Cspan, created by americas Cable Television companies and brought to you as a Public Service by your cable or satellite provider. [inaudible conversations] okay. Good afternoon. On Bradley Graham, coowner ofcs politics and prose along with my wife, and our behalf of everybody here at the gaithersburg book festival, thank you so much for coming. This is of course the seventh annual festival here in gaithersburg. This is the fifth Consecutive Year the politics and prose has been your as the official bookseller. We really want to commend the gaithersburg staff and all of festival sponsors and volunteers for working so hard, especiallyy hard this year given the weather to make today possible. And thank you all really for coming out. You are all a very hardy bunch. A few quick administrative notes. Qu that would be a good time to turn off your cell phones or anything else that might go beep. Second, if you are tweeting today, please use hashtag gdf come and third would really wan your feedback. So please at the end fill out a survey. They are available at the back of the tent. Or on the gbf website. And if you complete a survey, you have a chance, a chance to win 100 visa gift card. Finally, Juan Williams will be signing books after this presentation. There is a signing line on the other end here of the festival grounds. And copies of his book we the people are on sale in the politics and prose tent which is just out here over there. Now, a quick word about buying books, even though this is a free event, theres no charge for the festival, it does helpfe the book festival if you do buy a book. The more books you purchase at todays festival, the more publishers will want to send their officer to speak in the future, and the authors themselves will want to speak. Plus, purchasing books from politics and prose or other local bookstores benefits the local economy and supports local jobs. Were very delighted to have juan with us today. Im sure he is familiar to many of you since hes been part of the journalistic establishment of this town for several decades now. Ped fo juan and i overlapped for a number of years that a Washington Post, previousin incarnation. Before i became a bookseller i was a journalist at the Washington Post. And juan worked there for 23 years as a National Correspondent and medical columnist. He then spent over 10 years with npr before leaving and concentrating on ox news where he now frequently appears on various shows fox news sharing his perspective on many issues of the day. In his new book we the people, juan has a compelling premise. It makes a point at the outset that because of the United States has changed much since its birth, they should have another more modern set of leading historical figures to inspire and to serve as examples. Much in the way the original Founding Fathers have done for previous generations and still do to some extent. So juan offers his list of moret than two dozen, 20th century ace visionaries and model achievers provide each of them and describing how, in their ownn significant ways, theyve helped reshape america. And hes about to tell you exactly may discount. L be i juan will be in conversation with Craig Shirley was also an author and has written, among other works, several books on Ronald Reagan. So please join me in welcoming Juan Williams and Craig Shirley. [applause] juan, thank you for being here today. Oi i think were going to takee questions an audience at some point. I always like to start at the beginning. Tell us about yourself, where you were born, went to college, high school, the sport you played. Spink thanks, craig and the thank you all for coming out on a rainy day. Its a pleasure to be here. One of the great pleasures i think about being an author is learning things. E the writing process, getting involved with new information and then being able to share that information. But, of course, you needraig somebody, whether it is great or all of you to share with, to get into conversation with, and part of the joint of a book festival is learning what people think about what youve written answer taking you to a new height in terms of your own capacity topa experience life and the written word. So thank you all for being here. In answer to your question, i am 62. Ea i had a birthday april 10. The book was published april 5 so it was kind of a Birthday Gift. To yourself spent exactlyachd right. But i hope each and every one of you because, craig was told me earlier, tell them the three principles of being an author speak theres no such thing as writers block. You have to become the book and then get yourself to devise yourself that the entire world is waiting for your book last night. On the third principle i think its a Birthday Gift to all of you as well. [laughter] so i was born in animal in 1954. And then my mom got three kids to brooklyn when i was just four years old. I went to Public School in brooklyn, new york, and i won a scholarship to a quicker prep school in poughkeepsie. Or that i want another scholarship when i went to college at harvard haverford college. J i was editor of my Junior High School paper, my high school paper. Er after my freshman year at haverford from which work at the philadelphia evening bulletin. But i dont think theres an evening paper in america but they are all gone. I really begin adding thepaper newspaper, and went from there. I got a dow jones, dow jones used to own the wall street own journal. They had a Newspaper Fund internship for young people and they went to work for the Providence Journal one summer. Went back to the bulletin. Very much want to stay in t philadelphia and be a journalist for any bulletin but this was the era of woodward andbe bernstein and