The president’s election slogan in 1916 was “He kept us out of war”.
And through much of his first term, Woodrow Wilson had done just that, keeping the United States on the sidelines of the Great War as he sought to negotiate a great peace, and construct an international institution of mediation–the League of Nations. But escalating German hostilities eventually propelled Wilson into Europe’s bloody fray. It was a stunning and politically courageous about-face. Wilson spoke of “civilization itself seeming to be in the balance.” After the armistice, he clung passionately to his blueprint for a League of Nations, despite fierce opposition at home and abroad.

Guests:

John M. Cooper, Chairman of the History Department at the University of Wisconsin and author of “The Warrior and the Priest: Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt”

David Gergen, Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and former advisor to four Presidents: Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton.

Even for those soldiers weathering the last minute sandstorms, one thing is clear; it’s only a matter of time before the United States military moves on Iraq. Over 200,000 American soldiers are in the Gulf awaiting those orders. And in the long hours before an attack, a chance for them and for people back home to review all the claims and counterclaims of politicians and generals which precede war; the talk of new airborne weaponry, the speculation about combat on the ground, chemical weapons.

Most experts are predicting that America’s military victory will come swiftly. The more telling questions concern the role of these soldiers as part of “what comes after.” Defining the mission, marching orders and measuring success.

Guests:

Gen. William Nash, Senior Fellow and Director at the Center for Preventive Action and Council on Foreign Relations

Owen Cote, Associate Director of MIT’s Security Studies Program

Thanassis Cambanis, Boston Globe Reporter in Kuwait City.

Abraham Lincoln called the United States “the last, best hope of earth.” He believed his fight to preserve the Union was a protection of, a preservation of liberties still being defined. Every day of Lincoln’s time in office was dominated by war — not against a foreign power but a war between the states, a civil war that still, of all America’s wars, inflicted the most casualties. Lincoln today is ranked as one of the nation’s greatest Presidents. But throughout his time in office, he was reviled and criticized, not just by the rebels of the South but also the abolitionists of the North who thought he was too slow to end slavery. Our series on presidential leadership in time of war continues with Abraham Lincoln.

Guests:

James McPherson, Professor of History, Princeton University

David Gergen, Professor of Public Policy, Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and former advisor to four Presidents: Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton

President Bush has set a 48 hour ultimatum for Saddam Hussein. The terms are simple. Saddam and his sons must leave Iraq or face war. Since the Iraqi leader doesn’t seem to be in the mood for exile, it is clear that within days the Administration’s doctrine of pre-emption, the new plan to act against enemies with or without international support or tangible provocation, is about to get its first real test drive in the deserts of the Gulf.

Here at home, the President shifts the nation into a higher level of alert, but pledges that he is acting in the interest of long-term security. Americans begin to rally behind him, even as critics say there is too much risk, too much of diplomatic, political and economic gamble in turning Iraq upside down.

Guests:

Susan Page, White House Bureau Chief for USA TODAY

John Donnelly, chief diplomatic correspondent for the Boston Globe.

Abigail Adams once observed that great crises bring forth great leaders. This week a special 5 part series, American Presidents at decisive moments in history. In our next hour, the man who defined the job itself: George Washington.

He led the young nation through its Revolutionary War, through lost battles, rebellions, and chronic shortages of men and material. He enjoyed such public adoration that people changed the words of God Save the King to God Save Great Washington. And in fact, he could have been king, but instead he chose to be President. George Washington’s self-restraint in the exercise of power won him the affection of a country, the admiration of the world, and defined the American Presidency.

Guests:

Gordon S. Wood, Alva O. Way University Professor and Professor of History at Brown University

David Gergen, Professor of Public Service, Kennedy School of Government
at Harvard University and former advisor to four Presidents: Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton.

President Bush has declared that the time for talk is at an end. At yesterday’s summit in the Azores, the president said today’s meeting of the United Nations Security Council would be “a moment of truth for the world.”

