as soon as word came to massachusetts senator charles sumner, he dashed off a letter to president abrahamncoln in which he noted, providence has given us a victory in the death of chief justice taney. it is a victory for liberty and the constitution. in the days following a philadelphia newspaper quoted, the nation can feel little regret at his removal from an office which, in his hands, has yo so promiscuously used. and five months later in a thorough article on the chief just is's legacy, the atlanta monthly accused taney was a partisan judge and around that same time, in early 1865, an anonymous 68-page pamphlet was published called the unjust judge that basically made the same point. roger taney was and is the most infamous chief justice in the history of the supreme court. tonight i'd like to talk about the life and the death of chief justice taney and what his death meant in late 1864 and 1865 when the nation was in the midst of concluding a long and bloody civil war. along the way, i would like to make various observations about taney, particularly the rise and fall of his reputati

supreme court chamber, where busts of the previous chief justices were already displayed, senator charles sumner of massachusetts rose in opposition. "i object to that," he said, "that now an emancipated country should make a bust to the author of the dred scott decision. sumner continued, "the name of taney is to be hooted down the page of history," he said. "judgment is beginning now, and an emancipated country will fasten upon him the stigma which he deserves." others joined sumner in their criticism. senator benjamin wade remarked that his constituents would, quote, pay $2,000 to hang this man in effigy rather than $1,000 for a bust to commemorate his merits. later that year, in a famous speech on the floor of the house in which he laid out his views on reconstruction policy, republican congressman thaddeus stevens of pennsylvania took an even stronger position against taney. referring to taney's dred scott decision, stevens argued that the notion that america was a white man's government only was, "as atrocious as the infamous sentiment that damned the late chief justice to everlasting fame

supreme court chamber, where busts of the previous chief justices were already displayed, senator charles sumner of massachusetts rose in opposition. "i object to that," he said, "that now an emancipated country should make a bust to the author of the dred scott decision. sumner continued, "the name of taney is to be hooted down the page of history," he said. "judgment is beginning now, and an emancipated country will fasten upon him the stigma which he deserves." others joined sumner in their criticism. senator benjamin wade remarked that his constituents would, quote, pay $2,000 to hang this man in effigy rather than $1,000 for a bust to commemorate his merits. later that year, in a famous speech on the floor of the house in which he laid out his views on reconstruction policy, republican congressman thaddeus stevens of pennsylvania took an even stronger position against taney. referring to taney's dred scott decision, stevens argued that the notion that america was a white man's government only was, "as atrocious as the infamous sentiment that damned the late chief justice to everlasting fame

kate was escorted by charles sumner who later became a favorite and a confidant of mrs. lk. this young eligible daughter of a wealthy cabinet member enjoyed a wide circle of admirers. anne richardson french, wife of sculptor daniel chester french, described kate as a professional beauty. she was tall and slim with an unusually long white neck and a slow dibeliberate way of turning it when she glanced about. french concluded both chase's striking appearance and her distinctive manner demanded that when she appeared, people dropped back in order to watch her. when she returned to the white house for the lincolns first state dinner on march 28th battle lines were clearly being drawn as the story is repeated that mrs. lincoln said to her as she left i shall be glad to see you anytime, miss chase and chase allegedly replied, mrs. lincoln, i shall be glad to have you call on me anytime. this might be mistaken as a polite or genteel interaction but i think we know that both parties were giving thinly veiled signals of the rough seas ahead. mrs. lincoln knew that the gauntlet had be

kate was escorted by charles sumner who later became a favorite and a confidant of mrs. lk. this young eligible daughter of a wealthy cabinet member enjoyed a wide circle of admirers. anne richardson french, wife of sculptor daniel chester french, described kate as a professional beauty. she was tall and slim with an unusually long white neck and a slow dibeliberate way of turning it when she glanced about. french concluded both chase's striking appearance and her distinctive manner demanded that when she appeared, people dropped back in order to watch her. when she returned to the white house for the lincolns first state dinner on march 28th battle lines were clearly being drawn as the story is repeated that mrs. lincoln said to her as she left i shall be glad to see you anytime, miss chase and chase allegedly replied, mrs. lincoln, i shall be glad to have you call on me anytime. this might be mistaken as a polite or genteel interaction but i think we know that both parties were giving thinly veiled signals of the rough seas ahead. mrs. lincoln knew that the gauntlet had be

guest: president brooks nearly caned charles sumner to death on the senate floor in 1864. on the floor of the u.s. senate. sumner would return to work, but he was nearly killed. host: richard joining us from trenton, new jersey. caller: yes. i just want to say greatness talking about president bush running for president. when uss cole was struck, that's when he took a stand and started taking it to the terrorists in america, having to protect america. if it wasn't for bush, right now today and barack obama, also, barack obama, bush and barack obama took out every terrorist from the top leaders today, talk about greatness. how can -- who decides who is greatness? one man decide this, or does a country decide this? host: thank you. guest: it's the actions of a president and how they are view viewed and appreciated over time by historians and the public. i mentioned earlier, george w.bush and barack obama deserve enormous credit for keeping the country secure and free. last year, the state department reported there were 17,891 global fatalities to terror. 17,891 people were k

i mean, preston brooks nearly killed charles sumner on the senate floor, nearly caned him to death. there's a darker side to american politics, a violent side, a turbulent side out of which greatness came. i'm trying to figure out a way that we could have really good but not great without some of these nation-encumbering crisis and without the kind of trauma that has so shaped our country's history. >> so let's let the conversation begin. thank you very much. >> thank you. [applause] >> the book is "the end of greatness." aaron david miller. [applause] all right. let's get you unclipped and -- well, actually, i almost did it again. we're going the take some questions. yesterday i forgot to do q&a, so hang on one sec. [inaudible conversations] >> do the book one more time? with or without applause? [laughter] with applause. all right, on cue. let's everyone applaud again if you still think it was a good show. [laughter] [applause] thank you. the book is "the end of greatness," aaron david miller. thank you. [applause] all right. let's have some questions. if you'd like -- if you've g