Administrations he served as the pulitzer prizewinning lawrence wright. For a complete schedule of todays events you can visit the website at booktv. Org and follow us on twitter and ends the gram at booktv and facebook. Com booktv. We will be posting pictures and videos that you can watch exclusive videos on facebook. Beginning now we kick off the festival with former attorney general alberto gonzales, his book true faith and allegiance a story of service and sacrifice this is booktv live coverage of the texas book festival. [inaudible conversations] hello. Welcome to the 21st annual texas book festival. Thank you for coming out today in support of our authors, the festival and celebrating great literature. As you may know the book festival is a Nonprofit Organization that works to strengthen literacy by a wording grants and funding nationally recognized authors and illustrators in the title i schools and donating books to those students. By being here today, you are funding these important initiatives. Thank you very much. Please silence your cell phones, there is no flash photography allowed. The authors will be signing books after the session and books will be available in the tent. My name is clay johnson and i will be the moderator of the session today. We are here to hear from alberto gonzales, the author of this new book true faith and allegiance a story of service and sacrifi sacrifice. He served as attorney general, the white house senior counsel to the president , a member of the Texas Supreme Court and secretary of state of the state ostateof texas. Ive worked with him in austin and washington, d. C. And we both agreed it was such an honor and a privilege and hard work to work at the highest level of government in texas and washington, d. C. I thought i knew everything that had happened with the governor president bush was reading the book made me realize there is a depth and complexity i didnt know at all. I found the book inspiring and it was about the decisions that were made, how they were made and why they were made, and its also my opinion a wonderful book becoming a Supreme Court justice, the attorney general of the United States coming from the background he did in houston and hold time and time again only happens in america and the form of government that we have only exists in america. Its a wonderful read that i am a little biased because ive known him a long time and ive worked with president bush also. Lets get on with the discussion of alberto gonzales. Whats your story. [laughter] with me begin by thanking you for hosting us for this visit. We are delighted to be back in austin and we have such wonderful memories and we are delighted to see so many old friends and we are grateful that you are here this morning to participate in this discussion. I really have lived the American Dream and as youve read my book wilyou will get a better appreciation of that. I know there are people in the audience, hundreds of thousands whove lived a similar story. I was one of eight children growing up in a small two bedroom house, didncommitted ie telephon, didnt have atelephonr in high school and from there, to be the son of a father the second grade education and mother who had a sixthgrade education but from the air going into the air force, serving as a veteran and going to the air force academy and then Harvard Law School and then i met a guy named george w. Bush and he gave me several opportunities that clay has mentioned. But this journey of mine has been tremendous and i hope to help others realize what is possible in america. Im often asked whats it like to work in the white house. Whats it like to have walkin privileges into the oval office and stand in front of the same desk used by Franklin Roosevelt during world war ii when he worked with winston churchill, the same desk used by jfk, the same desk used by ronald reagan. What is it like to stand in front of the desk and advise the president whpresident who he sht to the Supreme Court, was it like to stand on the evening of the porch 9 11 and watch as marine one brings president bush back at the end of the day. What is it like to be involved in discussions of the situation room on the most controversial issues as an american citizen there was no greater privilege and i cant imagine a greater thrill than being there for the birth of a child to served in that capacity. At the white house is the most recognizable 18 acres in the world and people come from all over the world to catch a glimpse. Why is it so important and special, because the most powerful person in the world is making decisions every day. Myself, clay, so many other dedicated americans have a privilege to serve in the white house and with this president george w. Bush. There were so many things covered as i said earlier in÷÷÷÷ such detail. Talk about the many things revealed in detail than i ever knew about. Talk about the biggest revelations in your mind that were written about and addressed in the book they would find new insights and understanding abo about. Within a week after 9 11, president bush addressed a joint session of congress. There was a great uncertainty that we all remember and a time of unity and pride. Justice thomas came up to them and said right hole in the saddle. And from my perspective he did just that in the weeks, months and years following the standing tall for the United States. Every time the president addresses the nation it is a pretty big deal. As you know every time that members of the cabinet and the leadership together, one person has to stay away and that is the designated survivor or a part of the plan so if theres a catastrophe and everyone is killed, someone is alive to serve as president of the United States. In 2007 i was advised before the state of the union, at that time the attorney general, that i would be the designated survivor and i was given a couple options about what i could do and the choice i made required