out of deference to senator corwin who was the compromiser. yes? question? >> harrisburg, pennsylvania. i think one of the fascinating areas in terms of james buchanan is what in the terms of what he didn't do is the things he didn't do that could've made things far worse for lincoln coming in including recognizing the confederacy. just what was his motivation? was it shear passivity? or did he genuinely have few remaining principles that he was not going to put lincoln in a worse position than he already was? >> well, you -- is this on? you must keep in mind that he was making his decisions with only several months remaining. and he wanted to get out of town without -- no, seriously. he wanted to e get out of town without having the war started on his watch. he made it very clear that, and he states this that i will do nothing that will incite any kind of a war or conflict. and i think the prime example of this is even though he did send a message to the commissioners from south carolina that he would protect and respond militarily to any kind of attack on