Transcripts For CSPAN2 In Depth 20151212

Orleans guest new orleans . What makes it special . Host what makes it, well, unique was the word i was going to use and a little bit different. Its one of the few unique places left. Guest i always say its an ethnicity to come from new orleans. We have our own food, our own music and a real sense of place. It is not, it isnt like any other place in the country. Its much more mediterranean. It, in fact, in capital dames elizabeth playly, whos here in washington, is very much for the union, but as various times, as you know, i have trouble thinking of the south as our enemy. Theyre all our relatives in kentucky and in virginia and tennessee, and she says now new orleans, thats different. Theyre a bunch of french people in quadroons. So that was a sense that it was just a Foreign Place. Now, it was a Foreign Place with a very important port, and that was true throughout the history of this country. But it was always welcoming and remains welcoming to all kinds of people. When i was growing up, always all the store windows said bench [speaking french] so there was always that sense of multiple languages. And party, you know . Its a great place to party and parade. And that spirit just permeates the place. Going right after katrina, my biggest sense even with all the huge devastation there, the thing that i couldnt get over the most was the silence. I had never been in the city in my whole life when it was silent t. And finally one day there was a seoul trumpet sole trumpet that played. Thank god, somebodys back with an instrument. So it is, its a special place. Host i think its in capital dames that you talk about a trip you took to fort sumter with your grandkids. Guest i did, yes. We were there with my daughters children, and at that point her youngest was fairly young. And, of course, these kids go to these places and try to completely salve venn bier scavenger in the gift shop. So he says to his mother, what side were we on . He didnt know whether to buy blue or gray. [laughter] she said everybody who was alive in your family at the time fought for the south, but it was good for the country that the north won. And i think thats a very good description. Host in from this day forward, where with your husband, steve roberts, you talk about the vietnam war and a luncheon you had with your folks at 21. Guest not one of my proudest moments, right . Host what happened . Guest well, it was a time when people were very tempers were flaring over the vietnam war, and there was a lot of generational conflict. And my father was in the democratic leadership of congress and a supporter, strong supporter of president johnsons. And the Johnson Family and our family was very close. And my husband was, you know, subject to the draft, and it was a very bad moment when we got in a big screaming fight in public about the vietnam war which is not something i normally would do. Host and you say you regret it to this day. Guest yeah, i do regret et. Host this is a text message from dan in chicago. Having suffered sudden family loss myself, i wonder if cokie could speak to the loss of her father, hal boggs, in a plane crash. Guest its understandable. The plane was never found, and so people always have conspiracies about things like that. Amelia earhart, theres conspiracies around to this day. But it was, of course, incredibly shocking and painful, and not having a body, frankly, is a very unsettling thing. Theres a reason for our rituals around death, and they are i dont, the word closure is a terrible word, and i dont believe in it, but they are comforting. And they are a way of understanding that the death has actually occurred. And not having that is very unsettling is the only word i can use. And i, as i said earlier, live in the house that i grew up in. And for a long time after we moved in, i was hesitant t to change the kitchen wallpaper because i thought maybe hed show up and be confused if the wallpaper wasnt the same. Just totally irrational attitudes, and i didnt act on them, but they were there in the back of my brain. So its a very difficult sort of situation to have to deal with. I know intellectually that the, by far the most likely thing to have happened is that the p plane iced up and sunk to the bottom of Prince William sound which is 600 feet deep and was just never seen again. But thats one thing to know intellectually and another thing to embrace emotionally. And there are conspiracy theories, you know, ranging from he was on the warren commission, and maybe he knew something about the kennedy death, or he was or there was, he and Herbert Hoover had had, cross swords, and maybe there was something with hoover. I mean, there have been all kinds of conspiracy here theori. I dont think thats the way life works. I think conspiracies are much too rational. I think that life is much less rational. Host and this text message, wonderful example of women, bring about change. I wonder if you know of the book written out of history by sonya hendry and emily tatts. With your unique background, i thought you might be interested in knowing the idea of women being ignored by historians. Guest its true. Our names are not on the documents, and we werent the generals in the war. And so there is a sense that, therefore, the women werent important. Thats why ive devoted a great part of my life to trying to change that. Host 202 is the area code, 7488200 in the east and central time zones, 2027488201 in the mountain and pacific. You can also send a text message, dont call this number, just for text messages, 2027179684, and in this second half of our program were going to be looking at some of twitter messages and the Facebook Comments as well. Right now its laura in erie, pennsylvania, with Cokie Roberts. Caller good afternoon. I have to bring up an issue that might be one of the ones you referred to about talking to Gloria Steinem that might be exhausting [laughter] caller i dont know what your personal views are, but i think it has been just an atrocity that millions of 55 million plus up born babies since roe v. Wade have been killed in abortion. I think youre catholic. I would like to hear your views about