wanted to imagine i said, or what group they imagined me to be from. steve: thank you for your time. it was a great pleasure. kenneth: thank you very much. watching: you're american history tv, all weekend and every weekend on c-span3. to join the conversation, like us on facebook at c-span history. the purpose of this building was designed to show that illinois hadn't made. illinois was now a player in the world. and when they built this building, when they knew they were going to build a new capital, they wanted something that showed that illinois, man, we are it. that's what this building is, and that is what, to some extent, it represents. >> welcome to springfield, illinois, located in the center of the state.

it became the capital with the help of abraham lincoln. he moved to springfield and began a career that would launch him into the national spotlight. in the next two hours, we will learn about the city's history and the life and legacy of america's 16th president. we begin with a visit to the presidential library and museum. >> the city of springfield, so much of it is built around abraham lincoln. he gave the house divided speech here. his law office is here. he is buried on the outskirts of town. he is extremely important to the city of springfield. this building is open to the public. is a presidential library for the greatest president. the purpose of the library is very basic, to preserve and pass

on the legacy of abraham lincoln. he encapsulated what it means to be an american, what the whole idea of america is all about, freedom, equality, opportunity. he had great ambitions to do great things, and he certainly succeeded in that. abraham lincoln was born in 1809 in kentucky. he lived there just a few years. he moved when he was six or seven to indiana and spent his teens in indiana. he grew up on the frontier with a lot of work to do. he was a farmer in many ways. lived a very difficult life. when he was determined to move beyond. you see a very young lincoln learning as much as he could. he would find rare books and read them cover to cover. he knew he wanted to do something more with his life. from an early age, abraham lincoln said he knew that

slavery was wrong. we believe, it is somewhat speculation, that he would've seen slavery growing up in kentucky when he was very young. one of the reasons his family left kentucky, our understanding, was their dislike of slavery. but as a young man he traveled down the mississippi river twice to new orleans which at that time was the biggest slave trading market in america. saw a slavein he auction and was repelled by it. it as running completely counter to the founding ideas of america. he also saw from an economic point of view that it made no that people should not be able to reap the benefit of what they do for their work. his father showed him the injustice. if you are working and sweating for that product, you should benefit, you should profit.

and of course, in slavery, that is not the case at all. he had a fundamental philosophical and moral repulsion to slavery but realize this was -- realized this was fundamentally unfair in every way. he came to springfield, illinois, in 1837. he was already a state legislature, a lawyer, and making his way in the world. he was part of a legislative group that was instrumental in moving the capital to springfield. active inre and was the social scene. he could be a little awkward around women. todd. mary their courtship was interesting. he met her at the home of her sister who had moved up here and was living -- elizabeth was her name, and she had married the son of a former governor of illinois. as i recall the story, mary came him during a dance and

you i have been watching all night and i want to dance with you in the worst way. and then they succeeded in that because he was not a very good dancer. they got engaged. they got disengaged. they reconnected. they got married in 1842. mary todd lincoln is an amazing woman. with abrahamole lincoln being involved in the law and politics was very important. she came from a very connected family in kentucky, the todd family, a very aristocratic family. she had a very political background. .he would read the newspapers she was extraordinarily well educated. lincoln, she had a rough

version of what he could be and she saw a future leader. she prodded and pushed him. she supported him. they were a good political pair. there were issues later in her put them when you together, they were a good political pair. he was a lawyer, a state politician, but he aspired higher. he had ambition. a couple of times, he ran for u.s. senate, most notably in 1858. we know that because of the great debate with stephen douglas, his great political rival. there were debates that really encapsulated the ideas of the time like nothing else. stephen douglas wasn't illinois politician known as the little giant. he was a bigger name than lincoln. he was a democrat and he was for slavery. he was trying desperately to get the democratic presidential nomination. he always had his eye on that. he knew the senate was an

important steppingstone. these two rivals were again rivals for the presidency, this time abraham lincoln coming out on top because of the split of the democratic party. betweenre seven debates douglas and lincoln. it raised his name throughout the country. he was already involved in the republican. statesgoing to adjoining and sometimes further afield to speak, but he was an illinois politician. this helped raise him to the level of national prominence. hee any human being, when suffered a defeat, he would say i am done, no one is going to remember me at walt -- at all. the 1858 debate he said, well, maybe i was able to annunciate some things that may be remembered in the future, maybe not. he plots a path to the presidency.

it is still very unlikely he gets elected. what helped him is that the democratic party splits. abraham lincoln retained the republican party as a whole unit and won most of the north. that helped him become president. election and the war breaks out, douglas says i am with you. i stand for you. i put that in the credit box for stephen douglas. he stood up and said i will support you. sadly, right after that, he passed away. incoln left springfield 1861. back then, the inauguration was in march, rather than in january like today. he addressed the crowd from the back of the train at the depot and said some hartfield remarks that talked about the importance of springfield to him over time. it is where he had grown up, where he had practiced law, where he had raised his family

and built a home. you could sense in those words his concern about maybe never coming back. he knew he was going to an enormous challenge in washington. oftentimes, presidents will have a horn -- will have a honeymoon period when they take office. he had no such honeymoon. states were already starting to secede when he got there. he realizes any step could precipitate a war. how he traverses that very difficult terrain is immediately put on his desk when he gets to washington. and of course, eventually the south fires the first shot and the war begins. a war nobody wanted, but that came anyway at a horrible cost of this nation. but lincoln knew he had to follow in the footsteps of washington. sacred dutyhe had a

to preserve the union and carry on the ideas they had, to make right those ideas that were still very incomplete thanks to the horrible evil of slavery. abraham lincoln arrives in washington as the newly elected president, ready to take the oath. already, he is being attacked terribly by individuals and theications, what is called whispering gallery. we showed some of the representations and attacks on him. you would hear those. they are whispered as he walked through this part of the gallery as well. everything from his looks to his intelligence or lack thereof, and horrible, racist things said about him. as the war goes on, he was blamed for the thousands and thousands of deaths and casualties. it must have felt horrible to him to be attacked in such a

vicious manner from every possible avenue. and also from his own party. he almost was not renominated to run again for the presidency because he was under such attack. for the civil war, so much of what we talk about in the museum, in this part of the gallery, we have an amazing audiovisual presentation called the civil war in four minutes. every week of the war is shown in one second. thethe casualty count is in lower right of the screen. it's the way to show how the war progressed. toll oninly took a abraham lincoln. we all know the horrible aging he underwent just in those four years, five years. in 1860, he still looks like a young man. right before his death, one of the final photos of him in 1865, he looks like he is aged 20 or

more years because of the stress of the war. we are also fortunate to have a life mask of abraham lincoln. you see a relatively useful -- youthful face in 1860. not longaken before the assassination. a man grown prematurely old because of the stress and strain of the civil war. what caused the stress for him, he does go to the telegraph office all the time. he is very much connected to the front. he knows the mounting casualty numbers. he visits the sick, though wounded, the dying. -- the wounded, the dying. horrible,bout the

