he has served on active duty with the united states army and the republic of vietnam. his decorations include the bronze star medal, three air medals, the army commendation medal, the combat infantry badge which he is worry in his lapel tonight. and the vietnamese gallantry cross with a silver star for valor. a graduate of boston university school of law, he is also a master's degree in taxation. which a number of us may need tonight after winning a number of those awards. and he is also an adjunct professor at roger williams university of law, and being from the army, it is very difficult for me to say this, the united states naval war college in rhode island, it is a hardship because you know how bad they beat the army team every first week in the summer. he is listed as one of america's 500 leading judges and law dragon, and he has been married

since 1966 to the former virginia, elizabeth miller. i knew he had to have a southern connection in there somewhere. judge, if you will so onerous. [applause] >> thank you very much. it is an honor to be here. i don't know about the few appropriate remarks though. i wish i could be briefed. prime minister george canning was once asked by a preacher how he enjoyed the sermon, and canning replied, you were briefed. the preacher said i like to avoid being tedious. to which the prime minister said, you were also tedious. [laughter] >> so brevity is no guarantee of success. well, maria, you've done a great job with this group.

i commend you for it. for preserving our heritage and the legacy of your dear husband. that means a lot to all of us. and i thank all of you for supporting the memory of lincoln. especially the hard and noble work of maria and her late husband. as we look to november 20 -- 1861, but in 2011, as you said will be the anniversary. because abraham lincoln, contrary to what our generations for most military historian john keegan has written in his new american civil war, his book, this british military historian's great book on our civil war, lincoln did visit his armies in the field. some 11 times, and he spent 42

days in their camps. and to media, by the way, on this historic site, despite your wedding 52 years ago, paul and brenda, was lincoln president, to? [laughter] >> this is a great, this is the great home of the original where lincoln arrived on february 23, from baltimore disguised and criticized for being disguised because there was, there was an assassination plot that had been uncovered to kill him in baltimore when the trains transferred from one station to the other. and he greeted, dignity, the peace conference that was going on, led by the former president tyler. it was not successful. it couldn't be that it was too late then. and here, here he revised his of critical inaugural address, and

took some of the suggestions from his secretary of state, designate william h. seward, who wanted the job as president. particularly the last two paragraphs. remember them? in your hands my dissatisfied countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war the government will not assail you give. you can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressor. you have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the government. walleye shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it. i am loath to close, we are not in any but friends. we must not be enemies. though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.

the mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave in every living heart and hearth stone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. if there ever was an icon that stood for everything, it is abraham lincoln. he is remembered for his courage and leadership, his peacefulness in compassion, his patriotism and devotion to the union. and his ability to lead the nation through civil war. his role in this country's collective memory is a measurable. what we're talking about today is memory and have it is best presented by historians and

writers who make the past relevant. no president has such a hold on our minds as abraham lincoln. he lived at the dawn of photography and his pinecone face makes a haunting picture. he was the best writer in all of american politics, and his words are even more powerful than his images. today's politicians continue to invoke abraham lincoln at every opportunity. take, for instance, president obama who took a page from lincoln spoken by appointing a so called team of rivals to his cabinet. if the past is prologue for what the future holds, society can only benefit from lincoln. and the lessons that his legacy teaches us. although lincoln is so revered today, this does not always the

case. before his death, lincoln was only a moderately popular president. there were times when lincoln was the object of far more hatred than love. in the election of 1860, lincoln took only 39 percent of the popular vote, the second lowest percentage of anyone ever elected to the presidency. lincoln's popularity grew during his presidency, but he still had his critics, which included cyrus f. mccormick, inventor of the farm reaper. and samuel morse, inventor of the telegraph. probably more than $1 million in the north who believed in the justice of the southern cause. notwithstanding, lincoln was also accumulating an increasing number of supporters. today, lincoln seems to be even more popular than he was immediately following his death.

reflecting on that trend, u.s.a. today has remarked, yes, abraham lincoln is hot. scholars say even he would be amused. from magazine covers to the fronts of t-shirts, from booksignings to museum openings, honest abe is center stage. lincoln is remembered as the leader who spoke the enduring words at gettysburg that students once memorized. the story of which is so splendidly told in the gettysburg gospel. the commander in chief who reunited the nation by winning the civil war and the chief executive who was constantly ranked highest among all american presidents, thanks in part to historians and writers. lincoln's popularity has managed to transcend both time and place, because lincoln is many

things to different people. we know him, don't wait, as lincoln the lawyer, lincoln the great emancipator, lincoln the politician and president, lincoln the commander-in-chief. historians and lincoln scholars have written not only about lincoln and his different roles, but also about lincoln's personal life. his marriage, his sexual preferences, his religion, and his alleged medical and psychological problems. his greatest trial, the civil war, was the nation's greatest trial. and the race problem that caused it is still with us today. his death by murder gave his life a pointed and violent climax, and allows us to play the always fascinating game of what if. abraham lincoln did great

things, greater than anything done by theodore roosevelt or franklin delano roosevelt. he freed the slaves and saved the union. and because he saved the union, he was able to free the slaves. beyond this, however, our extraordinary interest in him, and esteem for him, has to do with what he said and how he said it. and much of this had to do with the union, what it was and why it was worth the saving. he saved it by fighting and winning the war, of course. but his initial step in this was the decision to go to war, not a popular decision, and surly not an easy one. his predecessor, the incompetent james buchanan, believed that the states had no right to secede from the union, but there

