lincoln. stanton had hurt lincoln in reality in the 1850s. i apologize, mr.coln for having hurt you in the 1850s and daniel day, says, it's all right, i've for given you. >> when they heard him coming down the hall, here comes the president. >> i think of you as a movie star and you have a movie star brought a clip from the film. get this clip up in terms of what we're seeing and brief look inside the movie. >> the main things that happens, lincoln makes a decision that he needs the 13th amendment because once the war ends, the emancipation pro clamation will no longer have legal validity. he was only able to issue it because it was a war measure. if the war ends with permanent dealing with slavery, that slavery could come back. he's taking a huge risk by going to a congress that had already turned it down but he realizes a lot of democrats there lost their seats and he can use his power and give them jobs and what he wants. he trades -- jobs were not illegal but he'll do anything he has to and you see these rauk us seen scenes. >> here's a clip that we have.

lincoln put them altogether. [inaudible] lincolns allegiance powerfully influenced his compromise. his partisanship has to play a part. by november of 1860, he had spent a brief time about the security of the leadership and anxious about party unity. during the crisis, many republicans and non-republicans alike urged him make a public statement addressing the issues and reassuring southerners of their rights and his determination to be president. time and time again he refused. respondent to this request, he embraced a mantra that says i'm open to the inspection of of this. the petition, as he phrased it, but only half as clinical position. his inflexibility, he seemed not to fathom that the most vigorous rhetoric could terrify the south. additionally, never did lincoln acknowledge that everyone of those statements have been made as a republican partisan, not as the next president. none of those declarations have been made when the country faced monumental crisis. obviously, lincoln never stepped forward publicly in an effort conciliate southerners. he had, given his unmatched gift

-- lincoln is from illinois, the land of lincoln. a huge hometown advantage but the reason the committee puts it in chicago by one fod by the way. it could have been in missouri, was because no significant republican candidates were from illinois so was mutual territory. once -- >> host: so they warrant worried about a home-court advantage if he was not a player. >> guest: he was not a player. there were biographies of 10 major candidates. lincoln was not even on the list. >> host: tell us about the two-front runners, the two republican front-runners. >> guest: william henry seward who would become lincoln's secretary of state and salmon p. chase, governor of ohio. >> host: seward is a senator? >> guest: seward is a two-term senator from new york and a two-term governor. >> host: new york is the biggest day. >> guest: big is the most powerful state. this is only the second presidential election he has ever participated in. seward is the dominant figure in the republican party. he is more significant than any two others in the party c

he viewed lincoln as caesar, the tyrant. he wanted to be the co-tyrant was eliminated, as well as the tyrant. >> the night before, what happened? >> the night before this, or two nights, lincoln gives a speech celebrating what seems to be the end of the war. the crowd expects this will be a triumphant, we one speech. instead, it is lincoln talking about the difficulties of the destruction, getting the nation back together. he talks about particularly the new state government with federal support down in louisiana. for the first time, publicly, he talks about the possibility that blacks might vote or some blacks might vote. he puts it, the intelligent or those who served in the military. we do not have precise wording, but he turns to the accomplice and says, that means nigger citizenship. i will put him through. that means he will kill lincoln. >> how do we know that? >> that is from the trial testimony. there were two of them with him. >> more on the assassination attempt. lewis powell knocks on the door, a young guy, tall.

the movie is "lincoln." go see it! we'll be right back. t8y(y(ylbqr@p@)0p,g >> stephen: that's it for the "report," everybody.

is walking into lincoln's box. hopefully, the viewers can look at the picture of seward post- assassination attempt. that picture was taken in roughly 1871, a couple years afterward. even before that, the scars were more marked and horrible. seward was probably wearing some sort of an increment to keep his job in place in order to heal properly. that implement probably had some wires. not terribly thick, but the wire may well have deflected the blade and helped along with growing out of bed and the darkness. >> how long did he live? >> october, 1872. >> how long was the secretary of state? >> he remains secretary of state right through the end of the johnson and administration. -- johnson administration. >> how long did it take him to recover? >> he started this in two letters in the state department in a week or two and was back at his desk for two or three weeks, not for long periods of time. but he was a lot -- a hard worker all his life. he felt it was important for him to be back at his desk. bear in mind his

lincoln. america's revered president, brought to life by a hollywood dream team. steven spielberg and daniel day lewis ted diane sawyer about separating the man from the myth. >>> and walk on the wild side. up close and personal with a rare and fearsome predator. our reporter puts tail in hand to get to know the african white lion. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," november 9th, 2012. >> good evening, i'm bill weir. when president obama strode into the east room of the white house this afternoon, we all knew that job one of term two is to hammer out some sort of deal with republicans to keep the federal government from veering off the so-called fiscal cliff. and we knew he would probably lay down some markers. >> i'm open to compromise. i'm open to new ideas. i'm committed to solving our fiscal challenges. but i refuse to accept any approach that isn't balanced. i'm not going to ask stude

