Lyndon B. Johnson-Speech on Vietnam (September 29, 1967) MCamericanpresident 2026-09-21 | Lyndon B. Johnson-Speech on Vietnam (September 29, 1967)
Andrew Johnson: It Matters Whos Chosen to be VP MCamericanpresident 2015-04-10 | This clip from the Miller Center's Historical Presidency series features Elizabeth Varon, an American history professor at the University of Virginia. You can watch this entire program on Andrew Johnson's impeachment and the legacy of the legacy of the Civil War at http://bit.ly/1DpP53B.
Moyers to LBJ: Hope You Change Mind about Running MCamericanpresident 2015-03-31 | This March 31, 1968 conversation between President Johnson and former Press Secretary Bill Moyers followed LBJ's announcement that he would not run for re-election.White House Operator: You want Bill Moyers to be taken?President Johnson: Yes, yeah.White House Operator: Fine. [Call connects.] There you are.President Johnson: Hello?Bill Moyers: Mr. President?President Johnson: Hi, Bill.Moyers: Well, I hope things happen to change your mind.President Johnson: No, sir. That’s--it's been made up a good while.Moyers: Well, I wondered about that. But I really do hope something happens, because I think that was a tremendous and unselfish thing to do, but I feel it won't be right without your being there. Of course, I’ve been sorry I haven’t been there to help the last few months and I hope you know . . .President Johnson: Here's Lady Bird [Johnson], Bill.Lady Bird Johnson: Hello, Bill!Moyers: Hi.President Johnson: Say howdy.Moyers: I just wanted to say I hope something happens to change his mind! [Lady Bird chuckles.]President Johnson: That can't be, so don't mention that. It’s moot.Moyers: [Unclear.]President Johnson: That's already . . . that bridge is crossed.Moyers: Well, I tell you, I just don't know what to do. Of course, you can't say anything at a time like this, but one of these days I'm going to do something that fits in line with the book I've always felt I had about what a great president you've been. Maybe that'll make it up to you some way.President Johnson: Thank you, Bill.Moyers: All right.President Johnson: Bye.Lady Bird Johnson: And I'm so glad--Recording ends.This is a draft and not a fully edited transcript.For more White House tapes, go to http://millercenter.org/presidentialrecordings.
Nixon, LBJ Discuss Vietnan, Truman Memorial, LBJs Heart Pains MCamericanpresident 2015-02-15 | In this Jan. 2, 1973 call, President Richard Nixon and former President Lyndon Johnson discuss Vietnam, an upcoming memorial service for President Harry S. Truman, football, and LBJ's 'heart pains."A transcript can be found at http://bit.ly/1AFgLnN.
H.W. Brands: Andrew Jackson & Troubled Birth of Democracy MCamericanpresident 2015-01-26 | In this video, author H.W. Brands discusses Andrew Jackson and the troubled birth of democracy. Brands is the author of "Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times." This lecture is part of the University of Virginia Miller Center's Historical Presidency Series. Will Hitchcock, the Miller Center's director of research and scholarship, introduces Brands. More information on this program is available at http://millercenter.org/events/2013/andrew-jackson-and-the-troubled-birth-of-democracy.
LBJ on 1964 State of the Union: I got 81 applauses. MCamericanpresident 2015-01-20 | On January 8, 1964, President Johnson delivered his first State of the Union address. Later that same day, Johnson spoke with journalist Drew Pearson and relayed news of the speech's positive reception.President Johnson: Drew?Drew Pearson: Good morning!President Johnson: Did you--Pearson: I'm out here trying to read your speech, but these benighted Republican papers won't carry hardly any of it.President Johnson: Well, didn't you hear it?Pearson: No, I've been traveling on the plane. I'm out in North Dakota.President Johnson: Well, I'll be damned. A great author like you, and you run off and do that. I--you disappoint me.Pearson: Well, [chuckling] I'm sorry. I'm out here campaigning for you!President Johnson: Did you hear what was said?Pearson: I--President Johnson: You don't know--you don't even know what's in it, do you?Pearson: I heard you got a tremendous amount of applause.President Johnson: I got 81 applauses in 2,900 words. It was for 25 minute speech and it took 41 because of the applauses. And the biggest one, after the introduction and the ovation, was, "We intend to bury no one and we do not intend to be buried."Pearson: Good. [Unclear]--President Johnson: Did you ever hear anything like that?Pearson: Oh, I think that's wonderful.President Johnson: [Chuckles.] Now, don't go home and go bragging to your grandson.Pearson: [laughing] I'm not bragging to anyone except about you.President Johnson: Well, anyway, I said, "We will be prepared for the worst and constantly acting for the best. We will [unclear] strong enough to win a war, and we must be wise enough to prevent one." [President Johnson paraphrases his speech here.]Pearson: Well, that's wonderful.President Johnson: "We shall neither act as aggressors, nor tolerate acts of aggression. We intend to bury no one and we do not intend to be buried. We can fight if we must as we've fought before, but we pray that we'll never have to fight again."Pearson: Well, that's terrific. Well, I knew it'd be a damn good speech, and I tried to get out here in time to hear it--President Johnson: Yeah.Pearson: --but I was on the plane.President Johnson: Thanks much.Pearson: Yeah, I--President Johnson: Thank you a lot, and call me when you get back.Pearson: All right, thank you.President Johnson: All right.This is a draft and not a fully edited transcript.For more White House tapes, go to http://millercenter.org/presidentialrecordings.
