Podcasts about lbj foundation

Mark K. Updegrove, President and CEO of the LBJ Foundation, former Director of the LBJ Library and Museum, and author of Make Your Mark: Lessons in Character from Seven Presidents, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Mark discuss the relationship between character, leadership, and greatness in the American presidency, the case for not approaching politicians cynically, the personal stories behind Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and other late 20th century presidents, any why even flawed leaders leave behind admirable traits worth learning from.

What are the secrets to moderating engaging conversations with a high-profile, headline guest at your event?  Today, I talk with Mark Updegrove, President & CEO of the LBJ Foundation to find out. Over the years, Mark has interviewed and/or moderated conversations with seven former Presidents including the late Jimmy Carter.  In addition to speaking with Presidents, he has also moderated conversations with high-profile musicians, journalists, authors, and other cultural icons. In this episode, Mark shares tips on how to get a high-profile individual to say "yes" to a moderated/public conversation, how a moderator should prepare for a public conversation, and insights on how to handle high-profile individuals who have different onstage versus offstage personas. This is one episode you will not want to miss. 

With a sitting VP running for President for the first time since Al Gore's failed bid for the White House in 2000, there's been a lot of talk about the role the VP plays in government, the impact a VP pick has on a Presidential campaign, and just how much Kamala Harris' record as VP/relationship to President Joe Biden can show us about her own agenda, should she win the White House. So today we begin a three-episode ­run focused on the Vice Presidency and those who have held the office with a conversation on Lyndon B. Johnson. Lyndon B. Johnson's Presidency is bookended by the tragedies of JFK's assassination and the escalation of the Vietnam war, but his career in politics and the policies he championed transcend his time in the Oval Office. In this episode, two of the foremost experts on LBJ, Mark Updegrove and Mark A. Lawrence, join Bob & Ben to discuss Johnson's life and legacy. Mark Updegrove is the President & CEO of the LBJ Foundation in Austin, TX, the presidential historian for ABC News, and the author of multiple books on Presidential History, including Indomitable Will: LBJ in the Presidency. Dr. Mark Atwood Lawrence  is Director of the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum and Associate Professor of History at UT-Austin. He is the author of multiple books on US history including The Vietnam War:  A Concise International History. This is a rebroadcast of RTN #256, which originally aired on December 12, 2022. This reair was edited by Ben Sawyer.  

Lyndon Baines Johnson is one of the most legislatively accomplished presidents in American history - possibly the only president who actually did so much winning, people got tired of it. But how did he make legislating look so easy? Mark Updegrove, president and CEO of the LBJ Foundation and author of 5 books on the presidency, including Indomitable Will: LBJ in the Presidency, discusses the impact and legacy of LBJ's Great Society.Support the show

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Early voting on 14 constitutional amendment propositions and a variety of local matters begins today! Learn all about voting in Texas at https://govotetexas.org/, and grab our handy guide to those 14 amendments at https://progresstexas.org/2023-texas-statewide-ballot-guide. The special session nears its third week - the lower amount of taxpayer money the House version of school vouchers would give Texas families would put private school even further out of reach for lower-income families: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/texas-legislative-special-session-for-school-vouchers-drags-on-17727793 ...While Democrats and most Rural Republicans, for now, appear unswayed: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/texas-school-voucher-bill-debate-opposition-ron-reynolds/287-80ddb75e-fa9d-42c4-b3c8-421da2d5ca84 U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions of Waco, who has thrown his name into the hat for Speaker, is a relatively quiet but virulent and vicious MAGA crusader: https://www.texasdemocrats.org/media/pete-sessions-announced-run-for-speaker A Waco Justice Of The Peace, on a seven-year-long fight to be able to deny LGBTQ+ couples her services as a wedding officiant, gets her day before the Texas Supreme Court this week: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/10/22/texas-judge-gay-marriage-lawsuit-christian-dianne-hensley-supreme-court-interview/ Texas State Parks is honored by the Texas Travel Alliance as its 2023 Heritage Award winner: https://www.myhighplains.com/news/texas/texas-state-parks-named-texas-travel-alliance-heritage-award-winner/ The LBJ Foundation has begun an effort to have Austin-Bergstrom International Airport re-named for President Lyndon Baines Johnson: https://www.kut.org/2023-10-20/austin-airport-name-change-campaign-lbj-abia And the biggest baseball game in years in Texas goes down tonight, as the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers face off in Game 7 of the ALCS: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/lone-star-game-7-showdown-rangers-astros-battle-for-al-pennant-in-houston/

