audience in his post on a. in fact, chris rock has strong attendances you're the one who elected george w. bush. so yes, she has immense power >> in fact, george w. bush and decision points, went on oprah recently to talk about it. ..

not going to make the oprah book club. but she does have immense power and influencing people. >> what is your goal as an author? >> as a biographer of mine book is not simply to tell life story of a very powerful person but to bring in the times in which they operated. now my biographies are what they call unauthorized. i prefer independent, myself, but i don't do them with the authorization of the person. by the time someone is as powerful as oprah winfrey or frank sinatra or nancy reagan they have already gotten legions of publicists who've been telling me their story a long time, and i try to get behind that lithology to a bitter

reality. >> what is your next topic? >> i don't know. i'm open for suggestions. really after doing oprah winfrey, she was a biographer's dream. she gave me such a gift. now it didn't take four years to do this book, and i had to interview for 350 people to get the story. it is a fabulous story. she was born poor in a racist state. if what she's become one of the most powerful below the icons really of our century. so it was a gift to be able to write her life story. i don't know who could talk it right now. >> kitty kelley obra a biography, her latest book. coming up next, book tv

presents "after words," an hourlong program where we invite guest hosts to interview authors. this week commemorates his father, ronald reagan, on the 100th anniversary of his birth. in his book the new reagan revolution he discusses the personality and policy of the 48th u.s. president and calls for the return to the civility that michael reagan says his father was admired for. he talks about the new resolution with daily beast writer, john avlon. >> host: it's good to meet you. welcome to c-span. we've got a new book coming out to celebrate the 100th birthday of your father, ronald reagan. >> guest: 100. >> host: on hundred birthday. and it's amazing because there is such an outpouring of affection and respect towards your father. he has become a really unifying figure in american politics. somebody who is clearly beloved by republicans, but that could will extend across the public.

>> guest: he is one of the most laconic presidents. i write about that in the book until the story about alex baldwin. i'm looking of the door with alex baldwin and i say mr. baldwin, jane wyman is my mother and he looks at me and i said well i only had two shots at you. either jane wyman is my mother or maybe have to dhaka and tell you ronald reagan is my dad. he kind of chuckled and said listen, my son cameron has been banned from the back to work. someone gave it to his grand dad and his great granddad give it to cameron. i said i enjoy you on "3rd rock" wanted to say hello. he's a guy like you to tell your family something. i was with some friends last night telling them how much i missed your father. i said you miss my father? my god, you disagree with everything he stood for. but didn't realize until lately with a good souls you're father had. and he says this will dismissing

that good souls and how much i wish we had a back. just to make the pie on what you're saying. >> host: that is one of degree anecdotes from the book and it does express the way there has been a reassessment. the partisanship fades over time and people remember the figure, and the father figure than he was a time coming and he did it just the nation's expectations. even president obama has said many times things about your father as a leader and as president, which is why i was interested in one of the other things he wrote in the book. he said given the fact of republican hopes of reagan as the one piece of common ground that a few nights the whole republican party, you write in the book ronald reagan couldn't have won the republican nomination today. what you mean by that? >> guest: what i mean by that -- i had this conversation with new gingrich awhile back and i said it's interesting that the liberals seem to only need ideology to follow. conservatives are always looking for someone to lead them. and if that person isn't there then they break into factions.

and you get all these different fiefdoms, factions all over the map. and so what i say is ronald reagan is never president and he throws his hat into the ring in 2008 for 2012, who would in fact attack him because all you can look it is the gubernatorial years, say no fault divorce. raised taxes, an abortion bill. my god, he was a union leader. now, so you sit there and think about the ads that have come out against him. anti-tax, raise taxes; and on abortion, abortion; per marriage, you know, no-fault divorce. the attack on him would have come from the right, not from the left. number like to think he could overcome that, but that is the argument he would have had to get the nomination to his own party. >> host: what does that say to you about the current state of the republican party that for all the talk of litmus test and

conservatism -- you have a lot of harsh words for john mccain when he was running for the nomination that he wasn't a real conservative, that ronald reagan would have a hard time getting up there. what does that say but the current state of the repartee? >> guest: the current state of the discourse is that you have both parties, you have these little groups out there who are driving the trade debate katrina. i tell a story about my sister saying to me politics is like the fuselage of an airplane. you get on their plans and people sit on the move right side and the left. people on the right to look at the window and see people out the right wing. people on the left can look out the window and see people on the left wing. the people you need to worry about are the people that need under the plan. maybe the ones under the plan right now are flying the plane if you will. and it makes you, you know, very, very tough with the discourse we are in. my father was never one to break into one issue politics. and it wasn't that way. if you don't have someone to lead the you have these fiefdoms

