. >> author richard carwardine spoke at the abraham lincoln symposium about lincoln's sense of humor. the abraham lincoln institute ord's theater society hosted this symposium and washington, d.c. to highlight the 16th presidents of life, career, and legacy. this is 50 minutes. michael: good morning, ladies and gentlemen. my name is michael bishop and i am a board member of the abraham lincoln institute. the former executive director of the abraham lincoln bicentennial commission. thank you for joining us today. unlike that of winston churchill, abraham lincoln's humor tended to go toward self-deprecation. during one of the debates in illinois, the spectator shouted that lincoln was being two-faced.

executive director of the abraham lincoln's bicentennial commission. thank you for joining us today. unlike winston churchill, tended lincoln's humor to go toward self-deprecation. during one of the debates in illinois, the spectator shouted that lincoln was being two-faced.

the former executive director of the abraham lincoln's bicentennial css

unlike winston churchill, abraham lincoln's humor tended to go toward self-deprecation. during one of the debates in illinois, the spectator shouted that lincoln was being two-faced. two-faced, cried lincoln, if i had two faces, do you think i would wear this one? [laughter] michael: lincoln's humor was an essential component of his persona. richard carwardine will explore with us whether his humor might also occasionally have been a handicap. richard carwardine was -- handicap. richard carwardine was educated at corpus christi and queens colleges oxford and at the university of california at berkeley. for three decades he taught history at the university of sheffield before being appointed rhodes professor of american history and institution at oxford university and a fellow of saint catherine's college. he was elected president of corpus christi college oxford in 2010 and served in that post until 2016. he is the author of one of the finest modern biographies of the 16th president, "lincoln, a life of purpose and power," which was awarded the lincoln's prize in 2000 sev

abraham lincoln like have you never seen him before.buzzer] >> dana: i don't think we should be asked to join again. >> greg: score of zero. >> tucker: i don't know what to say my mouth is open. lowest score ever recorded of in the two year history of the score. >> greg: we are little people and we have little scores. >> dana: yes. little scores. i'm so embarrassed. >> tucker: greg you win with zero. next time i will award you eric wome wemple mug. >> dana: i can't believe you came him swalwell. >> tucker: share the most absurd questions in the history of of the game including one about barbra streisand cloning her dogs. stay tuned. >> tucker: welcome back to special final exam tonight. goal is to ask about each week's weird and unusual news after almost two years it's given us a lot of strange questions. tonight we remember the strangest of all. >> we're going to begin with the multiple choice question. in a marketing move that is either brilliant or insane, one fast food chain is now selling fire logs that make your whole house smell

abraham lincoln was there and he spoke. he apologized for being an interloper, as he put it, and cast himself as the subject of a story about a man, and i quote, with features the ladies could not call handsome. riding through the woods he met a lady on horseback. he waited for her to pass but instead she stopped and scrutinized him before saying, well, you are the home list -- homliest man i ever saw. yes, madam, but i can't help it. no, i suppose not, said the lady, but you might stay at home. [laughter] once the editors stopped laughing, he said with propriety, he might have stayed at home. i chose the story because it is particularly apt. i was scheduled to speak your last year, but when it came to it i stayed at home. [laughter] now i may possibly be the ugliest man you have ever seen, though i certainly hope not, but that was not why i stayed away. i simply wasn't well enough to travel. i am especially grateful to john white and the executive committee of the institute for extending the invitation a second time. i wan

abraham lincoln" to the persian gulf region in response. it will be joined by four b-52 bombers.

abraham lincoln wanted to have access to all of the materials that were available in the sierra nevadas, including the gold and the silver. and connect the new states to the united states, so he chose that time to complete the act and finish or start building the transcontinental railroad. obviously, in the middle of the war the defense of the country , was a major factor making the decision. they wanted to be able to get troops across the country in a quicker amount of time. they wanted to cut the time of shipping goods, the raw goods goods that would be made back east and the finished goods that would go to the new states out to west. four to six months around the horn flipping around south america was hopefully going to be cut to two weeks and that was abraham lincoln's goal, to get troops across the country in two weeks. it ended up being seven to 10 days they could get things across the country once it was completed. the two companies that were building the railroad where the pacific railroad company that started in sacramento, california and the union railroad that started in the