Jonathan Eig is a highly accomplished journalist and author. His bestselling biography of the boxer Muhammad Ali, entitled Ali: A Life, won the PEN America Literary Award and was the basis for a PBS series about Ali's life and times. Eig is also author of Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig. Eig joins us for an enlightening conversation about Martin Luther King Jr's life and legacy. This is the first of a two-part conversation; the second conversation will be released on August 3, 2023.

This time around we have six songs from national, and indie artists with Texas area roots that you should add to your playlists, radio station, blogs and share across social media.The Texas Six Pack was a feature we created in late 2018 for our Stone Cold Country radio show. Due to the incredible popularity of the segment, in January 2023,we decided to roll it out as a stand alone podcast with new episodes on the 23rd of each month. With over 10k listeners across platforms, Our goal is to share new music you may have not heard yet..We always kick things off with noteworthy news from the longhorn state.Big news from the Texas Country Music Hall Of Fame as Famed 80s singer/songwriter KT oslin will be inducted. It is posthumously as KT passed on in a nursing home in 2020. She charted four number ones, and a total of 17 songs on Billboard. KT was a 3 times Grammy Award winner.The Country Music Hall Of Fame's American Currents State Of The Music is live. This is an annual exhibit where the hall of fame explores a broad view of country music's current trends. Broad is the right word as the exhibit includes Americana, folk, classic artists as well as current billboard country charting artists.This year they've included several artists with Texa area roots like Miranda, Lainey, Cojo, and Jordan Davis among others. For more info go to country music hall of fame dot org.Lastly, On May 13th, 2023, the LBJ Foundation honored Willie Nelson with its most prestigious award, the LBJ Liberty & Justice for All Award at a gala dinner at the LBJ Presidential Library.Lyndon B. Johnson's daughters Luci and Lynda Johnson presented Nelson with the award. In attendance, and performing some of Willie's top songs were Eric Church,and Lyle Lovett among others. How cool is that. I love it when artists are recognized with these epic awards while they are still alive. I think that's what Tanya Tucker's comeback album While I'm Living was all about.Allright, well let's dig in. This show is a solid mix of current country music styles , and honky tonk country. First up is The Broken Spokes!. I just love it when we can play a straight up honky tonk song that is new, and good. It's nice to see there are some keepers of the flame still out there. Let's hear Moved Into A Bottle.Featured in this episode: The Broken Spokes, George Birge, Tanya Tucker, Katie Offerman, Lawson Harris, Palmer Anthony & Jordan Davis.Visit stonecoldcountry.net

Marc J. Selverstone is Associate Professor in Presidential Studies at the Miller Center for Public Affairs at The University of Virginia and Chair of the Center's renowned Presidential Recordings Program, which has made available thousands of hours of audio from presidents stretching from Franklin Roosevelt to Richard Nixon.Selverstone is the award-winning author of The Kennedy Withdrawal: Camelot and the American Commitment to Vietnam and Constructing the Monolith: The United States, Great Britain, and International Communism, 1945-1950.

Chris Whipple is an author and Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker. He appears frequently as a political analyst on MSNBC, CNN, and NPR, and his previous books include The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency and The Spymasters: How the CIA Directors Shape History and the Future.

Peter Baker is the chief White House correspondent for The New York Times, a political analyst for MSNBC, and the author of several books on the presidency, including Days of Fire and The Breach. Susan Glasser is a staff writer for The New Yorker and a CNN global affairs analyst. Their first assignment as a married couple was as Moscow bureau chiefs for The Washington Post, after which they wrote Kremlin Rising. They also co-authored The Man Who Ran Washington, a New York Times bestseller.The Divider is, at least for the moment, the definitive account of the Trump presidency. Sweeping across four years of nearly constant crisis and controversy, the book examines one of America's most enigmatic presidencies, which included two impeachments, dramatic international events, a constantly shifting array of advisers, and the insurrection of January 6, 2021.This conversation took place on December 13, 2022, at the LBJ Presidential Library.

