by taking a question that was previously submitted by one of the participants and that is from chris jax in wichita. chris said, in lincoln's public letters, such as a famous letter he wrote in 1862 to horace greeley or in another letter in , 1864 to a journalist, albert hodges, the president used the press to write a level of dutch provide a level of transparency into the policies his presidency was taking. has the role of the press in the white house changed since the civil war? let me start with you. give us the historical backdrop what was the media like during . the civil war? how did lincoln view the media? did he like reporters? did he try to influence the way they covered his administration, the conduct of war? >> the biggest difference is that the media back then was not fair and balanced like it is today. it was partisan. lincoln had lots of friends in the press because republican newspaper editors and writers, they were partisans for the republican party. as a leader, he used partisan republican newspapers like "the new york tribune," or unionist newspapers in kentucky to tran