abraham lincoln did it. not because he wanted to do it, but because the circumstances compelled him to do it, and thank god we had a man like lincoln in a position to do that. >> well, i am going to add some of my own thoughts to this. and while i would generally praise lincoln for his role as commander in chief, and certainly his awareness of the importance of rivers in the west, which should have made him like winfield scott anaconda plan for whatever faults it had. it ended up being exactly the strategy that won the war. and that is something else that grant realized. these rivers in the west, they were important. and they had to be secured. and they had to be opened so that there was no confederate interference. so while i give lincoln a great deal of credit, i have fallen into the school of thought that he probably interfere too much with his generals. and against the grain of thought among most historians, i think he actually interfered with grant, although grant in his memoirs claimed upon their first

lincoln didn't do either. i mean, he said that he wanted to go into the fields at one foolish moment of bravado, but he didn't, nor did he abandon -- nor did he abandon washington. so in a way, lincoln was all about symbolism as a commander in chief. again, a totally unprecedented situation with secession and rebellion. and i would look to something he said very early in the war before bull run. he said that the federal government should be committed to teaching the followy of being the beginners of a war. that was a pretty tough stand to take. he left no doubt at the beginning that the rebellion would be suppressed and the union would be preserved. and he really never abandoned that position in the wake of disastrous battlefield defeats, the rotation of commanders that glenn alluded to. but i think at the beginning he did pretty well. he read what he could. craig simons talked a bit about his early reading, what he department read and what he did read. he read henry halick who later became his general in chie

abe lincoln. lincoln overlook criticism. when he wrote the famous letter to me saying that you you drive the enemy from our soil. it's all our soil. i'm so disappointed we could have won this war, but then showing his ability, a commander in chief as a leader in the long term, he, of course, writes on the bottom, never sign, never something we should all do with email when we're angry. put in the reserve or whatever you call it. the draft file. don't send it. wait 24 hours. that's part of genius. so that's that's favorite command story with made i think you only knew me for a few minutes before gettysburg. i'll give full credit to gene murray on this. she wrote a fabulous essay in a book that i co-edited, which helped me really understand mead's command decision in the wake of gettysburg and. and the bottom line is lincoln completely misunderstood the limits with which meat. mead had to work. i mean, he he had an army that was very battered and very bloodied. and the idea that mead can just gallivant across southern pennsylv

my husband loved lincoln.kinds of books, but it comes from a different perspective, but i like that. he uses primary sources, which is nice. i am not online anymore, but he uses -- he spent a lot of time in new york, researching. he always refers to primary resources. when he be interested in that? i thank you so much. bless your heart. guest: i appreciate the idea of going to primary sources. i would even say -- if we see a really brief quote that makes someone seem outrageous, it is always good to go for the full quote. what did they mean? host: let's talk about the archives and the most unusual or interesting thing that you found. guest: i received -- i researched all of my books. amazing research for topic after topic. a lot of the research this time, i had to do it online. it was during a pandemic. they have amazing online resources. you can look at the letters that lincoln wrote. one of the most fascinating things that i looked at. i looked at the library of congress and i was shown the original papers a

the second son of the lincolns who has died and elizabeth keckley is part of the lincoln white house and os the civil war is happening at this time and mary lincoln has always been a highly emotional person and a little volatile and president lincoln is busy trying to deal with the civil war and elizabeth becomes almost that confidant and close with the lincolns and their sons but at that time it is elizabeth who consoles mary lincoln and this bonds them in their friendship that went on when the lincolns were in the white house and beyond and she is the one who prepares the little boy for the funeral and she is the one in the room with president lincoln and resident lincoln walks in and says goodbye to his dead son and six months prior to that elizabeth only son george who could pass as white, signed up to fight la for the union in the civil war. it was the pre-emancipation proclamation so legally because he was mixed race he was a black man but he signed up because he wanted to fight for the union and that is how much he believed in freedom and he died in his first battle and buried

lincoln is bereft. of course, it is the second senator lincoln's who has died. elizabeth keckley is very much a part of the lincoln white house. obviously, the civil war is happening at this time. mary lincoln always been highly emotional, volatile and president lincoln, of course, is very busy trying to deal with the civil war. and elizabeth becomes almost again that confidante that close with the lincolns, both president and mary lincoln, and with their sons. but at that time, it's elizabeth keckley who consoles mary lincoln, and this is what binds them in their friendship that went on for not just the time that the lincolns were in the white house, but beyond. elizabeth keckley is the one who prepares little boy for the funeral. she is the one in the room when president lincoln this is all president lincoln walks in and says goodbye to his dead son. six months prior to this, elizabeth's only son, george, who could pass as white, signed up to fight for the union in the civil war. it was premiums patient proclamation. so legally he wasn't because he was a mixed