was nothing he could do about it if they did. dust by the time lincoln took office, seven southern states had succeeded, nothing had been done about it. led by south carolina, they claim to be doing only what they and the others had done in 1776. to oppose them might bring on the war, and began had no stomach for this. lincoln knew that the time to come when the only way to save the union was to go to war. but could he say so and retained the support of the people who had voted for him? for abolitionists, slavery was a sin, and the slaveholders centers. but they're leading spokesman, william lloyd garrison, who was an old friend of the union, he said the constitution was a covenant with death and in

agreement with hell. during the fort sumpter crisis, garrison said, all the union saving efforts are simply idiotic. it is not by chance that one of lincoln's best speeches, was delivered on a battlefield on the occasion of dedicating a cemetery for those who fought, died and were buried there. we remember. lincoln says that the brave men living and dead who struggled on this ground, this battlefield, have consecrated it better than he or anyone else could. their cause was great and noble. we also remember lincoln saying that their work was unfinished, and that we, the living, should highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. that this nation, under god, shall have a new birth of

freedom. and the government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth. we remember everything he said, and we remember it because he took great pains to say it beautifully. we also remember his second inaugural address, especially the concluding paragraph, the pointy beauty of it. with malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness and the right as god gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in. to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among

ourselves and with all nations. six weeks later, he was murdered. we say that a man can be known by the company he keeps. a nation, a people, can be known and be judged by its heroes whom it honors above all others. we pay ourselves the greatest compliment when we say that abraham lincoln is batman for us. so, we celebrate the bicentennial of his birth with fanfare and reverence. after 200 years, he still looks good. i can only hope on my 200th birthday i look as good. [laughter] >> in 1922, h. l. mencken was told by a publisher, there are four kinds of books that never, under any circumstances, lose money in the united states.

first, detective stories. secondly, novels in which the heroine is forcibly be bashed by the hero. [laughter] >> thirdly, volume some spiritualism, of cultism and other such claptrap. and fourthly, books on lincoln. [laughter] >> times change. so do profits. but not apparently when you're talking about books about abraham lincoln. and ethical american event, his 200th birthday, is being mocked by an inundation of new lincoln books, the likes of which, few of us have ever seen. between 1865 and 2009, well over 14,000 titles, and more than 2000 juvenile books on lincoln have been published. launching a new biography of lincoln in 1922, the former

united states senator albert j. beverage denied that the last word on lincoln had already been written by arguing that the first word has not been pinned. today, the first words are still being written. lincoln books emerge with ever greater frequency. once a week, as every generation seeks to discover lincoln for himself. itself. in some ways the past two decades have been a golden age of lincoln scholarship. theodore roosevelt complained frequently that his times had denied him greatness because he could not preside during world war i. a man has to take advantage of his opportunities, he said, after leaving office here but the opportunities have to come.

if lincoln had lived in times of peace, no one would know his name now. not only have authors continue to write about lincoln, but they have managed to find new and unexplored topics upon which to base their works. although the traditional themes are still discussed, biographers have focused increasingly on lincoln's personal life, and explore the little-known aspects. in recent years, this is morphed into a kind of pseudo-scholarly debugging in which we have been asked to revise, mostly in the negative, our understanding of not only his political skills and religious beliefs, but also his marital relations, his sexual preferences, and his racial views. there has always been a constant obsession with his health. in addition to his well-known

melancholia, attributed in part to the death of his mother, the death of his purported fiancé, and interpersonal problems with his wife, mary, as well as political challenges and failures, there are also tales that lincoln suffered from constipation. and upset stomach, and even syphilis. some have theorized that lincoln suffered from barfing syndrome, a genetic disorder characterized by long limbs and fingers, typically tall stature and a predisposition to melancholy cardiovascular abnormal trees, and sudden death. more recent reports suggest that lincoln did not suffer from marfan at all but from something called multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type two. [laughter] >> a rare condition in which several endocrine glands develop tumors.

it is a wonder with all these health ailments that lincoln ever got anything done. or lived past 30. but we haven't always explored lincoln's personal life and health problems. the first birth to death works were published very soon after his death. these writings contain very little analysis about lincoln. instead, they were largely anecdotal, focusing on individuals and their interaction with him. landmark biographers of lincoln are many. carl sandburg, 1926 and 1939 with his prairie years and war years. james g. randall, 1945 to 1955. benjamin p. thomas in 1952. stephen b. oates in 1977 and david donald in 1995, just to name five.

in any case, biographers can hardly shirk from inspecting lincoln's mind when so much of his revolutionary contribution to american life stems from his moral responsibilities. for its nuanced view of such key aspects of lincoln's leadership, ronald c. white junior's new a lincoln, a biography, has been praised expansively. while and as him, lincoln began to study law on his own, he passed the illinois bar examination, such as it was, in 1836, and left to work as a lawyer in springfield. over the next 24 years, primarily through his work on the eighth judicial circuit, he became one of the most respected attorneys and illinois. much of lincoln's approach to his later actions as president of the united states was

grounded in his hands on experience with the law. link and the lawyer by brian. , gives a realistic view of what it was like to be a lawyer in illinois at this time. and mark steiner, in his and on his collar, the law practice of abraham lincoln, tells us that lincoln the lawyer was busy, busy, and supported alternative dispute resolution mediation. before that term was even invented. attention has also been paid to a far briefer period in lincoln's career. william c. jack davis is lincoln's the man, a printer on how lincoln evolves into commander in chief and the impact of his short three-month stint in the militia. he never forgot his military experience. and that this helped him understand soldiers who served during the civil war.