out there who've got single issues, and if you don't support their issue 100%, their litmus test is that they stay at home. and then what happens? is that really good. welcome ronald reagan really looked at the process as you can look at a football game. you have got the super bowl coming up. so if you look at a football game is a 100-yard field. every 10 yards you get a first down. 10 yards to bring everybody with you isn't a bad way to score a touchdown. you're not always going to get the 100-yard pass and there's too many groups today who won the 100-yard pass and if it's not complete the one to go home. >> host: i love both of those metaphors. i think they are right and it gets to another point. one of the characteristics of your father's leadership of the republican party was this idea of the big tent. even the big tent itself has become a controversial metaphor with in the republican party today. what can be done to remind people of that wisdom, that of

stifel's wisdom as it applies to the republican party, how would it apply to the current republican field? >> guest: it's like the guide says i love the seven commandments. [laughter] there were three more? i didn't pay attention. it's like some people quote ronald reagan but not really understanding he was and what he was. if you will reconstituting ronald reagan very much like this not what he was. to really understand where he came from and so many people talk about what ronald reagan what do. in the book as you know this is what ronald reagan did. he was faced with a the same issue you are faced with today. this is in fact what ronald reagan did and there is the importance of people to see that and to understand that he was a consensus builder, he was a coalition builder. he looked at in areas of agreement. i talk about the victories i was doing i think talk radio at that time but when michael jackson died and pete king from new york

just went off-the-wall on talk radio, cnn and everything calling michael jackson every word on the planet because he was being honored. and i thought to myself my gosh, i said of ronald reagan would be just horrified by this because ronald reagan if you read what is over his grave site, find the good in people. and that is what made ronald reagan who he was because every but he ran into he found the good. that day as the president of the united states if he were in fact to have said a word he would have said a word about michael jackson he would have found the good things that michael jackson accomplishes and raise those up on that day instead of calling people names he never made a person. >> host: and that has been lost. as you look at the current, everybody says they are running in the mantle of ronald reagan who do you think understands that to tell what the of

reagan's fishing moving forward? who view sequences of your fault in? >> guest: i tell you what, are you feeling in some ways try not to because i almost do a disservice and i think we do a disservice looking for ronald reagan come. we were simply looking for a leader. and i see what happens is by looking for ronald reagan we are never going to find the next guy because they are not going to add up to ronald reagan. now they all can quote ronald reagan but if you can quote him more than i can quote him then you get the nomination. i again of my father who when he brought us in really spoke to us in parable's. >> host: great point you make in the book. >> guest: and i got from bill clark, a good friend for years and a good friend of my dad's. he talked in parables' where today we have too many politicians speaking in sound

bites. >> host: great distinction. >> guest: see you have a guy that says how do we get to the sound bite, and it is nothing until you get to the sound like the joke is on the 6:00 knows why doesn't anybody follow me? will, because you gave them nothing to follow. ronald reagan gave you something to follow and you understood him. whether you were pope john paul or the kid on the street he treated equally and gave you the same amount of time. when you're father would walk into a room, you know what i remember about him? what do you remember? he reached out his hand and did this. used both hands. i will never forget that. ronald reagan did it because he meant it. it was here. he didn't have to make it up. >> host: there was an authenticity that no question i can't was red and that is maybe what alec baldwin gets into at

the time when there is a lot of fronting that goes on in politics. >> guest: >> host: one of the interesting things you did refer to is that reagan was i think we forget controversial at the time, not just in a partisan way. 49 states but in some of my research i can across quotes like this. he sounds like winston churchill the ducks like metal chamberlain from a conservative republican leader and this is my favorite from the editor of the conservative digest. sometimes i wonder how much of the reaganite reagan really is. looking back on that now when you hear him get raised to the level living near st in the conservative movement, and you remember that contemporary criticism, what light is cast for you? what you remember from those criticisms so the time? >> guest: my father, take what is going on in the world we live in. politicians always feels that if somebody says something somewhere in the world about them, they've got to respond.

ronald reagan new you don't have to respond to everything. sometimes the best response is just not saying anything. and, you know, those quotes that you gave for conservatives who were happy because he might have cut a deal with tip o'neill or here or there because he had to, because he understood if you want to get anything done and that's the art of politics. >> host: compromise is not collaboration. >> guest: he believed in the 80 slash 20 rule. there's a lot people today, conservatives and liberals who don't believe in the 80/20 will. it's a 100% will. >> host: restate 80 slash 20 rule. >> guest: if you're with me 80% of the time let's have dinner, we are going to get there. my dad, the only president to write a book during his presidency abortion, the context of the nation. park truly pro-life gentleman. yet 1992 he supported maureen,

his daughter, for congress of the united states, pro-choice. and the pro-life group just couldn't understand the of how could you do that. only jack kemp showed up to help my sister, maureen, run for the congress of the united states. all of the pro-life republicans stayed home, stayed home. so what did they get? jane harman. now, how many times do they agree with jane? and dad used that 80/20 cool 80% of the time, you know, maureen and i are on the same page. 20% of the time we are not. i'm supporting my daughter, pro-choice. he caught hell for it, jack kemp caught hell for it and maureen lost. >> host: suit to be cleared you do not believe there should be a pro-life litmus test. >> guest: and i don't believe there should be a pro-choice litmus test on the other side of it. they're really shouldn't be. these litmus tests it you in trouble. iter this apart in the book. i speak at pro-life even swallow for the country for.