lincoln and grant and because grant in 1863 emerges as i like to say he's lincoln's problem solver and he figures out vicksburg. there's a mess over at chattanooga he goes over there figures that out shows that he can can clean things up and get things done. and lee on lincoln finally has found the person who's going to get results. and i think a relationship that fascinates in 63 is lincoln in seward because you know, of course, lincoln has, that cabinet crisis in the end of 62 that could have led in seward's dismissal. lincoln plays it in the most excellent political which i think unshackle seward in some really effective ways for 63 who then basically he serves as full back and just you know runs forward as you making blocks and letting lincoln kind of do what lincoln needs to do by running a lot of political interference. so i think seward becomes much more effective. his relationship with lincoln becomes much sharper and, much more deeply seated in trust than. it had been up to that point. and sort of course, you know, does fantastic work all the way through. i want to start openi

mary lincoln is bereft. it's the second son of the lincolns who has died. elizabeth keckley is very much a part of the lincoln weiss house . the civil wars happening at this time. mary lincoln has been highly emotional and volatile and president lincoln is very busy trying to deal with the civil war. elizabeth becomes that confidant , close with the lincolns, both the president and mary lincoln, and their sons. at that time it is elizabeth keckley who consoles mary lincoln and it bonds them and their friendship went on and the lincolns were in the white house and beyond. elizabeth keckley is the one who prepares the little boy for the funeral. she is the one in the room when president lincoln walks in and says good by. six months prior, elizabeth's only son george who could pass as white signed up to fight for the union and the civil war. it was pretty emancipation proclamation. legally it was not because he was mixed-race, but he signed up because he wanted to fight for the union that's how much he believed in freedom. he died in his first battle and burie

the lincoln forum continues good morning. my name is jonathan white and i'm the vice chair of the lincoln forum, and it is a pleasure to introduce caroline janey. caroline janey is the john l. now the third professor in this history of the american civil war at the university of virginia where she also serves as director of the john l. now the third center for civil war history where she succeeded her mentor gary w gallagher she is the author or editor of seven books and is one of the series editors for the university of north carolina presses prestigious civil war america series. she has served as the president of the society of civil war historians and is here to talk about her new book ends of war the unfinished fight of lee's army after appomattox. i'm about 30 pages in and it is riveting. it is a wonderful book and i just this morning saw a brand new review that appeared in today's wall street journal by someone named harold holzer. and he calls it immensely readable and utterly convincing. please join me in welcoming ca

lincoln was president.ad issued the emancipation proclamation, freeing the enslaved people of confederate rebels. and many of them had become union soldiers. but frederick douglass, who had helped to recruit those black soldiers, knew they were receiving unequal treatment. they weren't getting paid the same as white men. they weren't being treated the same as white men or promoted the same as white men. and he effectively came to washington to object, to d you make a liar out of me?why i recruited these men by saying they would be fighting for equality and that they would get equal treatment. and they're not. and it's an incredible meeting because lincoln admitted what had been done. he said they're not receiving equal treatment, and that's because of politics. we have a lot of white men who would resist employing them as soldiers at all. and so i'm getting all i can for now, and we'll try to fix the rest of it later, which in fact, he did. black men ultimately did get equal pay. so these were two men who d

when they became adults, speed told lincoln, i am opposed to slavery, but lincoln wrote him, saying youy serious about that, you are not voting that way. you have this opinion but you are not really serious. but then he goes on to say to this guy who was a lifelong best friend, if for this we must differ, differ we must. and rather than ostracizing or shunning this guy, who was wrong, he signed the letter, your friend forever. it's a powerful anecdote for me,, not because it is great to kiss and make up with somebody who is wrong but because lincoln ended up getting value out of that relationship when the civil war came and lincoln was president speed was on the union side and helped ensure the loyalty of a safe kentucky. >> you begin the first chapter with an encounter with a man named josh getting. the provocatuer. it's january 1849, slavery was still being practiced in washington, d.c., the congress may from ohio and lincoln was a congressman from illinois asked to review a bill that he drafted. why is this important? >> i find the difference fascinating because giddings was a provoc