lincoln seems more accessible to us. in many ways, lincoln is one of us. a number of reasons for that. first of all, he had a sense of humor, which does more than anything to humanize people. he had an unhappy marriage, which makes him somehow accessible. he had children. he experienced tragedy. of the events of lincoln's life and how he dealt with them and the personal growth, that makes lincoln very nearly timeless. >> sreenivasan: lincoln is an icon that we see so much in pop culture today. give us some examples of how lincoln is so used. >> well, used and abused. i'm sure there are viewers out this who, when they think of lincoln they think of the, depending on their ages, raymond massey or henry fonda or hal holbrook or gregory peck or others who have played lincoln in the movies. >> furthermore, it's well known that the more a man speaks, the less he's understood. ( laughter ) >> lincoln has in fact been used almost from days of his assassination to sell products. we have lincoln logs. for a younger generation, "ted and bill's excellent adventure" in

(cheers and applause) >> stephen: that's lincoln.(applause) that's going to be our lincoln from now on. >> i think so. henry fonda was really, really great. 72 years ago, 79 years ago. and i think daniel is now the definitive. >> stephen: nailed it, he nailed it. one thing that bothers me about this movie is that that's a great portrait of lincoln and it's a heroic portrait of lincoln and, you know, spoiler alert, it ends sadly. (laughter) but this heroic portrait worries me because people often compare obama to lincoln. do you think there's a comparison between the two? >> oh, yeah, absolutely. >> stephen: what? what? they're both from illinois? what? >> both from illinois. >> stephen: so was capone, go on. (laughter) >> i feel that the connection is obama a progressive centrist, as lincoln was. they both believe in government. >> stephen: lincoln was a republican, though. lincoln was a republican. >> a different kind of republican. >> stephen: still, "r" next to his name. >> that's the case. >> stephen: and i don't think obama coul

lincoln is from illinois. huge home town advantage but the reason the committee put it in chicago by one vote, they voted to put it in chicago by one vote it could've been in misery because no candidates were from illinois of it was neutral territory. >> host: so you were not worried because he wasn't a player. >> guest: they were published by major newspapers in the major candidates republican convention and quite often he wasn't even on the list. >> host: tell us about the two front runners. >> guest: so william henry seward would become the secretary of state and the governor of ohio. >> host: >> guest: he is a term senator from new york. the biggest powerful state like california at the day and he's the founding father of the republican party this is the second election they've ever participated in. he is the dominant figure in the republican party. it's a sort of he is more significant than any other figures in the party combined. another alternative is the man that is responsible for the republican party

i can go back and look at the memos written to lincoln and lincoln's reply and what they wanted to do and what was actually done. i can get a good proxy for what might have happened if seward got the job rather than lincoln. measure what the impact of lincoln was; right? if you think about individual impact, i don't think it makes sense to say this person was here and the decision was made; therefore, it's about them. if anybody would have made that same decision, it's not about them. japan attacks pearl harbor, december 8th, franklin roosevelt has to decide whether to declare were. we were going to. it's not about roosevelt. >> host: no conceivable politician would not have declared war. >> guest: who could have become president. that's exactly right. >> host: okay. so you pay particular attention to three presidents. thomas jefferson, abraham lincoln, and woodrow wilson. let's do them in chronological order. start with overson. is he a modal president or extreme president? >> guest: definitely a modal president. the way to judge that is how thoroughly were they evaluated before they

lincoln. that is simply a fact. she was breathtakingly smart, highly educated, half came from a powerful, political family and the south and found him as a young lawyer. and he was really nothing but a lawyer. and she recognized his brilliance and said, that is the man i will marry. he will be president. she went about to help him do that. tavis: the most important question i will ask, how much fun was a gaining 25 pounds? >> and not as much -- tavis: eat whatever you want. >> i was doing it with a purpose, because i was beginning to do the research and i was already in this very disciplined place. so like a jerk, i went to a nutritionist and i ate the most repulsive, awful things. i did not allow myself to eat chocolate cake and french fries. i had these shakes with pro-gain that weight lifters. was revolting. tavis: i am very disappointed. you have a chance to have all this fun, and you are drinking shakes. >> i felt like a goose. tavis: you dropped it. was that easy? >> it was really hard.

