political issues, and the other is why gnt you mention the intervention of cuba? we have in all 120,000 militaries in venezuela, but we have 60,000 humans there in political activities and military too. ..

>> so i think we have you on the third one. in terms of cuba, i do mention that in my book, but i have to be honest with you. i tried to make sure that another premise, another thesis they have challenged, a lot of people say chavez or the revolution is basically one creation. i think the role of the cubans is mainly to provide advice on how to make the regime last forever. in other words, mostly in the repression, establishing the

regime. this is, i think, the greatest contribution of the cubans. not seen certainly how to run the bolivian machine politically. and the cubans have experience, and that's bad news, and i mention that. on the other hand i believe that the bolivarran revolution is not part of the cubans. first of all because the cubans themselves depressed on venezuelan oil. venezuela is the largest producer, and so the cubans have an important role but not the only ones. they are not the only ones. and i believe that the most dangerous agenda in terms of geo political term i don't think is coming from the cubans. i think is coming from other factors i mentioned before. but i'm not dim minimum --

diminishing the importance of cuba. i gave a presentation in miami a couple weeks ago, and obviously i have a lot of questions about cuba because they really view chavez as another cuba. the bolivian revolution has been successful, quote-unquote, from their poupt of -- their point of view. it has been able to cross boundaries. not only to have presidents that were elected on a chavez platform, on -- bolivarran platform, even if it's a social democracy, has somebody who supports chavez. even colombia. so that type of outreach and

success that the chavez revolution had, i don't think the other revolution had. but i agree the cubans play a role in helping the bolivarran regime to retain its power. >> i am from argentina, and i'm interested how you see the future, relations between argentina and venezuela. there are indications the argentine president, a pop lift government, perhaps taking a leadership role on the passing of chavez. today i learn in the press the president of argentina planning to travel to colombia next month

to mediate between argentina and venezuela. >> the fact that the president of argentina admires chavez, and i follow twitters and it's unbelievable. she almost wrote love letters for chavez. i believe that, yes, the president of argentina has aspirations to be a leader in latin america, and she admires the chavez model. she won't be able to use it in argentina because it's a different type of society. there are many elements in. society, many more counterbalances. chavez had the advantage of having oil, and having the monopoly on oil'm basically. in the case of argentina, there are so many conflicts there, so

much position, but certainly i think kersher in is trying to strengthen the executive power, even having reforms that actually limit the action of civil society, perfectly against the press, limitations on judicial power. has to are all initiatives have been brought a few weeks ago. i think tried in past 'omediate. tried to mediate between the jewish community and chavez. i believe that at the continenttle level, the leader of the ma -- if somebody is going to be the leader of the bolivarran country, this is rafael coral from ecuador.

christina kisrn re, i don't know. coral is following the blueprint of chavez. the design of the government is to perpetrate itself. so, that is the way i view it. >> you talked a great deal about the threat that is growing. one of the questions is, what can this administration do in the next three years? and also you talked about the lack of civil society and the role that plays in the deterioration of democracy. is there a role for u.s. or other civil societies, institutions, also to respond to this threat? both the government and civil society. >> well, yes, and i discuss this in my book, and thank you for

your question. first of all, i think the united states needs to take a leadership role that haven't happened in the last ten years. for instance, the organization of american states. in the organization of american states, the democratic charter has not been applied to the violations of the democracy carried out by the venezuelan government. and by others. the american court, they published a whole report about violations of human rights in venezuela, and they didn't adopt any resolution. but on the other hand resolutions with regard to 1992 when he actually conducted or cared out a coup d'etat. they did it with manual, and

they did it with impeachment of fernando in paraguay. i said before that supporting democracy and supporting the democratic charter is crucial to stop or to -- to stop the advance of the bolivarran revolution. the first thing that is -- that the united states can do is demand that the democratic charter be respected and applied also to venezuela. i think that's crucial. i think also venezuela needs to develop relations with brazil and cultivate brazil and look at brazil and raise those issues, based on what they see. and people here know better than me these issues. you don't establish a political relation by discussing trade

only, or by increasing trade. of course, increasing trade is good policy. but on the other hand, you also need to raise these issues, particularly with countries such as brazil. brazil is a growing country and a growing democracy. i see no reason why brazil senate be part of the western front in the world. they should share -- they should share the same values that the united states and europe share. the values of free market, values of democracy, and they adopted for themselves, but their foreign policy is basically supporting bolivarran revolution, approaching iran, development of the third world, trying to take independent initiatives on the middle east. they are developing the foreign policy with the united states, about it's important to raise those issues. these issues need to be discussed and the importance of democracy in the region.

