robert e. lee lieutenant colonel robert e. lee. he goes to harpers ferry and he is already known at that time is one of the military's finest soldiers. he had earned that reputation during the war in mexico. he proved to be a brilliant soldier. he had a unique understanding of topography. he could see things that other people could not see. he performs well and he puts down the insurrection. he reasserts federal controls and what becomes known as john brown's raid already impresses his military resume but also goes to something else. it heralds the coming of the civil war. now i want to take it one final place on the potomac trip upriver from harpers ferry, the quiet national park today where you will find a cornfield you'll find a sunken road and you will find a stone bridge over a creek called antietam. there in september 18, 1862 robert e. lee outmanned and outgunned her -- army of northern virginia that the union army of the potomac which was much much larger in the bloodiest single day of combat in american history. the battle

and so as much as robert e. lee might want material things, he would not lack the virtue that separated harry lee from george washington. robert e. lee uses of control and he knew how to deny himself. but what most connected robert e. lee to george washington happened just a river from arlington. you have to hit up river to the great pilgrimage in that sits atop the arlington heights. if you ever see the arlington heights today right across the potomac river from where the lincoln memorial now stands. they are on june 30, 1831, robert e. lee married the daughter of george washington's adopted son. today we know arlington asymmetry. but back then it was a memorial to george washington, because george washington's adopted son had built that house and filled it with relics of mount vernon. if you had gone to arlington in the 19th century you would've seen china and furniture and portraits that had once been in mount vernon. you would even seem the bed where george washington had died, and supposedly george washington l

robert e lee lieut. col. robert e lee. he. he goes to harpers ferry and he is already known as one of the military's. and he equips himself quite well. he performs well reasserts federal control. what becomes known as john brown raids' ads and other loyal to an already impressive military resume and herald the coming of the american civil war. and war. and i want to take you to one final place a little bit upriver, quiet national park today where you will find a cornfield, a sunken road in the stoneridge. there on september 17 1862 robert 1862 robert ely and the outmanned outgunned army of northern virginia thought the union army of the potomac to still make in the bloodiest single day of combat in american history. the battle of antietam marks the end of robert e lee's 1st invasion across the potomac and gave abraham lincoln who was present at the opportunity to issue the preliminary emancipation proclamation which would eventually allow him to give a new birth of freedom. anyone who takes the journey i have just described mu

the story is robert e. lee is in a church and there is a black man praying and robert e. lee and no one knows what to do. robert e. lee goes up and kneels beside him. that's a story that's been told by many people. the truth is we don't know. it was told many years after the event so it's very difficult to evaluate the accuracy of the story. i have just actually seen a recent article of people debating it so unfortunately i can't answer the question. if there is some evidence that something like that happened what were robert e. lee's motives for doing it is something we can answer. it's possible what he was thinking was he's didn't like people feeling awkward and the best way to put this event behind was to go on with his business and set an example for upper body else but they should also go on that with their business. so we just don't know. it's a great story you brought up and i can't say it's not true and i can say it is true so it's right on the front lines of history. yes? >> i don't understand what happened to lee after the war. he visited the greenbrier and i kno

and so as much as robert e. lee might want the material things he would not lack the virtue that separated harry lee from george washington. robert e. lee new self-control and he knew how to deny himself. but what most can ask robert e. lee was george washington happened up river. you have to head further up river to the great pillared mansion that sits atop the arlington heights. if you ever see the arlington heights today it's right across the potomac river from where the lincoln memorial now stands. they're on june the 30th, 1831 robert e. lee married the daughter of george washington's adopted son. today we know arlington as a cemetery but back then it was a memorial to george washington because george washington's adopted son of man named george washington -- have built that house and filled it with relics of mt. vernon. if you had gone to arlington in the 19th century you would have seen china furniture and portraits that had once been at mt. vernon. you wouldn't have seen the bed were george washington died i