i'm adopted and one of the questions i asked in the audience is how many of you adopted would have rather been aborted. so far 100% of the answers are no, i'm very happy being alive, think you very much. but the reality is 69% of abortions are done on young gurgles who profess to believe in god. catholic and protestant. 69%. that's a huge percentage. so then the question is why. the argument i made in the book is they are fearful of mom and dad in the arm of the abortionist. why are they fearful of mom and dad? if you ever get yourself pregnant, young lady, don't come to this house and in paris this family. i may begin or an elder in the church. i have a standing in the community. don't you ever in paris this family. if that water goes out and gets pregnant, where do you think she's going to turn? she is going to turn to the abortionist two weeks ago and speech and give the members to

these people and i said let me ask you this. how many of you can quote john 3:16 and all the hands go up. i say great, so god so loved us he sent his only son to die for our sins. how many fathers are willing to get across to die for their own daughters sins. if we get on the cross for were own daughter's sins, our daughters then, and this will happen at the dinner table, all things start there. we don't start making our daughters more fearful of the abortionists than mom and dad and we won't have to look to government to solve a problem. we may have just as well salted home which is what my father believed. >> host: in your father always said the most change in america starts at the dinner table. you speak very openly about your sister, maureen, through the book and it's one of the loveliest aspects of the book gives you help bring her spirit alive. the diversity within the family, the diversity of talks, they're real character that she was. and i think it is instructive for people to appreciate it

ronald reagan's daughter was not only pro-choice the defecating for the equal rights amendment. she disagreed with her father but that all happened within one family and it didn't make her less of a good republican in your eyes or you're father's eyes. >> guest: ronald reagan probably learn how to deal with congress just sitting at dinner with his own family. you know, because he had everything. he had the 80 guests, agnostic, christian, catholic, he had it all, liberal, conservative, moderate, you know, all of these of the same dinner table chongging to figure not a way to get to the turkey at thanksgiving. and maureen was great. she was the one in 1962 who says to her father someday you're going to be president of the united states. he goes yeah right, i'm not even running for anything. but you're going to be president of the united states of america. she's the one that really pushes him to become a republican because she's the biggest republican in the family. >> host: so why did she joined the republican party ahead of

your father? >> guest: i'm not really sure because she was so involved that they both got in. the story you told an equal rights is funny because maureen is just driving him crazy. you know, here in new york when they did the whole thing with my dad's announcement, the office midnight flight and the only land here and all these guys are coming up and maureen didn't like something, though we were treated or something. they would say hour you doing? a fine. is everything all right? i will let you know. will we see you tonight? yes. how will we know if you are fine? i brought two pairs of shoes. one of my peers of shoes makes me taller than the candidate, the other makes me shorter. you will know if i've been treated right today. they were worried what. shoes she was going to be

wearing. then during the campaign she has these equal rights amendment but in some and the campaign went nuts like my gosh what's going on? they got close and is said he liked reagan anyway. [laughter] but there was a great worry about maureen's equal rights aside the was going to turn off conservatives, you know, across the country. with a really get behind ronald reagan. so openly it becomes president of the united states but there is a deal made. the deal is -- >> host: this is a great story. >> guest: the deal is if you will use the equal rights amendment but since i will make the first appointment to the supreme court a woman. maureen and my dad made the deal. maureen loses the buttons and the first appointment is sandra day o'connor. >> host: has that story been told before? it never heard. >> guest: it's the first time it's been told. >> host: said the first female appointed was sandra day o'connor was the result of a handshake deal between your sister and your dad about dropping the button during the

presidential campaign. >> guest: i must sandra day o'connor reads the book or hears this interview or somebody asks questions, she has never known. [laughter] >> host: that would come as quite a -- i thought she was a great supreme court justice, so it worked out. was your sister involved at all in the selection of the time? >> guest: not at all. >> host: but he wanted to nominate the first woman. >> guest: the first nominee to the supreme court would be a woman. there was the deal between maureen and my dad. >> host: that is a remarkable piece of history in your book, and there are a lot of wonderful moments for the curtain comes back and people forget the end of the day it is people in the room and your dad presided over as you sit 83 diverse family of political views. and i think people -- we whitewash history and i think sometimes you're father gets whitewashed. when you hear people oversimplify reagan or the family, what caution do you want -- does that make you want to hit the brake pedal and say no, as interesting as he was and the full diversity of his views and our family values.

