Videos

David McCullough talked about his book, The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris. He responded to questions from members of the audience. This was an event in the History and Biography Pavili…

The first National Book Festival was experienced through a combination of author presentations, call-ins, and interviews from three locations: the Jefferson Building, the Madison Building an…

James Billington talked about his experiences during his 20 years as the head of the Library of Congress. Other topics included the library’s future, the explosion of digital material, and t…

British dignitaries, including Princess Anne and the British ambassador to the United States, commemorated the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta at the ceremony for the Library of Congres…

Charles Wright, the 20th Poet Laureate of the United States, read selections from his work. This event was held at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Tennessee native Charles Wri…

Robert Caro talked about his book, The Passage of Power. The fourth book of his series, “The Years of Lyndon Johnson,” it covers the years from 1958 to 1964, during which Senate Majority Lea…

Susan Hertog talked about her book chronicling the lives of two early feminists working in journalism, Dangerous Ambition: Rebecca West and Dorothy Thompson: New Women in Search of Love and …

A book party was held at the Jefferson Hotel for the publication of Shooting from the Lip: The Life of Senator Al Simpson, written by Donald Hardy. Senator Simpson was shown mingling with th…

Three biographers of President Dwight D. Eisenhower talked about their books. President Eisenhower’s grandson, David Eisenhower, with his wife Julie Nixon Eisenhower, are the authors of Goin…

A look at The Morrill Act and its effect on the system of higher education. Panelists include five Presidents from different colleges and universities across the country. They speak on the d…

Mr. McCullough, author of the book John Adams published by Simon and Schuster, delivered a speech entitled “The Enduring Examples of John and Abigail Adams” at the 201st anniversary of the L…

C-SPAN’s original feature documentary, The Library of Congress, is a behind-the-scenes look at the national repository, providing the history of the institution, a tour of its iconic Jeffers…

Robert Caro talked about his book, Master of the Senate, published by Knopf. In this third volume of his multi-volume biography, The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Mr. Caro covered events and acti…

Representatives of public and private presidential libraries and museums gathered for a congressional symposium on their mission and future. Among the topics discussed were funding, current …

Witnesses testified about fiscal year 2012 federal spending requests for the legislative branch. They talked about financial pressures being faced by the government and how they justified th…

Former first lady Laura Bush talked about her memoir, Spoken from the Heart (Scribner, 2010). She responded to questions from members of the audience. This was a program in the History and B…

Telephone lines were open for comments to the question, “Is America exceptional?” James Billington talked by telephone about the recent revelation that Thomas Jefferson referred to the Ameri…

The Creative Coalition hosted a salute to cultural preservation and presented the Creative Coalition Spotlight Award to James H. Billington, the 13th librarian of Congress, in recognition of…

The National Endowment for Democracy presented the Dalai Lama with the Democracy Service Medal in recognition of the Tibetan spiritual leader’s commitment to advancing the principles of demo…

Award winning and bestselling authors opened the 2009 National Book Festival talking about the power and function of books and reading in a democratic and culturally diverse society. The fes…