Transcripts For CSPAN3 Comparing Approaches To Historical Na

Your 25th lecture. I will try to do him justice in describing this pedal for room you have chosen for your 25th lecture. You have chosen a remarkably historic room. I have to think the offices of the Senate Curator and historian who prepare and test histories alone of all of our art and all of our rooms. Without them, this introduction would not be possible. Begin, in the early 1900s, the house and senate decided they had outgrown their space. They commissioned two architects them aw york to build house and Senate Office building. Thee buildings have become russell Senate Office building. They are mirror images of one another from about. Those two individuals were educated in paris and a part of that education brought this beautiful art that you see around this room. They took great care to design this room. They spent over a year finding this marble that came from south dover, new jersey. Which is very interesting. This was known as simply the caucus room. It was intended to be a room for Political Parties to meet and caucus and determine their leadership and priorities for their party. Over time, it became a very popular and preferred place for congressional investigative hearings. Among them, the 1912 hearing on andsinking of the titanic, the watergate hearings of 1973. Stafferules committee so i find the following interesting facts far more interesting than that because there are no circumstances under which we would allow these things to happen in the United States senate today. Nine United States senators announced her candidacy for the presidency announced their candidacy for the presidency. Those Political Campaign activities would not be permitted here today. The second thing i find quite interesting, the 1961 film advise and consent was filmed in this room and it has to be a d. C. Cold classic because it is one of the only commercial films ever film to hear ever filmed here. If you have not seen it, you should. Today it is not used much as a Committee Hearing room. Larger and more technologically advanced rooms. What we use this room for is primarily legislative seminars and educational seminars, like this one. We are happy you have chosen this room. It is my honor to introduce mr. On carlson [applause] carlson good evening to everyone who has joined us tonight. Member of the executive committee at the u. S. Capital Historical Society board. We were founded in 1962 and started by congress in 1978 chartered by congress and night 70 1978. We communicate to the public the Rich Heritage of the capital and congress. I am please to welcome you to our lecture program. We are honored to work with the White House Historical association and the u. S. Supreme society torical enhance the knowledge appreciation of the american system of government. Topic is a very unique look at the historians craft. I want to thank my fellow board member Cokie Roberts and the other distinguished panelists for sharing their personal insight into the work of telling American History. These are highly accomplished people who have received numerous prestigious awards, Academy Award, an emmy, and the National Book critics circle award. We have a distinguished audience as well tonight. Guests representing members of congress, the architect of the capital, the Senate Historians office, universities, journalists, think tanks, museums, and others. I am sure the round of questions from the audience will be engaging. We are very pleased to welcome several speakers to share in the program tonight. We are honored that dr. Curtis is here to add some words of welcome on behalf of the white house Historical Society. [applause] sandberg good evening. I am very grateful to don because i have this long title and now i do not have to say it. I am delighted our association has a longstanding friendship with the Historical Society. I was thinking earlier, on a personal note, i began just a year ago directing the Rubenstein Center at the association and it was just at the time of the last lecture, the heritage lecture. This is going to be Something Like haleys comment haleys comet. It is the 25th and very near and dear to our hearts. History never goes away and all. F us are Kindred Spirits there is a cyclical quality to history. It is important to be an historian. Tonights panel, this is extremely important. Last year, the lecture was calvin coolidge, in our coolidge in our carriage house. After the Supreme Court society gets it next year, we look forward to having it back. The association, we are a private nonprofit educational organization. We have a terrific mission to enhance the understanding and appreciation of the executive mansion and it is a lovely history. We were founded in 1961 by first Lady Jacqueline kennedy at time and at the time, she was in her early 30s and the goal then and today was to help the white house collect and exhibit the best artifacts of American History and culture and this grew and grew and continues to to include acquisition, preservation, research and education. We have a very robust Education Program at the Rubenstein Center. Not to forget the white house ornament, and christmas is coming up. Up, on behalf of the association, i am year with a i amf my colleagues here with a number of my colleagues. We have a new chief historian. It is a marvelous partnership. Welcome to everybody, and thank you. [applause] i am honored to introduce dr. David pryde, executive director of the United States Supreme Court Historical Society and we are so pleased you could join us. [applause] thank you for being