could have turned out so much differently because on the eve of the civil war leaders on both sides, in richmond and in washington fought services for command, the new about his connections to george washington and common knowledge. both saw tremendous significance in them. they also knew that winfield scott who was the ranking general in the u.s. army fought lee was the best soldier he had ever seen in the field and robbery et looked like a fine soldier. he stood just under 6 feet tall had powerful broad shoulders, had barrel chest, had perfect posture, everyone who's saw him saw some version of the same thing that man looks every inch the soldier. in 1861 and emissary for abraham lincoln asked robert e. lee, right across from arlington to

the city of washington. net emissary's name was frances blair and he has an extraordinary offer, he said will you lead and the union army to crush secession? remember the story, blair tried in every way to convince robert e. lee to say yes. he said the country looks to you, quote, as a representative of the washington family to save the union george washington forged and that is not an exaggeration because the son of george washington -- son in lot of george washington's adopted child. so now only one word separated robert e. lee from the pinnacle of his profession, from command of what would be the largest american army ever raised, from glory perhaps that no american since george washington had known. what did robert e. lee say?

he said he opposed secession and he did oppose secession, he thought secession was illegal. equally significantly he thought george washington was opposed to secession and that was no given at the time. people on both sides of the conflict claimed george washington for their own. secessionists said george washington was a rebel -- rebelled and rebelled against the union with the british. unionists say george washington in his farewell address said to prize the union above any sectional allegiance. robbery beat is reading a biography of george washington in the months before the civil war. he is hearing these arguments and concludes he agrees with the unionist position. he believes george washington would have opposed secession. what else does robert e. lee say to francis blair? he says he would gladly wash his hands of slavery. he would glad to get rid of all slavery if it could avoid war.

then he says but how can i raise my sword against my native state? blair family tradition says lee hesitated as if searching for an answer but as he told the story he gave the answer once no. he turned down the command. he could not turn in his commission in the army he had served for three decades. returns to arlington house, a learned that va in fact has voted to secede from the union and writes a letter resigning from the union army and his wife called the decision to resign this the first struggle of his life. >> we can watch this and other programs online at booktv.org. each year the chief of staff of the air force assembles a list of books he recommends for service men and women. here is the 2015 list. to begin norwegian air force

colonel john olson ignores the -- tell the lives of 12 men who shaped the history of their contract in air commanders. next on the list is no place to hide, the story of retired air force neurosurgeon w. lee warren this the 120 days working in a tent hospital in iraq. insiderssecurity and cyberwar p.w. singer and alan friedman trace the development and future implications of cyberwar verbage the executive director of the institute for the analysis of global security examines how culture can impact relations between western military sand non-western allies in the year bacon and bullets. in the 2015 air force reading list is team of rivals by doris kerns goodwin which explores president lincoln's relationships with members of his cabinet. in the boys in the boat, daniel brown tells the story of the university of washington rowing crew that won a gold medal in

the 1936 berlin olympics. wrapping up the list is a collection of books on the importance of professionalism, the need for focus and workplace leadership strategies. that is a look at the air force chief of staff's book list. >> here are some of the programs you will see this weekend on booktv. on our live in that program -- take viewers' calls. on afterwards alan riskin and tucker carlsson discuss hollywood and the communist party in the 1930s. and marco rubio signing books and providing his thoughts on the nation's future and watch for a book on race and the criminal justice system, the meat industry and the war on drugs. for complete schedule visit booktv.org. all this and more on booktv, television for serious readers. >> really was the impact but

convinced california regulators that electric car was a viable consumer option and caused them to develop a set of rules that was tucked into a larger package of air pollution related rules that essentials set out a timeline for innovation and said by 19982% of the cars have to be electric and by 200310%. it didn't fail, it was -- there was a built in review mechanism. every couple years it comes out, is this working? is it not working? why is it not working? they would also find out about it. >> how did they go about it? >> they didn't like it very much in general. probably tesla likes them but it

has been any vaulting relationship. what the relationship has been characterized by a series of cantankerous lawsuits. >> what is it requiring today? how is that working? >> today you have a situation where seven states in addition to california have bought into zero emission vehicles which basically requires that auto makers if they are going to sell cars in california or seven understates have to sell a certain proportion of electric vehicles. the interesting thing they have done is overlaid the market on top of this which is enormous efficiency enhancing. it means rather than just saying every single auto maker has to sell 2% electric cars this year, 3% electric cars next year, an

auto maker can make a strategic decision whether it makes sense for them to build electric cars themselves or to buy other cars credits that are awarded to automakers when they sell an electric vehicle. they can buy them from another one. >> how much do they cost? >> it changes depending who is selling more or fewer electric vehicles and a couple years ago, the tesla model-s was producing an estimated $35,000 worth of credits. >> tesla in addition to making money from selling the car, making revenue from selling the car was making revenue from selling credits. >> and still are. in q3 of 2014 tesla made $76 million through the credits alone. it is a lot of money and has a big impact on the business model of these electric vehicles.

>> how many electric cars that were sold last year what proportion are in california? >> if you look at california, the states that are following the mandate, almost all of them. it is hard to get really good numbers on where the cars are being sold. the california announcement, november of last year they ate together with partners, sold 250,000 electric vehicles. that was when the u.s. electric vehicle market was cumulatively sold them to 50,000 electric vehicles so it is not all of them but it was a lot of them. >> you can watch this and other programs on line at booktv.org. each month representative tom cole of oklahoma releases a reading list on his web site. here is a look at the congressman's recommended books which focus on the life of dwight eisenhower.

representative coley was currently reading those aimed greed days by linda olson which looks at the internal debate over the u.s. involvement in world war ii and he finished paul johnson's book eisenhower:a life. recommends stephen ambrose and two volume biography of eisenhower which traces his path from soldier to president. next on the list is going home to glory. a memoir of the president by his grandson david eisenhower and david's wife julie nixon eisenhower. also on the list is the white house years by jim newton, editor at large of the los angeles times. next is eisenhower's personal account of strategies, battles and outcome of world war ii in crusading era band completing the list representative tom cole recommends jeanette would smith's portrayal of the 34th president in eisenhower in war and peace. to see what their