what we could do to lessen the number. I know its going down, and we all most of us deplore the acts of the person who shot up planned parenthood. But i wanted to ask you particularly if you think that there was an article in the guardian about save unborn life, its a charity that offers money who wont dont want to abort but they do because of financial struggles. Host all right, laura, i think we got your point. Lets get an answer. Guest i think that movement to try to help women who want to carry their babies to term is very important. Its one of the things that has been true in the Catholic Church for a long time, or particularly the religious women of the church are trying to help those women. Its clearly a subject that is of terrible divisiveness in the country because its not something where its not like money where you can split the difference. And so people who feel very strongly, feel very strongly morally on both sides, actually. But i think that those of us who would like to see no abortions, that the answer really is moral asuasion rather than laws because we know what happens when you pass laws that people dont believe in and go around. So i think that the work on moral suasion actually is succeeding to some degree. As you just said, the number of abortions has gone down, and the attitudes among young people on the subject are very different from among young people of an earlier age. So i think, i think that to continue to be compassionate and to show mercy, as the pope said, to the people who have found themselves in this position makes a tremendous, great deal of sense and will also have an impact. Being angry and hateful is not the way to win hearts and minds. Host chapter six from this day forward is on divorce, and you talk about the fact that roman catholics divorce at the same rates as other groups. You go on to say guest and have abortions. Host you go on to say one reason for this trend is divorce breeds divorce. As the National Marriage project puts it, divorce is an everpresent theme in the books, music and movies of the youth culture, and reallife experience is hardly reassuring. Guest well, you know, again, theres some evidence that the divorce rate is going down. And, of course, what does happen with divorce is a good bit of recidivism. But i certainly saw it with my kids generation where they, they were so aware of their friends parents divorces that it was something that they kind of looked for in mates, hoping they could find someone that was not out of that pattern of divorce. But, you know, look, its like anything else. Are there some people for whom doors is the right answer . Absolutely. And particularly, of course, in an abusive situation. But and are all divorces bad . Absolutely not. But to the degree that you can try to stay married forever, i think its probably better. But its not for everybody. And, you know, im not the person to host why did you devote a whole chapter in this book guest because you cant talk about marriage without talking about divorce. Host next call for Cokie Roberts comes from brent in portland, michigan. Hi, brent. Caller hi. Yes. Cokie, do you think that we would ever have the political will to have Campaign Finance National Campaigns where washington politicians guest no. [inaudible] [laughter] guest my answer to that question is, no. There was, you know, the brief moment in our history where we had that, and then the Supreme Court ruled in valeo v. Buck hi that you couldnt keep somebody from spending his own money in a political campaign. And so that started to unraffle the whole thing unravel the whole thing. And as you well know since then, its been unraveled even more. But even before we had the Citizens United decision from the Supreme Court, you did not have members of Congress Voting to publicly finance campaigns. For two reasons. One is that its always hard to get people to change the financing of, from the way they were elected. They got there under the current system. So thats always difficult. But its also true that if you try to go to the taxpayers and say youre going to pay for political campaigns, most taxpayers would be up in arms. So its a very, very, very hard nut to crack. Host Cokie Roberts wrote her first book in 1998, we are our mothers daughters. From this day forward, with her husband steve roberts, came out in 2000. Founding mothers came out in 2004. Ladies of liberty in 2008. Uniting traditions for interfaith families. Working on her second Childrens Book, and her most recent bestseller is capital dames the civil war and the women of or washington. Guest this is the revised and expanded version of we are our mothers daughters which came out in 2009. Host yes, there is a revised, updated version of we are our mothers daughters. Guest and you have a noisy machine over there. Host i apologize for that. [laughter] kay in denver, hi. Caller hi. Im so pleased to have an opportunity to see this program. Guest good. Caller its been wonderful. Cokie, i first heard of you, actually met you, in commerce, texas, in 1975. You came to the sam rayburn symposium on that small School Campus along with ladybird, sarah weddington, Liz Carpenter and a host of other wonderful people. Im so glad i had the opportunity to hear you, because i continue to Teach High School Government Guest wonderful. Caller for 30 years. Guest oh, thats great. Caller and ive loved all your works, and its just wonderful to have the opportunity to see you. Would you tell me the proper way that i, a former texan and now a colorado should pronounce the name of your state . Guest in texas you probably say louisiana. And theres even a difference in louisiana among louisianians because people in north louisiana might be inclined to say louisiana as well, but it is louisiana. Host and youve been saying new orleans. Guest right. So new orleans is pronounced differently by everybody, and you can almost tell by what ward you grew up in by the way you pronounce it. The way i pronounce it is saying new orleans very fast. Host sandra in california. Caller hi, Cokie Roberts. You are a National Treasure to our great country. Im a 70yearold Senior Citizen guest listen, im older than you are, im