Lyndon B. Johnson's Presidency is bookended by the tragedies of JFK's assassination and the escalation of the Vietnam war, but his career in politics and the policies he championed transcend his time in the Oval Office. In this episode, two of the foremost experts on LBJ, Mark Updegrove and Mark A. Lawrence, join Bob & Ben to discuss Johnson's life and legacy. Mark Updegrove is the President & CEO of the LBJ Foundation in Austin, TX, the presidential historian for ABC News, and the author of multiple books on Presidential History, including Indomitable Will: LBJ in the Presidency. Dr. Mark Atwood Lawrence  is Director of the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum and Associate Professor of History at UT-Austin. He is the author of multiple books on US history including The Vietnam War:  A Concise International History. If you enjoy The Road to Now, make sure to check out their podcast, With the Bark Off, which offers a critical examination of the 45 men who have served as President of the United States and is available on your favorite podcast player. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

Grover Cleveland hardly ranks among the most celebrated or accomplished of American presidents. Like Chester A. Arthur, Benjamin Harrison, and other presidents of the late 19th century, Cleveland held office at a time when Congress dominated national political life and few Americans expected much of their chief executive. And yet closer inspection reveals a most remarkable president -- and not only because he is the only one to hold two non-consecutive terms.Troy Senik is a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush and a co-founder of the digital media company Kite & Key. Troy is also author of A Man of Iron: The Turbulent Life and Improbably Presidency of Grover Cleveland (September 2022).

Paul Gregory is an expert on Russia and is currently a research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. A pioneer in the study of Soviet and Russian economics, his textbook on the Russian economy was used to teach more than two generations of students. But Gregory's latest book is on a subject that he has been reluctant to address for nearly six decades: his relationship with Lee Harvey Oswald and his young wife Marina. Gregory was one of the few people who actually knew them. His inside account of the Oswalds's marriage offers a disturbing portrait of Lee Harvey Oswald, whom Gregory believes acted alone in the assassination of President Kennedy.We talked to Gregory about the Lee Harvey Oswald he came to know, someone who possessed the motive, cunning, and killer instinct of a murderer who was desperately vying for a place in history. 

Journalist Ali Vitali is a familiar face on America's TV screens, having covered politics first for MSNBC and then for NBC News for nearly a decade. She reported on the 2016 race won by President Trump and then returned to the presidential campaign trail in 2020 to cover several Democratic candidates, including the record-setting four women who competed strongly for the nomination.Ali talked with us about the obstacles that female contenders have faced in running for the presidency over the years, how those challenges might be overcome, and the prospects for election of the nation's first female president. 

Nicole Hemmer is a political historian and Founding Director of the Rogers Center for the Study of the Presidency at Vanderbilt University. She's also Cofounder of Made by History, a section of the Washington Post that offers historical context and analysis, and writes regularly for the New York Times, CNN and Politico.Hemmer talked to us about the partisan politicians, personalities and pundits who began remaking the Republican Party 30 years ago, forging a modern conservative movement that trumped the conservative coalition of Republican icon Ronald Reagan and led to the far right Trumpism of today's GOP.

Journalist Gabriel Debenedetti is the national correspondent for New York magazine, where he writes about politics and national affairs. He's also written for Politico, Reuters, the New York Times Book Review, the Economist, and the New Republic, among other publications. Just this month, he published his remarkable first book, The Long Alliance: The Imperfect Union of Joe Biden and Barack Obama.The Long Alliance delves into one of the most consequential political partnerships of recent times – the sometimes contentious, often close relationship between America's forty-fourth and forty-sixth presidents. Gabe joined us to talk about how two men from different generations, with contrasting political styles, led the Democratic party through challenging moments of recent history, and continue to shape the nation today.

Tim Naftali, who teaches history at New York University, is one of the nation's most accomplished scholars of American foreign policy and the Cold War. His numerous books include studies of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Soviet foreign policy, and U.S. counterterrorism policy. He's held teaching positions over the years at Yale University, the University of Hawaii and the University of Virginia.But Tim Naftali is also one of the nation's leading experts on the Watergate scandal, which erupted in 1972 with the attempted burglary of the Democratic National Committee Office in Washington's Watergate complex. As Director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum from 2007 to 2011, Tim was responsible for conducting numerous interviews with key players in the Watergate affair, redesigning the Library's exhibit on the topic, and opening new archival materials connected to the scandal. Tim joined us to talk about Watergate and its meanings half a century later.