LBJ & His Attorney General Discuss MLK & Selma (Transcript Below) MCamericanpresident 2015-01-18 | In this Feb. 5, 1965 call, President Lyndon Johnson and his attorney general, Nicholas Katzenbach, discuss Martin Luther King, Jr.'s role in Selma one month before Bloody Sunday:President Johnson: Yes, sir? Nicholas Katzenbach: I called you because the demonstrations are still continuing down in Selma [Alabama], despite that court order that we got yesterday. And about 400 school kids were arrested just a little while ago for singing in front of the court house down there. And [Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights] John Doar is down there trying to work things out. Maybe he'll be successful. [Martin Luther] King's [Jr.] going to get out of jail, I think, later this afternoon. Doar will speak to him; he [King] may be more reasonable. They've gotten about everything they wanted, but they're still demonstrating. President Johnson: Hmm. Katzenbach: And they've got these kids so whooped up there, you know. They don't, I suppose, want to lose the momentum. They've lost their own judgment about it, but King may be better. Maybe they'll calm down. President Johnson: Well, I think that we ought to give a chance for the order to operate. Katzenbach: Yes. President Johnson: And we ought to be fair and reserved about it. And he ought to be told that. And I think that he ought to be told that, "Here's what I said yesterday." Katzenbach: Yes. President Johnson: And that's about as strong as a man can say it. And he must not ignore this kind of talk and these kind of statements, and he must help achieve them, and the best way to help achieve them now, is give us a chance. We've been in one court, and we'll be in others. And this is what he asked for, and this is what he's got, and we expect some quid pro quos. Katzenbach: Right. Well, I'll--That’s what-- [unclear]-- President Johnson: [unclear]--tell him. Katzenbach: John will tell him, Mr. President. He's also--there's fifteen congressmen down there now. President Johnson: That's . . . Katzenbach: This may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Doar is going to meet with them and try to get them to say a similar thing. That might help, [Johnson acknowledges throughout] because these are all, you know, way on the liberal side. And at least it's worth it--worth the effort. And might even help.This is a draft and not a fully edited transcript.For more White House tapes, go to http://millercenter.org/presidentialrecordings.
Iran Contra Shows How Easy It is for Presidents to Go Off the Path MCamericanpresident 2014-11-24 | This clip from the Miller Center's Great Issues series features Malcolm Byrne, deputy director and director of research at the National Security Archive. For more on President Reagan's foreign policies, go to http://millercenter.org/events/2014/the-grand-strategy-of-ronald-reagan.