me to spend an evening on an airplane and i remember arriving at Andrews Air Force base and they are too greasy there were thick binders and classified procedures to advise me if the unthinkable happened. As we took off i received a number of classified briefings and then i settled in to watch the state of the union and as he spoke it hit me the magnitude of the moment and i advised president george w. Bush so i had some pretty big moments before but sitting there on that airplane it suddenly hit me what would happen if as i said the unthinkable happened. So the president concludes his speech and leaves the capital and we are ordered to return back to Andrews Air Force base. My duty now it is probably the closest ive ever been to being your president of the United States. [laughter] one other story, from the transition of the presidency, from the time i served as white House Counsel he told me i want to be ready for Supreme Court vacancies. So we began working with the department of justice in developing a short list of candidates. It was widely speculated in the media and in the community that president bush wanted to appoint the first hispanic to the Supreme Court and because of my relationship with george w. Bush and the positions i held having served as the justic justice one Supreme Court there was speculation president bush would appoint me to the Supreme Court, so we prepared for a vacancy and the story continued to percolate that no vacancy occurred. Come the end of the first term, he nominates me an the bank cond an event on july 1, we get the word, i get a call and she calls me to say we have a vacancy. Chief Justice Rehnquist has cancer, we monitored the situation and expected we were preparing for a vacancy. So i get to the white house and there i am met by a small group of individuals to make final recommendations about who he would appoint to the Supreme Court. That would be the Vice President , the chief of staff, the council, mysel council, mysy general and karl rove. So i arrive at the oval office and everyone is there except for andy whos been traveling but he is on the phone over teleconference and we talk about how we are going to prepare to roll out this announcement and help the president makes a decision and we talked about half an hour and we all get up to leave it president bush says will you stay behind. So im in the office with the Vice President and the president and before i can even sit down president bush says im not going to put you on the court. Youre doing a great job as the justice. I need to keep you at the department of justice. So my Immediate Response was of course i was disappointed. It would have been an honor to be the first hispanic on the Supreme Court but my response was fairly simple which was u. Owe me nothing, i owe you everything. Im grateful for the appointment of the attorney general and i look forward to getting your nominee confirmed. I left and i remember that day the story increased about me possibly going on the court. Becky and i met for dinner that evening and i said ive got something to tell you. The first thing i said was im not going on the Supreme Court and in a sense there was somewhat of a relief. To leave washington, d. C. Hopefully to come back to texas and it freed me up to do my job as attorney general, not having thathe pressure of possibly beig the nominee. But then i gave her the second bit of news and i said tomorrow im going to iraq. She said what and of course we minimized the number of people that know about the kind of travel because of security reasons. I think she probably felt better and safer. [laughter] but i think that history will look back at the appointment of john roberts and samuel alito and conclude the decisions. You have read different reviews of the boat and there is a lot of candor about everything in the book and you talk in a couple of cases that you know your job isnt a game of perfect but if you had to do it all over again, theres a couple things you would probably do differently. Why dont you talk about in the sense im often asked if i have any regrets in things i would do differently. You need to appreciate how hard these jobs are and people at the highest levels are going to make mistakes as these are the most difficult decisions you could possibly imagine. It would be great to be able to change the decisions and wouldnt life be great if we had do overs. I was back and we gave recommendations about the authority and commander of chief dealing with american citizens in the war on terror and the Supreme Court issued decisions that said the president s authority as commander in chief doesnt extend that far. Obviously we would provide different advice to the president so he wasnt take certain kinds of actions. Im not generally in the habit of categorizing or listing the things we would do over. Very quickly one thing i once wrote a memo certainly as a draft talking about the implications of the Geneva Convention and i happened to mention that the same sentence to provisions of the Geneva Conventions were claimed and i wasnt talking about the purpose, but simply the provisions in the Geneva Convention that say prisoners of war, yes provided an athletic uniforms and access to scientific instruments and give them a monthly allowance, stuff the American People wouldnt stand for those kind of privilege is being given t to tr purpose just killed 2,000 americans that any event, if god it was leaked and they thought i was being critical in the Geneva Convention which nothing further could have been from the truth and the lesson i learned is to minimize the amount of information you put in writing be careful about your emails and as we now know today that is a shame because it is hard for historians to come back after the fact and develop an accurate history of the decisions that are made and the reasons for that decision. What prompted you to write the book and then how did you write the book, i tried