Kate Andersen Brower began her career as a journalist, working as a producer for CBS News and Fox News before moving on to cover the White House for Bloomberg during the first term of Barack Obama. She's currently a contributor to CNN and has written for The New York Times, Vanity Fair, and The Washington Post. A bestselling author, she has explored various aspects of life in, around, and out of the White House. In this episode Mark Updegrove talks with Kate about three of her books: The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House, Team of Five: The Presidents Club in the Age of Trump, and First in Line: Presidents, Vice Presidents and the Pursuit of Power. 

When it comes to writing about American politics, few authors are as accomplished or as versatile as Jeffrey Frank. Jeffrey is an eminent journalist, having served as senior editor at The New Yorker and deputy editor of the New York Post's Outlook section. His work has also appeared in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Guardian.Jeffrey has published four novels that dissect the social world of elite Washington. In 2013, he turned to presidential history, publishing Ike and Dick: Portrait of a Strange Political Marriage, a bestselling account of the partnership between President Eisenhower and his Vice President, Richard Nixon.Jeffrey joins Mark Lawrence to talk about his latest book, The Trials of Harry S. Truman, the first study in many years to tell the story of the Truman presidency.  

When we think of how our presidents make decisions, we often imagine them sitting around conference tables with their cabinet secretaries, engaging in detailed deliberation and weighing competing points of view. But where did this practice come from? When did the cabinet originate, and why does it function as it does?Lindsay Chervinsky, a scholar of 18th century America and the U.S. presidency, is among the first historians to delve deeply into these questions. A senior fellow at the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University, Lindsay has published in the Wall Street Journal, Ms. Magazine, CNN, The Washington Post, and USA Today. She joins Dr. Mark Lawrence to talk about her writing on the early American presidency.

Mark K. Updegrove is a Presidential Historian for ABC News and president and CEO of the LBJ Foundation. He is also this week's guest on the “Leaders and Legends” podcast; Mark and I discuss his brilliant new book “Incomparable Grace: JFK in the Presidency”. Buy it here: https://amzn.to/3IJTKaC Sponsors Veteran Strategies Girl Scouts of Central Indiana MacAllister Machinery Garmong Construction Crowne Plaza Downtown Indianapolis Historic Union Station About Veteran Strategies ‘Leaders and Legends' is brought to you by Veteran Strategies—your local veteran business enterprise specializing in media relations, crisis communications, public outreach, and digital photography. Learn more at www.veteranstrategies.com. About Girl Scouts of Central Indiana We're 2.5 million strong—more than 1.7 million girls and 750,000 adults who believe in the power of every G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader)™ to change the world. Our extraordinary journey began more than 100 years ago with the original G.I.R.L., Juliette Gordon “Daisy” Low. On March 12, 1912, in Savannah, Georgia, she organized the very first Girl Scout troop, and every year since, we've honored her vision and legacy, building girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place. We're the preeminent leadership development organization for girls. And with programs from coast to coast and across the globe, Girl Scouts offers every girl a chance to practice a lifetime of leadership, adventure, and success. To volunteer, reconnect, donate, or join, visit girlscoutsindiana.org or call 317.924.6800. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dr. Jill Biden has been called President Biden's greatest political asset and, in the course of their 45-year marriage, has been her husband's closest and most trusted advisor.

Craig McNamara is the son of Robert S. McNamara, who served as U.S. Secretary of Defense under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson during the 1960s. From his childhood, Craig cherished his father. But he also struggled for years to understand the elder McNamara's role in the decisions that led to the war in Vietnam – an experience that forever distanced father from son.Now a businessman and walnut farmer, Craig McNamara is founder of the Center for Land-Based Learning, an organization devoted to educating young farmers in the business of sustainable agriculture. Craig joins Mark Lawrence to talk about his remarkable life and especially his complicated relationship with the man he called ‘Dad.'