older than you are, so stop with that Senior Citizen stuff. Caller god bless you. [laughter] keep up your work, your voice is soft. We need you. Guest well, arent you kind . Thank you very, very much, i appreciate that. Caller i look forward to getting your last book. Guest great, please do. Host Cokie Roberts, do you like the public attention . Maybe like isnt the right word. Are you used to not being able to go out in public without stopping you . Guest people are kind. People are very kind. And the people who dont like me dont come up and say anything, im happy to say. So i can hardly be resentiment of that resentful of that. And ill tell you, peter, when it was really important, it was after it was public that i had breast cancer. At first i found it somewhat offputting that people would come up to me and talk about it, and then i thought, you jerk. Here are people offering you their goodwill, their prayers, their concern, and they have noisy machines. And i then realized that i was really cushioned by it. And it was a wonderful support system of strangers. Host kent in irving, texas. Please go ahead. Caller cokie, ive really enjoyed your work, and i want to thank you for upholding family says. Guest thank you. Caller that means a lot to me. Is and im sorry for the losses in your family. But i did want to ask you, dont you think that a Common Thread in our political structure that causes the biggest problems is the money . Theres no way that all these candidates are spending this much money on their campaigns. I mean, wed be making trillionaires overnight through airtime and newspaper ads. Its just bribery, and i name be it. Guest i agree that money is a huge issue in politics, as i said earlier. But the one thing to keep in mind is that people who spend a great deal of money often lose. I mean, let me introduce you to steve forbes, you know . Let me introduce you to ross perot. Its not dispositive. It can, its a very heavy thumb on the scale. But it doesnt necessarily tip the scale. And i think thats something that is worth keeping in mind. Host steven, decatur, illinois. We are talking with author and commentator Cokie Roberts. Hi, steven. Caller hello. Good day. You know, i dont necessarily consider cokie a National Treasure, i just [laughter] to me, she was always a straight talker, someone that was very charming. I could get the facts, and that was very, very charming. I heard a story that you told about your husband. He was up taking care of the guests while you were taking care of the furnace, and you started thinking of i think you started thinking about divorce. [laughter] but you, obviously, love him, and it didnt matter. Guest you know, thats a true story. It was exactly it was him and the landlord. It was even worse than a guest. We were live anything greece, and he and the land lord are sitting in the living room together having a dream while im in the basement fixing the furnace. There was something wrong with that picture. [laughter]. Syndicated around the country and the magazine so he is busy. Host after the New York Times he went to u. S. News and world report for a long time. Guest and the president said the magic words in doubt chair. Because he had been an adjunct maryann loved it, someone he got full professorship. Host from this day forward, you are pretty frank in their about when he became more prominent, at least your face and the more wellknown than he and what that did your marriage or what it didnt do. Guest some men would not be able to deal with that particularly of our generation. We were not raised expecting that. And all of the young men expected to be president of the United States, and so to have we women didnt expect to do anything. The tables turned, and we need to go through a lot of changes in society and in our own lives. We met very young, we have been able to manage those shoals together and very loving lee. It doesnt mean every day has been perfect but we have been married 49 years and it is a very nice thing. Host text message from kansas city, missouri. Long admired you. Insightful observer of people and the world of politics, your Historical Research in writing is remarkable but i would enjoy reading your eye witness account to the years to modern history, any chance . Guest no. First of all i feel like i do that all the time. I comment on and write about things but secondly it is nice to write about dead people. They cannot argue with you. One of the defendants, i had that defendant come up and give me grief not long ago about one of my books and i said give it a rest. She is dead for hundreds of years. It is important to bring this history to life. I am on a mission to let americans know about the women in our history. To learn about it myself and second, to let americans know about it. Host irving, texas, you are on booktv with Cokie Roberts. Guest another irving, texas. Caller good afternoon. Enjoy cspan, i enjoy your books and your work on abc, i would like to ask similar to the ladies that you write about do you feel you have taken advantage of the opportunities you have been given in journalism and a historian or have you been able to shape those opportunities yourself and what do you think about facebook for washington d. C. . Guest i think i have been very blessed. I was blessed to be born into the family that i was born into and have the education that i had, i have healthy children and grandchildren, it will really, a series of gifts. To the degree that i have been able to make a success of it i take advantage of it. I tried very hard to pass along that to other people especially mentor young women. Along the way. I understand high have been given many none of this happens, and had an obligation to share. D. C. Statehood is part of that. And to make life better, in columbia. Most of the country really doesnt understand. They do not have equal representation. In terms of voting for president , and there is not equal representation in the United States congress. That is fundamentally undemocratic. Host the dedication in capital dames, i dedicate my books to women, i realize and whatever been able to write about the men in my life having taken this seriously first as a