i miss ronald reagan. i think a lot of us, do especially given what is going on in our country today. and this library isn't just a place where we come as conservatives. it isn't just a graceland for conservatives. it is hallowed ground. and it is a reminder of a golden era and our nation's history. a photo album that we can thumb through and remember what's success of a nation on the back of morality and hard work look like. it is a vehicle to travel back in time to a period when we thrive as americans, and took pride in the american spirit. took pride in american adventurism. face challenges and challengers with dignity and strength. and in doing so, we evolve closer to a more perfect union. as peter, mentioned the world was not a column nor predictable one in the late 1970s and 1980s under president ronald reagan. it was quite turbulence, in fact. we fought an existential cold war and shed american blood on our own soil and abroad. the shadows of communism or long it dark. we fought a cultural war than

ronald reagan just said no. our best days are ahead of us because we are america and we are americans. in that belief and strength he was an antidote to those days when america was feeling that perhaps it's days were behind he would put us up on a different road and oh how we soared. ronald reagan was an antidote because of his unfailing confidence in america. his unfailing belief in our values. his plan of action, his amazing ability to communicate a vision and his unforgettable sense of humor. , ronald reagan lifted america in those days. that is what we remember in the documents, and the way that this museum reflects back that moment when you can stand in the oval office and think about what it must've been like to walk into the day after the inauguration and say to yourself i have to lift america up and he did. remembering is one of the important reasons for a celebration today. the memories for a celebration today is the teaching and informing that this library does. when your university professor, you are

reagan? the president himself said of nancy i can't imagine life without her. at the same time nancy worked hard to advance her own important initiatives. she was an advocate for foster grandparents and a champion of the arts. she poured herself into restoring and remodeling the white house enhancing its elegance and beauty. at a time when elected officials had not only worked in relationships, but friendships across the aisle. democratic speaker tip o'neill praised her efforts on a visit to the executive residence saying the white house has never looked better. nancy reagan cared deeply about the health and well-being of her fellow americans. perhaps her best known initiative was leading america's campaign against drug abuse. it's a bit ironic that the woman who would never take no for an answer ask an entire nation to just say no. well stir still serving his first lady. mrs. reagan received a frightening diagnosis breast cancer through her own personal trial including her public decision to

in a way that is true to ronald reagan, she is suspicious of all the reagan want to bes who want to co-opt him and use his name and use his image for their own agendas and she does something to that i found fascinating which is while on the one hand among conservatives ronald reagan becomes this icon, not only in ways that make her comfortable, she resists when they want to knock fdr off the dime and put ronald reagan on it but she also knows that there is still this perception of him among liberal scholars, liberal historians, opponents, that he was just an actor, he was reading lines that other people wrote for him and she decides the very best true, truest record is to put out there his thoughts, his values, his beliefs, in his own handwriting so you see her decide to publish his diaries, something very few presidents have ever done, keeping real-time diaries so that people can see in his own hand what he was thinking at all the crucial junctures, she publishes his letters. at one point, all the speeches he was writing as he was getting ready to run for president, and you can see

reagan. ... ha never had a conversation with the big-time communist leader that he is dying to have one and he has really thought about this a lot, he's very confident in his own abilities of the negotiator but then scholz realizes something else which is that this dinner invitation was not th which is that this dinner invitation is not a social invitation. really nancy reagan had wanted to get him along with the president. so that he could begin to understand something about her husband, something that really had the potential to change history. and he also realizes something else and that moment, which is that he, found an incredibly valuable ally in this first lady it was the only person in the world to whom ronald reagan is truly truly close and who understands a her husband like nobody else does. it seems to me a perfect opening into a book about her role her very unique role as first lady. he was somebody who did not set foot in the west wing all that often. but everybody there knew whe

