about strom thurmond's career. [laughter] but at the end of that item that was largely about the history of the filibuster, was this oblique statement, something like there are rumors or there is talk that thurmond is not as opposed to black people as it might seem, you know. so you can take that and say there were rumors published in 1948 when he was a presidential candidate that he had black cousins in edgefield. we also know that essie may was already enrolled in school in south carolina at that time and there are darty been rumors in the black community ever since then that she was the governor's daughter. and it comes up again and it happens after thurmond passes away when essie may holds a public news conference saying strom thurmond was my father. and they change the strom thurmond monument in california. at it was a black legislator in the assembly that said we have a name of the other four children on that monument so we should put essie may's name there too and they did. they change the monument. you know

simkin screwup across and was five years older than strom thurmond. and he wrote about two characters, with a name hog stews and his son, stone. and these fictional areas follow so exactly the real-life accomplishments of will and strong thurmond to make the pseudonym superfluous. simkin sivan flipped and referred to hogs do. despite the minor errors, the manuscript provides an intimate live on willem strom thurmond. simkin's treatment is relatively generous, describing holidays cold-blooded and his law practice, learned in the technicalities of the law without the remotest interest or impolite culture. he also pronounced him deserving of the honorary degree awarded him by the university of south carolina. he was man of moderation and charity who refuse to speak unkindly if anyone's at the town's most popular citizen for 40 years. yet the distinctive quality that emerges of pollock stoops was that of remarkably mature pics there. he rolled ventura county to machination so secret that went for decades kovalev under his authority without being aware of i

we remember strom thurmond as one of the last of the jim crow demagogues, and he was one that. but what we forget about thurmond, he was also one of the first of the sunbelt conservatives. what do i mean by that? what's a sunbelt conserve? the sun belt is one of the big stories -- one of the major stories in the history of 20th 20th century american politics, and that is the flow of jobs, of industries, of resources, and population, from the states of the northeast and the midwest to the south and the southwest, in the post-world war ii period. southern straights were recruiting industries, passing right to work law, receiving funding from the federal government to build military installations in a time when the united states was involved in a cold war against the soviet union. states like mississippi and georgia and texas and florida and southern california and arizona and north carolina are all being transformed the the post-world war ii period by this historic shift in population and political influence. think about it. this period from 1964 to 2008 could be thought of as kin

to do so gives a history of was strom thurmond america looks like. not only going it on in the south with the national conservative from. it helped us think history of modern conservatism of. mitt all may remember as the cartoonist ratio at -- racist figure from the south. >> you're watching booktv on c-span2. on location in las vegas at bally's hotel four freedomfest. of the annual event organized by this off there. mark, what is freedomfest? how did it come about? >> it is a renaissance gathering talk politics, philosophy, econom ics, science, technology, re ligion, healthy living. we get to a wide group, an investment conference conference, investors comment concerned citizens with a focus on political, economic and financial freedom. it is growing. we're bigger every year. 2,000 people are here. we're growing next year we will move to caesars palace with a larger facility and this team is are we roehm? it will be a controversial topic. >> host: is is sponsored by the libertarian party? are you libertarian? >> guest: i a hate labels i say treat ev

i guess because the small talk one made with strom strom thurmond. get him to his flight and shook his hand again. that was it. i thought about that story a lot as i have written this book. that story really the metaphor for the difficulty i had in writing about this -- the challenge i faced in writing about this very controversial figure. there's no easier or straightforward way to write about a figure as controversial as strom thurmond. sometimes as i've been reading the book we wondered if some of the stuff in the book is not another effort on my part to carry strom thurmond's back age. -- the challenge i had in the weak was to fight the urge not kind of, you know, simply walk away and not meet the man face to face, you know, and present him as a kind of three dimensional contract. a living breathing human being. that's the challenge i fashion. what i wanted to do, really, is write a book about -- write a history of strom thur monday's america in a way that critical but dissipation gnat wait. that would shed light on some of the issues that shape

at 8:00, joseph crepino talks about strom thurmond. at 8:45 eastern on the eleventh anniversary of september eleventh members of the first post 9/11 graduating class talk about their experiences in iraq and afghanistan. we wrap up tonight's programming with our weekly afterwards program. this week marguerite bluesman's latest book the invisible wounds of war. she discusses the high rate of post-traumatic stress disorder and veterans reintegration into society with democracy's amy goodman. visit booktv.org for more on this weekend's television schedule. diana carlin, theodore gutgold and nichola discuss olympia snowe, barbara mikulski and of elizabeth dole and why they have not been considered contenders for the presidency. this is just over an hour. >> thank you for coming out tonight. great to have you back. great to have you here as new friends. let me start tonight and ask you about your book on nine women. how did you select those nine women? >> the best answer is we could have looked at more, but within the confines of the vote yo

