his book at the lincoln for them in gettysburg pennsylvania. >> and this is not mary todd lincoln and sanity trial title that jim hickey found in a book from those documents was edited and written by the late general. where did we meet? we met at kildee and at manchester vermont the home of the last home of robert todd lincoln, brian nigh to the historian is here with us which is a strange place to me since it was robert todd lincoln who is responsible for for the short term confinement of mary lincoln at bellevue and the story goes on that jason had told harold holzer and by about these long lost letters we encouraged him to write about them we recommended to sylvia frank rodriguez and editor at southern illinois university press as we did his forthcoming book on robert todd lincoln and the southern illinois university press credit they published the madness of mary lincoln which we hope all of you will see. so we are very pleased to welcome you, jason, has a first presenter from first time presenter here we expect so much more from new and we will see it, too. welcome, jason emmerso

she was one of mary lincoln's friends and people think that because she helped mary that she got alle life of show that it was mary aplington who began her quest for freedom and orchestrated everything and that myra was her accomplice however willing and able she may have been but it was mary lincoln who knew to harness the power of the press to make it seem that she was being imprisoned against her will and that was horrible plight that she was suffering. .. it just shows she was perfectly for. i think it shows that the asylum actually converse. then of course a lot of the stressors in her life for god. she called robert dickey made. the press is not after all the time. she was kind of away from congress. she still writing for them to get pension. so a lot of the stressors are gone, but that does not mean her symptoms were gone. some of the letters that survive you can see still there. a lot of rather symptoms were still there as well. as i said, many historians have tried for about 80 years. and the 1930s come historian debbie at a evidence is also a doubt what a wonderful book cal

diligently on numerous capital renovation projects, including bishop playground, sunnyside playground, mary's, lincoln pplayground, and many others. while working closely with the various community stakeholder groups, she completed the self park and self park projects. she worked diligently to secure regulatory approvals since the project reside within the coastal commission jurisdiction, as well as other sensitive natural resources. macon has shown tremendous poise and professionalism -- megan have shown tremendous poise and professionalism over her tenure with the program. she has demonstrated a strong and professional approach on conflict resolution and has been successful in delivering projects while meeting everyone's needs through compromise. on behalf of the san francisco recreation and park department, we want to thank you for your dedication, and we wish you continued success as a an employee. megan is getting this award for a few reasons. reason number one, her projects are always a ='s. +'s. she brings her project in on schedule. 3, she has a zero tolerance policy for excuses and b.s. and f

when abraham lincoln died elizabeth keckley was hostess to mary lincoln. they were sisters but mary lincoln didn't buy any more gloves because she had no more money. so she fired our sister, the former slave who then wrote an autobiography and told stories no one wanted her to tell. she was clear about the fact she needed to make a living. sisters need to be clear about these issues. multiple income stream. how do you make a living? how do you put yourself out there? what do you do? surviving and thriving is about that. i want to say a little bit about this book from the perspective that nobody wanted to publish it. nobody wanted -- i had a lovely lunch with a young sister. send me a lobster salad and a glass of white wine and told me nobody wanted to hear about black people in congress. it was a lovely conversation. >> reminds me of a story talking with a television executive about the life story of lena horne and what was said was it is not interesting enough. there wasn't enough -- not enough -- [talking over each other] >> long story short, i give him

several books on american history, including systems, the lives of american suffragists, and mary todd lincoln, a biography. professor baker has done their art was not telling the story of her newest subject in a highly compelling biography. best known as an advocate for spearheading the birth control movement, and often polarizing figure who expertly parses this unbiased account underscoring the veracity of the fighter and the necessity of the fight. tonight, as i said, professor becker will be joined by christina page. they can talk for end above 20 minutes he and maria cristina. we will get to as many questions as we have time for. indeed, of course, copies. as always, you are supporting the author as well as all the programs we offer europe the museum. if you choose to become a member of this evening, your copy is complementary. finally without further ado please silence herself on and turn manilow coming professor gene baker. [applause] >> i want to begin with the story about margaret. her life was full of these dramatic tales, and this seems to be most appropriate tonight. on a summer ev

. >> abraham lincoln was worried about mary's state of health when wondering whether to run in 1860,al inflection point as we are in 2012, you step up. they are the leaders of the republican party and instead you have a republican party that has represented the most extraordinarily weak field for as long as i can remember. they will be responsible when president obama takes the oath of office again a year from now. jenna: does the responsibility lie in the party of demanding more of the candidates and trying to make them better if these are in-- indeed the can dismaints. >> you hope a fierce newt-mitt matchup promote the candidates, maybe make newt more of a sober campaigner and mitt more of an aggressive or confident campaigner but on the evidence right now, you see two guys, neither of whom is going to convince the majority of americans to fire president obama in november. jenna: why do you say, though, then that republicans deserve to lose, going from your opinion about the candidates to saying the republicans deserve to lose is a big loop. why do you say? >> because the party has

lincoln conspirators. >> yes, sir. >> and in particular the decision, the unprecedented decision on the part of the federal government to execute a woman, mary sir rot. could you tell us how that you came about? >> yes, sir, i will tell you, and i'm aware of the controversy and i'm aware there are a number of different sides to it that in my view it, mrs. sirot was guilty. i believed she was the person who kept the nest that hatched the egg. however, the controversy arises over this, having been convicted by military tribunal and having been sentenced to death by that the same tie bunal, five of the nine judges on the tribunal recommended clement sit for mrs. sirat. in other words, that her death sentence be commuted to life in prison. i was unaware of the that commutation recommendation. i was freshly into my office. i was allowing myself to be guided by the cabinet and the other officer who's had been present. and when judge advocate joseph holt brought meet papers include willing the death warrants, i signed them. some two years later, 1867, this is interesting this is when the impeachment crisis was emerging, the newspapers began printin

marie slaughter as well. live at 7 ams turn on c-span. >> former presidential candidate herman cain has endorsed newt gingrich in the republican primary. he made the announcement at the lincoln you the entire event in about two hours. here is his announcement. [applause] [inaudible] >> sit down because you're going have to get up again but some big surprises. tonight, we have as a surprise -- >> here to endorse newt gingrich, everybody's favorite, herman cain! [cheers and applause] >> how are you? >> great, great. >> surprise, surprise. surprise, surprise. >> i think you should, on the stage and family members that are here. a big moment. [applause] [laughter] >> my pleasure. >> we love you, herman cain. >> is it my turn? [laughter] >> absolutely. >> i had to wait until they gave me permission to take the microphone. [applause] thank you very much for this very warm welcome on this very special surprise occasioned. [applause] three very quick comments. the founding fathers got a right when they said we the people of the united states in order to form a more perfect union -- but the union is in trouble. the state of the union is not good, despite what you heard the other nigh

history seeks to explore the leadership of abraham lincoln many people see as a model of an exceptional leadership. please welcome paul. >> thank you, mary. ford's theatre is pleased to be part of today's program recognizing top american leaders. they are collaborative creative efforts to build momentum for the causes they believe in parallel the efforts of abraham lincoln, the man who is presidency and legacy we celebrate at ford. today's honorees have demonstrated an extraordinary capacity for creating a shared sense of purpose, so too did abraham lincoln, who during what was arguably the most divided era in the nation's history, maintained the union and united the country. during his life, this theater brought relief and inspiration to president lincoln. it has offered similar respite to american leaders in the last 40 plus years since it reopened as a theater in 1968. today's awards and conversations help celebrate an exciting time for ford. in february, 2012, we will complete a project begun five years ago with the opening of our center for education and leadership, located across the street from the theater. through defense and par