horrible toll of the war. ism every direction, he getting these stresses. he has to make constant decisions that he knows may preserve or destroy the union. these are extraordinarily earthshaking decisions that no man or woman could take easily and you see that as part of the stress as well. when the civil war began, he put so much effort into preserving , but the core issue was slavery. he knew he had to take measures against slavery. of course, that was a controversial thing to do. one of my favorite areas of the museum shows his initial reading of the emancipation proclamation in 1862. you see a variety of actions. some happy, some not happy at .ll

they feared the emancipation proclamation would drive border states to the confederacy. and that would be fatal to the union. but lincoln knew at that point that from a principal point of view it was important. he had the wartime authority as commander-in-chief to free slaves in rebel territory taken by the union armies, and he knew it was important to bring african-american men into the union fighting forces. they played an extraordinarily important role in the final victory of the union in the civil war. lincoln reads the emancipation proclamation to his cabinet. yours kearns goodwin wrote about the team -- doris kearns goodwin wrote about the team of rivals. some were completely against black equality. they realized the proclamation was a wartime measure. it was a real diversity of views and in the end, it was president

lincoln's decision to make. he said he had a conversation with god about this. religiosity with abraham lincoln overtime. in the early years he was seen as an atheist. you see him coming to terms with god overtime and certainly, by the emancipation proclamation and the second inaugural you see a very religious man. so, the civil war is over. lee has surrendered. the war is over. great jubilation. to richmond and walks the streets of the rebel capital. he comes back, says a few words to the white house in the next couple of days and decides to take mary to a play at ford's theater. they go there on april 14, and a little after 10 :00 p.m., john is in the area with

abraham and mary and shoots the president in the head. president lincoln dies on good friday, 1865. he is taken back to springfield to be buried, some 1700 miles on the rail. i think it was one of the most memorials elaborate in american history. you see people paying their respects to the train carrying the president. this represents lincoln lying in state at the state capital at the end of his long journey back from washington. ,t is very interesting to me the old state capitol is right down the road. you can go and visit this place. guests, even allowed school group or something, will quiet down immediately entering here to show respect to president

lincoln. tens of thousands of people came to pay respects when he was lying in state. he was buried the next day. him people wanted to bury in chicago. there was a great back-and-forth with mary. she determined where it was going to happen. she wanted it to be in oak ridge cemetery. he was buried there, as you may know, a few years later, there was a plot to steal his body. thankfully, that was foiled. hey built a new tomb where is safely buried with mary. when visitors come to the museum , it is a hope for everyone and you can learn many things from lincoln about the civil war. relevants still very to us today. the ideas he stood for are still ideas that we as a nation say we aspire to today and it can be a

great model for all of us, on how we attain these principles. >> abraham lincoln is buried in a tomb in springfield alongside his wife, mary lincoln, and three of their four sons. after his funeral and burial services, lincoln's coffin was placed in a temporary receiving vault while his tomb was constructed. builtnal burial site was in 1874. today, he lies in a vault 10 feet below the ground. the abrahamvisit lincoln library and museum. lincolnbraham presidential library and museum opened its doors in 2005, but our collection goes back much further. 1889, we establish the illinois state historical

library, and ever since that time, we have been collecting all the treasures that help illustrate illinois wonderful past. complete is not without a really close look at abraham lincoln's life. about 82,000 pieces that cover every aspect of abraham lincoln's life. the collection includes about 18 -- monographs about about abraham lincoln. he is the most written about president ever. a visitor to the museum will see about 100 original pieces from our collection on display. there is always a reason to come rotatingause we are those items out. we are putting new pieces on display all the time. if you come back one year later, you are going to see a whole new

100 pieces from abraham lincoln's life. show, i pulled a piece to you to help illustrate the life of abraham lincoln. first, the oldest piece of lincoln's abraham that survives. thatis a piece of paper abraham lincoln got his hands on in 1854. he got his hands on 11 pieces of paper like this, so them made a little notebook. and he used this to work his way through a textbook. throughsee he worked all sorts of mathematical problems. he was working through division, multiplication, a little boy trying desperately to acquire an .ducation

he only had a year of formal education, so a lot of his education is self-taught. he picks it up by working his way through textbooks. this is the first page of that notebook. i think it's quite remarkable. i will show you a couple of my favorite things. is the first abraham lincoln autograph that survives. as a youngs name teenage boy. biography for the his election and said father had never done more and though -- in the way of writing than to bungling lee sign his own name. his father had a rough signature . later in life, his father was just making his mark on documents. but abraham lincoln wanted to do more with his life. he did not want to be a

subsistence farmer. he wanted to have a life that might include being a lawyer, being a politician, et cetera. he learned at a young age how to also, good signature, and what is so special about this is this box. abraham lincoln might've gotten a little board working out some mathematical problems and he wrote a little poem. abraham lincoln is my name. with my pen, i wrote the same. i wrote it with haste and with speed and left it here for fools to read. this is a really interesting piece in our permanent .ollection it's not a fancy piece. it's an ink well from the middle of the 19th century. but this inkwell participated in an extraordinary moment in american history. it's when abraham lincoln

crafted his inaugural dress. he used this inkwell. into theis pen inkwell, searching for the words that would be stern as well as reassuring. usesthis inkwell that he that he has by his side when he seclude himself in springfield at a location where he is not going to be bothered by the onlookers, individuals looking for a public statement. mr. lincoln is going to try to craft those words looking -- using an inkwell for his inaugural address. at the time of the assassination when people were going through his office to collect the papers and the contents of his office, this quill pen was on abraham lincoln's desk. when he was a little boy in southern indiana, he would probably use a quill pen as he

was writing. but during his presidency, he wasn't using quill pens. to do using modern pens his elegant writing. pen atey find this quill pen.ime of the assassination why did abraham lincoln have a quill pen and a gold pen sitting next to each other on his desk? it's a matter of speculation, but consider this. maybe the quill pen represents e abram lincoln began in life, in a log cabin with a dirt floor with no formal education, and maybe the gold pen symbolizes what he had achieved, the president of the united states and at the time of his death, one of the most powerful men in the world. it's that evolution that abraham lincoln talked about when he

talked to soldiers at the end of the war and was pleading with them to continue on the fighting until the war was finally over. that's the lesson he would tell those soldiers. had achieved and it didn't matter where you started in life. that was the american dream. that's what was worth fighting for. that's also probably why he hated slavery so much. slavery is an artificial barrier. it only allowed a slave to rise so far and hindered their ultimate growth. to u.s.ert lee yields grant, it is the virtual and to the american civil war. there were other confederate armies still on the field, but robert heelys was the big one. that signals the end of the war big one. e lees was the

