well, abraham lincoln is probably our most important president. so i would argue every means that was utilized was justified. we love to think that he was above politics, but he wasn't. >> lincoln now finds himself in a rematch with his arch rival, the man who beat him in the illinois state senate election two years earlier, stephen a. douglas. >> stephen a. douglas is the little giant. he's a man of physically short stature but titanic ambition, and douglas desperately wishes to be president of the united states. >> but lincoln has the advantage. after an angry convention in charleston, south carolina, douglas' democratic party has split down the middle over slavery. >> the news that the democratic party had split was an enormous boon to the republican party and to lincoln because now they faced a divided opposition, but he still has an uphill battle. >> the republicans know it's futile to put lincoln up for election in the south. no decent upstanding slave owner is going to vote for him, and slaves don't vote. now it's a double race between linc

mary lincoln was the wife of abraham lincoln. and that was an extraordinarily important, personal, and historical fact of her life. but mary lincoln was also a daughter, a student, a sister, a mother, a friend, and ultimately, widow. she was a 19th century woman, doing the best she could. sometimes, her efforts exceeded even her own expectations. sometimes, they were just good enough. other times, they were devastatingly insufficient. her story really is a human story. and i hope my biography adequately captures mary lincoln's humanity. mostly, though, in the end, i just hope that i have written a life that mary lincoln herself might recognize. now, what i would like to do is to share 10 fax -- top 10 list -- 10 facts, 10 mary lincoln facts, that i would like all of you to take out of the room today. these 10 facts are, i think, imperative to understanding mary better, to understanding her marriage to abraham lincoln and her historical legacy. in going through the list, i will correct a few popular misconceptions, share a couple

well, abraham lincoln is probably our most important president. so i would argue every means that was utilized was justified. we love to think that he was above politics, but he wasn't. >> lincoln now finds himself in a rematch with his arch rival, the man who beat him in the illinois state senate election two years earlier, stephen a. douglas. >> stephen a. douglas is the little giant. he's a man of physically short stature but titanic ambition, and douglas desperately wishes to be president of the united states. >> but lincoln has the advantage. after an angry convention in charleston, south carolina, douglas' democratic party has split down the middle over slavery. >> the news that the democratic party had split was an enormous boon to the republican party and to lincoln because now they faced a divided opposition, but he still has an uphill battle. >> the republicans know it's futile to put lincoln up for election in the south. no decent upstanding slave owner

and it's not clear abraham lincoln is going to be the first one. more than 30 years since you had somebody succeed himself. and nothing could be taken for granted. at the convention in june of the republican party. they quickly renominated abraham lincoln but made some other important changes. they place governor johnson of tennessee as the vice presidential candidate. he was a hero to republicans, the only senator from the south who had stayed loyal to the united states at the time of secession. afterwards, johnson served as governor of tennessee, demonstrating a successful path toward reunion. johnson faced great bitterness and violent threats but he never backed down. a politician from the strongly mountainous unions of tennessee, andrew johnson saw the very embodiment of what the republican party of the future needed to be, a vehicle for the reunification of the nation of the principles won by the war. how did andrew johnson if he was so terrible, get on the stage in the first place? because he was seen as a crucial part of what was going to fo

a sense of the apotheosis of abraham lincoln. this incredibly bad, macabre portrait of lincoln, again, the sense of editing of these weird angels taking lincoln to heaven to be greeted by the apotheosis of lincoln combining with the a party uses of george washington, the founder and the preserved the union combining in this transubstantiation of lincoln, which was -- i chose this one because it just is so terrible. [laughter] there were others that were fine art productions with allegorical regalia. what was in everybody's mind was that everything had changed with this portrait. to us,ncoln was present but he is disappearing at the same time. thishe has in front of him small smile on his face of satisfaction. and i will just conclude by alluding to the two always men poems. two very different takes on abraham lincoln, which is one, in the victorian century, the o captain my captain, your , thisul trip is done victorian melodrama which is their old world. and in the world that lincoln was responsible for and embodied in a new amer

yeah, we wrote america a letter from abraham lincoln." and they're like, "who was abraham lincoln?" "he was the president who gave the slaves freedom." and they're like, "what's freedom?" just ignore all of this. i'll say this for north korea. their letter really captured lincoln's voice. >> the phony letter opens with, "hey, obama, you have a lot on your mind. i'll give you some advice." >> trevor: that sound exactly like honest aib. if abraham lincoln was writing a letter to president obama, he wouldn't give any advice. it would probably be a letter like, "dude, did i hook you up or what?" but, hey, kim jung un, it's funny that you found a letter from abraham lincoln, because we found a letter to you from the last north korean dictator, your dad, kim jong il. i'll read it to you now.