in terms of civil society, i think -- i know that some people don't like the word "nation-building." they say went dove hey to be in the business of nation-wilding. we heard that during the iraq crisis. no. i think in the case of latin america, we need to be involved in nation-building, and nation-building means institution-building. we are doing it. sometimes we are succeeding, sometimes we are not. but i think it's important to strengthen democracy, to strengthen the legal system, to help them build and educate them how to build democratic institutions. even teach them how parties work. i know we're not that happy with the way our parties work, but how to respond more to constituencies. i'm not say the united states has the ability to solve the problems. sometimes you try to help somebody and it doesn't help.

but i think the united states should encourage institution-building, nation-building, democracy-building. these should continue. i think democracy is a very good response to developments in latin america. >> i come from venezuela, too, and i would like to say something for america, for the united states. in venezuela, we grew up believing that the best democracy was the american democracy. that you defended democracy, and that you respected democracy, and you enforce democracy in other countries. and i am -- i want to tell you i will really love to see how the united states really tries to

defend democracy in latin america, how to empower civil society. we feel in venezuela that you have forgotten us. we were very happy when the obama administration said there was not -- they were not going to recognize the government madulo bus of a fraud. not because it was a fraud. because he didn't even want to count the votes. the problem is not we said it was a fraud. it's we say, okay, let's count the vote. and they said, it's an electronic machine, and young not count bytes. so there is no way to count the votes. but then we had -- kerry had a meeting, and you know, two days

ago, while we sat -- you read not in the press, because the press is totally censorship, but in the -- on the twitter or facebook is the only wail -- way we can speak. the only way is on twitter and facebook. that the united states has forgotten us, and i think that starting with the ois is the best thing you can do, but also, even the hope you're looking towards us, because for us, i mean, even though we tried to do a nonviolent activism, people so afraid, so, so afraid. i mean, it's the kind of dictatorship that is the worst, because it's not seen. you cannot touch it.

but it's underground. you are afraid to go out at night because they kill you. everyone has somebody in their family who has been killed by criminals. so, they do it on purpose. so you go out at 6:00, everybody is at home. everybody is afraid. we don't have parties at night. the parties are at 4:00 in the afternoon. and i know that's absurd of thinking of parties, but i'm telling you, it's an unbelievable situation we're living in venezuela. and it's not easy to have the revolt as in tunisia. it's not easy because the repreparation is door repression is horrible.

the day before i came here i received a call and said, turn on the government tv. and it was my voice. they taped me, and they put me on the tv show twice in the afternoon in the night. you cannot imagine how you feel when you hear your voice speaking to a friend what you say on the tv and that happens to a lot of people. i'm not that important for my voice to be taped. so, i mean, i am there to speak in the phone. when i get home i will not dare to speak on the phone. sorry to take so much. >> thank you. thank you so very, very much. [applause] >> i want to make sure we help

sell as many books as possible, so want to make sure we get the cover on camera, anybody watching on c-span and for you lucky few it's for sale in the lobby, immediately following, and a signature from luis. let's again thank him for coming here today. [applause] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] >> thank you. yes, pretty. great turnout. [inaudible conversations] >> see you. >> we're not going to see you otherwise. we just came to -- >> thank you, steve. >> thank you so much. >> what a great crowd. >> it's awesome. >> how are you? good to see you. >> there's a big line. [inaudible conversations] >> thanks for coming out.