that signals the end of the war. abraham lincoln and his wife mary decided to celebrate by going to the theater. they went to see a play called our american cousin. they wanted to see a comedy. they wanted to laugh. they were in good spirits. at a quarter after 10:00 that evening, a well-known actor made his way into the presidential box and brutally murdered the president of the united states as he was holding hands with his wife. helps illustrate the .eal tragedy of that evening this was a fan -- the fan that mary lincoln brought with her to ford's theatre that night. when it was brand-new, it was probably quite striking, an fan, ande with a silk

it had ostrich plumes off the top. this was a brutal reminder to mary about the worst night of her life. as you can imagine, mary did not want to keep this fan in her possession after the tragedy at ford's theater. , and it becameit a collectors item two -- collectors item for individuals from the 19th century all the way until it found its place in our museum. mary todd lincoln had a fascinating life. she was america's most controversial first lady. tragic widowhood as well. the remaining years of her life were not happy, pleasant ones. she had lost a little boy before the presidency. she lost another little boy during the white house years. in widowhood, she lost a third herle boy, who was really

constant companion during widowhood. things went downhill for mary after that. in 1875, her last remaining son made an excruciating decision to have his mother involuntarily asylum.d to an she spent about four months in a private sanitarium in illinois. she never forgave her son robert for having done that. a tragic episode in the life of mary lincoln. relic from the assassination. these are the gloves that were in abraham lincoln's pocket on the night of the assassination. kept gloves as a custom of pockete to have in his

for when he was shaking people's hands. over time, they have probably shrunk a bit, but you can get a sense of abraham lincoln's hands. 6'4", still the tallest president in american history. he kept these gloves in his pocket. booth fired that shot at the back of mr. lincoln's head that horrible night at ford's , the doctors that entered the box could not immediately identify where the wound was. for ak several minutes doctor prodding around before he found an entry wound on the back of mr. lincoln's head. blood wasn't coming out of the wound. until the doctor placed his finger inside the wound and then blood began to flow freely. mr. lincoln was laid out on the ground in the presidential box, and as the blood began flowing down his hair, it went down the

length of his body, filled his pockets, and made its way onto his gloves and you can see the remnants of the blood on these gloves today. this artifact, it is really a reminder of the brutal and that mr. lincoln met. -- museumrtant for me visitors to see original pieces on display whether a everyday keys that might have been -- everyday piece that might have been in his home as he got ready for the day. those pieces are incredibly important as people walk through there is them because power -- through our museum because there is power and magic. there's something to be said of standing in front of the actual object. you can read it and see it in a different format but when you are standing in front of it,

there is power in that piece. i think the greatest power is they remind us, figures like abraham lincoln, abraham lincoln himself, he is a human being. you you stand in front, understand that abraham lincoln was a human being. >> illinois us current government building is the sixth in the state and construction began in 1868 and was not completed until 20 years later. the eleanor capital is the tallest in the u.s. up next, we speak with the two political journalists about political corruption in illinois. >> thank you both for joining me today and we're here to talk about illinois politics. i will start with you.

how would you describe illinois politics? lived my whole life, my whole life span, there is an element of corruption starting in the 1940's when we had a republican governor and he had a very powerful machine. at that time, gaveling was legal. -- gambling was legal. he what not allow that anti-gambling laws to be enforced because gambling interest flooded help with the donations and so forth. in the 1940'sed -- shared the pulitzer illinoist more than 50 newspaper editors, publishers and other employees were on the state payroll one governor

greenlee was governor. in terms of ethics and journalism, that is a big no-no. bernie1960's and i know over the next 11 governors and that's not including our newly and not a rated government -- inaugurated governor, five were indicted and one was acquitted of the charges and 4 were convicted of. i have lived with this whole atmosphere as a reporter and other profession throughout my adult life in illinois. it is great for reporting and the media and so on, but i am not sure it is great for the state. first, stratton was the in the 1950's, the governor for most of the 50's. when he left in 1964, he was indicted on income tax evasion

and as it related to political contributions that he received and held. there was a long, expensive trial in federal court in chicago and he was acquitted by a jury. that was one of the five indicted. he was found not guilty. we get to the 1960's and level popular democratic governor for most of the 1960's. everybody was shocked in 1971 democrat turner was indicted by federal authorities in a chicago. this was three years after he left the governorship and was a sitting federal appellate judge in chicago. he was indicted on tax evasion and conspiracy and mail fraud related to the fact at his second term of governor he accepted under the table stock in one of the racing organizations that govern one of the racing tracks.

he got of stock and was allowed to resell it in this was done covertly. it was repurchased at a high price and he made a lot of money. the tax evasion charges from that and conspiracy charges. he was tried in 1973 in federal .ourt and was found guilty in 1974, he was sentenced to prison. he was sent to the federal present in lexington, kentucky, which was a country club. of 1974d from july until may of that 75 when he was released because he has serious lung cancer and he died a year later in 1976. >> he gets indicted. what is the reaction of the public? was astounding.

he was so highly regarded. he served two terms. he was reelected. he was very popular throughout the state and he was from chicago and people down state really loved him. it went across party lines. because of all of this, that is why it was such a shock when he was indicted in 1971. >> the newspaper i worked for had an annual for citizen, toppling families when will part was one of those. part of the reason was there was a big landmark in downtown springfield at the oath capital, the building in which barack obama announced his campaign for the presidency and came back to announce joe biden would be his running mate. formerilding was built state capital and became the county courthouse. when turner was governor, he

went along with idea to dismantle the entire building and take the beautiful stone bricks, blocks to the state for ground correctly numbered. they build a parking garage and rebuild the building and it's a landmark. turner was the one that got it done. he had his mark in a physical way. he engendered respect wherever he went. it was an incredible shocked everybody when he was indicted in 1971. >> his children think he was targeted. -- turner dayer at the abraham lincoln presidential museum library in springfield. that is right. nixonwas tape of richard talking to his attorney general saying we have to get this guy, he is a democrat in illinois. -- youldren thinking

know much more about this. at least, we shall let it be was happy his family that it came out that president next seemed to have a vendetta like jim thompson said. jim thompson who became governor for 14 years got there by prosecuting turner. is wh made him famous. he turned up to be a great politician who can put some cowboy boots and go to the state fair. indicted,t one ironically, was not endorsed by the democratic machine, a rebel democrat named walker. in 1972.s elected walker was not a campaigner. >> he was known as bandanna dan. he was from montgomery ward.

he put on a red bandanna and went to the southern tip of the state. he walked the length of the state in a zigzag getting press coverage everywhere he went. it was this amazing outpouring of media coverage saying i am going to take on springfield and he got known for that. >> he was running as a rebel against the ruling democratic chicago. in all sorts of regular democrats in the county of communities would refuse to talk to him or -- would not take pictures with him. he put almost the whole time talking to people who had not been involved in the political process. he brought in a lot of young people who had no interest, i assume, for politics. he slept in different homes every night.