nancy reagan. nancy reagan truly represents that ideal. mrs. raegan will be the sixth first lady honored with a u.s. postal stamp. the previous stamps will be issued for martha washington, the first american woman ever featured on a postage stamp. dolley madison, abigail adams, eleanor roosevelt, and lady bird johnson. nancy reagan was an inspiring individual. she was an important part of one of the most pivotable presidencies of the 21st century as a wife, champion, and trusted adviser to our 40th president of the united states, ronald reagan. in addition, her legacy of public service, and her willingness to confront difficult and often highly personal topics throughout her eventful life made her one of the most influential and admired first ladies of modern times. to recognize their many contributions to our nation we will officially issue the nancy reagan commemorative forever postage stamp on july 6th. the dedication ceremony will be held at the ronald reagan library in simi valley california.

nancy reagan on the board. and also do things and then within the administration one of the things she does their the end of the presidency and george schultz told me this, is she gives a speech where at that point the reagan administration tried to crackdown to supply drugs to the country and nancy reagan against thehe wishes of many of the own husband's administration that is only part of it. we are cracking down also looking at the investment banker who goes out on his lunch hour and scores a little cocaine. the demand side also has to be dealt with and schultz told me that afterwards and then just think her for delivering a message even her own husband's administration did not want to hear. and that isme the demand and this is the law enforcement issue to change attitude toward drug use. >> just going back to the cold war for a minute. and ending the cold war above all the others it with the soviet relations become the special cause of reagan despised everything about communism and was poised to do somethin

reagan, how do you plead? >> guilty. >> mister president, how good a politician is mrs. reagan? >> absolutely sensational. don't you think so? >> took the words right out of my mouth. [laughter] >> mrs. reagan, some people have suggested that you have been the driving force in your husband's career. you want to the presidency more than he did. >> i know. i read that, too. not true. i thought i married an actor. [laughter] actually, he was asked to run for office soon after we got married, and it turned it down, by the democrats whenhe was still ad democrat. and then, when the governorship came along, i went along with it, but that wasn't something that i had carved out for our future, and certainly the presidency wasn't something that i said, you've got to do this. no. that isn't true. i think that people get mixed up, as far as i'm concerned, in terms of my pushing him, that they don't understand that if he had decided to go into the shoe business, i'd be out pushing shoes! you know, whatever. >> aren't you glad he didn't? >> yes, that was my next point. my next point was, that

that wasn't ronald reagan. nothing fazed him so this made him unusual also and made him appealing to parts of the electorate typically when they hear the word conservative for american right, they flinch. >> they think ogre. >> then here comes ronald reagan with a smile and movie star hair and baritone and peopleh, like that's not what i think when i think conservative in all of these qualities make him an extraordinary figure however, may have been the exception in the history of the american rights and not the will. >> i live about 80 miles upstream from dixon now and the reason i mentioned that is or where i came from, this guide on the river became president of the unitedan states it brought people into looking at a catholic family that was jack kennedy family, it was the entrÉe into let's see what this is about. that's what a lotop of people fm where i came from, he was entry into conservatism because he had such great face, a great way about him inviting people who never looked at it before to actually l

reagan. how do you plead guilty? mr. president how good a politician is mrs. reagan? oh, absolutely don't you think so? the words right out of my mouth. i think she prompting you again. is reckon some people have suggested that you have been the driving force in your husband's career and that you wanted the presidency more than he did. yeah. i know i've read that too. not true. i i thought i married an actor. and actually, he was asked he was asked to run for office. soon after we got married and turned it down by the democrats when he sold democrat. and then when the governorship came along i went along with it, but that wasn't something that i had carved out for for our future and certainly the presidency wasn't something that i said you've got to do this. no that that isn't true. i think what people get mixed up. as far as i'm concerned and this whole thing of my my pushing pushing him. that they don't understand that. if he had decided to go into the shoe business, i'd be out pushing shoes. you know, whatever aren't you? glad he didn't yeah, that was my next point

