and i do think that lincoln -- i don't hold lincoln up as a demigod. i do think that his suspension of habeas corpus can still be argued about today, but i think he certainly felt he had good reason for doing what he did. >> i'm going to stay on this site because people have been lined up there for a while and then i'll come back over here. >> nt. if you look into the hearts and minds of the average american, not the studies historian, the average guy or gal who stands at the lincoln memorial admiring lincoln, you think the average american admirers a beloved lincoln because he played a significant role in ending slavery, because he played a significant role in keeping the union together? are because of this magnificent aura that has in terms of his political, spiritual, intellectual gifts and our? >> that's a great question. i think magnificent or is a wonderful, wonderful phrase, and you feel that when you stand at the lincoln memorial. and press part of it is also because of the extraordinary statute era, such a presence in the temple. one thing i d

boy, lincoln needed that. let's talk about he made a great point both of you about lincoln's keeping mcclellen's on with that election looming and now the political landscape changed enormously by the proclamation. which is as much as we look back on it and say what took him so long and why didn't he free more slaves and the other things we hear from modern commentators. itage -- it agitated huge numbers of people and distinguished huge numbers of people. at the same time, lincoln loses patient with mcclellen. he began heckling him. his famous telegram, he was running out of pair. mcclellen was furious at the tone that lincoln was taking. was it justified? >> on the battlefield, on the first of october, i think, three or four days. the two men seem to have come up with the -- we don't have anyone's -- no one was there listen to what they were discussing, unfortunately. but the two of them came off with totally different views of what was even discussed. and lincoln goes back to washington and he expects mcclel

and i think lincoln -- i think lincoln may have hoped that there would be no more. after all, if he sent an end and there was no war, that would have suited him to. okay? he wasn't interested in starting the war. if it was going to start he wanted to start it in a way that would rally the union, which it did. when he did that by design and whether he bumbled into it is a debate that historians are still debating. yes, sir. >> i've heard explanations about the devotion of the confederate soldier to his cause anything army and protect its own. but i've never heard much explanation about what motivated a union soldier who was in many ways as devoted to the war and loyal to his cause as the confederate soldier. he does i do recall reading a few times that, for example, abolitionists in the north were no more than maybe 5% of the population at most, and i wonder if you have any thoughts about what it was that so motivated the average union soldier? >> good question. and i'll tell you why. somehow the history of the civil war has been written by southerners, read by south

lincoln had sojourner truth. he was trying to show that african-americans if given the right opportunities could achieve and succeed and be important advisors to him. particularly on the social issues that he was dealing with. so some extent on the military with frederick douglass. african-american soldiers. he was a ground breaker in that way and public about it. the other interesting is as far as how the african-americans around him affected his policies and his at -- attitudes. people might not realize that lincoln for a quarter of the presidency lived at soldiers home. it was a home for soldiers in civil war about three miles from the white house. he commuted to the white house from there. during that trip, he could often stop at contraband camps, camps for freed african-americans who were living in the washington area. and they would make a big effort to impress lincoln. they could dress in their finest close. men wearing civil war, both the gray and the blue they got for battle fields. they'd line up and si

he was lincoln's vice president after lincoln was assassinated. he was from tennessee. he was -- he had been a slave owner himself. he was not particularly interested in the issue of slavery, but wanted to preserve the union. made that distinction but after lincoln died, a lot of historians feel that johnson actually set the course of our racial progress back for generations because he failed to act and follow through on some of the lincoln's initiatives but also he, of course, agreed to pull soldiers -- union soldiers out of the south and also sort of gave up on this -- the radical republican reconstruction effort and was much more sympathetic to the south. so he really set back the effort a lot. he could have done a lot more and you see that in some of our presidents, figures who could have made a big difference. i mean, washington is actually one of those cases because he had such a paramount position in the country, if he had tried to take on some of these institutional obstacles to emancipation, he perhaps could have done that. another interesting thing about andre

lincoln needed that trigger. antietam provided it. you made a great point, the both of you, but lincoln keeping mcclellan on with an election looming and political landscape changing enormously with the proclamation which is as much as we look back retrospectively on it and say what took them so long and why didn't chief remorseless and the other things we hear from modern commentators, it, of course, agitated huge numbers of people and disturbs huge numbers of people. at the same time link loses patients with mcclellan, and he began acting him, making fun of him, what have your forces done since the battle of antietam. he was running out of patience. he was furious. taking what he justified. >> out on the battlefield. the first of october, i think. three or four days. and the two men seem to have come up with that, we only had -- we don't have anyone -- no one was there listening to what they were discussing. but the two of them came off totally different views of what was even discussed. and lincoln goes back to washington and he ex