abraham lincoln learned his statesmanship in the school of rail splitting. you insert the thin edge of the wedge into the law. you drive home the thick edge of the wedge. we should have known what lincoln was doing on april 11, 1865 was inserting the thin edge of the wedge. and having done that we could , count on him to drive home the thick edge of the wedge. >> i think that there is a bit of speculation in that. do we know what he would have done, had he lived longer? i don't think that is quite as clear. extent we have to say whatever we say about hedge with ae to degree of uncertainty. it is quite possible, perhaps likely, that he would have done so, but we don't really know. >> i am puzzled, still, and somewhat concerned, but even now, people seem to take delight, and i have heard this more often than i would like to hear, "lincoln was a racist, you know." why does that attitude persist? >> i think there is some evidence for that statement in things i have said here. i think at least in some senses, he was a racist. it seems to me, we have to really par

yeah, we wrote america a letter from abraham lincoln." and they're like, "who was abraham lincoln?" "he was the president who gave the slaves freedom." and they're like, "what's freedom?" just ignore all of this. i'll say this for north korea. their letter really captured lincoln's voice. >> the phony letter opens with, "hey, obama, you have a lot on your mind. i'll give you some advice." >> trevor: that sound exactly like honest aib. if abraham lincoln was writing a letter to president obama, he wouldn't give any advice. it would probably be a letter like, "dude, did i hook you up or what?" but, hey, kim jung un, it's funny that you found a letter from abraham lincoln, because we found a letter to you from the last north korean dictator, your dad, kim jong il. i'll read it to you now. ( laughter ) "hey, son, what the hell is with your haircut? did you see a painted brush and say, 'that dude's look'. and lose some weight. how you can rup a country when you can't even run a mile. you're eating so many cupcakes you're starting to look like one." your dad was mean. "and really, dennis

last week, we heard from washington post journalist bob woodward who reflected on abraham lincoln and the 16th president's influence on his successors. up next, columnist george will looks at judicial review and the constitution. he argues as he put it that , majority rule is inevitable but not inevitably reasonable. a concept he believed lincoln supported. this is an hour. host: a splendid institution where i am honored to serve as dean. i'm pleased to welcome you here to theit

stanton is talking to president abraham lincoln. stanton tells lincoln that these generals and try their skill, they may try their strategy, but i think my hammer is the one that is going to break the backbone of the rebellion. labeled draft. this will put us over the top and bring military success. lincoln always with the stereotype of the rail splitter, his acts over his shoulder, talks to stanton, you can try him with that. of i believe that this ax mine is the only thing that will touch him. it is the only thing that will do the trick. the ax is labeled emancipation reclamation. it is all about bringing victory , emancipation is justified. the military, as my authority in commander-in-chief. here we see the relationship between success in the battlefield and popular support for emancipation. if we grasp support for emancipation in north, would correlate pretty closely with popular perceptions of whether the war was being won, weather progress was being made or not. if you are abraham lincoln or any republican advocate of emancip

>> coming up next, the second part of a series of lectures on abraham lincoln's legacy. posted by the university of illinois college of law. last week, we heard from washington post journalist bob woodward who reflected on abraham lincoln and the 16th president's influence on his successors. up next, columnist george will looks at judicial review and the constitution. he argues as he put it that , majority rule is inevitable but not inevitably reasonable. a concept he believed lincoln supported. this is an hour. host: a splendid institution where i am honored to serve as dean. i'm pleased to welcome you here to the auditorium where the second lecture in a series, hosted by the college of law entitled "the new lincoln lectures: what lincoln means to the 21st century." we are privileged to be hearing from a remarkably accomplished and ideologically diverse set of national thought leaders on lincoln's legacy and his continuing relevance 150 years after his passing. as i said when i introduced our inaugural lecturer bob woodward in january, the law school has chosen to focus

it is lincoln being thoughtful. we have the mystery of abraham lincoln. the monument and the portrait extraordinary career. this was to movement from kentucky to springfield, his family spends one entire winter -- mom.ess takes his the beginnings are ultimately mysterious. exhibition "the masque of lincoln." we'll have a public persona. i have one on now. have a public persona. i have one on now. you haverivate life, different ways of doing things. lincoln had that element of a public pose. there was something mysterious where the masque blocks lincoln. it is the susceptibility -- it -- the excess ability to lincoln becomes more and more difficult. lincoln has become part of the natural landscape. it he is lying on his back -- he is lying on his back reading. it drove his father crazy. lincoln would famously read a book while plowing and get to the end of the road and forget to turn the horse around. thomas would get angry at him. would switchn young abraham. man,dreamy young, dreaming what? in the middle of nowhere. a small farm field. guidance. no colle