>> guest: i grew up just here's the man that for all his speeches. i used to laugh and think who writes his speeches? on remember walking into the bedroom in the back left hand or right hand corner and in the bedroom was his desk and to pull out the right-hand drawer and a whole three by five cards with rubber bands and those speeches. if you would reach in there and grab this one. you know how we use to have fun? shuffle the deck. think of the guide that writes his speech so many times just to make it interesting for himself shuffle the deck. now i'm going to give the speech. it was amazing just to sit and watch him. and he was such a leader. a good friend of mine, tommy tremendous jones, was a writer. tommy used to say when he goes out and speaks leaders our

readers and ronald reagan is probably the last great reader we really had because he read about history and understood it and of course people read his riding and all these other things. well my gosh, he was pretty diverse and a pretty smart guy. >> host: his own hand is a pretty good book, too. we talk up the diversity of the family. and you have to mention that your brother, has a book that is coming out right now, too, and one of the things the media picked it and we all know that there is a conflict in the media -- >> guest: no. >> host: -- you said -- he said perhaps you're father had early alzheimer's in his presidency. and you tweeted a response that made waves itself because it was very confrontational. it said ron, my brother, was an embarrassment to my father when he was alive and today he became an embarrassment to his mother. those are harsh words from a very genial guy.

what's going on there? >> guest: will tell you i get very upset when i see my father, things he says about my father just aren't true. and to come from ron, who at one time stated i will never write a book, and to just kind of put this into a book i so long listen to people, bill moyers and others who try to tell their audiences ronald reagan had alzheimer's when he was president of the united states that's why he did the things he did. he wasn't engaged, to was stupid, literate is, dementia. we hear so much of the i told bill marr i'm never doing your show and i am not going to put anybody on my show that does your show because defense be so much that you say these things. now for one of these to come out and he got an inkling maybe this was going on when there was no evidence of a i'm the chairman of the alzheimer's foundation.

i took over for art when he passed away about a year ago and i have been on the board for years. if you have an inkling something is going on with your father, you should have talked to your mother. you certainly could have called me or talk to anybody who was in the white house at the time instead of just putting it out there because there's a lot of people who would like to use that to discredit your father's administration, and so it really made me very, very angry that he in fact would say that and do that and she may have a great book and it probably is because he has a great heart but what happens is like a piece of legislation in washington you have a great piece of legislation of a sudden you dump this in there with nothing to back up was just wrong for him to do. yes i had just gotten off the plane and i heard that the and, you know, my father wasn't really that happy with his

political side but he tried to negotiate and to the date with ron during the eight years of the presidency but you know what my father was really concerned about as he reached over the dinner table one month? when we were talking about religion and talking about politics my dad would be sitting at his seat and ne exeat this seat and i would be sitting over here. my dad leaves over and grabbed my hand and says michael, my wish is that ron would become a christian like you and point that is what he was concerned about. i tell that story in the book but also about the messiah when i am in africa. i am staying at the club and i'm here and a man comes to me and says hello. i said hello. he says you been here before. i said yes. he said your mr. reagan. you're a christian or into? yes. i.c.e. elon ttp but now i'm

looking around okay, how do you know i'm on tv. he said i know you're on tv. you have a brother ron. he's an atheist, isn't he? i said yes he is. i've seen him on the larry king show. i said yes. do you talk to him? i said we don't talk that often. next time you be talking to your brother, ron, you tell him that i prefer him every single day. and i felt about this big as a christian because i didn't, and reminded me that i should, it's like the other story until in the book about our pastore at church who said to the congregation one morning how many of you here in the room have prayed for bill clinton? three hands go up. how many of you prefer george bush? everybody's hands go up and he said to us had we christians been praying for bill clinton like we should have been, maybe monica lewinsky never would have made it into the oval office.

>> you race to great plans but first of all, just to go back, do you regret that personal and public nature of that tweet about your brother? >> guest: yes, really, really do come and that was just a bad reaction because it really made me in three dealing with this disease as i do and don't give it to my dad earlier than he really had it. >> host: you told a story about the three hands coming up to prefer bill clinton and everyone for bush in your congregation. do you believe of the current political environment is so polarized the has been a lot of anger directed at barack obama in particular. do you ever prefer barack obama? >> guest: i do and i even talked about that. it's interesting. i've said called the things i write in the book and i may have written this in the book, i disagree with his politics as

