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Man: "WHAT IS GOVERNMENT ITSELF

"BUT THE GREATEST OF ALL REFLECTIONS ON HUMAN NATURE?

IF MEN WERE ANGELS, NO GOVERNMENT WOULD BE NECESSARY."

JAMES MADISON.

Man: THAT'S THE PLACE WHERE OUR GOVERNMENT WORKS.

IT'S THE ENGINE OF DEMOCRACY.

THIS IS OUR MOST IMPORTANT BUILDING.

WE'RE SO ACCUSTOMED

TO SEEING OUR HISTORY MEASURED BY THE PRESIDENCY

THAT WE FORGET THE EXTENT TO WHICH

THE REAL STORY OF OUR COUNTRY TAKES PLACE RIGHT THERE.

THAT'S THE PLACE TO GO, TO THE HILL.

ALL THE VOICES ARE THERE.

( gavel raps )

Man: THE HOUSE WILL BE IN ORDER.

OUR PRAYER WILL BE OFFERED BY THE CHAPLAIN.

Chaplain: O GOD, AS WE THINK ON THE GLORIES

OF YOUR SPIRITUAL WORLD...

Tour guide: FOLKS, PLEASE GRAB A TICKET

FOR A TOUR OF THE HISTORIC SECTION OF THE BUILDING.

Tour guide #2: WE ARE NOW STANDING IN THE ORIGINAL SECTION OF THE CAPITOL.

( tour guide speaking Hebrew )

Nixon: ...OLD SOLDIERS NEVER DIE.

THEY JUST FADE AWAY...

Man: ...SENATOR McCARTHY, HAVE YOU NO SENSE OF DECENCY, SIR?...

Man 2: ...MR. RODINO...

Man 3: ...IT IS POSSIBLE FOR AN AMERICAN TO DISAGREE WITH YOU

ON AID TO THE CONTRAS

AND STILL LOVE GOD AND STILL LOVE THIS COUNTRY...

Woman: ...MR. SPEAKER, THE OFFICIAL STATE SONG OF MY HOME STATE

IS ENTITLED "BEAUTIFUL NEBRASKA."

I WANT MY COLLEAGUES TO KNOW ABOUT THE ACCOMPLISHMENT...

Man 4: ...WITH CONGRESS, EVERY TIME THEY MAKE A JOKE, IT'S A LAW.

YOU KNOW?

AND EVERY TIME THEY MAKE A LAW, IT'S A JOKE.

( laughter, applause )

LOOK, THERE IT IS!

WHO? WHAT?

THE CAPITOL DOME.

YES, SIR, BEEN THERE A LONG TIME NOW.

YES, SIR.

THIS WAY, SENATOR.

Man: THE CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT AND THE SUPREME COURT--

THEY'RE THE THREE THINGS WE GOT.

BUT THE CONGRESS IS WHERE WE SPEAK.

THE CONGRESS IS WHERE WE ARE.

THE CONGRESS IS WHERE ORDINARY MORTALS

GO ABOUT THE BUSINESS OF COMPROMISE--

OF COMPROMISE WHICH GETS US THROUGH THE DAY.

CONGRESS IS THE FIRST BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT

IN THE SENSE THAT IT IS THE REMINDER

THAT PEOPLE IN A REPUBLIC

ARE SUPPOSED TO DO THEIR OWN BUSINESS

AND THEY ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO ABDICATE THEIR BUSINESS

TO SOMEONE ELSE.

Man: THERE WAS STILL SOME LINGERING THOUGHTS

THAT THEY MADE A MISTAKE IN GIVING UP THE IDEA OF A KING.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN CAME ALONG.

THE STORY IS HE CAME ALONG AND HE STOPPED AND LISTENED A MOMENT

AND WHEN THERE WAS A CHANCE TO SAY A WORD, HE JUST SAID THIS:

"IN AMERICA, THE PEOPLE GOVERN."

Man: "THIS HUGE GRAY HALL FILLED WITH PERPETUAL CLAMOR

"THIS MULTITUDE OF EAGER FACES

"THIS CEASELESS COMING AND GOING OF MANY FEET

"THIS IRREVERENT PUBLIC, WATCHING FROM THE GALLERIES

"AND FORCING ITS WAY ONTO THE FLOOR

"ALL SPEAK OF THE MIGHTY DEMOCRACY

"DESTINED IN ANOTHER CENTURY

"TO FORM ONE HALF OF CIVILIZED MANKIND

"WHOSE AFFAIRS ARE HERE DEBATED.

"OF WHAT TREMENDOUS STRUGGLES

"MAY NOT THIS HALL BECOME THE THEATER IN AGES YET FAR DISTANT

WHEN THE PARLIAMENTS OF EUROPE HAVE SHRUNK TO INSIGNIFICANCE?"

McCullough: ONE MILE EAST AND 88 FEET ABOVE THE POTOMAC RIVER

ON WHAT WAS ONCE CALLED JENKINS HEIGHTS

STANDS THE MOST RECOGNIZABLE BUILDING IN AMERICA.

DESIGNED BY AN ENGLISHMAN, INSPIRED BY A RUSSIAN CHURCH

DECORATED BY ITALIAN CRAFTSMEN AND BUILT IN PART BY SLAVES

IT IS THE NEAREST THING AMERICANS HAVE

TO A NATIONAL TEMPLE.

DAVY CROCKETT SAT HERE.

SO DID JOSEPH PULITZER AND HORACE GREELEY

AND WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST AND EMILY DICKINSON'S FATHER

AND ISADOR STRAUS, THE FOUNDER OF MACY'S

AND A MAN WHO PITCHED A PERFECT GAME

FOR THE PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES IN 1964.

OVER 10,000 MEN AND WOMEN HAVE SERVED HERE--

FARMERS AND HOUSEWIVES

RHODES SCHOLARS AND EX-SLAVES

ASTRONAUTS AND PRIESTS

BASKETBALL STARS AND CONVICTED FELONS

SCHOOLTEACHERS AND PLAYWRIGHTS

AND LAWYERS-- ALWAYS LAWYERS.

Man: "IF THE PRESENT CONGRESS ERR TOO MUCH IN TALKING

"HOW CAN IT BE OTHERWISE

"IN A BODY TO WHICH THE PEOPLE SEND 150 LAWYERS

WHOSE TRADE IS TALK BY THE HOUR?"

McCullough: ONE MEMBER HAS GONE INSANE IN OFFICE.

ONE HAS TAKEN MATERNITY LEAVE

AND SEVERAL HAVE SERVED JAIL TERMS FOR BRIBERY.

MEMBERS HAVE FOUGHT ON THE FLOOR WITH FISTS AND FIRE TONGS

SHOT EACH OTHER ON DUELING GROUNDS

AND BEEN SHOT AT FROM THE GALLERIES.

23 FROM CONGRESS HAVE BECOME PRESIDENT.

IN 200 YEARS, CONGRESS HAS, IN THE NAME OF THE PEOPLE

PUSHED OPEN THE WEST, BUILT RAILROADS, FREED SLAVES

MADE WAR, PASSED SOCIAL SECURITY

PUT G.I.s THROUGH COLLEGE

AND PAID TO LAND MEN ON THE MOON.

THEY'VE DRIVEN INDIANS FROM THEIR LAND, OUTLAWED ALCOHOL

AND FILIBUSTERED WITHOUT MERCY.

THEY'VE CREATED MOTHER'S DAY AND DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME

DOMINATED PRESIDENTS AND BEEN DOMINATED BY THEM

STARTED WARS AND STOPPED THEM.

"CONGRESS," THOMAS JEFFERSON SAID

"IS THE GREAT COMMANDING THEATER OF THIS NATION.

IT IS THE PLACE WHERE LAWS ARE MADE."

Man: HE WAS ONCE ASKED BY A RATHER IMPATIENT MAN

AT THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION

"MR. MADISON, COULD YOU PLEASE TELL US

WHAT ARE THE PRINCIPLES, IF THERE ARE ANY

TO BE OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT?"

AND HE SAID, "YES, THERE ARE THREE:

COMPROMISE, COMPROMISE, COMPROMISE."

I AM MOST IMPRESSED BY THEIR IMAGINATION.

THIS WAS A LEAP OF THE IMAGINATION--

THE IDEA THAT YOU'RE GOING TO TURN OVER TO THE PEOPLE

THROUGH THEIR REPRESENTATIVES

THE POWER TO MAKE WAR AND THE POWER TO TAX.

...THAT THE PEOPLE WHO WERE GOING TO TAKE YOUR MONEY AWAY--

OR YOUR SONS-- WERE THE PEOPLE WHO WENT HOME EVERY WEEKEND...

THEY HAD TO BE UP FOR RE-ELECTION EVERY TWO YEARS.

IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE THAT WHEN THEY MET IN NEW YORK

THERE WAS NO STRUCTURE FOR THEM TO BEGIN WITH

AND THEY INVENTED THIS CONGRESS THAT STILL EXISTS TODAY

RECOGNIZING THAT EVERY DECISION THEY MADE IN THOSE TWO YEARS

WOULD BECOME A PRECEDENT FOR AS LONG AS THE CONGRESS ENDURED.

IF THAT'S NOT A MIRACLE

THAT WE HAD THAT KIND OF POLITICAL TALENT AVAILABLE

IN A SMALL COUNTRY OF FOUR MILLION PEOPLE

AT THAT TIME IN OUR HISTORY, I DON'T KNOW WHAT A MIRACLE IS.

Man: "YOU AND I, DEAR FRIEND, HAVE BEEN SENT INTO LIFE

"AT A TIME WHEN THE GREATEST LAWGIVERS

"WOULD HAVE WISHED TO LIVE.

"HOW FEW OF THE HUMAN RACE HAVE EVER ENJOYED AN OPPORTUNITY

"OF MAKING AN ELECTION OF GOVERNMENT

FOR THEMSELVES AND THEIR CHILDREN."

JOHN ADAMS.

McCullough: IN 1789, KINGS STILL RULED IN FRANCE AND ENGLAND

A CZAR IN ST. PETERSBURG, A SULTAN IN CONSTANTINOPLE

A DIVINELY INVESTED EMPEROR IN PEKING AND A SHOGUN IN JAPAN.

BUT ON MARCH 4, 1789

IN THE SUN-FILLED CHAMBERS OF NEW YORK'S CITY HALL

NEWLY REMODELED AS A TEMPORARY CAPITOL

THE FIRST CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES

TOOK UP ITS BUSINESS UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTION.

ONLY 21 MEMBERS SHOWED UP, HOWEVER

AND THE FIRST CONGRESS ADJOURNED WITHOUT A QUORUM.

Man: "THIS IS A VERY MORTIFYING SITUATION.

"WE LOSE CREDIT, SPIRIT, EVERYTHING.

"THE PUBLIC WILL FORGET THE GOVERNMENT BEFORE IT IS BORN.

THE RESURRECTION OF THE INFANT WILL COME BEFORE ITS BIRTH."

REPRESENTATIVE FISHER AMES.

McCullough: WHEN THEY FINALLY ALL ASSEMBLED

CONGRESS ADDRESSED ITSELF TO TEN CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS--

A BILL OF RIGHTS, GUARANTEEING AMONG OTHER THINGS

THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE.

THE HOUSE THEN PICKED A FORMER PREACHER FOR ITS FIRST SPEAKER--

FREDERICK MUHLENBERG OF PENNSYLVANIA.

THEY CREATED NEW DEPARTMENTS OF STATE, TREASURY AND WAR

DEVISED THE MACHINERY OF COMMITTEES

AND SET PRESIDENT GEORGE WASHINGTON'S SALARY

AT THE HUGE SUM OF $25,000 A YEAR

ALL THE TIME IMPROVISING FREELY.

THEY WERE INVENTING CONGRESS

AND THEY WERE INVENTING THEMSELVES.

Man: "I AM VICE-PRESIDENT.

"IN THIS I AM NOTHING, BUT I MAY BE EVERYTHING

"BUT I AM ALSO PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE.

"WHEN THE PRESIDENT COMES INTO THE SENATE, WHO SHALL I BE?

JOHN ADAMS?"

