Transcripts For CSPAN C-SPAN Cities Tour- U.S. Politicians 20240712

Home to the house and senate since 1800. It is their home districts and states that send members to washington, d. C. Over the next 90 minutes, a look at pivotal u. S. Politicians as we travel the nation in search of their stories. Coming up first, former wisconsin governor and 1924 Progressive Party president ial bobdate, robert fighting lafalce. Hes the most important political figure in wisconsins history and one of the most important in the history of the 20th century in the United States. He was a reforming governor. He defined what progressivism is. He was one of the first to use the term to self identify. He was the United States senator. He was recognized by his peers in the 1950s as one of the five greatest senators in American History. He was an opponent of world war i. He stood his ground advocating for free speech. Above all, he was about the people. In the era after the civil war, america changed radically from a nation of small farmers, small producers, small manufacturers. By the late 1870s, we had concentrations of wealth. We had growing inequality. We had concern about the influence of money in government. The United States senators were elected by legislators. There were huge sums of money going into those campaigns. Individuals were looking for a way to change the status quo. Around 1900, the idea of progressivism coalesce. You had reformers, nationwide, looking at how we got into this problem. What can we do about that . Progressives were especially interested with changing systems. They were concerned that the game was fixed so that the big money folks the corporations, the specialinterest were going to be able to get their way. They werent advocating inequality of result that they wanted everyone at the same starting line. Lafollette went on to United States congress as a member of the house of representatives and was a rather conventional congressmen, booted the party line but in the early 1890s something happened to Bob Lafollette that change him. 1891 he was called into the office of his the senator republican u. S. Senator and sawyer was involved in a locked case which was going to be tried by lafollettes brotherinlaw. Sawyer offered lafollette a retainer for legal advisers. Heres 50. You will get more if the case comes out right. Lafollette said, im being bribed here and got up and walked out. His brotherinlaw excused himself from the case. Lafollette alienated himself from the rest of the Republican Party establishment. According to lafollettes own story thats when the insight hit him this is what politics right now is about. Its about money. Its about those who can afford to buy justice and those who can afford to buy offices. Believe the system needed to be reformed. He spent the later part of the 1890s giving speeches all over wisconsin. If you wanted a speaker for your club or your group, Bob Lafollette would give a speech. He went to county fairs. He went to ever kind of event that you could imagine and built a reputation for himself. By 1900, he was ready to run for governor advocating on behalf of the people on two issues. One is the direct primary, no more selecting candidates at conventions. And stop the interest , Pacific League the railroads. Wisconsin farmers were dependent on setting prices and they believe those prices were being fixed through collusion as the major railroads agreed on those prices. Road rhoades gave out free passes to legislators. It was like getting a free rental car. Thats how you got around to keep gave a free pass to every member of the legislature it would look kindly on you. You are getting Free Transportation from them. So lafollette ran on that and to the connections he made throughout the state and speaking and the data he gathered about who would likely support him he won that nomination. Lafollette was supposed by the conservative Republican Legislature and didnt get the legislation that they wanted. He tried again in 1902 and was elected governor and still being blocked by the stalwart republicans. 1904 he went on the campaign trail against members of his own party. He started reading world calls at meetings at who voted against railroads . The who voted against the direct primary . In 1904 was the tremendous victory for Bob Lafollette because he not only won reelection but he won enough of this progressive supporters in the legislature. The other thing that lafollette was successful in doing as he believed in a referendum, recall and initiative. He was able to get the legislature to agree that a primary bill would be passed but only if it was passed by referendum. Lafollette when he campaigned he distributed literature on one side of it supporting top lafollette and the other side was a reminder to vote yes on a referendum so he would use his Campaign Machinery to campaign for both the cause and the man. At the time Bob Lafollette was governor of United States senators were still being elected by the same legislature. Progressive all over the country advocated the direct election of senators. 1905 the Senate Position opened up in wisconsin and Bob Lafollette announced that he was going to run for senator but he was not going to resign his position as governor until his reforms were passed so he was successfully elected senator stayed in wisconsin for the first nine or 10 months of his term and not until the legislature adjourned after passing his program that he resumed his seat in washington d. C. In 1906. That began a 20 year period of service in the United States senate. Lafollette was tryingto repeat on the National Level some of his successes in wisconsin. Lafollette message of politics had to change because he was dealing with persuading and majority of 96 senators to support his position. Lafollette was a master tech titian. On the state level he was able to gather data on who would support him and who needed to make contact. He was a master of the senate. Bob lafollette to use the filibuster to stop legislation that he felt was harmful. He was recognized in the u. S. Senate as a leader of a small group of progressives there whose votes were needed by the majority to pass legislation. Lafollette was a republican as were most progressives in the u. S. Senate and that group of 12 or fourteen votes that he controlled to negotiate in terms of Bob Lafollette spreading progressive ideas nationally he used two techniques. A magazine called the magazine, great at promoting lafollettes name in that magazine still exist today. Secondly, bob loved the public but if you want to speaker bob would go anywhere in the nation to speak. He did this partly because he was not an independently wealthy man. He needed income for speaking but he would go to chautauqua and various events to spread his word and he started getting progressive candidates in the democratic party. Woodrow wilson getting elected, the governor of new jersey as a progressive, Teddy Roosevelt nationally was viewed as a progressive but the kind of interest in doing against monopolies. Child labor, there were reformers around the nation who were concerned about the use of children in factories and eliminated those. Bob