Albright on Clintons Love of History, Books & Reorganizing MCamericanpresident 2014-11-14 | This is an excerpt from Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's interview for the William J. Clinton Presidential History Project. You can read her and others' interviews in their entirety at http://millercenter.org/president/clinton/oralhistory.Excerpt transcript:He loved American history and he loved the history of the White House. He knew so much about the history of the White House it was just stunning to be with him. Whenever there was a foreign visitor and we were up in the residence, he could talk about every object in it. When we took Jiang Zemin into the [Abraham] Lincoln bedroom and showed him the Emancipation Proclamation, Clinton knew everything about everything. He loved the history of it. The only other person who was good about the history of the White House was Newt Gingrich. There were some crazy dinners where they would compare notes about what they knew. But I think whatever attempts he made—he read biographies of other Presidents, and I think it would be interesting to know what he thought about them. He was very aware, obviously, that here he was in this line. He did read a lot. He got very much into some scientific issues. He got into global warming and various issues. He was voracious in what he read.The other part, which is at the Clinton Library, and it is a lot of fun, are all his political memorabilia. He was a complete pack rat and he loved to shop. He had all these little things, political buttons, he had the letter that [Harry] Truman wrote to the guy who criticized his daughter, Paul Hume. When you went back, off the Oval Office, the walls were just covered with all this memorabilia because he really is a political junkie. For instance, sitting here with you, there are the bookshelves in the Oval Office. Early on there was a man I knew who said would I please give a present to the President on his behalf. He wasn’t sure he could get it to him. It was a leather-bound copy of [Thomas] Jefferson’s Notes on Virginia. I gave it to the President. He was thrilled to have it. I would always look to see where it was in the library. He reorganized books. Wherever he went, he would begin to reorganize the books, whether they were in his library or somebody else’s. [laughter]There’s a house at the Wye plantation that belonged to the people who owned it. We were having a very interesting dinner with Arafat and Netanyahu and Foreign Minister [Shlomo] Ben-Ami and a note taker. There’s a library. All of a sudden the President starts reorganizing the books. I said, “Mr. President, this is not your library.” He said, “They need reorganizing.” Or he’d reorganize his desk. So I think it would be interesting, the personal things to him, the paintings that he liked. Just a very interesting man.
Sandy Berger on Clinton Committing Troops into Harms Way MCamericanpresident 2014-11-14 | This is an excerpt from National Security Adviser Samuel R. Berger's interview for the William J. Clinton Presidential History Project. You can read his and others' interviews in their entirety at http://millercenter.org/president/clinton/oralhistory.Excerpt transcript:"...when you are committing American troops into harm’s way, it’s an awesome responsibility, and you want to be right. You know some of them are not going to come home. That’s what separates those who have sat in the chair and those who have sat across the table from the President. I think the President in the beginning had a tendency to second guess himself until we actually got to the point where we were moving, and then he would be fine. I compare Haiti, where up to the end I was getting phone calls from the President saying, “What makes you think that when we drop these soldiers in Haiti that they’re not going to be ambushed?” Those kinds of questions had already been resolved—to Kosovo where the President said, “We’re going to stop this from happening. We’re going to do what it takes. We’re going to convince NATO.” Tony Blair is given a lot of the credit for Kosovo, but Blair did not convince Clinton. They were basically together in their determination to stop this from happening. He was solid as a rock. We had a 78-day bombing campaign in Kosovo, which nobody except Bill Clinton, Sandy Berger, Madeleine Albright, Bill Cohen, and our spouses believed would work.
LBJ: Need New, Larger VA Hospital Not Broken Down Ones (transcript below) MCamericanpresident 2014-11-11 | On Sept, 16, 1965, President Johnson leaves a message with Senator Paul Douglas's [D-Illinois] administrative assistant about plans to proceed with opening a new VA hospital facility in Hines, Illinois to be run in cooperation with Loyola University Medical School. This announcement came in the wake of congressional opposition to the administration's decision to close several small, outdated VA facilities across the country and redirect budgetary resources into new, larger facilities instead. Recording starts after conversation has begun.President Johnson: --this--he's [Paul Douglas] interested in a VA [Veterans Affairs]--Unidentified Woman: Hello?President Johnson: --allocation for some hospital beds in Illinois.Howard Schuman: Yes.President Johnson: [with Schuman acknowledging throughout] And he was the only one that really stood up and supported us, fought for us in closing those others. And I told Harry McPherson to hold up on Chicago and Los Angeles, too, a month or so ago, but he's gone over it with me, and we're opening up today and telling him to go ahead and proceed in Illinois full steam ahead--Schuman: Oh, marvelous!President Johnson: --because I'm a Douglas man.Schuman: [Laughs.] He's a Johnson man--President Johnson: Well--Schuman: --too, Mr. President. He really--President Johnson: Well, he's got a lot of courage, and he's got public interest at heart. So just tell him--I don't want to bother him--I just got his note in night reading last night. And they tell me that Loyola is waiting on our action--Schuman: That would be fine. That's marvelous.President Johnson: [with Schuman acknowledging throughout] And so the VA has completed their plans for a new and larger hospital at Hines, and it's going to have some 1,220 beds. And the Loyola Medical School's going to operate in connection. That's what we want. That's--these are the kind of things we ought to have instead of these old broken down ones.Schuman: Absolutely.President Johnson: And--but Paul's about the only one that sees it that way, and tell him that we're not going to penalize him. We're going full steam ahead.Schuman: I will.President Johnson: Bye. Bye. Bye.Schuman: Thanks very much. Bye, Mr.--This is a draft and not a fully edited transcript.