don't think you will be taken, i don't think that passes the laugh test of a we all know about strom thurmond and his career. so i was disappointed that "the wall street journal" felt that this man, who had a close relationship with thurmond, and had been employed by from. he admits that in the review, that they felt he was the best person to a fight with the book for the readers. i thought that was disappointing. >> he had no knowledge that -- [inaudible] bradley edwards was going to be -- they didn't tell you ahead of time that he was going to be the person? >> no. >> do you have any other papers like the new york times or anything that -- >> there were no other reviews. the "washington post," washington monthly, if you google strom thurmond america, you can find some. and you should. >> what's next? >> i don't know. i'm not sure. i just finished this one. i'm still trying to figure it out. [inaudible] >> no. thank you all for coming out. it's been a real pleasure up. [laughter] >> booktv has over 150,000 twitter followers. booktv on twitter to get publishing news, scheduled updates, author

what we all know about strom thurmond and his career. i would support "the wall street journal" who thought that this menu at a close relationship had been employed by thurmond. he had written that in the review and they thought he was the best person to evaluate the book for their readers. >> you have no knowledge of that being done at the time, that lee edwards was going to be -- they didn't tell you that he was going to be the person? >> no, no. >> did he have any other favors like "the new york times" or anything? >> "the washington post" and the "washington monthly." if you google strom thurmond's america you can find them, and you should. [laughter] >> what is next? >> i don't know. i just finished this one. i'm still trying to figure it out. that would be fascinating. thank you all for coming out. it's been a real pleasure. [applause] >> now on booktv members of the first post-9/11 u.s. naval academy graduating class talk about their experience in serving in iraq and afghanistan. this event held on september 11, 2012, was hosted b

reagan did best with college students, the people that were not born when strom thurmond was running. we want the south when the democrats died out. host: here's a question on twitter. guest: it is not about black people. it is a book about white liberals and how they lie. even when advances are made, they are back to demagogy white people and patronizing black people. host: ricardo, good morning. caller: how can your that cross around your neck after euratom abortion as a teenage girl? guest: what? do you have a call screener? host: there is a story about abortion in the paper and i thought i would bring it to the table. this is from "usa today" this morning. guest: well, i was not alive and in the argument back when the pill was being introduced. i do understand there were arguments mostly made by conservatives and christians with the wide availability of birth control and what have an increase in premarital sex which leads to venereal diseases and unwanted pregnancies. once you are 30 years down that road, the difference from 2008 to 2012 is really irrelevant. what the the narrow d

i was an aide for senator strom thurmond. i work in south carolina. right now i am very confused. i just feel very disappointed in the whole issue of the debates. if i go to one party and i will talk about -- the republican party right now is very confused. i had a lot more respect for them. i feel like they changed their platform, which is where i was leaning one month ago to were the republican party. i feel like the change the platform a guiding their party. i do not know why. i do know if it was because of the readings. is really making me feel as though they are going towards a platform now or towards the votes and not towards their own convictions, which is weighing me a little bit towards the middle. as we look at the factual information and we compare the two sites, i am sitting here now and looking at all of the things president obama or the democratic party have done for their side. he thinks women should have access to free preventative care and stuff like that, equality for all people, promoting and investing in clean energy, he thinks billionaires and millionaires sho

that was strom thurmond and he's the only one whose name you know.y. this is -- this lie is pulled off by describing the entire south as if it were one state. no, the outer southern states and the dixiecrat states in the middle. republicans -- and the southern strategy is this idea that republicans had a secretly appealed to the democratic segregationists and the dixiecrats and suddenly we swept the south. no. republicans swept the south when the dixiecrats died out. something that's provable by looking at the history. republicans had been winning the outer southern states. texas. tennessee. kentucky. west virginia. virginia. north carolina. and florida. since the 1920's. warren harding did pretty well there. her better hoover won most of those states. eisenhower twice. nixon in 1960. all of this you will know, this is before 1964. even when reagan won landslide elections, he did worse or actually lost the dixiecrat states and who did reagan do best with in the south? college students. the people in the south who weren't even born when strom thurmond

retaken controls of the united states, so the chairman of the judiciary committee was no longer strom thurmond, but was instead a young senator from delaware named joseph biden. and biden engineered a really meticulous examination of orcs record. and bork to his credit, perhaps to his regret, engaged the senators in discussion of how he felt about the issues, and it became clear he felt the civil rights act, a thomas just think, he thought there was no such thing as a right to privacy to the constitution, and the senate by a vote of 58-42 said to conservative and he was voted down. ronald reagan nominated instead to that seat anthony kennedy, who was serving a liberal but was certainly no robert bork either. and he has had a long and distinguished career as, now the swing vote on the court. and that really, that set, that really set up the rehnquist years. accord which i wrote about in my last book, "the nine," and when i started looking at the supreme court in a serious way as a writer, i was inspired by book that i'm sure is familiar to many of you called the brethren by scott armstrong and

we thinking strom thurmond helps us rethink the history of modern conservative. a history that thurmond is left out of. we only remember him as cartoonish racist fig you from the deep south. . . read the book and i have got parts to argue with on that question, men are in trouble. give us the premise of the disaster. >> host: men are having a harder time adapting to the economy and women are adapting wisely. i can tell you why. just to say to this period entry, then as education and credentials of the kami is fast-changing and who knows what it's going to throw at us. women seems to get getting those credentials at a faster rate than men are and they tend to be more nimble and that filters down into our society so in the book i talk about how that changes marriage and fatherhood in what manner he can and can't do in families and how young people have and make decisions and so you really start to see it having an influence in our culture. >> host: give me some of the numbers. i think many people, we have heard for so many years if there's a crisis with girls and t