and actually robert e. lee's reading a biography of george washington in the months before the civil war. and he is hearing these arguments and he concludes that he basically agrees with the unionist position to keep lee's george washington would have oppose secession. so what else in to lee say to francis blair? he says that he would clap and washed his hands of flavor gladly get rid of all slavery if it could avoid war. but then he says, but how can i raise my sword against my native state's? and hear the blair family tradition says lee hesitated as if searching for an answer. but as lee told a story he gave the answer once and a no. he turned on the command. though he did not yet turned in his commission, the army observed for more than three decades. he returned to arlington house. he soon learns that virginia in fact has voted to secede from the union. and april 20 he writes a letter resigning from the union army. and his wife would call that decision to resign the severest of struggle of his life. >> you ca

so now only one word separated robert e. lee from the pinnacle of his profession, from command of what would be the largest american army ever raised, from glory perhaps that no american since george washington had known. what did robert e. lee say? he said he opposed secession and he did oppose secession, he thought secession was illegal. equally significantly he thought george washington was opposed to secession and that was no given at the time. people on both sides of the conflict claimed george washington for their own. secessionists said george washington was a rebel -- rebelled and rebelled against the union with the british. unionists say george washington in his farewell address said to prize the union above any sectional allegiance. robbery beat is reading a biography of george washington in the months before the civil war. he is hearing these arguments and concludes he agrees with the unionist position. he believes george washington would have opposed secession. what else does robert e. lee say to francis blair? he sa

robert e. leenections to george washington. and remembering former poet laureate philip levine. >> ifill: the islamic state's gruesome attacks in libya over the weekend raises the specter that the militant group is expanding beyond syria and iraq. we take a look at that now with frederic wehrey of the carnegie endowment for international peace, he's recently returned from a trip to libya. and, michael leiter, he was the director of the national counter-terrorism center from 2007-2011. he is now the executive vice president at leidos, a science and technology company specializing in national security issues. michael leiter, what are we to take from this particular move into libya? this seems like an expansion of the footprint we've become familiar with i.i.l. >> that's right, gwen. we've really seen this expansion beyond just libya. i.s.i.s. has over the past several months gained some foot holds in egypt to the east in the sinai peninsula as well as smaller elements in algeria afghanistan and south

so it just so happens that ira aldridge and robert e. lee were born the same year. in 17 -- in 1807. so we'll sort of shadow -- with ira aldridge we'll shadow robert e. lee. talking about slavery and all that and african-americans in the country. the -- the third and last portrait will be of senator edward dirksen of illinois and that's a time cover in our timex bigs upstairs. and we will look at him. he played in 1964 a monumental role in getting the civil rights, the famous civil rights act of 1964 passed through the congress. and the senate. which lyndon johnson signed on july 2 of 1964. so we'll look at that. that's where we'll go from there. i'll finish on one last note and that has to do with the african-americans and there was a major, major anniversary coming up in two weeks. and that anniversary is not -- it's not on most people's radar. but it's going to be the 150th anniversary of congress' passage of the 13th amendment that ended slavery. that will happen saturday, december 31. that will be the anniversary date of that. so it's -- it's a date that we -- j

when you think of robert e. lee, you think of old virginia, first families, and you think of the civil war. you think of the civil war, you think of slavery. it just so happens that that ira and robert e. lee were born the same year, in 1807. we're talking about slavery and all that. and african americans in the country. the third and last portrait will be senator dirksen of illinois. he played in

in fact, robert e. lee was so offended when he heard george washington might accused a

when you think of robert e. lee, you think of old virginia, first families, and you think of the civil war. you think of the civil war, you think of slavery. it just so happens that that ira and robert e. lee were born the same year, in 1807. we're talking about slavery and all that. and african americans in the country. the third and last portrait will be senator dirksen of illinois. he played in 1964 a monumental role in getting the civil rights act of 1964 passed through the congress and the senate, which lyndon johnson signs on july 2 of 1964. we will look at that. that is where we will go from there. i will finish on one last note, and that has to do with african-americans. there is a major anniversary coming up in two weeks and that anniversary is not on most people's radar but it will be the 150th anniversary of congress's passage of the 13th amendment which ended slavery. that will happen saturday, december 31st. -- january. i'm sorry january 31st. that will be coming up. in four years, slavery is obliterate