they were not hiring young journalist. They wanted people in midcareer who are experienced and b dedicated everybody my age want to be a journalist at that point. Im not sure they want to be woodward and bernstein but they want to be more like hoffman, the guys in the movie. Jo i really want to be a journalist. I love journalism. Its a passion for me. Anyway, i couldnt get a job as eating both an icon in the internship. One was at the Philadelphia Inquirer which still exists and is a great newspaper and other was at the Washington Post. Sh i thought if its an internship im going to a job in three was complete i will take the Washington Post because it was a hot newspaper at that time. So i stayed there, has proudly said. D not only did i meet a bradley but i met carla cohen who ran politics and prose for a long time. One of the people i met during the reagan years was this gentleman, Craig Shirley. Twentythree years at the poster sorry it didnt work out. How many books have you written . It depends, if you count things like there are books, a book about black farmers and i i wrote the preface to it which i lengthy. The heart and soul, the reason anyone in this audience wouldul buy the book, these incredible pictures of black farmers through the south. But other than that i think it is a books spend what are you working on now speak was i just finished this. I am perpetually working on nenew books. Are you the same way . No. I think i need to sort of killed also one more time and find my direction. It is for me such, you talked about your three principles. Es but i think the thing that strikes me is that people say that for a band the closest thing we can come to childbirth is writing a book. I think thats true for me. It takes my body and brain a while to say weve gottenoh through it. Because books consume me. I work in newspapers or magazines, tv, radio. They are very immediate platforms but they are ephemeral to some extent or do you know the joke about, you say to your dad or your mom, i had an article in the newspaper today. Did you see mr. They say, yes, there will line the bird cage the next day. Then you say i had a piece inay the magazine. They said it will be out of the Doctors Office in a month. But if you buy the book it hasif lasting value. Know . Its always amazing to me that you go in a library and theres a book youve written. I always think what kind of labor does this it would have a book by me . That to me is the lasting thing. When i do a book it consumes me just as you said. I wake up and think why im not working on the book with i go to sleep and think i do another hour . Its me. How long did it take you to write a non . We the people took five t years but the idea has been in my mind for more than five years. You talk about where books star trek im not sure i can tell you when the gate opens. I know exactly what yourew h talking about. At i know that was terminated in my time bashing mmi fund long time. Because baptism time. Because practice on the us to infer in the art and it goes back to the 2008 campaign. An right around the time i was looking at changes going on in American Society for npr for a series called changing face of america and looking at huge points of difference that have been at the start of the century, if you will. 21st century. That were defining American Life. Everything, things like people going from no gambling, no legal gambling canal gambling being everywhere. Thats a huge change. In my lifetime, things like people not smoking, people smokg everywhere to not being able to smoke everywhere. You use to smoke in movie theaters. Ballgame. At nlf it event. To people were smoking up a storm. Also what occurred in the midst of the 08 campaign was how radically things have changed. With president obama elected and thinking look at this coalition and the the idea of an africanamerican as president ,t, this is pretty incredible. Magazines with headlines not in my lifetime. Getting would think Something Like that could happen . I knew there was a radical amount of change and that i didnt go into this book. Whats your favorite part of the book . There are two things. One is, the book is been out for a month now, and one thing that surprises me is number of people come up to me and say bill bratton speaks i was going to ask you about bill bratton. Ronald reagan and Eleanor Roosevelt. How can a policeman be part of a new founders of america in the 21st century . We will come to it. But the second thing is that people ask a version of the question just asked, which is what your favorite thing . I say to people, to me the biggest change thats taken place in American Life has to do with american women. I dont think people appreciaten it. I think i didnt appreciate it. If you about i will tell you a quick story. The quick story is this, that when i was doing the npr series i mentioned earlier, i was very intrigued by the 2010 census that said, guess what . Right now we are a nation more than 300 million people, but a quarter, a quarter of those are under the age of 18. Under 18. I had no idea where such a young nation. Under 18. People like craig, me, we have kids, but 18 came to the tail end of the baby boom are right in thehe middle of the baby boom spent by people under 18 dont vote. People at 18 dont have money to get a politician. People under 18 typical are not involved in political organizing say theyre not the people ofon color on the like im callingal craig when he was in the reagan administration. Thats just other people and touch with. When we were 18 we could devote. Thats correct. I thought i would go and talk to people who are under 18 and get a better sense of this veryge, r large, larger cohort than the baby