LBJ: Phone Intruder 11/10/64 MCamericanpresident 2014-10-23 | In this 11/10/64 call, a student from San Jose State University poses as Senator-elect George Murphy to get a call put through to the White House telephone line. Clark speaks briefly with President Johnson before aide Marvin Watson steps in to take over the call.
FDR Fireside Chat - Columbus Day, 1942 MCamericanpresident 2014-10-13 | FDR addresses a variety of subjects in a fireside chat delivered on October 12, 1942. You can listen to his entire remarks at http://millercenter.org/president/fdroosevelt/speeches/speech-3329
Bob Woodward: Why Ford Pardoned Nixon MCamericanpresident 2014-09-08 | This is a clip from the Miller Center Forum. You can watch the entire program at http://millercenter.org/public/forum/detail/5895
Lincoln and Davis: War Presidents MCamericanpresident 2014-08-19 | In this video, Pulitzer Prize-winning author James McPherson and University of Virginia history professor Gary Gallagher discuss Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis and the Civil War. This conversation is part of the Miller Center's Historical Presidency Series. More information is available at millercenter.org.
POTUS at Play MCamericanpresident 2014-08-13 | As President Obama catches some R&R on Martha’s Vineyard, a pictorial montage of 20th century presidents at play reveals how some of his predecessors enjoyed their down time. It also provides a glimpse of how presidential sports create images of White House occupants.Corpulent William Howard Taft’s physique was anything but athletic, but he began a long tradition of White House duffers, most famously Dwight Eisenhower. Even the cardiac-challenged Ike, at that time our oldest incumbent president, could tackle the links without straining his damaged heart. He spent so much time golfing that his successor, JFK, avoided being photographed too frequently on the Hyannis course to diminish comparisons with the grandfatherly Eisenhower. Instead, sailing excursions emphasized Kennedy’s youth and “vigah,” as he said in his distinctive Boston accent. The Kennedy family’s active lifestyle also helped JFK downplay his back ailments and hide various other medical problems from the public. Likewise, photos of FDR’s sailing expeditions, with him at the helm, distracted a pre-television era public from his disability. Ronald Reagan, the oldest American president, sustained his rough-and-ready Hollywood cowboy persona by riding the trails at his California ranch.Fellow Republican Gerald Ford, a star center on the University of Michigan football team, may have been the most talented athlete to occupy the Oval Office. Yet several well-publicized stumbles led media and comedians to portray him as a klutz. Even schussing down the powder at Vail couldn’t undo Ford’s clumsy image. Angling in a Blue Ridge Mountain stream, dressed in coat and tie, may have been the fashion for Herbert Hoover’s favorite recreation in the early 1930s, but Richard Nixon’s strolling along a California beach in wing-tips four decades later only highlighted his bizarrely formal personality. Similarly, Bill Clinton’s propensity to take mulligans on the golf course seemed to represent his playing fast and loose with the rules of life.This summer, the JFK Library opened an exhibit featuring photos and artifacts of the Kennedy family’s vacations on Cape Cod. The public never resented the Kennedys’ Hyannis Port compound or the Bushs’ Kennebunkport estate. Paradoxically, Americans claim to want a “common man” to inhabit the White House but are drawn to landed gentry when they vote in presidential elections. The Kennedy Library’s display of the young president and his beguiling children frolicking at the Cape is all the more poignant for knowledge that JFK’s life would soon be cut short by an assassin’s bullet. How will a future Obama Presidential Library portray the 44th president’s summer breaks on tony Martha’s Vineyard? Will the contrast between his pricey digs there and the post-recession malaise expressed by many Americans in recent polls be too stark? Is the similarity between Bush 43’s continuing his 2005 Texas vacation in the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and Obama’s escape to New England as the world erupts in violence too obvious? Let’s hope the president isn’t losing sleep over these questions. His graying hair indicates that he needs all the rest and relaxation he can manage before the next inevitable crisis.Barbara A. Perry is a Senior Fellow at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center and Co-Chair of the Presidential Oral History Program there.