this is a great companion read to james mcpherson's tried by war and craig simons lincoln and his admirals, both of which one this year is lincoln prize from the lincoln and soldiers institute at gettysburg college. the illinois historic preservation agency in pursuing its documentation project of lincoln's life, is dispatched a team of researchers to pore over every likely repository in the land. in about 2013, the agency will issue papers covering lincoln's birth to his inauguration. and by about 2020, it will release his presidential papers, not just everything he wrote, but also everything of any importance that was written to him. the project has already casting light on details of lincoln's legacy, such as his presidential government of the district of columbia.

still, the scholarship on the 16th president are already so vast, can we expect such building to bring in major revisions of the lincoln story? along with much documentary work, has come a stock taking of controversies of recent decades. what kind of religious person was lincoln? more than washington and jefferson, who were essentially the us. was he a racist? a pragmatist who presided over a war he did not want, but which created the conditions that allowed him to write the emancipation proclamation. was he gay? unlikely, despite much speculation during the 1990s. was his wife, mary lincoln, as horde add their marriage has been portrayed? increasingly, clearly. yes. know, and maybe.

[laughter] >> narrowly tailored studies abound in the new literature. cochair of the u.s.a. for lincoln bicentennial commission is winning praise for fresh take on lincoln's activities between his election and inauguration. we call it, because he makes a compelling case that the president-elect was no denver between november and march, but rather shrewd and principled as he waged war to prevent southern secession. post-bicentennial publishing inevitably will slow choose as a dead after the 1960s boom around the centennial of the civil war. just all specialists agree, every generation finds new lenses through which to view lincoln, the american president. as fred kaplan, author of the well-received lincoln biography

of a writer puts it, does the book buying and book reading public have an insatiable appetite for lincoln? well, semi-insatiable. today's historians are more critical of our 16th president. rather than offer praise, biographers tend to expose flaws in lincoln's characters, his presidency, and his accomplishments. he has been accused of abusing american civil rights and liberties, exceeding presidential powers, falsely leading the country into war and causing americans to die because of a war that should never have been fought. criticism aside, authors are constantly striving to find a new book, a new way to tell lincoln story. perhaps the most intriguing of recent developers is a tendency to compare lincoln stein to modern day.

historians ask and seek to answer the question, what would lincoln do if faced with the troubles that our culture is facing and confronting today? can we look to lincoln for guidance? what can lincoln, his mistakes and his victories, teach today's leaders? what accounts for this phenomenon? the answer to meet his leadership. to date there are more than 900 leadership studies programs at american colleges and universities. they study the great man theory, the belief that dom and personalities shaped the course of history. and our man continues to lead the pack. link improved that the highest grace can be obtained by a person of ordinary origins. cup or pork, immigrant from hungary after the revolution there in 1956, appropriately

calls it the right to rise. the leadership with which lincoln guided this country during its darkest hour is the reason we are still trying to connect with him. as for the issue of civil liberties, an issue that probably faces our country today, lincoln's actions offer some guidance in what has been called our national security state. habeas corpus, which he suspended, had been important to the founders of this country. long before lincoln's time. yet, lincoln demonstrated that even though he felt it necessary to suspend the great writ, he still found good use of using the writ in serving as a legal instrument to free slaves. lincoln was able to effectively balance these competing freedoms.

to understand lincoln's use of the war power and the constitution, i recommend daniel farber's, lincoln and the constitution, and brian begin teasing, lincoln and the court that lincoln's leadership style is one of america's greatest gift to democracy. due to the universal nature of his character. lincoln remains an everlasting contemporary as his life highlights the continuity of past and present. as a society, we have adapted his identity to accommodate new concerns, but not to the point where we have negated what it previously represented. and 1893 in the "new york times" ran an article entitled three great leaders, washington, lincoln and grant. and 1955, david donald published an essay, getting right with lincoln, in his book, lincoln reconsidered.

this explore the compulsiocompulsion of american politicians, and everyone else to square their own position with what they thought would be lincoln's position on the matter. they were drawn to his leadership, and measured their success by that which lincoln would have approved. in 1974, "time" magazine asked a number of historians, who were history's greatest leaders. lincoln's name appeared most frequently among their responses. c-span's 2009 presidential poll released this past presidents' day has abraham lincoln first, as he was in the last c-span survey in 2000. and today, in 2009, 200 years after his birth, we, as well as lincoln authors, are still trying to connect and get right with lincoln. thank you very much.

[applause] >> thank you so very much, judge williams. . .

during the centennial years as a young child. he taken his parents to the battlefields of virginia and instructed them in the works of bruce catton and shelby foote, which must've led to some very interesting dinner conversation. since 1988, he has written, cowritten and edited numerous books on the american civil war to include comedy andersonville diary and the more as a child of a metal honor recipient. a biography of general strong vincent, who was killed in action on july 2nd at little round top. the writing and fighting the civil war series which contains over 1000 soldier letters written from the battlefield. that takes dedication, ladies and gentlemen. echoes of the blue and gray video series, which shows civil war veterans, including the immortal joshua lawrence chamberlain, writing the magnificent white wars down in a

memorial day parade down in 1914. in 2003, bill discovered 24 boxes of revealing interviews with the commanding general of the civil war. conducted by american sculptor and historian james edward kelly, some of these interviews were published in the outstanding book generals and bronze, interviewing the commanding generals of the civil war. since then, he has come across another series of documentarian letters of interviews that james kelly connected with persons that have no one orsi and lincoln and he did this in 1918, just after the great war was concluded. and this magnificent work is now presented in "tell me of lincoln," which is absolutely enthralling. you won't feel to put it down. i would like to have a personal note. working as a professional

military historian for three decades plus, i've seen so many historians, military and civilian just rehash over the same old dry leaves of history. bill is quite the contrary. he is a sherlock holmes in the field of historiography. he is searching out new information, bringing it to light and thereby increasing our knowledge and appreciation of our magnificent american heritage. so whenever bill speaks, i listen. whenever he writes, i read it. and bill styple from new jersey. [applause] >> thank you all. thank you all for allowing me to speak here this evening. like tim just that, in 2003 i came across a collection of 24 boxes of interview notes.