boomers. Thats a big under 18 population is in the country. I was out of high school in minnesota right in the middle of the country and not trying to figure out in talking decent people whats on their minds politically, socially. Given the huge demographic shift taking place in the country, higher number of out of africanamericans that hispanics now, the second largest racial group in the country, and inlart minnesota you have some always come that whole somalia issue with the Terror Threat and alla the rest, all that going on. I thought you are going to clicks in the hallway and the classrooms, everybody is going to be separate. Minneapolis historically been very homogenous, whitete community. So i go there and to my surprise, its not racially or ethnically separate. People are very much a mixed, and the younger people play together, they become everything, eat together. In a cavity. You know how to talk to separate tables . Not really. Y. You do have separation in terms of here are the costs and the athletes, the jocks and here are the really smart kids. Is always been that way. What i thought the racially because we have high levels of racial segregation in american Public Schools, i thought at the school you will see it but no, into school it wasnt true. I started talking to the kids and got zero because they dont read the newspapers. Didnt listen to indie are. They dont watch fox news. They are just not plugged into news the way those of us in this audience our plugin. O so i said we women who haveom children who edited, chipped onto the school, her children attended the school. She is now working at accounts or. , i said whats the big difference in this school from when you attended back in the 70s tothis today . She said, trying one, it should be so obvious to you. Asked to meet with the very best students. What did you notice . I dont know. What do you think what she said hold on. You asked to meet with the top people involved with syrian government. Didnt jump out at you at that point . And im like, what are you talking about . She said wait, you asked to meet with the students who are getting scholarships to go play sports Government Official sport of the best schools in america. Spent president s of all the clubs. Ng corrected what did you notice . I am like, oh, boy. She said it should have been obvious to you that when you met with a student who have the highest sat scores, eight out of 10 of them were young women. Initiative and obvious when you met with a student editor and people leaving syrian government, seven out of 10 young women, and how could you not notice when you met with the best athlete that after title ix, five and 10 were young women ask and i was like wow, its raining. So now you forget there are i raindrops involved. Ou you dont see the pattern. Shes right. Young women are so strong, so influential, so much the achievers in modern society. Wait a minute, its not just young women. You stop and think its the case in the last few years america passed the Tipping Point where half the workforce is made up of women. We are now in the case what they gets 87 women in the congress, 20 of the senate. We are three women on the Supreme Court. The attorney general a woman. T. Women in the military spent in combat. Media, reporters. Meghan kelly is the star of stars but stop and think about whats going on spent all the networks and cable spent even in college, the majority of students in college today, young women. The majority of people in professional and graduate schools, young women. So in we the people i talk about how my wife has a graduate degree, masters degree. Her mother had a masters degree. My sister is a lawyer. My daughter is a lawyer. My sisterinlaw ran part of obamas campaign here in maryland. My niece is a doctor. Next weekend my son gets married he is marrying a doctor. The women in my life, the Founding Fathers would have no idea. Th remember, no women signed the declaration of independence. No women at the Constitutional Convention. Women could not own property. Women could not vote. So if the Founding Fathers came back to life, they would beo li like, what is going on . How did these women take control . Its a different world. But there are consequences. This just didnt happen organically. This happened because of cited recognized that women have been historically discriminatedcr against so needed to beaddresse addressed. There was an effort to done to push women forward. F have w reached the point where e need to say wait a minute, we dont need these, its all happening naturally . Theres one consequence i think of, i know a lot of, we know a lot of women who are in the 30s and 40s and unmarried. Invariably they say there are no good been. Is it because we are not manufacturing good men . Are only manufacturing goodwo women . Men . What was about . Ter] we are still there. Thats one. [laughter] that was a statement from bie sexy. [laughter]in all in all seriousness, as a black guy, i think this issue is very large in minority communities where you seeere yo minority women outperform a minority men. Er its even more distinct than whats going on in the white community. So your question about whats going on with the boys is a very series question to my mind. I do think that its a change in the economy. Its part of it. They just because you had at there are structural differences in society spent thats what im saying. Also in the attitude, the culture. You asked to stop helping themys along the athlete is quick, funny story. I was once talking to the head of the university. As i pointed out to you, women of the majority of undergraduate students right now in america. And i was saying to him, well, you know, why is that what he was