>> the watch, we talk about it in the section about mary lincoln and her philanthropy because mary lincoln was an active supporter of the sanitary commission to raise money for wounded soldiers, she visited hospitals. that watch was actually won by her husband for giving the most contribution to a sanitary fair. one talks about her philanthropy but raises the wonderful images of the organizers, i need you to give the money up. >> anything else about mary lincoln's bookshelf that's notable? >> i think a wonderful piece of the bookshelf is actually references elizabeth cacly as well and it shows their friendship. mrs. lincoln --s will cacly accomplished the contraband aid association which was to raise money and help slaves who had, former slaves who had crossed the lines and made it to washington, d.c. mrs. lincoln gave money and supported almost cacly in her efforts to do this or certainly gave her moral support. and there's a little wooden ink well, when mrs. lincoln died mrs. cacly asked for a momentum of the president and mrs. lincoln gave her this ink well. the stories one remembers of

it had to be mary lincoln. she had to have given them access. well, lincoln knows it too, and so he intervenes with some of the republicans on a committee. and he says this needs to go away. and it does. but not within washington society. it's that moment where they start to get these first reports, new york newspapers, but diaries of ex-prisoners about the first lady's brother who is a sadistic jailer in richmond, and it creates a perfect storm of bad press for mary. rumors circulate that watt was a rebel sympathizer. that wickoff was a foreign intriguer. which he probably was. probably in league with the confederacy. if mary lincoln is giving state documents to such men as these, wasn't it possible that she was a rebel too? the charge is ridiculous. we have no evidence that she was anything other than perfectly loyal to her husband and to the union, but there were spies in washington. mary had behaved at least imprudently, and she did have a brother who liked to kick dead yankees. so the public may have misconnected the dots. they definitely di

artifacts in the mary lincoln section. the watch. >> we talk about mary lincoln and her philanthropy, because she was an active supporter to raise money for wounded soldier, she visited hospitals. and that watch was actually won by her husband for giving the money as a contribution to a sanitary fair. so up with talks about her philanthropy, but one of the organizers of the fair said i need you to give money. >> anything else about mary lincoln's bookshelf? what's notable? >> i think a wonderful piece on the bookshelf references elizabeth keckly as well. it shows her friendship. mrs. keckly established the contraband aid association which was to raise money and help slaves -- former slaves who had crossed the lines and made it to washington, d.c. mrs. lincoln gave money and supported elizabeth keckly in her efforts to do this or give her moral support. there's a beautiful little ink well, that mrs. keckly asked for a memento of the president and she gave her the ink well. there are such beautiful pieces. the stories one re

i bid you an affection farewell. >> on ininauguration day march force, with mary proudly in the audience, lincoln pleads with the south to remain in the union. that evening, as she dresses for the inaugural ball, mary prepares to leave the social world in which she's dreamt since childhood. the country is disintegrating, war looms, but she is first lady. if there is irony there as her husband takes the oath of office, she chooses to pursue her own obligations. >> ladies and gentlemen of the country, we are not enemies, but friends. we must not be enemies. though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. the mystic cords of memory stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearth stone all over this broad land will yet swell the porous of the union, which again touched as surely they will be by the better angels of our nature. >> i am beginning to feel so perfectly home and i enjoy everything so much. we may perhaps at the close of four years be glad to relinquish our claims. >> i have been temporarily to occupy this big white house. i

mary lincoln has three reasons to get up in the morning -- her boys, her husband, and her advancement. her ascent to the presidency. well, three of her boys die early, one commits her to an insane asylum, her husband is murdered while she's holding his hand, and she becomes the scapegoat of the entire war. that's a lot to deal with. and she didn't deal with it very well. and it's such a study in contrast, the degree to which the nation refuses to even pity her. she becomes this diva of grief, she seems histrionic, they can't find a place in their heart despite all of those things that have happened. and the contrast to emily, who goes on to be for 70 years the widow of benjamin hardin helm, that's what she does. that's her profession. she's a professional widow, and she does it immaculately. she does it to adoration. and, yeah, i think if we started with the position that maybe she didn't deal with it very well but she had a whole lot to deal with we would be a little more . [ applause ] >>> this particular phone only rings in a serious crisis. keep it in the hands of a man who's prov

the lincoln family album is finished, closed forever, mary finds solace only from the words inscribed on her wedding band. >> love is eternal. >> as for lincoln, he seems to have known years before he became the last casualty of his war to save and remake america. that his words and images would be enshrined. >> we shall nobly save or meanly lose the last, best hope of earth. we will be remembered in spite of ourselves. we cannot escape history. >> all day today, american history tv is featuring america's first leedeadies. who do you think was the most influential first lady? you can join the conversation on facebook.com/csp facebook.com/cspan. >> why do we care what the first lady wears? but we look to her clothing for clues about what she's like as a person, about what the administration may be like, both in its style, sit formal, is it ininformal, is it extravagant, is it simple. probably something about her politics or the administration's politics. is it american made, do you proudly say that you only wear american designed and american made clothing. a lot of first ladies have w