and reagan is a kind of exception. but what where there's a way in which as paul says populism rose to the forefront in the 1990s on the road. we don't think of the 90s that way now, but it was a time when the populism that had been held in a band since some ways really became the face of the right and response to clinton and otherwise, how do you think about the post reagan years? well, one of the big themes of my book is this relationship between conservatism and populism. and the irony that often times the only way conservatives get into power is through populist politics. which conservatives like buckley and meyer who i've mentioned were often ambivalent and kind of conflicted about. but this is clearly evident in the reagan election. populism being one of the driving forces of reagan's rise, but reagan able to synthesize populism with the supply side agenda with the interests of the religious right with the tax cutting defense buildup all the various factions of the american right as well. with his departure from

a guy named ronald reagan. you may not think of california the same today, but when i get an think you will. i got to admit, tim scott has been one of my best friends from my whole time in congress. it is probably the best investment i ever made. you are doing a fabulous job. when you are in congress, tim scott, trey gowdy and john ratcliffe, we would go to dinner like every single month. they would talk about our families, what is happening, we would argue who is more conservative, you vote for this? i thought i would win based upon my votes. but you know what i found out the other day, i thought tim was the most conservative, but i'm going to give it to trey. because when i look back, i bought every single dinner we have gone on. [laughter] that's pretty good. that's pretty good. to the governor, i think you talk more about california history that california allows today, so thank you. [laughter] [applause] i came to see what a real governor looks like. [cheers] you know, i knew the silver elephant was import

a guy named ronald reagan. you may not think of california the same today, but when i get an think you will. i got to admit, tim scott has been one of my best friends from my whole time in congress. it is probably the best investment i ever made. you are doing a fabulous job. when you are in congress, tim scott, trey gowdy and john ratcliffe, we would go to dinner like every single month. they would talk about our families, what is happening, we would argue who is more conservative, you vote for this? i thought i would win based upon my votes. but you know what i found out the other day, i thought tim was the most conservative, but i'm going to give it to trey. because when i look back, i bought every single dinner we have gone on. [laughter] that's pretty good. that's pretty good. to the governor, i think you talk more about california history that california allows today, so thank you. [laughter] [applause] i came to see what a real governor looks like. [cheers] you know, i knew the silver elephant was import

reagan, i think reagan, i have not researched enough but reagan believed the way to a simpler government is surrounding yourself with good people and let them do their jobs. fdr had that same approach towards the war, if you think about it all of the brilliant man who we had serving in wartime. eisenhower, king, paton, marshall, mcarthur. he had so many others, omar bradley. superb military leaders. he did not interfere. he would meet with them, he would ask questions from them. but, he did not interfere. he let them conduct the war they saw fit. that was his real brilliance in conducting the war of world war ii. you know, he was, for all intents and purposes, he was not just president of the states during world war ii. he was president of the world. we were not only supplying u.s. servicemen, we were supplying the british serviceman and we were supplying the soviet serviceman. we were sending them foodstuffs, material, uniforms, whatever they needed. we were supplying them. so, he was running a global war. he was coming as they fought varsity operator, churchill and stalin more junior v

and as reagan said, in almost every case, it has been a failure. the bureaucracy is as bloated as ever with less transparency and accountability. even the smallest change is a challenge. many of you may remember, iowans elected me with the commitment to make washington squeal. but after nearly 8 years, i often feel i am the one doing the squealing. skepticism of what happens in washington is not a new phenomenon, but for too long in republican politics, we failed to realize the strong undertones in our own electorate. president trump's "drain the swamp" slogan was simple. people congregated toward it because it resonated with them. they truly believe washington has either left them behind, or is out to get them. he tapped into the forgotten man and woman, like my brother and sister who for so long felt snubbed by coastal, out-of-touch elites. republicans, we must learn from this. and we must continue to celebrate everyday working families by getting washington off their backs, out of their businesses, and away from their families. in iowa, chuck gr