. >> monday may sixth, fox news alert, ussa abraham lincoln towards the middle east in response to alarming report that iran was firing at u.s. forces. rob: dozens dead after explosion in plane. >> how in the world did this happen? investigators revealed 3 possible causes. >> look at joe's record and my record, i don't think there's any question. >> bernie sanders making progressive power play. rob: "fox & friends first" continues right now. ♪ ♪ rob: that's a lot on monday morning. now you're awake. carley: i like it. rob: i'm rob schmitt. carley: i'm carley shimkus in for jillian mele, we begin with fox news alert, breaking overnight u.s. sending iran a clear and unmistakable message. rob: iran was planning attacks on american forces. carley: major military development, good morning, garrett. >> it is rare to be announced ahead of time but official told associated press that there were clear indications that iran and iranian forces were preparing to possibly attack u.s. forces in the region both on land and at sea. in response, the u.s. is sending a bomber task force to the middle east alo

he said the united states is deploying the "uss abraham lincoln" carrier strike group and a bomber task force, those air force bombers, to send a clear and unmistakable message to the iranian regime that any attack on united states interests or those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force. the united states is not seeking war with the iranian regime, but

abraham lincoln" to the persian gulf and ditional b-52 bombers to counter what the trump administration calls "clear indications" of stilld unspecifreats from iran. sranian media quoted a senior commander of ira revolutionary guard today saying that the presence of u.src ft carriers in the persian gulf is not a threat but an opportunity and that "if the m americans makee we will hit them in the head."ec last nighttary of state mike pompeo said the u.s. is positioning military forces as a "deterrent." >> our aim is not war, our aim is a change in the behavior of the iranian leadership. we hope the iranian people will get what they finally want, and what they so richly deserve. >> sreenivasan: joining us nowas fromngton, d.c. for analysis of the growing tension between the u.s. and iran is

arlington has been ordered to join the abraham lincoln and the other ships is part of its convoy as well as the deployment of a patriot missile battery in order to make certain that if there were any sort of attack on the lincoln carrier strike group that the military would be able to defend itself what this is according to u.s. officials is a show of force to tear on that the u.s. is very closely watching its military and economic and diplomatic activities around the middle east and the u.s. military is there essentially to safeguard the u.s. as national security interests as well as those of the u.s. as partners and allies in the region but this is raising concern particularly here in the united states that the u.s. may be engaged in a game of chicken that it may be actually adding to tensions rather than trying to find a way to discuss with terror on its concerns about terror hons policies and trying to figure out a way to ultimately negotiate a deal that would address iran's nuclear and other security issues the united states and china have agreed to continue trade talks even after p

when it comes to abraham lincoln, ken burns has dealt accurately,bject lincoln is the same person who we perhaps discounting that he is of the republican party and congress does have slaveowners? for theitical cover emancipation started with the d.c. emancipation, could it have had the political cover he that this was revenge? in other words, they are going to pay for breaking up the union? is and that with the abolitionist said from the beginning, that the slaves, the price of the union will be the end of slavery? himself knew he had political cover because of this? ms. medford: ok, we got it. there is a triumvirate of power in europe. england, france, germany is not unified until 1871. they are putting external pressure on lincoln. ms. clark-lewis: there is the internal issue of how to preserve the union. londonthe leaders in lincolnat the union, should just let the south go and the south will be choked off by international pressure. he refused to do that. i think the external pressure, internal problems, and the issue of how to create a union in spite of this institution is what we