I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HAVE BEEN A REPORTER AT THE FIRST CONGRESS

IN THE FIRST DAYS, WHEN THOSE GUYS CAME IN THERE

TO INVENT WHAT THEY PLANNED AT PHILADELPHIA.

THERE WAS A MOMENT

WHEN THE PRESIDENT HAD A TREATY FOR THE SENATE TO RATIFY.

THE SENATE HAD NEVER RATIFIED A TREATY--

THERE HAD NEVER BEEN A SENATE, THERE HAD NEVER BEEN A TREATY.

GEORGE WASHINGTON BORE THE TREATY

TO THE CAPITOL IN HIS HAND.

HE DELIVERED IT TO THE SENATE

AND HE SAID, IN EFFECT, "RATIFY IT"

AND THE SENATE TOOK IT AND LOOKED AT IT AWHILE

AND SAID, "YES, SIR, YEAH."

AND IT CAME CLEAR

THAT WASHINGTON EXPECTED THEM TO RATIFY IT.

THE SENATE ASSERTED ITSELF

NOT KNOWING WHAT IT WAS ASSERTING

AND SAID, "WE'LL HAVE TO LOOK AT IT."

WASHINGTON PACED THE HALLS, IRRITATED, ANGERED.

THE SENATE TOLD HIM

THAT THEY BELIEVED THAT IT WOULD TAKE TILL TOMORROW

OR MAYBE ANOTHER DAY

AND WASHINGTON HAD TO LEAVE THE CAPITOL AND GO HOME

AND HE NEVER RETURNED TO THE CAPITOL.

BUT THE SENATE HAD ASSERTED THAT IT WOULD DO WHAT THE FOUNDERS--

WHICH GEORGE WASHINGTON AGREED WITH...

THEY RATIFIED A TREATY BY ARGUING ABOUT IT

AND MAKING A LITTLE CHANGE SOMEWHERE

AND THE GOVERNMENT WAS OPERATING.

Woman: "AFTER LEAVING BALTIMORE

"WE WANDERED ABOUT FOR TWO HOURS

"WITHOUT FINDING A GUIDE OR A PATH.

"WOODS ARE ALL YOU CAN SEE

"FROM THE TIME YOU LEAVE BALTIMORE

"UNTIL YOU REACH THE CITY, WHICH IS SO ONLY IN NAME.

"I HAVE BEEN TO GEORGETOWN.

"IT IS THE VERY DIRTIEST HOLE I EVER SAW

FOR A PLACE OF ANY TRADE OR RESPECTABILITY OF INHABITANCE."

ABIGAIL ADAMS.

McCullough: AFTER A YEAR IN NEW YORK AND TEN IN PHILADELPHIA

CONGRESS FINALLY FOUND A PERMANENT HOME.

GOVERNMENT SETTLED ON THE BANKS OF THE POTOMAC

AT THE WEST END OF JENKINS HEIGHTS.

THE MOVE WAS MADE IN JUNE 1800.

THE GOVERNMENT'S DOCUMENTS CAME BY SAILING SHIP;

CLERKS, CONGRESSMEN AND JOHN ADAMS, NOW PRESIDENT ADAMS

BY STAGECOACH AND HORSEBACK.

A LIBRARY OF CONGRESS WAS ESTABLISHED

AND A SUM OF $15 MILLION VOTED

TO PURCHASE ALL LOUISIANA TERRITORY

DOUBLING THE SIZE OF THE COUNTRY.

AN ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATION OF $2,500 WENT TO LEWIS AND CLARK

TO FIND OUT WHAT $15 MILLION HAD BOUGHT.

CONGRESS WAS BOISTEROUS, HOMESPUN

ENLIVENED NOW BY A TWO-PARTY SYSTEM

AND OUTRAGED OVER BRITISH HARASSMENT OF AMERICAN SHIPPING.

SOME WANTED WAR.

MOST PERSUASIVE OF THESE WAR HAWKS

WAS A YOUNG CONGRESSMAN FROM KENTUCKY.

Man: "CLAY IS AN ELOQUENT MAN, WITH VERY POPULAR MANNERS

"AND GREAT POLITICAL MANAGEMENT.

"HIS SCHOOL HAS BEEN THE WORLD, AND IN THAT HE IS PROFICIENT.

"HIS MORALS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE, ARE LOOSE

BUT HE HAS ALL THE VIRTUES INDISPENSABLE TO A POPULAR MAN."

McCullough: ON NOVEMBER 4, 1811

HIS FIRST DAY AS A MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

HENRY CLAY WAS ELECTED SPEAKER.

HE WAS TALL, GALLANT, SHREWD AND AMBITIOUS, A NATURAL LEADER.

ONLY 35 YEARS OLD, HE TOOK HIS PLACE IN THE GREAT CHAMBER

AND QUICKLY CHALLENGED THE WHITE HOUSE

IN ITS HANDLING OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS.

THE BALANCE OF POWER SHIFTED TO CONGRESS

AND TO HENRY CLAY.

Man: "SIR, NO MAN IN THE NATION WANTS PEACE MORE THAN I

"BUT I'D PREFER THE TROUBLED OCEAN OF WAR

"WITH ALL ITS CALAMITIES

TO THE TRANQUIL AND PUTRESCENT POOL OF IGNOMINIOUS PEACE."

McCullough: IN JUNE OF 1812, THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES DECLARED WAR

FOR THE FIRST TIME

THEN ADJOURNED WITHOUT VOTING THE TAXES TO PAY FOR IT.

TWO YEARS LATER, THE BRITISH INVADED WASHINGTON.

CONGRESS WAS NOT IN SESSION

WHEN THE BRITISH ARMY MARCHED INTO THE CITY

AND BURNED THE CAPITOL.

BUT THE PROBLEMS HAD JUST BEGUN.

TWO GREAT QUESTIONS HAVE PREVAILED ALL THE WAY THROUGH

FROM THE TIME OF THE EARLIEST CONGRESSES

RIGHT UP UNTIL THE PRESENT

AND THOSE ARE CIVIL RIGHTS AND GROWTH.

THE CRUCIAL MOMENT IN THE 19th CENTURY

WAS WHEN THIS NATION WAS TRYING TO AVERT

THE TRAGEDY OF THE CIVIL WAR

WHICH FINALLY OVERPOWERED THE STATESMEN OF THAT ERA.

BUT THERE WERE MEN, CLAY AND OTHERS

WHO TRIED AND USED UP THEIR LIVES AND CAREERS

TRYING TO AVERT THAT CALAMITY.

THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A TIME

TO HAVE BEEN A FLY ON THE WALL IN THE CAPITOL.

Woman: "THE MISTS OF MORNING STILL HUNG AROUND THE MAGNIFICENT BUILDING

"WHEN FIRST IT BROKE UPON OUR VIEW.

"WE WERE STRUCK WITH ADMIRATION AND SURPRISE.

"NONE OF US, I BELIEVE, EXPECTED TO SEE SO IMPOSING A STRUCTURE

"ON THAT SIDE OF THE ATLANTIC.

"THE BEAUTY AND MAJESTY OF THE AMERICAN CAPITOL

"MIGHT DEFY AN ABLER PEN THAN MINE TO DO IT JUSTICE.

IT STANDS SO FINELY, TOO, HIGH AND ALONE."

FRANCES TROLLOPE.

McCullough: BY 1819, THE CAPITOL HAD BEEN REBUILT

UNDER THE DIRECTION OF BENJAMIN LATROBE AND CHARLES BULFINCH.

THERE WERE SPACIOUS NEW CHAMBERS FOR BOTH HOUSES

JOINED BY A HANDSOME ROTUNDA

AND A LOW WOODEN DOME, SHEATHED IN COPPER.

A PROUD CONGRESS SAT WHILE THE ARTIST SAMUEL F.B. MORSE

PAINTED IT IN SESSION IN ITS NEW QUARTERS

THEN SUBSIDIZED HIS NEW TELEGRAPH SYSTEM.

GROWTH AND IMPROVEMENTS WERE THE SPIRIT OF THE TIMES.

BUT BECAUSE OF CONFUSION AS TO WHETHER THE SENATE OR THE HOUSE

HAD AUTHORITY IN THE ROTUNDA, MERCHANTS SET UP SHOP THERE

AND SOLD STOVES, PIANOS AND MOUSETRAPS.

Man: "LET US THEN BIND THE REPUBLIC TOGETHER

"WITH A PERFECT SYSTEM OF ROADS AND CANALS.

"LET US CONQUER SPACE.

WE ARE RAPIDLY-- I WAS ABOUT TO SAY FEARFULLY-- GROWING."

JOHN C. CALHOUN.

McCullough: THERE WAS ONE PROBLEM THAT COULD UNBIND THE REPUBLIC.

AS EACH NEW STATE WAS ADDED TO THE UNION

IT THREATENED TO TEAR THE COUNTRY APART.

SOUTHERNERS FEARED THE NORTH MIGHT FORBID SLAVERY.

NORTHERNERS FEARED SLAVERY MIGHT MOVE WEST.

Man: "THERE WAS NEVER A MOMENT IN OUR HISTORY

"WHEN SLAVERY WAS NOT A SLEEPING SERPENT.

"IT LAY COILED UP UNDER THE TABLE

"DURING THE DELIBERATIONS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.

"THEREAFTER, SLAVERY WAS ON EVERYONE'S MIND

IF NOT ALWAYS ON HIS TONGUE."

McCullough: THE FIRST GREAT CRISIS CAME IN 1820.

AFTER FIERCE DEBATE, CONGRESS PASSED THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE

ADMITTING MAINE AS A FREE STATE AND MISSOURI AS A SLAVE STATE.

HENRY CLAY ENGINEERED THE COMPROMISE

USING ALL THE FORCE OF HIS EXTRAORDINARY PERSONALITY.

THERE WAS WIDESPREAD RELIEF.

THEY HAD SAVED THE UNION FOR NOW.

Man: "ALL LEGISLATION IS FOUNDED

"UPON THE PRINCIPLE OF MUTUAL CONCESSION.

"LET HIM WHO ELEVATES HIMSELF ABOVE HUMANITY

"SAY IF HE PLEASES, 'I NEVER WILL COMPROMISE'

"BUT LET NO ONE WHO IS NOT ABOVE THE FRAILTIES

OF OUR COMMON NATURE, DISDAIN COMPROMISE."

McCullough: IT WAS A TIME OF ORATORY.

AND THERE WERE GIANTS ON CAPITOL HILL:

THOMAS HART BENTON OF MISSOURI, THE VOICE OF WESTERN EXPANSION

WHO HAD ONCE SHOT ANDREW JACKSON IN A STREET BRAWL;

SAM HOUSTON, FUTURE PRESIDENT OF TEXAS

WHO SAT IN THE HOUSE CHAMBER, WHITTLING A PINE STICK;

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, OLD MAN ELOQUENT

WHO LIKE NO OTHER FORMER PRESIDENT

WENT BACK TO SERVE IN THE HOUSE;

AND WEBSTER, GOD-LIKE DANIEL OF MASSACHUSETTS--

IT WAS SAID NO MAN WAS EVER SO GREAT

AS DANIEL WEBSTER LOOKED OR SOUNDED.

Man: "WHEN MY EYES SHALL BE TURNED TO BEHOLD FOR THE LAST TIME

"THE SUN IN THE HEAVENS

"MAY I NOT SEE HIM SHINING ON THE BROKEN FRAGMENTS

"OF A ONCE GLORIOUS UNION, ON A LAND RENT WITH CIVIL FEUDS

"OR DRENCHED IT MAY BE IN FRATERNAL BLOOD.

"LET THEIR LAST FEEBLE AND LINGERING GLANCE

"RATHER BEHOLD THE GORGEOUS ENSIGN OF THE REPUBLIC

"STILL FULL HIGH ADVANCED.

"LIBERTY AND UNION, NOW AND FOREVER

ONE AND INSEPARABLE."

McCullough: SPEECH BY SPEECH, COMPROMISE AFTER COMPROMISE

WORDS HELD THE COUNTRY TOGETHER.