lafollette opposed war. He voted for Woodrow Wilson in 1916, Bob Lafollette was a republican voted for wilson because he believed in wilsons pledge to keep the United States out of the war. Bob lafollette was one of only six United States senators to oppose that war. He was concerned that only munitions makers, profiteers would benefit from that as the people would suffer the loss of loved ones in the military. He was concerned that the government was not telling the people the full cost of the war. His principle concern was the suppression of Civil Liberties. In 1917, Congress Passed a bill called the espionage act. It didnt have anything to do with espionage. It was about suppressing opposition to the war. Newspapers could be shut down a were shut down as a result of that. People were jailed for their criticism of the war and Bob Lafollette believed the bill of rights was not repealed because the United States was at war. An event on september 20, 1917 was a critical turning point for lafollette. Gave a speech in st. Paul minnesota and at that meeting Bob Lafollette was critical of the war effort. He said we have grievances against germany but those grievances are not sufficient to go to war. The Associated Press reported him as saying we have no grievances against germany. That news story created a national uproar. In wisconsin 90 of the faculty of the university of wisconsin signed a round robin petition opposing lafollette. There were calls in an investigation in the United States to expel Bob Lafollette. There were threats on his life. Lafollettes point was i didnt say this, but the war hysteria that went on, the explanation that didnt carry much weight because he did oppose the war. Wasnt until mid1819 that the Associated Press apologize for the air and it wasnt until 1919 that the United States senate cleared his name and said there are no grounds for expelling lafollette. Lafollettes fame and the respect that he has comes from his stance was Civil Liberties when he was one of the few people in the country speaking out on behalf of of the right of the people to exercise their freespeech rights for the constitution. I think he was interested in being president from the very beginning. 1908 Bob Lafollette Unitedstates Senate only two years throws his hat in the ring. Bob lafollette thinks he would be a good candidate and he was an unsuccessful unsuccessful candidate and the republicans convention. In 1912 it was the year that lafollette thought would be his year. He sounded out Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy said im not to be running. Bob lafollette was going to be the leader of the progressives challenging William Howard taft for the republican nomination. Taft forces start developing in strength, roosevelt changes his mind. Lafollette is outraged at this. Hes not going to support roosevelt in the convention and takes his fight to the convention. William howard taft gets the nomination and Teddy Roosevelt runs as an independent on the progressive bullmoose ticket. He did finally run for president on his own progressive ticket in 1924. Lafollette looks at the two parties davis and democrats, coolidge and the republicans who said both of these are conservative parties. Neither of them are running on progressive reform issues. He created a thirdparty that ran with burton wheeler, a democrat as his Vice President and lafollette for president. It was poorly funded. They had about 250,000 to spend about 4y, compared to million the republicans had and about 2 million democrats had. Lafollette relied on his own speechmaking ability. Should have a patriotic duty to fill at least a part of his life into the life of his country. Gotmazingly, lafollette about 17 of the vote nationally. That was, at the time, the second best run of the thirdparty. Only Teddy Roosevelt pulled the bullmoose Progressive Party that exceeded that. He slightly exceeded lafollette toss effort. He came second in 10 other states. That was lafollettes last hurrah running for president in 1924. The lafollette name has magic in wisconsin. The two sons went ahead and created that Third Political party, in progressive wisconsin, and attempted to take the party nationally in 1938. Carrying on the issues that bob fought for, which was important in the context of the 1930s. So you saw things like unemployment conversations, many of the ideas found in the new deal that emerged out of wisconsin. Franklin roosevelt delivered patronage in wisconsin through wisconsin progressives rather than the Wisconsin Democratic party. And that continued right down through bronson lafollette, the the Third Generation descendent of Bob Lafollette who was wisconsins attorney general. Many of the ideas that Bob Lafollette fought for are open issues. Lafollette called for the direct election of president as opposed to electoral college. He wanted to see the elimination of the influence of money in campaigns. He wanted popular review of judicial decisions, being able to overturn Supreme Court decisions. And he wanted referenda as one calling war that the United States would not be able to go to war except in a defensive fashion without a possible referendum. Some of those ideas are still being debated today. It shall not corrupt but shall obey that government that guards and protects its rights. Mere passive citizenship is not enough. Men must be aggressive for what is right. If government is to be saved from those who are aggressive or what is wrong. Robert lafollettes time coincide with another midwest republican, Charles Curtis of kansas. The Senate Majority leader from 1924 to 1929, and in 1929 to 1933, he served as the 31st Vice President and broke ground as the first in that position to be of native american descent. I came to know Charles Curtis after i moved to topeka. A resident historian at the cemetery, i came to know more about his story. The more i found out, the more fascinating he became. The more i realized how under told his story is. He is reduced to a trivia question. The only Vice President of American Indian lineage or ancestry. He deserves a lot more than that. Ive been doing some research for 20 years. It has gotten more serious in the last couple of years. His journey has become more remarkable to me in the last couple of years as i realized exactly what he did. He was born in north topeka in 1860. Hes born during the territorial period. His father is a white man. He comes originally. His ancestors are passengers on the mayflower. A lot of hay is made with that when he is a candidate. He has the indian on one side, the pilgrims on the other. Its a great pr piece. What makes him so remarkable, i think, is the fact that he has mixed blood growing up in a time that makes that very difficult. By sheer force of his personality, he makes all that an advantage. One historian said he played the indian card when it worked, he played the white card when it worked. That might be true, but i think it oversimplifies his experience and i think is a little unfair to him. I think he chose the white mans world, he said that. Thats his words. Because of his experiences. Its unfortunate society forced that choice on him. It most certainly did. His