abraham lincoln as well as support ships the carrier was due to dock croatia on wednesday u.s. national security adviser john bolton says it is in response to troubling developments in the region the latest in a series of decisions by the trumpet ministration aimed at increasing pressure on iran gabriel elizondo in washington d.c. what do you bring us up to date with the statement from the white house. yeah a very unusual statement that came in on a sunday evening a little bit before nine pm local time here in washington a statement by national security advisor john bolton as you mentioned short statement but i want to read a few key lines from you mentioned part of it said in response to a number of troubling as torie indications and warnings which are not defined here the united states as you mention is deploying the u.s.s. abraham lincoln battle group aircraft carrier as well as bombers in the statement i'm going to read it directly here it says as they're doing this because two they're sending them to the region to quote to send a clear and unmistakable message to the irani

abraham lincoln really wanted to have access to all of the materials available in the sierra nevadas including the gold and silver and connect the new states to the united states. so he chose that time to complete and start building the transcontinental railroad. obviously in the middle of the war it of the country was a major factor. they wanted to get across the country in a quicker period of time. they wanted to ship the goods in the factories back east and the finished goods that would go back east. 4-6 months around the horn around south america. it would hopefully be about two weeks and that was abraham lincoln's goal and it ended up that it was 7-10 days. the two companies that started building the transcontinental railroad where the pacific railroad company that started in sacramento, california and the union pacific railroad company that started in omaha, nebraska. there were already rail systems back there. one of the problems was the company's were building before they got paid. they were almost always in debt and always worrying about money. the other problem was resource

earlier this week the trumpet ministration ordered the commander of the abraham lincoln and its kompany and vessels to basically be on standby for any sort of provocative actions by the iranian military now on friday the u.s.s. arlington has been ordered to join the abraham lincoln and the other ships is part of its convoy as well as the deployment of a patriot missile battery in order to make certain that if there were any sort of attack on the lincoln carrier strike group that the military would be able to defend itself what this is according to u.s. officials is a show of force to tear on that the u.s. is very closely watching its military and economic and diplomatic activities around the middle east and that the u.s. military is there essentially to safeguard the u.s. as national security interests as well as those of the u.s. as partners and allies in the region but this is raising concern particularly here in the united states that the u.s. may be engaged in a game of chicken that it may be actually adding to tensions rather than trying to find a way to discuss with terror on its

says arlington has been ordered to join the abraham lincoln and the other ships is part of its convoy as well as the deployment of a patriot missile battery in order to make certain that if there were any sort of attack on the lincoln carrier strike group that the military would be able to defend itself what this is according to u.s. officials is a show of force to tear on that the u.s. is very closely watching its military and economic and diplomatic activities around the middle east and the u.s. military is they're essentially to safeguard the u.s. as national security interests as well as those of the u.s. as partners and allies in the region but this is raising concern particularly here in the united states that the u.s. may be engaged in a game of chicken that it may be actually adding to tensions rather than trying to find a way to discuss with terror on its concerns about terror hons policies and trying to figure out a way to ultimately negotiate a deal that would address iran's nuclear and other security issues that trade war between the well sue biggest economies is set to co

abraham lincoln to provide more support as and to really send a message to teheran that the u.s. government is paying attention to town hall and actions across the middle east be it economic be it political be it military actions and that the u.s. is prepared to was stand by its allies and partners across the middle east if it believes that they are being threatened by hans activities cuber is being forced to russian food in other basic goods to cope with shortages it blames partly on the expanded u.s. sanctions shop shelves have been increasingly empty with customers waiting queues for hours whenever products are back in stock. getting less support from venezuela which is dealing with its own economic troubles officials say that the measures will prevent hoarding by people who sometimes resell goods on the black market. there are jobs day with headlines here and i deserve more news coming up right after football rebels. to struction and despair a group of friends resist. rescuing books from the rubble they build a refuge for freedom and democracy. a secret library of hope from w

