tempermental. he was a shy person. also had a political purpose. he knew if he didn't talk a lot people would stop talking, and of course a president or political leader is constantly bombarded with requests, and his silence was his way of not giving in to special interests, and he articulated that specifically. taxes >> booktv asked, what are you reading this summer? >> i think i'm doing a catchup summer. reading a lot of things that are not particularly new but i have meant to read and not gotten done. so i ticked off a little list of them. they start with two sort of real

life rescue stories from world war ii. one actually i am reading now, mitchell zuckoff, "frozen in time" about some american aviators who crashed in greenland in the second world war. then the rescue mission that went after them also went down, and then another one disappeared. they finally did eventually rescue these guys who lived for months in the tail of an airplane. but just a gripping story. and then the second part of it is about an expedition to go back and try to find the people lost trying to rescue the original crew, and they low caked aircraft. so it's a great story. but in reading that -- of course you read the book jacket, and he was another one, "lost in shangrila" bat mission that went wrong. was supposed to be a joy flight

over new guinea but the plane went down and the rescue was harrowing and took months. so surviving in desperate situations is good reading for congress in an election year. then i had the opportunity to meet -- i may mispronounce his name -- "lincoln's rise to greatness" and our deputy whip put together a group of 15 of to us have dinner with him, and they gave us all the book so i got the book for free, but i was just -- lincoln has always been compelling figure, i think for any politician and any american, the greatest president at the most critical time in the country's history, and i love the way his political skills had so much to do with holding the country together, and holding

his party together. i think probably lot of lessons. this was a republican majority in the 1860s that had never been the majority before. so you have a new president and a new majority in the senate and a new majority in the house that never functioned that way. not a single person had been part of a run majority -- a republican majority. so how do you act, relate, the appropriate balance between presidential power, legislative oversight in a critical situation, and then lincoln's sheer political skill, and cunning, in manipulating the various factions, so, anyway, we had a wonderful discussion about that, and it got me really interested in reading the book. then there's two other biographies i promised myself i'm going to read. one is william mcfree lee's book on grant, and i just -- we're going through a period now

of re-assessment of grant. nobody has ever doubted what a great general he was, and how critical he was to winning the civil war. but there's been a lot of questions about him as president. i think he sort of going through a little bit of a rehabilitation right now. so i'm interested in that. and the last one i have promised myself i'd read, and this is something that roy blunt, from missouri, a great reader and very good friend, had brought to my attention and that is jane smith's biography of eisenhower. a wonderful biographer. i remember reading in the '80s he had a dual biography of lee and grant that was very famous. so, roy had been telling me what a great book this was on eisenhower. and then i happened to catch a lecture, on c-span, history on weekend, smith died in 2012 but they were replaying this lecture

on generalship, and i was really intrigued by that. i thought my buddy has been trying to get me to read this book, and i just listened to this great lecture, and the other experience i had reading this guy's book was 20 years ago so i'm going read this eisenhower book. when you're my age you remember eisenhower so not quite the historical figure like lincoln or grant. i enjoy reading about presidents i feel luke i have some connection with other, their having lived through their presidency or on occasion met them. it's a fascinating thing. >> might be interested to know on your web site, you list what you're reading -- >> sometimes recommended. reading lists. sometimes we'll put together -- i think we'll do lincoln this month, and we're going to have three or four books that i think

are particularly good on lincoln. i wish i could take credit for that idea. i have a brilliant communications director who came up with this, and i said nobody is going to be interested in what i'm reading, and surprisingly it's become a question i get my district quite a bit. and they like it. interestingly, i think they kind of like to know what you're thinking about and they hope it's not politics just directly all the time, and it's kind of refreshing -- >> or somebody would say, read that book, too, or got that as an idea off your book list. so it actually breeds a little connection between you and some of your constituents, at least those engaged enough to actually go to your web site. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. it was fun. >> what are you reading this summer? tell us what's on your summer reading list. tweet us@book tv, post it to our facebook page. or send us one-mail. booktv@c-span.org.

>> here's a look at upcoming book fairs and festivals around the country: on june 7th and 8th we're live from the chicago tribune's printer's row lit fest. during the same weekend, the first sacramento black book fair will take place from june 6th june 6th through the 8th. then on saturday, june 21st, the franklin d. roosevelt presidential library will hold their 11th annual roosevelt reading festival which features numerous author talks on the 32nd president. look for our coverage of the roosevelt reading festival on a future weekend. let us know about book festivals in your area and we'll add them to our list. >> matt taibi talks about the

divide between the rich and poor in the united states and the problems that grow from the level of wealth inequality now. that's next on booktv. [applause] >> wow. thank you. this is a big crowd. i was actually at a -- i did a speech for a law firm in new york about a month ago, and the crowd was way bigger than i expected, and i was about to go up to the podium and i asked the partner at the firm, how did you get so many people to come to this thing? and he said that's easy. we told them you were ben

bernanke. [laughter] >> so i don't know who they told you was coming tonight, but my name is matt taibi. i'm a reporter formerly of "rolling stone" magazine and now first media. i obviously just want to thank all the folks who brought me here, kay, and bert, and craig from library, and everybody who had hand in helping me come here today. is that better? all right. so, i have knew speech for you all tonight. i had a speech i hat written for this book tour, actually used it's few times, and i am -- i threw i