the lincoln bedroom is the prime example of furniture that belonged to president lincoln that was bought and ordered by mary todd lincoln for their fancy guest bedroom. and so i knew of all the things that has been here, all the great furniture that has been here for a number of presidencies, and then even the newer things that we've bought and mostly, upholstered furniture, but we've also acquired some really wonderful pieces of american art that i'm happy were acquired while we were here. so we didn't really bring much. we had just built our house at the ranch, we moved our personal furniture there. of course, we brought our personal photographs and, obviously, personal effects that we wanted to be able to live with while we were here. >> how do you decide who gets to come to the private quarters? >> well, we ask -- all of our friends have been in the private quarters. all of our closest friends have stayed here, from people we went to the second grade, who came for a really wonderful valentine's weekend once, and had valentine dinner in the red room, pu stayed up here with us on this floor, in the third

lincoln and the todd family. the brothers and sisters of first lady mary todd lincoln. professor berry spoke in gettysburg, pennsylvania. this is a little over 50 minutes. >> i am delighted to be here. there are a lot of lincoln lovers in georgia, though this is the densest population of lincoln lovers i've ever been in. i'm truly delighted. i am going to be speaking today about inlaws. you hear that word and you have a visceral reaction, i think. you know that we're in some trouble already. presidential relatives have been a problem, as we know, throughout history. we don't have to go very far back. this, of course, is roger clinton. he was multiple duis, sold cocaine. that's a bit of a problem. here are the reagans as they wanted to be seen, right? but we all know that they had their problems, too. of course, ron pursued ballet. not a problem in itself, though it didn't fit with reagan's own image as a cold warrior. he went on to perform the tom cruise underwear dance from "risk question business" on saturday night live. patty, of course, wrote a tell-all biography, c

lincoln and the todd family. the brothers and sisters of first lady mary todd lincoln. american history tv in prime-time beginning tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern. here on c-span3. and live this weekend on our companion network c-span the national governor's association 2012 winter meeting being held here in washington. our coverage gets under way at 10:00 a.m. eastern tomorrow with an opening news conference. later in the day, a couple of breakout sessions looking at state economies. and our coverage continues on sunday, with a look at education and childhood hunger, as well as homeland security, and the role of the national guard. live coverage of the annual national governor's association winter meeting this weekend on c-span. >> it is our cause to dispel the foggy which avoids hard decisions in the delusion that a world of conflict will somehow mysteriously resolve itself in to a world of harmony. if we just don't rock the boat, or irritate the forces of aggression, and this is holewash. >> as candidates campaign for president this year we look back at 14 men who ran f

starting 8:00 eastern c-span todd family brothers and sisters of first laid mary todd lincoln beginning at 8:00 eastern on c-span3. coming up live this weekend on our companion network c-span national governor association 2012 meeting in our nation's capital. coverage under way 10:00 a.m. eastern tomorrow with an opening news conference and later discussions on economies. our coverage will continue sunday on education and childhood hunger as well as homeland security and role of the national guard. live coverage of the annual governor's winter meeting this weekend on c-span. at the 1968 olympic games john carlos and tommy smith raised their fist in the black power salute. >> they said black power. they intimidated so many people, white people in particular by using that phrase, black power. because when they use that word or that phrase plaque power, it made many people think black power meant destruction, blowing up the statue of liberty or ground zero, destroying america. it wasn't anything about destroying america. it was about rebuilding america. having america have a new paradigm i

mary surat and dr. mudd had to wear at some point in time. between lincoln's funeral train and john willinkes booth, it wa entertaining. people were riveted by what happened by the reports of this chase and what was going to happen to him. so it was sensational. as soon as it was realized that he was the person that was responsible, all sorts of information started coming out. that this wasn't an isolated incident. that it was a conspiracy. i think it was hard for people to sort of understand why he had done this. and it was such a drastic act. nothing like this had really happened in the history of the united states yet. the fact that he was killed and not brought to trial was i think a disappointment for the federal government. they wanted to make sure that -- they wanted to make an example of him like they did with the other conspirators. so that nothing like this would happen again. so as we step out into the atrium, we have sort of our final scene for the hunt for the con -- and trial of the conspirators. and there's the mural of the conspirators prior to