you know in the book but i like the fact he still dates his wife. when you look in the community we live today. you have 40 million children who go to bed in a fatherless home, 40 million. that is a huge amount of children going to bed in a fatherless home. 516,000 children in foster care in america. 100,000 for adoption, 70% in that in the streets or in jail. you have children born out of wedlock in the black community second to none. the white community, hispanic community six you have a black president police -- who is dating his wife. if i was an advisor to barack obama, if he wants to bring the country together, that is the great issue to bring the country to get there. and it is a wonderful issue for him and i believe it is a winning issue for him. i hope he doesn't watch -- it is a winning issue for him because

it is a good thing. host koza you don't believe anyone should be demonizing the president of the united states? >> guest: i think you can debate, you can join the debate on so many different levels, but to really make it personal, there's a lot of people who do make it personal. there's all kind of -- of course on the internet there's all kinds of things out there, there are people raising money. the people who have this whole thing with barack obama, was he born in america or born in kenya, those people are making a million dollars a year. millions being sent to these people to keep alive and you're going what are you thinking? >> host: you mentioned something in the book i would like to bring it up. you say be we're of individuals and organizations the fringe of the conservative movement to take an advantage of good hearted trusting people who worry about the direction the country's going. they just want your e-mail

address and credit card number. the harm the conservative cause by damaging our credibility. you think those folks are just mentioned the berkshires are part of that. >> guest: you've got other websites i think i mentioned impeach obama. think of it in common sense terms. it just isn't going to happen. all of these people doing -- they're just raising money for themselves, spending money on themselves. if you want to get involved, get involved in something real. but to get involved in things like these people are really going to impeach the president or the birthers are really going to get to the bottom -- you really think that barack obama is going to be yanked out of office and from somewhere? no, that's not going to happen. so you have these fringe organizations but they're making millions of dollars. >> host: we've had a lot of calls recently which i think are overdue for civility in our politics, and one of the things i was struck by, when you go back to the speech in which he

has a great line about one thing about our space friends they know so much that isn't so he always took care to say over democratic friends. as far as i know he never called jimmy carter a communist. that civility. did your father at chance to people want to honor your father have a responsibility to restore civility to the dialogue? >> guest: my father gave a talk on socialist medicine. >> host: very fiscal policy agreements. >> guest: but always with a smile. when you make things personal you accomplish nothing and ronald reagan understood that. an example i give in the book on the personal notice we were sitting at the dinner table, maureen, myself, nancy, this was in the 1960's and kennedy is running against nixon. my father is telling us do you know if the republican national committee has the cross of john

f. kennedy going into hotel rooms with women other than his wife? maureen popped up and saturday going to use it? is nixon going to use that against kennedy in this election? dad said he shouldn't because he's not running for the husband of the year. he's running for president of the united states. they are great leaders. it's up to him and his wife to settle that. it's not up to us to break into their marriage and they shouldn't do that. but today, the first thing, that is the first thing that we see. like i tell people who are thinking of running, what is it that you are most interested in your life because whenever you haven't put somebody is going to be on the front page of the paper once you announce it and that is what is sad about politics today is the gotcha politics. so your personal life is even more important than anything else you've done in your life. and it's kinda scary that we. >> host: do you think your paul father would have gotten

into politics today? >> guest: everything really has its time but has he found out in the book would he have gotten the politics would he have gotten heavy into politics had it been for bobby kennedy? the fact you have my dad that has a hit television show, taught him every sunday night, general electric theater. it's doing quite well. what's great about it is nancy at home made sure the kids were all sitting in front of the tv 9:00 sunday night. host we've got to boost the ratings. >> guest: we've got to boost the rating. so we are sitting with dad and he says i lost my job. what happened? bobby kennedy calls general electric and says you know, your government contracts are up for renewal. if you want your government contract to be renewed you need to get rid of the host and get rid of the television show. 72 hours not long after that, general electric theater is cancelled. ronald reagan is looking for a

job. now, if it stays on the air it is right past the goldwater campaign. there's no time for choosing the speech. >> host: so everything works out. >> guest: you look at that and that is why i say in the book you've got to thank bobby kennedy because one phone call changed the world and ronald reagan had to find that new job right into the politics and the rest is history >> host: it all worked out. one of the things i'm struck by in your father's career is he comes from hollywood, and presumably when he was an actor and he and nancy and your mother had friends who were gay and lesbian, and i think that's an important piece of history that its white washed, and he campaigned against i think prop. six the bride from the movie quote coalville," the reference against your father against the proposition would have taken

