>> richard norton smith? >> again, newton would know, better but i think it certainly paint him that neither of those presidential elections he won illinois. remember, he had been elected governor of illinois 1948 by the largest margin of the history of the state. what was that, a conservative isolationist state, elected this new deal liberal, democrat. and it was not surprising, i assumed, he thought he counted on winning it. in 52. >> he did, and for example, if he had run for governor in 1952, even with president eisenhower running on the republican, he would've won the governorship again, by a larger margin than anyone in 48. >> newton minow today we talk about taxes, spending, social programs, social security, some of the presidential issues that we look at during this campaign. 1952, 1956, what were two or three of the main issues that were talked about on this campaign, and that adlai stevenson stressed? >> 52, the big issue i think, helped president eisenhower, was korea. we were back down, president

richard norton smith. >> i think it was a united nations day in dallas that he spoke to and afterward was struck by protesters with signs. i think he was actually spat upon at a classic stevenson rejoinder after they said, are you going to prosecute these people? he said, i don't want to prosecute them, i want to educate them. >> newton minow? >> i think he was very aware of the dangers, but i don't think you could go so far as the questioner did about him. i think president kennedy had made that commitment and he wanted to keep it. i do remember talking about the relationship of adlai and president kennedy. during the '60 campaign, norman vincent peele, a leading protestant clergyman, had organized a group of other clergymen, and they said that jack kennedy was unqualified to be president because of his religion. and adlai was asked about it. and he compared peele to st. paul, and he said, i find st. paul appealing, and norman vincent peele appalling. and he could always make a joke or good humor out of i

richard norton smith. >> newt would know better. i think it certainly pained him that in neither of those presidential elections he won illinois. remember, he had been elected governor of illinois in 1948 by the largest margin in the history of the state. what was that, a conservative isolationist state elected this liberal democrat. it was not surprising that i assume he thought he counted on winning it in '52. >> he did, and if, for example, he had run for governor in 1952 instead of president, even with president eisenhower running on the republican ticket, he would have won the governorship again by a larger margin than he won in '48. >> newton minnow, today we talk about taxes, spending, social program, social security as some of the presidential issues we look at yduring campaigns. 1952, 1956. what were the two main issues talked about on this campaign and that adlai stevenson stressed? >> '52, i think the big issue was north korea. we were bogged down in a war there. president eisenhower said, i hav

joining us is richard norton smith, biographer of dewey. and author of many books. so richard norton smith, it's november 2nd, 1948, at the roosevelt hotel. what happens here? >> well, the day began with virtual unanimity in the nation's press corps. that this election was over. that it was dewey's to lose. there were pollsters who stopped polling after labor day. they were so convinced there was no contest, really. governor and mrs. dewey went to vote at midday, not too far from here, were cheered all the way along. he got out of his car, decided to walk back to the hotel. reporters thought that was a good sign. the new dewey, they said, the warmer more personal dewey that people had seen on the trail in 1948. they had an election night tradition of having dinner with their dear friends, the the strausses. roger strauss, who was a publisher. and the family went to the strauss' for an early dinner. and while they were there, some disturbing returns came in from connecticut in particular. and dewey of course as gang buster had relied upon accountants to convict the l

richard norton smith? >> i can only speculate that it was a throwback to his youth, to his childhood. he had come from a farming environment. in world war i, he was too young to enlist and he worked on a farm in the oaso area. my sense is, and you know much better, that he was just very happy being a dairy farmer. it was a side of him that would probably surprise the public, and i'm not sure your mother was wild about it, i'm not sure you were wild about living there. >> what about it like? >> we were given a choice, i guess to some extent, she wasn't either. i do remember he was very pleased, as the caller said, very pleased to have the early stage milking machines because i remember the period before that, i mean, in the very beginning when we first -- i think we rented in '37 and bought it in $38, people would be horrified today, but we were drinking unpasteurized milk because that's what one did on a farm. then when he became governor, that was by the police, but you have a very good memory of all of t