john wilkes booth shot abraham lincoln in order to kill abraham lincoln.hat he was trying to do he have nothing personal against james garfield. he liked the man. he have met his wife. but what he was trying to do was reverse the election of 1880. he was not so much try to get garfield out of office as to put someone else in office. he was trying to make arthur and his circle of friends the president in the rolling circle in the united states. it was a regime change. and that's a very scary thought when you think about it. and he was successful in doing it. >> i'm can steal a question that susan asked earlier of the event. james buchanan who preceded him. are consistently ranked to the left. the historical kryptonite and you don't want to be close to him. he have the greatest challenges of any president i think it did such a wonderful job it's hard to look good next to that. but -- but both buchanan and johnson were cosmically unsuccessful. and johnson remade the nation after the war and historical reputation as a fascinating thing. >> in the first part he

you need to remember abraham lincoln manages to persuade 1% more people to vote for him than they had in 1860. that is how close this was and why the events on the battlefield and the events on the home front, events in the south, the north, the events of men, women, black people, white people are the same story. pull them apart to see what people are doing, but they all come back together. but neither union victory nor emancipation that came as a result of that victory was preordained by numbers, or manufacturing, or moral superiority. we are fortunate that the united states survived, and we should be grateful for that deliverance rather than smugly certain that it was destined from the outset because they were modern like we are. the third plot line is most the most straight forward and the most powerful of all. from the first moments of secession, as cassandra showed us today, enslaved did -- enslaved people did everything they could to escape and destroy slavery. they escaped and went to the united states within three weeks of virgina's secession. after 200 years of slavery in vir

abraham lincoln eloquently defended his fellow lawyers and paugs natalie supported the rule of law. more than two decades before the civil war, lincoln delivered a speech prophetically titled, the perfecter pet wation of our political institution, the year was 1838. at the age of just 28, lincoln was concerned about the rising passions in our young republic. political passions are nothing new in america. and in 1838 in his first published address, lincoln argued we can best preserve the constitution by enshrining respect for the rule of law in the hearts of the citizens. let reverence for the law be breathed by every american parent. let it be taught in schools, in seminary, and colleges. let it be written in primers, spelling books, and almanacs. let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice. because all lawyers share an interest and an obligation to promote the law. ours is a collaborative profession. it's a mistake to treat opposing counsel as your enemy. litigation is not warfare. your goal is not to destroy the opponent. z

abraham lincoln strikeforce group puts a kid aircraft carrier plus some. of the ships around it plus some bombers to the middle east region and i want to read part of the statement that's key it says they're being sent to the region to quote unquote send a clear and unmistakable message to the iranian regime that any attack on the united states interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force statement just goes on to say in part the united states is not seeking war with their reign in regime but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack now there's two key things that need to be brought up here number one is that this particular aircraft carrier the u.s.s. abraham lincoln had already been deployed from the united states in on april april first so it had already been on a deployment and as you mentioned it was supposed to be in croatia may eighth. through eleventh dock there for some normal procedures but it appears that now it's being diverted to the middle east region now it's not unusual for aircraft carriers and battle groups

john wilkes booth shot abraham lincoln in order to kill abraham lincoln. leeth harvey oswald shot john kennedy in order to kill john kennedy. what charles guiteau was trying to do, he had nothing personal against james garfield. he liked the man. he had met the man. he had meant his wife. what he was trying to do was reverse the election of 1880. he was not so much trying to get garfield out of office as to put someone else in office. he was trying to make chester al hand arthur and his circle of friends the president and the ruling circle in the united states. it was a regime change. and that's a very scary thought when you think about it, and he was successful in doing it. >> and getting back to andrew johnson, i'm going to steal a question that susan asked at an earlier event at mount vernon earlier this week to other historians. abraham lincoln, of course, is ranked the number one president. james buchanan, who proceeded him and andy johnson who came after him are consistently ranked the last two. how do you explain that? >> well, lincoln is sort of hi