this is -- i have different kinds of events and this is the biggest so far. the first one we had beer and wine. i think that's why it had a good turnout. >> there is a long line outside. >> really? wow. >> first of all, i work here, and thank you so much for coming out to support a good friend, eric, and his launch of a new book "front row seat." i had the honor and privilege of running the white house web site, so i often looked to eric. so, every morning we started with the site, almost like a blank slate because it was waiting for the content of the day, and whether it was text or video for what have you, i told eric's photos were the paint

that filled the day that helped tell the story of the george w. bush presidency. so good to see so many former colleagues and with that i'd like to introduce anita mcbride, former chief of staff for mrs. laura bush. >> thanks so much for coming. this has been an incredible turnout, and in fact, eric, as you know, he was on fox news as one of his interviews, and i went on facebook and said, eric, when are you going to do your party in washington? and he responded right back. when you're willing to host it. so, -- >> immediately. >> so thank you so much for joining us here. and brian mccormick, who helped, and all the co-hosts. i don't want to start with names but a i will forget all 30 of you that were willing to support

this and also your book, out front. so we thank you so much for doing that. we know that we had an incredible turnout. we had responses beyond a waiting lest. so, we know we've run out of books, i was just told. however, we were prepared for that. you can still order the book, and eric will -- they're nice and big, beautiful, they'll go on the page where he is signing. you can take your boom home -- book home. we don't want you to wait anymore. the book is selling out like crazy everywhere they're on sale. so we're so proud of you, eric. president bush, mrs. bush, all the photographers on the staff that supported us for well for eight years. >> thank you. thank you. [applause]

>> and -- especially those that were waiting outside, please, if you can get to the reception, you have earned it. there's beer and wine. we have wonderful sponsors who supported us, with the wine, and rebecca spicer, who supported us with the beer. thank them for making it possible for us to enjoy a lovely evening. so, thank you all. >> thank you. [applause] >> first of all, i want to thank david for hosting the event and overwhelming to see everyone here, and most of all, anita, for responding. i'm so glad i got that message from you. [laughter] >> wonderful -- i can't thank you enough for you to do this for me. i really appreciate it.

and never thought that something like this can happen to someone like me, an ordinary guy, but all of you out there, especially the folks that worked for the administration, i need to thank you all because you helped me with my success, and i want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, and i'm overwhelmed, and what i'd like to do, which i'm more comfortable behind the camera than in front of the camera -- i'd like to show you some photos, quick presentation, and i decided to take a favorite photo from each chapter. one of the questions i get a lot is, what is your favorite photo? well, i'll pick a photo from each chapter, starting with... chapter one. and this chapter is called, the beginning.

and a lot of you who know president bush remember how timely he is. and we know how timely he is because he started his meetings on time or early. typically early. and so this is a great illustration. this picture was made the first week of his administration, and obvious he the vp is in sync with the president, which is great. chapter two, this chapter is called "life in the bubble." and by the way, this is not representative of the relationship with the president and mrs. bush. don't get me in trouble. let me set the stage here. this is inside buckingham palace and the president and mrs. bush are clowning around for the camera, and this helped show the president had a great sense of humor, and buckingham palace is like the white house but bigger, as you can see.

chapter three is called "family," and whenever the two presidents were together for me it was like a magical moment. first of all you have the history, the only second son of a president to become president. and one of the first things i learned is whenever you say, mr. president, around them, they both turn around. so, i have to refer to them as president 41, president 43. chapter four, the western white house, and this is one of my favorite photos in the book. a great illustration of the president on the ranch. proud texan, and something about the picture you can't see but barney is sitting on his lap. we'll all miss barn yes. -- barney. chapter five is on 9/11. and this moment here is very critical, and you might notice

there's a clock on the wall there. around 9:25. and the president was so focused on gathering information, gathering his thoughts for preparing for a statement to the country and to the world. at this moment, on the television, they're re mying the individual -- they're replaying the video of the second tower being hit and the horrific image of the fireball. we had not seep it at this time so dan bartlett alerted everybody in the room and the president turned around and saw that horrific image that is burned into everyone's memory. chapter six, "war president." and this moment in terms of intensity is probably -- obviously 9/11 was off the charts but this was the moments after the president decided to commit troops to iraq. he made that decision in the situation room just moments

earlier before this moment, and i photographed the beginning of the meeting, and i photographed the president walking around the south lawn, and i noticed that he was very emotional. and i knew something was big. i didn't know exactly what was happening. so it's interesting to see the weight of that decision still on his face, and the president actually spoke to me right after this picture, and he said, eric, are you interested in history? and all i could say is, yes, sir. and he said the pictures you're making are important, the one in the room and the south lawn, and just ace he said that, second of defense rumsfeld and vice president dick cheney walk out of the oval office and they were deciding on the timing of the start of the war. chapter seven, called "to the world." i traveled to nearly 70 countries with president bush,