girl and as a woman. Those men, three of whom we lost last year, i thank with this book, my brotherinlaw, mark roberts, my brother in law paul sigmund, most especially my husband. Host guest was a hard year last year. His twin brother mark, and my brother tom dropped dead in september, both totally unexpected. My brotherinlaw paul, was boulder, and a couple good friends. Host marsha from illinois. Caller i was wondering, i loved your books founding mothers and capital dames and i was wondering if you ever considered writing about the women who helped settle the west like elisabeth bacon custer and jesse fremont. And reading the diaries of the books on guest lewis and clark. Caller and i was wondering do you think William Clark was in love guest yes i do. Host stay on the line and we will get an answer from Cokie Roberts but what do you do and why the interest in what you talk about . Caller it is a very small farming community. I farm, raise cattle by myself, i have always had a big interest in American History even before america was a nation and been interested in anything to do with the west. Guest i understand if you are farming and raising cattle yourself. So you are a pioneer women yourself. Jesse fremont, i write a lot about in capital dames and she was quite an interesting person, the most famous woman in america when her husband was running for president. She had a hard life and women of los angeles brought her her house and made it possible to live out her life in dignity, i think the western womens stories are fascinating. The mormon women who walked across the country, all of that are incredible stories. I am more comfortable writing about washington because i bring a certain sensibility to that so that if i combine womens history and political history, it works in my book. There have been some terrific book about women of the west and i think William Clark was in love with sacajawea and i think she was in love with him too. That christmas when they were in the far west in oregon, found a way to give him some small presence and that is hard for her to do. At the end, her husband was a jerk and at the end of the trip clark did write that she deserved a much greater reward. She got no reward so clearly deserved a greater one, then he was able to give and he then did want to adopt, really, herbie, and she said i am still nursing him. The way she worked it out was instead of letting him bring the baby to st. Louis she moved to st. Louis. Clark did it educate the boy, but she is there too. Whether anything came of it or not i would doubt it given the time and all that. Did they have more than a passing affection for each other . My guess is no. Host we have an extra copy of capital dames here. You send your address to booktv cspan. Org and we will get Cokie Roberts to sign this book after the show and sent it out to you from booktv. That is marsha in illinois, send your address if you want to to booktv cspan. Org and we will get Cokie Roberts to sign it. Richard in denver. Caller i was wondering just a couple things. And what your thought would be on the old adage is anybody can be president and apparently it doesnt apply too well to the current republican party. And the other thing is i was wondering what your opinion of states having the right to determine the abortion decision, two little quick comments. Guest the second one first because it is easier. States were in charge of abortions until the Supreme Court decision of roe versus wade in 1972. Once the court said that abortion before a certain period was unconstitutional then it moves out of the realm of the states and the states can pass laws that limit abortions, require things like parental consent or minors having abortions, that kind of thing but they cant absolutely outlawed them under the constitution the way it now stands. Unless another case goes to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court reverses roe versus wade. The other question was host i apologize, my fault. I did not write it down and i apologize to that gentleman. But this is from bob in duluth, minn. Would you consider Alice Roosevelt longworths group base along . Did you ever meet her . Guest i did meet her because her granddaughter was with me at stone ridge in washington. Her daughter had tragically committed suicide and her granddaughter was a couple classes behind me and mrs. Longworth came in her limousine to pick up joanna everyday and she was very dedicated grandmother but she was also the character that you know her to be, if you have nothing naysay she had a very hard life. Term mother died when she was young, she grew up with this rowdy bunch of roosevelt kids with a stepmother and her husband was awful and she lost her daughter. Fascinating character. Host a new book came out, Alice Roosevelt longworth, did you ever meet Eleanor Roosevelt . Guest i did, she was around in politics. And your parents involvement. Host brad in minneapolis. Caller i dont know if you mentioned earlier about your father, can you talk a little bit about what his feelings re about the findings of the warren commission, and i always heard he had questions about it aunt conspiracy angle to it that was tied to his plane going missing, if you would mention that i would appreciate it. Host my father did not have questions about the warren commission. That is something that has been spread around. Shortly before he died he was asked about it end. Jim garrison, had all the conspiracy theories. Host three parts to this question. How do you practice your catholic faith in the patriarch and as a feminist how you practice your faith . And unrelated question. Guest i am catholic like ive read. It is impossible for me not to be catholic. Does it make me furious that patriarchy of the church . Absolutely. It makes me particularly furious on behalf of religious women because theyre they are doing this incredible work, and really doing the work of jesus. The fact that they have to put up with men who are very appalling is something that should not have to happen. Pope francis has helped along those lines a lot. When he came to this country and made it very clear that he was very appreciative of the work the