it is the heart of the lincoln written record.have the first and second gettysburg addresses, the reading copy that's here along with the john hay copy. the second inaugural and second inaugural are both here. the fair weal address at springfield, an impromptu speech he tried to rewrite on a moving train is here. >> and the emancipation prock clamation. the library of congress houses lincoln's final draft. but on a more personal basis, die irs -- dirists who had accessed to the lincoln family left firsthand accounts of his death. >> in the assassination, where the family was so stricken and when they get back to the white house, the scene is horrific. >> oh, fatal day, oh noble victim, treason has done its worst. the president has been assassinated. is it possible? >> everybody is in tears. a dirist records that. >> when they reach the president's house, tad met them on the portico, where is my pa? where is my pa? he kept repeating. taddy, your pa is dead, said the doctor. he screamed in an agony of grief, oh what shall i do? my b

>> i think lincoln's genius was two chings. the courageover his convictions, when things got tough he could see the long run and be able to have faith that what he was doing was right. but secondly he had a set of emotional skills that are very rare in politicians. >> rose: not emotional? >> not retaliating against people are mean to him, being willing to bring in all sorts of people around a table and not get upset if they disagreed with him. just having the ability to take credit... give credit to take responsibility when people failed. you know that word emotional inlligence, he made a king but he also had a great sense of humor which is something so rare among politicians. if he were here today he could be with jon stewart, he could be anybody, he uld be with stephen colbert and meet them eye to eye. that he was funny. how often have w seen a polician like that? not in a long time. >> rose: how do you think president obama's doing on those standards? >> well, i think the one thing he did care about, lincoln, originally, the

so, how does lincoln do it? through its so-called "incentive management" system, first chronicled back in 1951 by james lincoln, the brother of the founder. to see how the place works, we now donned our safety apparel: steel toed shoes, ear plugs and ventured out onto the factory floor. first, workers are not paid by the hour, but by output. the piecework system once common in manufacturing america. kim mattina has been a pieceworker at lincoln for seven years. >> other people would like it to be on an hourly job where there's no pressure and you get paid no matter what they do. >> reporter: here, the pressure's always on because if you don't do, you don't earn. and since time is money, even lunch breaks become too costly. brad barnes eats at his work station. >> i like to be close to my work and get done eating and get right back to work again. >> reporter: so this is an efficiency move on your part? >> yes, yes. >> reporter: how many people here in the factory, what percentage do what you're doing? >> i'd say

>> i'd think there was no love lost between abraham lincoln and george mclellan. they just despise each other in many ways. mclellan was contemptible the root that night. i don't think he was drunk but was at a wedding. >> the wedding of one of its officers. >> comes on to find a president lounging and his brother and did not want to talk to him. it was not business hours. [laughter] the fact lincoln did not have an dismiss that evening as the secretary tells him and egging him on. this is outrageous. he says whatever it takes to get him to win victories, you have a different view. that would add something to this story. >> i don't think he drank. >> that is not the first time. after being told the general went to bed, but it does change he is much more direct. it did have an effect on him. >> getting hurt the have inspired his greatest speech when he got to merrill lynch in october dazed october 57 happen as my life i would talk amusing for half an hour and it wouldn't hurt anybody. hardly the gem of words but anti-them did inspire or made possible bid greatest a

even in those days, it felt to be good-looking and lincoln was famously ugly. he looked like an enormous coral appeargorilla. he walked with his hands like this instead of like that. people made fun of him. there was a kind of looksism that went with it. when he died, two magazines issued apologies. tavis: what has been the intellectually inside england as you have caused your fellow citizens to confront where they were, where they stood, with a data and did not do during this crucial time in the world? but there is a historical reaction and a present reaction. this is a fable. this is a fable about the dangers of being morally fashionable. i think that has produced a certain amount of shame and some kind of self questioning. if people then, undergraduates, academics, people in the church could be so easily misled and think that they were fighting the good fight and think that they had the moral high ground when they did not and were completely fooling themselves about what was right and what was wrong, what does that say today? when you jump on that and lighti

it -- lincoln's death.x this team is horrific. -- the scene is correct. >> the president has been assassinated. is it possible? >> everybody is in tears. and the writer is almost hysterical. >> when they reach his house, had met them on the portico. where is my poch? he kept repeating it. >> and this diarest and his children were the close friends of lincoln's and his children. this is showing a personal side of the lincoln family. mary todd traveled to get away from the heat and disease and she often took tad and robert when he was with her. this was writing from the white house on executive stationery, as you can see. and he was talking to marry about the goat, tad's gold had been eating flowers and the gardener shooed him away. he was seen to in his guide -- chewing his cud and he later disappeared. lincoln is forewarning to add that the code is gone. >> it is another example of where the different divisions of where the library of congress in two weeks to tell the story -- interweaves to tell the story