you seemed to imply robert e. lee would be one culpable for the chasing of blacks and enslaving them for war crimes. is that what you're saying? >> in pennsylvania, when lee enters pennsylvania in '63, you either have two theorys of general lee -- one is that he is absolutely incapable of controlling his subordinate commanders so that jubil early does what he wants and lee doesn't do anything about it and lee can't tell him what to do, or lee is come police it with the fact that early spends three or four days chasing blacks, capturing them, enslaving them when they retreat from gettysburg these black prisoners are taken back with them. either one or the other. and by every known rule of the law of war, of the mid 19th cent rip, it is against the rule of war to enslave civilians. it's against the rule of law to ask for payment and bribery in order not to destroy a town as again jubil early does and other commanders do. and my assumption is that leinos this is going on. now maybe he's incapable of doing anything about

and so in april 1861, an emissary for abraham lincoln, asked robert e. leeto ride from arlington and come to the city of washington. that emissary's name is francis blair, and he makes an extraord

and former white house presidential speechmaker who spent years researching and writing this new robert e. lee biography. the man who would not be washington published in january of this year. jonathan has appeared as a commentator on msnbc and bbc radio. ..

biographies of robert e lee and josef stalin. on american history tv on c-span three, interviews with former korean pows from the korean war veterans digital memorial project on wednesday. the 100th anniversary of the release of the film "the birth of a nation." the showing of the entire 1915 film. thursday come historians debate the social change of the 1970's in new york city. friday japanese-american internment during world war ii. book tv and american history tv, this week in prime time. more of our road to the white house coverage with potential presidential candidate rand paul of kentucky. he speaks about the government shutdown and the benghazi attacks at the american spectator magazine gala. >> i go to a lot of barbecues. i need to alter my jackets. they are getting tight. i was in kentucky, and the guy in front of me had a plate of barbecue. he loading up another plate of barbecue. i said, you are not going to live long eating like that. he said my grandfather lived to be 105 years old. he lived to be 105 years old by mi

friday, biographies of robert e darley and joseph stalin -- robert e. lee and joseph stalin. on wednesday on c-span3 "the birth of a nation." the showing of the entire 1915 film, followed by a re-air. thursday, historians debate the social changes of the 1970's at the 2015 american historical association meeting in new york city. booktv and american history tv this week in prime time. >> tomorrow morning on "washington journal," a reuters correspondent looks at president obama's executive order on immigration, and a recent decision to a texas court judge -- by a texas court judge that blocked that order. "washington journal" his life thursday at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. up next remarks from president obama on combating violent extremism. he spoke on the second day of the three-day white house event. this is 35 minutes. >> good afternoon, everyone. i want to thank everyone for being here today. law enforcement officers, community leaders, teachers elected officials, foreign ministers, and entrepreneurs thanks so much for taking part today and spending your time here in the

general custis lee, robert e. lee's son sued the federal government for possession of the arlington estate in northern virginia in 1879 in federal district court. can you imagine the emotions that generated? by then the arlington estate was the hollowed grounds of arlington national cemetery with many burials of union dead from the civil war. the arlington estate had been seized by the federal government for nonpayment of taxes. the catch was that it was tough to pay the taxes because you had to pay them in person. [laughter] there were not many lee's who wanted to show up in burlington to pay their taxes at the time so they went unpaid in the federal government seized the property. in actuality the court ultimately ruled in favor of the lee family but congress found out in ultimately it resulted in a congressional settlement where the federal government acquired title after paying the lee family a sum in compensation for the property. >> john fares discussion eastern district of virginia wouldn't be complete without ta

