:03:55] THAT IS WHY EVERY WOMAN, EVERY
[01:04:00] MAN, EVERY CHILD, EVERY FAMILY
[01:04:02] AND EVERY NATION ON OUR PLANET
[01:04:05] DOES HAVE A STAKE IN THE
[01:04:07] DISCUSSION THAT TAKES PLACE HERE.
[01:04:11] NO ONE SHOULD BE FORCED TO
[01:04:13] REMAIN SILENT FOR FEAR OF RELIGIOUS OR POLITICAL
[01:04:17] PERSECUTION AND ARREST. ABUSE OR TORTURE.
[01:04:21] I BELIEVE THAT NOW, ON THE EVE
[01:04:24] OF A NEW MILLENNIUM, IT IS TIME
[01:04:27] TO BREAK THIS SILENCE.
[01:04:29] IT IS TIME FOR US TO SAY HERE IN
[01:04:33] BEIJING AND FOR THE WORLD TO
[01:04:35] HEAR THAT IT IS NO LONGER
[01:04:38] ACCEPTABLE TO DISCUSS WOMEN'S
[01:04:40] RIGHTS AS SEPARATE FROM HUMAN RIGHTS.
[01:04:44] IF THERE IS ONE MESSAGE THAT ECHOES FORTH FROM THIS
[01:04:48] CONFERENCE, LET IT BE THAT HUMAN
[01:04:51] RIGHTS ARE WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND
[01:04:54] WOMEN'S RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS
[01:04:56] ONCE AND FOR ALL.
[01:05:10] JOHN. HEARING THESE WORDS, DOES IT
[01:05:14] MAKE YOU NOSTALGIC ABOUT THE VOICES AND THE ELOQUENCE OF THE
[01:05:18] PAST OR OPTIMISTIC? AND IF THE LATTER BECAUSE I KNOW I KNOW YOU.
[01:05:22] WHERE ARE THE VOICES COMING FROM?
[01:05:25] WHO DO YOU SEE AS BEING IN THE EDITION THAT YOUR KIDS WILL
[01:05:29] BRING OUT IN 30 YEARS WITH WITH THE NEW BATCH OF SPOKESPEOPLE
[01:05:32] FOR DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOM?
[01:05:34] IT'LL BE LIKE THE JETSONS, RIGHT?
[01:05:37] THEY'LL BE LIKE, THERE WON'T BE BOOKS THERE. WE'RE JUST THINK IT YOU KNOW, IT WILL HAPPEN.
[01:05:41] VERY AVATAR.
[01:05:43] I THINK. SO.
[01:05:47] AGAIN, I QUOTED HIM BEFORE, BUT
[01:05:51] ARTHUR SLATER USED TO SAY THAT
[01:05:54] IN 1940, IF YOU HAD DECIDED TO
[01:05:56] SAY THAT THE NEXT THREE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES
[01:05:59] WERE GOING TO BE A BACKBENCH SENATOR FROM MISSOURI, A MAJOR
[01:06:02] IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY, AND A
[01:06:06] HARVARD UNDERGRADUATE, YOU WOULD
[01:06:08] NOT HAVE GOTTEN A LOT OF PEOPLE TO BET WITH YOU. RIGHT.
[01:06:12] AND SO I DON'T KNOW WHO'S GOING TO EMERGE.
[01:06:16] BUT I AM CONFIDENT THAT SOMEONE WILL.
[01:06:20] AND I BELIEVE, ACTUALLY THAT OUT
[01:06:24] OF WHAT LINCOLN WOULD CALL A FIERY TRIAL AND I BELIEVE THIS,
[01:06:26] IS THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE BEING
[01:06:30] TAKEN OFF THE STREETS AND PUT IN CAGES.
[01:06:34] THERE ARE.
[01:06:38] CONSTITUTIONAL NORMS, WHICH IS A
[01:06:41] FANCY WAY OF SAYING YOU DON'T DO
[01:06:43] IT BECAUSE IT'S WRONG BEING SMASHED.
[01:06:49] WHY? BECAUSE THEY CAN'T.
[01:06:51] AND NOT ENOUGH FOLKS WHO HAVE
[01:06:54] ACHIEVED POWER WITHIN THE
[01:06:56] REPUBLIC ARE STANDING UP AGAINST IT.
[01:07:00] AND WE SHOULD HAVE SAT HERE AND READ ARTICLE ONE JUST FOR THE
[01:07:03] HELL OF IT. YOUR PART.
[01:07:07] THE ONLY GUY I KNOW WHO COULD MAKE THE CONSTITUTION SOUND PRETTY GOOD, RIGHT?
[01:07:14] REAPPORTIONMENT.
[01:07:16] SO I'M CONFIDENT. RIGHT.
[01:07:19] SO HERE'S. MAYBE IT'S A POINT TO END ON.
[01:07:23] MAYBE.
[01:07:24] IS THERE'S A REALLY INTERESTING
[01:07:27] POINT MADE BY MARK CARNEY THAT THAT SPEECH WOULD BE IN THIS. RIGHT.