mothers family operated the ferry. It went from north to the south side of the campus river. It went from north topeka to the south side of the campus river. It was ferrying passengers on the oregon trail. Does not come from a poor family. They are people of means. His mother has a lot of land as a part of her mixed Indian Heritage. He always has means. Died, he waser only three years old, he goes to live with his indian grandmother on the reservation. By then, the call had been removed to council grove, and he goes and lives with them. So he grows up with an indian identity. He talks about his childhood as being idyllic. He was a little boy plain with ponies, arrows, riding fishing and hunting, its a great life. The turning point came in 1868. Hes only eight years old. The cheyenne uncharacteristically come pretty far east to attack. This is not a pitch battle. It turns basically into a standoff. It is an incredible show force to the cheyenne. Charles curtis, by his own account is selected to walk to topeka, 60 miles to alert the authorities that the cheyenne have attacked them. Some accounts say his uncle that he actually came with his uncle. Charles spoke english. He spoke french, and english. So he comes to topeka and tells governor crawford that the cheyenne have attacked. And i think a lot of this is due to the influence of his grandmothers. But his white grandmother in topeka said thats enough youre coming to live with us and have a civilized life. His indian grandmother agreed. So the indians then, when the tribe is being removed to the indian nations or the indian territory, what is now oklahoma, he really wants to go with them. He is 13. And his indian grandmother, is french and indian grandmother says no. Youve got to make something of your life. If you come with us, you cant do that. So you have to stay with your white grandmother and get an and education and make something of yourself. I dont think you can overestimate what those two women, the impact those two women had on his life. He comes to topeka, he attends high school. He does not graduate. It was only a twoyear program. So it is not unusual for people not to graduate. But he worked. He had one horse and a buggy. And he borrowed or rented a horse and he runs a taxi service. Hes running the legislators and attorneys back around the capital. He is interested in the practice of the law. So he reads for the law thats not uncommon at that point. That is how he passes the bar. Curtis had decades of legislative experience. He was both in congress, the first republican Senate Majority leader. To some people, some newspaper editors of the day said curtis was the most powerful man in washington as Senate Majority leader. He did not rule from the front, he ruled from the back. He sat by the door, he knew there intimately, he knew what they wanted, their children, he knew it motivated them, he was the master at compromising, getting things done. In the 19208 president ial campaign, curtis was hoping to get the top spot. He was campaigning for president , not secondplace. When the convention met in kansas city that year, he was very disappointed and made it disappointed was not to be chosen as president. During that campaign, because he was already Senate Majority leader and a really big deal, almost all of the newspapers make him a mythic figure. This rise from the teepee to washington, whether or not he lived in a teepee, im not sure. That was the myth. Again this pilgrim and indian it was a colorful story. Nobody could match that story. So by then, he had so entrenched himself with business that i dont believe his Indian Heritage was a negative. It doesnt appear to have been. So hoover is Vice President. Hoover is obviously not real popular because his administration was, some people think, responsible for the depression. At least ushered in the great depression. So Nobody Associated with that as very popular. And as a Vice President , curtis was something of a nobody. All Vice President s are to some extent. But curtis became kind of a caricature at the time. Very unfortunate because he was a very remarkable man. The house, a very beautiful house. Almost unbelievable how beautiful it still is. This is actually called eclectic. Eclectic victorian, eclectic because it has the dome. And its got stainedglass windows and some curved windows. Its just a lot of different styles of the Victorian Era is put together. They call it eclectic victorian. And we just love the building. People love to come here. They love to see the house, the furnishings and they talk about curtis. It has been a very wonderful retirement for us. It has kept us on the go. My husband and i purchased the house in 1993. When we purchased the building, it was going to be demolished by the city, because nobody was interested in purchasing the building. It actually has 12 rooms. And furnishings in the house are of curtis era. He wouldve used most of these furnishings in that era. We do have some curtis items in the house that are very important. We have a grandfather clock when curtis was here, we have a bookcase, chair, quilt and a few dishes. But we have a lot of memorabilia of curtis. When we take people on a tour of the building, we tell them the story of curtis first. Now curtis story has become more popular. The people in our city did not know about curtis. I thought that was very strange. But of course, it had been many years since he was in office. Him, itse read about almost unbelievable to think you could take one year of High School Education and go on to do all of that. When Charles Curtis was first elected, native americans did not have the right to vote. The significance of his election cannot be overstated. I think it is the sheer force of his personality that makes that happen. His ability to get along with everybody. As a republican, Charles Curtis was ending his time as Vice President in 1933, democrat huey long was beginning his in the u. S. Senate. The former governor of louisiana had his career cut short in the State Capitol building in baton rouge in september of 1935. On the date of huey longs assassination, he was the u. S. Senate. But he was in baton rouge visiting the louisiana legislature, in particular the house of representatives. And visiting with the speaker of the house at that time, alan ellington. They were here. Walk to the speaker pot guest speakers desk where huey and eleanor had just finished the conversation or were discussing everything. You get an idea that from there, you can see the entire chamber. Huey long, while a handson governor, he was also a handson senator. He never really felt like he was no longer governor. Allen was the governor at the time, but he we long still wielded great influence in legislature. Even more so, some say, because now he was a u. S. Sitting senator. This is where they would have been, the last photo taken to of huey long prior to his assassination. It was huey long standing right about here, where this chair is. The speaker of the house was presiding, he was leaning over and talking to senator, former governor he we long. It was after those conversations were finished that they walked down the chamber, walked down the