these and lesbians out of public schools and that seems to be a very courageous move at that time for your father to stand against many social conservatives and religious conservatives who felt strongly about that. i wonder what was in the current republican party should take from that of your father's stands, and in particular there is the current debate in february going on cpac is convening again and there's controversy because a gay conservative group, go proud, is one of the co-sponsors and that has caused a ripple in sight of the movement of the heritage foundation -- the heritage foundation has pulled out of support for cpac this year, and this is an organization you're father helped bill and many cabinet members are leading the luminaries of the conservative did rock organization, the image of ronald reagan. given that, given that you're father is campaigning against proposition six, what lessons do you think the conservative movement should take from ronald reagan when it comes to the more inclusive but it? >> guest: you forget about the point my mother gave broad

hudson his first shot in hollywood. they did two movies together and i knew rock and all of them all my life. what's amazing to me is the community i live in, the conservative community, is surprised that there have been gays in the republican party who have been major fund-raisers and advisers to campaigns forever. i mean forever. the have been a great help to the party, and so i think my dad -- my dad certainly would take a stand against marriage but would not take a stand where i live i look at adoption. i told you earlier about 516,000 in foster care. if every church in america got to one child there would be no need for foster care. no need for it at all.

if you take a child who has been put into foster care who's going to go through ten, 12, 15 homes in their lifetime before the job and you wonder why they are angry because they have got no place to go. you walk in and see a child you have a chance to leave today. i have a nice couple who wants to adopt you. it's rosie o'donnell and her significant other. or you can stay here with us. that child is going to say give me to rosie o'donnell. i. thank rosie o'donnell and those people for adopting children. and - too often we get into this whole thing of my goodness, that child there is no study on the planet is going to tell you that child is not better off with rosie o'donnell and in the foster care system in america today. so, where i sit there and disagree on the marriage side i certainly say wait a minute, there's a whole lot in there where we are seeing no, and by

saying no we are taking children and saying we'd rather have you in jail or on the streets of america and we need to say how can we have a big tent and have people in fact innocent and that is what we truly need to do. >> host: every child should have a loving home. >> guest: absolutely. it's absolutely true. when you think of the members of foster kids, and numbers of them, we did a couple of even so this last year through the migrating senator with michael ore from "blindsight." people go to the event at think that's wonderful but you need to be doing that also. so what we are doing to our group is challenging churches in and saying to the churches adopted child. we went to and make a church in texas and settlers in, if you don't want gays to adopt, fill the void. you adopt the children.

don't have them available for days. we went to this church in texas and challenged them and they put together a pulp 100 church and a few months ago they were up 106 children they've adopted in that church which is phenomenal. phenomenal. >> host: one of the things that in the recent days your but this cannot and has caused controversy in op-ed you wrote on fox nation for martin luther king. it certainly got attention. the court that got attention and the relevance of to tell what we often don't write your headlines, but what caught the attention was "ronald reagan was a far better friend to black americans than barack obama has been." duty went is a bid that may be would be controversial? >> guest: absolutely. sometimes you write articles just to see what will happen. but again, i make the point. the point is when ronald reagan went in as president of the united states, and he's the one who signed the legislation to create martin luther king day, here's the guy that took the other appointment, adopted from

19-point sent to the trustees 6% compared to the decimal point to that point, in this time period it's now what 16%. he took the middle class and the moved up. the black community grew by leaps and bounds in his administration. and he was not a man who was -- he was colorblind from what i say in the article and in the book. here is a man that went to school and the last living member of his graduation class just turned 100 last year, black but when mikhail gorbachev solve a black woman went to school with ronald reagan back in the 1930's he was absolutely amazed by that because he was raised in a timeframe when in fact in schools in communist they were made to read uncle tom's cabin

so they are thinking my gosh, america is all like this and we find out from will freakin''s this transfer black and played on the football team and when they couldn't stay in town just 50 miles away from the house and he was going to put them on the bus overnight my dad tried to stand back welcoming them to the reagan household and spent the night 15 miles back to play football ronald reagan cared about america and i say the overnight when martin luther king -- my father said martin fer king through the white man. absolutely true. that's a statement my father made when he signed the legislation. if you have abraham lincoln signing this leaves, you do have martin luther king freeing the black man. and you have ronald reagan, all these fights about freedom, so we have martin luther king and ronald reagan freeing the white man, the whole thing with black

america. and ronald reagan is thinking about freeing those people behind an iron curtain. >> host: why then did your father not support the civil rights act? >> guest: you know, i really wish i could the answer that. the civil rights act had the time in the 1950's the republican party was the one that really forced that to ultimately be passed. because i wish i could answer that for you. >> host: you never asked? >> guest: i never asked. >> host: that's interesting. it's interesting like a contradiction in retrospect. one of the interesting things that has come out on his christmas day vacation president obama was reading a biography of ronald reagan luke cannon comer role of a lifetime. >> guest: he chose wisely. >> host: there you go. why do you think he chose that book and what do you hope he learns from it going forward? >> guest: it's interesting you find as you go through the archives of the reagan library

