orator and became a member of the james buchanan cabinet until the end of the administration.dministration was to serve as the secretary of war. so he was the secretary of war during the succession winter. he then in 1862 after lincoln had become president and a year in the war became he was the head of military justice and oversaw the court marshall and the military commission. the war department had to conduct. >> why a book on the gentleman? >> the title should give you a clue. i think he's a important figure and he has been understudy. he has not entirely forgotten. that might be a slightly misleading aspect of the title. he is remembered for one aspect. he was the prosecutors of the i sass sin of lincoln. john willings booth action team. he served in the federal government for a long time. he was very important during the civil war. his role as judge was extremely significant to lincoln. his support for lincoln's policy is very important. and the story has been lost. so i thought it was time somebody brought that story to light. >> what did you learn about him? an interes

aunt marryann, a loyal unionist, and so by making the choice to serve the union, initially as james buchanan's secretary of war and not support succession, and then by making the choice to work as lincoln's judge advocate general, and even before that to serve very faithfully as lincoln's agent to keep kentucky from seceding, he made choices that damaged his relationships with almost everybody he knew and everybody he loved for the first half of his life. that was very interesting to me. >> i read reviews after you won the lincoln prize and one states how great the book is, but they say you really exposed his strengths and weaknesses. >> right. >> what were his strengths? what were those weaknesses? >> well, among his strengths i would include his enormous intelligence. he was very learned. he was very bright. his family recognized his intelligence early on in life and positioned him the member of the family or his generation to go forth and bring glory upon the family. he was very committed. once he made a decision, he stuck with that decision. he was very loyal, and he was very determined. t

. >> other two victims, james, sonny buchanan, killed while cutting grass. and pascal killed near the montgomery county line. as for the gunman, executed back in 2009. leboyd is behind bars. he's serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole. >>> right now, you are looking live at i-270 where the southbound lanes near 270 and germantown road are shut down. that's where montgomery county police officer was hit late this evening. that officer stepped out of his cruiser trying to investigate another accident when he was hit. we are told he wasn't badly hurt. if you are expecting somebody to get home who goes that way, you should expect some delays. >>> four groping incidents in the last week have students at the american university on alert tonight. they happened along massachusetts avenue between the university campus and birkshire avenue. all are female victims. jenna's roommate was one of them. the area where her roommate was attacked can get really dark. >> definitely late at night, there's less lights, so in that sense, it is more excluded for peop

so by making the choice to serve the union, initially, as james buchanan, secretary of war, and not support and working as lincoln's judge advocate general, and even before that, served very faithfully as lincoln's agent to try to keep kentucky from succeeding, he made choices that damaged his relationships with almost everybody that e-mail and everybody that he loved the first half of his life. that was very interesting to me. >> you really exposed his strengths and weaknesses. >> that's right. >> what were his strengths? what were his weakness is? >> well, among his strengths, i would include his enormous intelligence, he was very learned, he was very bright. his family had recognized his intelligence from early on in his life and positioned him as a member of the family or his generation that would go forth on the family. he was very committed, once he made a decision, he stuck with it decision. he was very loyal. he was very determined. those are the kind of strength that he had were among his strengths. his weaknesses were sometimes related to his strengths. people remember most about

kennedy said it's not fair to grade anyone even poor old james buchanan unless you sat behind the desk so warren g. harding was not such a gligt but magnetic personality, good looking. he was a movie star. so you're seeing his cabinet play out. howard dougherty was a real person. he was an attorney general and he was very, very corrupt. >> in your book you've given four a pluses. one went to abraham lincoln. six fs, one went to george w. bush. what criteria did you use? >> the a pluses up to me are presidents not just that they did great things but they elevated the presidency in some way. george washington obviously, lincoln and the crises they faced. lincoln the greatest crisis, franklin d. roosevelt. theodore roosevelt didn't face a crisis but elevated the office to what it is today. he put this office and made it the international spotlight that it is. >> he didn't take the nickname teddy because he thought it was actual gar. >> and wanted to take the words god in trust off the money because he thought it was sacrireligious as well as unconstitutional. >> interestingly if you look

so by making the choice to serve the union initially as james buchanan's secretary of war and not to secession and then by making a choice to work as lincoln's judge advocate general and even before that to serve very faithfully as lincoln agent to try to keep kentucky from seceding, he made choices that damaged his relationships with almost everybody he knew and everybody he left for the first half of his life. so that was very interesting to me. >> i read a couple of reviews. however it the book is. really expose his strength and his weaknesses. >> what were they? >> well, among his strengths i would include his enormous intelligence. a very learned. he is very bright. his family had recognized his intelligence from early on in his life and position them as a member of the family of his generation that would go forth and bring glory upon the family. he was very committed. once you may decision he stuck with that decision. he was very loyal, and he was very determined. those are the kinds of strength that he had. those are among his strengths. his weaknesses are sometimes related to

james buchanan and grant and one or two others. grant's reputation for drinking has been exaggerated. grant didn't have so much a drinking problem as he had a problem of holding his liquor. no, no. the distinction is not unimportant because grand in essence drank himself out of the army in the 1850s but the reason he drank himself out of the army in the 1850s was he was stationed 1,000 miles from his wife and children, the younger of whom he had never seen. he was stationed on the dreary northwest coast of the united states and coming from the northwest i can tell you if you are not from their, their is a strong tendency to depression, even suicide during the winter months. the sun goes away on the first of october and it might come out by the first of the following july but the last of the thing was grand was in a drinking culture. army officers in those days were expected to drink like gentlemen which meant they were expected to drink a lot and not show the effects. grant's voice would start to slur when he had one drink. he woul

as the republican party you know it is populated by the pat buchanan, jesse helms, james falk well, isspite it looks like a gop convention. >> you know what, in terms of my political views i hold them in check. i don't think that someone who watches is inclined to think that i am one way or another. >> okay. kind of gets you right here. for the third finalist, we decided we need somebody who is perky christian is not pretty. diane sawyer is not pretty. andrea mitchell might have been perky 30 or 40 or 50 years ago. [laughter] katie couric is perky. to be honest i didn't think that perky katie had a video i can assure you she is well qualified to serve as the worst reporter in the history of man and or woman. >> president carter you are now considered one of the world's foremost states the country is ever had. your reputation has been bolstered tremendously since you left office. how does that make you feel? >> do you think the american people are not ready for a woman who is as accomplished and career oriented as hillary clinton? you're speech at the 1992 republican national convention

he's right down there with james by buchanan, and, well, james buchanan, grant, and maybe one or twoothers. grant's reputation for drinking is -- has been vastly exaggerated. grant didn't have so much a drinking problem as he had a problem holding his liquor -- [laughter] well -- [laughter] no, no, the distinction is not unimportant because grant, in essence, sort of drank out of the army in the 1850s, but the reason he drank himself out of the arian -- army in the 1850s in the first place is he was stationed a thousand miles from the wife and children, one of whom he'd never seen, stationed on the dreary northwest coast of the united states, and coming from the northwest, i can tell you, if you're not from there, there is a strong tendency towards depression, even suicide during the winter months. [laughter] the sun goes away on the first of october, and it might come out by the first of the following july. the last of the thing was that grant was in a drinking culture. army officers in those days were expected to drink like gentlemen, which meant they were expected to drink a lot a