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Tavis: Karenna Gore-Schiff is the eldest child of Al and Tipper Gore. In 2000, she worked on her father's Presidential campaign as chairperson of the youth outreach program. She would go on to become the first daughter in U.S. history to official announce her father's nomination at the Democratic National Convention.

She's out now with her first book called, "Lighting the Way, Nine Women Who Changed Modern America.' Karenna, I'm honored to have you on this program.

Karenna Gore-Schiff: Thank you, Tavis.

Tavis: It's nice to meet you.

Gore-Schiff: Thank you, it's really great to be here.

Tavis: Do you know how excited I was to pick up a book where anybody lists Ida B. Wells Barnett as of one of the women who changed modern America? I just have never thought, as a student of Black history, and a student of American history, period, 'cause this ain't Black history, this is American history. I never thought she got her props, so to speak. Talk to me about how and why you came to value and embrace her story in the way that I'm glad you did?

Gore-Schiff: Well, I agree. I think Ida B. Wells Barnett was one of the great intellects and real movers and shakers of the late nineteenth and American twentieth century, actually. And she was really so far ahead of her time. In 1883, she refused to get off of a train car, saying that she had bought a first-class ticket. And when she was asked to move to the Negro car, she fought back.

She brought legal challenges, and eventually was not successful. But had that feisty sense of justice, and went on to expose and fight lynching, and as one contemporary put it, shook this country like an earthquake in doing so. And really changed, really put a spotlight on that issue.

Tavis: Yeah. This is number nine. 'Nine Women Who Changed Modern America' begs the obvious question. So many to choose from, so little space.

Gore-Schiff: No, that's true. And I wanted to be able to get to know each one and go in depth, and kind of set the context and the scene in which they were working. So, I had cast the net pretty wide, and at one point, I had about 23 women. And I thought, well, no one's going to buy a book this big. (laugh) And so I really focused on those who were not as well known.

Who were behind the major political movements of modern America, and also who were just colorful and interesting to me personally. And it felt like organizing a dinner party at one point. I thought, well, how many is too many, and who can't be next to each other, and who's too much alike? But I ended up with these, and they are my heroines.

Tavis: Let me ask a strange question. Is it your belief, your sense, that were you not part of such an American political family, such a dynasty of a family in this country where politics is concerned, is it your belief that you would still have been interested in this kind of stuff where our politics and country is concerned?

Gore-Schiff: Well, that's an interesting question. It is a hard one. I think I would have still been interested, because at this point I could probably say all right, you know what, I'm just going to leave that stuff to my dad, (laugh) and go off and do my own thing and not worry about politics or political history. But I certainly bring the sensibility that I grew up with to this book.

And I bring the sort of the emotions from the ups and downs that we've had, in terms of my family's political careers. And this book really came about after 2000 and the feeling I had of real sort of disappointment, but wanting to fight the cynicism that I think is so pervasive about politics. And reconnect to what I'd always loved about politics. And that's what these stories are.

Tavis: From being the first daughter to introduce her father into the nomination for the Democratic party, to this book written about nine women who changed modern America, tell me how, what's the word I wanna use here? How important, how necessary it was for you to have to write, or to choose to write a book about women and their contribution, who are so often overlooked where this country is concerned?

Gore-Schiff: Yeah. I really felt, ever since I was a young girl, that there should be more female faces in the history books. And that there were probably more women doing things of real political consequence than made it into the limelight. So I really wanted to look for their stories. And I just found that Ida B. Wells begins the book.

And she, in her day, shared with W.E.B. Dubois and Frederick Douglass. Incredible men. But always maintaining her own independent voice. She was a journalist and just a really powerful advocate. And she begins the book, and I go through Mother Jones, who was also just a very colorful political character in her day.

And I really enjoyed spotlighting these women and sort of showing, I think, to women of all ages, because actually, some of these women made their strongest marks in their sixties and seventies. But really sort of showing that women have always had political power, have always been political leaders. It's not really sort of a new concept.

It's just that they often did it in unconventional roles, not in the traditional roles of authority. Which I think actually made them more imaginative and innovative in many ways, in building movements from the ground up.

Tavis: Is it your sense, and this question again may sound a bit strange. Is it your sense, though, that women are being taken ever more seriously in this particular arena? I say it is a strange question because you got people like Hillary Clinton, who your family knows well, certainly talk about potentially running for President in '08.

And we see women senators, and we see women running companies, etcetera, etcetera. So, on the one hand, it would appear that women are being taken much more seriously in the running of our country. On the other hand, maybe I'm missing something, I don't know. What's your sense?

Gore-Schiff: No, I think that's true. I think they definitely are. And it's very healthy that women are being talked about in both parties as potential candidates. And I think it's a testament to the battles fought by previous generations. So, I think it's important to remember how we got where we are, and to really kind of pay tribute to those women that did open doors in many different ways. So I think that women really don't face the same barriers that most of the women in this book faced. And that's a great thing.