hall right there , outside of the chamber, and were returning to the Governors Office. Huey long was not the governor. But he continued to use the Governors Office as if it were his. We are entering the area of the hall where the assassination took place. But this is also the double where the entrance to the Governors Office is. Now huey long was really the senator. He still acted like the governor. He would stay at the Governors Mansion with governor allen. He was coming to use governor allens office. As he walked past this column, there, from all accounts and talking with one of the bodyguards when i was a lot younger, who was with he we long, mr. Weiss, dr. Weis was somewhere in this area. Walked out and approach senator long as he passed by to go in here. A verbal altercation of some sort took place as huey and weiss exchanged, it may be heated words, arguments, who knows what. Shots rang out, huey long was shot. As we know, there is still , aanence reminiscents bullet mark here. This is a marble. You can see the hole. The senator stumbled. One gut shot. One shot to the abdomen area, he was weakened, and he started himher bodyguard i call colonel, he was from my hometown, it was his personal bodyguard. He had come up, because hed gone to move the car. The senator was leaving the house chamber, going to check in here, may be returned phone calls, and they were leaving. Rushed up here, he according to the information i was given did not fire a shot because he caught the senator as he collapsed. Carried him down the stairs, put him in the backseat of a black sedan. It was a buick. He took him right around the corner from here, around the back of the capital. It was a hospital called lady of the lake hospital at that time. It was located on the other side of the lake. In the emergency room. The rest is history. Why did hetering shoot me, and ultimately, some pain. Physiciansto let the at the emergency room treat him. He thought there was a conspiracy or something, he knew he was still alive. Im giving what was given to me by the bodyguard in the mid 70s, mid 1970s. The bodyguard stayed with him the whole time. And as he staying with him, the question kept coming up what is he doing . Why did he shoot me . At that time, he would not let the doctors work on him, and one of the doctors was the head of charity hospital, he would be the surgeon who would treat him. By the time they made the phone calls to new orleans, and i have to keep reminding folks, new orleans to baton rouge is an hour and a half drive. Back then, it was for hours on a narrow two lane road to the marsh. It took four hours to get the doctor here. By the time he got here, the poison and the other things in the gut shot kind of set in the infection. He we long would ultimately die several hours later. Who shot huey long . All sorts of speculation. I can tell you a secondhand account from the bodyguard who was with him. Call him chief, because he was also chief of police. He said i was there. Aboutll a bunch of bobby lord shooting him. It was one small caliber bullet. I was there when they took it out of his stomach, it was put in my hand. I turned it over to the lab. I held it. I know for a fact. Back then and in many of the books i have read, huey long had done some things to the weiss , because they were antilong back then. Thats what provoked weiss to maybe do what he did. He was a mild mannered, nice doctor, who for whatever reason, did what he did. Of course, everyone has denied the real meaning. He was killed in the confrontation with the bodyguards. Weiss huey long knew family, it is said. Some of the weiss family more than he knew weiss. You know, as the colonel used to share with me the stories, it was not uncommon for huey to really go after someone if they were against him in a particular parish. He would do what he could to bring that parish to its knees or that leadership to put his folks in place. So could that have had something to do with it . I really dont know. I never really explored that in great depth. Other than the rumors. The newspaper accounts from that time. You want to think of it as one of those unfortunate instances that changed the course of history. The reason i say that, look what he did in louisiana. Many have speculated that there was a conspiracy to take him out. He could have been a president ial candidate. There have been many books written about who was he we long. If you could get inside his mind, if you can figure out who he was. I like to think of him as a unique individual. Oneofakind. Who just happened to be the right time in our States History where we needed someone of his persistence, someone of his sheer determination, someone of his ilk. Yet, humble background. To take our state forward. I would like to say he brought us kicking, screaming into the 20th century. He had a vision. People dont want to admit it. He bought public highways. He put a lot of paved roads to the rural communities. He brought them in. If you dont have a highway, you cant get your goods and products to the market. Public education as we know it started with him. Free textbooks started with him. In my tenure as speaker, he had a saying. A chicken in every mans pot. He was a populist. He believed in doing for the people. Ive heard and read stories on him. If he saw you were genuine and sincere, you werent personal, he could relate to you. When you made it personal, it was over. If you truly believed and were of conviction about whatever you were discussing, he could relate to that. He was of the same ilk. In politics, youve got to learn , as you are coming up and you progress through, you cant burn all the bridges. I think he understood that. He also understood, you are either for me or against me. In getting to that determination, we need to work it out. If you were against them how to treat you . There was no treatment. You were persona non grata. You knew it. You didnt bother with him. You just prepared. Prepared for what . Whatever was coming. You knew it was coming, and it wasnt going to be pleasant. Do you have an example of something that occurred in history . Only the many stories of those who were against him, it was a swing vote coming up, and they mysteriously got stopped by the police and had to spend the night in jail and miss the vote. If they were in opposition or were going to speak against him. Things like that. Thats common. When did the bodyguards come into play . When did he start having bodyguards . Louisiana governors traditionally had that. But hughley, in particular, as the colonel would tell me, when he would travel, when he was governor, he maintained the mansion here, right down the street from the old state capital. He would spend a lot of time in new orleans, which was the next largest city. I mean the largest city in the roosevelt hotel. And he stayed many a nights. Many days, we travel into cars. Any use the words to fords. And we traveled the airline highway, which is now u. S. Highway 61 between there and baton rouge. He said it was a two or three hour trip, easily a three hour trip. We would run down that highway. He said i would make my phone call you get something to drink i didnt know enough to say