and the biggest political story i ever covered in illinois was 1972 democratic primary when walker upset paul simon. everybody thought paul simon seat, it was part of credible. his governorship was a mixed bag. involved in conversations with republicans and a lot of democrats. -- with a very powerful, the first mayor richard daley in chicago. in retrospect, walker wished he had made up with richard daley because he makes have gone further. 1983, seven years after he his the governorship, he downfall began when he and his wife purchased a small savings

illinois called first american savings and loan association. they quickly opened a branch in a suburb. and they made that the headquarters. 1986, federal authorities took over the savings and loan saying it was not a solvent. the following year, walker was indicted on perjury and other charges relating to the operation of the savings and loan. it was determined -- it was true, he had profited personally connected to the savings and loan and he pled guilty to three sentencedrges and was 1987 to seven years in

prison, federal prison by federal district court judge in chicago. he only served a year and a half because he was released for health and other reasons. it was tough duty. he was one of the governor's i am his biographer. it was very difficult. he was in a real penitentiary. the fan -- federal peten it should -- the federal penitentiary. >> what was reaction of the public to have another governor? sympathyot a lack of for him. it was interesting. it was like here we go again. governor, there was really no single to talk about in the four years walker was governor. chris absolutely, a lot of bickering. you know, i can tell you, walker lived very sparsely as governor. he did not use the fancy limousine.

he felt he had it to protect. interestingly, when he lost and cannot get a party's nomination, it was then he decided i have been deprived of the perks i could of exercise so i am going to enjoy myself now. has going to really -- he several business ventures that make some money before he got the savings and loans. yachtsd money to buy 2 and he had a glamorous wife -- lived the glamorous life. >> we talked about the political machine that walker had gone against. can we talk about what is this political machine and where are they based out of? daley, he wasrd j mayor for 21 years, if there is a book by a famed chicago columnist, now departed, called

"lost," it has been used in some schools on how to build the political machine. the democratic party that richard daley became the mayor and two controlled the people running the board in city hall and controlling the legislature and a some governors and tyler knows more about that. ,t was building block by block the block captain who had to get out the vote. if you got out the vote, your snow got plowed. if you do not, you got fired. there's a lawyer named shackman who took on the daley machine saying people should not hired or fired for political purposes. in the early days of the machine starting in the late 1950's or 1960's, you performed for the party or you do not get jobs. the newspapers and chicago's .ave done a good job

you go before the party organization to be slated as a judge. theyeople talk about how walk precincts to become a judge and they become slated. if the party is for you, there are so many georges -- judges on the ballot in cook county. nobody knows who the people are, if you're on the ballot, you win. >> how did it make its way to springfield? chicago and you are a state legislator, nobody knows who you are. if you are an alderman, you have real power. there are 50 of them. still to this day. just by being able to pick so many people because the population of chicago is so large compared to the rest of the state. others whoies about , it is notted

limited to chicago. we will talk about republican governor. there was a political machine of the republican brand where if you worked for the state mental health facility that was there, you should probably buyer can like from the locals state senators dealership. these are stories, i do not know exactly if they are chewing. -- if they are chewing. chicago has such a population center. -- i do not know exactly if they are true. they elected a lot of legislators. they would wait for mayor daley's people to tell them how to vote. >> you mentioned george ryan. can we talk about him? what was his background and how did he end up beating the democrat?

>> he was not even out of office for a year when in 2003, he was indicted. >> when was elected? >> in 1998. speaker of the house before that. he was a powerful legislator. the of his years in of house, he was in the speaker of the house. officiald been elected back in another county. i think he ran the county board. i know he ran the county politically. he was called a master of old-line politics. operateways, he did not politically differently from his predecessors. things caught up with him and within a year after he had left the governorship, he was a one term governor, he was indicted on a whole variety of charges related to so-called corrupt activities, years of public

service. and after a length feature while, i think it was a seven-month trial, he was convicted on 18 counts of corrupt activity. he was sentenced to prison, he was sentenced to a prison term of 6.5 years. his defenders always said when he was indicted, he was not doing nothing that a lot of his predecessor, both democrats and republicans, hadn't done in office, not only governorship but at all levels. truth to it.ittle apparently, the power said that the decided to make a stand on this stuff. he was indicted. a lot of the -- them out of the charges involved during -- and love the charges involved when he was secretary -- and a lot of the charges were involved when he was secretary of a. -- what was secretary of

state. -- >> he had progressive fundraising raising. it was not directly related and ran by him. people would pay to shake his hands. the problem was and there was a guy with the chief of staff went to prison for 6.5 years, they were -- and they were putting pressure on their people and drivers license facilities to raise money. you could raise up in the eyes of the boss if you raise the money. it ended up that there were things going on where particularly trucking companies were paying bribes to get drivers, truck driving licenses. this came to a head and started to develop because there was a horrible accident in 1994. preacher, he and

his wife had six of their nine children in their van. age for a driver had gotten his license and could not speak english and got his license through bribery that somebody paid for him. aps of metal fell off his truck in the van ran over the metal and is started on fire and six children died. it was people in some of the werees where these bribes taking places that started -- some people kept the notes and went to investigators. ultimately, this led to a lot of investigation into what to george ryan and his people were doing. while there was no murder charge, this horrible situation led to an investigation and there were many people who were .ndicted and convicted that is the corruption part in people look at the legislature

and oath about who could get things done and the chicago cubs almost moved and george ryan helped move through a plan to modern space inside of the old -- is the bear stayed and it was $500 million more and they got it done. stayed and itrs was $500 million more and they got it done. we cannot leave without talking about the last governor to go to prison. >> he is a boyish looking individual. my encounters with him, i thought he was 25 years old. in 2008, he was arrested by the fbi and charged with basically trying to implement

paid employee systems to get an appointment or whatever you have to pay. and then early 2009, he was impeached and he was convicted and the general assembly process. he was removed from office. he was out. later that year, he was indicted mainly once -- feds charges of trying to pursue this paid employee scheme. item waslly, the big of the one that caught everybody's attention, he had sought to profit from the sale of barack obama's senate seat. barack obama was the u.s. toator when he was elected the presidency, of course. that left of the vacancy. the governor appoints the person

thatel that seat -- fill seat and will gorge of it was overheard charges -- blogajevich was overheard trying to get the money. >> i don't know if it was give me $1 million or maybe i can get a job or running your association. it was clear. >> that is what got him in hot water. in 2010 andto trial there was a mistrial and there was a retrial and he was found guilty. selling barack obama seat. to 1411, he was sentenced years in prison. in 2012, he started serving the facility on of the

the edge of denver. >> the lawyer in chicago was assistant state's attorney, i am not sure the sequence, but he met the daughter of a powerful chicago alderman. and he married her. and kind of moved up the political chain and was interested in running for things. and ended up going to congress and he was in the house and he was the kind of guy who would play around. i remember throwing spitballs. -- and thenof a when a seat came open in chicago, he got to congress. i remember being at the democratic national convention in california and he shows up. he said i am going to be governor.