lincoln with a smirk on his face looking very much like mr. lincoln. and i did not rise until he got next to me and then i rose and gave him my hand. i said, mr. lincoln? and he said, mother, which is what they called each other. i felt this audible hush in the people around us. they fell by the wayside. i never saw them. we went down to the same screening room. we did some sort of bizarre im prov. afterward, i said thank you, both of you, for this generous gesture. i will let you talk. i got in my car. i took mary off me. when i arrived home, the phone was ringing. the two or on it, saying, will you be our mary? tavis: and now there is oscar buzz. that is how that works. i did not want to interrupt. i am so glad i did not to hear the full breadth and depth of how this came to be. there are so many things you say now that i want to get you to contact me. it is a shame that i only have two and nights with you. to set in of in this first answer that intrigues me. let me go back to this first. i promise we will get back to the lincoln conversation -- mary

mary todd lincoln "lincoln" stars and daniel day lewis and tommy lee jones. we are glad that you joined us. a conversation with sally field coming up right now. >> there is a saying that dr. king had that said there is always the right time to do the right thing. i try to live my life every day by doing the right thing. we know that we are only halfway to completely eliminate hunger and we have work to do. walmart committed $2 billion to fighting hunger in the u.s. as we work together, we can stamp hunger out. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. tavis: what a pleasure to welcome sally field to this program. the oscar winner has been a beloved actress. currently starring in what is the most talked about films of "lincoln" lincoln quote. a trip down memory lane. can we do that? >> i guess so. tavis: a small sampling of your award winning career. >> you know, i was on broadway wants. >> really? >> for almost 12 minutes. the show closed the first night. i was so good. you should have seen me. he's going to take you and th

>> it was so much worst for abraham lincoln.n the 1850s, the issue of slavery shattered his own party, which was the prig party. then in the election of 1860, the democratic party provided all the slavery and that elected abraham lincoln with just 40% of the popular vote. then even before lincoln was even inaugurated, southern states began to remove themselves from the union. things were so tense, he had to be snuck into washington under the cover of darkness. >> professor litchman what does president obama admire about president lincoln? >> i think there's a lot barack obama could learn from abraham lincoln and so could every politician today. let me start with my favorite lesson, and that is take the pollsters, the hucksters, the analysts and the ad men and fire every one of them. abraham lincoln had to act on principle, in a way that no pollster or no advisor would ever have suggested because they're always bringing you down to the lowest common denominator and telling you, don't be bold and don't take risks, yet that is exac

he could answer lincoln's concerns and intellectual problems. and he became to come to a deep and genuine faith. >> lee: even after he came to faith, did he wrestle with one of the fundamentals of the christian faith? >> he wrestled with every fundamental of the christian faith. he was a smart man, and quite frankly at his age, christians had misbehaved and turned him off. he had to process every individual christian doctrine for himself. he did come towards a view and a belief and a sovereign god who ruled in the affairs of men. that's what leads to his great speeches, like the second inaugural address. he was not a man who just accepted other man's testimony quickly. he had to study things out and reach it on his own. >> lee: one of the antedotes i found most fascinating, you said, "he longed to go to jerusalem to walk in the savior's steps." tell us about that. >> whenever we read about lincoln's death, almost always are the final words of mary lincoln saying, the young couple here are going to be embarrassed by my clinging to you. and abraha

lincoln." the dream of director steven spielberg. the reluctance of daniel day lewis. tonight, for the first time here, together, telling how they brought a mythic president to life. our "persons of the week." >>> good evening. simply put, it was a shock today, when we learned that the general who symbolized the discipline and honor of the american military, the man entrusted with the vital secrets of the cia, general david petraeus, resigned, citing an extramarital affair. the first cia director in history to resign this way. and the story is still breaking. so, we go straight to abc's senior foreign affairs correspondent, martha raddatz. right now. martha? >> reporter: diane, i've known david petraeus for close to a decade and this news is truly stunning. there is no one in the military who was view ed as more disciplined and, frankly, more concerned with his own image and own career. but the seriousness of having a cia director involved in an extramarital affair cannot be overplayed. as cia

i think abraham lincoln is good. he was a big part of freedom and what this country is today. >> he didn't like slavery. he wanted to stop slavery. >> i like his top hat. >> reporter: a big man with, yes, a big hat who casts a shadow over the nation he fought so hard to unite. kevin tibbles, springfield, illinois. >> that's nbc "nightly news" for this saturday. i'm lester holt reporting from new york. i'll see you tomorrow on "today" and right back here tomorrow evening. good night, everyone. >>> good evening, i'm diane dwyer. a memorial is scheduled for tonight for a 15-year-old boy who was killed two years ago. his parents found him dead in their back yard, and they want his two classmates who were arrested in the case to face a jury. nbc bay area's kimberly tere has more

