you know, james spader says at one point, congressmen come cheap. he makes all of these jokes about it. in practice we don't really know. we don't really know. if you read scholarship on this question they're very reluctant to draw conclusions. you at one point robert lathum one of the seward lobbyists writes in a letter we actually have where he says, about the passage of the amendment and the targeting of the lame ducks, he says, money will certainly do it if patriotism fails. money will certainly do it if patriotism fails. that is a line that should have been in the movie. of course it wasn't. i don't understand why not. i can't tell from the letter whether he was kidding or not. it is quite possible it's tongue in cheek and also possible he was serious. you know, the scholars who looked at this will point out that there is all kinds of evidence that they had money available and of course we know there was corruption in the 19th century congress. but at the end of the day they denied they were bribing congressmen. there is this letter from richar

you know, james spader says at one point, congressmen come cheap. he makes all of these jokes about it. in practice we don't really know. we don't really know. if you read scholarship on this question they're very reluctant to draw conclusions. you at one point robert lathum one of the seward lobbyists writes in a letter we actually have where he says, about the passage of the amendment and the targeting of the lame ducks, he says, money will certainly do it if patriotism fails. money will certainly do it if patriotism fails. that is a line that should have been in the movie. of course it wasn't. i don't understand why not. i can't tell from the letter whether he was kidding or not. it is quite possible it's tongue in cheek and also possible he was serious. you know, the scholars who looked at this will point out that there is all kinds of evidence that they had money available and of course we know there was corruption in the 19th century congress. but at the end of the day they denied they were bribing congressmen. there is this letter from richar

james spader the actor plays the tennessee attorney, real guy. okay? there is robert lathum and richard shell. these are real figures. but the actual behavior of the seward lobby is totally

you know, james spader says at a one point, congressmen come cheap.he makes all of these jokes about it. very in practice we don't really know. we don't really know. if you read scholarship on this question they're very reluctantp to draw conclusions. you know, at one point robert lathum one of the seward of t lobbyists writes in a letter we actually have where he says, l about the passage of the says amendment and the targeting of the lame ducks, he says, money will certainly do it if patriotism fails.ney wi money will certainly do it if a patriotism fails. now, that is a line that should have been in the movie.y of course it wasn't. i don't understand why not. i can't tell from the letter lt whether he was kidding or not. you know, it is quite possible it's tongue in cheek and also possible he was serious. poi you know, the scholars who a looked at this will point out ee that there is all kinds of and evidence that they had money . available. and, of course, we know there was corruption in the 19th century congress. but at the end of the day they de

you remember james spader in that movie. he did not have elegant manners.lbo was this prominent wig attorney from tennessee who switched sides in the mid of the war. he is interesting and elusive and nefarious in some ways but also not obscure. he knew abraham lincoln. we have letters in the lincoln papers. they had met each other and discussed strategy in november and december of 1864. he didn't live in a squirrel infested hotel. when he was in washington he roomd with another congressman roomed with another congressmane and when he was in new york where he spent most of his time in january 1865, he stayed at sd the st. in this case -- nicholas hotel, the finest hotel in new t york at the time. of robert lathe am and richard sail are old friends. they're prominent businessmen and investors. a little shady, i'll admit, but who in wall street isn't or wasn't?a add nevertheless, they're prominentu familiar guys.r and when they were engaged in th the lobbying effort, you know, the work they did was almost exclusively in new york, not in washington. in when you

you remember james spader in that movie, he did not have elegant manners.was necessafarious in some w but he was not obscure. he knew abraham lincoln. they had met each other and discussed strategy in november and december of 1864. he didn't live in a squirrel-in fested hotel, and when he was iç washington, he roomed with another congressman, and when he was in new york where he spent most of his time in january 1865, he stayed at the st. in this case lo-- nicholas hotel, e finest hotel in new york at the time. they're prominent businessmen and investors. a little shady, i'll admit, but who in wall street isn't or wasn't? nevertheless, they're prominent, familiar guys. and when they were engaged in the lobbying effort, you know, the work they did was almost exclusively in new york, not in washington. when you read books like mike warrenburg's or the coxes, what they were doing was try to impress the democratic press in new york. if you could influence the democratic press in new york through the operations of the governor, you could affect those swing democ

it's a recollection from james ashley, but james spader's character, william bilbo, was in new york ate time, at the st. nicolas hotel. the lobbyists were in new york in the final weeks of the fight working the press. the race scene is just a hollywood chase scene. it's no different than the airport race scene in "argo" and i have no problem with that, like i said, but key moments in this story are altered. and they're altered for dramatic reasons. we need to understand that if we're going to teach it and appreciate it. i call it fiction and i don't mean it as an insult, but i do think people need to appreciate the difference betweenviction and the record. the record is far more complicated. i think it's just as interesting, but it is messier. so with that, i wanted to wrap up my presentation and open it up for questions. i know a lot of people have seen this movie. i hope if i didn't cover a topic you wanted to talk up, you feel free to raise it now. thank you. [ applause ] >> yes, um, whether you're talking about ken burns and the civil war or godzilla, movies and television are firs