'He truly changed': Doris Kearns Goodwin on the impact of assassination attempts

Intro >>> SICK SOCIETIES DON'T PRODUCE SECRET SERVICE AGENT TIM McCARTHY WHO PLACED HIS BODY -- [ APPLAUSE ] HE PLACED HIS BODY BETWEEN MINE, A MAN WITH A GUN, SIMPLY BECAUSE HE FELT THAT'S WHAT HIS DUTY CALLED FOR HIM TO DO. SICK SOCIETIES DON'T PRODUCE DEDICATED POLICE OFFICERS LIKE TOM -- [ APPLAUSE ] >> SICK SOCIETIES DON'T MAKE PEOPLE LIKE US SO PROUD TO BE AMERICANS AND SO VERY PROUD OF OUR FELLOW CITIZENS. >> THEN PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN LESS THAN A MONTH AFTER HE WAS SHOT AND NEARLY KILLED BY A GUNMAN IN WASHINGTON, D.C. GOP NOMINEE DONALD TRUMP SIGNALED HE WILL CALL FOR UNITY AHEAD OF HIS SPEECH AT THE RNC THURSDAY AFTER SURVIVING HIS OWN ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT OVER THE WEEKEND. THEN-FORMER PRESIDENT TEDDY ROOSEVELT SHOT WHILE RECAMPAIGNING TO TAKE THE WHITE HOUSE COOLED DOWN HIS RHETORIC IN A HARD-FOUGHT CAMPAIGN AFTER THE ATTEMPT ON HIS LIFE. SO, TOO, DID GEORGE WALLACE, WHO SURVIVED BEING SHOT FIVE TIMES IN 1972 WHEN HE WAS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT. AND WOULD GO ON TO APOLOGIZE FOR HIS LONG HISTORY OF RACISM. >> LET'S BRING IN PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR AND HISTORIAN DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN. DORIS, THERE IS SO MANY THINGS WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT. I WANT TO START THOUGH WITH T.R. BECAUSE YOU LOOK TO WHAT HAPPENED WITH DONALD TRUMP, WHO GOT SHOT AND THEN DESPITE THE FACT THE SECRET SERVICE SHOULD HAVE HELD HIS HEAD DOWN AND GOT HIM OFF STAGE, HE STILL STOOD UP AND MADE THE GESTURES TO THE CROWD, TOLD THEM HE WAS OKAY, RAISED HIS FIST. IT DOES REMIND YOU OF T.R. Teddy Roosevelt GETTING SHOT AND CONTINUING HIS SPEECH. >> YEAH, ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, JOE. WHAT HAPPENED TO T.R., HE WAS SHOT STANDING UP IN A CAR OUTSIDE OF THE HOTEL ON HIS WAY TO DELIVER A SPEECH RIGHT IN THE CHEST, POINT BLANK HE WAS SHOT, AND THEY INSIST, THE DOCTORS, HE GO TO THE HOSPITAL. HE SAID, NO, I AM GOING TO GIVE THE SPEECH. HE GOES TO GIVE THE SPEECH, STANDS ON THE STAGE WITH THE BULLET IN HIS CHEST. 64 MINUTES -- 84 MINUTES HE SPEAKS IN THAT SPEECH. THEY SAY YOU HAVE TO GET OFF, YOUR BREATH IS GOING. HE SAID HAVE TO FINISH THE SPEECH. HE HADN'T BEEN KILLED BECAUSE HIS SPEECH WAS IN HIS POCKET AND HIS SPECTACLES WERE THERE AND DIDN'T DEFLECT TO HIS HEART. HE HAS TO STAY AT THE HOSPITAL FOR SOME TIME BECAUSE OF THE INFECTION. WHEN HE COMES OUT, HE CHANGES. HE DOES GOT RID OF -- HE HAD BEEN NAME-CALLING. HE GAVE ONE OF THE BEST SPEECHES. IT LOOKED LIKE THE EMPATHY OF THE COUNTRY WAS GOING FOR HIM. ONE OF THE DEMOCRATS SAID THE BULLET THAT RESTS IN TEDDY ROOSEVELT'S CHEST KILLED WILSON'S CHANCE FOR THE ELECTION. THE FUNDAMENTALS REMAIN THE SAME. HE WAS A FORMER PRESIDENT RUNNING AGAINST TAFT, HIS FORMER FRIEND, IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, THE REPUBLICAN PARTY WAS SPLIT, SO THE DEMOCRATS WON. BUT HE WON THE LARGEST EVER THIRD-PARTY CANDIDATE BECAUSE HE WAS ABLE TO DEAL WITH THAT Ronald Reagan ELECTION AND THAT ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT IN THE MOST PERFECT TONAL WAY. >> EVERY BIOGRAPHER OF REPUBLICAN RONALD REAGAN SEEMS TO TALK ABOUT HOW HE CHANGED AFTER HE GOT SHOT, AND REAGAN, WHO WAS CONSIDERED TO BE THE COLDEST OF COLD WARRIORS, BELIEVED THAT GOD HAD A HAND IN HIS LIFE BEING SAVED AND DIDN'T HE TALK ABOUT FROM THAT POINT FORWARD HIS GOAL WAS TO BE -- TO BRING ABOUT AN END OF A NUCLEAR ESCALATION AND TO PREVENT ARMAGEDDON? >> I THINK YOU'RE RIGHT, JOE. WHEN YOU COME UP AGAINST YOUR MORTALITY, AS CERTAINLY REAGAN DID, MAKES YOU