Nixon: My mother was a saint. MCamericanpresident 2014-08-08 | This clip is from President Richard Nixon's August 9, 1974 remarks to staff before he departed the White House following his resignation.
Ford: Our long national nightmare is over. MCamericanpresident 2014-08-06 | In this clip from August 9, 1974, President Gerald Ford speaks about Watergate and Nixon after taking the oath of office. You can watch his swearing in and entire remarks at http://millercenter.org/president/ford/speeches/speech-3390.
Nixon: Au revoir. We will see you again. MCamericanpresident 2014-08-06 | In this clip from August 9, 1974, President Richard Nixon addresses his cabinet and staff before departing the White House following his resignation. You can watch his entire remarks at http://millercenter.org/president/nixon/speeches/speech-3891.
Nixon: I shall resign the presidency MCamericanpresident 2014-08-06 | In this clip from August 8, 1974, President Richard Nixon addresses the nation to announce his resignation. You can watch his entire remarks at http://millercenter.org/president/nixon/speeches/speech-3871.
LBJ Signs Civil Rights Act of 1964 With More Than 70 Pens MCamericanpresident 2014-07-02 | On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, using more than 70 pens. He handed the pens out to those at the ceremony, including Martin Luther King, Jr. and Attorney General Robert Kennedy.
MLK at Civil Rights Act of 1964 Signing Ceremony MCamericanpresident 2014-07-01 | On July 2, 1964, Martin Luther King, Jr. accepts one of the pens that President Lyndon Johnson used to sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964. You can watch the entire ceremony at http://millercenter.org/president/speeches/detail/3525.
RFK at Civil Rights Act of 1964 Signing Ceremony MCamericanpresident 2014-07-01 | On July 2, 1964, Attorney General Robert Kennedy looks on as President Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act and accepts pens LBJ used to sign the law. You can watch the entire signing ceremony at http://millercenter.org/president/speeches/detail/3525.
What LBJ Tapes Reveal about Civil Rights Bill MCamericanpresident 2014-07-01 | In this clip, Kent Germany discusses what LBJ's White House tapes reveal about the Civil Rights Bill of 1964. Germany is a fellow with the Miller Center's Presidential Recordings Program. You can watch this entire program at http://millercenter.org/events/2014/civil-rights-revolution-and-reform-what-the-white-house-tapes-reveal
Bush 41, Clinton, Perot Debate Tiananmen Square in 1992 MCamericanpresident 2014-06-03 | This is a clip from the October 11, 1992 presidential debate between George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot. You can watch the entire debate at http://millercenter.org/president/speeches/detail/5532
Jefferson, Madison and War of 1812 MCamericanpresident 2014-05-20 | This clip from the Miller Center's Historical Presidency Series features Pulitzer Prize winner and University of Virginia history professor Alan Taylor. You can watch the entire program at http://millercenter.org/events/2014/james-madison-and-the-brink-of-national-ruin
How James Madison Ranks as President MCamericanpresident 2014-05-20 | This clip from the Miller Center's Historical Presidency Series features Pulitzer Prize winner and University of Virginia history professor Alan Taylor. You can watch the entire program at http://millercenter.org/events/2014/james-madison-and-the-brink-of-national-ruin
Political Polarization During War of 1812 MCamericanpresident 2014-05-20 | In this clip, Pulitzer Prize winner and University of Virginia history professor Alan Taylor discusses the relationship between Republicans and Federalists during the War of 1812. This clip is from the Miller Center's Historical Presidency Series. You can watch the entire program at http://millercenter.org/events/2014/james-madison-and-the-brink-of-national-ruin
Dolley Madison: An Enormous Political Asset MCamericanpresident 2014-05-20 | In this clip, Pulitzer Prize winner and University of Virginia history professor Alan Taylor discusses the relationship between James and Dolley Madison. This clip is from the Miller Center's Historical Presidency Series. You can watch the entire program at http://millercenter.org/events/2014/james-madison-and-the-brink-of-national-ruin
Parallels between Presidents Grant & Eisenhower MCamericanpresident 2014-03-28 | In this clip, Joan Waugh, author of "U.S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth" discusses parallels between President Ulysses S. Grant and Dwight Eisenhower. The questioner is UVa history professor Will Hitchcock. This clip is from the Miller Center's Historical Presidency Series. You can watch the entire program at http://millercenter.org/events/2014/u.s.-grant-and-the-crisis-of-reconstruction