saying we are making every effort with the young men. In essence he was saying we have affirmative action to bringg young men to campus. And i was like, why bother . If you have Better Qualified young women why dont you just take them . Ed and he said you have to understand, girls like boys. [laughter] so that what boys on campus. T when i thought about this, i thought, what an insultingemen. Statement. You ha you have the boys on campus to attract the girls. Ths, and thats about it. They have Global Programs because the girls want that kind of activity and action on the campus, but its all about the girls. Any would come in this book, in china until the start of Betty Friedan. Is david burke book festival i think is a good setting to tell come to say that Betty Friedans book, the feminine mystique, have sold over 3 million copies. Spent thats called profoundnd Cultural Impact spent unbelievable. Saying that american women are being underestimated, underutilized in terms of intellectual capacity, that the happy suburban housewife also estimate it is not satisfying to american women. It led to the feminist movement but as craig touched on this, it has changed us as American People in terms of things like family structure. Women saying i may not need to get married too early. Why is my life about whether i married and having kids . As opposed to develop my career, my educational background. These issues, this change in america as we live in as opposed to the america of the Founding Fathers, i think thats why Betty Friedan is one of the founders of modern america as we know it today. I just want to say, stimulated a lot of thinking. Im sure the founders would not recognize the America Today but im not sure they would disapprove. The country they envisioned was a country of individual, ruggedd individuals of maximum from gazo with law and order and people were allowed to rise to the highest level of attainment witf love heavy hand of thevernme government. This is hypothetical but you think the founders would approve of America Today the . I tell you, one of the ways, people than what is your book about when you bump into them on the street the i always have a little elevator speech by the other speech goes like this. Its an answer to your question, which is that if thomas jefferson, alexander hamilton, George Washington showed up at the gaithersburg book festival, they would be rock stars. They would say forget than one. Lets commit the Founding Fathers. They are Walking Around and you say hey, mr. Hamilton, theres a hip broadway show about you, and George Washington, we have colleges to have you. We have a city named, its unbelievable. They would did each and every one of you as they walk around gaithersburg, they would say, authentic thai what we saw there were cameras on the lamppost. What of those cameras work with you its a mayor for speedersh, and for criminals, to prevent. They would say wait a minute, giving the government has you under constant surveillance . Amenalk about the fourth amendment. Thats the way you live in America Today . . I dont think they would be so happy about that. But what they would be happy about, only the elites actually read books in 1776 in 1787. He we are at the book festival, everybody reads books. I would think they would approve the democratization of reading. Access to knowledge. Obviously, you know, mr. Jeffersons library, the library of congress. Of con so yes, they would appreciate. Its like the title of the book, we the people or i mean, it almost makes me want to cry, the words all men are created equal. Its so simple, so inspiring, such a beacon beyond our shores but to the world in terms of the ideal of government and how we should treat each other and how we should organize ourselves as people. Iously and yet, obviously they didnt recognize blacks as fully humann and they gave women no rights. When you talk about who got to read books, who got an education it was the elite. It was absolutely and economic elite. Spent a will the gentleman spent i think everybody should come inside. Its boring. We have Seats Available in our chairs over there. Please. At one point you were talking and to make a gesture like this, like you dont want to ask about your writing routine. You were thinking about things that reminds me of a story about james who wrote all the many books. He was at a dinner party in 1920, 1930 in your city. Black tie and champagne corks popping and people laughing and food being served, music being played. He is staring off into space not conversing with anybody. He was doing this for hours on end and finally his wife turns him and says, james, start writing. I have a certain rating. Michael klein, you know, without a cup of coffee at the incident which start at 1 00 and but for five hours but the next day he would start at 2 00 alqaeda couple of coffee and an associate the next day starts at 3 00 and thats the way he wrote. You have a routine a regimen the way you right . Well, because my day job isis so unpredictable, which is as a journalist, sometimes thingslis happen. This political year, for example, with conventions and donald trump and all the rest latenight primary coverage. There is no way for me to say i that makes it doubly hard. Spent lets its a black day, but its a saturday andt hopefully nothing is breakingr] spent like the gaithersburg book festival. Festival. Right. On those days when it is a wakeup, and to be an old man, i dont sleep as much as he used to but i would wake up even on a reigning morning i dont have a little oatmeal and coffee and then, my brain i think is working pretty well. Its interesting. I have two periods where i feel like my brain is really in gear and i think it comes