GENERATIONS OF SCHOOLCHILDREN LEARNED WEBSTER'S WORDS BY HEART

AND TOOK THEM TO HEART.

Man: "BEFORE DELIVERING A SPEECH, HE OFTEN APPEARED ABSENTMINDED.

"RISING TO HIS FEET

"HE SEEMED TO RECOVER PERFECT SELF-POSSESSION

"WHICH WAS AIDED BY THRUSTING THE RIGHT HAND

"WITHIN THE FOLDS OF HIS VEST

"WHILE THE LEFT HUNG GRACEFULLY BY HIS SIDE.

"HIS DARK COMPLEXION GREW WARM WITH INWARD FIRE.

HIS EYES WOULD START FROM THEIR CAVERNOUS DEPTHS."

McCullough: WEBSTER WAS A GENIAL HOST

A WARM FRIEND OF BUSINESS AND OF THE SIDEBOARD DECANTER

AND NOT AVERSE TO TAKING CASH GIFTS FROM ADMIRERS.

HENRY CLAY, TOO, ENJOYED HIS WHISKEY AND HIGH LIVING

GAMBLING AND HORSE RACING.

A WAR HAWK NO MORE

HE HAD BECOME THE SUPREME CHARMER OF AMERICAN POLITICS--

THE GREAT COMPROMISER.

Man: "I DON'T LIKE HENRY CLAY.

"HE IS A BAD MAN, AN IMPOSTER, A CREATOR OF WICKED SCHEMES.

I WOULDN'T SPEAK TO HIM, BUT BY GOD I LOVE HIM."

JOHN C. CALHOUN.

McCullough: SOMBER, INTELLECTUAL JOHN C. CALHOUN

HAD NO INTEREST IN COMPROMISE.

LIKE CLAY, HE WAS A SLAVE OWNER

BUT UNLIKE CLAY, HE BECAME SO SINGLE-MINDED

IN HIS DEFENSE OF THE INSTITUTION

THAT HE SEEMED POSSESSED.

HE GAVE UP THE VICE-PRESIDENCY TO TAKE A SEAT IN THE SENATE

TO LEAD THE SOUTHERN CAUSE.

Man: "NOTHING CAN BE MORE UNFOUNDED AND FALSE

"THAN THE PREVALENT OPINION THAT ALL MEN ARE BORN FREE AND EQUAL

"FOR IT RESTS UPON THE ASSUMPTION OF A FACT

WHICH IS CONTRARY TO UNIVERSAL OBSERVATION."

JOHN C. CALHOUN.

Man: "HERE IS OUR COUNTRY, UPON THE VERY VERGE OF A CIVIL WAR

"WHICH EVERYONE PRETENDS TO BE ANXIOUS TO AVOID

"YET EVERYONE WANTS HIS OWN WAY

IRRESPECTIVE OF THE WISHES OF OTHERS."

HENRY CLAY.

Man: "THE FEELING AMONG THE SOUTHERN MEMBERS

"FOR DISSOLUTION OF THE UNION IS BECOMING MORE GENERAL.

"MEN ARE NOW BEGINNING TO TALK OF IT SERIOUSLY

"WHO 12 MONTHS AGO HARDLY PERMITTED THEMSELVES

"TO THINK OF IT.

THE CRISIS IS NOT FAR AHEAD."

ALEXANDER STEPHENS.

McCullough: WHEN THE CORNERSTONE OF THE CAPITOL WAS LAID

THERE WERE ONLY 209 POST OFFICES IN THE COUNTRY.

BY 1850, THERE WERE 21,551.

GOLD HAD BEEN FOUND IN CALIFORNIA.

TEXAS WAS IN THE UNION.

THE COUNTRY NOW STRETCHED ALL THE WAY TO THE PACIFIC.

Man: "IT IS OUR MANIFEST DESTINY

"TO OVERSPREAD THE CONTINENT ALLOTTED BY PROVIDENCE

FOR THE FREE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR YEARLY MULTIPLYING MILLIONS."

Man: "THERE ARE GRAVE DOUBTS AT THE HUGENESS OF THE LAND

AND WHETHER ONE GOVERNMENT CAN COMPREHEND THE WHOLE."

McCullough: THE NEXT CRISIS CAME IN 1850 OVER CALIFORNIA.

WOULD THE NEW STATE BE SLAVE OR FREE?

CLAY TOOK THE FLOOR ON FEBRUARY 5.

HE HAD ARRIVED SO WEAK, HE HAD TO BE HELPED UP THE STEPS.

BUT IN THE OVERHEATED CHAMBER, HE SPOKE NEARLY THREE HOURS

PLEADING FOR ANOTHER COMPROMISE.

HE WARNED THAT THE UNION MIGHT BE DESTROYED

AND CALLED FOR A FREE CALIFORNIA TO PLEASE THE NORTH.

TO PLEASE THE SOUTH, HE PROPOSED TO STRENGTHEN THE LAW

THAT RETURNED RUNAWAY SLAVES TO THEIR OWNERS.

CLAY KNEW WHAT A CONCESSION HE WAS ASKING

OF WEBSTER AND THE NORTH.

Man: "YOU ARE NUMERICALLY MORE POWERFUL THAN THE SLAVE STATES

AND GREATNESS AND MAGNANIMITY SHOULD EVER BE ALLIED TOGETHER."

McCullough: CALHOUN, RACKED WITH FEVER, TOO ILL EVEN TO TALK

SAT WRAPPED IN A BLACK CLOAK, GLARING DEFIANCE

WHILE HIS SPEECH WAS READ FOR HIM BY JAMES MASON OF VIRGINIA.

HE WAS SURE THE ABOLITIONISTS WOULD MAKE SLAVES INTO MASTERS

AND MASTERS INTO SLAVES.

ON MARCH 7, DANIEL WEBSTER TOOK HIS TURN.

PLAGUED BY INSOMNIA FOR WEEKS

HE REINFORCED HIMSELF WITH DRUGS.

IT WAS HIS LAST GREAT SPEECH.

Man: "MR. PRESIDENT, I WISH TO SPEAK TODAY

"NOT AS A MASSACHUSETTS MAN, NOR AS A NORTHERN MAN

"BUT AS AN AMERICAN AND A MEMBER OF THE SENATE.

"I SPEAK FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE UNION.

HEAR ME FOR MY CAUSE."

McCullough: HE HAD MADE A BRAVE DECISION.

HE WOULD SUPPORT THE CLAY COMPROMISE

INCLUDING THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW HIS CONSTITUENTS SO DESPISED

BECAUSE HE THOUGHT IT THE ONLY WAY TO STAVE OFF CIVIL WAR.

CLAY AND WEBSTER WON.

THE COMPROMISE OF 1850 HELD THE UNION TOGETHER

FOR TEN MORE YEARS.

BUT WEBSTER, CLAY AND CALHOUN WERE SPENT.

DEFIANT UNTIL THE END

CALHOUN DIED EVEN BEFORE THE COMPROMISE WAS ENACTED INTO LAW.

CLAY AND WEBSTER DIED IN 1852.

HENRY CLAY OF KENTUCKY WAS THE FIRST MAN TO LIE IN STATE

IN THE ROTUNDA OF THE CAPITOL.

I LIKE ORATORY.

IT'S A... ONE OF MY CHARACTER FAILINGS

AND WEBSTER, CLAY, CALHOUN APPARENTLY WERE

THREE JUST MAGIC ORATORS.

I WOULD HAVE SAT AND I WOULD HAVE LISTENED

AS YOU WOULD LISTEN TO A GREAT WURLITZER SOMEWHERE.

I WOULD HAVE, I HOPE, BEEN ABSOLUTELY AWED AT THE WAY

IN THE MIDDLE OF ALL THAT MELLIFLUOUS RAGING

THEY WERE ISOLATING ISSUES

AS VERY FEW MEMBERS ARE ABLE TO DO TODAY.

THEY WERE SPEAKING

ABOUT THE GREATEST DIVISIONS IN THE COUNTRY

WITH INCREDIBLE PRECISION APART FROM THEIR ELOQUENCE.

BUT WHEN I'M IN THE PRESENCE OF THAT

I READ ABOUT IT THE NEXT DAY.

I SIT AND LISTEN AS TO THE CONCERT.

McCullough: NOW CAPITOL HILL BECAME A CONSTRUCTION SITE.

TWO HUGE NEW WINGS WERE PLANNED--

GRAND STAIRWAYS, SUMPTUOUS RECEPTION ROOMS AND A NEW DOME.

THE ARCHITECT WAS FROM THE NORTH--

THOMAS WALTER OF PENNSYLVANIA.

THE MAN IN CHARGE WAS FROM THE SOUTH--

JEFFERSON DAVIS OF MISSISSIPPI.

BUT WHILE THE CAPITOL WAS GROWING

THE COUNTRY WAS COMING APART.

FINALLY, WORDS FAILED.

ON THE FLOOR OF THE SENATE

SOUTH CAROLINA CONGRESSMAN PRESTON BROOKS SAVAGELY BEAT

THE ABOLITIONIST SENATOR CHARLES SUMNER OF MASSACHUSETTS

WITH A CANE.

SUMNER TRIED SO DESPERATELY TO GET AWAY

HE WRENCHED HIS DESK LOOSE FROM THE FLOOR.

MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE BEGAN CARRYING PISTOLS.

IN NOVEMBER OF 1860, ABRAHAM LINCOLN WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT.

IN DECEMBER, SOUTH CAROLINA SECEDED FROM THE UNION.

THERE WERE MORE AND MORE EMPTY SEATS IN THE NEW CHAMBERS.

ON JANUARY 21, 1861, SENATOR JEFFERSON DAVIS ROSE TO SPEAK.

Man: "I AM SURE I FEEL NO HOSTILITY TOWARD YOU

"SENATORS OF THE NORTH.

"I AM SURE THERE IS NOT ONE OF YOU

"WHATEVER SHARP DISCUSSION THERE MAY HAVE BEEN BETWEEN US

"TO WHOM I CANNOT SAY IN THE PRESENCE OF MY GOD

'I WISH YOU WELL'."

McCullough: ABRAHAM LINCOLN TOOK THE OATH OF OFFICE ON THE EAST STEPS

BENEATH THE BOOMS AND SCAFFOLDING

FOR THE COLOSSAL NEW DOME OF CAST IRON.

CANNON GUARDED THE CAPITOL GROUNDS.

SHARPSHOOTERS LINED THE ROOF.

DESPITE PROTEST AT THE COST

LINCOLN INSISTED THAT WORK ON THE UNFINISHED DOME GO ON.

"I TAKE IT AS A SIGN," HE SAID, "THAT THE UNION WILL CONTINUE."

BUT ON APRIL 12, 1861, WAR CAME.

NOW THERE WAS ANOTHER AMERICAN CONGRESS--

THE PROVISIONAL CONGRESS OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA

IN MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA.

Woman: "WASHINGTON CITY WAS NO LONGER A NAME

"TO THE MOTHER WAITING AND PRAYING IN THE DISTANT HAMLET.

"HER BOY WAS CAMPED ON THE FLOOR OF THE ROTUNDA.

"NEVER, TILL THAT HOUR

"DID THE FEDERAL CITY BECOME TO THE HEART OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

TRULY THE CAPITAL OF THE NATION."

McCullough: THE CAPITOL BECAME A MAKESHIFT BARRACKS

THEN A HOSPITAL.

CONGRESS AND THE COUNTRY WERE NOW CONFRONTING

THEIR GREATEST CRISIS.

AT NOON, DECEMBER 2, 1863, AS THE WAR DRAGGED ON

A 19-FOOT BRONZE GODDESS OF "FREEDOM TRIUMPHANT"

WAS AT LAST HOISTED INTO PLACE.

THE GREAT DOME WAS FINISHED.

IN JANUARY OF 1865

CONGRESS PASSED A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

ABOLISHING SLAVERY EVERYWHERE AND FOR ALL TIME.

HIRAM REVELS OF MISSISSIPPI BECAME THE FIRST BLACK MAN

EVER TO SERVE IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE

FILLING THE SEAT LAST HELD BY JEFFERSON DAVIS.