if those were taken by artist, james edward kelly, when in 1855, died in 1933. ellie was in a historical artist for harper's weekly, scribners monthly. he also later turned to sculpture out of studio in new york on 57th street. at that time come over 40 union general scan to kelly's studio to pose for their portrait. and while kelly was an artist, that in his art, he would not depict a button unless he could document it. and imagine sitting down with general grant, which would've meant that would be. or sitting down with joshua lawrence chamberlain and doing their portraits in asking any question you wanted it and that's what kelly would do. he would interview more than to the portrait. he was a time of the generals, have become an event in thing out there, stop here and there is the portrait, there's the painting. let's talk about that moment. and he would take careful notes.

one day in the future, if his artwork work was ever challenged as being inaccurate, he could produce these notes and say well, this is what general chamberlain told me about little round top. or this is a general grant told me about the surrender appomattox. he was very careful to preserve these notes. while several years ago, i worked on those 40 union generals into the generals and bronze. and it was also kelly's ambition to create a statue of abraham lincoln. and he spent many, many years. he interviewed over 50 people that knew, saw, heard, matt lincoln. and only as an artist would. his biographers, but their artists. and i just want in their way, a certain way, a more human way. and actually kelly was working on a revolutionary war monument is in the city of new haven, connecticut, called the defenders memorial. and while he was working on the

statue, again, the committee from new haven would come to the studio in new york and inspect his work. and one of the old gentleman that it was a member of the committee was looking at the workman speaks to kelly and said have you ever made a lincoln? and choices now, no, no lincoln has been done before by many artists. and this gentleman said yeah, but he's never been depicted correctly. i matter to kelly's interest. what do you mean the fed? he said well, the artists always picture him as downcast and melancholy and slouching. that's actually interested. he said kelly wrote, his name was the dutch gentleman mr. blake from new haven and kelly said well, did you hear when you speak? and this is kelly's very first interview with someone who has sat with lincoln. blake would say, yes, i have

heard him. i was first of the committee to receive him when he visited bridgeport on march 10, 1860. he was tired after his writer macarthur took into the sterling house and senate, dare, no one will disturb you. we then give them a dinner at the home of mr. frederick webb a wealthy citizen of that place. i remember that lincoln took up one of those large bridge point oysters on the sport, looked unequivocally and asked, do i understand you to say that this is a single oyster? blake smiled and always remember that oyster moment with lincoln. but then he tells kelly, i wish he would make a lincoln in the wide-open manner. his generally represented with his head out down meditating or depicted grasping his coat as if he was sick to his stomach here while he was really full of animation and intensity, jocular, very often out of time but that was a relief to him. he was melancholy and said he had to do it to be to stampings.

it is said that he had often talked in a manner that showed his early environment, but is all this refined, pistol was bigger than themselves, a common figure with the soul of a prophet. when he spoke he seemed to rise and became transfigured with fire and vigor. i wishy to make life a gettysburg speech, nothing better has ever been written. he could rouse the people by his power and appeal for peace and kindness to all. no hanging of the head as other artists have depicted him. he stood up as a man. he was an athlete and a leader. so then kelly said for that very moment, i became inspired to create lincoln and bronze, not just standing on a two-foot by two-foot, bus surrounded by the men he met in triumph. i'm not moment on, james edward kelly sought out anyone who could tell him of lincoln. one lady, a friend of his

friends hastings-on-hudson, new york, her name with their heart. she was a little girl who grew up in illinois and she knew the lawyer lincoln. lawyer lincoln that would come by when he was writing the circuit there. and she sat down with kelly and gave this interview. she said, the world as it's never seeing another man like lincoln. i never saw him after he was president, but quite a few of us young people were very much interested in him and followed him when he could during his debates with douglas. he was never well-dressed, partly because he did not have money enough. he wore homespun pantaloons made of half cocked in an awful and they never seemed long enough. he had bluestockings and homemade shoes with laces of buckskin. i remember his shoes, particularly because we were children our father was very particular about is keeping her shoelaces neatly tied and lincoln places were always untied. and he always wore that battered old rusty hat.

his eyes were bluish grey, but they seem to change with this move. when he was talking from his eyes were dark and seemed to light up within. but often he had to set faraway look through which there was quite a strain of melancholy in lincoln. at times, he was very quiet and would not talk and apparently didn't hear what anyone spoke to him. at these times, his friends and those who knew him left him alone. his mouth was large enough prepossessing. and his shot job impressed strangers of bulldog-ish. but when he smiles, his face was transfigured. i can and no one can describe the beautiful light that would come to his eyes and a sweet wonderful smile. he was so kind and loved children and old people. i first a lincoln when i was a little girl. he stopped and my father's cabin. we lived between springfield and fewer yet in the eighth judicial district. they had a circuit court and they travel from one place to another. the state stopped at our house for water as there was not much good water in the country then.