was an alcoholic or nonalcoholic. And to this day, that service station, restaurant still there. It looks art deco style. We stopped there and i would make my phone call. All we had our car were receivers. In other words, it would receive a radio transmission. It was, in effect, a police radio, but it was a radio. And he said it would make my call we would leave. We travel into cars for it i traveled with the governor and said theres always a car in front of us. And he said it was not uncommon ink, plink. Someone shooting at us along the way. He said remember, we were just coming out of the throws. The war was over. World war i was over, huey long was a populist. Theyd never had anyone like him as a governor who got around to use the media, the soundtracks. Baton rouge is what it is in large part because of the contribution and chain louisianas capital is here. It wasnt always here. It moved around. Building this building here was one of the first steps in really forming baton rouge as a foundation for this seat of government. Within a matter of a couple of years of this building being occupied, what we call the capitol annex, across the street from here was built and completed in like, 1938 or 1939. Government had already outgrown this building. So you consolidated. And by that time, in my opinion, it assured and insured at the same time baton rouge would always remain the capital of louisiana. From louisiana State Capitol in baton rouge, we traveled to montanas capital city of helena, and into the congressional pavers of Jeannette Rankin, the first woman to serve in the u. S. Congress. Were in the Montana Historical society and the state in the state archives. The archives is one of three programs that makes us the Research Center here at the historical society. So today were going to be talking about jeanette rankin. She was a woman from montana born in 1880. Her biggest claim to fame was she was the first woman to be elected to the United States congress. That was in 1916. She was elected again in 1939 just before we got into world war ii. So she served two different terms but lots of years in between them. Julia rankin, when she came into juliet rankin, when she came into the congress, she came in with a bit of fanfare. There is a bit of a honeymoon of what she was given a standing ovation when she walked into congress. She was given flowers, so it was a very positive for her prayed for her. That quickly ended when she voted no for entry into world war i. This is a letter from anna garland spencer. She is from leader bill pennsylvania. And in it, she talks about how difficult it must have been being the first woman in congress. But also being the first one to have to say no to war. It wouldve been so much better and easier for you if two or more women had been inaugurating element of our sex. Then probably would not have been entire agreement between them. Their responsibility would be divided and you would have stood not just for womanhood for only for ms. Rankin in your first most serious vote for sure others to be with you later. And that in any case, your sincerity will win the Conference Since of your confidence of your comrades. One of the places that Jeannette Rankin took the worst beatings if you will, was in the press. And unfortunately, the newspapers in montana were largely owned and operated by the anaconda Copper Mining company, and they were very prowar. So, a lot of the newspapers in montana, as i said, really vilified her. Theres an old saying about death by a thousand cuts. And i just wanted to provide one example of the slights that she, Jeannette Rankin, experienced all over the state. This particular one, she is supposed to sell liberty bonds and give a presentation sell liberty bonds and buttes. When she got there, the doors were locked against her. And she tried to figure out why they werent letting her in. They basically said we have no knowledge that you were supposed to be here. Her response, of course, was to stand for the building give her speech anyway. So, it shows that she definitely had the wherewithal and the spine to be able handle all of these cuts, the death of a thousand cuts. But if you think about this, every town she went to come give a speech, these kinds of fights were given to her. Despite the rocky start to her term, Jeannette Rankin did a great deal. She was the woman to put forward the susan b. Anthony amendments, which eventually became the 19th amendment, giving women suffrage. That was one of the big thing she really wanted to have happen during her term. She also tried to get Child Welfare reform and things like that. So, there were a lot of issues she work toward. I think one of the best examples of that fight for her relates to the mine disaster that occurred in 1917. In the disaster, 168 men were killed. And, of course, that left many orphans and women without means of support. If there had been reforms within the mine, the safety of the miners would have been assured and the disaster would not have occurred at all. So, one more piece id like to show you. Its sort of a call to arms telling jeanette that she really needed to get to butte and to participate. It looks like your highest duty for you is to come instantly to investigate these methods first hampered this knowledge will force congress and others to immediate action and newly found in the duster world. This demands big courage, big comprehension and close discrimination. You can trust the people here, they will give you justice. This is a tremendous opportunity for even the biggest man in the nation. The workers here trust you. Youre the biggest and most effective action that could come here. You cant be too cautious prayed cautious. This is your hour to prove the quality of your courage and your justice all at the ready. It was companyowned newspaper. At the end of all of this, Jeannette Falwell that she was knew full well that she was committing political suicide. Because it costs company. The work going to relax and again. And of course coming into the , we are again0s as a nation, facing war and she believed it was her duty to serve again. She ran again and she won. And, of course, the vote for war came up again and she voted with her conscience once a get and once again and said i cant go to war. Poignant photory of her sitting in the phone booth outside of congress, where shes taken refuge and shes called for the guards to come and get her because shes afraid for her personal safety. So, she didnt run again. But i think what really important is that she was consistent in what she believed, and she let people know that. And whats really extraordinary about her is, just the tenacity with which she fought for peace after she was out of office. The 1940s, from 1950s, and 1960s, she was in peace organizations. She had traveled the world fighting for peace. And that is what she absolutely believed in. And she did it until the day she died. Our look at u. S. Politicians continues as we go from Jeannette Rankins pacifist views to senator arthur vandenberg, an iconic isolationist who changed his and republican policies after pearl harbor attacks on a summer december 7, 1941. I propose that no other nation shall have any chance to use our silence as an alibi for in our culture designs, as such therell be. I propose action instead of words. I propose action now before its too late. Propose it from the sake of a better world. But i say again and again and again, that i propose it for our own american selfinterest. He became first came to notoriety as one of the leading isolationists. He has been a presenter for world war i in american involvement following Woodrow Wilson, enthusiastically after woodrow declared war on germany. So Many Americans were disillusioned with what happened after that. Mussolini and heckler would be coming hitler were becoming belligerent in europe. And so, in that way, he was a leader in the fight with Franklin Roosevelt as roosevelt was trying to engineer aid for Great Britain and people who would become our allies against hitler. 