this is clearly evident in the reagan election, populism being one of the driving forces, reagan able to synthesize populism with the supply-side agenda, interest of the religious rights, tax cuts defense buildup among the various factions of the american right as well. this is departure from the scene this argument begins and i always thought it was interesting, the 1988 gop primary in many ways missed opportunity because you have a moment where the republican party could have been forced to choose between jack kemp and buchanan. he doesn't run for president, he waits until 1992 because hees recognizes reagan successors are probably going to be george h debbie bush who's not a reagan, establishment the public. there we get the fight between established republicanism representative by bush and buchanan 1992 represented populist wing, representing the surgeons of the rights and attitudes before war and toward immigration and then really beginning in bikinis camping picking up the trade issue as well so that debate is had but buchanan is never successful. in 2000 he leaves the republica

reagan's presidency. he was shot in an assassination attempt as he left a washington hotel speech nancy reagan would later say that the trauma of that day never left her. she talked with c-span's brian lamb about rushing to her husband's side. we got downstairs and he kept saying you i said i'm going to the hospital and he said it it's not necessary. he hasn't been hurt. they're the it's not necessary. and i said george. you either get the car or i'm going to walk. and we got to the hospital. and my deaver met me at the hospital. and said he has been shot. and there were police all around. and a lot of noise and they put me in a little small room. there was one desk and one chair. how was it? and i kept wanting. to see ronnie here and they keep saying what he he's all right, but you can't see him and i kept saying well if he's all right. why can't i see him? and finally they let me see him he was lying there with that thing on his. face to help him breathe and lifted it up and that's when he said honey. i

but that was not ronald reagan. nothing phased him so this made him unusual and also made him appealing to parts of the electorate that typically when they hear the word conservative or american right, they flinch. then here comes ronald reagan with a quip and a smile and the baritone in the movie style hair and that's not what i think of when i think of conservative all these qualities made such an extraordinary figure who was with the american right. >> i live on the rock river 80 miles upstream now and i mentioned that because the guy down river and it brought people looking into the irish catholic family and that is where a lot of people from my family raking from he had such a very great way about him such an amazing intersection in time and that's the confusion that occurred the reagan coalition really came together. >> you have that with buckley with reagan's departure in 89 then post presidency was cut short because of his alzheimer's diagnosis in 1994 and then buckley's lengthy retirement. he stretched it o

reagan came in, it was 70%. when reagan left, it was 28. poppa bush raised it to 31 with other tax hikes. bill clinton took it to perhaps 40. still below 70. george w. bush brought it back to 35. basically, the tax cuts stayed intact. they were not as low as 28 but basically stayed intact. but look -- with poppa bush, so many of us who helped vice president bush and tried to talk him out of raising taxes -- he said don't do it, don't do it, he did it and he lost the election. host: richard in brentwood, maryland. if you want a fuller, longer answer of that, this trick kudlow writes about that extensively in jfk and the reagan revolution. you and i were talking yesterday and you kind of have this happy warrior persona on the air. i was surprised you had called mr. biden. guest: it's just not my way. i gave him a chance and then i looked at thehost: our book tv h program continues from larry kudlow's library in connecticut. we want to hear from you. 202 is the area code. 202-748-8201 if you live in mountain and pa

he did what reagan reagan i think reagan. i i haven't researched enough but reagan believed, you know way to assemble the governance you surround yourself with good people and then you let them do their jobs fdr had that same approach toward the war and if you think about it. all the brilliant men who had serving in wartime. he had eisenhower and he had nimitz he had king and he had patent and he had marshall and he had macarthur and he had so many others omar bradley so many other superb military leaders, and he didn't interfere he would meet with them. he would ask questions for them, but he didn't interfere. he'd let them conduct the war they saw fit and that was what his real brilliance was in in conducting the war of world war two, but you know, he was he was for all intensive purposes. he was not just president of states during world war two he was president of the world. he we were not only supplying the us service man, but we were surprised supplying the british service man, and we were supplying the soviet service ma