i will tell you kelly at the story of lincoln. i was playing one june day with my ragdoll spirit than the country was sparsely settled and we have to depend on ourselves for amusement. a quite a few ragdoll semisecret was mrs. crocker was larger than the rest. it stood back from the road on the little mole, the grass sloping down from the front. close to of the defense of an all around the house here at a blend of mr. crocker and the other dolls against the when i heard the state warrant, which was a long breath when found. i forgot my dolphin climbed up on the fence, where the stage was quite an event. the state stopped in several people got down, but i remember only too clearly. one was a tall lanky fellow with the linen duster, which hadn't seen the last of them sometime in a dirty file path. he was not at all well-dressed. the other was very short and very well-dressed man but the gold headed cane. i've never seen a gold headed cane before and knows quite impressed. i'd forgotten mrs. crocker and

while looking at the tom and when they came to be, mrs. crocker blocked the way. fisherman's shoved the great open and not turn aside into the dirt. you can imagine how i felt. he might as well shut me of my doll and i was very angry as well as her. but before i could rescue mrs. crocker, lincoln picked her up, pressure off of this redmeat in a handkerchief, later carefully in my arms and with the most wonderful smile said, nevermind blue eyes, your baby isn't her. now, there's the famous photograph of lincoln, involves an lincoln taken a studio when he arrived here in washington to be a non-curated, staying here at the willard. well, was taken at 3-d studio by alexander gardner. but there was artist named torch age story, came to washington.

he had a portrait studio at bradys. bruce's researcher ever struck but you could also have your portrait done there by story. no story was afterwards involved in metropolitan museum of art. as a painter he knew kelly and kelly got the opportunity to sit down and interview him, regarding that famous photograph that story helps to pose, story tells kelly. there was an evermore been abused in dubai to like him. he was called on to think worse of all sorts of stories were told of them which were not true. he was not at all course or boston bill. his soul seemed to rise above his personality. he was full of fire. he would awaken become translated and exalted and forget himself. he indulged in no flourishes of oratory or studied oratorical gestures. he was himself nerved to gesture by the force of his own mind and the action of the soul. without giving it a thought,

which gave them aboard the quality. it is fine to represent them as drooping. he was alert. the photograph of lincoln that i post for alexander gardner was made in figure 23, 1861. wicked was exhausted. he had ridden all night in the cars and had expected to be assassinated as he went to baltimore. gardner was manager of matthew brady and at my painting studio in the same building. gartner do nothing about art can be used to pose all his patrons in one way, if there was a senator, he would have been standing erect with his hands in the the of his frockcoat and the other hand resting on a pillar or table. it was laughable. i used to say, gardener, but if you change your post but he would say it's good enough, they don't have a difference. for sometimes when an important man came and he would come into my studio inside old stewart is coming oral chases coming. i wish he would come down and post them for me. so i would go down and arrange the postwar him. one day he came minutes of

lincoln is here, come and impose him. i was pleased with the prospect of leading lincoln and immediately hurried in. when i went in he was carelessly seated at the table waiting to be posed. he did not utter a word and seemed absolutely unconscious of all that was going on around him. his appearance showed he had been overwhelmed with petite, care and anxiety. they wanted me to pose him, post and i exclaimed. bring the camera at once. it was so characteristic of him i said taken as a yes. i saw that in his unconscious pose or attitude a great picture might be taken. and at least that is one of the finest photographs of lincoln joined in seated at that little one a table and brady studio with his tall hat placed upside down on it. another person that kelly interviewed was a corporal william tisdale. tisdale was in the 11th beer calvary, which served as lincoln's bodyguard.

kelly met tisdale. tisdale was a court clerk in new york city and they sat down at the court and had a discussion about tisdale's time with lincoln. and kelly asked him, he goes, i asked tisdale about lincoln and he complained that painters and sculptors generally made him slack and downcast. i told him that i consider lincoln vigorous and powerful. how did lincoln strike you, kelly at tisdale? tisdale, he was not black. he was one of mitchell's mobile men. how did you meet them at first? i was over at georgetown to the war department with some dispatches when i got your 20th street of fellow came out to me and said if you let me look at those dispatches i will give you $100. we can go right in here, pointing to salute and no one will know. and i said i wouldn't do it for less than $200. he ended it to me and i put out my hand as i was going to get those dispatches to win but i

have my revolver with me and i and covered him and we walked to the provost marshal and i handed him over. he was from richmond and worked on newspaper. he was a southern spy. wigan heard of what i'd done and sent for me. he asked me where i was stationed and he said, i'll point you my personal orderly and i'll dispatches from the show goes for you and then we will have one responsible had. that may be very close to them and i became like one of the family. i only worked about two or three hours a day. the rest of the time i amused myself with willie and pat, breaking the pony and goes. i went with them everywhere, kelly asked, did you go to gettysburg with them? guess. i didn't know he was going to gettysburg until the last minute. i had on my citizens close in more than a great deal in the white house and he said put on your uniform and come along. a subtle little back of them on the railway car. of course this about with him just like an orderly way back. he did not expect me to stand 15 paces behind him. teleost comedy of the speech? guess. tell me about it.