France’s President Jacques Chirac remains resolutely opposed to war. His pro peace talk has won him American enmity; “freedom fries” in the Congressional cafeteria are just the latest manifestation of the Franco phobic disdain in the nation’s capital. But by establishing himself as Europe’s most vocal refusenik in the American and British campaign to build a pro-war coalition, Jacques Chirac is staking his claim on historical relevance. The politics, principles and posturing behind Jacques Chirac’s new popularity.

Guests:

Alexandre Adler, author, historian and editorial director, Le Figaro newspaper

Dominique Dhombres, columnist and media critic, Le Monde newspaper

The fight to end apartheid in South Africa is one of sacrifice and song. The call, response “Amandla / Awethu!” are a cry for power, and an answer, ‘to the people.’ South African blacks wielded that cry, and other songs of protest, as weapons in one of the greatest revolutions of the 20th century. The Toyi-Toyi, a song and dance combination, became a powerfully intimidating but largely non-violent threat to riot police in the 1980’s. ‘Sen zeni Na,’ became the “We Shall Overcome” of the movement, and a popular hit by Hugh Masekela “Bring Him Back Home” sparked the international call for the release of Nelson Mandela.

A new film chronicles the role song played in bringing down the walls of South Africa’s Jericho. Amandla! A Revolution in Four Part Harmony.

Amandla! will begin showing in Boston at the Loews Harvard Square theater on March 21st.

Guests:

Lee Hirsch, director and producer of the film “Amandla”

Hugh Masekela, South African Musician

Vusi Mahlasela, South African poet and musician

Sifiso Ntuli, South African activist, and music producer.

The post-war price tag. There have been a lot of reports about how much it will cost to rebuild Iraq. A new one out this week puts the cost at a minimum of $100 billion and said it will take hundreds of thousands of American troops on the ground there for years to keep the peace. Then it went a little further.

The American people, who remain in support of the war, have no idea what they are getting into. The report task force chaired by James Schlesinger, secretary of defense under Nixon and Ford, and Thomas Pickering, ambassador to the U.N. under Bush Senior had a very clear message to President Bush: The American people cannot and should not be kept in the dark when it comes to the staggering financial and emotion costs of rebuilding the Iraqi state. They need to be levelled with, and fast. Nation-building, public opinion, and the salutary effects of sticker shock.

Guests:

E.J. Dionne, columnist, The Washington Post, and fellow at The Brookings Institution

Nolan Finley, editorial page editor, The Detroit News

Eric P. Schwartz, project director for the Council on Foreign Relations independent task force on a post-conflict Iraq

It could be a hymn, it could be a fife and drum, a marching band or an acoustic guitar; but the music of war settles deeper into the collective and emotional memory of a nation than almost any other lyric or tune. From “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” to “Over There,” and from “Yellow Ribbons” to whatever else is “Blowin’ In The Wind,” the songs that praise and protest war are like a soundtrack of this nation’s struggle for identity.

These songs track motivations and reservations about war, as they chart the shift from the hymnal to the lament, from the inspirational to the confrontational. They bring us into history’s trenches, and reflect the ambivalence of supporting the soldiers, without endorsing the dirty work of war. You’re in the Army Now, “Knee Deep in the Big Muddy.”

Guests:

Jerry Silverman has been a musicologist for more than 40 years. He’s written more than 200 books on American folk music, including “Of Thee I Sing: Lyrics and Music for America’s Most Patriotic Songs.”

Tony Blair may be the first victim of friendly fire in the war against Iraq. That’s how one British MP’s summing up the Prime Minister’s predicament. By joining with the United States and taking a hard line against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Blair is defying British public opinion and many in his own party. He may have also made a promise he can’t keep.

Blair originally said he would get a second security council resolution before committing British troops to war. Now his government is demanding it, his foreign minister is doing everything he can to secure it, but France and other members of the Security Council are not cooperating. Soon Blair may be forced to choose between his support for the U.S. and his own political future.

Guests:

Graham Allen, Member of Parliament, Labour

Matthew Parris, political columnist, The Times of London

Timothy Garton, director of the European Studies Centre at St. Antony’s College at Oxford University.