On today's episode, we go slightly beyond the presidency as we talk to George Steven's Jr. about his new memoir, My Place in the Sun: Life in the Golden Age of Hollywood and Washington.The son of famed film director George Stevens, George Stevens Jr. grew up in the highest reaches of Hollywood, on the sets of classic films like Giant, Shane, The Diary of Anne Frank, and A Place in the Sun. But yearning for his own place in the sun, he ventured to Washington to work with legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow at the United States Information Agency, producing films for John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, before going on to work for other presidents in other capacities.The founding director of the American Film Institute and the creator of the Kennedy Center Honors, Stevens describes his remarkable life and unimaginable brushes with history.

Since its publication in May, This Will Not Pass, written by Jonathan Martin and his New York Times colleague Alexander Burns, has received thunderous attention. Martin and Burns dive deep into the corridors of Washington power to provide insight into the end of the Trump administration, the big lie around the presidential election of 2020, the insurrection attempt on January 6, and the dawn of the Biden administration. Mark Updegrove talks to Martin about the explosive revelations in the book and, more broadly, the political polarization and party dysfunction that have become the hallmarks of today's Washington.

In this week's “A Reagan Forum” we go back a few weeks to our virtual program with Mark Updegrove. Mark is the president and CEO of the LBJ Foundation and serves as Presidential Historian for ABC News. Mark joined us to discuss his brand new book, Incomparable Grace: JFK in the Presidency, an illuminating account […]

In this week's “A Reagan Forum” we go back a few weeks to our virtual program with Mark Updegrove. Mark is the president and CEO of the LBJ Foundation and serves as Presidential Historian for ABC News. Mark joined us to discuss his brand new book, Incomparable Grace: JFK in the Presidency, an illuminating account of John F Kennedy's brief but transformative tenure in the White House.

Almost 60 years after his death, President John F. Kennedy continues to fascinate and be looked upon with admiration and even reverence. Kennedy's personal traits have to be one reason – his youth, oratory skills, ability to inspire and family all contribute to how he is remembered. Myths about Kennedy have grown throughout the last six decades as well. A new book – Incomparable Grace – JFK in the Presidency by presidential historian Mark Updegrove takes a deeper look into Kennedy as president. It describes a president who may not have been ready for the White House into one who grew into the job. Mark Updegrove, who has authored five books on the presidency, is president and CEO of the LBJ Foundation and the presidential historian for ABC News, is with us on Wednesday's Smart Talk. Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My guest today is Kai Bird, author of the new biography, The Outlier: The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter. This extraordinary book examines the 39th president with unprecedented depth as well as balance, highlighting President Carter's great achievements as well as the shortcomings that made him a one-term president.  Kai Bird is the Executive Director of the Leon Levy Center for Biography at the CUNY Graduate Center and a highly acclaimed author with several biographies to his credit. These include The Color of Truth: McGeorge Bundy and William Bundy and The American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, which Bird co-authored with Martin Sherwin and won the Pulitzer Prize.

Talmage Boston holds a live cross-examination style interview of Mark Updegrove, an American author, historian, journalist, and Presidential Historian for ABC News, about his latest book Incomparable Grace: JFK in the Presidency. Mark Updegrove is also the president and CEO of the LBJ Foundation in Austin, Texas, and served as the director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum for eight years.

Coe's first book, Alice + Freda Forever: A Murder in Memphis, appeared in 2014. More recently, she published the book that we'll be discussing today, You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington, which appeared on the New York Times bestseller list. Coe has contributed to The New Yorker, The New York Times, and TheNew Republic. She has also hosted the podcast No Man's Land and Presidents are People Too! and worked as consulting producer for the forthcoming History Channel program on Washington.

Mark K. Updegrove shares new historical perspectives on the Kennedy presidency from his recent book, Incomparable Grace: JFK in the Presidency. The author, President and CEO of the LBJ Foundation, and White House Historical Association President Stewart McLaurin explore the relationship between President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, the assessment of Kennedy among world leaders, and what might have been had the young President lived.

