C-SPAN Bookshelf

Lindsay Chervinsky is the brand-new executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. Simultaneously, her new book on John Adams has just been published. The book's title is "Making the Presidency." In her introduction, Chervinsky writes that Adams was "guaranteed to fall short in comparison to George Washington." She says the "challenge of the second president, therefore, called for someone to battle the growing partisan divisions without Washington's presence." John Adams served only one term and was defeated by Thomas Jefferson for a second. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James Allen, Jr., murdered Tony Sylvester in Las Vegas during a 1980 home burglary, a crime for which he was found guilty and sentenced to death. Mr. Allen, who was a teenager at the time, spent 26 years in prison, including almost 4 years on death row, before being paroled by the state of Nevada in 2008. Since being released, he has spent his time mentoring at-risk youth and working with the Nevada Coalition Against the Death Penalty. He co-wrote a book about his life titled "Not My Chair: Journey from Death Row to Freedom." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dartmouth College professor Brooke Harrington examined the world of offshore finance, how it works and its impact on the U.S. and globally. She was interviewed by Wall Street Journal U.S. tax policy reporter Richard Rubin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Marty Makary is a Johns Hopkins School of Medicine professor. He has published more than 300 scientific research articles. His book is called "Blind Spots: When Medicine Gets It Wrong, and What It Means for Our Health." In his preface, Dr. Makary says he realizes that much of what the public is told about health is medical dogma, an idea or practice given incontrovertible authority because someone decreed it to be true based on a gut feeling. He writes: "This book may change your life, it did mine." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author and publisher Peter Osnos talks about "LBJ and McNamara," a book-length Substack serial and soon to be book about President Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's handling of the Vietnam War. Mr. Osnos, Saigon correspondent for the Washington Post during the war, also talks about publishing Robert McNamara's memoir "In Retrospect" and the meetings he had with McNamara in preparation for that book, which Mr. Osnos recorded. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former assistant U.S. attorney and law professor Kim Wehle looked at how the pardon system works in the United States. She was interviewed by University of Michigan emeritus professor of law and sociology Richard Lempert. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Patrick Oliver, founder and CEO of Say It Loud! Readers & Writers, discusses the need for literary arts programs and his efforts to promote reading among children and young adults. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The book is called "Behind Closed Doors: In the Room with Reagan & Nixon." It's the title of a memoir by a man who worked closely with both. Ken Khachigian, the author, was a speechwriter and a confidant to former Presidents Nixon and Reagan back in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Near the end of his book, Khachigian, a lawyer based in California, writes: "I spent a decade and a half in close, confidential contact with these two Presidents." In 1990, when Presidents Reagan and Nixon were together, chatting about history, Khachigian kept notes of their conversation, which he reveals in his memoir. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fifty years ago, on August 8, 1974, President Nixon, who was under threat of impeachment, announced that he would resign from office. The following day, Vice President Gerald Ford was sworn in as the 38th president of the United States. Gerald and Betty Ford's son, Steven Ford, provides a behind-the-scenes look at that tumultuous period in American history and President Ford's term in office, including his decision to pardon Richard Nixon on September 8, 1974. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Breitbart News' Joel Pollak discussed what he thinks a potential second presidential term for Donald Trump should focus on in its first 100 days.  He was interviewed by Reason Magazine editor at large Matt Welch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices