Understanding America’s Presidents with Allen Estrin

Hi everybody, Jill Simonian with Prageru Kids here. We have such a treat today. I am so excited to talk to our Prageru co-founder Alan Estrin. You oversee all of our five minute videos. You are the brilliant mind behind this operation. I tell my own kids all the time. But today we're going to talk about a very brand new offering that we have that has your name on the front of this. Edited by Alan Estrin, the honest book of presidents, the men who shaped America. This book, I'm going to try not to cry for real. This is a treasure. This is such a treasure that frankly shocked the heck out of me when I read it because I was I because I couldn't stop turning the pages. and I'm so thankful that you wrote this book. Um, before we tackle it, I want a brief little in a nutshell history of you. Who who is Alan Estrin if people are living under a rock and and they they don't know you. >> Well, you described me as the co-founder of Prageru. That's certainly the case. Before then, my background was as the producer, the executive producer of the Dennis Prager show. And before then I I had a career as a screenwriter and as a teacher of screenwriting at the American Film Institute. And I am a lifetime member of the writer's guild. And you don't get that honor by parking cars. >> Yeah. >> So I wrote for I wrote for a number of uh prominent shows in the 90s like Touchoint Angel and The Practice and Boston Public. I wrote the sequel to Pocahontas, >> which by the way, when I first introduced my own children to you when they were little. They're older now. They're young teenagers, but when I first introduced them to you, that was the example I gave because it was so recognizable. And I remember their faces sort of lit up like, wow. And they and because the storytelling that you know how to do is incomparable and it's evident in you know when I opened this book and I started reading it the reason why this moved me so much is because of the storytelling that you know how to do and that you've done your whole life. So the thing that I want to also share with people uh that is just a true testament to who you are and what you've been able to accomplish. uh before we get to this book is a few years ago you gave a speech here at PragerU for all of us employees that started with a phrase that has stayed with me and that I continue to pass on to my children and that phrase is don't be a loser. Did you know what I was going to say? >> I think so. Yeah. And you you gave this speech and and in a nutshell the speech was and I'm saying this because it's important and I want parents and teachers to also share this with the young people in their lives. Every single day that we get get up we are challenged to fight against our nature of wanting to hang out and relax and you know phone it in and not do anything. And I remember that speech and I've carried it with me here obviously in the work that I do at Prageru Kids but also into my family life and personal life. And um you know I just I wanted to thank you for that. >> Thank thank you. >> Why write a book about all the presidents? >> Good question. And here's the answer. If you know something about all the presidents, you will know a lot about American history. And if you know a lot about American history, you'll understand why this is such an exceptional nation. It didn't happen by accident. And these men were right in the center of all of it. That is the that's that's the amazing thing about the presidency. Every major issue passes through 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It doesn't matter if it was George Washington or John Tyler or James Garfield or Chester Allen Arthur, whoever it was, they were dealing with the big issue of the day. >> The title itself can catch anyone's attention. Does this title insinuate that all other books out there are dishonest about presidents? >> No, I wouldn't want to say that. But the the the concept of the honest book of presidents really has to do with context because the way we approach this book and I I I do think a problem with many books of American history especially in the last let's say 20 years is that they don't take into uh account context. In order to understand our presidents, we need to know what the world was like that they lived in. And if you don't appreciate that, it's very hard to get a real sense of what they accomplished. >> Absolutely. And the one thing too that I found very unexpected, but I was very pleasantly surprised was how quickly this book moves from George Washington all the way through to President Biden. The overarching takeaways of each president's service is presented in what is it 10,000 words or less within a couple pages. And it was very easily readable, easily digestible. It's appropriate for I would say a 14-year-old mind, 9th grade. >> Yeah, I would agree with that. >> Even junior high, I loved I loved to think of it in the context of oh my goodness, this is something that I could read aloud with my kids in small bits and pieces. And it really does give us the history of America. And I know that biographical history is something that you have always been very passionate about and this is a prime example of that done very very well. Why do you think that biographical history has pretty much disappeared now from mainstream education? People don't teach about presidents. They don't teach about the lives of historical figures. Well, you raise a big issue about what what is being taught at all about American history and that is that's a big big problem that I know you're you're very much involved in and of course that is the reason PragerU exists. >> Yeah. >> I mean we say at at PragerU one of our many axioms is that education got us into this mess. Education is the only way out. But a big part of that education is American education, American history. How are we going to have a shared future if we don't have a shared past? And one of the things that we're trying to do with the honest book of presidents is create a template for that so that people can look back at the history of the United States and have an appreciation of it. So, it's really this book is biographies of all the presidents as you mentioned, but it's also a ba biography of the United States of America. And and part of what we try to do in in all our five-minute videos is take the most important information and distill it into our five minute form, which is about a thousand words. Mhm. >> And that's why I think when you read the book, you're you're kind of stunned about all uh all the information you're getting, how much you're learning it, and how fast you're learning it. That's kind of what I'd like to think makes PragerU special, that we really put a premium on time. Meaning, we want to use your time because everybody's busy. We want to use your time in the most efficient way possible. So when you read this book and you you travel from Washington through our current president, Donald Trump, >> you're you're going on a a long journey because it's 250 years. I mean, we're celebr the the way you'll you'll you'll find out is by reading the book. >> And that's part of the Prageru magic. One of the things that, like you said, we always talk about time is our greatest resource. And so, I want to just really quickly uh walk through how this whole book is set up. It is not overwhelming. We open it and obviously it starts with George Washington. One, two, three pages and then of course there's a second section because several of our presidents here get two sections because they were extremely influ influential. And then you have one, two, three more pages. And that's the summary of George Washington in this book. And it continues John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, all of our presidents. Very digestible. And also I do want to mention too at the end of each of these chapters is the contributor who um presented ultimately the five-minute video for each of these chapters. Correct. Is each chapter coinciding with one of our five-minute videos for praise you? >> Yes. Yes. Yeah. >> So you can follow along. >> Absolutely. >> Absolutely. and describe to me because you have edited and overseen this entire um this entire book and all of our five-minute videos, but can you describe to me some of the types of contributors that are in this book because as you know a lot of our critics who like to attack Prageru you wrongfully will say well we don't know what type of academics they're using for these are these are these are >> these are major historians I mean people like Alan Gzo who does our two-part series on Abraham Lincoln. He's he's a major major American historian and anybody in American history knows who Alan Gzo is. Wilfford Mcclelay, uh Bradley Thompson, these are these are uh big people. John Yu who uh is at uh UC Berkeley. Uh we have people from from all over the academic spectrum. And the other thing is that everyone knows their subject. Everyone was an expert on the on the president that they're covering. >> Yeah. And the fun stories that are in here also really surprised me. There's a description about how George Washington's spectacles were able to forward the cause of the American Revolution. There's a story about how President Monroe can actually be credited with the indirect creation of the Bill of Rights and the entire Louisiana purchase where we usually attribute it to Jefferson. What are your some of your favorite stories that you think might surprise people the most in this book because it's packed with them? >> Let me start with William Henry Harrison. So, William Henry Harrison >> uh is an early president, early 19th century president. He is elected under the there was a they had a slogan which many people have heard Tippy canoe and Tyler too. Yeah. >> And Tyler which I'll talk about in a moment but Harrison was Tippy Canoe and Tippy Canoe was a battle a very famous battle that Harrison won as a as a general. So Harrison's 68 years old. He's the oldest president at that time in American history. and he wants to prove to everybody how robust he is. So he gives a inauguration speech, the two-hour inauguration speech, still the longest ever given in a driving cold Washington DC reign. >> Mhm. >> Doesn't have a hat. Doesn't want to wear a hat cuz that that would show >> weakness. >> Weakness. Doesn't have a coat. gets sping sping wet, catches pneumonia, dies 30 days later. Two messengers, young messengers are sent to John Tyler's home. Now, John Tyler is the vice president for William Henry Harrison. They wrap on his door. Tyler is in uh Richmond, Virginia, where he lives. He figures the vice president not a very big position. I can be I can just I can be just as comfortable at home. Harrison doesn't care where he lives. So Harrison's at uh Tyler's at home. The messengers come to him. They hand him an envelope. He opens it. He says, "Oh my god, the president is dead." >> This has never happened in American history up to this point. He immediately goes to Washington, moves into the White House. Now it's not clear in the constitution what happens if the president dies. Now it says in the constitution article two that the vice president takes over for the president in the event the president cannot continue in office. But does does that mean there's going to be a special election? How long does he take over? So we take all this for granted now. But they didn't take it for granted then because there was no precedent. John Quincy Adams, who happened to be uh in the Congress at the time, said, "Hey, we we need to call a special election, have a new election for a new president." Tyler says, "No, right. I'm in the White House. Possession is 99% of the law. Try to get me out." >> Mhm. >> And Congress says, "You know what? He has a point." >> So, they let Tyler remain as president to serve out Harrison's term. Now, we take that for granted now, but it wasn't taken for granted then. But we we owe it to John Tyler that if the president dies in office, the vice president takes over and serves out the rest of his term. And it's fascinating because as you were telling the story, my mind went back to obviously when I when I was reading it on the page and I started laughing because as a kid I remember when I was a teenager. I admittedly was all not all that into US history. I am now obviously um thank goodness, but as a teen history always seems so boring. But then when you read the stories like that which you described and there's hundreds more in here, you realize that these were regular people making regular decisions that were extremely, I imagine, controversial at the time. I mean, can you imagine if something like that happened right now? The country would go wild. People would lose their minds. But that is the story of America. And that's part of our story. And you can dispute, was it right? Was it wrong? Was it somewhere in between? I don't know. But that's our story as America. >> So, every one of the presidents has a fascinating story. There's >> there's there there's no exception. And as you were kind enough to say the there's a certain cinematic quality to the storytelling and each story begins in in a way that pulls you into the story. So, uh, that's why I think it's somewhat compulsively readable. >> It is. And I was very, very surprised, and I don't say this lightly, I was very surprised how much I wanted to continue to turn the pages. >> Why don't you just flip to any president? >> I'm excited. Yes, I will. >> And and just read the first few lines and let's just see what happen. It doesn't matter. >> Here we go. Should I have you guess who I'm reading about? You know, >> I'll know. I'll I'll know it once you start. Upon learning of Franklin Roosevelt's death on April 12th, 1945, Harry Truman was reported to have said, "I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me." It was only a slight exaggeration. The decisions the 33rd president had to make in just the next four months would have crushed any normal person. And of course, we know now that Harry Truman, President Truman, had to make that decision whether or not to drop the atomic bomb. >> Yeah. >> And every single chapter, you know, and and listen, some of these presidents, quite frankly, I most of the country probably can't even name half of them. But we know that, and we've talked about this here at PragerU, during their time, we can't name them now. Unfortunately, most of the country can't name them now, which is the problem we're trying to solve in this book. But during their time, they were the most important people of their time. >> That is absolutely the case. It doesn't matter whether they were the most revered and reviled by history, whether it was Chester Ellen Arthur or Franklin Pierce or James Garfield, names that that aren't familiar to Americans. But imagine, Jill, if enough young people read the book, focus on the presidents, what what that could do to the country. We would have a shared history. So it it's okay if we if we uh disagree on over political matters. We need and this is a a phrase that comes up as you know many many times in our discussions interior discussions at at PragerU and that is a sense of cultural literacy. We need a shared past. We need a shared history so that we're kind of all >> have a have a baseline. We know what we're talking about when we talk to each other. >> Yeah. And this is a big problem now. >> It is. It is a big big problem. Well, we like to have the solutions and we have a solution here as always. I want to talk about your favorite president. I'm not going to let this moment go by without mentioning Calvin Culage. And the irony here is that Calvin Culage happened to be the president that I did my fifth grade president report on. >> And I admittedly am frankly fascinated now by his in what you describe in this book. do less philosophy. Can you share a little bit about that for anyone who might not know what that do less philosophy did and what it didn't do for the country at the time? >> Well, Calvin Culage was the president during the roaring 20s. And the irony is that his he was called by many silent cal. >> Yeah. >> And he didn't speak a lot, but he was a doer. So if he was going to do something, he did it. And if he didn't need to do it, he didn't do it. He would say that passing stopping a bad law, this is classic Koolage, stopping a bad law was much more important and valuable than passing a good law. So in in the case of Kulage, you're really dealing with somebody who had a lot of faith in the American people. If I get out of the way as president, the American people can achieve a lot. Koolage was the guy who didn't do because he had faith in the American people. Another president some decades later who was very much like Kulage. And another president I like a lot was Dwight Eisenhower. Eisenhower was people who would complain he's playing golf too much. He's not dealing with this problem or that problem. And Eisenhower was somebody who said if I need to get involved I will get involved but it's like I'm the government is not going to be the first in to solve a problem. All throughout American history when the government gets deeply involved the problems get very serious. >> Absolutely. We know that. Is there one president or maybe a few from your point of view who were maybe greatly misunderstood during their time but that you can now refer to and say you know what they actually did do a good job. >> A president that I really like doesn't get talked about a lot is Grover Cleveland. Grover Cleveland has a great story. He was somebody who uh succeeded by and this is a line from the book by virtue of his virtue. He was not he was absolutely incorruptible and if he didn't support a policy he thought it was not going to be good for the country. He would stand against it and he couldn't he couldn't be moved even though politically it might might be the thing to do. Where does your love of history come from? Because you know everything. >> You know that's a very interesting question. I I really don't have an answer. I I wish I wish I did. There was a time when even serial companies really wanted American kids to learn. And there was a cereal and I don't remember which one could have been corn flakes or something where they they had a contest and it wasn't exactly a contest but if you if you clipped out a portion of the cereal box and you like had 10 of them and you would mail them in to an address and they would mail you back a little presidential figurine. >> Yeah. >> And I got very caught up in that. >> I can imagine. And I and I I and then they had a kind of like a you could buy like a stadium Greek stadium setup and you could put all the presidents. So as I ate a lot of cornflakes if that if that was the uh if that was the cereal. It worked. It worked on every level. >> You know I I'm not surprised because now anyone who knows you knows that you have an all-inclusive collection of every single president. It is every single president, right? You're not missing one. >> No. every single president a bobblehead. >> Yeah, we have the bobbleheads >> which we've shared some of them here on our back shelf. I imagine these are your most favorites. There's Jefferson, Eisenhower, Culage, Reagan, um Lincoln, and of course George Washington. But you have the entire collection of all >> the world's only known complete collection of presidential bobbleheads. Somebody else may have it out there, but we don't know who that person is. So, if they're watching this video and they they have one, take a picture and and send it to us. >> You can start your own special exclusive club because it is extraordinary and it really is. >> It's fun. >> It's fun. And and that's what I think, you know, you talked about the the cornflake company or the cereal company really, you know, motivating children to learn. And that is what is missing now. And it's missing unfortunately in our classrooms. I mean, you know, a lot of people attribute the obsession with standardized tests to sucking the fun out of learning. I don't disagree with that. >> Well, I I really I I think that's a great point and I I really do want to emphasize and because this again is an it's a big PragerU preoccupation is fun. >> The book is fun. It's fun to read. It's fun to read about Chester Allen Arthur >> who was sobbing in the corner allegedly. it when >> Chester Allen Arthur was James Garfield's vice president. This is another accidental president story and the New York Times comes to him to get a statement and his valet says, "I'm sorry you we we can't I can't take you to get a statement because he's sobbing." Why was he sobbing? He was really sobbing because the last thing Chester Allen Arthur wanted to be was president. He loved being vice president. He was a real kind of balanc guy. A a a true party animal. Yeah. And vice president, there was no responsibility. He could go to any social event he wanted >> and everybody wanted him to be at the event. He didn't want the responsibility of being president and he was having a great time. Then Jen James Garfield dies and he has to be president. And the story gets even more amazing because James uh because Chester Allen Arthur was a classic machine politician and everybody thought, "Oh my god, we're just we're just going to have this this no account as president of the United States." And the man grew into the office and the machine politician is the first president to pass really meaningful civil service reform. No one would have thought it. >> Yeah. the pres the presidency changed him. And another thing that I found fascinating and correct me if I'm wrong because you know I h I have read about all these presidents and I want to make sure I'm not you know confusing them but was Chester Allen Arthur the gentleman who kept receiving the letters from a lady who yeah >> I mean these were these these were who you know apparently inspired him to become the responsible leader you know figurehead >> and these are the stories again that our kids and you know quite frankly all of us adults who missed these fascinating nuggets of history. These are the stories that should bind us together. These are the things that I wish someone would have shared with me when I was a teenager. >> So I think uh we could talk about how parents can actively do exactly what you're talking about. So, one way if you're homeschooling your kids, you've you've you you've got it solved. But if you're not homeschooling your kids now, there is a way to homeschool your kids and you can start immediately. Mhm. >> As a family project before dinner, have the family read the president, watch the PragerU video, and then at dinner discuss what you've read and seen and make that the theme of dinner. And you will be shocked how much you the parent will learn and how much the kids will learn and how you will create a a a memory for for your family. Do you remember the time over that those months when we discussed the president's kids will remember that >> and this is something that is not overwhelming to do. I mean like you said it's it's it's three pages per president. It's, you know, maybe four pages, maybe five pages. This is not heavy reading. It's not intense. It's not, it's very light and informative and fun and dare I say snappy. It's very snappy to read. And it is not only a memory, but many of us often find ourselves worrying. I know we're not supposed to despair, but many of us find ourselves worrying. My goodness, what is going to happen to this country? No one is reading anymore. No one knows anything. No one can recite any kind of historical fact that's relevant to this day and age. This is the way to solve it. We are responsible for creating thinking people. People who can think, you know, I it is it's it's one of the it's one of the fundamentals to raising children and living in this country. And I never realized that how important it really was until just a few years ago. And I mean this it makes it so so so easy. And um >> well you're doing such wonderful things at PragerU kids. I mean it's it's it's >> I'm learning all of this from no joke. >> It's it's really >> it's a new venture >> for us. I mean, we we we all would say in the early days it was like flying a plane and building the plane at the same time. >> Still doing it. >> We're still doing it, but the plane is pretty pretty much built. We're really kind of flying now. >> Yeah. >> And >> I I I couldn't agree with you more. This this we have we have to make and this is kind of the I I think the theme of the this >> this wonderful interview, wonderful because you're wonderful, not because I am. We need to make learning fun and it should be fun. There's just >> it's it's a part of human life. >> Yeah. >> People and and this was one of the original uh premises of of uh of Prageru. >> Human beings want to learn. >> They want they want to get better. This is the the better side of our nature >> and we want to make that possible for everyone. And we certainly want to make it possible for kids. >> Yeah. And there's no better time to do it than during our 250th birthday during this year. This is the time. No better time than the present. This is just I listen at the time of this conversation we're having. We're heading into the holidays. We're heading into Christmas, Hanukkah season, Thanksgiving. Not only is this a great gift for the family library or I I'm also going to recommend this. I have a lot of teacher friends. This is a fabulous, useful, fun resource to gift to classrooms and teachers and schools for their libraries as well. Um, but it's also a really good hostess gift. I mean, all the, you know, all the parties you go to, take this as a hostess gift. Add this enrich enrich their home library. Enrich your own home library. Um, it's just really it I I am not exaggerating when I say this is a treasure. And you know, when I my initial perception of this book was that it was going to be a dense historical read where I was going to have to concentrate and buckle down and drink my coffee. No, this is like it reads like a magazine, a fun, informative, wholesome magazine filled with truth and goodness and fair critiques of the men who led our nation. And I just anyway, thank you. >> Thank you. And of course all the contributors and I I'm I you know I am I before we go I am going to say incredible endorsements by Lord Andrew Roberts. Prageru has totally disrupted the university model. Thank God. Victor Davis Hansen from the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Prageru has brought higher education to the people at far less cost with far more common sense and with an agenda to offer critical knowledge without indoctrination. And of course, this last endorsement here, which uh you can see for yourself when you get the book from uh dear our dear friend Charlie Kirk, founder and CEO of Turning Point USA. Of course, if you want to waste money, you can spend $100,000 getting a pointless degree. If you want to learn, go to Prageru, and that certainly is the honest truth. Alan, thank you so much for writing this book. It is a treasure. >> Well, thank you, Jill. I can't say that I wrote it, but I did edit it. And we have wonderful people who wrote essays on all all the presidents. And people I think, as you have said, I think they're going to really enjoy it. >> They are. They're going to love it. I love it. This is the book for family bonding and teaching our children knowledge. Get it now. And if you have not subscribed to prageruids.com or prageru.com, do so now. Subscribe for free and stay upto-date and informed on all of our America 250 offerings as well as all the educational resources for you and your family. So Alan, we have one last thing to do and this might be really difficult. Will you sign my book? And I have the pen. Thank you.