happen then on friday, biographies of robert e. lee and joseph stalin. and on american history tv on c-span 3 tuesday night at 8:00 interviews with former korean p.o.w.'s. on wednesday the 100th anniversary of the of the release of the film "the birth of the nation." the showing of the film followed by a rae air of our call in program. and thursday, historians debate the social chings of the 1970's in new york city. and fridayion japanese american internment during world war ii. book tv and american history tv this week in prime time. >> coming up on c-span a look at how president's legacy is being shaped six years into his presidency. then a discussion on hillary clinton and what the political future my hold for her in 2016. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] journal" continues. host: our first guest of the morning is jon ward of yahoo! news. he put out a recent story on how barack obama was to be the ronald reagan of the left. good morning. before we get to the details of a story, talk about hot came to be. guest: it's funny to go

it was this question that drew me to robert e. lee's story. and the knowledge that history could have turned out so much differently because on the eve of the civil war leaders on both sides, in richmond and in washington fought services for command, the new about his connections to george washington and common knowledge. both saw tremendous significance in them. they also knew that winfield scott who was the ranking general in the u.s. army fought lee was the best soldier he had ever seen in the field and robbery et looked like a fine soldier. he stood just under 6 feet tall had powerful broad shoulders, had barrel chest, had perfect posture, everyone who's saw him saw some version of the same thing that man looks every inch the soldier. in 1861 and emissary for abraham lincoln asked robert e.

. >> maybe the dumbest since robert e. leeto the northern line at the gettysburg bowl in 1963. >> reporter: to the gut. coaches getting kicked around his brain analyzed. >> even great can have. >> reporter: this was a brain cramp. win? nah, i'll pass. jeanne moos cnn. new york. >> that's the calmest estest ek lep tick person i've seen. he "ac360" begins right now. >>> good evening. thanks for joining us tonight. reaction and plenty of it tonight including from the white house just moments ago after the latest assault on human decency from the killers known as isis. calls of retribution in iman, jordan after terror group in incineration burning to death of captured jordanian fighter pilot. we say because we've not authenticated it ourselves but there can be no doubt at all about what these killers have done. burned this man alive after stringing jordan suggesting he was not already dead. now said he was killed about a month ago. the isi

the proceedings against robert e. lee and the other federate leaders went nowhere because he appealed to general grant on the basis that it was his understanding and grant as well that the terms of surrender inc. a position the position that there would be no retribution. to make a long story short, general grant interceded with president johnson and even threatened to resign his commission if those proceedings were pursued but they were not. there is no record of any further proceedings beyond that point. john curtis underwood during the course of reconstruction was what was known as a radical republican. in order to regain full admission to the union and get out from under the military rule, virginia had to adopt a new constitution. i think the convention began in 1868 and it was ultimately ratified in 1870. but the chairman of the convention adopted the new virginia constitution was john curtis underwood and to this day, it remains known as the underwood constitution. among white virginians to this day he was the most

i'm often asked and have been asked recently what robert e. lee say about the way the world is today. and i think it's just impossible question. it's just -- we can't know because so much has happened and it's not fair to stick him from 1870 the last thing he knew, into 2015, and say what do you think about healthcare reform or something like that. he couldn't have even conceived of where we are as a country, -- one think we can know he would be fascinated by the develops in transportation because he was an engineer to the end, and he did have this great feeling about the country being bound together by these different modes of transportation, whenever he took a train, he would clock and say, it could have been a half a day faster if it had been run more efficiently. so i think he would find that very interesting. but as for a political situation, i'm going to take a pass on the question. it's just too hard to make comparisons. the civil war is such a unique period in our history, and i think we can all agree that we hope that the matter has been