from a Washington Post, Bradley Graham might have something to say about this, so my brain works really well from about 10 to one, but then all of a suddem i dont know what happens butut from about 4 30 p. M. Untilen 7 30 p. M. I can really rock. And i think that comes from being trained to handle deadlines because thats when the First Edition of bulldog, youd have to get the story done by about 8 00 at night. At from the time i was a young person, thats what i really had to perform. I felt like there was no getting around that deadline. That stil steel is part of my mp spent unusually into a glass of wine about them. Who is your favorite writer speaks i have lots of different kinds of favorite writers. I was looking around the book festival you cant imagine anybody at fox. I dont want to of thank you. [laughter] only one. W, i mea i really, for example, i noticed i was thinking i really like Lawrence Block. Li i like Lawrence Block ministers agreed you. Then, of course, you know, theres no getting around, when people ask you what you think of the great books of the 20thhgr century, i think invisible man. I think thats an incredible piece of work. Ight. So theres no shortage. Im a big reader, a big fan of books. Right. The front cover here, youve got not rushmore star, billy graham, Ronald Reagan, Eleanor Roosevelt and thurgood marshall. T and thurgood marshall. Why those four individuals . Obviously, this is about postwar america, the people who had the most impact. But there are other people, Lyndon Johnson or john kennedy or other people who had Henry Kissinger who had dramatic impact on postwar america. Why are these four on your cover . Well, i dont know about you, Craig Shirley, but i do not design covers. [laughter] but but i love the idea, which the idea is they came to me after reading the book and the book taking so actually, i do. You design your covers . I have a big hand in them. Not me. But in the book you mentioned eleanor ie no me. K you mention, Eleanor Roosevelt. I think the person who designed the book read the cover, thank goodness. Thatll be a first. Ushmor [laughs] there could be a new Mount Rushmore. Who would be the figures of the new Mount Rushmore. They put Elenor Roosevelt and i think the idea was that you cans see its not about politics, its about people that were so powerful in making a change in American Life that they have, in fact, create it had modernre america we know today. They are the funders of america as we live in it today and thats the idea. We besides bill who we have discussed, the other person that sticks out is Eleanor Roosevelt because she never held officean unless un. Her husband appointed her civil defense. Laguardia. One of the big changes in 21st century specially as contrasted to the founders area. The founders he advises against foreign entanglement and were going to look out for ourselves and our advantage and roosevelt comes along and not only is advocating for the u. S. To get involved with the United Nations and the whole idea of the Global Community but also advocating something called universal of human rights that the kind of right that we celebrate individual protections and voyage entitlement if you will, that go beyond government, she said, are not just american ideas, theyre ideas that we should promote, advocate, celebrate to the world. And so you get i site the cite the example in the book when boko haram took all of those women and starts a internet sensation around people and United States should get these women and thats the exercise and the kind of values that we have in our culture today and the idea that we have every right to save the world, this is the way you treat people, this is the value of human life, this is Eleanor Roosevelt living through this moment, Eleanor Roosevelt in terms of human rights, in terms of United Nations, in terms of global consensus about what is right and what is wrong is i dont think theres any figure thats comparable. I will note that when Hillary Clinton began her campaign she began at a park that honors Eleanor Roosevelt. For clinton Eleanor Roosevelt is her top role model. Include im going to do something which as a fellow author i hate, to my mind, now, i know jimmypr carter is in here but not prominent and to my mind jimmy carter is actually underappreciated because hes the first president who actually injicted injected human rights into the International Foreign policy debate. He was the first one to put a human face, real humans involvef. Bill not mentioned and why did you consider those three and no, there are lots of people that you could say, the most frequent mention on this frontar that i get, why didnt you include are steve jobs, zuckerberg with facebook, the technological people. Again, technology is a huge change in the way we live. You could imagine the Founding Fathers being stunned at things like facebook or twitter coming from politicians in the middleor of the night. Theyd be like, wow, we dontt know anything about this. But i dont think that they would have said, oh, we dont expect that 240, 250 years later that there wont be Technological Developments and there are so many re they were all in age of enlightenment. Printing. Exactly. You know, writing machine that jefferson had and things like that. They at least had an understanding that there was new technology. Right. Thats why in terms of the book reviews which have been spectacular, the one thing all of the book reviewers say, i thought he should have done a chapter on technology but i really made a conscious decision, thats not im interested in economic change, yes, and youll hear about Milton Freedman. Were which i agree with, by the way. When you think about 2016 you have to think