REFLECT AND THINK ABOUT HOW DO I WANT TO BE REMEMBERED? WHAT DO I WANT TO DO WITH THE REST OF MY TERM. THAT MONTH HE WENT TO THE JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS FROM THAT SPEECH, THE PERFECT TONE FOR HIM TO BELIEVE IN THE OPTIMISM OF AMERICA, TALK ABOUT IT'S NOT A SICK SOCIETY. HOW IT BE WHEN ALL THESE PEOPLE HAVE DONE SUCH HEROIC THINGS. HE INTRODUCED HIS LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE, HIS TAX BILL, WHICH HAD NOT BEEN GOING VERY WELL BEFORE THE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT. NOW THERE WAS SUCH AN OVERWHELMING APPROVAL, UP TO 68% AFTER THAT ASSASSINATION ATTACK, HIGHER THAN IT WOULD EVER ABOUT GO, AND HE GOT THAT BILL THROUGH THE ADDRESS. HE MOVED FORWARD, WHICH I THINK Two Americas IS WHAT THE COUNTRY WANT. LATER ON MOVE FORWARD ON HIS INTERNATIONAL BELIEFS. >> WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT POSITIVE OUTCOMES FROM THESE TRAGIC EVENTS. LET'S TALK ABOUT ALSO NEGATIVE OUTCOMES. I STILL HAVE A STRONG BELIEF, AND YOU, OBVIOUSLY, LIVED THIS TOO CLOSE, TOO PERSONALLY, BUT VERY STRONG BELIEF THAT AMERICA NEVER RECOVERED FROM WHAT HAPPENED ON NOVEMBER 22nd 1963. YOU TALK ABOUT TWO AMERICAS. THAT IS A DIVIDING LINE UNLIKE HARDLY OTHERS. AND I DON'T KNOW THAT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY EVER REALLY RECOVERED FROM JUNE 6, 1968, THE ASSASSINATION OF BOBBY KENNEDY. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? >> WELL, WHAT YOU REALIZE IN THE 1960s WHERE I HAVE BEEN LIVING IN MY MIND IN TERMS OF MY NEW BOOK, YOU ARE NUMBED ALMOST. JOHN KENNEDY'S ASSASSINATION. YOU HAD MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.'S ASSASSINATION, BOBBY KENNEDY'S ASSASSINATION, MALCOLM X. SO MUCH WAS FOLLOWING UPON EACH OTHER. WE RECOVERED IN ONE SENSE. LYNDON JOHNSON WENT TO A JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS FOUR DAYS AFTER THE FUNERAL AND HE SAID, LET US MOVE FORWARD. HE ARMORED HIMSELF IN THE ADMIRATION THERE FOR JOHN KENNEDY, SAID NOTHING MATTERS MORE THAN THE PASSAGE OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS BILL. HIS LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM, JFK'S LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM WAS STUCK IN THE CONGRESS. PEOPLE TALKED ABOUT A BROKEN CONGRESS AND HE GOT THE BILLS THROUGH AND IT MADE PEOPLE FEEL WE WERE MOVING FORWARD. WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT WALLACE, THERE WAS A CHANGE FOR THE POSITIVE. HE HAD BEEN THE ARCH SEGREGATIONIST. HE GOT SHOT IN 1972. HE WAS PARALYZED FROM THE WAIST DOWN. HE CAME UP AGAINST HIS MORTALITY, HAD TIME TO REFLECT AND TURNED AGAINST HIS OLD SELF. HE TRULY CHANGED. WE WENT BEFORE THE BLACK COMMUNITY, TOOK RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIS SEGREGATION COMMENTS. HE RAN FOR GOVERNOR AGAIN AND WON 90% OF THE BLACK VOTE AND HAD A GOOD PRESIDENCY, GOVERNORSHIP FOR THE BLACK PEOPLE. HE PUT MORE PEOPLE INTO HIS ADMINISTRATION. HE DOUBLED THE NUMBER OF BLACK REGISTRATION VOTES. SOMEHOW EVEN JOHN LEWIS AT THE END WAS ABLE WHEN HE DIED TO PUT FOR WALLACE'S DEATH, SAYING HE WAS A CHANGED MAN. I MAY NEVER FORGET WHAT HE DID WHEN HE TALKED ABOUT SEGREGATION, BUT THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVE IS ABOUT LOVE, JUSTICE AND FORGIVENESS. CERTAINLY POSITIVE THINGS CAME OUT OF THESE IF THE TONE IS RIGHT AND THE PEOPLE MOVE FORWARD. THAT'S WHAT REAGAN, JFK, AND GEORGE WALLACE DID AS WELL. WE CAN TAKE SOME SOLACE AND HOPE FROM THAT. MAYBE THE PRESIDENT WILL BE A CHANGED MAN. HE TALKED ABOUT THE FACT IT CHANGED HIM. WE WILL HAVE TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS IN THE DAYS AND MONTHS AHEAD. >> PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. HER BOOK AN