there is more democrats studying ronald reagan than the republicans. republicans quote him, but democrats actually study him. and if you listen to barack obama's speeches and bill clinton's defense speeches and some of the speeches from democrats you hear a lot of reagan terms and speeches. and you wish it would be nice if some of the republicans could pick some of those up. but it's not -- it's not stupid to pick up a luke cannon book and probably the best biographer of ronald reagan is "after words" luke cannon because he can to this will spectrum and started with ronald reagan and all the way got to see the man all the way through the system in just a great way. it was good to be able to see that and i think that it's wise for presidents or others to study those that went before, read about them, learn from it. ronald reagan is a great reader of those who went before him, and he was in awe when he walked

into that white house and of those who went before him and to keep fat respectability through it all. he learned a lot from that. >> host: in the spirit of civility, you're father always reaching out and talking about, you know, our space friends. who are some of the democrats that you think are good americans who you look to and say you know what, that is say someone who deserves a kind word and deserves the sense of ronald reagan. >> guest: he just announced his retirement. [laughter] hoover just announced his retirement in washington, d.c.. it's interesting i miss the old guys, ghosh, the hubert humphrey's and, where are those guys today? where are the tip o'neill today, where are those people? because they were tremendous vision. i tell you, it's gotten so in battle in washington, and i said

this just the other day on the talk-show i said washington is starting to sound like a radio talk show and i don't think that does, it doesn't do it well, it doesn't play well. talk radio is good for talk radio, but washington needs to be what washington does, the law, the debate gamma and what have you. and washington would start soon and would talk radio or talk television you don't get much candling, you don't get to see and admire your the person for what he's trying to do. as i said earlier, speak in sound bites. you don't get to hear the person because it is all sound bites. and so, where is the depth of these people post reduced and much of your life in talk radio and people will say something to draw up the ratings. do you feel like there is a growing group of political figures who are playing politics

by talk radio rules, there's no such thing as extreme and they're trying to get money as a result? >> guest: that absolutely goes on. for my side of the equation, you need to expand. if you want to be elected you need to be bigger than talk radio and expand outside of all of those things and be able to have a voice that is going to reach but if you want to reach the the democrats that's what you're going to have to do, find that a rerun of agreement. is it going to be on talk radio or what have you? it's like right now the big debate going on with the raising of the debt limit. it's probably going to of to be raised but you are in a position willing to negotiate to get spending cuts down. ronald reagan would have used this as a great arena to negotiate the spending cuts and get the spending cuts and with

the raising of the debt ceilings. if you raise the debt ceiling we are out of here. >> host: it's not all or nothing. >> host: one of the lines you have inure to talk about the increased political influence of talk radio and make the point that maybe the political leaders talk of political responsibility. you say speed isn't running for big he's running for the bank. rush limbaugh is running to the bank. talk a little about that. >> guest: here's the book. that's the only party pulled out on me by said put that in the context. the context is the fact there are no leaders of the conservative movement. there is no leader of the republican movement and so you have people looking for that leader and what happens is they listen to rush limbaugh, glenn

beck, talk radio, that's the voice because they have no other voice, and my process was don't look to them to run for office because the reality is a sifry bdy listened to rush, voted for russia, he would still only lose by 40 or 50 million votes because he's got this whole other group out here who just doesn't like him and he understands that he puts on a show and so they are running to the bank. you need to find somebody that is running for office and get behind the person that in fact is running for office and support them. another thing we do we seem to have a tendency who's running for governor, who's running for president. what about schools, what about mayors, supervisors, what about this, and the democrats have been so smart over the years because we have said have your president, have your governor, we are going to own every city and every state across this

country. look at california. they had a republican governor. that did well for us because every of their position in government in california is owned by the democratic party. all the governor can do is veto the bill or sign the bill. what happens is they blame him, but why elect new leaders of the state level, and we need to start building the party and that is what ronald reagan believe and why he built a grassroots. 76 to 80 he helped people in the local community, grassroots, electing the majors and local members of congress so when he went out in 1980 he already had the group put together. >> host: building the party through, not the politics envisioned. that sums up what you're father did. >> guest: talking but colin powell, you don't keep colin powell on the party. you say why in the world would you vote for barack obama? what was it that need to vote for barack obama?

something must have pushed to in that direction. the fact that he was used if you were used like he was used from the united nations to get a war going to would be a little ticked off you wouldn't say i'm holding on to that operation. i would say why, what can we do, what can we do to change to make sure and i make the point in the book my dad never, ever got involved he believed you get involved in the primary 50% are not going to like you. but i thought to myself he left colin powell and colin powell loved him and said my father was never, ever going to endorse the primary for somebody to run for president, the only man i know that he ever would have endorsed for the presidency would have been called powell. >> host: yet when he thought about running he came under fire. >> guest: he didn't draw the lines.