1945,en after the war, in or after the war, vandenberg came forward and said things have to change. In effect, reversed his own position and said isolation was no longer possible to the u. S. As a global power. That we had to take leadership on the world stage or relinquish it to dark forces. And by making that shift in the last months of world war ii, he pulled a lot of American Opinion with him and really helped enable changes in americas rise to leadership. As someone who grew up grand rapids with an interest in politics, id always been curious about vandenbergs life. Vandenberg was one of these ambitious kids. His father has a business nearly went broke in the panic of 1893. Vandenberg was nine years old. And so he was always doing odd jobs and things to support the family. But once he was in high school here, he thrived on he was editing the School Newspaper and he thrived on political news. He gave a speech that won him second place in an oratory contest in 1900 when he was a senior in high school on the peace conference in hague in 1990. So already, hes thinking about Foreign Policy as a teenager. He claims he started reading the congressional record when he was 15. We have no record of this, but thats pretty much how he thought of himself. Four years before, at the age of 22, when he was editor of the mediumsized daily newspaper. So from then on, is covering every republican political convention. And his mentor, part owner of the paper, is a senator named william smith. Michigan senator best known for having shared the titanic investigation. First public hearing, first hearing held in the caucus room. But vandenberg has a mentor like that. Then in 1911, vandenberg changed the campaign to statute that michigan had coming to it as a for abolitionist senator zachariah chandler. Then he gives a speech in the statuary hall at the dedication and he would then be 27 yearold newspaper editor. So, hes feeling the political excitement covering conventions, being mentor date by a senator, speaking in the halls of congress and he had the bug. He couldnt resist. Then became a question of what would he run for . As the young man on the go, he prided himself on being and popular after dinner speaker and Luncheon Club speaker. Some people wanted him to run for congress or lt. Governor. But he really wants to be senator. Hes in his 20s and 30s and he said i didnt want to bother with this peanut stuff. I want to be senator. So he rises at the senate with greeted vance billing. In an unwillingness to sort of be quiet. No sign of humility which dont didnt sit well with some of his colleagues. He was kinda cocky about things. And people really resented that. Two or three generations ago, the was his understanding that if youre freshman, you have to wait your turn. Willingasnt really to do that, so that rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. And then when the depression comes along, hes accused of vacillating because hes sometimes supporting roosevelt and sometimes not. So his fellow republicans arent sure what to make of him. And hes certainly trying to weave a fine political line as a michigan tells more and more away from being a purely republican state but also means hes not entirely reliable in the eyes of his fellow republicans. Because he had been so visible before the war, fighting american involvement, he became, in effect, the republican spokesman and Foreign Policy after the death of one of his mentors. Who died in 1940. Gutenberg was unquestionably the voice of the Republican Party in foreign affairs. And in 1943, 1944, as the election was coming up, the republicans had a big conference on economic island in northern michigan. Vandenbergs challenge was to unify the party round platform in 1944 election. Because in 1940, it had been torn apart with Wendell Wilkie and howard taft having two different visions of what the republicans should stand for. So, vandenberg puts the group together on Mackinac Island and gets them to agree that the republicans home support Venture International organization after the war, what became the United Nations. Even as roosevelt was planning the creation of the United Nations, he wasnt talking about it because he didnt want to have the british with their colonies or the soviets with their concern about Eastern Europe starting to jockey about a position because they were our allies and we needed them to finish fighting the war. So, vandenberg was addressing things that the democrats and roosevelt had kept bottled up, kept from being debated. So, he is taking the republicans who had been the isolationist to some degree, hes taking them expressing support for the new form of the league of nations, which became the United Nations. So, that identified him with a a new way of thinking, both for the republicans, and because the democrats werent talking much about it, for the americans. When the United Nations was being discussed, Franklin Roosevelt knew they couldnt make the mistake that Woodrow Wilson did after world war i when they created the league of nations and wilsons american telling patients she let himself, contained no republicans of any statute. So, he brought it back to the senate and the republicans that were then the majority said whats going on here . You havent even consulted us. So roosevelt, despite saying vandenberg as a rival, also new knew he needed him for the credibility of the american delegation to the United Nations. He didnt want to but he had a choice. This is in february and march of 1945. And then in april of 1945, roosevelt ties. Truman becomes president. Roosevelt federally functioned and his son secretary of state. Hannah secretary of states name edward was a capable u. S. Steel executive but really in major Foreign Policy discussions. So, secretary of state is not strong. Poor president truman, he had really not included in on what roosevelt was planning is unschooled and where things stand. So, vandenberg goes to San Francisco as really the most influential american delegate and he has truman deferring to him. He has is to tinea spirit deferring to him. And he is helping set the stage for what the United Nations charter is going to look like. Ornation by itself can its own exclusive action. Only collective security can stop the next great war before it starts. So, he found himself being