and on this trip, i believe this is 2007, the president traveled to kosovo and there's a small town there, and he was the first american president to visit that country, and you can see they're very happy to see him, and it's such a unique moment. the only time i've seen this many hands on the president. i'm sure the secret service -- you can see the agents are -- and the final chapter is called "sprint to the finish." this is the moment the president leaves the oval office for the last time, january 20, 2009, and i was there eight years earlier to the day when the president walked through that door for the first time, and through the years i always wondered what would that moment be like? i thought it would be emotional, crying and hugging, but it was very simple. the president, around 8:00,

called for his coat -- put his coat on and walked out without turning back. and so that's my minislide show. [applause] >> and again, i want to thank all of you for coming here, and i want to give a special thanks to mary diamond-stirewalt. [applause] >> who was really been a dynamo and has gotten me so much press. she is awesome. and thank you, mary. and thank you again for coming out. [applause] >> making the transition from journalism to books and exhilarating and completely overwhelming and frightening but wonderful.

>> wide why did you make that choice? >> i had long wanted to be working on a book just because the freedom it allows you to really dive into a topic, and lose yourself and go off on tangents, and have enough time to really explore it fully. ...

what interested me about the book is that all over the world, as it's been read in languages as diverse as chinese, and people identify with it. in the beginning, women, more than men, now men as well as women. they don't think it's a particularly ranchy book. forty years ago it had that reputation. in forty years it's never been out of print. new editions keep appearing. i think the reason is not because of the sex, because it's extremely relatable. people see themselves in it. i'm very proud to have written it. >> what sparked your writing in the book? >> i can't tell you. i wrote it and rewrote it throughout my 20s. i wrote it from a man's point of view, from a woman's point of

view. i finally found the voice for it, which was a new york, wisecracking voice, which it me, partly. it was the new york kid on the couch. wisecracking, full of yiddishism, full of humor. i think that description still hold. henry miller predicted it would make literary history and change the way books were written, and actually he's right. women write differently, and men write differently because of fear of flying. -- "fear of flying." it turned in to a phenomena which was not about sex, but about liberating a new voice. i think that is why the book has had this staying power. some people have compared it to

-- the "catcher in the rye." it's been compared to everything. [laughter] >> who is the main character, what are her travels through the book? >> the main character is mrs. wings who has been married for five years to a psychoanalyst. she goes to a conference of psycho analysts. she's bored with her husband, she runs off with another shrink. sort of going from the frying pan to the fire, so to speak. the book is her journey with this psychoanalyst, which is a both a journey through the present, and a journey to her own past. during this journey, she finds out about herself, and so does the reader. >> so you wrote this, rewrote this in your 20s you were writing it in the late '60s. >> early '70s.

>> was there a feminist angle to this book? >> every book i write is feminist because i believe that women need more change than we have yet achieved. we don't yet have parody with pay. we don't yet have enough women in the board room. we are not yet liberated totally in the bedroom. neither the boardroom nor the bedroom are equal. and so we still have a lot of work to do. >> what was the reaction in 1973, when it came out? >> the reaction was enormous and completely contrary. some people loved the book, some people hated the book. i was called a [inaudible]

of all things. >> which is what? >> i think we today can say is a vagina. in those days we couldn't. eve ens leer liberated that for us. it was the most different kind of response to this book. some people adored it, underlined it, puts a terrifics stars in the margin. i have signed books that have so many underlines pages there were almost no blank pages anymore. some people hated it, and thought it represented the decline of civilization. [laughter] so that's a good thing, i think. when a book invokes so much feeling, you know you are on to something. >> you started off as a poet. >> i started as a poet. i have published eight books of poetry. nearly as many books of poetry

as novels. a book of poetry is like a rose petal down grand canyon. who notices? my early books won all kinds of prizes that were won by ws irwin and so on. but my novels have overshadowed my poems, which is really not surprising. i still consider myself a poet who fell to the habit of writing novels. >> you still write poetry? today? >> always. i think my poetry may well be the best thing i do. >> your other novels overhad i i do -- over shadowed. >> in many ways. i have published eight novels including tree wonderful historic novels. one sent in ancient greece, one set in 18th century england.