a mother who loved robert e. lee and a father who loved grant. young t.r. decided to love the west instead. and as i'll talk about some of his formative years in the dakota territory, it will become clear what the west meant in building his leadership skills. but if i focus for a minute on 1858, one year after he was born, 1859, was darwin's "on the origins of species." and that book is a revolution. and it really hit the roosevelt family very hard. theodore roosevelt's father was one of the founders of the institute next door, the american museum of natural history. but he had an uncle, robert barnwell roosevelt, who was called the autobahn of the civil war era. and went on to write books like "fishing on lake superior," a book on the water fowl of florida. uncle rob, his father's brother was an ardent darwinian. in fact, wrote seminal things about eels and frogs, ran for congress uncle robert roosevelt, from new york to save the shad. because the shad were being outfished -- fished out of the hudson river and the east river. and so this darwinian infusion

it was this question that ultimately drew me to robert e. lee's story. it's that tragic tension at the knowledge, that history could have turned out so much differently. because on the eve of the civil war, leaders on both sides of the potomac, in richmond and in washington sought his services for high command to both about his connection to george washington. that was common knowledge. and both saw tremendous significance in them. they also knew that winfield scott to at the time was the ranking general in the u.s.

and biographies of robert e lee. on american history tv, tuesday night at 8:00, interviews with pows. the 100 anniversary of the release of the film the birth of a nation with an interview. thursday, historians debate the social changes of the 1970's of the 2015 american historical association meeting. and japanese american internment. this week in prime time. >> lisa monaco announced the formation of a new agency this week designed to recognize and thwart cyber threats. at the wilson center she spoke about the agency and how work with other departments. this is one hour. >> i often save you want to get the job done right, but i woman in charge. let's give a shout out to three. number one, caroline karen c. she came to us from the basement of the white house. she had to adjust to the fact that we had windows with sunlight. number two, to make king. my right hand woman and the head of our cyber initiative at the wilson center, building our capacity in norm asleep. number three is lisa monaco, advisor to the president

navy and cousin of robert e. lee, she would refer to, quote, our oakland cronies because the blairs and davises had vacationed together in oakland, maryland, and didn't want letters around in the united states navy talking about their goods friends, the davises. so francis preston blair then was in truly a unique position to try to find some way to bring these men together. at christmastime of 1864, blair went to the white house and sat down with lincoln and reminded him of his friendship with davis. and told him he had a plan to end the war and would like to go to richmond to present it to davis. before he could describe that plan, lincoln put his hand up and said, i don't want to hear it. if you want to go to richmond, i'm not going to stop you, but you're not going to go with my authority. you can speak for yourself and do what you choose to do but i don't want to know what you're going to say there. that would be called plausible deniability about 100 years later. so lincoln gave blair a pass the size of a laundr

he recounts robert e. lee'sdecision to join the confederate army and being sought by both the north and south. it's about an hour. >> it's my pleasure to introduce jonathan horn. he is an author and former white house president sure -- presidential speechmaker who spent years writing his new robert daily biography, "the man who would not be washington" congress in january of this year. jonathan has appeared as a commentator on "msnbc"." his writing has appeared in "the new york times"" "the weekly standard" and other outlets. during his time at the white house jonathan served as a spee

and then on friday biographies of robert e. lee and josef stalin and a look at pakistan through the eyes of a woman who was raised in karachi. and on american history tv on c-span3, tuesday night at 8:00, interviews with corpser korean p.o.w.s. from a korean war veteran's digital memorial project. on wednesday the 100th anniversary of the release of the film "the birth of a nation" with an interview of author dick lehr, the showing of the entire 1915 film followed by a reair of a call-in program with civil war historian hari jones and author dick lehr. thursday historians debate the social changes of the 1970s at the 2015 historical meeting in new york city and friday japanese-american interment during world war ii. book tv and american history tv this week in prime-time. >>> american history tv visited ford's theater in washington, d.c., where on the night of april 14th, 1865, abraham lincoln was mortally wounded as he sat in the presidential box with his wife marrow watching the popular comedy "our american cousin." he died the n