what are the lessons for barack obama from abraham lincoln? >> i think the most important less offense the movie ill straights by getting the passage of the 13th amendment through a really fraction congress, you do everything you can. he said i'm closed with immense power. you get me those votes. that means assignments. jobs. it means looking to the history of the person, making them want to feel better that they've done something important, low-level stuff. it's messy. it's compromising. it doesn't look pretty but it gets the job done. i think that's the same thing l.b.j. did did. if l.b.j. were there now trying to get the fiscal cliff, they would be sleeping in the white house. mcconnell would be in one room, and boehner and another and l.b.j.s this would be parading around in his robe. if they remain obstructionist, teddy roosevelt is another example. me knew he couldn't get the republican party by being nice and offering things. he needs mobilizing pressure from the outside in. president obama has the base. it's still mobilized and there's

abraham lincoln was elected in november. members of congress put forth a various compromise proposals. a critical portion of all in some duraid dealt with the divisions of the territories. most often there was a proposal to not extend. this would be on with the louisiana purchase all the way to the border of california. i'm going to get to my main topic life lincoln rejected all. i am going to talk about three different men tonight. one of them, all of you know his income abraham lincoln and here's what he was and who he did. the other two. the great kentucky statesman and william henry

which is exactly how lincoln felt. process by which he became abraham lincoln a year later. >> this period that's covered in the film, does the movie stay true to history? >> oh, without a question. alex, they've done as much as they can to authenticate even the minor characters. now, of course, there are moments when -- are lost to history like some conversations might be. and that's where steven spielberg would say imagination comes in. but it is as rooted in history, even when i went down to the richmond set and they took me into a room where they had recreated the white house, i was just blown away. the wallpaper was as we knew it was at the time. they had a picture of it. they had the carpet remade to look like the carpet. the books that were on the desk were the books that lincoln was reading at the time. the battle masts were there. i just felt like i'd walked and been catapulted back to 1964 and 1846. that ends a whole degree of rootedness to the movie besides being an incredibly, dramatic story, a thriller of

that is part of what and why we're talking about lincoln. lincoln used to say i'm not a politician.man. a statesman this about the next generation and a politician just thinks about the next election. >> the long view is very lincolnesque. >> understanding the difference between the political campaign and governing. you've got to be magnanimous. you've got to step up and govern 100% of the people, not just the folks that voted for you. lincoln is a great example that have and president obama has reflected on that in the last four years and i expect the same. i think that a couple of things. i think that making sure that he turns his friends, his enemies i should say rather his enemies into friends. making sure that it's done without a lot of achker and personal attacks. keeping the fact that he wants a legacy, too. and that vision and that long-term goal of having good policies and making sure that those policies, the repercussions of those policies are something that are good for all americans, right? and not just those that support him. so he's got four years to govern and he's al

i think abraham lincoln is good.of freedom and what this country is today. >> he didn't like slavery. he wanted to stop slavery. >> i like his top hat. >> reporter: a big man with, yes, a big hat who casts a shadow over the nation he fought so hard to unite. kevin tibbles, springfield, illinois. >> that's nbc "nightly news" for this saturday. i'm lester holt reporting from new york. i'll see you tomorrow on "today" and right back here tomorrow evening. good night, everyone.

it's lincoln first, then washington, then f.d.r. and washington. where do presidential historians think barack obama may someday rank? dreams of glory. how does president obama look at adams, washington and jefferson? does he even look at the founders for inspiration? finally, second terms are o beset by problems, even scandals and crises often come during second terms. will the second term for barack obama bring him the chance for greatness? i'm chris matthews, welcome to the show. with us today, jon meacham, presidential historian and author of "thomas jefferson: the art of power," michael beschloss, presidential historian, annette gordon-reed, author of "the hemingses of monticello," and jodi kantor, "new york times" writer. as president obama looks to his special terms, historians look at his past with great decisions and great achievements. the president met with several historians during his first term to get their vials. in fact, jodi kantor has written about those sessions between the president and the historians. how does history judge mos

