liberal white politicians in the south to challenge the conservatives, and you know people like margaret mitchell, for example, come down like the wrath of god on fdr at that point saying this is just like reconstruction all over again when the federal government tried to interfere with what we were doing and it was a very tense relationship. and i think the question is complicated. i think it was not so easy to simply dismiss lincoln in the 1930s. you can say he was a tyrant and all of this, but there were people that still did that, and i think if anything what southern democrats tried to do was not talk about lincoln. so for example, one thing that i found interesting was douglas freeman, the biographer of robert e lee, he spends a lot of time trying to turn robert e lee, and he talks about his military strategy and other ideas and plans, and he tries to elevate him, but even douglas freeman says "lee is an important symbol, but so is ab ra hamm lincoln. it was so much that even someone like doug last freeman had to acknowledge that yes, at this moment it feels more relevant. >> fdr being over

[applause] >> some people write a book, margaret mitchell, ralph ellison, their first book is so successful they have a hard time writing a second book. they get writers block. you don't worry about that problem. >> i think my first book wasn't that good. i don't know that any follow-up will be measured well or poorly compared to it. it was very successful. i would be an idiot if i expect any book to be as successful. >> what do you want to do with your life and what is your role model for people who came out of the background you came out of and rightly or wrongly whether you want it or not you are a role model for people who come out of your background. as a role model you feel a responsibility to live life a certain way, you feel you should give back to your community a certain way. how has your life changed as a result of this book? >> i feel a certain responsibility when i go on tv not to make my entire community seem like an idiot. one thing i have not appreciated but accepted as reality is a lot of people see me as a spokesperson for the white working-class. a lot of times i am asked

people like margaret mitchell come down like the wrath of god on fdr. they say this is just like reconstruction all over againit when the federalh government tried to interfere with everything. it was a very tense relationship. it was not like anything fdr did was great. there i think there was that pr. the question about southern democrats and theplic use of lincoln is complicated. i think it was not so easy to simply dismissmiss lincoln in te 1930's. you cannot say he was awerely pt and all this. there were certainly people who did that. i think if anything, whatnot tal southern democrats tried to do is just not talk about lincoln. forinte example, one thing i fod interesting was douglas freeman, the biographers a lo of robert . lee. spends a lot of timee leading a up to world war ii and during world war iind plantrying to tun robert e lee into a relevant figure for americans in the second world war. he talks about his military strategy and other ideas and plans he has. douglas freeman at onee point writes this essay, he aknowledges that lee is an imp

liberal white politicians in the south to challenge the conservatives and, you know, people like margaret mitchell for example come down like the wrath of god on f.d.r. at that point and they say this is just like reconstruction all over again when the federal government tried to interfere with everything that we're doing and blah, blah, blah. so, you know, it was a very tense relationship. it wasn't so much like, yeah. anything that f.d.r. did was great. there was that problem. i think the question about southern democrats and the use of lincoln is complicated. i think it was not so easy to simply dismiss lincoln in the 1930s. you couldn't just say oh, lincoln was a tyrant and all this though there were people certainly who still did that. i think if anything what southern democrats tried to do was just not talk about lincoln. so for example you know, one thing i found interesting was douglas freeman who was the biographer of robert e. lee, he spends a lot of time in the 19 -- leading up to world war ii and during world war ii trying to turn robert e. lee into a relevant figure for americans in t

[applause] some people write a book, margaret mitchell, there first book is so successful they have a hard time writing a second book. they get writers block because it think nothing can be as good as the first book. you know about that problem? >> guest: i don't know. [laughter] i didn't know my first some is that good so i don't know that in a follow-up will be measured well or poorly compared to it. it certainly was fixed successful. i would be an idiot if i expected any other book tv as successful but i will let other people decide if it's good or not. c1 what you want to do with your life? you would be a role model for people who comes out of the background you came out of. whether or not you like it is a role model you feel more responsibility to live a life a certain way? do you feel you should give back to your community a certain way? how is your life change as a result of this book? >> i definitely feel a certain responsibility when i go on tv not to make my entire community seemed like it idiot. i think one of the things i've not not appreciated but just accepted as reality