ONLY ONE SOUTHERN SENATOR HAD REMAINED LOYAL TO THE UNION--

VICE-PRESIDENT ANDREW JOHNSON OF TENNESSEE.

WHEN HE ASSUMED THE PRESIDENCY AFTER LINCOLN'S ASSASSINATION

A POWER STRUGGLE BROKE OUT

BETWEEN CONGRESS AND THE EXECUTIVE.

JOHNSON'S RECONSTRUCTION PLAN WAS TOO LENIENT

FOR RADICAL REPUBLICANS

LIKE THADDEUS STEVENS OF PENNSYLVANIA

WHO WANTED TO ENFORCE CIVIL RIGHTS THROUGHOUT THE SOUTH.

IN 1868, CONGRESS VOTED TO IMPEACH THE PRESIDENT.

JOHNSON SURVIVED REMOVAL BY ONLY ONE VOTE.

BUT CONGRESS, NOT THE PRESIDENT

WOULD CONTINUE TO DOMINATE WASHINGTON

FOR THE NEXT THREE DECADES.

NOT A BAD DESK, EITHER.

DANIEL WEBSTER USED IT.

DANIEL WEBSTER SAT HERE?

HOLY MACKEREL.

GIVE YOU A GOAL--

IF YOU FIGURE ON TALKING.

OH, NO, I'LL JUST LISTEN.

THAT'S THE WAY TO GET REELECTED.

Man: "THESE HARDY KNAVES AND STUPID FOOLS

"SOME APISH AND PRAGMATIC MULES

"SOME SERVILE, ACQUIESCING TOOLS

THESE-- THESE COMPOSE THE CONGRESS."

"WHEN JOVE RESOLVED TO SEND A CURSE

"AND ALL THE WOES OF LIFE REHEARSE

"NOT PLAGUE, NOT FAMINE, BUT MUCH WORSE;

HE CURSED US WITH A CONGRESS."

McCullough: GOVERNMENT DURING THE FIRST 76 YEARS

MEANT BUILDING AND THEN SAVING A NATION.

NOW, IN THE AFTERMATH OF CIVIL WAR

IT OFTEN MEANT EXPLOITING IT.

Man: "IT COULD PROBABLY BE SHOWN BY FACTS AND FIGURES

"THAT THERE IS NO DISTINCTLY NATIVE AMERICAN CRIMINAL CLASS

EXCEPT CONGRESS."

"READER, SUPPOSE YOU WERE AN IDIOT

"AND SUPPOSE YOU WERE A MEMBER OF CONGRESS.

BUT I REPEAT MYSELF."

MARK TWAIN.

McCullough: THE LEAD PARTS ON CAPITOL HILL NOW

WERE ASSUMED BY A NEW BREED-- THE BOSSES.

THROUGH POLITICAL MACHINES AND THE POWER OF PATRONAGE

MANY SENATORS CONTROLLED

THE STATE LEGISLATURES THAT ELECTED THEM.

Man: "SCARCELY ANY OF THE GREAT RAILWAY MEN GO INTO CONGRESS.

"THE ABSENCE OF RAILWAY MEN BY NO MEANS IMPLIES

"THE ABSENCE OF RAILWAY INFLUENCE

"FOR IT IS AS EASY FOR A COMPANY TO INFLUENCE LEGISLATION

FROM WITHOUT CONGRESS, AS FROM WITHIN."

Man: "WE MEET IN THE MIDST OF A NATION

"BROUGHT TO THE VERGE OF MORAL, POLITICAL AND MATERIAL RUIN.

"CORRUPTION DOMINATES.

"FROM THE SAME PROLIFIC WOMB OF INJUSTICE

"WE BREED THE TWO GREAT CLASSES:

TRAMPS AND MILLIONAIRES."

McCullough: LELAND STANFORD OF CALIFORNIA WAS PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR

OF THE CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD

THE WHOLE TIME HE SAT IN THE SENATE

NOW KNOWN AS "THE MILLIONAIRE'S CLUB."

BUT MOST CONSPICUOUS OF THE BOSSES

WAS SENATOR ROSCOE CONKLING, REPUBLICAN OF NEW YORK.

HE WAS HANDSOME AND HUGELY VAIN.

WOMEN THOUGHT HIM GORGEOUS.

HE WAS FOR BIG BUSINESS AND THE RAILROADS.

THEY MADE THE COUNTRY GREAT.

HE SNEERED AT REFORMERS

AND CALLED THE CIVIL SERVICE "THE SNIVEL SERVICE."

Man: "THE CONTEMPT OF THAT LARGE- MINDED GENTLEMAN IS SO WILTING

"HIS HAUGHTY DISDAIN, HIS GRANDILOQUENT SWELL

"HIS MAJESTIC, SUPER-EMINENT TURKEY GOBBLER STRUT

"HAS BEEN SO CRUSHING

"THAT IT WAS AN ACT OF THE GREATEST TEMERITY FOR ME

TO VENTURE UPON A CONTROVERSY WITH HIM."

JAMES G. BLAINE.

McCullough: CONKLING'S CHIEF RIVAL

WAS SPEAKER JAMES GILLESPIE BLAINE OF MAINE.

HE MIGHT HAVE BECOME PRESIDENT HAD HE NOT, LIKE SO MANY OTHERS

ACCEPTED FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM THE INTERESTS--

IN HIS CASE, THE LITTLE ROCK RAILROAD.

HE BECAME THE SYMBOL OF A WHOLE POLITICAL ERA--

THE TATTOOED MAN.

IN THE DEADLOCKED PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1876

A BACK-ROOM DEAL

BETWEEN REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC BOSSES IN CONGRESS

SENT RUTHERFORD B. HAYES TO THE PRESIDENCY--

INSTEAD OF SAMUEL TILDEN, WHO WON THE POPULAR VOTE.

IN EXCHANGE, FEDERAL TROOPS WERE WITHDRAWN FROM THE SOUTH.

RECONSTRUCTION COLLAPSED.

THE FEW BLACKS IN CONGRESS DISAPPEARED ALMOST OVERNIGHT.

IT WOULD BE 75 YEARS

BEFORE CONGRESS SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED CIVIL RIGHTS AGAIN.

Man: "THIS, MR. CHAIRMAN, IS PERHAPS THE NEGRO'S TEMPORARY FAREWELL

"TO THE AMERICAN CONGRESS.

"LET ME SAY, PHOENIX-LIKE, HE WILL RISE UP SOMEDAY

AND COME AGAIN."

REPRESENTATIVE GEORGE WHITE.

McCullough: BUT EVEN IN THE AGE OF THE BOSSES

CONGRESS PASSED THE LAND-GRANT COLLEGE ACT;

GRANTED MILLIONS OF ACRES TO HOMESTEADERS;

FINALLY ENACTED CIVIL SERVICE REFORM

AND SET UP THE INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION

TO REGULATE THE RAILROADS.

GOVERNMENT AND THE CONGRESS GREW.

AND ONE MAN IN WASHINGTON WAS BIG ENOUGH TO KEEP IT ALL GOING.

Man: "HE WAS A SLOW-MOVING, GIANT HULK

"OUT OF WHOSE COLLAR ROSE

"AN ENORMOUS, ROUND, CLEAN-SHAVEN BABY FACE

LIKE A CASABA MELON FROM A FAT, BLACK STALK."

McCullough: HE WAS ALSO DISTINGUISHED BY HIS BELIEF

THAT THE PURPOSE OF CONGRESS WAS TO ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING

AND IN THE END, HE GAVE UP HIS POWER ON A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE.

THOMAS BRACKETT REED OF MAINE, THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE

STOOD SIX FOOT THREE AND WEIGHED NEARLY 300 POUNDS.

HIS WIT COULD BE WITHERING.

HE REMARKED OF TWO COLLEAGUES THAT THEY NEVER SPOKE

WITHOUT SUBTRACTING FROM THE SUM OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE.

AND HE DEFINED A STATESMAN

AS "A SUCCESSFUL POLITICIAN WHO IS DEAD."

ON SEEING HIS PORTRAIT BY JOHN SINGER SARGENT

REED SAID, "ALL MY ENEMIES ARE REVENGED."

WHEN ASKED WHETHER HE WOULD ATTEND

THE FUNERAL OF A POLITICAL ENEMY

REED SAID, "NO, BUT I APPROVE OF IT."

HE WAS CALLED "CZAR REED."

IN ONE STORMY SESSION, HE BEGAN TO COUNT AS PRESENT

ANY MEMBER CURRENTLY IN THE CHAMBER

WHETHER HE ANSWERED THE ROLL CALL OR NOT.

MEMBERS SCREAMED IN OUTRAGE

AND WHEN REED KEPT ON COUNTING, HID UNDER THEIR DESKS.

THE SPEAKER KEPT ON

AND WHEN OTHERS TRIED TO LEAVE, HE HAD THE DOORS LOCKED.

FROM THEN ON, REED RULES WERE IN EFFECT.

A MINORITY COULD NO LONGER BLOCK LEGISLATION WITH ITS SILENCE.

REED'S 51st CONGRESS IN 1889

WAS THE FIRST TO SPEND $1 BILLION IN PEACETIME.

TO HANDLE IT ALL, MEMBERS OF CONGRESS WERE FINALLY AUTHORIZED

TO MAINTAIN A PERSONAL STAFF-- OF ONE.

AND STILL THE COUNTRY WAS GROWING.

HAWAII WAS ANNEXED IN 1897.

THE NEXT YEAR, THE SPANISH- AMERICAN WAR BROUGHT PUERTO RICO

AND THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS INTO THE AMERICAN EMPIRE.

REED LIKED NONE OF IT.

IMPERIALISM, HE BELIEVED, WAS CONTRARY TO AMERICAN IDEALS.

Man: "AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS YEAR

"THE QUARRELS WHICH OTHER NATIONS HAVE, WE DID NOT HAVE.

"OUR DRUM BEAT DID NOT ENCIRCLE THE WORLD

"WITH OUR MARTIAL AIRS.

"OUR GUNS WERE NOT CALLED UPON TO THROW PROJECTILES

WHICH COST, EACH OF THEM, THE PRICE OF A HAPPY HOME."

THOMAS BRACKETT REED.

McCullough: RATHER THAN PRESIDE OVER A HOUSE

THAT SUPPORTED A POLICY HE DESPISED, HE RESIGNED.

ASKED ONCE IF HIS PARTY WAS LIKELY EVER TO NOMINATE HIM

FOR THE PRESIDENCY

REED SAID, "THEY MIGHT DO WORSE, AND I THINK THEY WILL."

HE WENT OUT ON THE EVE OF THE NEW CENTURY.

GREAT BOSSES ARE NOT THE STORY OF THE CONGRESS

OR OF AMERICAN POLITICS.

THE CONGRESS IS THE STORY

AND HOW, IN THE END, IT ALWAYS ASSERTS ITSELF

AGAINST THE BOSSES.

AND THE PUBLIC VIEW DOES PREVAIL.

IT WAS THE NEW 20th CENTURY.

ALL KINDS OF MIRACULOUS EVENTS WERE TAKING PLACE.

AND PEOPLE FELT GOVERNMENT WAS OUT OF TOUCH WITH THE PEOPLE;

THAT THERE WERE MANY PEOPLE IN SOCIETY

WHO WERE NOT GETTING A FAIR SHAKE

AND THEY WANTED THAT CORRECTED.

Man: "AS A MEMBER OF THIS HOUSE THREE SUCCESSIVE SESSIONS

"I HAVE CAUGHT THE MEASLES

"THE WHOOPING COUGH AND THE INFLUENZA

BUT I HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO CATCH THE SPEAKER'S EYE."

McCullough: FOR REFORM-MINDED CONGRESSMEN IN 1910

THE SINS OF THE OLD ORDER COULD BE SUMMED UP IN A NAME:

JOSEPH GURNEY CANNON, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE

KNOWN AS "FOUL MOUTH JOE."