right joining us is -- richard norton smith, author of many books. so it's 1948 in the roosevelt hotel. what happens here? >> the day began with virtual unanimity in the nation's press corps that this election was over. it was thomas eat due east to lose. there were pollsters who would in fact stop pulling after labor day. there were so convinced that there was no contest, really. >> governor dewy and mrs. do we went to vote at midday not too far from here. they were cheered all the way on. he got out of his car. decided to walk back to the hotel reports that there was a good sign. the new. doing the warmer, more personable dewey the people have seen on the campaign trail in 48. they had an election night tradition of having dinner with their near dear friends, a publisher. and the family went to their home for a early dinner. and when they were there some disturbing returns came in from connecticut in particular. and dewey gangbuster had relied upon accountants as much as anyone else -- they always had great great respect for the numbers. and the nu

richard norton smith? >> i think there was a cultural divide in some ways which is still with us in some senses. in '44 he had a difficult situation. he had two hands tied behind his back. the 800-pound gorilla was the issue of franklin roosevelt's health. we all knew he was dying but it was not something you could possible touch and the other issue was the conduct of the war and the whole issue of pearl harbor and the speculation that still swirls around it as to what if anything the president might have known. and your dad had, i think some fairly pronounced views on that subject. >> that's correct. >> well, we -- there was not ironclad but presumptive proof that we had broken the japanese code before pearl harbor and did nothing about it. and that was widespread at the time and in fact i think you've got a chapter on this in the book, roosevelt sent a colonel up from washington to see him during the campaign and said, you know, i trust you're not going to mention this because they're using the same code

this week on q&as, presidential historian richard norton smith, he discusses his book an uncommon man. the triumph of herbert hoover. >> richard norton smith, why did you call your book that you wrote 35 years ago "uncommon man"? >> well, it's taken, actually, from the title of a relatively famous hoover speech about the uncommon man. remember, vice president henry wallace, who was the second of fdr's vice presidents, gave a famous speech in 1942, i believe, maybe'43, about the century of the common man. >> and wallace, from a left of center perspective, was projecting, in effect, the goals and ambitions of the generation that was fighting world war ii. and it wasn't enough simply to defeat the nazis, but to create at home a true democracy. a place where the common man would finally come into his own. >> and hoover approached this from a different place on the political spectrum. he was, in effect, making the case for what we might call a meritocracy. but something to say, that i shouldn't paraphrase it, but, you know, when you get sick, you want an uncommonly skillful doctor. when we

. >> thank you richard norton smith for helping us with our series on presidents. the name of the book, and it is available on amazon and other places as a used book. this one, by the way, comes from a library in milford, michigan, the one that i have. the name of the book is "an uncommon man: the triumph of herbert hoover". we thank you very much. >> thank you. >> for free transcripts or to give us your comments about this program, visit us at q&a.org. q&a programs are also available as c-span podcasts. >> weeknights this month on american history tv, it's "the contenders" the series that looks at 14 presidential candidates who lost the election but had a lasting effect on u.s. politics. tonight we feature 1940 republican nominee wendell willkie. after losing he became representative to britain, middle east, soviet union and china. watch tonight beginning at 8:00 eastern and enjoy american history tv this week and every weekend on c-span3. >> you're watching american history tv. every weekend on c-span3, explore our nation's past. c-span3 created by america's cabl

. >> this week on q&a, presidential historian richard norton smith discusses his book, an uncommon man, the triumph of herbert hoover. >> richard smith, why kdid you call your book you wrote 35 years ago, uncommon man? >> it's taken from the title of a relatively famous hoover speech about the uncommon man. you remember vice president henry wallace, who was the second of fdr's vice presidents, gave a famous speech in 1942, maybe '43, about the common man. and wallace, from the left of center, perspective, was projecting in effect the goals and am birgss of the generation that was fighting world war ii. it wasn't enough to simply beat the nadzis, but to create at home, a true democracy. a place where the common man would finally come into his own. and hoover approached this from a different place in the political spectrum. he was in effect making the case for what we might call ameritocr a acy. i shouldn't paraphrase it. when you get sick, you want an uncommonly skillful doctor. when we go to war, we want an uncommon uncommonly able general. you get the picture. the advances in society