some letters, this one from strom thurmond who at that time was secretary pro tiem of the senate, congratulatingell on his quote re-election although it was really his first election. we continue to get materials from senator mitchell's office. he now has a law firm in new york city and is still getting awards and generating material through his career. so these things come to us over time. in 1990, having just been elected to the senate majority leader mitchell was involved in 1990 in the clean air act in this was a letter from george h. w. bush thanking him for his collaboration and succeeding in getting that legislation passed. the 1990 amendment was important for us today. we pay $4 a gallon for gas. it was the amendment that discussed the composition of gas and the introduction of chemicals during certain seasons of the year in order to make cleaner air. and then a sample of mitchell's writing style. there are their researchers to come because they are interested in particular topics but there are also people who come because they are interested in particular techniques or purchase. some pe

reagan did best with college students, the people that were not born when strom thurmond was running. we want the south when the democrats died out. host: here's a question on twitter. guest: it is not about black people. it is a book about white liberals and how they lie. even when advances are made, they are back to demagogy white people and patronizing black people. host: ricardo, good morning. caller: how can you wear that cross around your neck after your abortion as a teenage girl? guest: what? do you have a call screener? host: there is a story about abortion in the paper and i thought i would bring it to the table. this is from "usa today" this morning. guest: well, i was not alive and in the argument back when the pill was being introduced. i do understand there were arguments mostly made by conservatives and christians with the wide availability of birth control and what have an increase in premarital sex which leads to venereal diseases and unwanted pregnancies. once you are 30 years down that road, the difference from 2008 to 2012 is really irrelevant. what the venereal di

that was strom thurmond. he's the only one whose name you know.trategy this lie is pulled off by describing the entire south as if it were one state. no, there are the outer southern states and the dixie craft states in the middle. i guess i should say the southern strategy is this idea that republicans secretly appealed the democratic segregation for the dixie kratz and suddenly we swept the south. republicans of the south when the dixiecrats died out, something that's proveable by looking at the history, republicans were winning the outer southern states, texas, tennessee, kentucky, west virginia, virginia, north carolina and florida since the 1920's. warren harding did pretty well there. herbert hoover won most of those states. eisenhower twice. in this case snon 1960 all of this you'll notice is before 1964. even when regan -- nixon in 1960. all of this, you'll notice is before 1964. even when regan won, he did best with the college students in the south. the people in the south who weren't even born when strom thurmond was running and who wer

of the reasons why we have the kind of faux filibusters now instead of the good old-fashioned strom thurmond speaks for 24-hour filibusters of our youth -- david and i were in grad school together quite a while ago -- is that congress didn't do that much in the good old days, that, i mean, it is just remarkable to see what wasn't on the congressional agenda in the late '50s or even '60s. they didn't have to worry about national education policy, national energy policy except for the oil depletion allowance. terrorism policy. you just go down a whole litany of things that the modern congress -- which incidentally has consisted the same number of people as in 1959 when hawaii entered the union. so you have more people trying -- or the same number of people trying to do so much more than they ever did, that filibusters of any kind just kind of destroy the institution. but i think that's one reason why the idea of returning to the old-fashioned filibuster won't work. let me say one final thing, though, about watergate. watergate is a tribute to the upside of politically-divided government. that

you can mention him in the same breath as ted kennedy, strom thurmond and others. >> that says a lot.ntegrity and president obama says that he was a fighter whose toughness and determination helped to inspire others. arlen specter, 82 years old, services are being held in pennsylvania tomorrow. >> steve: all right. thank you very much. born in wichita, kansas and grew up in russell, kansas, the home of bob dole. >> brian: he's been on this couch a couple of times and on the radio for a while. >> steve: 25 minutes before the top of the morning. she did not throw her hat in the ring this time around, but former alaska governor sarah palin won't rule out running for president some day. >> we have a good track record, having served in the past local, state level of government, really engaging in the reentwhistleless reform that's needed, clean up ethics and reining in the growth of government. i think i could put some of that experience to good use on a national level. >> steve: asked if she would consider an all female ticket, palin said, quote, wouldn't that be cool? it would be. >> bri

of the reasons why we have the kind of faux filibusters now instead of the good old-fashioned strom thurmond speaks for 24-hour filibusters of our youth -- david and i were in grad school together quite a while ago -- is that congress didn't do that much in the good old days, that, i mean, it is just remarkable to see what wasn't on the congressional agenda in the late '50s or even '60s. they didn't have to worry about national education policy, national energy policy except for the oil depletion allowance. terrorism policy. you just go down a whole litany of things that the modern congress -- which incidentally has consisted the same number of people as in 1959 when hawaii entered the union. so you have more people trying -- or the same number of people trying to do so much more than they ever did, that filibusters of any kind just kind of destroy the institution. but i think that's one reason why the idea of returning to the old-fashioned filibuster won't work. let me say one final thing, though, about watergate. watergate is a tribute to the upside of politically-divided government. that