to write a book and decided i was not capable. I decided to write the book because of concerns on some of the rhetoric and the decisions made. What i try to do is give the background and details and decisions on the application of the Geneva Convention and why did we choose guantanamo bay. What about the enhanced interrogation technique. So there were a lot of stories and conflicting ideas and opinions about these things and i just thought it would be important to set the record straight from the perspective of one of the lawyers involved in the key recommendations. The other reason i wrote the book if i wanted my son to know what their dad. And why. That was important for me as an individual and in terms of the process of writing it i began after i left office so many years ago in 2007 and started writing handwritten chapters. I wrote the entire book handwritten. I would ask my wife from time to time to type it up and eventually we may have had five or six chapters but i wasnt making much progress so it sat there. It was hard in terms of what to include and what not to include. By the time i got to tennessee two years ago or so, i met an individual who then involved in writing and code writing over 70 or 80 bucks and he lived just down the road from me. We got together and he said i can help you finish your story. With his help i was finally able to get the work completed. For those of you that havent written a book even if its something you think you know a lot about, it is incredibly hard and it takes a great deal of patience and courage to go back through all of the controversial things i went through to relive that was difficult for me but anyway also very prosodic to talk about it. It was hard, but i am so glad that i did it, but i am so glad that its over. There is so much detailed. Long quote from said blog. I often was the only full year in the room. Every council in the room if the president is going to Say Something i want to make sure it is accurate so that someone wouldnt Say Something he didnt say. And with others when youre sitting in these meetings someone may Say Something provocative or funny and it sticks with you and later on i might write it down. Often times i wrote notes on my calendar to remind me about certain incidents and conversations but im very comfortable if i put quotes in the book, my perspective and my recollection others might have different recollections and perspectives. The other thing that complicated the writing of the book it took about two months because we talk about a lot of sensitive information. There may be some parts that are not as clear to you as you would expect and the government asked me or told me not to say things in the same way so in order to accommodate their desires, changes were made in the book and that complicated the editing process and publication schedu schedule. Does anyone else have a question they would like to ask, we have a card. Talk about your family, your mother. Im fascinated by that. And your mother watching you and how many siblings . Eight children total growing up. Talk about that. My mom is a typical hispanic mother of a strong catholic in her face, disciplinary and. She ruled the household and still alive today, shes 84 and lives in the house my dad built and i grew up in. I told a story about my mom, my dad died in my last semester in law school and my mom came to visit me when i was still working in the white house and we did with all the tourists do. I took her to the monuments and museums but i also took her to the oval office. I wanted to show this little woman about what i had accomplished because of her sacrifices and the sacrifices of my father. When i was a boy we had a daily ritual but im sure many of you know. I wanted to have breakfast with my dad before he went to work so my mom would wake me up so i could have breakfast and we always had the same thing, eggs and tortillas. My mom would always make the same lunch, beans and tortillas and this was our daily ritual but anyway, fast forward to dc. I took my mom to the oval office and then on her last day of the visit she was making breakfast for me just what shed done like every day for my dad that i wasnt wearing blue jeans and a hard hat going to construction like my father. I had my suit on, i was going to work at the white house to advise the most powerful person in the world. Think about the wonder that must have filled her heart, she is to the coffin as a younger girl to the oval office, thats the american story and gods grace when i look back on my life. The author speaking after you is talking about immigration and this has been a topic of conversation to put it mildly in this president ial race. Talk about immigration policy. Youve written a book on that. Probably sold two copies i think my wife and my mom. [laughter] but anyway, listen, i may hispanic and former officer with this tension that exists in the politics of immigration an immif that is we are a nation of immigrants but also a nation of law. So we have to accommodate these two principles that make america unique. In this book i do talk about the things that i would urge the congress to consider. I do believe that we need comprehensive immigration reform, one that is permanent but only the president can give us and that has more security and workplace enforcement and recognizes we are a nation of immigrants, we are compassionate and there have to be exceptions for the circumstances of family relations and situations. What do we do about the people that are brought here by children, what kind of opportunities to the bring them. These are all complicated issues and i get it. Everyone who cares about this isnt going to get everything they want in any kind of immigration bill. Everyone has to compromise in order to get something done because in the end become so politicized. I know you will hear a lot more about immigration from other speakers and i think its an important topic and i wo