and then on friday, biographies of robert e. lee and joseph stahlen and a look at pakistan through the eyes of a woman raises in kairachikarachi. tonight at 8:00 interviews with korean p.o.w.s. on wednesday, the 100th anniversary of the release of the film, "the birth of a nation," with dick lair. with civil war historian harry jones. and thursday, historians debate the social changes of the 1970s at the 2015 american historical association meeting in new york city and friday, japanese american during world war ii. book tv and american history tv, this week in prime time. >>> with live coverage of the u.s. house on cspab and the senate on cspan 2, here, we compliment that by showing you the most relevant congressional hearings and public affairs events and on weekends, we are the home to american history tv. with programs that tell our neigh's story, including six unique series. the civil war's 150th anniversary, visiting battlefields and key events. american artifacts, touring inging museums. history book shelf with the best known

then on friday biographies of robert e. lee and josef stalin and a look at pakistan. on american history tv on c-span 3 on wednesday the 100th anniversary of the release of the film "the birth of a nation" with an interview of the author dick lehr. following a call-in program. thursday historians debate social changes of the 1970s at the 2015 american historical association meeting in new york city. and friday japanese-american internment during world war ii. book tv and american history tv this week in primetime. >>> now a former command egg general of the marine expeditionary brigade daniel yu talks about the last combat operations he led in afghanistan and the transfer of authority to afghan security forces. he spoke at a forum hosted by the potomac institute for policy studies in arlington virginia. this is about an hour. >> good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. and we want to thank you for joining us here today. i'm from the potomac institute for policy studies and on behalf of our president and ceo, and the chairman of our board of regions we're pleased to have y

biographies of robert e. lee and joseph stalin.a look at pakistan through the eyes of a woman raised in karachi. on american history tv on wednesday the 100th anniversary of the release of the film "the birth of a nation" with an interview of author dick lehr, the showing of the entire 1915 film followed by a reair of our call-in program. and thursday historians debate the social changes of the 1970s at the 2015 american historical association meeting in new york city. and friday japanese-american internment during world war ii. book tv and american history tv this week in primetime. >>> the washington institute for near east policy held a discussion recently on the fight against isis and the role of iran and syria's bashar al assad. regional experts and a former army colonel who served in iraq took part in this hour and a half discussion. >> good afternoon. good afternoon and welcome to the washington institute. my name is david shanker, director of the program on arab politics here. it's nice to see such a large crowd. we're here

and so now only one word separated robert e. leefrom the pinnacle of his profession, from command of what would be the largest american army ever raised, from glory perhaps, that no american since george washington had known. and what did robert e. lee say? he said he opposed secession and he did oppose secession. he thought secession was illegal. and equally significantly, he thought george washington would have opposed secession, and that was no given at the time because people on both sides of the conflict claim george george washington for their own. secessionists say he rebelled against the union with the british. on the other side unionists say george washington in his farewell address said to prize the union above any allegiance. and actually robert e. lee is reading a biography of george washington in the months before the civil war, and he is hearing these arguments, and he concludes that he basically agrees with the unionists' position. he believes george washington would have opposed secession. so what else does lee say t

actually robert e. lee is reading a biography of george washington in the months before the civil war and he is hearing these arguments and he concludes that he basically agrees with the unionists position. he believe george washington would have opposed secession. so what else does lee say to francis blair? .. rent law [applause] >> one of my favorite places. how much better could it be. we we are having a wonderful time. the organizers have been fabulous how they organize this event. they deserve the applause you can give them. the way they pull people together, the level of contact they m

he recalls robert e. lee's decision to join the confederate army after being sought by both the north and the south. it's about one hour. >> now, it's my pleasure to introduce jonathan horn. he is an author and former white house presidential speechmaker who spent years researching and writing his new robert e. lee biography, "the man who would not be washington," published in january of this year.