he takes a picture of lincoln and that picture becomes v view of lincoln that the american people have. and it's sent around to newspapers all around the country. and it's a really big deal. people don't know what this guy, abraham lincoln, who was congressman for one term and then he loses a i guess he wins the senate debate but loses the senate race, too, to douglass in 1858. and so that photo was credited in large degree to making lincoln president. there's another story i heard that i just thought was terrific, that in the 1930s, roosevelt was so popular in the jewish community that when a boy would be bar mitzvahed at a synagogue, you would have the rabbi would walk the cantor word walk. the torah would be carried around the bar mitzvah boy would be there, and then there'd be somebody holding up picture of franklin roosevelt while. yeah, so yeah, i mean, the photos in iconography mean i mentioned the shepard fairey picture of obama i think those pictures are hugely important in conveying an image of the president who we want to and what what that an image can tell you so much abou

and until we get back to those lincoln-esque principles, we can never be what lincoln wanted us to belincoln: seven steps to leading a legendary life." jonathan shapiro, thank you very much. i can totally see why you wrote this book. thank you. >>> today's going to be a very busy news day. we're going to have live reporting from the courthouse in lower manhattan, where donald trump's civil fraud trial is set to resume. plus, we have learned that the vote on whether to oust kevin mccarthy as speaker will come today, as early as this afternoon. we're back in just a moment. y, afrnteoon. we're back in just a moment. e, n is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. yay - woo hoo! ensure, with 27 vitamins and minerals, nutrients for immune health. and ensure complete with 30 grams of protein. (♪♪) my mental health was much better. but i struggled with uncontrollable movements called td, tardive dyskinesia. td can be caused by some mental health meds. and it's unlikely to improve without treatment. i felt like my movements were in the spotlight. #1-prescribed ingrezz

most for morale and public opinion in lincoln's reelection. davis's stubbornness in retaining bragg yielded disaster later and established the conditions for lincoln to put grant in charge and through open the gates to georgia. so that william t sherman could make its people howl. we can know briefly in defense of davis and bragg, there have been no better option quoted general in the full acceptation of the word as a rare product. scarcely more than one can be expected in a generation. but in this mighty war in which we are engaged, there is need for half a dozen. that's what bragg wrote. he certainly never found his half dozen, and he certainly didn't find them in the western theater. one of my favorite sketches here of the fight at chickamauga and a great ambrose bierce aphorism after albertsonohnston's death, he could hardly find one general in the fl acceptation of the word. who could command the army in the western theater, joe johnston oreauregard, who he clearly distrusted, were no better than bragg. there wa polk who porter alexande r

he takes a picture of lincoln and that picture becomes v view of lincoln that the american people have. and it's sent around to newspapers all around the country. and it's a really big deal. people don't know what this guy, abraham lincoln, who was congressman for one term and then he loses a i guess he wins the senate debate but loses the senate race, too, to douglass in 1858. and so that photo was credited in large degree to making lincoln president. there's another story i heard that i just thought was terrific, that in the 1930s, roosevelt was so popular in the jewish community that when a boy would be bar mitzvahed at a synagogue, you would have the rabbi would walk the cantor word walk. the torah would be carried around the bar mitzvah boy would be there, and then there'd be somebody holding up picture of franklin roosevelt while. yeah, so yeah, i mean, the photos in iconography mean i mentioned the shepard fairey picture of obama i think those pictures are hugely important in conveying an image of the president who we want to and what what that an image can tell you so much abou

>> well, lincoln was somebody -- lincoln thought about the interest of the person that he was talkingat he was dealing with, and try to appeal to those interests. he try to understand the other person and figure out an argument for why they should support him. support his point of view. that didn't always work. he was dealing with some very, very unpleasant people, or people with very unpleasant views. and he was trying desperately to build a majority against slavery, which was really hard, given the attitudes of the overwhelmingly white electorate at the time. and one of his insights i think was not to throw away people who might be abused to him sometime. beast of all to everyone, but also insist on principles and maybe from time to time you'd find just enough people to ally with you to make a majority. the republican speaker of the house in the party of lincoln fell a few votes short today. >> he sure did. but i wonder, taking those notes to heart, how do you -- president biden? because he still very much wants to talk to the part of the republican party in congress that's not entr