nuns are doing. It is an important step. He doesnt understand women. Team makes that clear. If i were a younger person who had a particular upbringing than catholicism, i might not be able to continue to practice but i am too committed to it as a lifelong catholic to be able to say goodbye to it. I do feel a sense of strong sisterhood, in close touch with many of them. I am so it miring of them and the work they do end i feel like it would be abandoning them, and they cant run me out of it. Host was your mother the first female ambassador in . To the vatican . Guest yes. Host was that important at the time . Guest she was married it might be an issue. It was a worldclass diplomat, had been there the whole life but officially that was the Diplomatic Community for quite some time. She understood certain things about america that she was able to impart in rome in ways that she was a politician. She was very effective. Host i day longterm historical figures. Clare boothe has the moment in history, out longworth is more someone of a character, ladies of liberty, in Baltimore Patterson is the maid name. She married napoleons younger brother on a tour of the United States. Napoleon put an end to that. East a bone apart for life and was a character. She does come down in history. She did have letters. Everybody else wrote about her, very see through clothes. At her wedding, she was wearing, would have fit in his pocket as a handkerchief. But a bishop married her. She was somebody. Was she significant in terms of what she did . Know. She was significant in giving a good deal of entertainment. Host john in alabama, please go ahead with your question or comment. Caller thanks for taking my call. Sort of in between jasper, alabama, and mississippi. Big fan of yours, listen to you on the way. In the 80s. Get to teach elementary history and so pleased with the Childrens Book. Just had a couple questions i wanted to ask you. Want was in light of the fact that your family, my dad, the mayor of my coin. Very political will, and very politically, may be given unique empathy for politicians. Guest it has given me empathy for politicians. Rowdy households, homework and all of that, they are regular people who deal with regular issues and here in washington, do it in a difficult financial situation because housing here is expensive and they dont make as much as a lot of people in town. I do have empathy for them and as i said earlier i think almost all of them are here to serve the public by their life so i am mad miring of that and add miring the fact that they were willing to be in the arena. They were willing to take on issues of Public Policy and make a big difference in peoples lives sell a i do think i do have a sense of understanding them. Host almost 3 hours we have sat here and the birds Hillary Clinton have not been added. A little bit of a shock to me since we are talking a lot of women in history. Guest i think that is the gentlemans other question. Can anybody grow up to be president , and my reaction to that was so far anybody but a girl. I do think that moment is upon us, that wont decided the elections but i do think there are people in the country who feel strongly that it is time and mrs. Clinton is preying on that this time around in a way she did not in 2008. Now is a very different set of circumstances. I do think that is hanging bare. Host in many ways even if she didnt win, would she be seen as somebody important in history, first lady, senator . Guest absolutely. The combination of her various forms of service have placed her there. Host judy in alexandria, louisiana. Caller hi, my question is what is your opinion of removing the confederate memorial plaques in new orleans . What is your opinion of removing those from the city of new orleans . Host what is your opinion . Caller it should not be removed because it is part of our history. Not only of new orleans the louisiana and the south. Guest to me it is kind of striking to think about lees circle without leave. I think the circle before that the mayor has said that he has been struck by the things the people on the city council have told him and it makes difference and i had other nor the indians of color tell me that when they were children they were really uncomfortable going around that statue. Again, remember these are not things that date back to the war. These are things that are much more recent in our history. The statue is complicated because it is on the national register, i am not sure about that. Historic landmark. It would make a certain amount of sense to have that to be a monument one of the monuments that does incorporate a lot of the history, whereas some of the others in new orleans could go with no problem. Host tell us stories about david, sam and george, this is ron in north dakota. Guest one of the things that was so much fun about that program, we all enjoy being with each other and we traveled some and that is always fun. Nobody was different off the air than on the air. People who watch the program got a good sense of who we are, and not like a wild and crazy georgia was swinging to get off the air for some quiet, waiting to get off the air. They are very smart, very interesting, very well informed, who brought those attributes to television. Host please go ahead with your question or comment. Caller i will take it off the air after i ask. I am curious why we dont have a debate such like the Lincoln Douglas debates in the 1950s or 60s, the other question i have to ask you, most republicans slated people running for president , they dont have a sense of what the history of this country is about. I want your comments on that. Host Newt Gingrich tried to do them, had the last time. It is almost impossible to get americans to watch debate with broken up with questions, that are an hour long. Getting people to sit down and Pay Attention to a very long disquisition where the two candidate talking to each other, i suspect the viewersship on that would be about 3. That is a shame that that is the case. Every so often candidates try it and that is kind of fun. But the republicans, and dont think it is confined to the republicans running for president who