Did Mark Twain Write Ulysses S. Grants Memoirs? MCamericanpresident 2014-03-28 | In this clip, history professors Gary Gallagher of UVa and Joan Waugh of UCLA discuss the memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant. This clip is from the Miller Center's Historical Presidency Series. You can watch the entire program at http://millercenter.org/events/2014/u.s.-grant-and-the-crisis-of-reconstruction
Why Ulysses S. Grant Became President MCamericanpresident 2014-03-28 | In this clip, Joan Waugh, author of "U.S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth" explains why Grant became president. This clip is from the Miller Center's Historical Presidency Series. You can watch the entire program at http://millercenter.org/events/2014/u.s.-grant-and-the-crisis-of-reconstruction
Ulysses S. Grant: An Essential President MCamericanpresident 2014-03-28 | In this clip, Joan Waugh, author of "U.S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth" discusses the presidency of Grant. This clip is from the Miller Center's Historical Presidency Series. You can watch the entire program at http://millercenter.org/events/2014/u.s.-grant-and-the-crisis-of-reconstruction
Why Franklin Pierce Did Not Fly Flag for Assassinated Lincoln MCamericanpresident 2014-03-25 | In this clip, University of Virginia history professor Michael F. Holt explains why Franklin Pierce did not fly the flag for Abraham Lincoln after he was assassinated. This clip is from the Miller Center's Historical Presidency Series. You can watch the entire program at http://millercenter.org/events/2014/sink-hole-how-kansas-crises-undid-the-presidencies-of-franklin-pierce-and-j
What Presidential Rankings Should Be Based On MCamericanpresident 2014-03-25 | In this clip, University of Virginia history professor Michael F. Holt discusses ranking U.S. presidents. This clip is from the Miller Center's Historical Presidency Series. You can watch the entire program at http://millercenter.org/events/2014/sink-hole-how-kansas-crises-undid-the-presidencies-of-franklin-pierce-and-j
The Most Important Law Ever Passed by Congress? MCamericanpresident 2014-03-25 | In this clip, University of Virginia history professor Michael F. Holt explains why the Kansas-Nebraska Act is the most important law passed by Congress. This clip is from the Miller Center's Historical Presidency Series. You can watch the entire program at http://millercenter.org/events/2014/sink-hole-how-kansas-crises-undid-the-presidencies-of-franklin-pierce-and-j
Why Pierce & Buchanan Among Worst US Presidents MCamericanpresident 2014-03-25 | In this clip, University of Virginia history professor Michael F. Holt explains why Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan rank among the five worst U.S. presidents. This clip is from the Miller Center's Historical Presidency Series. You can watch the entire program at http://millercenter.org/events/2014/sink-hole-how-kansas-crises-undid-the-presidencies-of-franklin-pierce-and-j
Nixon on St. Patricks Day MCamericanpresident 2014-03-17 | This is a clip from Richard Nixon's famous "Checkers" speech. You can watch the entire speech at http://millercenter.org/president/speeches/detail/4638.
Andrew Jackson Treatment of Indians: Genocidal or Realistic Far-Sightedness? MCamericanpresident 2014-03-04 | In this clip, author H.W. Brands discusses Andrew Jackson's treatment of Indians. This clip is from the University of Virginia Miller Center's Historical Presidency Series. You can watch the entire program at http://millercenter.org/events/2013/andrew-jackson-and-the-troubled-birth-of-democracy.
Andrew Jackson: Cabinet Wife Scandal MCamericanpresident 2014-02-28 | In this clip, author H.W. Brands explains how the wife of Secretary of War John Eaton paralyzed Andrew Jackson's Cabinet. This clip is from the University of Virginia Miller Center's Historical Presidency Series. You can watch the entire program at http://millercenter.org/events/2013/andrew-jackson-and-the-troubled-birth-of-democracy.
Andrew & Rachel Jackson: Great Love Story in U.S. History MCamericanpresident 2014-02-28 | In this clip, author H.W. Brands talks about the death of Andrew Jackson's wife and how it affected the soon-to-be president. This clip is from the University of Virginia Miller Center's Historical Presidency Series. You can watch this entire program at http://millercenter.org/events/2013/andrew-jackson-and-the-troubled-birth-of-democracy.