when it comes to abraham lincoln, and again ken burns , of course, dealt with this subject, i thoughtairly honestly and accurately, lincoln, of course, is the same person who said, i would preserve the union by bringing all the slaves, some of the slaves, none of the slaves. so are we perhaps discounting the fact that his party, the republican party, and his congress does have democrats, has slaveowners in congress. but as a political cover for the emancipation, starting with the d.c. emancipation, could it have had the political cover he that this was revenge against the south? in other words, they are going to pay for breaking up the union. isn't that what the abolitionists said from the beginning, that the price of this union will be the end of slavery? ms. medford: are you saying that -- >> i am saying perhaps that lincoln himself knew he had political cover. ms. medford: i think we have got it. a. clark-lewis: there is triumvirate of power in europe. england, france, and although germany isn't unified until 1871, the prussians, etc. there is external pressure on lincoln that is u

in fact, remember, abraham lincoln refused to allow black folks to -- ms.rd: could you ask the question? >> ok. frederickn is, with douglass and harriet tubman putting pressure on abraham lincoln to finally allow black ands into the civil war, their courageous fighting gave rise to then abraham lincoln deciding, what would he do with the relationship to aiding those black men as far as legislation? ms. medford: i am confused -- >> let me clear it up. one south and the north, side was winning sometimes, the other. but then harriet tubman and frederick douglass put pressure on him to finally allow black folks, like harriet tubman becoming the first spy and officer besides being a nurse in the union services. their courageous fighting, of those black men with weapons in their hand, killing white folks. and as mr. clark said earlier, the black men then came back to d.c., african-american soldiers from the civil war, becoming a problem. ms. medford: the question is what? >> the question is, what about those black soldiers fighting gave rise to abraham lincoln de

abraham lincoln to provide more support as and to really send a message to teheran that the u.s. government is paying attention to town hall and actions across the middle east be it economic be it political be it military actions and that the u.s. is prepared to was stand by its allies and partners across the middle east if it believes that they are being threatened by terror hons activities tens of thousands of algerians are protesting for yet another day against what they call the ruling elites the key figures connected to ousted president of lizzie's bt flicka to cede power presidential elections are expected in july. cuba is being forced to ration food and other basic goods to cope with shortages it blames partly on expanded u.s. sanctions shop shelves have been increasingly empty with customers waiting in queues for hours whenever products can stalk cuber is also getting less support from venezuela which is dealing with its own economic troubles all right you're up to date with headlines here in on 0 we've got more news coming right up after one on one. on counting the cost

abraham lincoln managed to use a political party to mobilize millions of voters to be better than they were before the election. to think about someone other than themselves, to devote the enormous power of the united states to freeing people held in perpetual bondage. and as katie's reminds us, even that great victory at the electoral box was made possible because of vehicle drills in the battlefield in atlanta and in the shenandoah valley. u need to remember abraham lincoln manages to persuade 1% more people to vote for him than they had in 1860. that is how close this was and why the events on the battlefield, in the south, north, men, women, black people, white people are the same story. pull them apart to see what people are doing, but they all come back together. but neither union victory nor manuals pation that came as a result of that victory was preordained by numberses, or manufacturing or moral superiority. we are fortunate that the united states survived, and we should be grateful for that deliverance rather than smugly certain that it was destined from the outset because t

marines is on its way to reinforce naval forces in the gulf the arlington is joining the abraham lincoln aircraft carrier strike group which sails through the suez canal on thursday iran is dismissing the deployment as psychological warfare the u.s. and china have agreed to continue trade talks even after donald trump began the process of imposing tariffs on all chinese imports but the u.s. president says he is in no rush to reach a deal with beijing as a latest round of negotiations ended with no breakthrough in venezuela opposition leader who is calling for his supporters to take to the streets to protest against a growing government crackdown on opposition figures several politicians have been supporting in his attempts to oust president nicolas maduro have been arrested or sought refuge at various embassies democrats in the u.s. house of representatives have issued a legal demand for president trump's tax returns the ways and means committee which oversees taxes set a deadline for the internal revenue service to release the documents earlier this week the treasury rejected the demand