lionized and the country really looking to him as an outspoken voice for a rational approach, nothing utopian. It wasnt going to be one world. One of his republican rivals, had written a book called one world. And there were people thought maybe we should have world government. Then there were isolationists coming out of the closet. This agreement was home in the washer hands of whats happening the world and diversity we can cant do that. We have to look after american interests as a part of a global structure. And then vandenberg was an early advocate of dwight eisenhower. Vandenberg and robert taft were friends and rivals for the Republican Party throughout the 1940s. Vandenberg does Foreign Policy. Taft does domestic policy. Protectors more isolationist so joyce chipping away at vandenberg. While vandenberg supports a lot of that domestic policy, sometimes taft takes a harder line. So in 1950, vandenberg is back here, ill, but eisenhower is his hope for the future of the country. And eisenhowers rival for the republican nomination in 1952 was taft. So eisenhower would later say that vandenberg was one of the people he most admired. And vandenberg, in his last months of his life, weeks of his life, talked about hearing a radio broadcast of eisenhower and feeling like my legacies would live on through eisenhower. So, there is those strings of the Republican Party that we still see today being played out that vandenberg was just immersed in and helped define. His greatest legacy is the notion of bipartisanship. When the first gulf war comes out and you have a republican president , and democrats in control of congress, the cry goes up, where is there a vandenberg among the democrats, among the opposing party . When a few years later, when clinton is contemplating, i think a response to bosnia, and youve got republicans in control of congress, the cry goes up, where is there a vandenberg . That rule of the leader of the royal opposition isnt quite a sacrifice of principles that will work with the president is really tough for policy moment. Literally most missed annenberg and is most iconic. The best and american governments. As his time in the senate was nearing an end, j william fulbrights was just beginning. The arkansas democrat served from 1945 to 1974 and his papers at the university of fayetteville tell the story. He was a longtime senator, serving arkansas from 1944 until 1974, 30 years. Before that, he was a u. S. Representative. He was president of the university of arkansas, the youngest in the United States of the time. He was a road scholar. He was a star football player, president of the student body, writer. He was an amazing guy. Hes also a very distinguished guy, and had lasting implications. He was a leader in international affairs. He was a long serving chair of the former Relations Committee which was particularly in the cold war, but also in one of the top positions in the United States and in the world. You control the budgets but he was also key in diplomatic policy, so he had that role. He was also a fierce advocate for the state for the people of arkansas. So as a representative, he was a dynamic political figure. He was also a leading figure nationally as he was senator. He required several different agenda or additions to the library decades free so we have decades. So, we have a collection of them grates a very large collection. And we have associated archives to go along with it. If we would look at the fulbright programs, we would be and months and months. So we will do highlights of the paper from images and a few books the senator wrote. We have highlights for his connection to the university of arkansas. Really important images here, that we were able to preserve. This one has low internet to have decades of significance. He is here with president truman and william benton. Hes witnessing truman signing the fulbright act in 1946. It establishes what will become what well come to understand the program later. Since then, more than 150 countries around the world has this program predict and hopefully he will be known for this forever. And if not is one of the most Impactful International Exchange Programs in the history of the world. He was elected to the house of representatives of northwest arkansas, representing us in d. C. In 1942. He was University President of arkansas. And he was only rep from 1942 until 1944. But he did some pretty impressive things. Hed already started to lay groundwork for what would become the program later. But he also was instrumental in and what we come to understand is the United Nations after world war ii. And this is a speech for what became known as the fulbright resolution, where he is encouraging the United States to help establish this International Body to resolve issues, help nations get along, to use diplomatic solutions, and really to avoid another world war. So, this is fulbright has a very young rep from penn state in washington. Hes presenting an idea and making the argument for an idea of what would become one of the foundational institutions. So what were looking at here is a photograph from center senator fulbrights papers that shows one of the pivotal moments in his career, and also senatelight on what the used to look like or what it could be at its best moments. Senator graham from illinois, a republican, hes handing over the gavel to senator fulbright. You have a couple noteworthy individuals. You have a guy who is about to become president next year. Thats john f. Kennedy. And the guy who comes becomes president after that, lyndon johnson. Hes the majority leader in the senate. And fulbright has become the chair of this committee. Since 1959, he remains chair longest run of anyone as chair of Foreign Relations from 1959 to 1974. This graphic is from 1953. Its the documentation and official copy given of the signing of the Nuclear Test Ban treaty. So we have senator fulbright here. And we also have the premier from the soviet union, khrushchev, right here in the middle. Khrushchev jeff was a little serious. I think he was always serious. One of the things he was doing as foreign Relations Committee is he was helping diffuse conflict and helping diplomacy within the United States and other nations around the world avoid to avoid very real nuclear annihilation. Heres fulbrights paper that shows the complexity as the southern senator and also the copper misers and what you may consider to be some mistakes that he made over a long period time. So right here is a southern manifesto, or a draft of the southern manifesto which shows several senators signed off again remarks on the floor. Opposing and the federal into School Segregation in the south. Several of the senators would have said they werent necessarily opposed to racial inequality or to school integration, but that their stance was, as many of us have heard before, they took a state rights approach. They didnt think the federal government or Supreme Court should be the ones forcing integration. Fulbright did signoff on the southern manifesto and throughout his career, particularly in the 1960s, as he became very well thought of and revered first answers against his things like the