>> was mary todd lincoln on the train? was she in danger as well? >> one of the very interesting things about the store. was mary todd lincoln on the train? among the many reasons lincoln was criticized was that night, his family was on the train, the thinking was quite reasonably if you were in so much danger, why did you beat your wife and children on the train to face these dangers that you would not. and mary todd lincoln, so there is to be some flock in the white house after rawl, if it is under a bodice. it was a fair criticism. but the truth is there's a great deal of evidence to suggest the superintendent of police in baltimore who came under a great deal of criticism from pinkerton had a plan to take the lincoln family off the train before it got to baltimore, have them to lunch at the home of a prominent citizen of baltimore and take them to the second train that would carry them the rest of the way to washington which would have -- might have sidestepped the issue as effectively as pinkerton's plan did. so it is quite possible that she was

and the other pieces of furniture that mary todd lincoln had ordered. he moved them to that space which been lincoln's bedroom. we redid it. we had a little square about this big of wallpaper that have been in the room when it was his office. we reproduced it. we knew we had the bill of sale of the carpet that had been bought at the time that lincoln lived there. we went to the same place in england which had done in the carpet for him and we do not know for sure which of the patterns they had sold. we do not really have a picture of it. but we knew on the bill of sale, it is go which the curator thought meant green and oak. we went and had that done. >> what did we not know about the first lady and her role you think the american public should know? >> the public sees the first lady in glamorous circumstances, state dinners in a beautiful gown. a speech where the heads are in suits or whatever. what they may not imagine looking at the white house from the outside is it is actually a very normal life upstairs on those two floors that are the white house

and the other pieces of furniture that mary todd lincoln had ordered. he moved them to that space which been lincoln's bedroom. we redid it. we had a little square about this big of wallpaper that have been in the room when it was his office. we reproduce it. we knew we had the bill of sale of the carpet that had been bought at the time that lincoln lived there. we went to the same place in england which done in the carpet for him and we do not know for sure which of the patterns they had sold. we do not really have a picture of it. but we knew on the bill of sale, whichsaid ga which -- go the curator thought meant green and oak. we went and had that done. not know about the first lady and her role you think the american public should know? sees the first lady and glamorous circumstances, state dinners and a beautiful down. a speech where the heads in suits are whatever. what they may not imagine looking at the white house from the outside is it is actually a very normal life upstairs on those two floors that are the white house residence. --st light is

. >> was mary todd lincoln on the trade or the children? >> one of the very thing interesting things. among the many reasons lincoln was criticized for falling in with a plan that night is his family was on the train with him. quite reasonably if you were in so much danger than why did you leave your wife a and children on the train to face the dangers but quoting "the baltimore sun", they spoke admiringly of very tied coming through town as scheduled so there is some to be in the white house after all even if it is under a bodice. but the truth is there is a great deal of evidence to suggest that the superintendent of baltimore who came under a great deal of criticism under pinkerton had a plan to take the lincoln family of the tree before it got to baltimore baltimore, have them to lunch at the home of a providence citizen and take into the second train to carry them the rest of the way. which might have sidestepped the issue has effectively as pinkerton planted. it is quite possible she was not on the trade anymore than he was. but to fac

mary todd lincoln was scandalous.she was shopping buying tons of dresses and gloves and she even bought a very expensive china service and then liked it so much she got a companion set. president lincoln called her her flub dub and called her off financially. i'm asking this country to sacrifice and you're spending like there's no tomorrow. she went to continue to spend white house he gardener to cover her budget. that was a huge scandal. andrew jackson's wife, rachel, who was alive when he was elected but died right before the inauguration in 1829. she had been married two men at the same time because of the snaffue of divorce laws at the time and called negative words. nancy reagan with a lot of dress fathers high-end designers while her husband is making drastic cuts in social programs and not giving the dresses back or turning them over to the museum. hat was a minor scandal. i think it's a good thing we are having a conversation like this because we have to have that conversation. it's a highly public role and ng