despite president abraham lincoln's efforts to limit the war to a constitutional fight involving white men only, african-americans -- both men and women, i might add -- seized the opportunity to gain their freedom, however tenuous. beginning with the first shot -- salvo fired by south carolina, with their articles of secession, and continuing through the formal organization of the united states colored troops in 1863. their agency during the war forced the u.s. federal government to recognize publicly the war's true nature -- that it was a fight over the right to own another human being. that it was a fight to treat that person as nothing more than chattel. and it was a fight for the right to exploit that person's labor for personal gain. a month after the war began, black men and women forced the u.s. and the confederate governments to change their policies as they used their agency to demand freedom, or, at the very least, protection from the united states government. initially, both governments stated unequivocally that this was a white man's war and that black military service was

earlier this week the trumpet ministration ordered the commander of the abraham lincoln and its kompany and vessels to basically be on standby for any sort of provocative actions by the iranian military now on friday the u.s.s. arlington has been ordered to join the abraham lincoln and the other ships is part of its convoy as well as the deployment of a patriot missile battery in order to make certain that if there were any sort of attack on the lincoln carrier strike group that the military would be able to defend itself what this is according to u.s. officials is a show of force to tear on that the u.s. is very closely watching its military and economic and diplomatic activities around the middle east and that the u.s. military is there essentially to safeguard the u.s. as national security interests as well as those of the u.s. as partners and allies in the region but this is raising concern particularly here in the united states that the u.s. may be engaged in a game of chicken that it may be actually adding to tensions rather than trying to find a way to discuss with terror on its

abraham lincoln aircraft carrier group and it's an additional assignment and in fact it has given the u.s.s. abraham lincoln new carrier group an additional assignment which is to was be on guard for any sort of provocative behavior from the military in iran and to be prepared to respond if that is the judgment of the white house the u.s. always has an aircraft carrier strike group in and around the middle east the abraham lincoln was already scheduled to be going through the region anyway as it moved from its home port here on the u.s. east coast to san diego on the u.s. west coast and it basically was going to be circum navigating the globe so all of this is basically the u.s. military vessels in the middle east getting an additional assignment and certainly one of a symbolic show of force to basically remind the leadership in tehran that the u.s. government is not pleased with its political and military engagements around the middle east and as we mentioned last the u.s. had said officials have said that they have detected troubling indications that iran could be preparing a milita

abraham lincoln carrier strike group and bomber task force to the region but this was a key part of the statement here that i want to read it said and sending it to the region to quote send a clear and unmistakable message to the iranian regime that any attack on the united states' interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force in quote that was a key part of the statement from john bolton now let's be clear on a couple of things number one is it's not unusual for the united states to send an aircraft carrier like this to the middle east especially to the gulf region as a deterrent to iran that is somewhat normal what is different about this though is that this is not only an aircraft carrier but bombers as well it's a pretty significant strike force here that's being sent and it's also very unusual for the united states and the national security adviser to send out a statement like this telegraphing where they're sending an aircraft carrier and why specific. and bellicose language pointing out in some ways a provoked provocation towards iran basically saying we'

abraham lincoln is the only american president who has a patent. the nature of the patent and here's a copy of it tells you a great deal about the world i'm trying to describe. this action, this inflatable balloon was set up to help net the draft of wrath. lincoln knew a bit about that since floating down to new orleans by raft. didn't make any money off of it. the most celebrated canal project and ultimately the canal system, this was completed in 1825 not from support of the federal government but of the state of new york. this allowed the perverse system of some 363 miles an elevation gain over 500 feet that connected the great lakes after much of the interior of the united states for the hudson river valley in new york city into the atlantic world. they pay less attention to it although in some ways it was the early consequential than what was happening at the other end the illinois and michigan canal started in 1836, open for traffic in 1848, it connected chicago with lake michigan to the mississippi. insuring the entire mississippi drainage b