tisdale said, clinton says to me they expect me to make a speech. i'm afraid it will be very sure. i am a poor hand at making a speech. and then he said, i will write a little something. i suppose they have a good laugh over it. he wrote it in the car and a little slip of paper just as you are doing now. i thought he was merely taking down notes and when he finished he said that will be about it. it was the greatest speech ever written. it actually inspired me when i heard it. some of the copperheads tried to make fun of it, they undertook it but it wouldn't go. how did he actually delivered at? piste of their steadfast that the warhorse. he was so tall and upright. yet his hat in hand and when he got the rebound and put it on. his right hand was in his best. his path was in his left hand. there was not much applause. there were some not. and i thought at the time that's a pretty big speech. he thought it was a failure. he said, i think will have a good deal of sport over the speech of mine. i sent mr. president, you have set a big speech in a few words.

he said do you think so? and i said yes. he said i thank you had one day later in the white house grounds he came over to me and said, you guessed right about that speech. see what the papers say about it. now, another interview that kelly did, actually corresponded with was with william stoddard, stoddard will call him the third secretary of lincoln, lived in this 1920's he lived in madison, new jersey, not far from where i live now. and kelly corresponded with him. stoddard was ill at the time. and stoddard wrote to kelly again and kelly inquiring getting details about lincoln's appearance and now we have this vision of lincoln. but stoddard were to kelly saying my dear kelly, i indeed interested in your proposed

lincoln sculpture. perhaps i could criticize a sketch with some conditions. i will not say anything unpleasant concerning other attempts to present lincoln, stone or otherwise. some have succeeded pretty well. one idea seems to be generally forgotten. do not represent him as if you're half asleep for an morning. make a living for he was one of the most all of life of men, such as the man sitting for a photograph is sure to look as tired and sleepy as he knows how. remember that lincoln was exceptionally vigorous physically and notably outspoken in all his utterances. never week. i've seen his face light up as if god had kindled a bonfire behind it. he was always plain and simple in dress, but never see dni. try to make his face living. make it as if he was blaming halfway across the table in his room and reading an important paper that he was preparing to send. he frequently said, i can form a better opinion of it after i heard it read aloud. what in his reading, his face

was all lies. then stoddard finishes his little note with, what i hope is that you do not attempt another picture of the dead lincoln. this photograph before me while i write. study the firmness of the mouth of the uprightness of that. his neck was not limp or stupid. i do not know of any other suggestions. they did correspond back-and-forth, but stoddard died not long after and was unable to criticize kelley's work. the humorous things, you know, lincoln and humor. there was a sergeant major general devens division named william j. critchley. critchley corresponded with kelly in regards to lincoln, describing the humorous incident. and critchley writes, this is at city point in 1865. the following little incident occurred here in a battle is going on at our left. we could hear the big guns the mouth of rifles.

a captain for jailed whether to grant headquarters. leg and was sitting on a camp stool next five and he got off his horse, for the reins of the horses have been said to mr. lincoln, here, hold man, hold my horse. lincoln got up and took the reins. the captain went inside the grant 10th of this dispatch in a few minutes came out. he took the reins, threw them over the horses had and was going to mount when grandson, captain fitzgerald, let me traduce abraham lincoln, president of the united states. the dumbfounded captain jumped up on his horse and disappeared in the president and grants both laughed at the joke weirdly cannot him how much of the house are the army? it all depends how he performs the services. [laughter] lincoln said, i do not think i get much by the captain did not think enough to even thank me. [laughter] well, you know, like many of us who are students of lincoln, the fascination is a fascinating

subject. kelly interviewed six eyewitnesses among members of the audience who were there that evening at ford's theater. they also met for eyewitnesses who were at the bedside, where lincoln died. it was dr. leal, robert lincoln, james tanner, the corporal agenda stenography note, eyewitness testimony of this kind. and also thomas prock are. thomas proctor was one of the residents of the peterson house of order there he was their lincoln's bedside. and after the war was a successful lawyer, he fell on some very hard times and kelly found him and did some extensive interviews. another judge, judge what shall he arbat folder from transferred new jersey. batchelder was a secretary

lawyer for general benjamin butler. in the day of the assassination, butler had left to do to fortress, monroe. he was supposed to go but was delayed and had to wait for the following day. that evening he said i would go to the theater. while batchelder's interviewed by kelly and starts off at the beginning of his life. batchelder said i was born in 1843 and nine in the 22 at the time of the assassination. i joined general butler in 1863 batasuna fortress monroe before i went to washington. i was secretary to general butler. it seemed presently did so many times at receptions, reviews and ministries. icm. he must've been depressed but he did not show it. the first time i saw lincoln was when i was sent with a message by general butler. by two letters when an introduction of the other a letter to the lincoln. the messenger came out and said the president wanted to see me. he was sitting at his desk. he did not rise.

he never rose to anyone except general claimed. lincoln had a lot of go. he would walk through the streets of washington. he had no guard with them. it was not like what it is now. everyone knew him and saluted as he passed and he would simply take off his hat and bow. i never saw him, but he did have a slight stroup and never saw him bout with sorrow. he was not that kind of a man. he had a kindly face, but nervy. i saw many businessmen with award warm face them again. when they were under extreme heavy business worry. on one occasion a woman came to see them in great trouble and after listening to her lincoln said, you go down as the secretary stanton. tell him what you told me and tell him i said to attend to it and then let me know what he says. she came back in lincoln after a stanton that helped her. no, she said. what did he say, as lincoln. she hesitated. lincoln insisted on her telling him. she answered, he said you were a god fool.