he is talking to president abraham lincoln. stanton tells lincoln that they may try their skill, their strategy, but i think my hammer is going to be the one to break the backbone of the rebellion. ultimatelyled draft, want to put us over the top and bring military success. with theln, always rail splitter with his acts over his shoulder, you can try him with that. ax ofbelieve that this mine is the only thing that will fetch him, the only thing that will do the trick. is labeled the emancipation proclamation. it is all about bringing victory, emancipation is justified as a military authority as my commander in chief of the army and navy of the u.s. so we see the relationship here between success on the battlefield and popular support for emancipation. support in the north, it would correlate pretty popular perception whether the war was being won. progress being made or not. now the unfortunate thing if you are abraham lincoln or any republican advocate for emancipation, in the aftermath of the proclamation, the union war effo

stanton is talking to president abraham lincoln. stanton tells lincoln that these generals and try their skill, they may try their strategy, but i think my hammer is the one that is going to break the backbone of the rebellion. his hamer is labeled draft. this will put us over the top and bring military success. lincoln always with the stereotype of the rail splitter, his acts over his shoulder, talks to stanton, you can try him with that. but i believe that this ax of mine is the only thing that will touch him. it is the only thing that will do the trick. the ax is labeled emancipation proclamation. it is all about bringing victory, emancipation is justified. the military, as my authority in commander-in-chief. here we see the relationship between success in the battlefield and popular support for emancipation. if we grasp support for emancipation in north, would correlate pretty closely with popular perceptions of whether the war was being won, weather progress was being made or not. if you are abraham lincoln or any republican ad

presidentassassinated was abraham lincoln. the first president that was attempted to assassinate was andrew jackson. there was an attempt on his life in 1835. jackson actually was saved for one reason or another, and just to let you know, richard lawrence attached jackson at the capitol steps, pulled out of doing distal, fired at point-blank range. the cap fired but did not discharge. he in the second pistol, fired. the cap exploded, no firing. ,e was immediately brought down subdued, rested. the police had taken both pistols. they put on a fresh cap on each, and each pistol fired their full load of gunpowder and shot. that's a fact. it really happened. but abraham went and was the first president to die as a , we gotf assassination into a lot of details less week. the first attempt, as many of you know, to kill president lincoln was in 1861. before he was sworn into office. baltimore, itn in involved about 20 session lists that were loyal to the confederate states of america decided to kill him before he was sworn into office

this drove thomas lincoln mad. abraham lincoln would read a book while plowing. he would get to the end of the row and forget to turn the horse around. his father would come out and get angry at him. beat him with a switch. i am not a freudian. the idea of parental disapproval in terms of setting lincoln off, this dreamy young man. dreaming of what? he's out in the middle of nowhere. on a small farm. he has no mentor. no guidance. no college. there was no safety net. if you didn't succeed you would die. you disappeared. there was no record of your passing. lincoln himself in his famous autobiographical sketch cuts off the discussion of his youth where he refuses to talk about it. he does this repeatedly. he cites thomas gray, and says his early life was just the short and simple annals of the poor. blocking any real inquiry from the chicago newspaper about what he was like. lincoln's father thomas was on his deathbed. young mr. lincoln's moved on. he is 80 miles away and he refuses to come to the deathbed. he doesn't go to the funeral. he cuts off the relations w

also, the cracked plate portrait of abraham lincoln taken by the president's favorite photographer. dr. kelly from the astrological observatory has brought prototypes from a protected heatshield, part of nasa's solar probe spacecraft. dr. eleanor harvey from the art museum has brought thomas moran's beautiful watercolor of the excelsior geiser at yellowstone national park. i have been warned to stay out of this. [laughter] >> it is above my pay grade. >> whatever you say, i agree with completely. >> my name is harry rubenstein, i am the chair of political history at the museum of national history. this is a inkstand that sat on the desk of major thomas accor at the telegraph office. as you know, abraham lincoln would go to the telegraph office to keep tabs on what was happening during the civil war. in the summer of 1862, rather than swapping stories and jokes, he sat quietly at major eckhert's desk, at what became the emancipation proclamation. he cap this and eventually saved it and presented it to the government. it will be in the opening of the african american museum, and will

it was like abraham lincoln. he never shot prejudices unnecessarily. having learned statesmanship, he always used the thin edge of the wedge first. the fact that he used this at all meant that he would, if need be, use the thick as well as the thin. but douglas cast his conclusion about what the death of lincoln meant for reconstruction. he said, had abraham lincoln been spared to see this day, the negro of the south would have more than the hope of enfranchisement, and no rebels would hold the reins of government in any one of the late rebellious states. now, one can only lament to what might have been. whoever have mourned the loss of abraham lincoln, to the colored people of the country, his death is an unspeakable calamity. an unspeakable calamity. but i think we have to take care to believe that all the problems would have been solved. to be sure, as i have alluded, certain things may have turned out differently had he lived. in all likelihood, he would have revisited his amnesty proclamation and revised it once all of the confederate states had s