abraham lincoln is the only american president who held a patent. the nature of the patent tells you a great deal about the world i'm trying to describe. it was a device he came up with that used a set of inflatable draftns to help lift the of rafts so they could get over sandbars. lincoln knew a bit about that, having twice drifted to new orleans on a raft. he did not make any money on it. the most celebrated canal project, of course, and obviously the canal system obviates the need for the system, was the era canal -- erie canal. it traversed a system of some 30 and innd 363 miles, elevation gained over 500 feet. the great lakes and much of the interior of the united states to the hudson really valley -- hudson river valley, new york, and the world food in some ways -- and the world. in some ways, it was equally important as the michigan canal. traffic in 1848. to lakected chicago michigan through the illinois river system to the mississippi. it ensured the entire mississippi drainage, virtually the entire united states east of the rocky mountains

arlington has been ordered to join the abraham lincoln and the other ships is part of its convoy as well as the deployment of a patriot missile battery in order to make certain that if there were any sort of attack on the lincoln carrier strike group that the military would be able to defend itself what this is according to u.s. officials is a show of force to tear on that the u.s. is very closely watching its military and economic and diplomatic activities around the middle east and that the u.s. military is there essentially to safeguard the u.s. as national security interests as well as those of the u.s. as partners and allies in the region but this is raising concern particularly here in the united states that the u.s. may be engaged in a game of chicken that it may be actually adding to tensions rather than trying to find a way to discuss with terror holland its concerns about terror hons policies and trying to figure out a way to ultimately negotiate a deal that would address iran's nuclear and other security issues. more than 100 people have been killed in the last week as syrian

earlier this week, the pentagon announced the aircraft carrier uss abraham lincoln would arrive in the region sooner than originally planned, along with b-52 bombers. iran has said it will start complying with some parts of the nuclear deal. what is going to happen over the next few days? what is going on? guest: both sides are trying to send signals to each other. whatever threats they see from the other party is not going to -- they are going to meet the threats they see from the other party. arethe u.s., the threats mostly clients that iran has in the region. perceivedit is the buildup of military power in it. what is going to happen in the next few weeks, there are several things. there is one issue on the nuclear front, which remains to be seen whether or not iran takes action as it has said to test the limits of the nuclear deal. are looking to talk to the europeans to reach a settlement on how to facilitate trade on some goods with europe. in the next 60 days, we may go back to continuing the implementation of the nuclear deal like nothing had happened. if that did not happen, w

abraham lincoln was the only president who held a patent.the nature of the patent, and here is a copy of it, toes you a great deal about the world i'm trying to describe. the device he came up with was used as an inflatable balloon to help lift the draft of rafts so they can get over sandbars. lincoln knew a bit about that after twice floating down to new orleans by raft. he did not make any money off it. celebrated canal project, of course, and, ultimately, he canal system obviates a need, was the era canal -- the canal system obviates a need, was the erie canal. it was a route that traversed a system of some 30 locks and 363 miles, elevation gained of just over 500 feet, but it connected the great lakes and affected much of the interior of the united states, connecting it to the hudson river valley to new -- toity and to the world the hudson river valley, to new york city, and to the world. and what was happening at the other end? the illinois and michigan canal, started in 1836, opened for traffic in 1848, it connected chicago with lake m

abraham lincoln's greatest encouraging andrew johnson as his second vice president.should have thought more closely about the issue of succession and legacy. he chose the only southern senator who did not defect to the confederacy, even though he was a democrat and not a republican, and even though he was deeply racist. i don't think he spent any time talking to him. magically, roosevelt chose harry truman. that,w his hand was on because he made the selection. i don't know why he saw possibility in truman. he certainly knew of his own frailty, and he didn't expect to live through his third term, certainly didn't expect to survive his fourth, and thought he would resign if the war ended. he wanted to see allied victory through. it's a remarkable thing that he whond this amazing man seemed greater than the sum of his parts. brian: we have about eight minutes left. a couple questions in the back. yes, sir? >> i wonder if you could comment on the suggestion that those who --hasize [inaudible] insofar as that masking, subterfuge impacts ratings. thinking particularly of d