what it says about the party of lincoln. that's ahead. first, what donald trump or did to earn a gag order in court today. neal katyal is here to talk about that, next. this halloween, trick or treat yourself to the blendjet 2 portable blender... it's to die for. blendjet 2 gives you monstrous power for a delicious smoothie, shake, or frappé anytime, anywhere. cleaning blendjet 2 is scary easy. just blend water with a drop of soap. recharge quickly with any usb port. boo-gie on over to blendjet.com and order yours today. it only took two days, technically a day and a half, for donald trump to be gagged by a judge in his new york fraud trial. it all happened after trump went on truth social and posted the name, photograph, and instagram account of the judges principal law clerk. the post attacked the clerk for being in a photograph with the senate majority leader, democrat chuck schumer. then trump went to the cameras outside the courthouse and continued his invective. >> they rig the trial. fraudulent trial. theattorney general is a fraud

you read roosevelt, lincoln, reed lincoln. your obligation is to understand them as they understood themselves. then, we can have a discussion about who we like about them or not. >> our country is not that old. one of the great things about it is the common language. you can go back and read washington. it's not like you're having to read chops or anything like that. it's worth taking the time to do it, because you will be a better reader and citizen too. >> don't really disagree when you say -- i actually think and believe this, that the federalist papers are a political expression, what shakespeare is to literature. shakespeare is hard when you first start out reading it, but i remember finding federal papers very daunting as an undergraduate. now i see this enormous subsidy and beauty to them. even the 18th-century idiom is not familiar to us with the prose. i think it is a little bit like that for english. so, i agree with you, fundamentally, but i do think that people need to have patience. >> by the time you read your t

what it says about the party of lincoln. that's ahead, but first what donald trump did to earn a gag order in court today. neil katyal is here to talk about that next. katyal is here about that next. is it possible my network could take my business to the next level? it is with comcast business. powering all your devices with gig-speed wifi. and you get fast downloads and uploads. pick it up! pick it up! oh we got this! because it's powered by the next generation 10g network. more speed for your business? it's not just possible. it's happening. get started for $59.99 a month for 12 months. plus, ask how to get an $800 prepaid card with a qualifying internet bundle. comcast business, powering possibilities. >>> it only took two days, technically a day and a half, for donald trump to be gagged by judge engoron in his new york fraud trial. it all happened after trump went on truth social and posted the name, photograph, and instagram account of the judge's principal law clerk. the post attacked the clerk for being in a photogra

if you want to read lincoln, read lincoln. your obligation is to understand them as they understood themselves. then we can have a discussion about what we like about them. >> our country is not that old. we have a common language. it's not like you're having to read chaucer or anything like that. take the time to do it. it will make you a better reader and a better citizen. >> i actually believe this, that the federalist papers are the political expression of what shakespeare is to literature. shakespeare was hard when you first start out reading it. i remember finding the federalist papers very daunting as an undergra to have patience. >> but by the time you read your 10th federalist paper, you start to understand it. you don't need a class, you don't need a biography. keep reading and you'll figure it out. >> let me make this one point quickly in answer to your question. human nature never changes. modes of transportation change, hairstyles, clothing styles, the way we live in our housing changes. but human nature never cha

and about lincoln. and about lincoln as a writer. when you have a life of your own, and you are a scholar or a writer, you are always looking for subjects. whether you are thinking consciously or not, what can you do that can bring a contribution that will be distinctive? i wrote a biography about lincoln. a lot of people liked it. that was nice. if they liked that, maybe i could do another one? who else was a writer? not a professional like dickens, i looked at everybody out there, they were fascinated by presidents. i started writing about lincoln, i became conscious about john quincy adams. that had to do with lincoln as the great emancipator. adams, someone who went through a long life. into the revolution. into the civil war. you know all of this. i became enthralled with the diaries. the great literature of our literary writers and presidential writers. the diaries are vivid and alive. i did that book and i thought, the only other president who i have any interest in as a writer, was jefferson. the only other president who has

