not surprising because roosevelt hired lincoln dramatist robert sherwood as a speechwriter. it was the civil war, not the revolution that was used most often in world war ii propaganda. lincoln, notage of that of washington or jefferson that flashed ritualistically on the silver screen. associations that throughout the 1930's had connected lincoln to fighting theery helped turn him into type of symbol that warren remembered. it suggested that lincoln had come to embody a certain type of moral energy that could galvanize americans in a new global conflict. i should say at that moment, americans needed that kind of motivation. 1940-1941, there were many who remained deeply cynical about the devastation of world war i, deeply cynical about engaging in any further foreign entanglements. in this context, timely reminders about lincoln and his commitment to emancipation helped people recall a moment when a true moral purpose guided americans were objectives. i'm just going to say that i am borrowing from another scholar. there is a literary scholar who develops some of this point.

robert sherwood who wrote the play abe lincoln in illinois held up lincoln as a way to urge americans to get off the sidelines when certain principles were at stake. and lincoln's commitment to ending slavery sherwood recognized the 16th president as a supreme non-isolationist in his essential faith. this made him an ideal figure for convincing americans despite their skepticism about foreign intervention they should commit themselves a new to this foreign entanglement. significantly this language presented african-american activists and artists with new opportunities. the more lincoln and language of slavery was used in wartime propaganda the more it gave black americans a chance to remind their fellow americans that slavery was not just a metaphor for describing different types of oppression, the slavery factory, the slavery of coal miners but it was also a historic experience that continued to impact black life in the united states. black journalists saw in this new environment a chance to urge the roosevelt administration to deliver a consistent antislavery message which is a mess

people like matthew arnold, william dean howell, sherwood anderson, and gertrude stein, a 1920s writer loves what sherman did, and sinclair lewis and robert frost, and so, of course, the modern ones, but grant's position is known as one of the great writers in american history. remarkable. >> it is remarkable, and nobody would have believed that as a cadet at west point, because he was famous nor beifor being a g horseman. >> yes, and his wife had a dream one night, and she dreamed that he was president, and this is when he was losing his shirt in missouri, and she told people, and they said, he going to be -- no, it won't happen. he'll never be president. >> well, the beginning conversation sort of set this up perfectly, if you want to read the handwritten manuscript of grant's memoirs the library of congress has it, and we have put the grant papers online. so you can go and for yourself read all of what we have of grant's memoirs in his handwriting, and you can actually see the clear handwriting in the beginning, and see when he is having a bad day, because the handwriting will change drastically. >> and what is the website to get to th