Man: "UNCLE JOE'S RESTLESS TEETH BIT OFF LARGE, UNTIDY SECTIONS

"FROM THE NEAR END OF A MALTREATED CIGAR

"UNTIL HIS WET LIPS WERE STREWN WITH SODDEN, SHREDDED LEAVES

"AND A NEGLECTED, FITFUL SMOLDER AT THE CIGAR'S FAR END

SEEMED TO BE IN A GREATER DANGER FROM FLOOD THAN FROM FIRE."

McCullough: HE SWORE UNREPENTANTLY

SPAT INTO AN UMBRELLA STAND WHEN NO SPITTOON WAS HANDY

AND BOASTED, "I HAVE OATS IN MY POCKET AND HAYSEED IN MY HAIR."

NOBODY DISLIKED UNCLE JOE PERSONALLY, BUT AS SPEAKER

HE WAS THE ABSOLUTE DICTATOR HIS OPPONENTS CALLED HIM.

THE VOTERS OF DANVILLE, ILLINOIS SENT HIM TO CONGRESS IN 1872

AND HIS BELIEFS HAD NOT CHANGED SINCE THEN.

HE RAN THE RULES COMMITTEE, AND THE RULES COMMITTEE DECIDED

WHICH BILLS WERE CONSIDERED.

NO BILL CAME TO THE FLOOR OF WHICH HE DID NOT APPROVE.

HE STRANGLED PROGRESSIVE MEASURES

TO REGULATE THE RAILROADS, BREAK UP THE TRUSTS

GUARD PUBLIC HEALTH AND PUBLIC LANDS.

Man: "I AM GODDAMN TIRED OF LISTENING TO ALL THIS BABBLE FOR REFORM.

"AMERICA'S A HELL OF A SUCCESS.

THE COUNTRY DON'T NEED ANY LEGISLATION."

McCullough: NO ONE WHO VALUED HIS CAREER IN CONGRESS DARED CROSS HIM--

UNTIL 1910.

THE REVOLT WAS LED BY AN IDEALISTIC FORMER JUDGE

FROM RED WILLOW COUNTY, NEBRASKA

A PROGRESSIVE REPUBLICAN NAMED GEORGE W. NORRIS.

ON ST. PATRICK'S DAY

WITH CANNON'S IRISH ALLIES OUT OF THE HOUSE

NORRIS INTRODUCED A RESOLUTION HE'D BEEN CARRYING FOR MONTHS.

IT GAVE THE HOUSE, NOT THE SPEAKER

THE POWER TO ELECT THE RULES COMMITTEE.

CANNON RULED IT OUT OF ORDER, BUT WAS HIMSELF OVERRULED

BY A COMBINATION OF DEMOCRATS AND INSURGENT REPUBLICANS.

AFTER 29 HOURS OF DEBATE, THE RESOLUTION CARRIED.

THE IRON RULE OF SPEAKER CANNON WAS ENDED.

Woman: "FOR THREE DAYS, UNCLE JOE HAS BEEN LIKE AN OLD WOLF AT BAY.

"I DON'T ESPECIALLY ADMIRE HIM.

"HE IS A FLIPPANT, COARSE-NATURED, BRAZEN OLD MAN

BUT TODAY I AM SORRY FOR HIM."

McCullough: IT WAS AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT CHANGE IN OUR COUNTRY

BECAUSE JOE CANNON STOOD FOR "NO CHANGE."

WHAT IS WAS WHAT SHOULD REMAIN, IN HIS VIEW

WHEN, IN FACT, WE DID NEED LEGISLATION

AND THESE INSURGENTS, PROGRESSIVES, SPOKE OUT.

Man: "THE SUPREME ISSUE IS THE ENCROACHMENT OF THE POWERFUL FEW

"UPON THE RIGHTS OF THE MANY.

"IT IS AGAINST THE SYSTEM BUILT UP BY PRIVILEGE

THAT WE MUST MAKE UNCEASING WARFARE."

ROBERT LA FOLLETTE.

McCullough: SENATOR ROBERT M. LA FOLLETTE OF WISCONSIN

CHARGING THAT FEWER THAN 100 MEN

CONTROLLED THE GREAT BUSINESS INTERESTS OF THE WHOLE NATION

BECAME THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEW PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT.

Woman: COLLIER'S WEEKLY:

"50 YEARS FROM NOW, THE FUTURE HISTORIANS WILL SAY

"THAT THIS WAS THE PERIOD OF THE GREATEST ETHICAL ADVANCE

MADE BY THIS NATION IN ANY DECADE."

McCullough: THERE WAS UNPRECEDENTED COOPERATION NOW

BETWEEN THE NEW PROGRESSIVE CONGRESS

AND THE NEW PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENT, WOODROW WILSON.

A FORMER PROFESSOR OF HISTORY

WILSON HAD ONCE WRITTEN A BOOK ON CONGRESSIONAL GOVERNMENT

WITHOUT EVER ACTUALLY VISITING CAPITOL HILL.

HIS THESIS WAS THAT CONGRESS DIDN'T WORK VERY WELL.

CALLING CONGRESS INTO SPECIAL SESSION IN THE SPRING OF 1913

HE WENT IN PERSON TO PRESENT HIS PROGRAM--

SOMETHING NO PRESIDENT HAD DONE SINCE JOHN ADAMS.

BY CUSTOM, CONGRESS TOOK LONG RECESSES.

BUT WILSON WOULD KEEP THE 63rd CONGRESS IN WASHINGTON

FIGHTING AND ARGUING AND MAKING LAWS

FOR A YEAR AND A HALF STRAIGHT.

THE 63rd CONGRESS WAS THE LAST CONGRESS

BEFORE THE 17th AMENDMENT

TRANSFERRED THE ELECTION OF SENATORS

FROM THE STATE LEGISLATURES TO THE PEOPLE.

IT WAS THE GREATEST SINGLE CHANGE IN CONGRESS

IN ITS HISTORY.

A GRADUATED INCOME TAX WAS ADOPTED.

A FEDERAL RESERVE ACT STABILIZED THE NATION'S BANKING SYSTEM.

CONGRESS WENT ON TO PASS TOUGHER ANTI-TRUST LAWS

AND CREATE THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION;

IMPROVE CONDITIONS FOR MERCHANT SAILORS;

EASE CREDIT FOR FARMERS;

PROVIDE WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES

AND LIMIT CHILD LABOR IN MINES AND FACTORIES.

BUT EVERYTHING CHANGED ON THE RAINY NIGHT OF APRIL 2, 1917

WHEN PRESIDENT WILSON WENT

BEFORE ANOTHER EXTRAORDINARY SESSION OF CONGRESS

THIS TIME TO ASK FOR A DECLARATION OF WAR

AGAINST GERMANY.

ON THE MORNING OF WILSON'S SPEECH

THE FIRST WOMAN EVER TO SERVE IN CONGRESS

TOOK HER SEAT ON THE REPUBLICAN SIDE--

JEANETTE RANKIN OF MONTANA.

Woman: "I LOVE MY COUNTRY, BUT I CANNOT VOTE FOR WAR."

"I VOTE NO."

McCullough: SHE WAS NOT ALONE, BUT OTHER PROGRESSIVES VOTED FOR WAR

AND SPLIT THE MOVEMENT.

THE ALLIANCE BETWEEN CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT ENDED

IN A QUARREL OVER AMERICA'S ROLE IN THE WORLD.

BY THE 1920s, CRUSADES AND CRUSADERS WERE OUT OF FASHION.

THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE WAS NICHOLAS LONGWORTH

AN OHIO REPUBLICAN

WHO HAD NO INTEREST WHATSOEVER IN REFORM.

THERE WERE STILL MEN ON CAPITOL HILL

WHO WORE WHITE LINEN SUITS AND BLACK BOW TIES;

WHO LOOKED LIKE THE CARTOONIST'S IMAGE

OF THE OLD-TIME POLITICIAN;

WHO DIPPED SNUFF

FROM THE LACQUER BOX IN THE SENATE ROSTRUM.

BUT THERE WERE YOUNGER VOICES, TOO.

CONGRESSMAN FIORELLO LA GUARDIA WAS ONE.

A PROGRESSIVE REPUBLICAN AND SOMETIME SOCIALIST FROM NEW YORK

HE COULD DENOUNCE EXPLOITERS IN SIX LANGUAGES.

AND THERE WAS ONE UNYIELDING OLD VOICE.

FOR YEARS, GEORGE NORRIS FOUGHT ALMOST ALONE

TRYING TO DEVELOP THE RESOURCES OF THE TENNESSEE VALLEY

A PART OF THE COUNTRY WHERE HE HAD NO CONSTITUENTS

BUT "A PROPERTY," HE SAID, "WHICH BELONGS TO ALL OF US--

A SOURCE OF HUMAN HAPPINESS."

IN 1932, THE PEOPLE SENT

DEMOCRATIC MAJORITIES TO CONGRESS

AND FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT TO THE WHITE HOUSE.

THEIR PARTNERSHIP TRANSFORMED AMERICAN GOVERNMENT

AND MADE A REALITY OF GEORGE NORRIS'S DREAM.

THE TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY, T.V.A.

INCLUDING THE GIANT NORRIS DAM

BECAME A SHOWPIECE FOR THE NEW GENERATION OF PROGRESSIVES

THAT CALLED THEMSELVES "NEW DEALERS."

I HOPE THIS AUTO-GYRO WON'T BE AS MUCH UP IN THE AIR

AS THE SENATE WAS IN BALANCING THE BUDGET.

McCullough: IN THE MIDST OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION

THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT CONTINUED.

NEW DEAL LEGISLATION REPRESENTED

THE MOST SWEEPING REFORMS IN HISTORY.

FOREMOST AMONG THE NEW DEALERS WAS SENATOR ROBERT WAGNER

BORN IN GERMANY

WHO HAD LEARNED HIS POLITICS IN THE NEW YORK CITY STREETS.

LEGISLATION HE SPONSORED

GUARANTEED LABOR'S RIGHT TO ORGANIZE

PROVIDED SOCIAL SECURITY TO THE ELDERLY

AND PUBLIC HOUSING FOR THE POOR.

AND THERE WERE OTHERS:

CONGRESSMAN SAM RAYBURN OF TEXAS

AND HIS EAGER YOUNG PROTEGE, LYNDON JOHNSON;

IN THE SENATE, HUGO BLACK OF ALABAMA

ALBEN BARKLEY OF KENTUCKY

HARRY TRUMAN OF MISSOURI.

THE OLD PROGRESSIVE CALL WAS BEING SOUNDED NOW

BY ROBERT M. LA FOLLETTE, JR.

Announcer: HARRY TRUMAN SAID

"IF YOU CAN'T STAND THE HEAT, GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN."

BUT IN JULY OF 1935

IF CONGRESSMEN COULDN'T STAND THE HEAT

THEY'D HAVE TO GET OUT OF WASHINGTON

WHERE THE TEMPERATURE HIT 105 DEGREES.

AND THERE WAS ONE CONGRESSMAN

WHO ALWAYS LET HIS CONSTITUENTS KNOW

HOW HOT THINGS WERE-- COWBOY CONGRESSMAN PERCY GASSAWAY.

I NEVER SAW SUCH HOT WEATHER IN MY LIFE.

I CAN ACTUALLY COOK AN EGG RIGHT HERE IN A FRYING PAN

ON THE STEPS OF THIS HOUSE BUILDING, RIGHT NOW.

Announcer: LIKE THE EGG, CONGRESSMAN GASSAWAY KEPT HIS SUNNY SIDE UP.

THIS IS THE HOTTEST PLACE THIS SIDE OF HELL.

YOU'RE TELLING ME.

McCullough: ON A CHILL NIGHT IN DECEMBER 1941

THE CAPITOL DOME WAS A BLAZE OF LIGHTS.

THE FOLLOWING DAY, THE PRESIDENT WENT BEFORE CONGRESS.

F.D. Roosevelt: DECEMBER 7, 1941--

A DATE WHICH WILL LIVE IN INFAMY.

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

WAS SUDDENLY AND DELIBERATELY ATTACKED

BY NAVAL AND AIR FORCES OF THE EMPIRE OF JAPAN.

IT WAS JUST ELECTRIC, THE FEELING IN THERE.

IN FACT, IT WAS A COMBINATION OF FEAR AND EXCITEMENT

AND DETERMINATION.

