so i post this commission, which is actually signed by president franklin pierce. what is interesting about this is the secretary of the war in 1853 was jefferson davis. both of these commissions were for john buford. this was as a first lieutenant in 1850 three. and this as a major general in 1863. right here, we have a hat band. this is a navy item from the uss monitor, famous for being one of the first ironclad, the famous battle between the monitor and the merrimack. this is an original hat band worn by one of the sailors on the monitor. those are very rare. we are excited to have it in the collection. right down in front here, we have what is known as a henry rifle. this was when of the first, if not the first, repeating rifles, successful repeating rifle used during the war. the u.s. government didn't purchase many of these. one of the official reasons was they were afraid the soldiers would waste ammunition, believe it or not. this could hold 15 rounds of ammunition. you can see right here under the barrel is the magazine. you can see the spring. you would j

in your face, franklin pierce's vp william rufus. ( laughter ) did you guys see any of the show lastight? ( cheers and applause ) because if you watched the news also, there is a story going around causing a lot of strong feelings on both sides. here's the deal -- there's these allegations that russia has compromising information on donald trump, and for reasons i can't explain, some are calling it "golden gate." ( laughter ) >> jon: wow... wow... >> stephen: you can say that again. ( cheers and applause ) >> jon: whoa. >> stephen: it's all based on 35 pages of oppo research that was put together by a british m.i.-6 agent. yesterday, we didn't know his name, and now we know his name is... steele... christopher steele. so a brit spy named steele? is he remington steele's cousin? i'm not sure. i guess secret agent colt megaslam was on another assignment? was superspy rand manly not around? that's a really on-the-nose name for a british agent. actually, it sounds more a gay porn name. because it is. meet chris steele, gay porn actor. ( laughter ) i gotta say, it is great to see rob rigg

the landslide election of franklin pierce in 1852 appeared to settle the political question far to the horizon, but this was an illusion. beneath the serene surface on which pierce skated to the presidency was a roiling sea. a well mannered northern man of southern sympathy, he was pious under pressure. the grandiose hatred of others easily overwhelmed him as he turned to brandy for solace, and an old friend, a mexican war comrade, for guidance, jefferson davis. the ones and future rivals of lincoln combined to blow to smithereens the cornerstone of civil and political peace. senator stephen a douglas of illinois, seeking a transforming gesture that would bring him the presidency and secretary of war jefferson davis of mississippi, the high-handed heir to slaveholding wealth and the de facto president of the united states. each had visions of an american imperial, prophecies that converged in their collaboration on the kansas-nebraska act, and act which revealed the missouri compromise that a forbidden slavery north of a faithful line of latitude. the parallel lives of these two men wo