Andrew Jackson: Only President to Kill a Man MCamericanpresident 2014-02-28 | In this clip, author H.W. Brands explains how Andrew Jackson became the only U.S. president to kill a man in cold blood. This clip is from the University of Virginia Miller Center's Historical Presidency Series. You can watch the entire program at http://millercenter.org/events/2013/andrew-jackson-and-the-troubled-birth-of-democracy.
Why Andrew Jackson Hated the British MCamericanpresident 2014-02-28 | In this clip, author H.W. Brands tells the story behind Andrew Jackson's animosity toward the British. This clip is from the University of Virginia Miller Center's Historical Presidency Series. You can watch the entire program at http://millercenter.org/events/2013/andrew-jackson-and-the-troubled-birth-of-democracy
Richard Nixon - 1973 Valentines Dinner MCamericanpresident 2014-02-14 | In this Feb. 13, 1973 phone call, Julie Nixon Eisenhower convinces her father to take the family out for a family Valentine's dinner at Trader Vic's, a Polynesian-themed tiki restaurant three blocks north of the White House.Transcript:President Nixon: Hello?White House Operator: Julie--Julie Nixon Eisenhower: Daddy?President Nixon: Hi.Eisenhower: Hi. President Nixon: Well, how are you doing?Eisenhower: Fine. How are you?President Nixon: Did you--are you going out to the house or not?Eisenhower: Yeah, we are. Uh-huh. We sure are. We're going to go out around three [o'clock] because the people will be there [un]til three. We can't go before then.President Nixon: Oh, I see. Right.Eisenhower: So--unless you have other plans or something.President Nixon: No, honey, no. That's great.Eisenhower: Daddy, do you want to go out to dinner tonight? Trader Vic's or something, or . . . ? Or eat here? Or you going to go to Camp David? Or what were you thinking?President Nixon: No, I thought we'd--I can't get to Camp David because I've got something I have to do here early Thursday morning. So . . . well, I don't know, you mean go out? Or what do you think? Trader Vic's and . . . ? Would you--you think that . . . what would everybody like? I mean, what do you think?Eisenhower: Um . . .President Nixon: Do you think we should go out or--would Mommy [Pat Nixon] like to or not?Eisenhower: I think she might or--if it'd be fun for you. Or stay here and see a movie. Or whatever you sort of feel like doing.President Nixon: Let's see . . . Trader Vic's. How is the Trader Vic's here? Pretty good?Eisenhower: It's really good because they have a back table and all.President Nixon: Mm-hmm.Eisenhower: I mean, they have--it's nicely lighted and it's--President Nixon: Well, I'll tell you, if Mommy would like to go, I think it'd be a nice idea.Eisenhower: OK.President Nixon: OK, so you explore it with her. And is Trish [Nixon Cox] around?Eisenhower: Yeah, and I think she'd like to go.President Nixon: Right.Eisenhower: And if they don't, then we'll eat here.President Nixon: We'll go out and say that it's kind of a Valentine's [Day] dinner.Eisenhower: OK.President Nixon: See, it's Valentine's coming up and we can say that--Eisenhower: Tomorrow's Valentine's, yeah.President Nixon: --and that "we wanted you to come out for a Valentine's dinner." OK?Eisenhower: Good. OK.President Nixon: Fair enough?Eisenhower: Great.President Nixon: All right, honey.Eisenhower: OK, Daddy.President Nixon: Swell. And everything's fine? OK, fine.Eisenhower: Everything's great. OK, bye.President Nixon: Yeah. Bye.That evening, the Nixons and their guests walked the three blocks to the restaurant. The group included President and Mrs. Nixon, Julie and David Eisenhower, and C. G. "Bebe" Rebozo∇, a long-time friend of President Nixon's. After the dinner, Nixon quipped to reporters outside that "When you go in there, don't be on a diet."For more White House tapes, go to http://millercenter.org/presidentialrecordings
MLK to LBJ: Have a Negro in the Cabinet (Transcript Below) MCamericanpresident 2014-01-15 | In this phone call from Jan. 15, 1965, Martin Luther King, Jr. tells President Lyndon Johnson, "It would mean so much... to have a Negro in the Cabinet." King: Yes. Right. Well, Mr. President, I'll tell you the main thing I wanted to share with you. This really rose out of conversations that I've had with all of the civil rights leaders--I mean the heads of civil rights organizations--President Johnson: Yeah.King: --as well as many people around the country as I have traveled. We have a strong feeling that it would mean so much, first, to help with our whole democracy but to the Negro and to the nation, to have a Negro in the Cabinet. We feel that this would really would be a great step forward for the nation, for the Negro, for our international image. And it would do so much to give many people a lift who need a lift now. And I'm sure that it could give a new sense of dignity and self-respect to millions of Negroes who--there are millions of Negro youth who feel that they don't have anything to look forward to in life.President Johnson: I agree with that. I have not publicly shouted from the house top, but I have had them sit in with me. I--the first move I made was to put one [an African American] on the [National] Security Council.King: Yes.President Johnson: And to put one in charge of every bit of the information that went to all of the 120 nations and take him out of an important ambassador post.1 And I am trying my best to get the housing and urban and city problems [sic], which is the number one problem in America as I see it, made into a Cabinet post.You can listen to their entire conversation at http://millercenter.org/presidentialrecordings/lbj-wh6501.04-6736.