NOT ONLY COULD YOU FEEL IT, BUT YOU COULD SMELL IT.

IT WAS ALMOST LIKE THE SMELL OF A HIGH SCHOOL GYM

BEFORE THE BIG GAME.

( clerk calling roll )

ON THIS ROLL CALL, 388 MEMBERS VOTED "AYE."

ONE VOTED "NO."

THE RULES WERE SUSPENDED, AND THE RESOLUTION IS AGREED TO.

( applause )

McCullough: THIS TIME ONLY ONE MEMBER OF CONGRESS OPPOSED

A DECLARATION OF WAR.

AS SHE HAD IN 1917, JEANETTE RANKIN VOTED NO.

McDowell: I HAVE RESOLVED THAT IT'S A HAT.

IT'S A HAT, IT'S A VERY MAJESTIC, NICE HAT

BUT A LITTLE BIT LUDICROUS

ON SOMETHING THAT WE ALL CARE VERY MUCH ABOUT

WHICH IS THE DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM

AND THE NOTION THAT THE PEOPLE ARE UNDER THAT HAT--

SOMEWHERE THE BODY POLITIC IS AT WORK

AND THAT THE PEOPLE ARE BEING REPRESENTED UNDER THAT THING

AND I CAN LIVE WITH THAT CORNY THOUGHT.

IT'S ALMOST A REVERENCE THAT... THE...

LIKE BEING IN A RUSSIAN CATHEDRAL, OR A GREEK CATHEDRAL

WHERE, WHEN YOU LOOK UP TO THE DOME

THERE'S THE ICONS AND THE VARIOUS SAINTS

AND GOD HIMSELF IS LOOKING DOWN AT YOU--

WELL, I HAVE THAT FEELING THAT I'M IN A POLITICAL CATHEDRAL

THE WORLD'S GREATEST POLITICAL CATHEDRAL.

Roberts: IT'S NOT JUST BEAUTIFUL TO WALK INTO FROM THE OUTSIDE--

THERE ARE TILES ON THE FLOORS AND MOSAICS ON THE CEILINGS

AND YOU'LL JUST COME UPON SOME TOTALLY ACCIDENTAL SPOT

WHERE THERE'LL BE STAINED GLASS

OR THERE ARE JUST WINDOWS LEADING TO NOWHERE

OR STAIRS THAT DEAD-END SOMEPLACE

AND IT'S GREAT FUN TO TIPTOE AROUND IT.

IT WOULD BE A TRUE DISASTER

IF THE MODERN DEMANDS OF SECURITY KEEP AMERICAN CHILDREN

FROM THE ABILITY TO JUST SORT OF ROAM THE CAPITOL BUILDING.

McCullough: IT'S LIKE A LITTLE TOWN, OR A SMALL MEDIEVAL STATE.

THERE'S A BANK, THERE'S A POST OFFICE

THERE'S A SUBWAY.

IT HAS ITS OWN POLICE FORCE.

SOMETHING LIKE 44 DOORKEEPERS, NO END OF CLERKS.

THERE'S A CARPENTRY SHOP...

AN UPHOLSTERER...

A RESIDENT ARCHITECT, A RESIDENT PHYSICIAN...

THERE'S A DAILY NEWSPAPER, THE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD.

THERE ARE RESTAURANTS.

IT'S A WORLD WITHIN A WORLD.

AND SOME PEOPLE, I THINK, PROBABLY NEVER COME OUT.

THERE'S AT LEAST ONE GHOST.

McDowell: THE CAPITOL BUILDING CONTAINS ITS OWN HISTORY.

YOU CAN GO DEEP ENOUGH

YOU FIND SOME OLD TUBS IN THE BASEMENT

WHERE MEMBERS COULD GO TWO CENTURIES AGO

AND GET A HOT BATH.

IT'S ALL THERE, AND THE WAY IT'S GROWN

IS ALL MARKED ON THE WALLS.

SO, IF YOU LIKE MUSEUMS

IT'S THE BEST MUSEUM IN THE UNITED STATES.

BUT IT'S A MUSEUM IN WHICH THE LIFE THROBS, EVERY DAY.

Tour guide: AND FROM THIS POINT, A WHISPER CAN BE HEARD 50 FEET AWAY

DUE TO AN ARCHITECTURAL DEFECT.

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS WOULD SIT HERE AT HIS DESK

PRETENDING HE WAS CATNAPPING.

HE WAS REALLY LISTENING TO THE OPPOSITION ON THE OTHER SIDE.

Broder: IT'S A WONDERFUL PLACE

IF YOU GIVE YOURSELF THE FREEDOM TO STAND STILL FOR A MOMENT

AND LOOK AT THE PEOPLE WHO ARE COMING THERE

TO SEE THEIR CONGRESS AT WORK.

IT'S MARVELOUS TO SEE THEIR EXPRESSIONS

AS THE DIGNITY AND THE BEAUTY OF THAT BUILDING REACH THEM

FOR THE FIRST TIME.

Broder: ONE OF THE THINGS I'M GOING TO DO WHEN I RETIRE--

AND IT SOUNDS RIDICULOUS--

IS JUST GIVE MYSELF A FEW WEEKS TO EXPLORE THE CAPITOL BUILDING.

I HAVE BEEN COVERING UP THERE FOR 30 YEARS NOW

AND I STILL GET LOST IN THAT BUILDING.

McCullough: IN THE OLD HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

WHICH IS NOW STATUARY HALL

THE MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE LOOKED UP

AT TWO STATUES, WHICH ARE STILL THERE.

ONE IS A FIGURE REPRESENTING LIBERTY

AND THE OTHER, BEHIND THEM, WAS CLIO, THE MUSE OF HISTORY

KEEPING NOTE OF THEIR ACTIONS AND HOLDING THE CLOCK.

VERY IMPORTANT IDEA, THAT WHAT THEY DID THERE

DIDN'T JUST MATTER AT THE MOMENT, BUT FOR TIME TO COME

THAT THEY WOULD BE MEASURED BY HISTORY;

THAT THEY HAD TO LIVE UP TO STANDARDS

THAT WOULD BE SET BY HISTORICAL PRECEDENT.

WELL, YOU KNOW WHAT THEY LOOK UP TO

IN THE PRESENT-DAY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES--

THE TELEVISION CAMERAS.

I, FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT

DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR...

THAT I WILL FAITHFULLY EXECUTE THE OFFICE

OF PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES...

AND WILL, TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY...

PRESERVE, PROTECT AND DEFEND...

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES...

SO HELP ME GOD.

( applause )

McCullough: AFTER THE WAR, BUSINESS WENT ON AS USUAL

IN THE CLOAK ROOMS, BACK CORRIDORS AND DINING ROOMS.

THERE WAS THE OLD BACK SLAPPING, ARM TWISTING, LAPEL GRABBING

HAND SHAKING, FINGER JABBING

HEAD SCRATCHING AND LINT PICKING.

CRUSADES WERE MOUNTED AGAINST JELLYFISH AND COMIC BOOKS;

TO MAKE CHILI WITHOUT BEANS

THE OFFICIAL FOOD OF THE UNITED STATES

AND TO ESTABLISH A NATIONAL MULE APPRECIATION DAY.

BUT NOW AMERICA WAS A WORLD POWER

AND THE FORCES THAT HAD PROVOKED AND STIRRED THE COUNTRY

FROM THE START, GROWTH AND CIVIL RIGHTS, HAD BECOME INSEPARABLE

AND THEY CONFRONTED CONGRESS EVERYWHERE--

THE RECOVERY OF EUROPE AND MILITARY INTERVENTION

VOTING RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

THE EXPLORATION OF SPACE AND THE RESPONSIBILITY OF SCIENCE

AND THE OLD CONFLICT OF POWER AND ETHICS.

THE HEROES ON THE HILL WERE NO LONGER GREAT ORATORS.

THEY WERE COMMITTEE CHAIRMEN...

INVESTIGATORS...

AND MANAGERS.

THE TOTAL NUMBER OF VOTES CAST IS 426

OF WHICH THE HONORABLE SAM RAYBURN HAS RECEIVED 217.

THEREFORE, HONORABLE SAM RAYBURN IS DULY ELECTED

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FOR THE 78th TERM.

McCullough: THE ULTIMATE MANAGER WAS SAM RAYBURN OF TEXAS

WHO SERVED IN CONGRESS FOR 48 YEARS

17 OF THEM AS SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE.

HE PREFERRED PERSUASION TO POWER AND DISTRUSTED SPEECH MAKING

TELLING GENERATION AFTER GENERATION OF NEWCOMERS

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO EXPLAIN WHAT YOU DON'T SAY."

Tames: ONE DAY, LEAVING THE CAPITOL, I RAN INTO SAM RAYBURN.

HE LOOKED AT ME AS I CAME OUT AND SAID, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

I SAID, "NOTHING."

SO HE SAID, "COME WITH ME"

AND WE WALKED AROUND THE CAPITOL

FROM THE HOUSE SIDE TO THE WEST

ALL THE WAY AROUND AND BACK AGAIN

AND DURING THE WHOLE TIME

HE WAS TELLING ME ABOUT WHAT HE THOUGHT OF THE CAPITOL.

HE SAYS, "THIS HAS BEEN MY HOME; IT'S BEEN MY WHOLE LIFE;

"IT'S BEEN MY WIFE; IT'S BEEN MY CHILDREN.

I LOVE THIS OLD BUILDING."

McCullough: CONGRESS DOESN'T JUST LEGISLATE, OF COURSE; IT INVESTIGATES

AND PARTICULARLY, IN THE ERA OF TELEVISION

WE HAVE COME TO UNDERSTAND THAT THIS INVESTIGATIVE POWER

IS NOT ONLY AN ASPECT OF CONGRESSIONAL CHARACTER

AND CONGRESSIONAL PERFORMANCE

BUT IT'S A WAY IN WHICH CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS IN CONGRESS

BECOME INSTANTLY, OVERNIGHT, FAMOUS.

ANSWER THAT "YES" OR "NO."

DO YOU KNOW THIS MAN?

I WILL NOT ANSWER "YES" OR "NO"...

YOU ARE ORDERED TO ANSWER.

I'M ANSWERING IT THE WAY I CAN.

YOUR STATEMENTS ABOUT HIM

HAVE MADE IT UNSAFE FOR ME TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION.

I THEREFORE REFUSE TO ANSWER

ON THE GROUND THAT IT MAY INCRIMINATE ME.

YOU HAVE THAT RIGHT.

I WOULD BE VERY HAPPY

TO HAVE OUR LEGAL COUNSEL, OUR LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATIVE

ASSISTING ME TO ACQUAINT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WITH THE FACT

THAT THIS IS A STRIKE-BREAKING, UNION-BUSTING BILL.

MR. HOFFA, THIS IS NOT A STRIKE-BREAKING, UNION-BUSTING BILL.

YOUR COMPLETE INDIFFERENCE TO THE FACT

THAT NUMEROUS PEOPLE WHO HOLD RESPONSIBLE POSITIONS IN YOUR UNION

COME BEFORE THIS COMMITTEE AND TAKE THE FIFTH AMENDMENT

BECAUSE AN HONEST ANSWER MIGHT TEND TO INCRIMINATE THEM.

YOUR COMPLETE INDIFFERENCE TO IT, I THINK

MAKES THIS BILL ESSENTIAL.

McCullough: IN THE 1950s, CONGRESS AND THE COUNTRY WERE CONSERVATIVE.

AND LEGISLATORS WERE DIVIDED

BETWEEN SHOW HORSES AND WORKHORSES.

ONE, WHO CAME TO COMBINE THE QUALITIES OF BOTH

WAS SILVER-TONGUED SENATOR EVERETT DIRKSEN

CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN OF ILLINOIS

KNOWN TO HIS COLLEAGUES AS "THE WIZARD OF OOZE."

Tames: SENATOR DIRKSEN, I THINK, WAS A SHREWD POLITICAL CLOWN

BUT IN THE SENSE THAT HE USED HUMOR TO MAKE HIS POINTS

AND TO PUT DOWN PEOPLE.