here. Lectureonal heritage was instituted in 1991 as a consequence of meeting between Staff Members of the historical groups serving the three branches of government. I was privileged to be at that meeting, the agenda of which was to ascertain how three organizations of similar mission could work together. Rotatingd upon a lecture series. Each of the participants would take turns every third year as a principal sponsor for the program that would appeal with the member to the members and friends of the other collaborators. The first of these was a lecture at the Supreme Court by justice 1937. Y on fdrs my apologies, of course, to the unrepentant new dealers. Kennedy did a masterful weaving evening together the historical threads of three branches involvement in that legislative process. That has been a hallmark of many of the National Heritage lectures ever sense. Ever since. Some have focused on the expertise of the primary host in any given year. Each approach, i think, has been well received and hence the continuation of this important series. The board of trustees has asked me to convey its gratitude to tonights principal sponsor, the u. S. Capital Historical Society for putting together this latest installment in what has been a venerable tradition. I want to convey our thanks to the white house Historical Society historical association. The Supreme Court Historical Society is honored to partner with each of you and looks forward to many more years of cooperative programming and hosting again next year. Thank you. [applause] thank you, david. It is my extreme honor to introduce my fellow member of the board of the capital Historical Society, Cokie Roberts, who constantly amazes me about her long service on the board and her inability to say no to any request we make of her. She is a political commentator for abc news on mpr with many years in broadcasting av news abc news and npr with many years in broadcasting. Among her many honors long ago i was taught the greatest introduction in washington was a short one. I intend to honor her by doing that tonight. Here is Cokie Roberts. Ms. Roberts thank you for being here. I was thinking when we had that history of the room, when some of us were young, there was only one Senate Office building when we were kids. It was this building. There were two house office buildings. The Senate Office building had s. O. B. Hat said [laughter] societytal historical also has christmas ornaments. So. Dont miss those. I have spent an inordinate amount of time in my life in this room, not only because it has these big events, like president ial announcements. I was here for ted kennedy and al gore. But also all of these hearings, including the endless iran contra hearings. I do complain today, i am complaining a lot because i did not get any sleep watching that edifying debate last night. The truth is, many of us have had the great privilege i have had the credentials were they give you a pass to make it easier of being eyewitnesses to history. We have been in this city, connected to these institutions where we have had a huge privilege. And that is one approach to history, is to live it and to record it as you go. Aboutalways the saying journalism, the first draft of history. It has been an exhausting privilege to be able to write that first draft. It is also true the other drafts that are more thoughtful, the drafts that have some very, very note only interesting, but important and useful and we do have three approaches and i am going to stick with the idea of short introductions. You do have some biographical information in your programs and also misses google will be able to help you with anything you need to know. Starting on the end, we have michael hill, who toiled in this venue working in government and politics, including as a press secretary of Walter Mondale when he was Vice President. And had he got faith the serendipity of be of meeting David Mccullough and started this wonderful ride. Of working with david and ken burns and john meacham and evan thomas and lots of other people, writing books and movies and traveling the world, learning all kinds of wonderful things and he has also written and of washburn,ary the United States minister to mence, which fascinated because that is one of my approaches to history to read books like that. That is one way of writing and reading and producing history. Grace guggenheim has taken another path where she has produced so many wonderful ,istorical documentaries including the Academy Awardwinning johnstown flood. ,hey go on and on and on theaters, tv museums, president ial libraries. She has been the creator of so much visual information that we can absorb and have access to our history in a way that would not be true if she had not been doing the work she has been doing these many years. Her most recent work is a treatment designed to cure cancer where she was the producer, director, and narrator. President of the productions, where she has been overseeing the preservation of her fathers film legacy. House on nantucket marthas vineyard, my mother and lady bird would hang out there. Honest to god, i was dying to be a fly on the wall. The best i ever got was to deliver my mother there and then i had to leave. And they always made me leave and it was not fair. Did you get to stay . You got to stay. Taken he does historys, the nonfiction ies and does these wonderful models and creates historical fiction. Another way of making history more accessible. And having people actually read it in ways the rest of us dont. His 2013 novel watergate was a finalist for the faulkner award and he