i think it is safe to assume that sally hemmings is a sophisticated individual. sally told her children that jefferson was their father. the fact that all of the children of sally hemmings were freed when they became adults. the fact that they were friends of thomas jefferson, who in private letters referenced his relationship. it is not a slamdunk, it is not 100%, but the case is compelling that jefferson and sally hemmings had a relationship. what sealed the deal was the discovery of this photograph. [laughter] robert: thank you all very much. [applause] >> the lincoln forum had a panel to explore people and ideas who shaped abraham lincoln's political persona. this is about 1:20. good afternoon. it is my pleasure to welcome you ona panel discussion it is a pleasure rightcome from my left to the author of the political life of abraham lincoln. and, richard burr kaiser and the author of the recently published an expertof grant and in lincoln's writings. welcome to all of you. we will welcome audience participation from the usual microphone. i will give you a sign

i think it is safe to assume that sally hemmings is a sophisticated individual. sally told her children that jefferson was their father. the fact that all of the children of sally hemmings were freed when they became adults. the fact that they were friends of thomas jefferson, who in private letters referenced his relationship. it is not a slamdunk, it is not 100%, but the case is compelling that jefferson and sally hemmings had a relationship. what sealed the deal was the discovery of this photograph. [laughter] robert: thank you all very much. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> interested in american history tv? .isit our website you can see our upcoming schedule, or watch a recent program. c-span.org/history. "washington journal" life every day with issues that affect you. coming up monday morning, real contribute to forgive you -- will give a preview of the week ahead. then, a look at the federal rulemaking process. reporter york times" on what f

the third president, thomas jefferson at monticello -- making room at loss -- room at last for sally hemmings. in 1941, the caretaker of monticello turned that into a restroom. the floor tiles and bathroom stalls covered over the story of the enslaved woman who was owned by jefferson and had a long-term relationship with him. was a scandalent during his life. many historians now with the third president of united states was the father of her six children. thomas jefferson is in the rankings. good morning, welcome to the program. caller: my favorite president during my time is president barack obama. he stayed the course. he was involved in all the issues that we had a hand. and he was the commander in chief. for all the people. he kept grace. how to keep this world safe and secure and that is what he did. and with class and grace. he stayed focus on how to run this country. he did just that in the face of total opposition, where everyone tried to deny him. and to have to plow through that . the majority of the tea party are people that caused obamacare right now. so what we need to do is look

. >> about a year from now, visitors to monticello will see the bedroom of sally hemmings, thomas jefferson's slave. the story believes he fathered four of her children. it's now being restored and will include artifacts found on the property as well as furniture from the era. the lights are expected to be on again tonight at the washington monument. last night that was not the case. national park service electricians had to fix the lights that illuminate the monument. the red aviation lights were working normally. this is the third time there's been an issue with lights there. the monument is closed until 2019 for elevator repairs. >> e' morning for a missing d.c. teen. take a good look. police say the 16-year-old went missing from maryland avenue near tenth street northeast last thursday. she hasn't been seen since. if you see her or know where she is, please contact police. >> there's much more ahead on news 4 midday. >> including a look at your credit card and how you use it. what you may need to know if you've been using the same one for a while. >>> the national park service is celebrat

reports of political opponents that are spreading newspaper stories that he was sleeping with sally hemmings, one of his slaves. today, most historians believe she was the mother of six of his children and months before the constitutional convention and throughout his entire career, jefferson's actual view of newspapers, quite different. in fact, right before the constitutional convention when they were debating what role newspapers when the media should have, thomas jefferson wrote, were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, i should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. just a little context this morning. speaking of presidents. good morning. it's monday, february 20th. presidents' day. mika and willie have the morning off. my gosh. what a huge political weekend. in case of emergency, you break glass. well, we broke glass because of the political emergency happening this weekend and brought in our great political analyst, the coauthors of "game change" mark halpern and john heilemann. also with us we have v

. >> also he is eventually that blows the whistle on the sally hemmings thing with jefferson. it is watching two of the preeminent founders think about what has happened and what it don'tand the fact is they burglary. two men lived the same experience and don't agree about what it means. it is what i would call the american dialogue that i find and thenmpelling reinforces my notion that history is an argument and an argument -- you can see the american argument formulated with them. is why the, correspondence is seminal. >> what i like about it is you have these two elder statesmen late in life reminiscing. these two old bulls reminiscing about their hey day and taking different perspectives. jefferson to me has been remarkably enigmatic and plants evidence and tries to be above the fray, but he is duplicitous in the fray. these letters, i think jefferson is more direct. >> he is forced into it. if you want to depict it. jefferson liked to stand with his arms folded to sort of protective himself from intruders. adams pacing back and forth and periodically grabbing him by the l

somewhat in the aftermath of the civil rights revolution and revelations about his relationship with sally hemming. and in fact, during the lifetimes of jefferson and hamilton, both men were praised and condemned, just as they have been by subsequent generations. for example, governor morris said of hamilton, it seemed as if god had called him suddenly into existence that he might assist to save a world. and there were those who condemned hamilton, like abigail adams, who said not only that she thought hamilton wished to be americans' napoleon, but she said i have read his heart and his wicked eyes. the very devil is in them. her husband, john adams, said of hamilton, his talents are greatly exaggerated. he wishes to destroy everyone in his way. adams was just warming up with those comments. he went on to call hamilton the bastardd bastard brat of a scottish -- his ambition, his rest was nice and i was grandiose schemes, i'm convinced from a stupor about secretion, which she couldn't find enough to absorb. [laughter] and jefferson was praised by some. abigail had ensued had not to say of jefferson

because at least the red posts were honest about their oppression thomas jefferson, when you told sally hemming that you would free her children to your major mistress did you think there was honor in your ultimatum? did you think we wouldn't be able to recognize the assault and your signature that's raping your slave when you disguise it as bribery and make it less of a crime. when you wrote the declaration of independence did you ever intend for black people to have freedom over their bodies james madison? when you wrote to congress that black people should count as free fits of a person, how long did you have to look at your slaves to figure out the math, was it easy to chop them up? did you think they would be happy being more than just half human james monroe? when you proposed sending slaves back to africa to black the bodies feel like rented tools, when you branded them did the scar on their chest include an expiration date? when you named the country liberia were you trying to be ironic? does this really count as liberation andrew jackson? was a trail of tears not enough for you? was ki

. >> who also blows the whistle on the sally hemmings thing with jefferson. but it's watching two of the preeminent founders think about what has happened, and what it means, and the fact is they don't agree. two men have lived the same experience and they don't agree about what it means. and it's the beginning -- it is the -- what i would call the american dialogue that i find really compelling. that -- and that it reinforces my notion that history is an argument. it is and ian argument without ending. >> never ends. >> you can see it. you can see the american argument being formulated with them. >> right. >> that to me is why the correspondence is seminal. >> what i like about it is you have these two elder statesmen late in life recommend nising. these two old bulls reminiscing about their hey day and taking different perspectives. but jefferson to me has been remarkably enigmatic and plants evidence and tries to be above the fray yet he is duplicitous in the fray. yet -- >> he is forced into it. if you want to depict it. jefferson liked to stand with his