about the income inequality argument as one of the dominant themes of our political discourse at the moment and the root of that is Milton Freedman. Right. Also gives the Republican Party a new message which it hadnt had in many years. To me reagan popular. And you go from fdr to Ronald Reagan and you go from cain right to Milton Freedman and right now and the arguments about how americas economy rewards the middle class is tied to the Milton Freedman argument. You called the tea party far right. Why . They are far right. [laughter] you want to elaborate . Well, if you stop and think about this is another element in the book, you know, its funny nobody mentions this guy ander h theres a whole chapter in the book. I was going to talk about bob ball writing Social Security. Bob ball comes at start of a Social Security, not as the father first administrator. Person administrating andg making it work and finding ways to keep it viable and then he does become the father of medicare, medicaid, a whole Great Society efforts. Right. And to keep Social Security going and right in baltimore, the Social Security building is called the bob ball building. But again a lot of people dont know who bob ball is. If you think in terms of obamacare at this moment, if you think in terms of the social safety net that we have in the United States, i would argueat that the father of that is bob ball. So when we think about economic issues, its not just the Milton Freedmans of the world but also the bob balls of the world that i think have changed the way that we relate as a society ands bob ball to me is one of the Founding Fathers. You write here america was founded america was founded by people that believe in god was the rock of their safety, close quote. If so god and christian principles are not evidence as guiding forces in independence and bill of rights. I went to documentary last night and a lot was how the foundersin and framers took divine inspiration. Are you saying not in evidence in terms of the writing or in terms of their belief or behavior . No, its in evidence in term of the statement that is we were just talking about all men being created equal and a whole sense of divine rights, right that is come from god not to be given by government. Ot to no, thats quite evident. I think that the difference is that it was such a humanch endeavor, one of the reasons that the Founding Fathers, they came back to the book festival would be rock stars is that who has ever written something that 240 years later still holds, endures, honored left winger, right winger. Bernie sanders, donald trump, ted cruz, whoever. All loved the constitution, all work for change within those constitutional principles. You know, the constitution has survived civil war. Right. Survived world wars, great depressions, everything. Unbelievable. Constitution and so if you think actually much of the constitution was suspended during the civil war and during world war ii. Thats within the larger framework is my point. Roosevelt also issued strict regulations on radio broadcast and newspaper reports. Well, truman try today take over the steel industry. Right. All of this within the idea of checks and balances, 240 years later thats pretty unbelievable, right . I think that again the reality is that they would be stunned that their own creation lasted this long. Fa there are letters among the Founding Fathers say if this last five years will be lucky. We have about ten minutes left, you want to take some questions . Absolutely. Go ahead. [inaudible] horrified. Wow, steven king at thehi festival. Horrified. As i said, i think stunned at women. The question was of all the things that have happened since the Founding Fathers era what would be the one thing that would most horrify, horrify, that was the word, most horrify the Founding Fathers today. We talked a little bit about surveillance, and by the way thats why bill bratton is in the book. He not and has made videond surveillance, sound surveillance, all of the things we live with that amazing. Anyway, i think that i think that beyond that, you know, i think gays, gay rights, gaythis. Marriage. They would have no point of reference for this. Its not George Washington drummed the guy out of the Continental Army because of gay behavior. If they see two men holding hands, i think theyd say, j craig, what the hell. [laughter] and juan. Right. I mean, i think the power of horror is that that some element of total sur pry. Day becomes night. The dead come back to life, the zombies and all of that, this would be zombie land, you guys embrace the idea of we havero homosexuality in a way to them that would be horrifying. You wrote this book was ha educates. The question has my time after fox news changed me and writing of this book . I dont think theres any question that im surrounded by conservatives on a daily basis. A marinated. Craig was in the reagan administration. I was being marinated among conservatives even back then but it does change you to constantly have to go back and forth. Its really smart conservatives about the arguments from their conservative point of view and part of my role at fox, hey, youre a punching bag at fox because the odds are against me. No, my role is more like foil, im allow today punch back but the key is to prompt the kind of debate that makes people have to deal with the other sides perspective so that anybody watching doesnt ever end up at the water fountain the next dayn and say, i didnt know that they thought that or somebody had that perspective or that point that would change so to me thats the role. But what it does for me it makes me bring my a game every time. I have to be prepared. If youre going up against bill oreilly