last night let's go down and have a talk with them. they went back in lincoln text stanton aside and have a talk with him. but cannot seem to bring stanton around. lincoln was full of sympathy, but stanton was a different kind of cloister. so they came back and link impact on and read a note to the man which was a direct order to the officer in charge to do what he wanted going right over stanton said. lincoln was remarkable for another and resentments. he was the most forgiving man. take the case of stanton, the way he did abuse lincoln, both before and after he was elected. stanton was an old-line democrat was a union man. it was terrible the way he abuse lincoln and get lincoln sent for him and offered him the position of secretary of war. stanton seems tiger bite and lincoln gave him three days to decide it. kelly asked, how did you come to be at ford's theater that night? general butler had gone to fortress monroe the day before and i was to go after him but

missed the boat and having nothing else to do a went to the theater. under the assassination to this than i was president. it was president lincoln's hour of triumph. all was over. the whole house was on their feet cheering as he went with a smile into the box him of bowing to the right, bowing to the left. risibly to the left. the audience with him outside. the presidential party came in in the late and he came in the theater last year the presidential party walked right behind me, about six rows from where i sat. i do not see the presidential party after they went into the box. no one could. as a setback except for a few of the front seat opposite the balcony no one could see him. i did not see this go went, but would not have noticed as booth was hours strolling around the theater. we heard a shot but paid no attention to it. there was no one on stage. i sabu says he jumped out of the box. he put his left hand on the rail vaulted over. the box was festooned with flags. his love for came down first. he shattered one of the bones of his leg near the ankle.

he got up, with the staggered over his head. boothe ran across the stage and disappeared. it was a dead silence. the people did not know what it happened. only one man of the presence of mind. he set up a good friend and jumped up and climb the stage and ran after boothe. boothe and got away. the people did not know what happened. we thought the theater was found fire. they called to the people, be quiet, there is no fire. then mrs. lincoln screamed it was then pandemonium broke loose. people called up, who did it? hang him, murder. they did not see anyone but then they made a rush to the box juggling and pushing people aside. some people claim that i am a surgeon. they could not get in as booth about the door with a wooden bar should prepare that afternoon. it seemed like a half an hour, you may have been three minutes before they got in. afterwards i went down and tell them carry him out.

kelly then asked, am i right in saying that the last thing you saw blink and he was smiling? yes. then he went to his death with a smile. yes. lincoln was shot in the back of the ear. -year-old man, he never knew what killed him. he died with a smile on his face. kelly's research on lincoln i done was going to be his finest work. his lifelong work, his dream. but by the 1920's, have helped target to fill and he became sick. and by early 1930's, too ill to create this work of lincoln. they compiled the notes and he knew the importance of these papers. he tried to seek out some publishers in 1931. except there was a depression going on. the letters of rejection are really kelly collection from

this publisher is saying, nobody's interested in the civil war anymore. no one under 50 would buy this book. there's a depression on. goodbye and good luck. so kelly a stream of the statue and then also publishing his notes was forever forgotten. he died in 1933, was buried in an unmarked grave in the bronx in new york. and again in 2003 doing research on another general as when i stumbled across kelly's writings and realized they are important for us today to continue for the study of lincoln. every anecdote, story, letter that we can find helps. and even kelly there was a handwritten note in the collection. he says some of you might find these notes on lincoln trivial, but even the glance of the one you love brings warmth to your heart. i would include them all.

and he was again a little handwritten note to us today, to let's not forget who lincoln was. and let's not forget to these authors into these artists were that depicted him. now, i know we are here this evening, talking about what happened 150 years ago. bailey's crossroads. one of kelly's -- he didn't interview. tell it would also meet the common soldier at a g. a r. parade or the reunion and be with the down an interview. one particular soldier, trooper from the first new york calvary, which the early part of the war it's hard to imagine. but the first month of the war, the federal government secretary of war had said they really didn't need volunteer calvary from the states. the regular force would be enough. volunteer calvary very expensive. so the first new york tolerate

more or less fun of themselves and came down to washington and was very common in those days to pick out a nickname. and they call themselves the lincoln calvary. and as they paraded through washington, lincoln and his staff came in they watched this parade of the first-year calvary and one of the cabinet members and over and whispered, mr. lincoln, i present to you the first new york lincoln calvary and lincoln turned to him and said, he means that bb? [laughter] he always took a keen insurance in the regiment. and no one trooper there with the regiment on history, the first new york lincoln calvary was william h. beach and he writes an account of that review at bailey's crossroads, which were here tonight commemorating. okay, that morning, early in the

morning of november 20 and compliance with orders received the day before, provided with a few rounds of rations with blankets dropped the subtle spirit of regiment was mounted on the march on the leesburg pike. soldiers were supposed to be prepared for the execution of whatever orders may be given and not to be surprised if anything might happen. but there was no fight that day. in the neighborhood of bailey's crossroads, a large area had been cleared offenses and other obstructions and made suitable for extensive military maneuvers. the whole army of the potomac was there. it was estimated that there were present 25,000 -- 25,000 artillery and calvary and 75,000 infantry. the men appeared in their best condition, with their uniforms of dark or light blue, with very distinguishing colors and bright guns of the artillery, the flashing sabers of the calvary