dont know our history. I have been wailing about that through this hold three hours of how much our history is not taught and how much it needs to be taught. One part is a tiny event, in america the fact the we dont know our history has a certain advantage, we dont nurse these grudges as people do in other countries, willing to go to war with each other over something that happened the thousand years ago among their ancestorss. Fortunately we dont do that but on the other hand we also dont know the really important parts of our history and getting through periods of time when there were tremendous differences among us and they were worked out legislatively and in ways that kept the country together. And done with the word compromise which is something that of course has to happen if people like to come together and turn compromise into a dirty word is to have a recipe for total chaos because you cant get anything done without someone being willing to give a little bit here and take it little bit there. Host you talkedabout the updates you are doing and the new Childrens Book, is there another grand topic out there . Host i am not quite ready to talk about the nea at but i am aware that the 100th anniversary of suffrage is 2020. That is something to think about. Host as i mentioned earlier booktv covered the book party for capital dames in may of this year when it first came out. I want to show you some video. This great mission, this great contribution Cokie Roberts has discovered at this stage of life where she is rescuing the history, Everybody Needs an editor. I just bring mine along. Or a producer as the case may be. Guest my husband stephen, at this stage i said something about being told. He is very kind about this work because it really is not pleasant to be with me when i am near the end of a book. This book, because last year horrible deadline. And running through until 6 30 at night googleing heart attack symptoms in when. He really had to put up with a lot. Host where you really . Guest yes because the stress level was so high but he was my biggest supporter by a long shot. He was very sweet. The sesquicentennial is going to be over in april of 2015 and i wanted it to be endorsed when the centennial was still going on. Host bob is in nashville, please go ahead. Caller you are very much, similar background to al gore. Your parents both, very much southern progressives. Have you considered writing the book about your parents . Guest i really havent. To write a book about your parents, my mother wrote a wonderful book called washington through a purple veil. About her own life although she said later think what a good book i could have written if i were willing to tell the truth. She doesnt tell tales out of school. The particularly is a women, very good friends, i have known al gore since the day he was born. It is true the family was similar in their politics. Next call for Cokie Roberts from rich in lawrence, kan. Caller ever had therge during an interview with a politician to say you cant possibly believe that. Guest i have had the urge to say liar liar pants on fire and i think i have actually said it and i know i said to one once on the air what you are saying basically is crap if you believe in king from bell. I dont beat around the bush. I never said you cant believe that because that is not fair. They might actually believe it, you never know. 19 las vegas, go ahead with your question or comment for author and journalist Cokie Roberts. Caller thank you for taking the call. Always a great admirer of your commentaries on television. I came here as an immigrant in 62 from holland and joined the United States air force. I am a veteran of vietnam. One of the questions i have got, that long perspective on American History and american politics, what bothers me personally is what i see as coarseness and the increasing tendency toward vulgarity in American Culture and american politics. Is this something which has happened many times before or is this up a trend which is particularly disquieting, that is basically my question. Guest we have very poisonous, partisan, polarized the vulgarity is something somewhat new. I do think you are right, it permeates society. Bumper stickers have words we would have to bleep on television run them. When i was growing up, there were censorship, books like lady generallys lover were not allowed in the United States. Now that seems quaint. There certainly is a vulgarity in music, the way people talk and of course that is bound to spill over into all aspects of life in and we are seeing now some of the candidates being celebrated for using vulgarity and other candidates imitating them because they think maybe that will make a look tough. Something i find very unpleasant, certainly the kind of thing you raise your children not to do and it is interesting, the words are still bleeped on television and radio but used much more than they used to be. Host from capital dames, not all of the entertaining in the capital was of that sort, washington, many married men live without their wives, long supported the bawdyhouse with young singles soldiers swarming into the sea, the oldest profession had arrived. Guest black and white prostitutes by the thousands were in this city and the most famous house where the American Indian museum now in the national mall, and at one point, just as it is today every so often the police would read these places and the trial, newspapers are so wonderful, trial was covered in great detail, and one of the young policeman said he went in and didnt see the women doing any work meaning they werent selling so i thought maybe a wedding was going on because they were serving champagne. There was no wedding. This hall, even though she would occasionally get arrested was considered such an upstanding citizen of the community she died quite wealthy and there was a big monument to her, a congressional cemetery, and newspaper stories were all about what a wonderful person she was and what a contributor to society so there you go. Host congressional cemetery, Hidden Treasure here. Guest my daughter worked there for awhile. Host j. Edgar hoover. Guest my father has an empty