a guy named ronald reagan. you might not think the same of california today, but when i get done, i hope you do. i have got to admit, tim scott has been one of my best friends for my whole time in congress. it is true, i maxed out to him, that is the best investment i ever made. you are doing a tablets job. while we were in congress, -- and this guy named john radcliffe, we would go to dinner every month. we would talk about our families, what is happening. we would argue, who is more conservative? what did you vote for? i thought i would win based upon my votes, but you know what i found out at the end of the day? i thought tim was the most conservative, but i'm going to give it to trey. when i look back, i bought every single dinner we have gone. >> [laughter] >> that is pretty good. that is pretty good. to the governor, i think you talk more about american history then california allows in their schools today. so, thank you. >> [applause] >> i came to see what a real governor looks like. >> [applause] >> i a

reagan's was just as thick. >> can i just add, quickly, that after president reagan died, after president ford died, after nancy reagan died, all -- joanne wrote long memos to me. president ford, who the man in charge of his funeral, a man named greg willard, wrote me a long memo -- they became my bible of how to do a funeral. it saved my life. and i did the same for the chiefs of staffs of president bush 43, obama, clinton, and carter. i wrote these this long memo, what went right, what went wrong, and we can talk about, later, some of those big challenges. but those memos saved my life. >> yeah. in a moment we'll talk about the sharing of those memos. but this is one of those, the best laid plans of mice and men -- and i want to put a photo up and ask jean to comment. here we go. jean, best laid plans. sometimes there are surprises, big surprises that might occur, unexpected moments in presidential funerals. and here's just one. >> this is one of the best unexpected moments of president bush's funeral. if many of you will remember that president bush and bob dole were big political riva

and we started it with reagan soundbites. looking at the big issues that reagan dealt with that are big issues that we are dealing with today. so, it all kind of works out. i want to say hi to my friends, john and lisa, and i know i have friends in the audience. we are here to talk about grant. years before we talk about grant, brett, your very first visit here. eight, nine years ago, was about your first book and the real challenges that you had with a -- remarkable book. just tell us he's okay. >> he's doing great, thank. you that first book was called special heart journey of hope. love, hope, courage. oh my gosh, what is? it, hope courage, and love. i'm thinking grant, i'm thinking, anyway, bottom line paul is doing fantastic. he has had four open-heart surgeries and 10 angioplasties in this last one was in december, his open heart surgery, and paul is now an inch taller than me. he is six feet tall. he wears a size 13 shoe, and he is a golfer, a basketball player, and he's doing fantastic. so, thank you very. much [appla

reagan wasn't worried. he would say so a little bit but he had two priorities one was to/the tax rates to rejuvenate the economy. the secondn was to put money ino the defense. the deficits temporarily went up and so did the debt, but he achieved his ends. the economy grew as i said before. just nearly three decades worth of prosperity with very small interruptions. growth and peace through strength. strong at home and strong abroad. week at home and week abroad. i learned that from reagan and i've never forgotten it's been 40 plus years. i will say to you as a senior trump advisor he believed the same thing. weakness at home reads weakness abroad. he slashed corporate and small business tax rates, grew the economy, reinvigorated the economy and unemployment fell, put a lot of money into the defense budget. we had to do that at that point it was not so much russia as china. so i think you go back and john kennedy talked aboutth strengtht home and strength abroad. kennedy people forget this i know it was a lo

the reagan centennial. and he was a great friend a great leader and certainly has been extraordinary in transforming the work of the reagan foundation and preserving and continuing to advance the legacy of our 40th president of the united states. so congratulations john for your great achievement. joining john on stage or my friend jean becker former chief of staff to president george hw bush and first lady barbara bush lewis picone historian and board trustee for the groveland cleveland birthplace memorial association and author of grant's tomb the epic death of ulysses s grant and the making of an american pantheon. and nicola longford executive director of the sixth floor museum at dealey plaza, nicola. thank you for welcoming. so many of our guests the other day to your wonderful museum, please welcome us. and our panel as we continue the mornings program. thank you so much stewart as stuart mentioned he and i've had the chance to work. in the past both at the red cross and stuart was just an absolutely

