kevin levin. he completed a master in history of the university of richmond. his thesis became the basis of his most current book "remembering the battle of the crater, war's murder" which was published in 2012. he's currently an instrekter of american history at gan academy near boston. and fortunately, kevin in his day-to-day work, gets to challenge his students to conduct original research, critically evaluate historical sources, and analyze historical events. in addition to his book, he has written several essays for the "new york times" and the "atlantic" as well as popular magazines in a number of academic journals. you can follow him, follow his thoughts on many other issues related to the american civil war and how the four-year conflict was and continues to be remembered by following his award winning blog called the civil war memory. it's my pleasure this evening to introduce you to you kevin levin. >> good evening, everyone. before i get started, i also want to thank st. paul's church for opening its doors tonight. i can't think of a better venue fo

levin a democrat. >> who is number 2 in the republican-- >> sam johnson from texas, and then kevin brady and myself.>> kevin brady thinks he should have it. >> same tenure on the committee, he has another term on me in committee. >> he is a great guy and i am a big fan, either way we go we are going to be well served in ways and means. >> how about speaker of the house? >> not something i am interested in. >> why not? >> it is not a good family job you spend your weekend traveling across the country campaigns for others and spend my weekends at cross-country meets and cub scouts, you know, basketball games with my family, that is just who i am, my kids are 9, 11, and 12. >> people say if you are hungry enough to be president you need to-- >> being husband and father are the most important things in my life. >> the i lost my dad when i was young and i want to be the kind of father to my kids and husband to my wife that i didn't get. >> can you do that and have the kind of-- i mean is that what you want to prove, you can be a great family man, not travel on the weekends and still get-- >> yes, i belie

. >> next, author kevin levin talks about the role of u.s. troops in the battle of the crater.s to placed july 30, 1864 hard of the union army seizure heaters burn. peters heard national battlefield organized this event. interpretation with petersburg national battlefield. for those of you who have been with us for the last coupl