>> lincoln? there's no question. i feel guilty saying that because i'm living with theodore roosevelt now and f.d.r., i feel like i'm betraying him but there's nobody like this guy. i miss him. that's why i'm so excited. >> rose: what does your husband think? >> he gets upset with these dead presidents i wake up with in the morning. >> rose: but this is the one. >> abraham lincoln. there's something about his person that makes you feel if you could be like him you'd be better. you'd forget grievances from the past, you'd forgive people that hurt you. you wouldn't let bad feelings fester inside of you. i guess the struggle he had, the failures he had, he kept persevering and succeeded and that desire to leave something in history and be worthy and have his story told after he died, he would be so happy to know. here we are still -- here he is. now he'll be on the big screen. >> rose: here's a scene from this movie which is called "lincoln," extraordinary movie directed by steven spielberg. the part of lincoln playby d

but one of the reasons people loved lincoln, and one of the things that gave lincoln his steel and hission, was he was animated by a grand idea. which was to create a more perfect union, and to abolish slavery once and for all. and he was willing to let men die for that idea. >> and one of the things also is as david was writing, politics is not a bad thing. compromise is not a bad thing. and you feel that -- >> at a time when we so loathe politics, so many people in this country. >> and it's become demonized. and i think also going back to the new great book on thomas jefferson that jon meacham has written, that the political spirit of compromise is part of what created this union. and we are the sort of beneficiaries of all of that. >> i would just say the staining is real. you really do have to deceive. you really do bad things to your soul. if you're a leader, you have to acknowledge that and be aware that you're damaged goods. that's one of the beauties of lincoln. he understood what it was doing to him. it's a corrupting process, but you take on the sins of the country for the go

lincoln insisted, we are one country.long as the war kept going on before the emancipation proclamation was passed. every kid that was killed, every soldier that died, lincoln felt it personally. he felt it through the whole war but felt it more intensely then. he thought that saving slavery from going onward was worth that terrible price. >> doris kearns good win, congratulations. i love seeing the book with the new cover on it. that's the other cover. there is a new cover that just says lincoln on the cover. same book, bigger promotion from you. you deserve it. thank you. >> you are welcome, chris. >>> when we return, let me finish with how lincoln outlawed slavery again for good. you are watching "hardball," a place for politics. >>> i have to say i am thrilled to see a good politician do a good piece of political work, something good fort people that need something good for them done. the film "lincoln" show what a true power our most beloved president was. he knew what the country needed, the dead end to slavery. he

"lincoln" is rated pg-13. "lincoln" is only in select theatees until november 16th. to ee wherr it's ppayiig ii mmryland.if poo want to check it out beforr everyone else... it's bbing shown at "landmark you're interested in even bigger screen....ii's being shown at thh new "regal cinemas waugg chapel"... imax &ppheater. coomng up... get ready toomake otdoor plans! plans!jonnthan myers is ack to tell us how warm it could get this weekend. wwekend.. you're watchiig fox 45 good day baltiiore. nn!nn!n!n!n! i got it when my internet here was faster than at my office. [ male announcer ] when people switch from cable to verizon fios, there comes a moment when they get it. the difference 100% fiber optics makes. when i saw that picture, i really got it. i can enjoy the game better at home than going to the stadium. i got it when our apartment became the apartment. [ female announcer ] once you've got it, you get it. it's faster. it's better. so, what are you waiting for? switch to fios tv, internet and phone for just $84.99 a month for a year with no annual contract. or get

long enough joyce hopes for her husband, lincoln, to find work. but a month later in february, lincoln still hasn't made any progress. >> i was expecting a very, very quick transition from one job to another. i was thinking this is gonna be a week, two weeks. maybe three weeks. not even close. >> lincoln's unemployment check is $2,000 a month, less than a third of what the family used to make. it's official now. the welch family has fallen below the u.s. poverty line. one of at least 3 1/2 million suburbanites who have crossed that line since 2007. >> there's faces behind those numbers. it's kids who are affected, it's you know, a family that's impacted. it will be easy, baby. >> over the years, joyce has learned to be strong for her son michael who suffers from a debilitating chromosomal disorder. but today the toughest part comes when the doctor visit ends when she has to show the family's new medicaid card. >> just the medicaid? >> yes. >> we're all set. >> when they said medicaid it feels like the loudest voice in the entire room and the entir

and he bought doris' book, and doris' "lincoln" is a political lincoln.hink the path was sort of laid out before i even came in. and then i tried for two years to figure out how to condense about half of the -- i wanted to start in september of 1863 with his secretary of the treasury sort of coming out of the closet as an opponent, basically announcing he was going to run against lincoln for the republican nomination in '64. and chase is one of the great characters in american history and their relationship is really genuinely shakespearean. but after two years of trying, i never got any farther than january of 1864, i got like three months in. it was impossible to condense. then the writers guild went on strike, i had to stop writing, and after the strike was over, the spring of 2007, i had the idea of doing just the last four months which produced a 500-page screen play, the first quarter of which -- >> 500 pages about the last four months and then steven spielberg says let's focus on the 13th amendment now. >> i thought he was going to go for the last