one set in shakespeare's venice. i don't resent that. very few writers are famous for more than one book. charlotte bronte is only known. david copperfield, great expectations overshadow all his other books. it's very rare that a writer is known for more than one book. of course, i wish people would read my poetry and all all my novels. i think i have made a journey and am a better writer today. it's rare for a writer to be known for all her work. >> were you fearful when the book came out? were you looking forward it? >> terrified. absolutely terrified. i wrote with a wind at my back,

full of fear. i thought i would be hanged, quartered, in some ways i have been. i truly didn't know what the result would be. i wasn't sure it would set at all let alone 27 million, which is the current numbers. i had no idea it would be in chinese and russian and serbian, bulgarian. who knew? so it has been an amazing ride. it has taken me that, book, "fear of flying" has taken me around the world with people in all languages saying, i identify. >> what do men say about this book? >> many different things. some men say it's helped me to understand women. some men say it's made me a sex object. one of the heroes of the book is an asian-american doctor, and he

says you made asian-american sexy. everybody thought we just were pocket pen protectors and were nerds. you made us sex on jets. -- objects. i get a large variety of response. >> erica jong. some feminists have called it pornography and criticized "fear of flying." >> not really feminists. many great femme mists were also great lovers. george sands it was a great lover. charlotte bronte jane ends up happily married. i don't think feminists criticize the sexuality. i may have been one of the first femme -- feminists to say you can have equality and love men. my own life proved it. i have been married four times. i have been married to my present husband twenty five

years. i believe you can be a lover and a feminist. my life prove it is. >> would you compare in any way "fear of flying" to "feminine mystique"? >> not really. her herself is a work of non-fiction. mine is a fiction. i think there is one similarity. we are both writing about res -- restlessness and a feeling we have not yet achieved equality. we still want it, but our revolution is not there yet. >> we recently interviewed on booktv debra, the president of the college who wrote "wonder women: sex, power, and the quest for perfection." >> and she writes about "fear of flying." >> shooting on to best seller lists around the world and staying out there throughout '74

and '75. part of the appeal was probably the sex. before flying no woman had written vividly and baldly about things. -- about sex, et. cetera. but that it really struck a chord is what she said. this is the president of a college. >> my college where i established the erica jong writing fellowship. which i support. i began the program for young women writers. every year i donate to give fellowship to women who want to be writers, or editors and publishers. >> when you took "fear of flying," when you -- shopped it around in new york how did you do it? >> i never shopped it around. i had a poetry publisher which was then called -- [inaudible]

and they published duovolumes of my poetry and loved the book and took it. it was never shopped. i had a wonderful editor there who was quite revolutionary, who really got that new things were happening for women. and that the book expressed these things. and he wanted the book, and was very excited about it. now, he was not sure it would sell, but he had a hunch that it might. then another editor came on board and bought the paperback writes, which in those days were divided, and she was a very powerful woman in paperback publishing. she made them send out 200 more gallies which she paid for. she was convinced that the book would strike a chord. these two editors, one a man,

one a woman really made the book. one was at holt, as never been out of print. the only one was -- they both believed tremendously in the book. and i don't think any of that would have happened without the second wave of the women's movement. without betty ferdan, which had ignited a fire of curiosity about women. what do we think? what do we want? what do we want in bed? what do we want at work? what do we want as mothers? all of that was in the air in part because of betty's book. and i think that debra sparr understands the way all of those things played in to each other. >> i have to go back to the fact your original editor was a man. >> absolutely. very smart man. he was paul's editor and

philip's door. he got that i was doing something akin to what philip was doing, and what -- he got it. >> erica jong, did bookstores refuse the book at first? >> bookstores never refused it. television networks wouldn't take ads, and the first typesetter didn't want to set type. bookstore were happy and sold a 0 lot. >> did it immediately become a best seller? >> they never enough copy in hard cover. it would go on the bottom of the best seller list and go out of stock. then it would go back on number nine or ten, then there were never enough copies. but then it came out of paperback and sold 3 million copies in the first month. so it just kept going, and as i said, it's never been out of