tomb, the story is interesting because they were designed by the designer of much of washington and they were the places where members of congress were stored and tools they could be taken back to their states to be buried. There was some consideration, people avoided dying to stay out of them but i dont think it is that bad. The cemetery has many famous people there and many interesting things. Host jane sherman, can miss roberts comment on whether she was surprised that john edwards won the louisiana governorship is it bigger for louisiana . Guest i was surprised because louisiana has become such a red stain and no democrat was elected statewide in quite sometime. So the question is was it just about david vitter, the republican candidate and his problems . Does it signify something bigger . We really wont know until we go through a couple more election cycles. What he did do aside from attacking the effectively, he did reach out to lower income white people about things like medical care and say he would expand medicaid and would raise the minimum wage so whether those were issues that appealed to people and helped get him elected or not is really something we have to watch. Host in wichita, kan. Apologize, that offer for a signed book for Cokie Roberts was only for marsha who called in earlier. I apologize. Guest if he writes to me at abc and will send the book plate. Host charlene in montana. Caller good afternoon. I appreciate listening to Cokie Roberts through the years and your viewpoints have always been refreshing to me, whether i was feeding cows or getting ready to go to college, as a nontraditional students in my 40s. My question is what do you think about donald trump digging up Ronald Reagans theme make America Great again and a followup, i am concerned as a 62yearold single woman, looking at the federal budget and seeing on the news that entitlement programs and defense are about the same amount of money. As a single white woman who any woman really who are single and cared for family members of i am concerned with what is going to happen between defense and entitlements especially of women who live much longer than men. I will hang up and listen to your response. Guest let me talk about make America Great again. I think america is great. I think it is a great country. And if you ever want to doubt that, you need to have your faith and affection for the country reinforced, all you have to do is go to a naturalization ceremony. You see people from all over the world, every possible place raising their right hand to take the oath as citizens of the United States. Talk to them about why theyre doing it. I cant even say this without having goosebumps. When i am at one of the ceremonies i and in tears fold time. They are so inspiring. One little brief one. A woman from ethiopia, she said because america is so great, always is bare when other people needed. That is why i have given so Many Blessings and wanted to be part of the blessings. It is beautiful. I think this notion of make it great again is insulting. I think it is great and we should be confident in our greatness can rejoice in which it and not shy away from our ability to do what needs to be done. That is my basic reaction to that. The other question was . Guest i think host i keep missing guest entitlements. Here is the deal. Unlike what the federal budget, if we got rid of every single solitary thing in the budget, everything about agriculture, everything about justice, the Supreme Court says close down, turn the capital into condos, shutdown the entire federal government with the exception of defense, Social Security, medicare and interest on the debt we would still have a deficit. So those are the big ticket so. If your concern is the entitlements will go way i would not be concerned about that. The reason i would not be concerned about that is people who care about Social Security and medicare vote. They vote on those issues and in five years if the pentagon there will still be Social Security and medicare. I dont think theres any problem with that. If people have problems with that they should vote on the issues they care about and organize around those issues and put together a coalitions on those issues, but right now it is still true that the most powerful lobbying group in washington is the elderly and it is not about money. Hold people, i am one of them, are tight, but it is about voting. I wouldnt worry about those entitlements as long as that vote remains. Host what do you think about the effect the New York Times editorial guest very interesting. I hadnt realize they hadnt done that since 1920. Host warren harding. Guest florence was also a piece of work. The issue of gun violence is one that people very upset on both sides defect that you had Jerry Falwell saying yesterday, what harm themselves, is something shocking to me. I have to say my reaction to that is the issue out at the o. K. Corral. I dont want to be somebody where everyone has a gun. It scares the devil out of me. I prefer people to be yelling and screaming at each other but not shooting at each other if somebody is paying 3 about something or just goes nuts. The notion that everybody in the room has a gun is really scary. Host back to the civil war era of our nation capital dames. Guest they did all have guns. Abigail adams wrote before the civil war in the congress, everyone is carrying arms since the other side put their hands to their breast with the least provocation. It was a little scary. Host many women who remained in capital city turned cold shoulders to the new first lady using not to call on her at Willards Hotel before the inauguration as protocol expected. Guest mary lincoln was a difficult person but also came into a difficult situation. Maryland, virginia, lincoln got 2 of the vote one place, and the assumption, a course westerner. And the refinement. The women that are here. That was entirely wrong, similar upbringing in education as many of the women over the years. She was related to quite a few of them. Harriet lane served as first lady under president buchanan, the outgoing mistress of the white house, very popular, wrote to a friend about that. They say