you want to avoid being the pin head big time. [laughter] you want to make sure you know what youre talking about and have competence before you engage that conversation. Bo so how does it affect the writing of the book, it makes it opens my eyes to the idea that, you know what, i want to be sure that im considering, you heard craig just a moment ago, why didnt you include som. Of the womens issue. To my mind phyllis does not match up with a betty in terms of shifting america in womensoo lives. Did you get bill oreilly to promote your book too . Thats hard. Bill wrote a blurb for the booki and told people its a Great Fathers day gift. Any other questions . What is your next book . You keep asking me that. You are on me. E. I dont know i have ideas but to mel theyre still at the point of, you know, its like i need to put a little fertilizer on them. Al let it sit for a minute. You know, i always think there are people who do books and they can be vanity books, specially in the tv business. Theyll do a lot of that. Very predictive, arent they . [laughter] of the dust jacket. I dont do those books. I do the first book i ever did, we were talking earlier was eyes on the prize, in conjunction with the tv series. I think that one of the great pleasures of my life as a writer is that on the 25th anniversary of the book the publisher sentok me a gilded copy because the book has been in print for 25 years. The book i wrote about third good marshall, still in print. People still use these books and i wrote a book about issues within the black community and struggles based on bill cosby and bill cosbys speech prior to all the scandals that now surround bill cosby and that book continues to sell. So for me, im really interested in doing books that have lasting value and that people, you know, when you read a gift its such a gift to an author. I know bradley thinks when you buy the book. [laughter] for me you take the time. I find this book intriguing, relaxing, i can see where you see this with a fiction book. Im so grateful when you take a moment to read a book and then stick with it and i want to know that i have given you Something Worthy of your time. When i wrote one of my reagans books i got a letterou from a woman in midwest, dear mr. Shirley, i go to bed with you every night. I framed that letter. [laughter]f my version of that is people say, you know u youre in mymy home every night on fox news. [laughter] youre in my bedroom. T allo i would say, well, put on some clothes. [laughter] about im looking forward reading your book and lots to talk about the Founding Fathers and i guess what they would see here. Pa i kind of view that as a parent and a child relationship and as the child grows up its way beyond what the parents could have imagined as they created a foundation and and things like technology, for example, i just think today is fascinating how you can have very opposite viewpoints expressed in the matter of seconds around world a politician can Say Something and people hearing it and communicating very opposite polarized views of the exact words that they heard there. My question for you is really more a personal on Merrick Garland and we have an extremely polarized political system today and should we have a vote on garland proceeding or do you think that the delay tactics are part of government working as our Founding Fathers envisioned instead of, say, the separation of judicial legislative and executive branch of government as design . Obviously the design was that the president should nominate and the president should advise on this nomination, so te me its pretty obvious, do your job, thats the hashtag that the obama has. The majority in the senate does not. If you go back to government operating as it should, you would say thats the president whether you like him or not and thats the Senate Whether you like it or not, so consider it. And so i think theres a strong argument for garland to be considered. I was taken when trump suggested the nominees this past week that i dont think theres anybody there that you would put in the moderate bracket and Merrick Garland is a centrist, sanders on the left being too much of a moderate in the middle. Right now your question is taken at heart because it comes down to litmus test issues like abortion, gun rights, people say, well, if youre not with us on that, we dont care how experienced or centrist you might be and youre not acceptable. That to me leads to dysfunction, that would lead to break down in terms of our constitutional apparatus. We are exactly where the founders and the framers didnt want us to be. They warned against fashionallism, they wanted to deliver a congress that would ultimately decide what was best for the country and thats not what we have today. We have two Political Parties that are at each others throats which is what the frame warned against. You mentioned gay rights [inaudible] what person would you have o Mount Rushmore for gay rights . I think one of the more intriguing chapters in the book about a man named harry hay and by the way, also in there as senator goldwater, Barry Goldwater who become advocate on gay rights on the right. But harry hay is the person who began in the early 50s to organize around the idea that gay people should not be harassed and intimidated by the police and that politicianspe should not use the issue as a wedge issue and condemn them for their behavior. So initially its all anonymous political organizing but then it breaks through and the people start to put their names and money to particularly hollywood acting community out on the west coast and that leads, of course, to stone wall and we just saw that theyre going to name the stone wall in new york