print. >> your literary papers are at columbus. >> that's right. >> what does that mean? >> that means that students, graduate students, want to see all the rough drafts of "fear of flying" and my poetry and my other novels can study them in the rare book room at colombia. i have allowed even undergraduates to study them, which was rare. i have allowed them to be open to all students. >> people can see the rough drafts, can see your marks? >> right. >> can anybody or just people at columbia. people have to get permission from the rare book people at columbia and prove they are a serious student, like with any archive. >> 1973, you're writing in longhand or by typewriter. are you losing your rough drafts today because of computers? >> i save them to send to

columbia, but i -- we write so many times that i have so many drafts. the current novel i'm just finishing has so many drafts. i save them all. i mean, i rewrite on the computer, but i often write first draft on yellow legal pads as i always did. because i feel freer writing by longhand, and i don't feel as comfortable with a computer. if i write a book review, if i write a short piece, i may write on the computer so i keep the note -- you know, i keep in my mind the length. there's a limit. but when i'm writing a novel or poem, i often write longhand. >> erica jong, this is forty years since "fear of flying" came out. will people be reading it forty years from now? >> a that i can't tell you. i don't know. i hope so. but i can tell you that many of the people who have received

this copy and reread the book have told me that it's still very timely and current and very readable. so i hope we'll find a whole new generation of readers with this edition. >> erica jong, author of "fear of flying" and other novels and poetry. 40th anniversary edition of "fear of flying" coming out in october. this is booktv on c-span2. visit booktv.org to watch any of the programs you see here online. type the author or book title on the search bar on the upper left-hand side and click search. you can share anything by clicking share on the upper left side of the page and -- selecting the format. booktv streams live online every weekend for 48 hours. booktv.org. talk about the importance of

confidence in being a united states senator, but being a woman and how important it is to foster that in future women leaders or business owners or even moms. >> absolutely. i encourage women to be involved. and step up front, frankly. and, you know, i always say to graduating classes, you know, i could never imagine that i would have been, you know, running for the united states senate when i was in your position either. but we opened the possibility of doing that. it's critical to have the example. it's important to have their voices reflected. the second part is that they bring a different experience, and that's also important to have that voice at the table, and so i encourage them to think about it as a possibility in the

future. they present themselves, even for me, as much as passionate about politics, the possibility of running for public office. i was going to come to washington. you have to go against the grain. whatever you do in life. it's what it is. it's what i always did, i went against the grain. i went strongly for the things i believed in. there was a direct correlation. i love the fact that, you know, that even today the women's health initiative we spawn by the disclosure they were treat -- for women is still revealing itself and life saving discoveries for women. that is so important for cause and effect to having women participate in the political

process think about title ix for example, i was talking about it the other day, you know, she was beneficiary, of title ix. i love the fact you get young women who are active. there's no second thought about it. they are active in sports because the law in nature they were treated to those sports for women were treated equally. >> it's sofas nate -- soso fascinating how they came during the four -- many of them during your four decades of service. you were really there at at formative period that, you know, people, women younger than you, may take for granted. you were a witness to the changes. it's really worth -- women especially should read about the fights you had to wage on behalf of women.

i loved also an ante-dote about your revered senator margaret smith of maine who gave a speech called the "decoration of conscious" directed at mccarthyism. in june of 19 a, and you quote a financeier and -- you said if the man made it he would have been the next president of the united states. you mention in the book when you are talking about hillary clinton, who is an old friend, you said in extraordinary role model. you have known her for years. your husbands served together. did they sit next together? >> in the order of the states came to the union. that's how they sit. >> right. and it was so -- you are old friend and obviously colleagues, you said that the united states is ready for a

woman president. so i have to ask you, she's obviously the great hope of the democratic party, the great hope of many women whether or not you want her to run. whether or not you would support her. any feelings you have. you said you have enduring respect for her service as secretary state. she, you know, barring whatever is wrapping her up in any kind of benghazi excitement on capitol hill. when you look at the future and you think this country is ready, would you, as a republican, sit it out if she ran? >> well, that's down the road to speculate about all of that. but i think that, you know, if hillary wanted to run, she should run. i mean, she did sit, i set an extraordinary example how a woman can run for public office. that is what is important. she, i think, broke down that barrier single handedly.

