school teacher from north carolina that had pictures up and said that abraham lincoln was a son of john abrahams and cherokee, north carolina, after he got his mother pregnant because he objected and sent him away in a wagon with another man. is there any truth to that? >> i don't think so. there are all kind of stories and questions about abraham lincoln's birthright. the biggest stretch i've ever heard has him the son of calhoun because nancy once worked in a tavern where calhoun may have gone during the time he was riding the legal circuit, but that's a real stretch. i think lincoln was the son of thomas and nancy. >> emory thomas, congratulations again on winning this year's person of the year. >> thank you so much. >> for 1862 as the 150th anniversary of the civil war is celebrated and remembered. so your nomination of robert e. lee wins it with the audience at the library of virginia. we thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> and we want to remind you in case you missed any of the program today, the interviews, the nominations by the historians. we'll show it all to you again this even

here is the park guide telling the story of how andrew john met abraham lincoln. >> in 1947 i went into the 30th congress for my third term representing the people of the third district and while i was there i met an extremely tall young man named abraham lincoln. and we fell into conversation and i introduced myself and told him i was from northeast tennessee and he imch replied he had relatives from north tennessee and perhaps i knew some of them. he identified his great uncle issac as having a farm. which his father thomas lincoln had worked as something of a hired hand in the 1790s. he also identified another great uncle by the name of mortici. where i replied greenville is my hometown. and your great uncle in fact performed the wedding ceremony for me and my wife elisa in 1827 as well as we served on the town council together. and i reassured mr. lincoln that he was in good hands in terms of politics that his great uncle had gained a great many more votes than i had. but like many young men who came into congress at the time, we went in there with goals. and each of us had a cheris

you may recall we covered this event last year and abraham lincoln was choice for person of the year 1861. john mountcastle joins us from the library of virginia. mr. mountcastle, a pretty compelling case for general george b. mcclellan in 1862, and we have a lot of phone callers waiting to hear from you, let's go first to norman in east lansing, michigan, good afternoon. >> caller: good afternoon. dr. mountcastle, do you think if lincoln would have just let mcclellan stick to his plan and not interfere like a good leader should, that mcclellan's strategy would have actually won the war? and also why do you think mcclellan gets such a bad rap amongst your fellow historians? >> norman, that's two key questions, i think. first, the president was under tremendous pressure not strictly in a strategic sense but most assuredly in a political sense being battered on several sides, there had been success as we heard earlier, along mississippi, they captured new orleans and certainly in the upper reaches of the cumberland tennessee river by forces led by men like ulysses grant, shiloh was a victory even

abraham lincoln is. they know he was not john brown. theynow he was not wendell phillips. they know he was not a major advocate of liberation. they know in general -- this is what most people know about lincoln, that he did it reluctantly. he did it to save the union. that's -- that's the lincoln that these people worship. what is that saying? that you don't fight for freedom if it causes problems. they know the lincoln they are worshipping. ey don want to know john brown. they don't want to know wendell phillips. they don't even want to know lymon trumble. and i'm saying that we ought to teach young white children wendell phillips' name, who said -- and 94 years before king, 133 years before mandela that he wanted to create a rainbow nation composed of the learned and the ignorant, the old and the young, the black and the white, paying an, christian, jew -- pagan, christian, jew, all in one great procession, marching toward a rainbow land. he said that 100 years ago. that ought to be taught if we're gog to overcome the madness in this country. going back to abigail adams,

john wilkes booth and the conspirators. and the second part of the act looks at the me moralial zation and memory of abraham lincoln and why he's still so important today. so come with me and take eye look at what we've gone. at the mezzanine, this is actually where visitors to the site will enter the center and take the elevator to the fourth floor to experience the first exhibit. people will come through the peterson house, across the back porch and to this area, and this way it's a continuous flow from that third act to that fourth act. so people who come here, they'll learn a little bit about what the center is and then they'll load onto the elevator and take the elevator to the fourth floor, which is what we're going to do right now. >> going up. >> we like to think of our elevator as time travel. as the elevator doors open, we step out onto the washington streets of april 15, 1865. and visitors get an opportunity to hear the street sounds of horses and carriages traveling along, tolling bells, mourning lincoln's loss. and we also hear the telegraph sending out confirmation of abraham lincoln's death. >> president lin

