he turns to lewis powell and says, "that is the last speech he will ever give." three days later, he acted on his threat. lincoln's endorsement of black suffrage was one of those steps that seemed to be gaining momentum. something that would help in the transition to freedom. but let us not romanticize how everyone felt after lincoln's assassination. some republicans in congress secretly confessed, as one wrote in his journal, that lincoln's death is a godsend. this is a republican. lincoln's death is a godsend. why would he say that? he said it because the radical republicans thought lincoln was soft. they thought that he did not have the steel it would take to deal with the rebels. and indeed, time and again, lincoln signaled this, most dramatically and politically, in the conclusion to the second inauguration, with charity for all. time and again, he said let the war be remembered for lessons to be learned, not acts to be revenged. when he was in richmond with his son, someone comes up to him and says, what should i do with these confederate prisoners? lincoln

the two gentlemen in gray are possibly lewis powell and one of the other lincoln conspirators. booth was stalking link in the he was after him. he originally had a plot to kidnap again. when he discovers that lincoln will give us to qualified african-americans, he said, that is it, i will run him through. in february 5, gardner was thinking this would be the last sitting. this is a paparazzi photograph. this photographer, henry warren, had finagled his way to the white house. he was playing around. when he went to deliver the photographs, he said, go get your dad and i will take his picture, too. an exasperated lincoln takes this photograph or he does look kind of peevish. but you will notice again the eyes disappear. his presence to the public and the suffering, the suffering we are dealing with in this great photograph by gardner, the ruins of the south and ruins of the confederacy. the north wanted to see them beaten badly. and gardner was serving that appetite. and lincoln is faced with the prospect the second inaugural, of binding the nation's wounds with charity toward al

and make sure lewis powell retired, the democrats have taken the senate back and they were ready fora fight. and they had known that robert bork was coming. robert bork had been on the short list for republican president supreme court nominations really since the 1970s. robert bork had been an assistant attorney general for richard nixon. given a solicitor general for richard nixon. he had been a part of the so-called saturday night massacre during watergate when several senior people to them resigned and he was acting as attorney general. as soon as reagan became president in 1981, one of his first judicial appointments was robert bork. so the democrats knew this was coming and they were prepared and they wasted no time at all. some people complained in the current situation that senator mcconnell waited less than a couple of hours after antonin scalia died before taking -- staking his claim. and facts and edward kennedy went to the floor of the senate something like 45 minutes after robert bork was announced as the nominee and essentially said we the democrats are going to go after

lewis powell was assigned to kill william stewart.and michael o'laughlen was assigned to track down and kill general grant. of ais the famous scene sketch that was done of john wilkes booth. it was actually taken from the original newspaper. this is the original newspaper of the harvest weekly. 29, lincolnd april died on the 15th. it gets into details about john wilkes booth. the country was devastated by this attack. and then finding out about seward and the others. issue. harpers shows lincoln with his son, thad. his other son, willy, had died. not quite year before. these are all original. lincoln was respected, thought of as a loving family man. this is the scene that you saw where he jumps over the railing, he catches his spur on the american flag, drop to the ground, and hobbles out. onn he had hobbled out stage, there's only one actor onstage was finishing his lines. hand, a knife in his henry rathbone, who was a guest of the lincolns, along with his fiancÉe, clara harris. scene of theamous these areion, illustrated. this is th

conservative burger and a, with those of moderate republican blacksmith and conservative democrat lewis powell. this of course has not been the model that president reagan and bush have followed. indeed, even lacking the broad support for the vision of the court, which presidents washington and adams, lincoln and then, and roosevelt and truman hand, president reagan and bush have tried to recast the court in their ideological image. put another way, this is not the first time that a tandem of presidents have sought to remake the supreme court. nor is it the first time that a divided government has had to philly number of seats in that body. thatt is the first time both have been attempted simultaneously. and that, more than anything else, has been the root of the current controversy surrounding the selection of supreme court justice. is to cope with this stress, created by the decisions of reagan and bush, to move the court ideologically into a radical new direction, which this country does not support. it was to cope with this stress that the modern confirmation process was created. and on th

for example, republicans in the mold of justice lewis powell nominated by president nixon and do you know what the vote was with a heavily democratic-controlled senate? 89-1 to confirm. these are people who understand the importance of the court to defend it and nevada be conservatives without being ideological activists and have a strong commitment to our constitutional values of liberty and equal protection. a demonstrated record of a commitment to equal rights, they have shown what justice o'connor has so often shown. asking to make the nomination. that is up to the president. we are asking to let us do it in the manner that unites the country and does not divide it. incite adent wants to confirmation battle, then he can choose someone because of their activismor record of and the expectation they will be a political nomination and bring about a political victory. courte united states from should not be an arm of the republican party or the democratic party. it should be there for all of us. activists have reported closely with presidential advisor -- advisor karl rove. a nominee

balanced his choices of conservatives, warren burger and william rehnquist with harry blackmun and lewis powell. this is not been the model the president reagan and bush have followed. indeed, even lacking the broad support for the vision which presidents washington and adams, lincoln and grant, and roosevelt and truman had, president reagan and bush have tried to recast the court in their ideological image. as these presidents did. put it another way, is it not the first time that a tandem of presidents have sought to remake the supreme court, or the first time a government has had to feel a number of seats in that the divided body? it is the first time both have been attempted simultaneously. and that more than anything else has been at the root of the current controversy, surrounding the selection of supreme court justices. it was to cope with this stress, created by the decisions of presidents reagan and bush to move the court ideologically into a radical new direction, which this country does not support. it was to cope with this stress that the modern confirmation process was created. and