>>lincoln, me queda poco tiempo.... si va a haber esa posibilidad. pero yo creo que lo mÁs importante es el respeto mutuo... y discrepar... pero siempre con respeto. >>me quedan 30 segundos. no te retiras por problemas de salud... eh... >>no, y no me retiro de las batallas sobre las buenas causas. por ejemplo: la lucha por la libertad de cuba, la lucha por una reforma migratoria en estados unidos. esas grandes batallas, continuarÉ en ellas. porque no hay que estar electo para poder servir y contribuir a luchas como esas. >>pues, lincoln, dÉjame decirte que nuestros padres, rafael e hilda, se sienten muy orgullosos de ti, como sÉ que todos nosotros nos sentimos orgullosos de ti. gracias por estar con nosotros en "enfoque". >>y yo, sobre todo quisiera agradecerles este honor de servir a mis electores. >>lincoln dÍaz-balart, congresista, muchas gracias. [♪] josé d.b.: y al regresar, "manÁ" y mÓnica noguera, una combinaciÓn que no se puede perder. [♪] ♪ ¿haces lo que sea para lucir siempre bella? yo sí. y uso el secador

it was this dream that lincoln, and that's the genius of lincoln. not that he created these ideas, but that he voiced them in a way that was appealing to people. he caught the mood of the country in a way that was able to mobilize for four long, bloody years. it was just incredible. >> and he was organically connect today what you write about in your book, what you say is the idea of america. >> well, that's what he says, blood of our blood. >> blood of our blood. >> 234erb of our flesh, these founders. he is the one great president who has used the founding better than anyone else. and as i say, i think everybody has some connection with him. >> now, i, i want today ask you this even though it's putting on my hat as a civil war historian, not the revolutionary period. was lincoln correct in saying that secession -- and this is according to what the founders would say -- that secession was illegal? >> well -- >> i mean, i'll tip my hat. my view is lincoln was not correct, but he did the right thing anyway. >> yeah. well, it depends on what you mean

it was a stream that lincoln -- that's the genius of lincoln, not that he created these ideas that that he had wasted them in a way that was appealing to the -- he caught the country in a way that was able to mobilize. for four long years it's just incredible. >> and he was organically connected to what you write about in your book. what you say is the idea of america. >> that's what he says. but our blood, flesh of our flesh. he is the one great president who used the founding better than anyone else. and as i say, i think africa has some connection with him. >> i wanted to ask you this, even though it's putting on my head as a civil war historian of the revolutionary period, was lincoln correct in setting up secession and this is according to the founders say that session was a legal -- il legal. my view is lincoln was not correct but he did the right thing any way. >> it depends on what you mean by legal or illegal. that is debatable. let's put it that we come and the south had a case to make that that is how they solve the union as a loose confederacy and up through the civil war th

is. >> my favorite speech is lincoln's inaugural address. because it really, it is so, i mean, it moves me to tears when i read it because you can tell how hard the war was for him, you can tell how much he felt it. he talks about, you know, we believe in the same god, you know, we read the same bible, pray to the same god. this is where we are as a nation, hopefully, it'll be over soon. and you can almost feel his heartbreaking in two. but in the end he, again, is very merciful, without judgment and wants us to all work together and reach into a bright future. >> hi. thank you so much. in your interactions with the liberal people of a liberal persuasion, what's some common ground that you're able to connect on, especially with the material in this book? is. >> that's a great question. the question is what is common ground in talking to liberals, especially in terms of this book. it is an americans' book, it's not a conservative book even though they happen to be more conservative. but we have mlk in the book, his incredible speeches, and, a

she died at the age of 34, leaving behind 9-year-old abraham lincoln. he helped build his mother's casket by carving the woodallen petition douche the wooden petition himself. >> we transformed the gallery to and eerie victorian garden. my name is lowe hodges, and i am the director of operations and exhibitions at the conls tore of -- cons tore of flowers. we decided it needed context. so we needed a house or a building. the story behind the couple in the window, you can see his wife has just served him a glass of wine, and he is slumped over the table as the poison takes affect. a neat little factold dominion about that house is actually built out of three panels from old james bond movie. we wanted people to feel like i am not supposed to be in this room. this is the one that is supposed to be barred off and locked up. >> the ole andersonner -- oleander. this popular shrub is popular in warm climates. it has been implicated in a surprising number of murders and accidental deaths. children are at risk because it takes only a few leaves to kill them. a

