i didn't know if you wanted to wrap it up with closing remarks. >> you can corner us for questions after except for nicholson baker who has to go to his next session. >> let's have a round of applause for our panelists. [applause] >> booktv is on facebook. like us to get publishing news scheduling updates behind the scenes pictures and videos, author information and to talk directly with authors during our live programs. facebook.com/booktv. >> host: a familiar face to c-span and booktv viewers, ted olson, the former solicitor general and co-author of this book "redeeming the dream: the case for marriage equality," along with david boies. mr. olson, dud you surprise a -- did you surprise a lot of people with your position on gay

marriage? >> guest: apparently, i did. i didn't surprise me and people who knew me because i think i've always felt -- i grew up in california, i feel it's wrong and i've always felt it's wrong to discriminate against people who are gay or lesbian. and when i was first asked to take this case, i thought it was something that i could do and that i wanted to do. so i was a little surprised that people were surprised because -- but because i'm a conservative, a lot of people were, and i felt that it was then my mission to try to convince as many of them as i could that this was the right place to be. >> host: what's the conservative case for gay marriage? >> guest: the conservative case for gay marriage to me is easy these are two loving people who want to come together in an enduring relationship and form a part of a community and have a family and be a part of our society and to live together. what could be more conservative than that? we should want -- we as conservatives should want people

who love one another to want to get married. marriage is a conservative value. and when gay people want to get married, it should be the same thing. they have the same aspirations and same fears and hopes that the rest of us do. we should support that. >> host: for those who may not know what's the long relationship of you and your co-author? how did you first meet? >> guest: david boies and i, of course knew one another before the bush v. gore case. most people know us as opposite sides. he represented vice president gore, i represented governor bush in the bush v. gore case that decided the 2000 election. after the election we found we had great respect for one another, our wives are both lawyers, we started to get together and enjoy evenings together over dinner, and the more we spent with one another the more we realized we should work together on something.

when this case came along, i called up david and i thought it was important to represent to the american people that it was not a conservative or liberal issue, it was an american issue and the two lawyers who are well known on opposite sides of the political spectrum could come together, people could see it as an american issue, not a gay or heterosexual issue or a conservative or liberal issue, but an issue about american values and american rights and freedom. and we tried to convey that in, that point of view. >> host: this book is written by two lawyers. can laymen understand it? >> guest: well, we hope. we thought it was exceedingly important to express the case that we took from the very gunning all the way to -- beginning autoway to the supreme court -- all the way to the supreme court in terms that lawyers would learn as a lesson but also as people would value as a journey of individualings

and freedom and people. and we tried very hard to have make sure that we could communicate with people who were not lawyers. the worst thing in the world is for a lawyer to talk like a lawyer. people don't like that, they don't understand it, they don't want to hear it. it's important for lawyers to understand that you have to speak english. you have to speak in language that people understand. and we tried to convey our emotions, our feelings and our strategy in terms that all americans could understand, especially young people who might aspire to be lawyers or people that were studying political science. we tried to reach out to that white audience. >> host: what's your sense of how quickly it seems gay marriage is being accepted and spread across the country? >> guest: i'm glad you asked that question. we've started this case, there were three states in which individuals could marry the person they loved if it happened to be a person of the same sex.

today, five years later, 33 states recognize marriage equality. can you imagine? and the american public was against marriage equality by a factor of 17 points or something like that? now it's maybe 10 or 12% on the other side. young americans, people under 30 it's 75-80% believe in marriage equality and respect the rights of gay and lesbians to get married. that all took place in the course of five or six years. it's a remarkable transformation of american public opinion. all in favor of people who love one another. it's a very, very encouraging thing. >> what about the republican party? >> guest: the republican party is getting there. when we filed our briefs in the supreme court, we had a brief filed by some 30 prominent members of the republican party who supported our case including ken mehlman former chairman of

the republican national committee, rob portman an important senator who's a republican, and more and more republicans are understanding that marriage between people who love one another is a value that republicans have to support or they're not going to ever win elections. i mean, this is important not just to gay and lesbian people but people across the political spectrum who believe in american rights. and republicans will not be accepted as a majority party if they wish to achieve a majority status in this country unless they recognize the rights of human beings of to have that kind of freedom and liberty. >> host: any gay marriage issues coming back before the supreme court, and if so, are you involved this -- in them? >> guest: we had several cases including the virginia case that the supreme court decided not to take this year, but there's another case involving kentucky, tennessee and a couple of other

states that the supreme court is considering right now. i believe the supreme court will take that case. i'm hoping that the supreme court will hear that case before the end of next june when they decide their cases for this term. i'm not involved in it now but i'm rooting for those lawyers who are handling this case. and if they want any help from me, they will have it. >> host: ted olson, david boies, "redeeming the dream: the case for marriage equality," this is booktv on c-span2. >> guest: thank you for talking to me. pleasure. >> military historian barrett tillman recounts the u.s. fifteenth air force's military exploits during world war ii in europe; specifically, the unit's attacks against nazi industrial facilities. this is about an hour and 15 minutes. >> good afternoon everybody. i'm barbar