daniel day-lewis plays abraham lincoln, followed by the voices of thaddeus stevens and mary todd lincolntepped out upon the world stage with the fate of human dignity in our hands. asked usm lincoln has to work with him to accomplish the death of slavery. that was an excerpt of "lincoln." clarence lusane, talk about the lincoln and slavery. >> the lincoln administration was a turning point in terms of the history of the relationship between african-americans and the white house. it was in his tenure that the first meeting took place between a u.s. president and leaders of the black community. this happened in 1862, i believe. up until that point, although african-americans, particularly free african-americans in the north, has been organized and those policy issues around slavery, they simply had no access to the white house or to policymakers. lincoln opened up some of that. part of what moved lincoln from being not just anti-slavery, but that you hadnizing to eliminate slavery, that abolition was the only path from hisin part, came discussions with black leaders. not only church leader

mary todd lincoln. police lincoln. twl's been a lot since 1964.st, paint now counts as a swimsuit, which it didn't in the past. but being chosen to be on the cover is a big deal. s.i. goes to great lengths to keep it secret, and they have kept it secret until this moment. our head of security, my right hand man guillermo has been guarding the advanced copy. guarding it with what? >> guillermo: with my life, jimmy. >> jimmy: he has a briefcase cuffed to his wrist. and a decoy guillermo? is the magazine in that briefcase? >> guillermo: yes, jimmy. >> jimmy: i don't know which one i'm talking to anymore. open it up and let's unveil this thing. this is big. we're going to unlock -- the handcuffs are already unlocked it looks like. okay, all right, all right. what is that? >> jimmy: a remote contro-- >> guillermo: a remote control, jimmy. >> jimmy: where's the magazine? >> guillermo: let me show you. >> jimmy: wow. that's quite a cover. >> guillermo: that's not one cover model. that's three. for the first time ever, there are three models on the cover

going to hell in a hand basket, not just because of lincoln's election, but because, you know, mary todd lincoln was going to be taking her place. so mrs. lincoln came to washington on the one hand triumphant, vindicated in her life-long faith and love, and at the same time having something to prove. >> what kind of first lady was me? >> again, the old history is argument without end. anything you say about mary lincoln, there are people who will argue exactly the opposite. first of all, let's acknowledge hat she held a job, as he held his job, in absolutely unprecedented time of national turmoil. we think we live in a politically polarized culture or we think back to the 1960's and the horror of the fascinations and -- an increasingly unpopular war. and other periods in american history when obviously there's been anything but consensus. but the lincolns spent their entire presidency, except the last five days, under the shadow of national disintegration. and remember, adding to the burdens, i said she had a step-mother. she has a slough of half brothers and sisters. one of her brothers fought

mary todd lincoln struggled right alongside her husband with the pain of the civil war. losing thousands and thousands of men in the north and south. mary todd lincoln would take donations and provide them to soldiers. she would organize donations for former slaves and runaways then moved to washington and were living an abysmal conditions. before there was public housing and things like that. i am sympathetic to your concern. i have always been an ardent advocate of veterans affair. medicare, social security programs. childhood vaccinations and things that make sure that all americans have a decent quality of life. i guess, i do not know if the words help or not, but i can assure you that we have multiple first ladies who have been champions. eleanor roosevelt, as much as anyone, visited soldiers in combat zones. independent of her husband, who was wheelchair-bound and unable to travel. she was the eyes and ears. she visited soldiers and hospitals. she took great concern. paid great personal attention to this issue. host: now to providence, rhode island. jack is on the l

mary todd, on the train or the children? >> it's one of the very interesting things about the story. was mary todd lincoln on the train? among the many reasons lincoln was criticized for falling in with pinkertons plan on that night, his family was on the train with him and the thinking was quite reasonably, if you are in so much danger why did you leave your wife and children on the train to face these dangers that you would not? .. >> have them to lunch at the home a prominent citizen of baltimore and then take them to the the train, to the second train that would carry them the rest of the way to washington which would have, might have sidestepped the issue as effectively as pinkerton's plan did. so it is quite possible that she wasn't on the train any more than he was. but the perception that lincoln had left his family to face the perils that he himself would not also clung to him like glue. anyone else? ma'am? >> yes, a couple quick things, and i apologize if you already addressed this. but, first, what specific thing kicked off for you about this event that made you say i want to spend the time researching exact