vietnam war. And then after he left the senate, its something his career would be stained by, his opposition to full integration early on. He was the u. S. Senator from arkansas. And the state of arkansas does have a kind of unique distinction in that several Smaller School districts and braced integration right after 1954. Of 1957 and 1958 with little rock crisis, the state came to an understanding they were opposed to immigration in a like federals integration from guard troops. Fulbright made a political calculation. Right over here is a writing he did to help shape the southern manifesto in a different way. In a way, you can think of it as a caveat put in here. He was softening the manifesto. He didnt want it to be about racial equality or inequality necessarily. He wanted it to be about forced integration. So what were looking at right here is a photograph from our picture collection at the university of Arkansas Library of special collections. Forit documents what razorback fans, perhaps one of the most important events that ever happened here, or one of the most disappointing events anyway. Thats when the university of Arkansas Post a call the game of the century between the number one and number two teams in the country. It was an important game. Everybody wanted tickets. We had some remarkable people attend the game. We have senator fulbright here in his fine hat observing the game, closely observing it. We also have the current president at the time, and 69, richard nixon, attending the game right here. We have this gentleman over here with the beat texas button. Thats the person who bill clinton would lose his first lyrical race against political race against. George h dubya bush is attending right there, as well, looking towards the camera. Our library isy late named after, all right here watching the Football Game together. Its a proud moment at the university of arkansas even though they did end up losing that game in a thriller of a game. So what we have here are two letters, several actually, in the fulbright papers from senator johnson. Johnson was a longtime leader in the senate, majority leader in the 1950s. He became president after kennedys assassination. He and fulbright had very close relationship and were good friends. But they also had a lot of disagreements over their time together. Thats two of the Major Political leaders in the country. And of the letters we have, that i think are really, really telling, this letter right here is on the white house letterhead from johnson. So its an official letter. But you can see its actually a very long letter. Its a long piece. To serve fulbright. And what hes doing is explaining the state of asia. Johnson has been to asia and has met with World Leaders over there, has met with people, talked with people on the ground, talked with their o convince senator fulbright that people in asia really want us there. They want us supporting cambodia and other places. They want us fighting companies and. He said the communism. He said communism. He said the World Leaders approve. Fulbright is quickly coming to the opinion this is 96 d6 again 1966 again this is not the case. Its a personal letter. Dear bill. Hes really just explaining. Hes not even asking for fulbright support. This is what going on for real. Its a three page document on that letterhead saying im trying to understand it. I think what were doing is the right idea. And he says bill, i wish you could have been there with me. I wish you could have seen what i saw. And then, a couple years later, a letter dated november 18, 1968. Illt begins with, and read it quickly. It says, dear bill, congratulations on your reelection. You and i have had our differences, yet we both served america in the best way we knew mark i believe remarkable progress. So, fulbright has been reelected yet again, but johnson takes time to write fulbright. And fulbright had opposed johnson at many key initiatives but said i know we disagreed on so many things, but we were both really doing the best we could for the country. What were looking at here are two photographs, really of many, of senator fulbright and many of the other famous bill politician from arkansas, bill clinton. Bill clinton and bill fulbright had a very close and very friendly and very warm mentor mentee relationship for decades. So, these are two photographs from fulbrights papers that show fulbright at the very end his career, really at almost at the end of his life, after bill clinton has become the most powerful politician from arkansas. The governor at the time, bill clinton, was there sharing one of those warm moments with his mentor, bill fulbright. And then right here, couple of years later, of course bill clinton has become president in 1992. And clinton has the honor of presenting the president ial medal of freedom to his idol and mentor, bill fulbright. Provides somecord insight in what the nation can do to invest in the future. He was somebody who saw a long way. He saw a long way beyond fayetteville, arkansas. International conflict. Conflict between nations. Cultural misunderstandings. These things are as old as human history. They will always happen. And nations like the United States and other nations around the world dont want war. Dont want conflict. Fulbrights one of those people who shows you how you learn about the world and how you use your gift for political acumen. How do you use your talents to shape the world . Cspan cities tour travels the country exploring the american story. We bring you the history and literary life of a different city on book tv and American History tv. To watch videos of any of the places weve been, go to cspan. Org citiestour and follow us on twitter at cspancities. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] the contenders, about the men who ran for the presidency but lost. Monday, thomas dewey. Tuesday, adlai stevenson. Wednesday, very goldwater. Thursday, hubert humphrey. Friday, george wallace. And saturday, george mcgovern. The contenders, on next week at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Weeknights this month, were featuring book tv programs as a preview of what available every weekend on cspan two. Tuesday night, beginning on 8 00 eastern, we look at writing and publishing. Anst, and this professor english professor looks at reading that was popularized. And then others talk about the future of books and Book Publishing in an era of technological and social change. Later, Roger Rosenblatt discusses the importance of documenting everyday life during times of crisis. Enjoy book tv on cspan2. This is President Trump and other state and local officials looking over storm damage in lake charles, louisiana, where hurricane laura came ashore thursday morning. The storm was the most powerful ever to make landfall in the state and thousands remain without power in the area. [indistinct conversations] [sounds of chainsaws] [indiscernible] [indiscernible] [indiscernible] later, the president moved on to orange county, texas about 30 miles from lake charles and met with officials including governor grade greg abbott and senator marco rubio, the president took some questions after the briefing