LBJ Declares War on Poverty MCamericanpresident 2014-01-03 | In this clip from his Jan. 8, 1964 State of the Union address, President Lyndon B. Johnson declares an "unconditional war on poverty in America" and proposes an unprecedented federal initiative to address poverty through education, job-training and community programs. You can watch the entire speech at http://millercenter.org/president/speeches/detail/3382.
Nixon & Haldeman Discuss Motorcade for Dallas Trip (Transcript Below) MCamericanpresident 2013-11-21 | In this audio from Aug. 2, 1971, Nixon and Chief of Staff Bob Haldeman discuss motorcade plans for an upcoming trip to Dallas "because of the Kennedy thing." Nixon wound up taking a helicopter.President Nixon: Mm-hmm. Did you plan the motorcade?Haldeman: In Dallas?President Nixon: Yeah. Because of the Kennedy thing?Haldeman:I think that, well, we'll drive in, but we'll, you know, we won't parade-type motorcade, but I think we'll announce it earlier for sure. I think we should.President Nixon: I think that now it's so far back in the public consciousness that [unclear] Dallas has finally got to get well, don't you think?Haldeman: Sure.President Nixon: Just for three or four blocks. We'll announce . . . yeah, what you could do is to drive in, and then just pop up and down in the chair, huh? Good. OK. I'll see you at three o'clock.Haldeman: OK.More White House tapes are available at http://millercenter.org/presidentialrecordings.
Nixon & Secretary Discuss JFK Assassination (Transcript Below) MCamericanpresident 2013-11-21 | In this audio from Nov. 22, 1971, President Nixon and his secretary, Rose Mary Woods, discuss JFK's assassination. Nixon's dog, King Timahoe, is heard in the background.President Nixon: You know, listen, I had not thought of it, but . . .Rose Mary Woods: [whispering to King Timahoe] That's it, come here!President Nixon: This is the day the--Woods: That Kennedy was . . . ?President Nixon: Right.President Nixon: [Unclear] he survived one day longer. That was some [unclear] time.Woods: [Unclear] that same day.President Nixon: He was shot that day, but he didn't die that day. He died the next morning.Woods: Yeah, he did.President Nixon: Oh, he did, the same--?Woods: Jack Kennedy?President Nixon: Yeah.Woods: Sure. His head was really blown off.President Nixon: They didn't say so in the news, though.Woods: Yeah. Yeah, they did. They--remember, she [Jacqueline Kennedy] flew back with him that night. With the body. [To King Timahoe] Come here, boy. Come here.President Nixon: OK.Unclear exchange. The President whistles for his dog.More White House tapes are available at http://millercenter.org/presidentialrecordings.
War with Mexico: Lincoln vs. Polk MCamericanpresident 2013-10-30 | In this clip, Pulitzer prize-winning author Daniel Walker Howe discusses Abraham Lincoln's opposition to James K. Polk and the War with Mexico. You can watch the entire talk at http://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/panel/detail/6069. This event is part of the Miller Center's Historical Presidency Series.
Andrew Jackson Finds James K. Polk a Wife MCamericanpresident 2013-10-30 | In this clip, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Daniel Walker Howe discusses how Andrew Jackson helped James K. Polk find a wife. You can watch his entire talk at http://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/panel/detail/6069. This event is part of the Miller Center's Historical Presidency Series.
James K. Polks Land Acquisition MCamericanpresident 2013-10-30 | In this clip, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Daniel Walker Howe discusses how President James K. Polk acquired more land for the U.S. than any other president. You can watch his entire talk at http://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/panel/detail/6069. This event is part of the Miller Center's Historical Presidency Series.