and they were able to establish a relationship with reagan that worked quite well. but one of the very 1st meetings gorbachev held with the west was with the iron lady herself, yuki premier, margaret thatcher. the 2 met in 1984 before gorbachev. even by in soviet leader, the talks were viewed as a 1st step to finally warming relations between the soviet union and the west. i like mister gorbachev, we can do business together. she said so to ronald reagan, in that sense, she was influential and she played an important role in establishing the right atmosphere. remember that before go mature of came in, there hadn't been a us soviet some, it was 6 years. it's an absolutely incredible thing. if you look at it, it was a huge turnaround in the relationship and something that despite all the differences between gilbert children, subsequent leaders has not been undone. gorbachev was responsible for a major nuclear disarmament breakthrough. following nearly 2 years of wrangling with us president ronald reagan over the issue, he made a surprise announcement. he said that the

i started with reagan sound bites. the issues that reagan deal with that were big issues when we are dealing with the debt so it kind of all works out pretty well to say hi to my friends and i know i have friends in the audience. we are here to talk about grant. years ago you wrote your first book in the challenges you had with your son paul, remarkable but please tell me he's okay. >> he's doing great. that book is called special hearted journey of hope and courage. oh my gosh courage and love. i'm thinking grand and i'm thinking, anyway bottom line he is doing fantastic. he's had four open-heart surgeries and 10 angioplasties in this last one was in december and paul is now an inch taller than me. he's 6 feet tall. he is a golfer and a basketball player and he's doing fantastic so thank you very much. [applause] >> bret in your book you chose presidents to study that are oftentimes at an inflection point in their presidency. a moment in time in that particular president uniquely change the course of history. is that

talk to me about this relationship between gorbachev and ronald reagan at the time, but of course reagan was no, no, i mean, obviously not just being an actor from hollywood, but he was, he was a great diplomat, a politician. he was a real meter in greta and both reagan and, and gorbachev certainly when they would get together, they seemed to attain this celebrity status. why do you think that became the case? will lead to very good, very good question. good insight. i'm not quite sure why they got along. maybe it was my destiny. gorbachev knew he had to change russia and reagan. he had to help russia. otherwise we might all die. so for whatever reason, i think it was, they wouldn't mutually needed each other. and they knew it and they weren't or same door. are you shipping? cause you say they were in mutual need of each other? why is it, jim? maybe this is a bit of a tough question. but what, why is it that gorbachev was so roundly embraced by western professional partners. but today.

he almost breaks reagan's reagan assumes that his is rib has been broken because that's how hard he shoved him into the wheel. well, essentially, you know the peace in between the two. it's not the wheel. well, i'm not really good at cars either. that transmission the transmission hump. reagan's chess goes down on that. he's convinced his rib, or ribs are broken. another amazing agent timmy who everybody considers sort of this hulking football player, but basically like a real rookie a youngster. he hears the shot also doesn't look left doesn't look right knows where the gunfires coming from points toward points his chest toward it and throws out his hands as as fast as he can and as wide as he can and that ultimately, those two men save reagan's life now a bullet does get through and it ricoches into is this boring by the way, have you guys all know this? okay, sometimes i really figure you guys know all this you can tell me about the cars and the guns later so so and by the way, most of this i learned with the same chill by reading the fbi's 302s which are the fbi agents interviewing the

