she became the first african- american to in -- african- american to win for "the hemingses of monticello." also tonight, a conversation with rhythm-and-blues singer kem. he just kicked off a u.s. tour in support of his latest cd, " intimacy." >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i am james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference -- >> thank you. >> you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment, one conversation at a time. >> nationwide is on your side >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> annette gordon-reed is a professor at harvard who became the first african-american to win the pulitzer prize for her book "the hemingses of monticello." the new book is part of the american president series. good to have the on this program. >> good to be here. >> my first question was going to be, if johnson was such

monticello, illinois, chamber of commerce and tourism office. monticello: where you can hike the allerton trails, ride the rails, or experience their shops and restaurants. the office of the chancellor at the university of illinois in urbana-champaign, whose mission is to creatively redefine excellence and innovation in teaching, research, and public engagement for the 21st century. funding also provided by the illinois state bar association. and with support from the abraham lincoln presidential library and museum in springfield, illinois. c 8lx

this book i must confess long overdue in between saying i would do that i wrote the hemings of monticello and it took a lot of energy and i came back to this seriously and finished it. and i'm very, very glad that i did. >> so the first thing i had to do was to think about how do i approach this? now, andrew johnson is not known by lots of people. not lots is known about him but one thing people probably do know is that in almost every survey of rankings of american presidents, he is at the bottom. he's near the bottom. he's in the bottom five. [laughter] >> since 1997, i participated in these surveys and sometimes i look at the results. sometimes i don't. but he's usually in the bottom 5. buchanan is usually the worst. but he's in the bottom 5. this year, this past year when i didn't participate in the survey for the first time -- i typically fill them out and i didn't this time because i was too busy, he made it to the last. [laughter] >> he is considered the worst president. i said just in time for the book. [laughter] >> and in some surveys he's considered one of the worst and this ye

in between that i wrote the hemming says of monticello. i came back to this seriously and finished it, and i'm glad that i did. so, the first thing i had to do was to think about how i approach this. now, andrew johnson is not known by lots of people. one thing people probably do know is that in almost every survey of likings of american presidents he is at the bottom. he is near the bottom, the bottom five. since 1997 i've participated in the surveys. sometimes i look at the results, sometimes i don't. he's usually in the bottom five. buchanan is usually the worst. this year, this past year when i did not participate in the survey for the first time, i typically throw them out, but i didn't this time. he made it to last. he was the worst president just in time for the book. and. [laughter] and sent surveys, he is considered one of the worst and this year the worst. once you get down at that point it is released in paris to think about what the real story is. it is a significant issue. how do you sit down and write a book about somebody wh

she's the author of "the helmingson's of monticello." her book is part of the president series. to find out more visit americanpresidentsserious.com. >> you are watching booktv on c-span2. 48 hours of nonfiction books every weekend. >> on february 16th of this year, the borders bookstore group declared bankruptcy. joining us on booktv to discuss the impact of this bankruptcily is sara wynnman who is news editor of publishers place. how did they get to the point to declaring bankruptcy? >> i think it's been a long time in coming. as quarter after quarter, borders have been losing money, they've also gone through a number of management changes, especially at the top. they've gone through i think something like four ceos in the last four years. but this story can also date back to the beginning of the 21st century, i suppose. things like outsourcing their web site to amazon in 2001, and they didn't reclaim it until 2008. their ebook strategy was never at the same level as say amazon with the kindle, or barnes & noble with the nook. combining off the of the additional factors that h

gordon-reed is a history and law professor at harvard university, the author of the hearings is of monticello. his book -- her book on andrew johnson is part of the american president series. .. >> after his fall during the height of his power and his presidency. so that interested me. because i think that these final journeys of lincoln and davis are as important as other great american journeys like lewis and clark or even the journey to the moon because it created so many myths about what america is and what our history is. i don't think the civil war's over. we still discuss the issues that lincoln and davis argued about, and i thought about doing one book about each of these stories, one about the lincoln funeral train and the package gent and another about the -- pageant and another about the davis escape. lincoln would often visit georgetown alone, and as i walked that path that abraham lincoln walked, i realized as i looked to my left one of the sons of jefferson davis was buried there, and i realized that abraham lincoln had to walk past the grave of the son of jeff -- jefferson davi

he used this same volume to design monticello and he sold the early version to the library of congress see where he's marked calculations so he doesn't have to do it twice. there are letters, drawings. these are all filling in pieces of puzzles for historians. >> shirley, what do we take away from books as we look at the other ones? what do we learn about thomas jefferson with the discovery? >> the first thing that struck me was how important it was, how interesting and important it was that they be in st. louis. thomas jefferson did the louisiana purchase. >> right. >> and the -- and he sent lewis and clark there to find it. so finding the book was particularly appropriate. >> they will stay there for w? >> they will stay there, yes. >> ladies, congratulations on the sleuth work, uncovering the works belonging to thomas jefferson. ann lucas, shirley baker. thank you. >>> still ahead, the smartest ways to spend your tax refund. first this is "today" on nbc. >>> they may not be household names but thousands of men who accepted settle the west for african-american. mara schiavocampo has