and to bring peace to our land. >> joining me now is doris kearns goodwin who was awarded a fellowshipn the white house and also assisted the president in writing his memoir. doris, it's nice to have you here. what does the significance of the 50th anniversary mean to us as a country? >> it's not only important to remember that this was the writing of an historic wrong, it changed the landscape of our country forever, our politics forever. this was also a time when the political culture of washington worked, when you had republicans and democrats coming together, you had a civil rights pressure from the bottom up, leaders, unions, a coalition. at a time when we don't think we can get anything done and so many spectators in our government rather than participants then, remembering this could give us hope that it could happen again in some way or form. >> doris, i want to talk about the hows. what is different between then and now, the way that congress interacted with each other. there have been many changes in the last 50 years. what makes it harder for us to see anything what i'll cal

starting off with doris kearns goodwin who's been coming on the program for many years.or of the book "team of rivals." her recent book, "the bully pulpit," takes a look at the relationsh

charlie rose: you are a fan of doris kearns goodwin and her book 'team of rivals' which was about lincoln choosing his rivals for his cabinet because he respected their talent plus he wanted them where he could see them. alex ferguson: yes, he wanted to see who they were and how they would fit into his cabinet, pretty clever really. and of course i think that lincoln at that time was facing the most difficult period for a president in terms of the south and the north. he was also very good at not making quick decisions. he thought it all through and allowed his cabinet to have their say and then he would decide thereafter. it's a great book, a fabulous book. charlie rose: did you see the movie 'lincoln'? alex ferguson: yes. charlie rose: did you like it? alex ferguson: i didn't think that it was a great movie but i thought that the central piece about the period that it had to deal with was fantastic. the acting in that movie was unbelievable. charlie rose: by understanding that he had to do everything that he could -- push, pull, in order to get emancipation because that was the goal and

. >> host: did doris kearns goodwin have any say in the cover? and also do they get to say yes or no to a cover or do the publisher's? >> guest: absolutely. both of them do. obviously the author that worked on their baby and they are going to go out on the road selling the book so you want them to be happy. and when they are wonderful. they are very appreciative and it is a little give and take. she didn't want her name on the top, she wanted it on the bottom. she wanted to see a little bit more of their faces so we played with abou that a little bit. >> host: do color schemes come in and out of fashion? >> guest: scheuer. sometimes even fashioned itself. the color on the runway can affect what is on a book cover. but yes definitely. i think that red is always a sure shot. unless you have a book about golf and money. i think that blue sells really well. >> host: senator john mccain has a book coming out and here is a cover that you are currently working on. >> guest: that is a work in progress because they are working on a couple of the retailers