the tax cuts to reagan. and reagan looked at them, thought about them and ran on them. it was great controversy it just as wasn't jfk's day. and it worked. reagan had two rounds of tax cuts. i was there for the first round was involved in the campaign to promote it. >> it would be a major aim of our tax reform programs to broaden the tax and reconsider the rate structure. >> absolutely. there's some really juicy jfk quotes that could easily applied to reagan. in fact listen, candidate was the first guy to use the phrase a rising tide lifts all boats. that phrase was used p years lar by jack kemp the late jack kemp who was a very dear friend and also a mentor by reagan. trump used it, the trump tax cuts which were more on the corporate side but were an enormous tax were cut from the same cloth as the reagan and jfk tax cuts. i was able to bridge it reagan trump on those policies. i was too young for jfk. just barely too young. i was really only 17 when i went to the reagan white house, thought that was a joke. and if i may but warren g harding in the 1920s harding, his v

reagan was lying in state. in the 1980s, this is the history that will change and eventually resulted in the end of the soviet union appear in and of course, you had the famous summit with the president reagan and gorbachev in 1986 which seem to change everything. that was key right there that reagan actually realized because margaret thatcher had gone to meet with gorbachev before and reported back to reagan this is a guy they could work with and jennifer griffin, excuse me minutes ago absolutely the type of person that wanted to maintain the soviet union. but the west saw in him this level of stability. the idea that you had who had died in the late 70s and most quickly through -- and the fact the soviet union had gone through the three leader so quickly nobody knew what to expect with gorbachev. even though that summit was viewed as a failure and what it did was it set the table for the some years later in 1987 of the start treaty. the strategic arms reduction talks, which was key because before, strategic a

reagan said, let's give up. and remember, he had built up all of our medium range missiles in europe in counter to the soviets buildup. he said, let's get rid of all of our short and medium range missiles. and gorbachev says, okay, reagan is great. and then gorbachev says, let's get rid of all of our long range missiles. in other words, everything, all our strategic nukes. and reagan says to shultz can we do that? and shultz says, yes, sir, president, we can. let's do it. so they're going to do it. and they already are working on a plan and the plan essentially would be that the us and the russians and the soviets we would reduce our nuclear weapons stockpiles down. right. about 200 to get us at parity with britain and france. israel india, china. then we lean on all of our allies and do everything we can to a global push for total disarmament and people say this is just impossible, but we outlawed biological weapons. and that doesn't mean that no one can ever cheat. but it means that it's absolutely illegal and

i started with reagan sound bites. the issues that reagan deal with that were big issues when we are dealing with the debt so it kind of all works out pretty well to say hi to my friends, john and lisa. and i know i have other friends in the audience. we are here to talk about grant. years >> before you we talk about grant -- your very first visit, here eight or nine years ago, it was about your first book. and the real challenges you had with your son paul, remarkable but please tell us you. okay >> he's doing great. thank you. that book is called, special, heart journey of love hope courage -- oh my gosh, katie, what is it? -- i am thinking grant, anyway, bottom line. paul is doing fantastic. he has had four open heart surgeries, ten angel plastics. his last one was in december, his open heart surgery. and paul is now an inch taller than me. he is six feet tall. he wears a size 13 shoe. he is a golf, or a basketball player, and he is doing fantastic. so thank you very much. [applause] >> bret, it seems in your book,

i started with reagan sound bites. the issues that reagan deal with that were big issues when we are dealing with the debt so it kind of all works out pretty well to say hi to my friends and i know i have friends in the audience. we are here to talk about grant. years ago you wrote your first book in the challenges you had with your son paul, remarkable but please tell me he's okay. >> he's doing great. that book is called special hearted journey of hope and courage. oh my gosh courage and love. i'm thinking grand and i'm thinking, anyway bottom line he is doing fantastic. he's had four open-heart surgeries and 10 angioplasties in this last one was in december and paul is now an inch taller than me. he's 6 feet tall. he is a golfer and a basketball player and he's doing fantastic so thank you very much. [applause] >> bret in your book you chose presidents to study that are oftentimes at an inflection point in their presidency. a moment in time in that particular president uniquely change the course of history. is that