>>> i want to say a quick word about a close friend of mine and yours, joshua dubois. sends me via e-mail a daily meditation. snippet of scripture for me to reflect on. and it has meant the world to me. >> president obama speaking at the white house prayer breakfast earlier this year talking about how his faith keeps him going. in the toughest job in the world, that faith is the subject of a new book. the president's devotional. written by the man that "time" magazine called the president's pastor in chief. the former head of the white house faith-based and neighborhood partnerships, joshua dubois. i'm pleased to welcome josh to the show here tonight. josh, thanks for being here. >> it's my pleasure. thanks for having me on. >> thank you again. the president said the scripture e-mails you send to him every morning mean the world to him. how did this start? >> you know, i was not intending to be the spiritual adviser to the president of the united states when this got started. i was a young staffer on the 2008 presidential campaign. i had known then-senator obama for a

i was excited about that, too. >> joshua dubois.e's your book "the president's devotional" and the fact the president has blurbbed on the front. thanks for being on book tv. >> peter schweizer argues contrary to popular belief big money interests do not control politicians. he says that it's the politicians who extort money from corporations and other wealthy groups noting that members of congress often introduce legislation for no other reason than to get donations from groups that will be impacted by it. this is about 15 minutes. [applause] thank you for the warm introduction. i actually got originally involved in the young america's foundation i have an interest in the national security affairs, which i still have it actually ran across a very important news item today that i guess was encouraging. typically the cia has developed a new covert operation to underline al qaeda. i don't know if you have read this. it is a plan that is going to basically be straight recruiting that's going to disrupt the operations and it's going to b

. >> next on booktv joshua dubois, former executive director of the white house office of faith based and neighborhood partnership talks about the devotional e-mails he has been sending since barack obama since he was a senator. this is about half an hour. [applause] >> it is great to be here. change in plans, i wasn't able to update the book but cooking dishes for michele obama since this evening. american grow. we can get to that after the devotional. thank you for being here. so wonderful to see so many friends, old and new. like a family reunion. i am excited to share it this book with you. my wonderful wife, michele. [applause] >> we have been married precisely 82 days. you see this blow on my face, that is why. thank you so much for being here. when i started working for barack obama i had no idea i would be sending in a devotional every morning. i was a young kid from nashville, tenn. working on the 2008 campaign, in the senate office for couple years but didn't know him that well. i was doing out reach around a company like so many others including many folks that i see and pr

he appointed as its new director our fourth guest, joshua dubois.ter serving from 2009-2013 to author a new book and become a weekly columnist for " the daily beast" and start values partnerships aimed at helping companies and nonprofits partner with the faith-based community. finally, i would like to introduce our fifth guest, melissa rogers, the current executive director of the white house office of faith-based and neighborhood partnerships. before assuming her white house post in march of this year, she served in senior positions at the center for religion and public affairs at wake forest university divinity school, the brookings institution, the pew forum on religion of public life, and as general counsel for the baptist joint committee for religious liberty. i encourage you to take a look at each of their bios on your program. these are truly remarkable people. we have the opportunity tonight to hear from all five of these experts and civil servants. allow me to explain how we will proceed. i have asked each of our panelists to share 10-15 mi

he appointed as its new director our fourth guest, joshua dubois. his office after serving from 2009-2013 to author a new book and become a weekly columnist for "the daily beast" and start values partnerships aimed at helping companies and nonprofits partner with the faith-based community. finally, i would like to introduce our fifth guest, melissa rogers, the current executive director of the white house office of faith-based and neighborhood partnerships. before assuming her white house post in march of this year, she served in senior positions at the center for religion and public affairs at wake forest university divinity school, the brookings institution, the pew forum on religion of public life, and as general counsel for the baptist joint committee for religious liberty. i encourage you to take a look at each of their bios on your program. these are truly remarkable people. we have the opportunity tonight to hear from all five of these experts and civil servants. allow me to explain how we will proceed. i have asked each of our panelists to s

joshua dubois is a spiritual adviser to president obama.pe, of course, a major part of his 2008 campaign. how exactly did nelson mandela beyond what the president just said there, how did he shape president obama's politics? >> well, let's start with this. when mr. obama mentioned he began his public career at an apartheid protest, he was speaking for himself. but he was also speaking for a generation of people who'd come after age and seen in south africa an analog to what we saw in the united states in the 1950s and 1960s. that movement that mr. obama tapped into, when we said, yes we can, and the emphasis on hope and change and so on, in many ways, he was calling back to that age of idealism, the issues that we see in south africa are capable of being change and in fact we can bring that change about. >> joshua, mandela wrote a letter to president obama that was given to him shortly before his inauguration ceremony back in 2009. that letter read in part, your presidency brings hope of new beginnings in the relations between nations, that