you can tell i am overweighted in lincoln. a bit of a discussion. i just could not figure out what to cut. i have lankans first inaugural. i have the gettysburg address, the emancipation proclamation and the second inaugural. i cannot figure out if you're really trying to cover american history, what do you leave out? i could not figure it out. i left the mall land. when you look at the transition and how he changes as a person from his first inaugural which is clearly a very legalistic case of why we should not go to war but will probably have to. he read his first inaugural it basically says, the states have seceded. we know it will end in war. i don't want to go to work. i wish it wouldn't go to work, but here is a legal outline of what is going to happen. you look at that. the gettysburg address were in less than two minutes into hundred 87 words never using the word i wore me, never talking about himself, he moved from the founding of our nation to the future and wrapped it all in this great promise for tomorrow. unbelievable speech. he was not

. >> between lincoln and fulton and the beach. >> you're saying, why did they decide that exact plot? they brought someone from new york to come up with a park plan. they eventually made it a rectangle. they had the panhandle part. the panhandle was the same with as golden gate park, but there was dealmaking going on between park commissioners and they decided they would buy the land and cut off part of the panhandle. >> the development of lincoln park is interesting. you can see the cemetery. >> on the map, it is a cemetery. >> what happened to that and all of the bodies? >> they decided around the turn of the century the land was too valuable to bury people. where uss is now there were four cemeteries. they moved all of the cemetery's out -- cemeteries out. the heir did not want to move one of the places. there are two people -- two places where people are buried in the city. the other ones were moved out. >> the big scandal of lincoln park, someone wanted to build the legion of honor out there. she did and she got it done. they had to prepare the land, the golden gate cemetery, so

>> abe lincoln. >> abraham lincoln. >> lincoln. >> first name?, why was lincoln an important president? >> because he was honest. >> he did very important speeches. >> i don't know this. >> both the study and my field trip made it clear that kids aren't learning history. why that's the case and how to fix it is up for debate. possibilities include apathetic students, how history is tested and the no child left behind act squeezing history out of the classroom in favor of math and reading. when i went to see the guy in charge of the nation's report card he told me poor history scores are actually nothing new. >> there's a core of kids who are outstanding. another small percent that our policymakers would call proficient. and then there's a big chunk of kids who are, you know, below that line. and that's not changed much. >> just going through a pile. >> reporter: in massachusetts, will publishes a journal highlighting the work of the core gifted students and he thinks the history scores are troubling. >> it's an old story. nobody's doing anything

she died at the age of 34, leaving behind 9-year-old abraham lincoln. build his mother's casket by carving the woodallen petition douche the wooden petition himself. >> we transformed the gallery to and eerie victorian garden. my name is lowe hodges, and i am the director of operations and exhibitions at the conls tore of -- cons tore of flowers. we decided it needed context. so we needed a house or a building. the story behind the couple in the window, you can see his wife has just served him a glass of wine, and he is slumped over the table as the poison takes affect. a neat little factold dominion abouat

lincoln was recognizing what some historians today have forgotten. culture and politics are often treated nowadays as separate domains. over here we can read book after book on lincoln, his team of rivals, um, the politics behind the civil war or civil war battles, civil war generals, civil war soldiers. and then over here we read books on literary works, on art, on music, on all those -- on theater, on culture. and then there are some books that have a few chapters on the politics and a few chapters over here on the culture but we have to realize that culture and politics always interpenetrate. and too many historian overlook that. i think too many on both side of the divide, the cultural historians and the political historians neglect that. when we look at history, we realize how vividly culture and politics are not separate. they interpenetrate, and very often it's the cultural outsiders, the outliers who lead the way and then politics follow. sometimes the cultural outliers are forces of destruction. the recent prime example is al-qaeda, a tiny c

you performed at lincoln center with stephen colbert. >> indeed. he was in it as well.e sang a song. he had a scene work. he was actually quite good at the musical theatre. >> jon: you know he is a multitalented individual. >> and he's also knows circus tricks. >> jon: he knows one circus trick. (laughter) it's the spin move. >> the spin move. >> jon: and he is at the parameters of his ability to do the one spin move circus trick. two more years he throws out a hip. there's no way. >> i don't know. he prides himself. he said coy carry a lot of weight. and so two of us jumped on and jumped on and holding us both he spins in a circle. right there. >> jon: i tried that once. with him? >> with him. >> jon: jumped on. with another friend, vomited about 30 seconds. for me, that's like riding with the blue angels. that's like i'm never doing that again. you got to do it once. >> i have to say sincerely i was so impressed by him. i means that's a pretty bold move to go and perform at lincoln center singing, you know, sondheim in front of 3,000 people. and that's sort of out of