has won many other awards. He also had a guggenheim fellowship, so you can turn to grace and say thank you. In addition to his wonderful fiction and i am told i must read finale as soon as this dreadful election is over. He has also written two books of nonfiction that interest me. Then 25f ones own and part of the reason that interests me is because that is how i do my history work. I need the diaries and letters in order to write the history. I am very eager to have other people help me find the letters and the diaries. Jesse been fremont was an incredible when john fremont ran for president at the first republican candidate for nobody knew 1856, who the Vice President joe candidate was because all of the she was the most famous women in politics for a very long time, and incredibly powerful. When he won the nomination in philadelphia, all of new york showed up at their house and said, show us jesse. Times, shell on hard started writing. They also published grace. Reenwood she was the first woman to write for the New York Times in the 1850s. And she wrote from europe. Things as hersuch admission to the house of lords where she went to hear Queen Victoria speak and she said the queen displayed more rosy regaltitude than attitude. And then she went to dinner at Charles Dickens house. I wonder how her american readers reacted to that. I know what she wrote because i and in the art times in the New York Times. One of the wonderful things about writing history right now is you can read the newspapers be in the be able to moment where the people you are writing about were so you are reading what they were reading. It is fabulous because it is not just the stories, but all the ads, so you have a sense of society in a much broader sense because you know what they were buying and what it cost and what childrens books people were reading and magazines and all of that. It is a fascinating way to come back around to that first draft of history helping you with the later dropped of history. Later draft of history. You can waste days sitting there and reading the newspapers. It is way too much fun. Thinking about the way i approaches street and writing my history books approach history and writing my history detective work, to some degree, it fascinated me to think about the different approaches. Tom, i willnk start with you since i ended with you. When you have done all of these, you have done 16 books now, you have done so many fiction and nonfiction books, why fiction . I came to fiction from nonfiction. I had written much more nonfiction before i started writing novels. I was interested i realized they were source material for so many of the stories i wanted to tell. Most almost all of the fiction i have written has been historical. It has been set in the fairly distant past, and more quently of late, books, id of the cannot remember if i made something up or in my file ms. Roberts . Ms. Roberts for journalists, that is a problem. Mr. Mallon it is a way into these subjects. Historians do their work responsibly and well and very vividly. Nonetheless, there is a restraint on them, a certain bridle on them that is not on the novelist. Said, nancy reagan, for instance, do you how do you know that nancy reagan thought that at that moment . And i dont. I dont have to substantiate knowing it. Even if the historian has some to say she may have thought that, it has to be wrapped up in so many subjectives. Novelist has her go ahead and think it. Malpractice,of historical fiction, but the hope is that it will somehow illuminate history in a different way. Ms. Roberts grace, in moving it from the page to the picture, do you feel any of that happens . Does it stay straight on . Is there some element of fiction . Very interestingnheim question because i struggle with it. With documentaries, they can come with different shapes and , it is still a story but the vision can change of that storyline based on the director or the interpreter or the producer. I will go backwards you mentioned my first film as an associate producer. I spent 18 years of mike are working with my father. The johnstown flood, we had a beautiful book written by David Mccullough which was the premise of our historical fact. What survives . S, it was a difficult challenge for a flood that took place in 1889. Usre were not diaries for except and the material did not survive either. Anything after the flood existed but very little before. Then what happens . This is one of the few docudramas i have worked on and how do you show a dam breaking . In that film specifically, there were licenses taken, but we also have a disclaimer saying this is interpretive. It allows us to get away with it and allows us to use reenactment. The initial approach is to try and find what historically exists that we can use. That is where we begin. It is a process of elimination of we need to talk about something visually over something visually. Ms. Roberts how do you feel about reenactment . Ms. Guggenheim when i look back at the johnstown flood, it looks a little questionable. Today, technology is so much more sophisticated. We will do we were dealing with technological challenges. I think it can work successfully but it can also be misleading. Ms. Roberts in the videos in museums, they tend to have a lot of reenactment. I think they have gotten better. Do you think they have gotten better . Ms. Guggenheim technologically, i think it has become seamless. There was a film about rosa parks not needed for an Academy Award nominated for an Academy Award and they were criticized for doing reenactments but did not do a disclaimer so peop