Almost 60 years after his death, President John F. Kennedy continues to fascinate and be looked upon with admiration and even reverence. Kennedy's personal traits have to be one reason – his youth, oratory skills, ability to inspire and family all contribute to how he is remembered. Myths about Kennedy have grown throughout the last six decades as well. A new book – Incomparable Grace – JFK in the Presidency by presidential historian Mark Updegrove takes a deeper look into Kennedy as president. It describes a president who may not have been ready for the White House into one who grew into the job. Mark Updegrove, who has authored five books on the presidency, is president and CEO of the LBJ Foundation and the presidential historian for ABC News, is with us on Wednesday's Smart Talk. Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our special guest today is Professor Christopher Leahy, a leading expert on the U.S. presidency and American politics in the 18th and 19th centuries. His book, President Without a Party: The Life of John Tyler, published by LSU Press in 2020, is the first full-scale biography of America's 10th president published in more than 80 years. Dr. Leahy has appeared on numerous podcasts discussing his work and he's also the author of numerous journal articles and reviews in scholarly publications.

Fredrik Logevall is the Laurence D. Belfer Professor of International Affairs and Professor of History at Harvard University. Dr. Logevall is the author or editor of ten books including Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam, which won the Pulitzer Prize for History. Most recently, he's published JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956, the first volume of what will be a monumental two-part biography of John F. Kennedy.

Barack Obama made history in 2008, becoming the first African American to be elected to our nation's highest office, as our 44th President. When he took office in January 2009, he brought a small coterie of close and loyal friends from his home state of Illinois to join him at the White House. Among them was Tina Tchen, who would become a White House insider and a close aide to Barack and Michelle Obama.  Tchen began her White House tenure in 2009 as the Director of Public Engagement before serving as Assistant to President Obama and Chief of Staff to the First Lady from 2011 to 2017. She talks about what it was like to be behind the scenes in the West and East Wings during the Obama administration working closely with President and Mrs. Obama, and what their legacies will mean to history.

My guest today is Amity Shlaes, a well-known columnist for the Financial Times and Forbes magazine and a former member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board. She's also one of America's premier economic historians. Shlaes has published six books to date, including Great Society: A New History and The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression.She joins us to talk about her biography of America's 30th President, Calvin Coolidge.

Annette Gordon-Reed is the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard University. She's the author of six books, including The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family, for which she won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Peter Onuf is the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Professor Emeritus in the Department of History at the University of Virginia. He's also author of numerous books, including most recently Statehood and Union: A History of the Northwest Ordinance.  In 2017, these two giants in the history of the early American republic teamed up to publish the book at the heart of our discussion today, “Most Blessed of the Patriarchs”: Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination. This book ranks among the most original and engaging studies of Thomas Jefferson and his times to appear in recent years. They join us today to discuss our third President, his life and times.

There have been countless books written about Abraham Lincoln, but John Avlon's new book, Lincoln and the Fight for Peace, takes a different tact. Chronicling the last days of Lincoln's life after the most bloody war in our history, Avlon looks at the plans for peace that he calls Lincoln's “unfinished symphony.” John Avlon is a senior political analyst and anchor at CNN and the author of Independent Nation, Wingnuts, and Washington's Farewell, which covers George Washington's farewell address and its seminal mark on our nation. Previously Avlon served as editor-in-chief and managing director of The Daily Beast and as chief speechwriter for the Mayor of New York after the attacks of 9/11.

John A. Farrell joins us for a conversation about America's 37th president, Richard Nixon. John is author of Richard Nixon: The Life, which won the PEN America Award for biography and the New York Historical Society's prize for American History. The book was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.  John worked for many years as a journalist for major American dailies and covered the White House for TheBoston Globe. His books include biographies, not just of President Nixon, but also of the famed lawyer Clarence Darrow and House Speaker Tip O'Neill.

This week we address the history of the presidency writ large with Jeremi Suri, the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair in Global Affairs at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and a professor in the Department of History at The University of Texas. He is a frequent commentator on current affairs and writes for op-ed pages and book reviews all over the country. He hosts his own podcast, This is Democracy, and he is author of several books in American history and the international history of the 20th century. In his book The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America's Highest Office, Dr. Suri sweeps across the history of the American presidency and paints a rather gloomy picture of the institution in the early 21st century. In this episode, he explains why we haven't had a great president since Franklin Roosevelt, in his opinion.

Raj Patel is a New York Times bestselling author and a Research Professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs. An expert on the world food system, he has testified about hunger and food sovereignty to the U.S., British and European Union governments.  His latest book Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice, written with co-author Rupa Marya, reveals the links between health and structural injustices—and offers solutions that can lead to the healing of our bodies and our world.