NOT ONCE DID HE EVER CALL ME GEORGE.

HE'D ALWAYS SAY, "DEAR BOY, WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU, DEAR BOY?"

MAGGIE SMITH USED TO ALWAYS INTRODUCE LEGISLATION

TO MAKE THE ROSE A NATIONAL FLOWER

AND DIRKSEN WOULD ALWAYS GET UP AND OPPOSE HER

AND HE'D SAY, "A ROSE, A ROSE, A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME

"WOULD BE AS SWEET AS A SENIOR SENATOR FROM MAINE

"BUT AS FOR ME, GIVE ME THE MARIGOLD

"WHO ASKS NOTHING, EXCEPT A LITTLE SPOT IN THE GARDEN

AND A LITTLE CARE."

AND THEN, MARGARET WOULD GO DOWN IN DEFEAT.

Announcer: AND THE CAPITOL GETS ITS FACE WASHED BY THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.

THEY DO A THOROUGH JOB

AND THE STATUES EMERGE DRIPPING, BUT SPOTLESS

AND WITH NO DIRT LEFT ON THEIR DOORSTEP

CONGRESS CAN GET AWAY TO A FRESH START.

ALL THIS PROVES

THAT WHILE YOU CAN'T TAKE THE GOVERNMENT TO THE CLEANERS

YOU CAN TAKE THE CLEANERS TO THE GOVERNMENT.

McDowell: WE ENJOY BASHING CONGRESS, AND HAVE SINCE BEFORE MARK TWAIN

BECAUSE THERE'S SOMETHING LUDICROUS

ABOUT ORDINARY MORTALS BEING THAT POMPOUS.

THERE'S SOMETHING JUST FUNNY

ABOUT ORDINARY PEOPLE--

WHICH IS WHAT THE FOUNDERS HAD IN MIND--

THE REPRESENTATIVES OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

BEING SO FORMAL, SO BUREAUCRATIC, SO STRUCTURED

SO FILLED WITH-- NOT QUITE AMERICAN GRACIOUSNESS.

Roberts: IT'S THE ONLY GROUP OF PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY

THAT HAS TO GO OUT YEAR AFTER YEAR AND BEG FOR THEIR JOB

AND SAY, "PLEASE, SEND ME BACK TO THAT BUILDING WITH THE DOME"

SO THAT IT MAKES YOU FEEL SUPERIOR TO THE CONGRESS

BECAUSE YOU'RE THE PEOPLE WHO GET TO DECIDE THAT.

WE ENJOY BASHING CONGRESS BECAUSE THEY ARE US.

WE HAVE NO ILLUSIONS.

WE KNOW THAT THEY REPRESENT

THE GOOD AND THE BAD IN US

AND WHAT'S AN EASIER SCAPEGOAT

THAN TO PICK ON SOMEBODY WHO HAS THE JOB, HAS THE RESPONSIBILITY

AND IS SUPPOSED TO RISE ABOVE US

AND SO OFTEN FAILS TO RISE ABOVE US?

SOMEBODY BETTER WAKE UP McCAFFERY.

WE NEED HIS VOTE.

Clerk: MR. EVANS?

McCAFFERY'S ASLEEP AGAIN.

HE'S ASLEEP AGAIN.

Clerk: MR. EVERETT.

WAKE UP McCAFFERY.

WE NEED HIS VOTE.

Clerk: MR. FARMER.

Farmer: NO.

Clerk: MR. FOLEY.

Foley: YES.

Clerk: MR. FRANK.

OPPOSED, SIR.

I'M OPPOSED.

NO, NO, SENATOR, NOT YET

AND I BELIEVE THAT YOU'RE NOT OPPOSED.

CONGRESS IS A TAKE-OFF ON ITSELF AT THE SURFACE.

THE PUBLIC PICKS THAT UP FAST.

BUT ASK THE PUBLIC ABOUT ITS CONGRESSMAN.

"HOW'S YOUR CONGRESSMAN?"

"WELL, HE'S BETTER THAN THOSE OTHER ONES.

"HE'S PRETTY GOOD.

"I'VE KNOWN THE GUY; I KNEW HIS GRANDMOTHER.

HE'S PRETTY GOOD."

THE AVERAGE AMERICAN MEMBER OF CONGRESS GETS

A 60-65% APPROVAL RATING FROM HIS OR HER OWN CONSTITUENTS.

THE REST OF CONGRESS RANKS BELOW NEWSPAPERMEN

FOR HAVING ANY QUALITY.

Fields: THE CRITICISM OF CONGRESS THAT SAYS, IN ESSENCE

CONGRESS HAS A WAY OF MAKING SITUATIONS COMPLICATED;

OF MAKING IT HARDER TO DO THINGS;

OF MAKING IT IMPOSSIBLE TO MOVE IN A STREAMLINED FASHION--

THIS IS A WAY OF SAYING DEMOCRACY IS A PAIN IN THE NECK

WHICH, OF COURSE, IT IS.

AND THAT STYLE OF CRITICISM OF CONGRESS

IS NOT SO MUCH A CRITICISM OF THE INDIVIDUALS THERE NOW--

MANY OF WHOM DESERVE EVEN MORE CRITICISM

THAN THEY HAVE RECEIVED--

SO MUCH AS IT IS A CRITICISM OF THE WHOLE IDEA

OF A GOVERNMENT BY AS WELL AS FOR THE PEOPLE

AND THAT IS A CRITICISM OF DEMOCRACY.

I WONDER WHETHER THE IDEAL OF DEMOCRACY LIVES, IN A REAL SENSE

IN OUR COUNTRY TODAY.

M.L. King, Jr.: IN A SENSE, WE'VE COME TO OUR NATION'S CAPITAL

TO CASH A CHECK.

WHEN THE ARCHITECTS OF OUR REPUBLIC

WROTE THE MAGNIFICENT WORDS

OF THE CONSTITUTION AND THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

THEY WERE SIGNING A PROMISSORY NOTE

TO WHICH EVERY AMERICAN WAS TO FALL HEIR.

THIS NOTE WAS A PROMISE THAT ALL MEN--

YES, BLACK MEN AS WELL AS WHITE MEN--

WOULD BE GUARANTEED THE UNALIENABLE RIGHTS

OF LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.

IT IS OBVIOUS TODAY...

Broder: I DON'T THINK I'VE SEEN ANY DEBATES

THAT CAME CLOSER TO REALLY DEALING

WITH THE HEART AND SOUL OF AMERICA

THAN THE DEBATES ON CIVIL RIGHTS IN THE LATE '50s AND 1960s.

THESE WERE PEOPLE WHO KNEW THAT THEY HAD BEEN CAST BY HISTORY

IN THE POSITION OF RIGHTING A HISTORIC WRONG

AND THEY ENTERED THAT DEBATE

KNOWING THEY WOULD BE JUDGED BY THIS CHAPTER OF THEIR LIVES

MORE THAN ANY OTHER PART OF IT.

THAT WAS THE HIGHEST DRAMA I'VE EVER SEEN UP THERE.

McCullough: CIVIL RIGHTS COULD NO LONGER BE IGNORED

BUT CONGRESS STILL SEEMED UNABLE TO ACT

AS FILIBUSTER AFTER FILIBUSTER THWARTED THE MAJORITY WILL

TURNING BACK OR WEAKENING EVERY CIVIL RIGHTS MEASURE

THAT CAME BEFORE IT.

CONGRESS WAS NOT YET READY TO LEAD.

( playing "Hail to the Chief" )

McDowell: I STOOD AND SAT AND CROUCHED IN THE ROTUNDA ALL NIGHT

WHEN JOHN F. KENNEDY LAY IN STATE

AND I REMEMBER THAT NIGHT, THERE WERE JUST THE HONOR GUARD

AND A PRETTY STEADY FLOW OF PEOPLE.

AND HERE CAME, AT SOME MOMENT BEFORE DAWN

OLD EVERETT DIRKSEN, THE REPUBLICAN LEADER

AND STOOD IN THE ROTUNDA WITH ME AND TWO CASUAL TOURISTS

AND TALKED ABOUT THE CONGRESS;

TALKED ABOUT THE CAPITOL;

TALKED ABOUT JOHN KENNEDY.

OTHER MEMBERS OF CONGRESS WANDERED THROUGH.

POLICEMEN AND GUARDS JOINED, AND WE TALKED ALL NIGHT

ABOUT THE CAPITOL, THE CONGRESS, THE TRADITIONS OF THE COUNTRY.

JOKES WERE TOLD.

WE HAD FUNNY TIMES.

DIRKSEN TOLD HILARIOUS STORIES, ABOUT KENNEDY, ABOUT THE CAPITOL

ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE COUNTRY.

THERE WAS NO STUFFY REVERENCE INVOLVED.

IT WAS THE BEST POSSIBLE WAKE

AND IT WAS THE BEST NIGHT IN THE CAPITOL

THAT I COULD EVER IMAGINE.

McCullough: NOW WITH LYNDON JOHNSON

THE SENATE'S MOST MASTERFUL MANAGER, IN THE WHITE HOUSE

CONGRESS MOVED AT LAST

TO MAKE GOOD ON THE PROMISE OF THE CONSTITUTION

PASSING THE MOST SWEEPING CIVIL RIGHTS BILL

SINCE RECONSTRUCTION.

"STRONGER THAN ALL THE ARMIES ON EARTH"

EVERETT DIRKSEN REMINDED HIS COLLEAGUES

"IS AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME.

THE TIME HAS COME FOR EQUAL OPPORTUNITY."

WORDS COULD STILL CHANGE VOTES.

Burns: IT ELEVATES ME TO SEE THE DOME

BUT THEN I BEGIN TO THINK OF WHAT HAPPENS UNDER THAT DOME

AND I GET DE-ELEVATED.

WHAT PART OF US ARE THEY REPRESENTING?

ARE THEY REPRESENTING OUR REAL NEEDS

OR OUR ARTIFICIAL NEEDS, OUR SELFISH NEEDS

OR ARE THEY REPRESENTING THE BEST IN US?

MOST OF OUR GOVERNMENT IS AN ELABORATE SET OF COMPROMISES.

IT'S REALLY THE POLITICAL EQUIVALENT

TO THE STOCK EXCHANGE ON WALL STREET.

THE QUESTION IS, WHEN GOVERNMENT HAS TO RISE

ABOVE TRADING AND BROKERAGE, DOES IT DO SO?

AND SO OFTEN, CONGRESS FAILS

TO RISE ABOVE TRADING.

McDowell: I THINK THE DANGER TO CONGRESS

IS THE WEAKENING OF THE PARTY SYSTEM.

WE HAVE A BUNCH OF INDEPENDENT OPERATORS.

IT'S HARDER FOR PEOPLE TO SEE THE POINT

OF RALLYING AS A GROUP.

THAT REALLY TROUBLES ME

BECAUSE IT MAKES COMPROMISE HARDER.

IT MAKES FACTIONS

THAT DEVELOP AROUND A SORT OF ZEALOTRY

OF LEFT OR RIGHT.

VERY OFTEN THEY ARE NOT VOTING FOR OR AGAINST AN ISSUE

FOR THE REASONS THAT SEEM APPARENT.

THEY'RE VOTING FOR SOME OTHER REASON--

BECAUSE THEY HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST SOMEONE

OR BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO SATISFY SOME OLD AMBITION

THAT IS, IN NO WAY, ON THE SURFACE

OR BECAUSE THEY'RE DOING A FRIEND A FAVOR

OR BECAUSE THEY'RE WILLING TO RISK THEIR POLITICAL SKIN

AND VOTE THEIR CONSCIENCE.

WOULD THE PRESIDENT, IF THERE WAS NO RESOLUTION

BE WITH OR WITHOUT CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY

TO SEND U.S. SOLDIERS TO SOUTH VIETNAM

IN THE NUMBERS THERE TODAY-- IF THERE WERE NO RESOLUTION?

IT WOULD BE MY VIEW, MR. CHAIRMAN

THAT HE DOES HAVE THAT AUTHORITY.

WOULD YOU SAY THE SAME

AS TO THE AUTHORITY TO BOMB NORTH VIETNAM

AS OPPOSED TO REPELLING AN ATTACK IN SOUTH VIETNAM?