and he was a great campaigner. law tendr his father to talk to the democratic chairman at the meeting in springfield when rob blagojevich was in congress and running for nomination for governor. he said at this guy is the best campaigner you will ever see. the bowling alley, he will not leave until he shakes every hand. he also said he is a jacksonian democrats for not andrew jackson, not jesse jackson, to the victor goes to the spoils. that's what they were telling me we will --ct rod and was telling me. -- you elect rod and you will get jobs. the down stators went for him. he one of the primary. i remember seeing him at the state fair in an open area and it was on a weekend and there were a few hundred people. when he finished talking about

father who came from europe and worked in chicago and his mother who took nickels and dimes at the public transit so they could get their kids through college, when he finished this talk, there was a line about a block long mostly women, waiting to meet him. he had charisma. then he got to be governor. it it turned out he did not want to do much for it he stayed in chicago most of the time. there was an eight amid a report ended up on one of the tv stations that he was in his bathrobe coming out of his house at 10:00 in the morning he cousin was not going to office. the state still had airplanes, a fleet that politicians could use the engine under the previous governor. i remember there was a three day veto session and the fall where planjevich, the state would have to pick him up in the

morning and taken to springfield and 4:00 in the afternoon, he went home to tuck in his kids. he did not want to do the work. there are people, people who i think thousands piled up. by the time he got into other trouble which part of it came, he ended up having a fight with his father law. he blew the whistle on somebody ump for some kind of d materials and he got the epa involved and shut it down. the papers,d one of what is rod doing? people if they pay $25,000 to his campaign, he will hire them and that started the investigation. the fbi started bugging his phones for several weeks. and the news started to break

about the tapes. the tapes killed him. selfunded his soul indulged. he did not was in the job. he wanted to earn money. he called the barack obama seat. there is a bad word that starts that is golden and i will not give it away for nothing. as his lawyers would argue, he never got a dime, never got the job. people probably donated to his campaign but not personal money. he got 14 years because of the judge who was a former director of state police and the department of revenue years ago, let's of the hammer down on him. in addition after he was indicted, arrested and indicted, he went on a national tour on david letterman. david letterman is like what are you doing here? he said i am in a set man put on by the powers of that be.

andle always log roll traded couple by different positions. he ended up being a contestant on the "celebrity apprentice," and that's what we found that he cannot type. he had a computer for one of his projects and cannot really type. it was funny. he was shameless and going around saying it was not my fault. the judge did not like it. has gone on fox news a couple times to tell about how terrible it is that railroaded myors husband for doing political work and trying to be good. hoping that donald trump may commute his sentence or pardon him. it hasn't happened yet. and we talk a lot about the culture of corruption, there is a lots of extremely decent,

honest people in public office in illinois. pointed out.e a lot of them are well intentioned. there are good people and they do not get the intention -- attention that the people have been indicted. right now, the future is in the hands of jb. he is at the helm and i am optimistic that he is going to do a good job. i hope he does and i am optimistic that he will. man and this a big .eal in politics at any level i do not think he fits any particular mold and that is good. i think we will see some new innovation. it may surprise bernie and i. things cannot get much worse, tiffany, ok? >> thank you for joining us and

talking about illinois. >> that is what we do. >> thank you. thank you, tiffany. >> here at darcy in >> here at darcy hines, in springfield, this is the famous horseshoe. smother the whole thing in french fries and homemade chee

they wanted shock and awe. they wanted some thing to show we are illinois and we are it. this is the sixth capital building here in this building. was settled from the south to the north. the population was eventually going north. van built a new capital in

dhalia which was farther north. after 20 years, they're going to pick a new capital. springfield was led by a young legislator named a rambling can. they did everything they could to get the capital to come to springfield. some say that the things they did were underhanded. we were going through a capital internal improvement project, spending millions of dollars to build canals, roads, and bridges. officially,1840, springfield became the capital. the old capital was great but springfield was still a small town.

and was a nice building. they ran out of space but it was still the capital for almost 40 years. the location where the capital is was going to be the location where lincoln was buried. mary todd didn't want him buried in downtown springfield which would become a loud tourist attraction, which is what the springfield folks watnted. she nixed that and they didn't do it. that left this lot empty. this is why the capital was built in this exact location. the building opened in 1876. at that time, construction stopped. we were $575,000 short of completing it. the voters of illinois would not give us more money to complete the building.

you might find this hard to believe but we have a reputation in illinois for corruption. at the same time the capital is being built, we got a new constitution. constitution -- the voters and legislators were so concerned that there would the cost overruns and problems raising the fees and the architects would come back for more and more money with no justification on how it was spent. constitutionhe new that you can only spend $3.5 million on this building. anybody can change an appropriations bill, but to change the constitution takes 60% of the vote in the legislator and takes the voters of illinois to approve it. twice the legislator voted for an additional $571,000 to finish the building and twice the

voters said no. a third time they said yes and the legislature was able to appropriate the money. the building was officially declared finished in 1888. 10 years total but a 20 year gap in the middle. >> i like this a lot. it is a great way to talk about how to build this building. when they built this building they didn't do the steel structure support. the only steel and the building is the rotunda itself. see 9000 pains -- panes of stained glass. no steal and no metal in this

building. stone on stone. they had to use certain building techniques. the marble pillars up there are not marbel. marble is a heavy stone. it is break painted to look like marble. at the base, is the bronzed leaf. it looks like bronze, but that is plaster painted. that is eight differentsc -- eight different scenes in illinois history. we had a 10-year gap between when they were building and had enough money to complete the building. diede meantime, the artist at the time they got around to installing this. at first the didn't even know they were here. once they found them, it was obvious where they went, but

they are not sure about the order. over here is one of the finest pieces of art in the building. the last panel, the lincoln douglas debate. here.rst panel is over westerners are there meeting with native americans and trading with them. you will see a native american missionary with a young baby. is all fine and good, but because the artist had died in the panels were not labeled, we are not sure about the rest of the panels and what order they are supposed to be in. next to lincoln here is a man standing with his arm up. in the past some people have said that is patrick henry come a but that doesn't make sense because these are illinois seeds. i think that is the cascade convention.