Doris Kearns Goodwin is one of our most respected and celebrated historians. She is the author of seven books, including No Ordinary Time, which won the Pulitzer Prize for history, and Team of Rivals, which was adapted into Steven Speilberg's film Lincoln. Her latest book, Leadership in Turbulent Times, looks at four Presidents she has studied closely as a biographer: Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson, for whom she worked as a White House Fellow before helping him write his memoir after he left the presidency.  This conversation took place on September 26, 2018, at the LBJ Presidential Library. 

Dr. Mark Lawrence is the Director of the LBJ Presidential Library and a former professor of history at The University of Texas at Austin. An expert on the Lyndon Johnson years, he is the author of three books relating to America's foreign policy during the period. His latest, The End of Ambition: The United States and the Third World in the Vietnam Era, looks at how America's once thriving ambition to democratize and develop much of the Third World diminished during the Johnson presidency, and why.

Since this episode drops on Veterans Day, we thought we would devote it to one of our nation's most respected veterans. Robert M. Gates spent half a century of his life devoted to public service. He started his career in the Air Force before being recruited to the CIA, where he climbed the ranks to become the agency's director under President George H. W. Bush, one of eight U.S. presidents Secretary Gates served throughout his illustrious career. In 2006 he became Secretary of Defense for George W. Bush, a job he continued for Barack Obama until 2011. He is the first person to hold that position for both Republican and Democratic administrations, a reflection of the esteem in which he is held on both sides of the political aisle. He talks about leadership, what makes a good leader, his own leadership style, and the leadership of the presidents he has served.  This conversation took place on January 28, 2016, at the LBJ Presidential Library, as part of the Tom Johnson Lecture Series.

Mark Twain once said “Humor is mankind's greatest blessing.” If so, as the greatest humorist of his day, Twain himself blessed our country throughout much of his life. How appropriate then, to name our nation's highest award for comedy in his honor.  Cappy McGarr co-created the John F. Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, which launched in 1998. Appointed to the Kennedy Center board of trustees by Bill Clinton in 1996 and Barack Obama in 2011, McGarr continues to serve as Executive Producer of the Mark Twain Prize and also helped established the Library of Congress' Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.  His new book, The Man Who Made Mark Twain Famous: Stories from the Kennedy Center, the White House and Other Comedy Venues, recounts his history with the Mark Twain Prize and what he has learned about comedy—and our most famous comedians—along the way.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in late 2019, Dr. Anthony Fauci has become a household name. As the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the chief medical advisor to the President, Dr. Fauci is the public health official who has been most visible around the pandemic. But his service to our country goes well beyond combating COVID-19. In his nearly 40 years at the NIAID, he has advised every president since Ronald Reagan and has worked to find remedies for HIV/AIDS, SARS, MERS, Ebola, H1N1 (swine flu), and Anthrax.  Dr. Fauci talks frankly about what he has learned in his fruitful life and career in medicine, the high praise and scorching criticism he has received along the way, and the unparalleled challenges he has faced in helping to keep our country safe from COVID-19. 

For 25 years Dr. Leonard Moore, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, has been teaching Black history—mostly to white students. He describes his engaging and provocative new book, Teaching Black History to White People, as “part memoir, part Black history, part pedagogy, part how-to guide.” He argues that Black history should be an essential part of student curriculum as a means of understanding the Black experience in America and as a prescription for greater racial harmony.

The astonishing fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban after nearly 20 years of American occupation has had many wondering what went wrong in our nation's longest war, not just in recent days but in the two decades that preceded it.  Award-winning investigative reporter Craig Whitlock offers an authoritative perspective. Whitlock has covered the war in Afghanistan for the Washington Post as a foreign correspondent, Pentagon reporter, and national security specialist.  His new book, The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War, tells the story of an unwinnable campaign that had gone awry almost from the beginning, sparking a military and government conspiracy to keep the failure of the war from the American people. As he explains in this interview, “America was losing a war it thought it had won.”

Throughout our history, presidents have faced crises that have gripped both the nation and the world. In this episode, Association President Stewart McLaurin speaks to Paul Sparrow, Director of the FDR Library and Museum, and Mark Updegrove, President & CEO of the LBJ Foundation, about the unique challenges these two presidents faced, and the leadership skills that helped them navigate these challenges.