the way, william todd, the pioneer who drew the flag on a bedsheet, was the nephew of mary todd, abraham lincoln'sfe. with "flag facts," i'm kristen. >> stress is an all-too-familiar feeling, but you can do something about it. here's scott. >> here's some good news for all you gamesters out there. professor of psychology dr. sian beilock says video games can actually be good for your brain. >> it's true. let's start with early childhood first. there's research that shows that some types of video games may help develop motor skills. and then there are studies with college students. according to the data, playing video games actually helps improve memory and attention. >> so does that mean the more games i play, the better? >> no. you can't, unfortunately, swap video games for doing your homework. that's because the benefits of playing games max out after a certain point. like everything else, all things are best in moderation. >> thanks, dr. beilock. >> you're welcome. .. soft... and d totally irresistible. your lip butter? likewise. new revlon® colorburst™ lip butter. a hydrating buttery balm for

this has to do with our 16th president's wife, mary todd lincoln. do with a portrait that's been hanging in the presidential library museum in springfield, illinois for years and years. well, guess what? turns out this portrait that you're looking at is a fraud. that's what it should be looking like. that's the original. this was purchased in 1929 by the lincoln family, donated to the museum and the curator wanted it restored. in the process, they learned that this portrait had been modified. so you can see she's wearing a cross necklace. in the next picture right there, she's wearing a broach of abraham lincoln. this walls allegedly a portrait penned by mr. carpenter there, but they don't even know it was done by him either. her facial features have been mod feed. her hair has been modified. they don't know who the sitter was or the artist was. but they decided it's the most famous painting in the museum, they're going to keep it around. >> now, that is a saturday night mystery. >> indeed. >> indeed. >> all right. our next story, this is interestin

we will be looking at abraham and mary lincoln at 4:00 this afternoon.er today, eleanor roosevelt. also, laura bush. jacqueline kennedy at 5:30. michelle obama at 9:30. half an hour later, barbara and laura bush, and then hillary clinton at 11:30 this evening. our question for you this morning, who was the most influential first lady to serve? fred joins us, republican in fairfax, virginia. good morning. caller: good morning. [inaudible] michelle obama but there is one point that want to make. it is eleanor roosevelt -- we always say she was the best. over here in the united states immigrants -- what do call it? [inaudible] the big republican presidents that we're all talking about right now. at that time, nobody talked about it. it was not that important. host: we will focus today on the most influential first ladies. that is the question for our viewers. you mentioned eleanor roosevelt and michelle obama. john writes in on twitter -- matt says on twitter -- host: paul, a democratic caller. caller: i definitely think michelle obama is the most influenti

lincoln conspirators. >> yes, sir. >> and in particular, the decision and unprecedented decision on the part of the federal government to execute a woman, mary sirah. can you tell us how that 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, she was guilty. i believe 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 same tribunal, five of the nine judges on the tribunal recommended clemency for her. in other words, that her death sentence be commuted to life in prison. i was unaware of that commutation recommendation. i was freshly into my office. i was allowing myself to be guided by the cabinet and the other officers who had been present. and when judge advocate joseph holt brought me the papers including the death warrants, i signed them. some two years later ux 1867, this is interesting, this is when the impeachment crisis was emerging, the newspapers began printing the awareness that a recommendat

robert lincoln rode on the train from washington to baltimore, but then he returned to washington to be with his mother, and he then later came out to springfield for the funeral. mary did not ride the train or attend his funeral. she was too distraught with grief to be part of the ceremonies. the flag is interesting in that it only has 34 stars even though there were 36 states in the union by the time of his death. we think this obviously was an older flag, but we think it probably came from a fort somewhere or a garr i son and it was one of many flags that draped his coffin along the way. as we step out of the train stepping back on the train platform to our first interactive, a really great opportunity for visitors to look in depth at this funeral train journey. and to try to get a better understanding of why something like this -- nothing like this had ever happened. of course, the president had never been assassinated before, but a mourning train journey like this had never happened and a lot of historians posit that the reason the whole united states took such an interest in this was not only because of this unusual circumstances of the assassination of abraha

mary's university in minnesota. >> brown: finally tonight, on this presidents' day holiday, a fresh take on the legacy of abraham lincoln. hari sreenivasan toured the new ford's theatre center for education and leadership here in washington, d.c., with historian richard norton smith. . >> walking into the new theater center is like taking a step back in time to the cobblestone streets of washington on april 16, 1855, the day after president abraham lincoln's death. newspaper headlines cover the walls of the new exhibit which open today in a building across the street from ford's theater where the president was assassinated. >> you walk to the third floor and you come to this mothy attic. the chronological treatment. >> reporter: presidential historian richard norton smith who helped design the center says its mission is to examine how lincoln has influenced americans great and small since his death. in part, that influence is symbolized by the 34-foot high book tower that connects the center's three floors. it's made of aluminum and represents some of the roughly 15,000 works written about lincoln. >> the story didn't e