[01:07:31] DO YOU REMEMBER THIS? THE DAVOS SPEECH WHERE HE USED A
[01:07:35] REALLY HE DID SOMETHING STARTLING. HE TOLD THE TRUTH.
[01:07:41] HE SAID THAT THE THE STORY OF
[01:07:43] THE POST WORLD WAR TWO, ATLANTIC
[01:07:47] ALLIANCE, LED BY AMERICAN POWER
[01:07:50] AND OUR MORAL INVESTMENT IN THE
[01:07:55] SECURITY OF OTHER NATIONS WAS A
[01:07:59] MYTH THAT WE NO LONGER ACCEPTED.
[01:08:01] IT WAS REALLY A FICTION. HE SAID. FICTION. I WOULD HAVE SAID ENOUGH.
[01:08:05] AND I THINK WHAT HE MEANT WAS
[01:08:07] THAT NATIONS NEED STORIES IN THE
[01:08:11] WAY PEOPLE NEED STORIES AND
[01:08:17] MYTHS ARE NOT BAD THINGS. MYTHS OR STORIES ABOUT THE
[01:08:21] ORIGIN, CAUSE AND DESTINY OF HUMAN LIFE.
[01:08:26] THE CENTRAL AMERICAN MYTH BEGINS
[01:08:28] WITH JEFFERSON AND CONTINUES TO
[01:08:31] UNFOLD THROUGH KING AND STANTON
[01:08:35] AND SENATOR CLINTON.
[01:08:37] THAT'S A STORY, IS IT?
[01:08:41] AS SIMPLE AS I JUST MADE IT OUT TO BE? OF COURSE NOT.
[01:08:45] YOU KNOW, IT'S THE STORY, ACTUALLY.
[01:08:48] IT'S IT'S NOT STRAIGHTFORWARD, BUT ACTUALLY, IT IS KIND OF
[01:08:53] SIMPLE IN THE SENSE THAT IT'S ELEMENTAL.
[01:08:56] THERE IS A PRINCIPLE. WE HAVE IT.
[01:08:59] WE KNOW BECAUSE OF THE WORKINGS OF CONSCIENCE, WHAT THEODORE
[01:09:04] PARKER, WHO'S ALSO IN THIS BOOK CALLED THE MARK OF A MORAL
[01:09:07] UNIVERSE, YOU KNOW, BENDING TOWARD JUSTICE, BUT IT ONLY
[01:09:10] BENDS TOWARD JUSTICE IF WE INSIST THAT IT SWERVE BECAUSE
[01:09:13] SOMEBODY ELSE HAS ALREADY ALWAYS PULLING BACK.
[01:09:17] SO WE HAVE TO BE SURVIVORS AND
[01:09:19] THE VOICES OF THE SURVIVORS WILL BE IN THE NEXT FOR YOU.
[01:09:25] WELL, I COULDN'T AGREE MORE THAT
[01:09:28] AMERICA NEEDS GREAT STORIES. BUT I WOULD ADD THAT AMERICA
[01:09:31] NEEDS GREAT STORYTELLERS AND GREAT VOICES.
[01:09:34] AND THAT'S WHY, AS WE PREPARE TO
[01:09:36] GO UPSTAIRS AND CELEBRATE THIS
[01:09:38] REMARKABLE TRIO AND HAVE A BOOK RECEPTION WHERE YOU CAN BUY THIS
[01:09:42] EXTRAORDINARY BOOK AND THIS AND
[01:09:44] LIVE WITH THIS COLLECTION, I, I
[01:09:46] WANT TO ASK YOU TO JOIN ME IN
[01:09:49] THANKING JON MEACHAM, STEPHEN
[01:09:51] LANG AND ELLEN BURSTYN.
[01:10:11] AND DISCOVER AMERICA'S STORY WITH C-SPAN'S NEW AMERICAN
[01:10:15] HISTORY TIMELINE POSTER. THIS LARGE 4.5FT WIDE POSTER
[01:10:19] EXPLORES THE LIVES AND PUBLIC SERVICE CAREERS OF EVERY U.S.
[01:10:22] PRESIDENT ALONG WITH KEY HISTORICAL EVENTS, LANDMARKS,
[01:10:26] SUPREME COURT CASES, CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS AND
[01:10:28] MAJOR TECHNOLOGY MILESTONES THROUGHOUT OUR NATION'S HISTORY.
[01:10:32] THE POSTER ALSO FEATURES A SPECIAL AMERICA TO WINDOW
[01:10:35] SECTION HIGHLIGHTING THE COUNTRY'S FOUNDING AND THE 250TH
[01:10:39] ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNITED STATES. BRINGING AMERICAN HISTORY HOME
[01:10:43] WITH C-SPAN, AMERICAN HISTORY
[01:10:45] TIMELINE POSTER SCAN THE CODE OR
[01:10:47] VISIT C-SPAN SHOP YOUR BOOK TV
[01:10:54] CONTINUES. NOW TELEVISION FOR SERIOUS