Tavis: What do you think, to your point, Karenna, what do you think those barriers are now, most principally, that women in a contemporary sense have to deal with?

Gore-Schiff: Well, I think it's important to pay attention to those who are economically struggling and facing the challenge of raising children at a time when they would also like to not only be making ends meet, but have a strong career. I think that that's an issue where, because women are still the primary caregivers to children, and there are so many single mothers, and there are so many people struggling with that, I think that the barriers are really more sort of socioeconomic in that way. And that it's really important that we meet the challenge of the day care crisis today, for instance, to help women have a leg up.

Tavis: You come from a family where women are strong, outspoken. Your mama, for one. (laugh)

Gore-Schiff: Yeah. Tell me about it.

Tavis: Yeah. (laugh) So, take me back right quick to where you were. I know where you were, but how young you were, what you were doing at the time that your mother became so well known for opposition to some of these lyrics? And some of this music.

Gore-Schiff: Well, I was about 12, 13, and I was really...

Tavis: So you were listening to the stuff she was rallying against?

Gore-Schiff: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And my main goal was to be cool, pretty much, at that point. And so, this definitely presented an obstacle. (laugh) And I was definitely, at the time, quite embarrassed. And I used to sort of just plead with her to stop. But now, of course, now that I have my own children, I'm thinking that maybe that wasn't such a bad idea.

There's that Mark Twain quote, I believe, about the older I got, the smarter my dad got. It was the strangest thing. (laugh) Which definitely rings true to me. But the other thing, though, about that, is that I sort of saw at that point my mother so criticized, but just in such a shrill way, where the image that was being presented of her was unrecognizable to the woman I knew.

So I also kind of internalized that as a lesson. That the media can do kind of things that distort political figures, in a way. And she became a very prominent public figure in those days. And in retrospect, I'm very proud of her, that she sort of stood her ground, even though she took a lot of flak.

Tavis: I've had occasion, as you know, over the years, to talk to your father any number of times. And I can only imagine what it must have been like for him navigating what happened in 2000. What was it like for you, for your siblings?

Gore-Schiff: Oh, well, first let me say my father thinks the world of you, and I know has been on your show many times, and says hello. But it was hard. It was hard. It was sort of a blow in many ways that I think did bring us closer, and we all sort of really kind of stuck together and supported each other in a way that I think has been very healthy for the family.

And we've all tried to kind of go off and do our own things, make our own marks. But really, we took our cue from my dad, who I think was so gracious and statesmanlike in trying to let the country heal those divisions and move on. And I'm very proud of the choices that he's made. But one of the reasons why I wrote this book was actually to kind of cope with the feeling that I still had, of feeling that sense of disappointment about politics and the process.

And the state of the debate, which I think there is way too much kind of spin and superficiality and cynicism. And this was my effort to kind of focus on the real substantive issues, that real heroines with no extraordinary power have moved this country forward. And often, it's the people at the top of the political process who are sort of the last to see that. So this book was very therapeutic for me, and I had fun writing it.

Tavis: Since you, Karenna, have been so up close and personal with how this system works, or doesn't work, as it were, are you sufficiently turned off to never want to be a part of it?

Gore-Schiff: No, I want to lead a political life. That's very important to me. And to me, that doesn't necessarily mean being a candidate. It means supporting candidates I believe in and being an advocate on issues that I really care about. I don't know if I'll ever run myself. And right now, I'm just sort of trying to get my four year old to sleep through the night (laugh) and maintain my sanity in some way.

Tavis: More important issues right now, yeah.

Gore-Schiff: Yeah, exactly. So, but further down the line, if that's a path that presents itself, I wouldn't rule it out. But I want to find other ways to be involved right now.

Tavis: Finally, what do you think is the vital lesson that people should take from a text about women who've changed modern America?

Gore-Schiff: The lesson is that women have always been on the frontlines of the major political challenges, and have changed our country for the better, even if it wasn't in the limelight. And so in the major movements, public health, Civil Rights, environmental conservation, workplace safety, in all of these areas, there were woman who were working to make change, to make progress, and change laws and policies, some of them before they could even vote, which is kind of amazing.

So I think the lesson is that women have always been political leaders. And these nine particularly haven't been afraid to take the unpopular viewpoint. Almost all were tracked by the FBI. Several were thrown in jail. And yet, we look back on what they did as moral triumphs.

Tavis: It is the new book by Karenna Gore-Schiff, "Lighting the Way, Nine Women Who Changed Modern America.'

Gore-Schiff: Thank you so much. Pleasure.

Tavis: That's our show for tonight. Catch me on the weekends on PRI, Public Radio International. Check your local listings. See you back here next time on PBS. Until then, good night from Los Angeles. Thanks for watching. And as always, keep the faith.