and highly talented and capable and smart. if she chooses to do that, i think that, you know, many women will embrace, you know, her candidacy. i think the country is prepared to have a woman president, and i think that by virtue of the fact what she was able to accomplish at that point in time in her own candidacy, i think has dispelled any notion that a woman could not be prepared. even she didn't win the primary. it was different reasons. differences in the primary. but by virtue of the candidacy and how she conducts herself, she basically eradicated any fears about how a woman would handle herself. >> well, there's many delightful ante-dotes i keep mentioning in the book, and little nuggets for congress watchers like myself to enjoy. one of my favorites is that you divulge how frequently and

regularly women senators get together. how privately they nurture each other. mentor each other. i thought it was impressive. you dine with female justices. something i had never known before, which i thought was really quite wonderful, what an honor also. and i thought that was -- that's, you know, really another reason to sort of delve in here, to learn not only about the ways things used to be. but how much women look out for each other in positions of power, and -- it's bipartisan it is. and the way you talk about hillary clinton and, obviously, you know, your friendship that formed years ago before she was in the senate is just a unique connection, i think it's very interesting. you have -- you want to tell them there's a way out, and that even if it's not near term, there's a path to

unity and production -- productive future for the congress diminished polarization in the future, if some steps are taken in time. you list them in the book, you have recommendations for a five-day workweek, an annual budget -- by-annual -- biannualing budgeting. restoring the process of getting to a budget, a bipartisan leadership committee. that is so interesting that means they have to lead the congress and get out of their own partisanship leadership. no budget no pay. which means members are not gloang to check their own paycheck. filibuster reform, no more secret holes on legislation, and return -- i think, this is so critical to regular order and the committees you can't throw up an emergency super committee sequester bill

at the last minute. everything would have to go back. and abolish leadership pack. you were only one of five. >> i know. >> so i want to know semi open primary. i'm a believer of that myself, and you are -- and commissions in the state legislators deciding on redistricting. it's important for americans to read the book. especially on the chapter of all of these political -- the fixes in on the system. if they don't know about redistricting and how few districts swing every election cycle and 79% of us shouldn't get in the vote because it's it's already decided. this is really -- i think you have all the right idea, i want to -- if you share a little bit of the outline of your book. you have a great ante-dote that congressman rick nolan, who left

the congress back, he has been warned he needs to spent 30 hours a week on fundraising. where do you get the establishment, the em compass that crusty old system that might seem new but now so set in -- where do you get them to throw away the leadership packs to change? >> you know, they decided a relief and everybody had to stand down on both sides of the aisle. that's the key. any changes on campaign finance reform has to be level playing field on both sides. that is what we had to orgestrate for fine gold. it's my from vision that was struck down in the supreme court of citizens united. it was that even handedness. both sides had to do it. it's one less level of financing of raising money. think about it, so in the house of representatives, they had an

overwhelming -- probably the majority at least, have leadership packs. not running for leadership. it's another avenue to give money to candidates at the higher level than as an individual. the point being it's not only raising money for their own campaign, they also have to raise this money for the leadership pack because it's expected. that you are going raise so much money, and especially the chair of the committee. >> if you want to be -- [inaudible conversations] >> then you are expected to deliver for the party. >> right. how much time it takes. it takes so much time. it's another huge distractions. it reminded me of the honorary issues years ago. members of congress would be paid for speeches, and so the whole schedule would reinvolve around the days when they could give speeches on monday and fridays. but ultimately came to the conclusion rightly that we should ban these. it had an impact. people, you know, back in town. >> right.

>> right. [laughter] one less level of raising money because that is a huge time consuming effort, and not to mention a distractions. you can watch this and other programs online at booktv.org. what are you reading this summer? booktv wants to know. ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ let us know what you're reading this summer. tweet us@booktv. post it on our facebook page, or send us an e-mail at booktv@c-span.org. "norman rockwell: a life." the author describes the artist as a complianted man who -- and earned millions of dollars is now seen in a more positive light by a new generation of critics. laa