mrs. Lincoln she came in with a lot of prejudice to begin with but she did not make it easy for her self. She was probably bipolar. And she would go off in fits of temper and say what she thought about someone and she was addicted to shopping and go way beyond the budget, and this was covered at all. She became a different person. Host what i hadnt realized was when her son had her committed she got out and her attorney was not woman lawyer. Host guest Robert Lincoln had her committed and who can blame him . At this point, was really off the charge but also embarrassed by her and i think that wasnt a good idea. Host a few minutes left with our guest Cokie Roberts john in depth. Planeville, kan. We are listening. Caller i wanted to tell Cokie Roberts that i was the director of the methodist Southern Methodist university in dallas for a decade, your name was one of the first i heard when i moved to dallas and you were such an inspiration to so many women and continued to be and i was excited to see you on booktv on cspan today. Host use that her name was one of the first, why . Caller because she was working on a paper and wrote many things often about women and she also spoke all over this city and we had her at our friendss Association Meeting several times as well and dealt with a womens studies collection in the library end she visited with us many times and played a role in helping us find women to get their papers and letters to put in that election and i wanted to thank her for that and for being an inspiration to me as well. And many women to put in that election. Guest i enjoyed my time there. It is a fascinating place. President bush has his library there, bush 43. And the library. Was right in there. Host how often i youd slated to speak . Guest quite often. I dont do it all the time. Host marshall tweets in do you have advice for authors of history . Guest my main advice is go for it because it can be frustrating and you can come up against stonewalls and try to figure out how to get around it and sometimes you cant. Dont go down that path, but my main method would be keep at it and there are so many more resources now. I was talking earlier about harpers, has all of it sold the issues around and the university library, have become far more receptive to requests from people who are not officials dollars and they are very helpful. Host is the library of Congress Guest library of congress is wonderful. It is our library and the manuscript room in the Madison Building has the most wonderful wonderful covers to are very knowledgeable. Host the library of congress sponsors the National Book festival, spoke about capital dames at that festival this past labor day weekend. If you go to booktv. Org and type in Cokie Robertss book you will see the book party and her presentation at the National Book festival plus in about an hour or two you will see this program which will be archived on booktvs website as well, booktv. Org is the web site, use that search function in the center and site in Cokie Roberts book and you have a selection of programs. Just a couple calls left. Carol in florence, ky, please go ahead. Caller i admire you so much. I would like for you to speak about Sandra Day Oconnor. Our first woman Supreme Court justice. Guest i think Sandra Day Oconnor was, is a very important figure in history. She really did pave the way for all who have followed her and there is a new book about her relationship with ruth bader ginsburg, well worth reading. She brought a sensibility, something that is so important. When a woman is the first or the only in a place she brings not just her knowledge and said different sensibility to the table. And the experience of womanhood, that is something nobody else in the room has, and she certainly brought back to the court. She also brought another very important element which is now completely absent which was that of a legislator, and she had the practical experience of actually having to carry out the victim of the court in a legislative body and she brought that experience to her decisionmaking as well and that is sorely missing at the moment. She was and is a highly important person, very involved in syndication since she left the court and she is someone who will certainly go down in history not just as the first but a major one. Host Cokie Roberts mmhmm joined in the are in 197the aren 1988, the still write your column . Guest she writes it most weeks. Host crane in louisiana has thirtysecond the 4 we have to close this up. Caller thanks for taking my call, big fan of yours. What do you think of a lot of noise but not a lot of content coming out of donald trump . I am a little worried about that. Guest i talked about it earlier but the thing to do is wait and see what happens when people start the inning. I have faith in the american voter, and if they decide donald trump is the right nominee for the republican party, you might start to see him moderate somewhat in his language but it is also possible that one not once the voting begins decide he is the right nominee for the republican party. Voting begins february 1st in the iowa caucuses, so we will know soon how this started to happen. Host and here are the books that Cokie Roberts has written over the years. First one, we are our motherss daughters, that has been updated since 1998 when it first came out. From this day forward with her husband steve roberts. Her second book. Founding mothers was another one. Ladies of liberty came out in 2004. Hataga about their interfaith marriage. And here is founding mothers, a Childrens Book and in the last couple years, last year, capital dames by Cokie Roberts about civil war women. Guest so good to be with you, thank you for your kind viewers. Cspan created by americas Cable Companies 35 years ago and brought to you as a Public Service by your local, cable or satellite provider. Next up, the economics of blow will citizenship. The book is cosmopolites. [applause] thanks and hello, everybody. Not every author event has standingroomonly crowd. So thank you wall and thanks to book court for making this such a wonderful event. A couple words, we have started a new publishing venture at columbia