richard norton smith wrote a favorable review and nixon says to his staff, you know, the new york times once a decade will write something nice about me. i guess because it is they just 1990, wanted to get this decade out of the way. he always had a very skeptical view of the role of the media and i don't think that improved over time. obviously the media environment , is very different, all of the different platforms social media , platforms. he was an innovator. himwhole concept of developing the idea of the saturday morning radio address, he wanted to find ways to communicate more effectively, so i think he would be somebody looking for ways to use those tools to his advantage and to the president's advantage, whoever the president might be. i think he would be uncomfortable with how this president goes about that. i can't imagine he would enjoy reading some of the trumpian tweets. >> thank you for coming and telling us about your book. if nixon everg published lee acknowledged the sacrifices president ford made by giving him the pardon and short-circuiting any legal process. no doub

this week on q&as, presidential historian richard norton smith, he discusses his book an uncommon man. the triumph of herbert hoover.

and who richard and to richard norton smith, who has been our consultant in this project. i was the brain child behind it we first got started. thank you for all your hard work. we close our ross perot contenders program, with a look at his theme song, and this is an election night 1992. as he is greeting his supporters. >> just having said that, you have to play our campaign theme song crazy. okay. here we go. ♪ ♪

. >> professor, richard norton smith who's been working with us on this series said that essentially wendell willkie is the personification of this 14-part series, an individual that many americans may not know a lot about but had a very significant impact in his time. >> i think that's a very good point. let me just follow up with amity said there. i think at his best willkie brings us to our best natures. willkie asks more of us. and that's one of the things that i like most about him. he holds out the ideals of america, and ultimately the ideals of the human race, of the condition of the world. so there's a lot to like about willkie, even if you might want to think he's a little naive and uninformed at times. >> bill is next. still mountain, georgia, go ahead, please. >> caller: i take you back to the glamour and the excitement of that day in philadelphia at the convention hall. i was there. i was there with my father who had a unique involvement at the convention. he sort of orchestrated what was known as the stampeding of the gallery. and as a kid i was up there with instruction

andrew presidential historian richard norton smith who has been our consultant in this project and really the brain child behind it when we first got started. thanks to both of you for all of your hard work. and we close our ross perot court contenders program with a look at his theme song. this is election night 1992 as he is greeting his supporters. >> just having said that, ed, you have to play our campaign song, crazy. there we go! crazy! ha [applause] up next on american history tv, the first of three 1992

norton smith who has been our consultant in this project and really the brain child behind it when we first got started. thanks to both of you for all of your hard work. we close our ross perot contenders program with a look at his theme song and this is election night 1992 as he's greeting his supporters. >> having said that, you got to play our campaign theme song "crazy." ♪ ♪ crazy for feeling to lonely ♪ crazy >> everybody, what are we? ♪ ♪ >>> weeknights this month we're featuring american history tv programs as a preview of what's available every weekend on c-span3. tonight, a look at past vice presidential debates starting with vice president george h.w. bush and representative geraldine ferraro they debated a variety of issues including abortion and the u.s. economy. that starts at 8:00 eastern. join american history tv this week and every weekend on c-span3. >>> american history tv on c-span3. exploring the people and events that tell the american story every weekend. coming up this weekend, saturday at 6:00 p.m. on the civil war, a look at how historical interpreta

anyway, 1956, richard norton smith made a comment to adlai stevenson doing something unprecedented in, opening the conviction -- the convention to picking a vice presidential nominee. very few people realtle bit of adlai stevenson talking about the democratic platform. >> to the threshold of a new america. in the america of the great ideals and noble vision. i knew america where poverty is abolished and our abundance is used to enrich the lives of every family. [applause] i mean a new america where freedom is made real for all, without regard to race or belief or economic conditions. [applause] i mean a new america with the ancient ideas -- these are the things i believe then. these are the things i will work was a marine in 1952. >> he takes time out from this campaign to attend the graduation of his son from the marine officer candidate school in quantico, virginia. it is a proud father and an equally proud son on occasion important to both. the home that -- in libertyville. we are in what used to be the barn and it is right next door. it is now set up with an exhibit. what is going