about the most, the worst time in our country's history, when brother fought against brother and mary todd lincolnas very unhappy. her brothers fought for the confederacy and she wished them dead and they did die. and then they lost a child while they lived there as well. you can imagine what it was like for her to have those tragedies and you knew what it was like for him as well. the president at a time when our country was at war with itself. one of the things that is comforting about living there with all of the history that you live with is that you see how we have overcome, in our country, the challenges that we faced. you think about the long years of world war ii and eleanor roosevelt and other times in our history and how difficult it was for people and how we overcame those challenges. so there is a certain comfort in knowing that, while peace is not forever, neither is war and we will be able to overcome these types of terrorism. time passes and things change. i do think, in our country, that things get better. that is a reassuring idea while you are living there. >> you write in "spoke

mary todd lincoln would take donations and provide them to soldiers.she would organize donations for former slaves and runaways then moved to washington and were living an abysmal conditions. before there was public housing and things like that. i am sympathetic to your concern. i have always been an ardent advocate of veterans affair. medicare, social security programs. childhood vaccinations and things that make sure that all americans have a decent quality of life. , i do not know if the words help or not, but i can assure you that we have multiple first lady's who have been champions. roosevelt, as much as anyone, visited soldiers in combat zones. independent of her husband, who is wheelchair-bound and unable to travel. she was the eyes and ears. she visited soldiers and hospitals. she took great concern. at great personal attention to this issue. host: now to providence, rhode island. jaclyn on the line for democrats. caller: hi. extent with certain the gentleman from arkansas. my heart goes out to him. i worked on wall street for over 30 years. i

then we had old photographs of the way mary todd lincoln dressed the lincoln bedroom the purple and goldand fringe and lace, high victorian decorations. we did have later photographs with the bed still dressed the way she had dressed it, so we did that again. >> how did the bushes used the white house as a social instrument during their years? what was entertaining like while we had wars going on? >> i think they had only really begun to entertain, i think it backfired literally because they had fireworks and they had not warned everybody that it was happening, so they sort of exploded all over town. then after september 11, i think there was a great deal of thought as to what was appropriate and how to do it. i think laura bush was instrumental in seeing the white house as a living, historical institution and using it as a way to help people understand what the lives had been like for people who lived there at the time and the way it reflects the period in the context of the time. the meticulous need to re-create what mary lincoln had done is also about showing the tenor of the time and

way, william todd -- the pioneer who drew the flag on a bed sheet -- was the nephew of mary todd, abraham lincoln's wife. with "flag facts," i'm brandon. >> the tallest building in our part of the world is getting closer to opening. but what makes this building special isn't its height, but what it represents. one world trade center is rising from the ashes of the 9/11 terrorist attack in new york city. this was all that was left of the famous twin towers that gave the area its name -- the world trade center. the terrorists weable to destroy those original towers, but they couldn't destroy our national resolve to rebuild and to honor those who lost their lives in the attack. in fact, one world trade center will reach a symbolic height. just as 1776 is an important date in american history, 1776 is precisely how tall the new building is -- 1,776 feet. one world trade center will also have an observatory open to the public. you can expect it'll become a very popular tourist attraction. >> this report is brought to you by the consumer electronics association. >> there's a lot of buzz words here at the

a year ago we found a heretofore letter from mary todd lincoln a year before her husband's death. i love the letter. even though the press tended to say it's not much of a form i loved it because mary todd is writing in 1864. she's having a big fancy white tie black-tie kind of gal at the white house and she's worried about a babysitter. she's trying to find a babysitter for the youngest, the fourth boy tad. so in the middle of the civil war and the white house she needs to find a babysitter. i think that's the perfect duality. i love it and here's the person she is requesting to be her babysitter. a guy named charles forbes. one year later when lincoln is hit in ford's theater charles forbes was the guard at the door tell me that's not freaky. so history, we don't know much about the war of 1812 by 450 pages down the first draft was probably 650 and i'm sure i'm scratching the surface of it. there is just so much out there but thanks for the kind words. one or two quick ones. [applause] >> tecumseh was shawnee but among many other tribes as well. tecumseh had a rough upbringing.