he wasn't pro-life, but when you look what happens sometimes we don't look at the depth of the person. doing what nobody's looking at. what he's doing for the young kids in the inner city and others in washington, d.c. and other places. here's the kind of commitment. he's not living off same. this man is using his celebrity but not patting himself on the back. the good thing about colin powell is the same with ronald reagan. it was never about of i, it was about a week, what can we do together, no telling who can get the credits. neither one of them put themselves on the back. look what i did. they do it very quietly behind the scenes and my dad did many things quietly behind the scenes. >> host: i think what you're saying is there has been a lot of rhino hunting, and often it is done in the name of your fall under in a way -- father in a

way. but if i'm hearing correctly to rebuilding states like california should be reaching out locally and nationally even figures that offset the litmus test on the social issues like colin powell. there's actually more consistent with your father's beliefs and identity. >> guest: california -- i said this to someone who came up to me one day. he leaned across, somebody working for a mega meg wittman and sycophant for the candidate costs she's pro-choice. i said to you think it is the problem california? we are 12.4% unemployment. we are in the tank. the issue is jobs, unemployment, that's the issue. we want somebody that is going to bring the jobs back. that's the issue. we get caught up on the social issue and i'm not going to vote for you. but jerry brown for the third

time. it was a better deal. i'm not going to vote for you because you are pro-choice and going with jerry brown. that works out well and jerry brown -- sometimes you just shake your head at these things that absolutely go on and i think we really need to stand back and look at ourselves. what are we doing to ourselves, what are we doing to purge people to be great. there's a young, not young anymore, firestone. whenever my father had a fund-raiser, when he was running for president of the united states he always called firestone. would you put on a fund raiser. and they would always just what ever you need. it would raise a lot of money for my dad, all these things and one day they say i want to run for office. we can't support you because you don't agree on everything we want. but you liked his money.

come on. what is the deal. we want to use you and throw you out. spurring out isn't going to get the party going. we won the last election because we were able to demonize. the company is pelosi, it wasn't too hard to do but if you want to win the presidency you have to say this is william going to do. barack obama will bring another ronald reagan. really? we had ronald reagan when jimmy carter was president of the united states. where is he today? the problem is if you are looking for ronald reagan you may walk past the next leader of the movement and by trying to find ronald reagan and the author candidates you will end up having them sale because none of them will match up. >> host: final question looking to 2012 it's remarkable, 2011, 30 years ago almost to the day you're father was an artillery did president of the

united states. the first term was rough. it was on unemployment and his approval ratings for the 40 sometimes. yet he rebounded and 140 states. stila victory that boggles the mind. he did that as you say -- >> guest: he says we lost minnesota -- i didn't go to minnesota. >> host: did he take it personally? [laughter] that a site which is important we all have our own theories about minnesota -- he won 49 states at a time when the republican registration was even lower than it was today. appealing to the reagan democrats and independent. it's the politics of the rendition and it came from a ross term. what lessons do you think that any candidate should take from your of your success in the 84 going into that election with a lot of frustration and then

being able to win the crossover appeal so decisively he wins unanimously in terms of these. >> guest: having people believe in you, people believe in ronald reagan. we don't believe in our politicians, one thing on tuesday and another on wednesday they can't keep track of where they were on tuesday or wednesday. ronald reagan was consistent. we need to be consisted of where you are, who you are and what you want to do. you can't do what meg did in california when one side of ads on the hispanic community and another set of ads in the other community and say how did they find out i did that? you've got to really be consistent and what we are missing in the politics today is that consistency. i can talk to young people today who were born in the 1990's if

you give me about a week and they can speak for ronald reagan and would be consistent because he was so consistent. you knew where he was coming from and do his part, he had such a wonderful heart. i told the secret service agent. i walk in the room and his hand feeding my dad. he was deep in alzheimer's. i walk in and that agent says i will let you talk with your dad. the my data reaches over and grabbed his hand and kiss is it. who does that unless it's here, unless it's here. or in '76 when he's campaigning in south carolina. he goes into a trailer to talk to children who have come to listen to his speech, the school for the blind, all of these young kids and they times can spend some time with him.

he wanted to do it out of the glitter of the light because he didn't want people to think he was doing it for press. he's in there and these blind children asking questions and answers and all of a sudden he goes these kids can't see me. they can only cheer me. how do they see? and he steps over and he leans his face down among the children and invites them to leave their hands on his face so they can now see and hear him answer the questions. who does that unless it's here? and people who voted for ronald reagan felt that a man was speaking from here, and that's what we need to get back to, people who speak from here, not through the latest polling but from here. >> host: thank you for a wonderful new book on the 100th anniversary of your father's birth, the new reagan resolution. thank you. >> guest: thank you very much. ..