henry was much more than a founding father. he was america's greatest oratory and courtroom lawyer. lord byron, in polish poet who could only read his speeches, call him of his age, and john adams who did hear henry speak agreed. in the courtroom he sliced opponent arguments to shred using every rhetorical device he could find or invent, huber, fear, on clear days he would embrace the sunshine and lift parts. he would point to the clouds and provoke tears and on the stormy days esol destruction shy and every thundercloud and a bolt of lightning and caulkett the wrath of god. one opposing lawyer said whenever he rose to speak, although it might be so trifling this object as a some and i was obliged to leave them like him i could not write another word until the speech was finished. in addition to oratory, henry was a master of the law and legal tactics and he come by that mastery with a great sense of humor. in one case a young couple came to henry before yielding. he was only 18 which was under the age of consent at that time. henry told her to take her father's horse to the marriage and have her groomed to be behind her on the horse shoe. the county prosecutor wouldn't let thi

lord byron, the english poet who could only read henry's speeches called him the demost these of his age. and john adams, who did hear him speak, agreed. in the courtroom, he sliced opponents to shreds using every device he could find or invent. humor, hope, fear, on clear days he embraced the sunshine and lifted juror's hearts. on grave days he pointed to the clouds and rain and providing jurors to tears. and on morally -- stormy days he saw omens of destruction and bolt of lightning and called it the rat -- the wrath of god. one opposing lawyer said whenever henry rose to speak, although it might be on trifling subject as a summons, i was obliged to lay down my pen. i could not write another word until the speech was finished. in addition to oratory, he was a master of the law and legal tactics. and he combined that mastery with a great sense of humor. in one case, a young couple came to henry before eloping. the bride was only 18, which was under the age of consent. henry told her to take her father's horse to the marriage and have her groom to be mount behind her on the horse. well, the county prose

the chapter about the decline of henry adams and her death, never experienced anything more traumatizing than writing that because i had to live that moment over and over again to really get into her head and body and imagine what it felt like and talked to another writer who wrote about difficult stuff. a lot of writers talk about it. the impact that has, the need to embody your material when your material is traumatizing. war reporters deal with this all the time. they get a post-traumatic stress disorder after reliving the experience they wrote about. there is something cathartic about having it on the page and moving on. the other difficult things that i would have to go laydown to recover. >> your characters in the book becomes so real. they are real people you completely visualize and imagine. when we brought up the responsibility of writing that is a huge responsibility. writing about real people. you want to represent them, to know that if they came back today and read this they would say this is similar to what was happening. that is a daunting prospect. >> especially when they