now a National Historic monument. This tells you how tremendous change has been in the society around this issue and now we have the Supreme Court affirming the right to gay marriage. Em unbelievable. Ar anyway, harry hay is a chapter and with bare goldwater in this book. Dwater okay. Lets have a round of applause apr both. [applause] thank you all. Web, juan remember, juan will be signing. Thanks again for coming. [inaudible conversations] youre watching book tv on cspan2, television for serious readers. Here is a look at whats on prime time tonight. We kick off the evening at 7 30 eastern with stacey dash, her book, there goes my social life is a memoir of her transition from liberal to conservative. Then at 8 00 representative of virginia sits down to talk about the books that have influenced his life and career. At 8 30 eastern with pete hezick. We finish up our prime time programming at 11 00 with aol cofounder steve case, he sits down with representative john of maryland on book tvs after words programs to discuss book the third wave. That all happens tonight on cspan2s book tv. In 1789 James Madison had a problem after living for ten years under the articles of confederation, madison had worked tirelessly behind the scenes to bring about a constitution to devise a convention to devise a new constitution. He participated in a prelim theyre convention. By 1787 he had support by George Washington and franklin to convene the Constitutional Convention in philadelphia. Now, the punish was on the 41yearold madison. Before journeying to philadelphia he crammed for the gathering like a student with exams. For the madison had a truly fundamental problem to solve. Like many others, he had concluded that the american regime governed by the articles of confederation was grossly inadequate and contrary to what the virginia declaration of rights referred to as the Common Benefit protection and security of the people. But why was this happening . Why had the republicanism of the founding generation failed themselves . For the previous 13 years the people of the United States had been governed by 13 separate entities. State governments under the articles of confederation were thought to be republican. The founders had thrown off rule by the few in favor of rule by the democratic many. If the many are screwed by the view, the democratic or republican alternative was premised on the belief that the people wouldnt screw themselves. This is cook county. This is how we talk in cook county. [laughter] but this republican theory, that people couldnt screw themselves had unexpectedly proven to be false. State legislatures had been had begun enacted debtor relief laws that both undermine the rights of creditors and impair Economic Prosperity which required a credit market that can safely rely on obligation of private contracts to elect from debtors. States also trade barriers to protect businesses from competing firms in neighboring states. The result was a National Economic downturn, a really great depression. So republican government as it was then conceived was clearly not working for the Common Benefit protection and security of the people by why not . Now, to answer this question in april of 1786 largely for his own benefit, madison composed on essay thats called the vices of the political system of the United States but it was not an essay for publication, it was an essay for his own benefit, it was like a working paper for him to figure out what the game plan needed to be for the upcoming Constitutional Convention in philadelphia and so we have this document, its a remarkable document which shows how he was sorting through this problem. Madison identified the source of the problem in what he called the injustice laws of the state. First of all, the laws of the states were passing were unjust. The causes of this evil he contended could be traced to the representative bodies in the states and ultimately he said to the people themselves. The fundamental principle of republican government that the majority who rule in such governments are the safest guardians both of public good and of private rights. Madison concluded that we must be far more realistic of popular majorities, all civilized societies, quote, are divided in different interests and fashions as they happen to be creditors or debtors, rich or poor, members of religious, sex, owners of different kinds of property, et cetera. In a democracy, the debtors outnumber the creditors and the poor outnumber the rich. The larger group can simply outvote the smaller one. The majority, however, composed, he continued quoting him ultimately give the law whenever interest units majority. What is to restrain them from unjust violations of the rights and interest of the minorities or individuals. To illustrate this problem, madison posed the following thought experiment, quote, place three individuals in a situation where the interest of each depends on the voice of the others and give two of them an interest oppose to the rights of the third. Will the latter be secured . The prudence would shun the man, he said. Like wise he asked in situation would be less likely to be imposed on the rights of the one thousand. Under the democratic version of republicanism of the day, theres nothing stopping a majority of from engaging in selfdealing at the expense of the minority. Madison concluded that what was needed was nothing less than a new republican form of government that would address the weakness of Democratic State governments while preserving popular sovereignty. As madison put it, quote, to secure the public good and private rights against the danger of such a fashion and at the same time preserve the spirit and form of popular gove