if you go over here you will have peter cartwright, he has his hand up and is doing a revival meeting. now you are out of order. and 1858.18 over here you have the black hawk and the black hawk war, but again out of order. that should have been elsewhere, earlier in the proceedings. they are beautiful panels, but it is not 100% accurate. this is room to 12. probably the prettiest room in the building. as the supreme court from 1877 until the supreme court got its own building across the street. it is the best example to my called --process

it was done by an architect who took papier-mache and plaster, mixed them together in a mold and he would put the mold on the ceiling which is much lighter than the wood finish to make that beautiful decorative design. he put the papier-mache and plaster in the mold and would glue it to the ceiling. it was very popular in europe when this building was being built, but i don't know that it ever quite made the transition to the states. this is one of the finest examples, and it is really unique to the building itself. the roof was modeled after the path -- after the palace in venice. if you look at the portrait that is a life-size portrait of lady justice. she has her foot on the money because justice can't be bought, and one of my favorite little things about this building is the back of this portrait, lady

justice -- you can see the illinois state capital in the background. i think that displays a little of the humor that people had in the 1880's. it is so interesting that the state capital is in this classical portrait. are 118 members in the house, 59 members in the illinois senate. house in this chamber, it has been restored to how it looked in a committee seven so it is an absolutely beautiful room. it is that youut can tell which side the democrats are on and which side the republicans are on. it is overlooked by the great democrat in illinois, and the beautiful or treat that originally hung in the old state capitol. on the republican side you have the portrait of abraham lincoln. the rivalry between lincoln and

douglas began from the beginning. always around and always the leader. theoln became leader of whigs party so they were always rivals. it was a small community at the .ime they went to the same functions, to the same parties and got along on a personal level. there are both rivals for mary todd lincoln. lincoln obviously won. douglas always seemed like he was eclipsing lincoln. his career went so fast. he was secretary of state, and on the illinois supreme court, he became it powerful and well-known u.s. senator while lincoln spent four terms in the legislature and then his

political career was over and it seemed like a glass's star was rising and lincoln was falling. as slavery heated up, lincoln got back into politics. major douglas had some disagreements and in 1858 they ran for senate against each other. douglas won but rather than lincoln getting discouraged, douglas mayday national name for himself. douglas agreed to debates and that put lincoln on the map. two years later he ran for president and defeated douglas and two other candidates. douglas died in 1861, before the -- of the civil war construction didn't start, but they were the two major leaders in illinois. you can see the rivalry over and over. if you go to the front of the

building you will see the statue of lincoln and the statue of douglas. a lot of people will tell you that douglas is behind the lincoln and douglas is permanently in the shadow of lincoln. the way i prefer to tell the story is douglas has lincoln's back. when lincoln was inaugurated, he had a stovepipe hat, he wanted to take a hat off but didn't know what to do with it. douglas said i will hold your hat, mr. president, a sign of unity between the parties and certainly in the north and a sign of lincoln, douglas and the relationship that they had. there are nine members of the illinois senate. each senate district is deserted -- is divided into two. just like in the house, you have -- douglas and

lincoln both served in the house. chamber, just like the illinois house was restored in 2006, 2007. from 1997 to 2005, 1 of the state senators was barack obama who became a state senator. his desk is not here. these desks came with the restoration. he would have sat in the back row. his last spot was here and before that he sat here. this is where senator obama would have sat. in 2008, u.s. senator barack obama is elected president. he announced his candidacy at the old state capitol in springfield in 2007.

to2008 he returned springfield where he announced joe biden as his running mate. he came back to springfield in 2009, the bicentennial of the birth of avraham lincoln. his first visit outside the white house after being 2010.rated was the last year of his administration, he came to springfield on a farewell tour. he reminisced about his time here. the legislators would served with him. what of the more interesting things about this building is you can run into everybody from the senate president to janitors and tour guides. fromrved in this building -- everybody has a story.

some of the stories are that he used to take cigarettes from me and we would smoke outside the building. when he came back he reminisced about that with a legislatures -- legislators. he delivered a joint session in chamber, and it was very good for springfield and the state capital, his acknowledgment that this is where his career began. he enjoyed himself coming back to the old haunt. >> this is the people's building. when you look at these statues and you hear some of the people, these are the people who made just illinois but the country. they are not all good. the good, the bad, the ugly. you can see it all. we are in the middle of the state, in one of the most

beautiful buildings in the country in the greatest state in the country, and you can see it all walking here. that is my favorite part of the illinois state capital. 1908, 5000 white citizens stormed into springfield, burning businesses and lynching black residents. up next we drive around with harris.n think ofually when we a riot, we think of black people rioting, but these are black people -- white people rioting against black people. the mentality of the time was that black folks are getting too businesses, have they took care of themselves, they had property and they owned homes -- you are not supposed to

do that because you are just, pardon me, the n-word. you in your to put place. the presidential library museum is where the county jail was. this is where the two men who were jailed were kept and that is where the rioters came. because it was the sheriff's intent to take them out of town because he feared for their safety. one of them had been accused of killing a white man and the other accused of raping a white woman. >> who was the sheriff? >> his name was charles warner. best if theould be

jamesers, richardson and were not in the jail, because he feared a riot. he is come here from ohio. in one ofbeen a riot the towns where he had lived in ohio. on,use of what was going and all of the hatred for so many, -- he was going to take which isloomington about 70 miles away for their safety. except that the citizens who are now incensed because of the rape of the white woman and the murder of the white man by these he thought that would be the best thing to do.

it, andzens got wind of mr. roper was one of the richest people in springfield. he owned a restaurant and he owned a car and 1908. he said this will never happen. trashed his they car and destroyed his restaurant . can it was the sheriff able to get them out of town? >> he must have been but it doesn't say how. large of a crowd? >> about 5000 people. i thought that was incredible. victim of the riot was a person who worked there. a dishwasher. he was white and he is not

mentioned very much, but he was the first victim of the riot because he tried to remain safe. when they trashed the restaurant he got caught up in the wrong place. the majority of the business for the city were in this area. eastn the fringe to the was where the black community started. eleventh street is kind of a divider because there are railroad tracks at kent street. white folkswere the and on the other side were the black folks.

how large was the black population? >> about 2500 folks. we were troubled the population at the time. madison is where scott burton, the barber was lynched. why did they go after the barber? >> barbering was one of the few jobs that a black man could have and be self-employed. i always thought it was interesting that he cut the hair and shaved black people as well as white people. this man has a straight razor and he is cutting white folk's hair. he could have slipped a lot of throats and didn't. but i always thought that was oxymoronic. barbershop at his home, he

lived up over the barbershop. the house is gone. it was the home of mr. donegan. mr. donegan was 84 years old. married to a woman who happened to be white. they had been married for 20 years if not longer. they lived in this area. came this far which was far removed from the other activity him a but they knew that he lived there and they knew that he was married to a white woman, and they thought that they would kill him. he had done nothing. he was a cobbler.

it is reported that he made boots for mr. lincoln at one time. >> they come to his house and what happens? >> they lynch him. armory and the grounds of the state capital served as a refuge for the black people who were scared to death. the arsenal was a safe haven for black people. street, that is where the militia was stationed.

>> after they had lynched mr. donegan come a where did they go from there? >> that was the end of it. that was the end of two days of riots. how mucht was finished damage was done and how many people were killed? homes that were destroyed. three people were killed. what happened to the prisoners? >> joe james was convicted of the murder of ballard. he was hanged in october.

george richardson, whom mabel in accused of rape -- september along there in the august.this was in in september, she recanted her story, she had not been raped at all. she had been having an affair with a white man, and her husband found out about it. rape is whatf started the whole riot. the best thing that happened from the race riot was the formation of the naacp. that occurred because at the time of the riot, there was a -- folks called him a

socialist or a communist, who happened to be in chicago, he heard about the uprising, the activity in springfield. he wrote an article for the independent. his name was william english wally. it, his final question was who can step forward to write the wrongs that happened to the black residents of springfield? the culmination of that was the p/e.ing of the and aa what was done after that?