and the long lines of infantry with their glittering bayonets, with their numberless right flags and guide ons. these gathered host presented an experience that for magnificence has never been equaled on the american continent. they recall the pictures of the great armies of the napoleon, a battery on the bright fired all its guns, a battery in the center fired its guns and this was followed by a battery on the left. seven times this was done. the salute of 21 gun fired by battery in honor of president of the united states. the salute was followed by a mighty volume of cheers along the lines. then from the military bans came the notes, hail to the chief. as soon as general mcclellan and president lincoln followed by, a brilliant staff officers came riding along the lines. the man again broke forth in cheers as proof of their devotion to him who represented the nation. the men of the regiment felt that they were specially honored

in bearing his name. the entire army, by companies, marched in review before the president, the commanding general in thousands of visitors. the spirit of the army was at the hyatt and it was felt that such a vast power probably wielded to aggression a force of a billion could muster. and so, along with your past and no scans for many miles covered the virginia hills. with their 150,000 men, they presented the greatest spectacle of that kind in our history, one that may not be seen for a century. in a spirit that animated these hoes, there was a mighty significance. it was the early morning after riding through these more than quote 100 circling camps that julia ward howe wrote on the words that had come to her as an inspiration in the silent watches of the night, the battle hymn of the republic here at

mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord, he is trampling out the vintage for the grapes of wrath are stored. he has loosed the fateful lightning of this terrible swift sword, his truth is marching on. thank you all. [applause] you want to do some q&a? a few questions? okay. do you have a question? go ahead. >> though, what is your next project that you're working on? >> the biography of general will carney. i've been working on this for a long time. in fact, i have an account of carney at that review. connie account of the first new jersey brigade at the review of b. was crossroads. and at the time, the army of the

potomac was just being born. the brigades divisions army corps have yet been numbered. and it wasn't until after that review it was time to start numbering these brigades. and carney's the great, the first new jersey and country brigade, was considered by mcclelland and called after that review the first brigade, first division, first corps because it was the finest arcade in that review. so with a little bit of party history there. any other questions? [inaudible] >> well, when kelly would sit down with the salmon, he would make a sketch of whatever they might be remembering heerden for instance, the gettysburg address. kelly would always ask, can you enact proposed that kelly did?

or that lincoln did in kelly would do with adult thumbnail sketch of lincoln depicting the gettysburg address. another person that kelly interviewed was general horatio wright over at the arlington national cemetery on general rights grave, the bronze portrait by general wright. now general wright was the command of the six core in july of 1864 when the confederates about 14,000 of them swept across maryland and attacked washington from the north. the six army corps and local dismounted calvary enemy troops that d.c. could muster was sent to fort stevens and stir mesh was five. as you go to fort stevens today, there's a marker by an on the spot where lincoln said during that battle they are on parapet there. and there was a bronze ball released on that monument, the

design is kelly, by kelly as described by general wright who was conversing with lincoln at the moment. but unfortunately, he never got to complete a stream of creating a lincoln in bronze. all right, well thank you rematch. have a good evening. [applause] [inaudible conversations] >> our final speaker this evening is there a steam who is going to relate to us a most wonderful story about her family and president-elect lincoln here at the willard hotel. this is one in a million and you will be so happy that you came

tonight to hear this magnificent story from someone whose family has passed it down to her and it will now be passed upon you and hopefully you will pass it onto your family family in the future. >> i think i'm here because i have a dna relationship to the willard hotel. although, i have a wedding relationship as well. when my husband, don collins, and i were married at the collins class, we brought our generation here after the wedding and spent their wedding night at the willard. batman stories about my great great great grandfather, william r. bradley. i looked about to make sure that three greats with the correct one. he was here at the willard visiting his granddaughter, sarah bradley willard, who was married to henry willard.

well, it turned out with lincoln came here to say that the willard hotel before he could move into the white house, he suddenly realized he had forgotten his bedroom slippers. sarah bradley willard remember that her grandfather, who was visiting had very large feet and approached him. indeed he had a pair of bedroom slippers and he loaned them to lincoln. and i thought you might like to see a picture of the slippers. [laughter] maria elena, this is your price for the evening. well, lincoln wore those slippers while he was visiting at the willard hotel. but when he left for the white house, he returned them with a little note saying, thank you with a very comfortable slippers, a lincoln. now that pair of slipper dues to

be in the ford theatre museum. and i had seen them they are last saturday i went down to the reted museum at t f dirt, hoping to catch another glimpse of the slippers. unfortunately, they are no longer on exhibit. and so, i talked to the ranger who was there in charge that afternoon. and he said, we have so many more things that we just can't possibly display everything at once. they are in storage at the moment. so at least you can see them by photograph. i hope you will go down to the ford theater museum. it's really a very, very interesting display of lincoln objects and sayings and movies. it's really fun to go there. thank you all. [applause]

>> thank you so much. >> next a panel discussion on the american presidency. that features gary may author "john tyler." william leuchtenburg author of "herbert hoover." and timothy naftali author of "george h.w. bush." all three biographies are part of the american presidency theories published by times books. the event hosted by the national constitution center in philadelphia is in our 15 minutes.

>> good evening. welcome to the national constitution center. and steve franken, the vice president for education and exhibits. happy presidents' day. it's an honor to welcome historians william leuchtenburg, gary may, and timothy naftali to discuss the american presidency. from the unexpected of john tyler that herbert huber faced to the administration of george h.w. bush in the end of the cold war. we anticipate a fascinating conversation that will touch on presidential leadership as well as the achievements and challenges that each president faced. tyler ascended to the presidency in 1841 and george bush, 41 as he's affectionately known around here left office in 1993. if you do the math, that's more than 150 years of history. to lead together a conversation covered that much ground requires someone with a sweeping vision of american history and i'm glad to say we have that person with us