I DON'T SEE IT AS OPPOSED, SENATOR.

I BELIEVE THE REASONS WE'RE IN THERE

HAVE BEEN MADE REPEATEDLY CLEAR BY THE PRESIDENT.

THE ANSWER IS YES, THEN?

Fields: WHEN I HEAR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS THEMSELVES

SAY, "WE HAVE ABUSED OUR POWER.

WE HAVE INTERFERED IN FOREIGN POLICY"

I SAY TO MYSELF, WHERE DID THESE PEOPLE STUDY THEIR OWN HISTORY?

LEGISLATURES HAVE THE RIGHT OF APPROPRIATION

SO THAT THEY MAY INHIBIT THE POWERS OF THE EXECUTIVE

AND IF THEY'RE NOT PROUD OF THAT RIGHT

THEY SHOULD MOVE ASIDE FOR SOMEBODY TO SIT THERE

WHO WILL TAKE PRIDE IN IT.

Man: I BELIEVE CONGRESS SET UP THE F.B.I.

TO DETERMINE WHAT WAS GOING ON IN THIS COUNTRY, DIDN'T IT?

AMONG OTHER THINGS, MR. CHAIRMAN.

IT SET UP THE C.I.A. TO MONITOR FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE, DIDN'T IT?

YES, SIR--

AMONG OTHER AGENCIES.

IT SET UP THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY, DIDN'T IT?

AND THE DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

BUT IT DIDN'T SET UP THE PLUMBERS, DID IT?

OF COURSE, THE CONGRESS DOESN'T DO EVERYTHING, MR. CHAIRMAN.

NO, BUT CONGRESS IS THE ONLY ONE WITH LEGISLATIVE POWER.

I DON'T KNOW ANY LAW THAT GAVE THE PRESIDENT THE POWER...

Roberts: THIS IS A REMARKABLY STRONG DEMOCRACY, AND I REMEMBER

A MEMBER OF CONGRESS GOING TO GREECE

RIGHT AFTER PRESIDENT NIXON WAS FORCED TO RESIGN

AND SAYING, "DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE STRENGTH

"OF THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY.

"THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE AMERICAN ARMED FORCES

"WAS FORCED OUT OF OFFICE

AND NOT ONE SOLDIER LEFT THE BARRACKS TO DEFEND HIM."

TO US, THAT'S A GIVEN.

WE WOULDN'T IMAGINE A SOLDIER LEAVING THE BARRACKS

BUT IN MOST LANDS THAT IS VERY, VERY UNUSUAL INDEED.

ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, PLEASE SIGNIFY BY SAYING "AYE."

ALL THOSE OPPOSED, "NO."

Clerk: MR. DONAHUE.

AYE.

MR. BROOKS.

AYE.

MR. MANN.

AYE.

MR. SARBANES.

AYE.

MR. HUTCHINSON.

NO.

MR. McCLORY.

NO.

MR. DRINAN.

AYE.

MR. RANGEL.

AYE.

MISS JORDAN.

AYE.

MR. RODINO.

AYE.

27 MEMBERS HAVE VOTED AYE.

11 MEMBERS HAVE VOTED NO.

Cooke: I THINK THE FINEST MOMENT WAS THE LAST TWO DAYS' HEARINGS

OF THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE IN 1974, WHICH SPOKE

WITH SUCH EXTRAORDINARY SERIOUSNESS AND CANDOR

IN THOSE TWO DAYS, WITHOUT RHETORICAL FLOURISHES

WHICH WAS ASTONISHING

GRANTING THEY ARE AMERICANS.

IT SHOWED THE SUPREME COURT TAUGHT THE PRESIDENT

THAT HE IS THE SERVANT OF THE PEOPLE

AND THAT THE PEOPLE ARE SUPREME.

Roberts: AT THE END OF ANY SESSION, YOU ALWAYS SEE THE STORIES

ABOUT THE DAMS IN MISSISSIPPI

OR THE ROADS IN TENNESSEE, OR WHATEVER

BUT THE FACT IS, THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE ELECTED TO DO.

THEY ARE HERE, IN WASHINGTON

TO REPRESENT THE ENERGY-PRODUCING STATES

VERSUS THE ENERGY-USING STATES;

THE RURAL AREAS VERSUS THE URBAN AREAS

AND I THINK, QUITE FRANKLY

BY THE TIME THE WHOLE MESSY BUSINESS IS OVER WITH--

CONGRESS AFTER CONGRESS-- THAT THEY'VE DONE A PRETTY GOOD JOB.

Broder: THE PROMISE OF CONGRESS IS THAT AT THE HEART OF THE GOVERNMENT

WILL BE PEOPLE WHO ARE VERY MUCH LIKE OURSELVES

WHO ARE PART OF OUR LOCAL COMMUNITY, NOT SEPARATED FROM IT

AND BRING TO THE CENTER OF GOVERNMENT

THE SENSIBILITIES, THE SENSITIVITIES

AND, WE HOPE, THE COMMON SENSE

THAT YOU FIND IN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE LAND.

McDowell: I'M HOPELESSLY OPTIMISTIC

DISQUALIFIED OF ANY INTELLECTUAL PRETENSES, WHEN I SAY

THAT OF COURSE THE REPUBLIC HAS A FUTURE

BECAUSE THE CONGRESS IS THERE; AND BECAUSE THE CONGRESS WORKS.

THE SYSTEM DOES WORK, AND WHEN WE SAY

"BUT WE'RE MOVING INTO A PERIOD WE CAN'T POSSIBLY SALVAGE"--

WE MOVED INTO THE CIVIL WAR; WE SALVAGED; WE WENT ON.

WE'VE BEEN THROUGH NEARLY EVERY VARIATION OF TROUBLE

THAT YOU CAN GO THROUGH, AND I THINK THE CONGRESS CAN ADAPT

TO THE WORLD OF THE ATOM BOMB AND HIGH TECHNOLOGY

WITH A BETTER CHANCE TO PREVAIL THAN ANY OTHER WAY

SO I'M OPTIMISTIC.

Cooke: MADISON SAID "SELF-INTEREST IS THE ENGINE OF GOVERNMENT."

AND SOMEBODY SAID

"MR. MADISON, ARE YOU SAYING THAT THE FRAILTY OF HUMAN NATURE

IS THE ONLY BASIS OF GOVERNMENT?"

AND MADISON SAID, "I KNOW NO OTHER."

THEY'RE LISTENING TO HIM.

JUST GET UP OFF THE GROUND, THAT'S ALL I ASK.

GET UP THERE WITH THAT LADY

THAT'S UP ON TOP OF THIS CAPITOL DOME--

THAT LADY THAT STANDS FOR LIBERTY.

LOOK AT THIS COUNTRY THROUGH HER EYES;

BUT YOU WON'T JUST SEE SCENERY;

YOU'LL SEE THE WHOLE PARADE

OF WHAT MAN'S CARVED OUT FOR HIMSELF

AFTER CENTURIES OF FIGHTING; FIGHTING SO AS HE CAN STAND

ON HIS OWN TWO FEET, FREE AND DECENT

LIKE HE WAS CREATED

NO MATTER WHAT HIS RACE, COLOR OR CREED.

McCullough: WHAT IMPRESSES ME MOST IS THAT THE FOUNDERS WERE WILLING

TO TRUST A HUMAN PERSONALITY AND HUMAN INTELLIGENCE

THAT MAN, WOMAN, AFTER ALL, IS NOT ENTIRELY MISGUIDED;

THAT WE HAVE THE WITS TO SOLVE OUR OWN PROBLEMS;

THAT THE BEST JUDGE

OF HOW WE SHOULD BE LED AND GOVERNED, IS US.

Man: LET ME SAY TO THE GENTLEMAN

FURTHER RESERVING THE RIGHT TO OBJECT, THAT THE PROBLEM IS

THAT DEMOCRACY SOMETIMES GETS A LITTLE MESSY

AND YOU DO, IN FACT, WHEN YOU'RE MANAGING BILLS...

Man 2: NO OTHER AGRICULTURE-EXPORTING COUNTRY

IS TAKING A WHIPPING LIKE WE ARE

IN THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET...

Man 3: HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 412-- JOINT RESOLUTION TO CONGRATULATE

KING BHUMIBOL ADULYADEJ OF THAILAND

ON HIS 60th BIRTHDAY ON DECEMBER 5...

Woman: THERE ARE 16 VIRGINIA SANDSTONE COLUMNS.

ON TOP OF EACH COLUMN FOR DECORATION

WE HAVE THE TOBACCO LEAF AND THE TOBACCO BLOSSOM...

Man 4: WHAT DID THE PRESIDENT KNOW, AND WHEN DID HE KNOW IT?...

Man 5: I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO OBJECT.

I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WE'RE DOING HERE...

Man 6: THIS BILL IS NOT WHAT THE POOR NEED.

IT'S CERTAINLY NOT WHAT THIS CONGRESS SHOULD PASS...

Man 7: MR. SPEAKER, I WANT TO ASSOCIATE MYSELF

WITH THE REMARKS MADE BY CONGRESSMAN TOM BEVILL TODAY

ON THE FIVE-INCH GUIDED PROJECTILE...

Man 8: MR. SPEAKER, I ASK UNANIMOUS CONSENT

TO TAKE FROM THE SPEAKER'S DESK

H.J. RES. 412 AND ASK FOR IT...

Man 9: UNANIMOUS CONSENT

THAT ALL MEMBERS MAY HAVE FIVE LEGISLATIVE DAYS

IN WHICH TO REVISE AND EXTEND THEIR REMARKS...

Man 10: I UNDERSTAND WE ARE NOW GOING TO TRY BY UNANIMOUS CONSENT

TO OVERTURN THE PROVISIONS OF THE RULE

BY WHICH THIS BILL WAS BROUGHT TO THE FLOOR

THAT LIMITED TIME OF DEBATE...

Woman 2: SO I CONGRATULATE THE CLEAN CITY COMMITTEES

AND THE CITIES OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

NORTH PLATTE, OGALLALA KIMBALL, SCOTTSBLUFF...

Man 11: I BELIEVE CONGRESS SET UP THE F.B.I.

TO DETERMINE WHAT WAS GOING ON IN THIS COUNTRY, DIDN'T IT?

Man 12: AMONG OTHER THINGS, MR. CHAIRMAN...

Man 13: 27 MEMBERS HAVE VOTED AYE; 11 MEMBERS HAVE VOTED NO...

Man 14: MY OPINION, AND I'M NOT GOING TO OBJECT TO THIS

BUT I WILL TELL THE GENTLEMAN THAT...

Man 15: THE COMMITTEE WILL RECESS UNTIL 10:30 MONDAY NEXT.

Man 16: 10:30 WHEN?

Man 15: MONDAY MORNING.

"MONDAY NIGHT," HE SAID.

"MONDAY NEXT."

Man: ABOUT 40 WOMEN SHOWED UP.

THEY WERE ELDERLY, THEY WERE CONCERNED WITH SOCIAL SECURITY

SO THEY SENT A NOTE IN TO DIRKSEN WHO WAS ON THE FLOOR.

SO HE COMES TIPPY-TOEING OUT

WITH THAT GREAT MASS OF WHITE HAIR

JUST LOOKING THE WAY HE DOES

AND HE LOOKS UP AND DOWN, THEN HE SAYS, "GIRLS...

"I WAS ON THE FLOOR DEFENDING THE REPUBLIC

"AGAINST THE ONSLAUGHTS OF THE OPPOSITION

"WHEN I WAS INFORMED THAT 40 LOVELY LADIES

"WISHED TO SEE ME.

"I IMMEDIATELY REMOVED THE ARMOR OF THE WARRIOR

"AND PUT ON THE CLOAK OF THE POET.

NOW, WHAT DO YOU GIRLS WISH OF ME?"

THERE WAS ABSOLUTE SILENCE

AND THEN ONE LITTLE LADY IN THE BACK PIPES UP

AND SAYS, "NOTHING, SENATOR.

WE JUST WANT TO HEAR YOU TALK."