abraham lincoln ranking second with an 85% favorability rating. thomas jefferson, teddy roosevelt and johnre's the question about the least popular president, richard nixon. 27% view him favorably, 59% unfavorably. have i got a surprise for you! a mouthwatering combination of ingredients... i know you're gonna love. [ barks ] yes, it's beneful healthy fiesta. made with wholesome grains, real chicken, even accents of tomato and avocado. yeah! come on! [ barking ] gotta love the protein for muscles-- whoo-hoo! and omega-rich nutrition for that shiny coat. ever think healthy could taste so good? [ woman announcing ] beneful healthy fiesta. another healthful, flavorful beneful. my dad and grandfather spent their whole careers here. [ charlie ] we're the heartbeat of this place, the people on the line. we take pride in what we do. when that refrigerator ships out the door, it's us that work out here. [ michael ] we're on the forefront of revitalizing manufacturing. we're proving that it can be done here, and it can be done well. [ ilona ] i come to ge after the plant i was working at closed aft

theatre where john wilkes booth shot president lincoln as he enjoyed "our american cousin," it's the newest addition where visitors can learn about the life, death, and legacy of abraham lincoln. ford's theatre society director talks about the center's purpose and goals. >> we are in the center of education and leadership. directly across the street from historic ford's theatre on 10th street in washington, d.c. behind me is the tower of books, which is a concept that really started about five years ago to visualize and showcase the unending quest to learn more about abraham lincoln. and so this tower of books represents as we all know that abraham lincoln is the most written about figure in world history next to jesus christ. we believe that ford's theatre is the location in washington, d.c. to learn about lincoln and his legacy. it's one of the things that we do better than anyone else. we are able to marry the concepts and the excellence that we bring to theatrical productions to the museum experience. we will teach our oratory programs as part of our education programs in this facility. we will use this facility to do our teacher training. all of

john adams that was pretty ugly personal stuff too but since then i think barack. obama has has been the target of more again personal ugly attacks than any president since abraham lincoln that i could find well and lincoln whom we consider saint abraham in his day he was reviled they made fun of his teeth his days as well he had the civil war his and in in the case of adams and jefferson two years before that election jefferson literally left town the day that adams signed the petition x. and adams and threw into jail all eighteen editors of all eighteen years papers that supported the end of federalist the support of jefferson's party so i mean there was there was some considerable animists there some actual something that you could actually point to what has obama done that the hate machine can actually point to no nothing but i think it's the it's to me. i analyze it this way that he is for the republicans right his policies really are not that radical at all sure and i wish they were exclaim here brooke i wish he were the liberal that they accuse of of being i wish you were the left us right he's not i wish you were the socialist bernie sanders another one in the w

john wilkes booth shot president lincoln as he enjoyed the play "our american cousin." it's the newest addition on tenth street in washington where visitors can learn about the life, death and legacy of abraham lincoln. ford's theatre society director talks about the center's purpose and goals and curator tracey avant walks us through the exhibits. >> we are in the center for educational leadership. directly across the historic ford's theatre in washington, d.c. behind me is the tower of books which is a concept that really started about five years ago to visualize and showcase the unending quest to learn more about abraham lincoln. so this tower of books represents as we all know that abraham lincoln is the most written about figure in world history next to jesus christ. >> over the past couple of years we have been working with the ford's theatre society in developing the new exhibits here at the ford's theatre center for education and leadership. public space in the lobby that has to be fireproof so all the books are actually made out of aluminum for weight and flammability purposes. we've got a structure that goes on to this column and then we're building up with perforated aluminum shel

abraham. it would be 40 years after romney's last term as governor before another romney would win a statewide race. it was mitt. he beat johnhe 2008 republican primary. as we know he would later lose the nomination. in one week we'll see if the romney name will be enough to win in michigan. joining me now is political analyst, an old friend of the hot line there. the editor and publisher of inside politics. it's good to see you. even if on a remote camera. >> good morning, chuck. >> well, the romney brand as we lay it out here. it's george romney's brand that is gold. the name itself has not always meant success in michigan republican politics. why? >> well, there was only one judge. he floundered against phil. who was the democratic icon in michigan, as you know. it would have been very hard to beat him. if she won she would probably still be senator today. scott romney was elected statewide, mitt's brother to the university of florida trustees. so the romney name has not done as badly as i think you portrayed a few minutes ago. as you point out, he beat john mccain in the try mare in 2008. >> is the romney brand a republi

abraham lincoln inspired by that overlapping time by john quincy adams down the hall because of his christian beliefs and faith. if anybody doubts what motivated that man, read the second inaugural address on the inside of the north wall of the lincoln memorial as he tried to make sense as a christian spiritually about all the injustice and wrongs and death and suffering in america. the movement for women's equality involved women of great faith. the civil rights movement. the greatest saint of the movement was a man who was an ordained christian minister who knew in his heart what jesus had done for him and he wanted all people to have liberty equally together and be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. and now, it appears war is being waged like never before on people of biblical christian beliefs. wonder what some of the founders had to say. samuel adams was one of the strongest christians alive during the revolution. he was inspirational. how strangely will the tools of a tyrant pervert the plain meaning of words, samuel adams, that devout strong christia