>> nothing was done. shame, a race riot in the home of springfield, illinois. we don't want anyone to know about that. i'm sure that is white. spot on frank's -- on springfield's history. who would have thought there would be a race riot in the home of mr. lincoln. especially in the north. riotsually associate race in the south. this was in the north. ourays that we should learn it -- -- weepeat should learn our history or be condemned to repeat it. get to theould never

stage in springfield where something like that would happen again. >> abraham lincoln gave his farewell address to supporters in springfield at the train depot before departing for washington, d.c.. the speech he said i have lived a quarter of a century and have passed from a young to old man. here, my children have been born and one is buried. i now leave not knowing when or if ever i may return. next we visit springfield's old state capitol where lincoln delivered his house divided speech. >> we are in the old state capitol. in springfield, there are two capitals. the significance of this building is it was the capital of illinois. some of the well-known events in this building were abraham lincoln's house divided speech.

after lincoln's assassination, lincoln's body lies here at state where 7000 people came through this building to pay their respects to the president. as springfield becomes the state capital, the population of illinois is moving northward. when springfield is established, larger than a is small outpost on lake michigan called chicago. becomes the capital city. as the population expands northward the idea of slavery begins to change. lincoln comes to this building in 1840 as a representative. as aln served four terms state representative but serves his last and final term in this building.

historic level we have the state library. this is where abraham lincoln his career.one it was in this state library where he was always surrounded by knowledge and information and people. lincoln's friends say he is a competitive chess player in the state library. it is here where abraham lincoln debates the house divided speech. about lincoln,y he says they sat along the table in the library and debate that. says he was the only one who supported abraham lincoln's ideas and his friends said that if you say these radical things chances are you will not win the election. he is right. he goes on to lose that it election. but the ideas about what does freedom mean and how do we

interpret that today started for abraham lincoln even here in this holding, in this room around this very table. behind me is representative hall. assignedthere are not seats as there are in today's state capital, but the democrats sat on the left-hand side and , later to become the republican party, sat on the right. a creature of habit sat the second row back, the second seat in. abraham lincoln consent in this place to be around people who were like-minded of him. as people set closer to the middle, this became the moderates and the more radical sat on the far left or right because they could not get along with the other political party. it was the people closer to the middle who had like-minded ideas. lincoln gives his house divided

speech here. as the newspaper says he took the stage by glow of gaslamp to a packed house in the middle of june, 1858. the house divided speech is what lincoln was giving in response to being nominated as the next u.s. senator from illinois. stephen douglas was also nominated for that u.s. senate seat. these gentlemen would give speeches to kickstart their campaign for the u.s. senate seat. at that time, the u.s. senate seat was elected by the legislators. these gentlemen had nine different debates throughout illinois and those debates would spark interest in men contacting their representatives so that they would vote for lincoln or douglas. stephen douglas believed in popular sovereignty and that the states should have the right to

choose whether they had slaves or not, but lincoln outlined an idea that the united states should mandate that every single person in the united states is free. not states choosing whether to do that or not. abraham lincoln represents -- references a book of the bible and a passage that says a house divided against itself cannot stand. this lincoln, he says, cannot endure being half slave and half free. he goes on to say it will become all one thing. abraham lincoln been outlines the ideas that this nation should be a completely free nation and the notice states government should deem that everyone in the united states is free, not to be subject to the tyranny of slavery. erupted with large applause afterward because of

the fact that abraham lincoln was surrounded by all of those people of the same political party. were radical, but he could feel confident that he could go on to beat stephen douglas. he debates him nine different times around illinois. stephen -- douglas would go on to win the election. after lincoln loses the senate seat, lincoln does not hold a little office until that of the presidency, when he runs for the president in 1860, even utilizing this building for his to abrahammen camers. lincoln's house one evening and ask would you consider running for president? abraham lincoln said i will have to think about that. later, he gives his response that he would run for president of the united states. governor'sas the reception room.

this is where the governor would greet a guest. earing the 1860 campaign for president, abraham lincoln utilizes this as his campaign headquarters. regionally have a newspaper for an artist who illustrated this room when lincoln had his reception here. up as it would have been. one of the most unusual things is the large chain that hangs in the corner. we don't really know a lot about that wouldn't chain, but it shows up in the original newspaper illustration. we know that it was given to abraham lincoln by one of the well-wishers in 1860 who came from wisconsin. that gentleman says that he

carved it out of a single piece of wood. some lincoln scholars have put on their thinking caps and have thought about the significance behind that chain. abraham lincoln will go off to become president in 1861 breaking the chains of slavery. maybe there is some significance there. warasn't until the civil when we started referring to the united states as a single noun. civil waror to that that we referred to it as these united states, to emphasize the states. but after that it is the united states. wood carved into many different links may have more significance than that man from wisconsin might have wanted to lead on. abraham is elected in the

election of 1860. in 1860 one, abraham lincoln is making the journey to washington, giving the farewell address from the train depot. always retain -- planning to return to springfield but he never does. only his body comes back here after the assassination. it lies in state here. all of the furniture was completely killed out -- peeled out, including -- people came through this room. about 75,000 mourners to pay their respects to the fallen president. the town of springfield had about 15,000 at the time. by 1876, this building is no longer the state capital. it was just after the civil war. the legislature outgrows this building and start looking for other locations.

on8, they start construction the new and current capital. the most important thing about preserving old buildings may not be for the architectural value. it does have architectural value that is important, but it is because of the people that work here that this building is important. when people come to springfield, they can get a sense of what it was like for the people but for the people themselves who make a difference in our state and our nation's history. >> this weekend, american history tv is joining our partners toe showcase the history of springfield illinois. ,o learn more about the cities visit c-span.org/cities tour. we continue now with a look at the history of springfield. >> there was a lot of misunderstanding about mary.

mary made her own rules. she was the first hillary clinton. , she took theken bull by the foreign. she loved it. politics was her life. >> while in springfield, we took a driving tour of this city with pam brown. >> thank you for joining us today. >> inc. you for having me with you. >> what is in the box? >> i brought something so that you would be appropriately dressed. this is my favorite bonnet. bonnet butchristmas it is a joyful bonnet. >> you use this kind of outfit a lot. what does this date back to? >> this would be 1865. >> how long have you been lincoln?g mary

>> i started in 2006 so this is year 13. >> what are going to be seeing through mary todd lincoln? >> let's stop at the new law office. we will drive through the old state capitol. tour the end of this road is a parking lot. we can pull in here and talk about that house that would have been standing there. mary was not from springfield. where was she from and how did she moved here? >> she moved here from lexington, kentucky. edwards.r had married springfield. his father built him a wonderful house. they had this extra bedroom so she brought one sister at a time to lexington. this is when the state government just moved to

springfield. there were a lot of single legislators running around. she met mr. lincoln when she visits and 1837. in 1839 she finds that he is still single. he went over and said i want to dance with you in the worst way and later that evening, she told her cousin that he did dance with her in the worst way. they laughed about that forever. >> we are outside the law office. what significance does that have? >> this is where mr. lincoln would have practiced law with his partner. mary did not care for his partner. he was known to be a drinker. lincoln and mary were teetotalers. mary met him when she first moved to springfield.