and then we had old photographs of the way mary todd lincoln had draped the lincoln bed with the purpleand gold and the french in place, really high victorian decorating. we did have later photographs with a bed still dressed the way she dressed it, so we did that again. >> we how did the bushes use the white house as a social instrument during their years? how did they use it to advance policy and what was entertaining like while we had wars going on? >> guest: well i think they had only barely begun -- the it kind of backfired literally because they had fireworks and they hadn't warned anybody that was happening. everybody was sort of alarms. then after september there was a great deal of thought as to what was appropriate and how to do it. i think certainly laura bush has been instrumeninstrumen tal in seeing the white house as a living historical institution and using it as a way to help people understand what the lives have been like for the people that live there at the time and the way that reflects the period and the way that reflects the context of the times and the meticulous

life --r as his later speaking about abraham lincoln's later life when he was married. can you speak a little bit about mary todder relationship with abraham lincoln? >> i can't -- >> jerome? what about mary todd and his relationship together? a very deep love and this is where my book is so different from other books. we discover for the first time a real sexuality in lincoln. i think that this was one of the critical areas that i wanted to write about is his love affair with mary. this was never mentioned in any other book. you a powerful sexuality and so did she. she was really a bombshell of the 19th century, the kind of 19th century marilyn monroe. but we don't see this written. lincoln, thess of business of keeping the country together, that was a vital part of his strategy as leader of the country. what did you learn in doing the research about his understanding of about business and organization and with it -- and logistics? had a batch of mediocre generals. he really had to become his own general. cabinet that was fighting among itself so we had to be the supreme politician. he had to become the command

i just wanted to save my absolute favorite first lady is michelle obama and i believe that mary todd lincoln would get my number one for the most compelling personal life. i think she had more difficulties throughout the entire time. the question i have for edith mayo, if she remembers how old she was when she developed an interest in first ladies and their families. >> how old i was? >> how old she was when she first developed her interest in this kind of history and what patsy you took to develop her skills and knowledge. also, is she part of the mayo clinic family? >> don't i wish. no, i am not part of the mayo clinic family. i only wish we had their money. years,uite well along in should i put it that way, before a built -- before i developed an interest in the first ladies. i work at the smithsonian institution all of my adult life and was always interested in much more radical politics. in fact, the going wisdom was i was probably the person who should not do first lady history. the role series of strange and wonderful circumstances, i was literally dragged ticking and screaming into t

a year ago we found an unknown -- an unknown letter from mary todd lincoln written a year before herband's death. i love the letter even though the press tended to say it's not much of a letter. mary todd is writing agency for, she's having a big fancy gala at the white house. she's worried about a babysitter. she's trying to find a babysitter for the youngest. she's trying -- so i'm in the middle of the civil war and the white house, she has to find a babysitter. i love it. here's the person she's trying to get as a babysitter, charles forbes. history still has her secrets. we don't know much about the war of 1812. i put 450 pages down, first draft was probably 650. i'm sure i'm scratching the surface of it. there's so much out there. thanks for the time. one or two more quick ones. [inaudible] >> tecumseh was shawnee but he was doing many other tribes as well. he was raised by a chief from another tribe. his mother leaves him when he's young and moves away with another try. is raised by an older brother. tecumseh is a very rough upbringing. you might say he was swept around as resu

a year ago we found a new unknown letter from mary todd lincoln a year before her husband's death greater love the letter. mary todd is writing in 1864. she's having a big fancy white tight black tie galley at the white house. she's worried about a babysitter she is trying to find a babysitter for the youngest and fourth boy tad, tadpole they called him. in the middle of the civil war at the white house she needs to find a babysitter. i think that's perfect. i love it and here's the person she is requesting to be your babysitter. a guy named charles forbes. one year later when mcinnis hit in ford's theater charles forbes was the guard at the door. tell me that's not freaky. we don't know much about the war of 1812. ipo 450 pages down and the first draft was probably 650. i am sure i'm scratching the surface because there's so much out there but thanks for your time. one or two quick ones. speak to come so was shawnee but among many other tribes as well. tecumseh had a rough upbringing. he was raised by itchy from another tribe. his mother leaves him when he is young and moves away with an