abe lincoln loved to go to the theater. obviously we know about his tragic end but he saw many plays and before that he love shakespeare and would quote him. shakespeare back then now as we have seen an elevated you are pretentious if you quote shakespeare. when lincoln would cite shakespeare he would do it knowing that the american people were not aware. the literacy rates in america were high compared to europe and people read shakespeare and the bible. the culture in the 19th century was different but it still had these unifying aspects and you have multiple presidents who embrace the culture. >> over here. >> so continuing with the 19th century, i know that during the white house early years of the president's palace i like to call it we had the mammoth cheese and as vice president truman visit theme parks. could you talk about some of the popular amusement that you know the early presidents had taken advantage of? >>cards with -- whisk, that was a popular game. different types of theater though i think were interesting

and about lincoln as a writer. and you know, when you have a life of your own and you are a scholar or writer, you are always looking for subjects, whether you're thinking, consciously or not, what can you do the can bring a contribution that will be distinctive. so i wrote a biography, lincoln the biography of a writer. a lot of people like it. that's nice. they like that book, maybe i can do another one. who else is a writer who is not a writer by profession like dickens and twain and so on, everyone out there in our great and glorious country, they are fascinated by presidents. and of course, writing about lincoln, i became very conscious of john quincy adams. and that had to do of course with lincoln as the great emancipator. and is adams as someone who went through a long life, born into the revolution and almost leading to the civil war. you won't know all of this. so i became enthralled with adam's diaries. some of the great literature of our literary writers and are historical presidential writers, the diar

if you about coolidge you read coolidge when you read roosevelt you know lincoln read lincoln. your obligation is to understand them as they understood themselves. then we can have a discussion about what what we like about him or not. our country is not that. and one of the great things about it is, that we have a common language and you can go back and read washington and it's not it's not like you're having to read chaucer or anything like that. so it's a real benefit. it's worth taking the time to do it because it'll make you a better reader and a better citizen to well, i mean, i don't really disagree when you say it. i actually think, well, i actually believe this, that the federalist papers are too political. what shakespeare is to literature. now, shakespeare is hard when you first start out reading it. and i think the i mean, i remember finding the federalist papers very daunting as an undergraduate and i read them and i see this enormous subtlety beauty to them. and even though the 18th century idiom in the prose is not familiar to us. so that's why this we've to take

so somehow that got me thinking my father and about other fathers about lincoln and lincoln as a writer and you know, when you have life of your own and you're a scholar or a writer you're looking for subjects whether you're thinking with consciously or not or often, what can you do that that that can bring a contribution that will be distinctive. so i wrote a biography called lincoln. the biography, a writer. and a lot of people liked it so a lot of people like that that's nice they like that for me. maybe i can do another one. well, who else is a writer who is not a writer by profession? like like dickens and twain and so on and like out there and a great and glorious country. they're fascinated presidents, you know so of course and writing about lincoln i became very conscious of john quincy adams and and had to do of course with lincoln as the great emancipator and as adams someone who went through a long, a long life, born into the revolution and almost living through the civil war. and after you all this. so, so i became enthralled with adams's diaries. so among some of the great

i'm a big fan of lincoln. i'm also a big fan of grant and. i just happened to tend to display where they had brought out the document in which lincoln nominated grant to as general in 1864. and if you know anything about the relationship between lincoln and grant, what a pivotal, pivotal in our nation's history when lincoln relies upon grant to really bring about the end of the civil war. so that an amazing document for me to see what haven't you seen that you would like to see. oh what would have and. well, i haven't been to all the facilities across the united states, so i've been to, i believe, for presidential libraries. and i have many more to go. so i really look forward to visiting presidential libraries and when i go to the to the presidential libraries haven't visited. for example, two of our most visited presidential libraries jfk and reagan and. when i get to go to these facilities, they also bring out of course, you can see the exhibits where there's a terrific smattering of display of the document and artifacts that they have in

i'm a big fan of lincoln. i'm also a big fan of grant and. i just happened to tend to display where they had brought out the document in which lincoln nominated grant to as general in 1864. and if you know anything about the relationship between lincoln and grant, what a pivotal, pivotal in our nation's history when lincoln relies upon grant to really bring about the end of the civil war. so that an amazing document for me to see what haven't you seen that you would like to see. oh what would have and. well, i haven't been to all the facilities across the united states, so i've been to, i believe, for presidential libraries. and i have many more to go. so i really look forward to visiting presidential libraries and when i go to the to the presidential libraries haven't visited. for example, two of our most visited presidential libraries jfk and reagan and. when i get to go to these facilities, they also bring out of course, you can see the exhibits where there's a terrific smattering of display of the document and artifacts that they have in