they were dancing and he made the mistake of saying she glided around the dance floor like a serpent. mary was a biblical person so the phrase serpent had a whole different connotation for her and she was very put off by that. she never had any interest in him after that moment, but lincoln came to admire her and he was a wonderful researcher. lincoln loved his partner because he was so thorough in his research. liking him didt -- did that cause antifriction? >> it didn't cause friction between lincoln and his partner but it did between mary and lincoln. his partner was jealous of lincoln-esque about relationship with mary and mary was jealous of him because

lincoln spent so much time with him. lincoln was gone early morning to late evening to do law. >> we are coming on the old state capitol to the left. >> in this place, mr. lincoln practiced law. aty came into this building two important times. houses when he gave the divided speech, but the most important was when she watched him give up votes to mr. turned for the legislature to go to the u.s. congress. he turned over some votes that were given to mr. lincoln and mary was very disheartened that he would give up a legislative post to another man as opposed to asking him to turn over his coach to him. mary was very hard on mr. lincoln about that.

this would have been where elijah and francis simeon's house would have been on jefferson street. >> simeon was the editor of the newspaper. eliza was his wife. mary firstncoln and engagement broke up -- >> their first engagement broke up? >> there is a lot of controversy about that breakup. if they broke up because he got just feel or did he like he was inadequate for mary? a lot of it was the pressure from her sisters. he wasn'ts felt like good enough for mary. afterw that they broke up

new year's eve. both of them were miserable. eliza and simeon, each of them invited the other to dinner one night, not knowing the other one would be there. talked like they had never been apart. after that initial meeting they started coming secretly and , inting here at their home secret because she didn't want get involvedo again. >> you mentioned that mary todd's sisters didn't think that abraham lincoln was good enough. give me perspective on who wear the todd's and who was mary? >> the todd family were very wealthy people. they were the aristocracy of lexington. robert was a merchant and a politician. he was prominent. henry clay lived down the street

from them. her is known to have ridden pony over there on many occasions to visit with mr. clay. she was very engrossed in politics. she found it fascinating. lincoln was a nobody. he was poor. he was a back woodsman. the todd family just didn't think he measured up to who a todd should mary. mary got married for love. she had a childhood dream of becoming mrs. president, but she knew that she had to marry the right person. >> after the broke up and had that courtship here, they eventually did get married. globes is where the tavern would have set.

that is the first tavern that mary and abraham would have lived in. --y carried and if you carried in a few items. abraham had to go work. they spent six months per year away from each other. it is mary's desire for him. she fought for this. the city wanted him in the center of the city where the thele in the town and tourists could come. she told the city planners, either give me my way, or he'll

be buried in washington. they prepared a spot for him next to george washington in the capital, just in case that is what they needed to do. >> mary is here. willie is here. eddie is here, and tad, or thomas, is here. robert is not here. he is buried in arlington, cemetery. this is the house that mary lived in when she first moved to springfield. it was a house they were married in and it will be the house that she died in. she died at the age of 63.5

years old. i say she died of a broken heart. she suffered from a lot of illness. they think that she probably had diabetes. mary lincoln lived her life ev ery day waiting to die to be with mr. lincoln. every day was the next day. maybe today. she lived 17 years waiting for that day. >> we know so much about president lincoln. why do you think it is important to know about mary lincoln as a historic figure as well? that ifrsonal belief is it had not been for mary lincoln and her aspirations to be mrs. president clinton, you never would have had -- mrs. president lincoln, you never would have had a president lincoln.

when he was invited to be the republican nominee for president , he had to think about it. she twisted his arm for three days before he caved. they had a son that was buried here. it was hard for him to think about leaving his son. they had a home that they had rebuilt and refinished. there was so much he wanted to accomplish here but there was so otherhe wanted as well people might argue that he would have done it anyway but i don't had thosehe presidential aspirations as much as she did. for joining us.

>> it has been fun. >> the c-span cities tour staff recently traveled to illinois to learn more about its rich history. you are watching american history tv, all weekend, every weekend, on c-span3. >> on february 18, president woodrow wilson screened the controversial film "the birth of a nation" at the white house. here is the historian mike bush film's significance. >> my name is mike and i'm the head of the moving image section here at the library of congress. today we are at the packard .ampus in culpeper, virginia

building, we have not only the recording section the preservation libraries dedicated to making sure all of this material is available for future generations. we have the original camera negative for birth of a nation in 1915, everything that dw griffith has learned about cinematic grammar he throws into this film. it is astonishing work full of amazing storytelling techniques, terrific acting, beautiful editing.

importantof the most films in the history of the evolution of narrative cinema. unfortunately, it is also one of the most vile racial trakcks in the history of american cinema. reconstructedan un- racist. paternalistic attitudes toward races in america. novel by thomas dixon called the klansmen. it tells the story of families torn asunder by the civil war. the portrayal of southerners in the film is very sympathetic. including the fact that at the end, of the film, the rescue is

affected by the ku klux klan. this is a film difficult to watch out of context. people who see it today, without knowing the background, without knowing the era, find it a difficult film to deal with. it is part of our job to find the context for the film. i am not excusing the inherent and grotesque racism of the film . as a social historian, you can look at it one way. , you canma historian admire the technique. as a film it is astonishing. as a cultural document, it is still astonishing in a different way.

>> you can watch the entire three-hour film along with comments by historians and viewers on our website. this is american history tv, all weekend, every weekend, on c-span3. day,monday, president's american history tv features presidential historians hisluding harold holzer and hi thoughts on creating the lincoln memorial. here is a preview. >> here he is in the first decade of the 20th century. that the statue --

that the city in the brassica once a statue of lincoln in time for -- in nebraska wants a statue of lincoln. i found this interesting. have tos a sculptor do to create a lincoln? theserst thing is he gets photographs of abraham lincoln, french some photographs to consult individually. we don't know which photograph , but he did say he wants to show lincoln with the

crushing burden of a war yet to be one. this is the first model. he has lincoln with a bowed head and arms in front. seenets a woman who had lincoln in the lincoln-douglas debate. he says i remember that he had a curious way of standing before he was to speak. he stood with his hands clasped in front of him as if he were collecting his thoughts. they put the model on display and the woman said, you were there? he wasn't, but he had somehow intuited it. he called this his high water mark. dayoin us this president's to learn more about the lincoln memorial.

>> william greaves produced dozens of films about african-american history. his career spanned more than 50 years. his film on booker t. washington, produced in 1986 for the national park service. shot at several historic locations, the film uses reenactments, archival photographs, and interviews with actors pretraining washington and his contemporaries to document notable events in his life. this is just over half an hour. ♪