it was like abraham lincoln. he never shot prejudices unnecessarily. statesmanship, he always used the thin edge of the wedge first. fact that he used this at all meant that he would, if need be, use the stick -- use the thick as well as the thin. but douglas cast his conclusion about what the death of lincoln meant for reconstruction. he said, had abraham lincoln been spared to see this day, the negro of the south would have more than the hope of a enfranchisement, and no rebels would hold the reins of government in any one of the late rebellious states. now, one can only lament to what might have been. whoever have mourned the loss of abraham lincoln, to the colored people of the country, his death is an unspeakable calamity. an unspeakable calamity. but i think we have to take care to believe that all the problems would have been solved. to be sure, as i have alluded, certain things may have turned out differently had he lived. in all likelihood, he would have revisited his amnesty proclamation and revised it once all of the confederate states had s

trish: people going back to abraham lincoln. >> yeah, abraham lincoln and go back to the 1976 convention with ford and reagan but it is really not the same. now you're in a world also where people know a lot more about every little minute detail. we are going to be studying all of the rules and regulations before the week of the convention and guarranty you, we'll be down in the weeds. trish: indeed. good stuff. thank you so much. bret baier, do not forget to watch him. special report every day with bret baier happening 6:00 p.m. eastern only on fox news snoop. >> coming up, 2/3 of british muslims say they would not tell the police if they knew of a terror plot. i just can't believe this. it is truly horrible. it shows you what we are up against, folks. >>> meanwhile billionaire george soros is warning that europe is in mortal danger over its migrant crisis. hey, u2 singer bono has the solution. send in comedians like amy schumer and chris rock. humor has the power to stop suicide bombers. we'll talk about all of it next. there's a lot of places you never want to see "$7.95." [ beep ] bu

that's good. ( applause ) that's a very good abraham lincoln. that's a vrkd abraham lincoln you do. >> we saw what abraham linkon did earlier. >> stephen: you know what, that's the better angel of his nature. >> what's crazy about this meeting is they had it and in the course of this afternoon they spent together, these two men who you would not think they had anything in common, actually ended up having a great amount of empathy for each other and i think by the end of the meeting they liked each other. >> stephen: is that true? not just the photo. >> not just the photo. they spent the after together. and then later, when either of them ended up in the hospital for any reason, one of them called the other to find out how they were doing. >> stephen: and elvis got a special-- >> this is what he wanted. he wanted the president to make him an undercover federal agent at large. >> stephen: how-- how does the biggest rock 'n' roll star in the world be an undercover agent? >> because he felt he had done many movies and he understood costumes and disg

lincoln. what we know is that lincoln is looking forward to the future, but we know that he is going to die. >> you can watch the presidency on sunday at 8:00 p.m. and midnight eastern here on american history tv on c-span3. ♪ >> i am a history buff and i do enjoy seeing the fabric of our country, and how things work and how they are made. >> i love american history tv and american artifacts. idea audit. it is something i would enjoy. >> american history tv, it gives you that perspective. i have a c-span fan. >> each week american history tv's real america brings you films that provide context to today's public affairs issues. "why braceros?" is a 1962 film by the council of california growers which argues in favor of a guest worker program that began in 1942 due to world war ii labor shortages. the agreement between the u.s. and mexico allowed bracero to be transported across the border when farmers and agribusinesses cannot hire american workers. at the program's peak between 1956-1959, 40

. >> abraham lincoln has to win without his name even on the ballot in the south. and that's not going to be easy because he has to win new york. if he doesn't win new york, he will not be president. >> new york state has the highest number of electoral votes, but it is also the stomping ground of william seward and thurlow weed, who lincoln has so publicly humiliated. >> they hate lincoln. they feel like they got cheated out of the nomination. >> lincoln has to make peace. he invites weed to his home in springfield. >> lincoln's attitude is nobody's his enemy. everybody is his friend. >> lincoln's approach here wasn't to stand over a vanquished opponent and rub it in and not just tell weed, hey, you lost, i won, get on the program. >> and the two men spend five hours talking. >> he courted weed and he had to offer weed any number of things to secure the right level of support and endorsement. >> what lincoln and weed talked about has been lost to history. we don't know exactly, but it did not escape anyone's notice that william seward ultimately became lincoln's s

that's good. ( applause ) that's a very good abraham lincoln. that's a vrkd abraham lincoln you do. >> we saw what abraham linkon did earlier. >> stephen: you know what, that's the better angel of his nature. >> what's crazy about this meeting is they had it and in the course of this afternoon they spent together, these two men who you would not think they had anything in common, actually ended up having a great amount of empathy for each other and i think by the end of the meeting they liked each other. >> stephen: is that true? not just the photo. >> not just the photo. they spent the after together. and then later, when either of them ended up in the hospital for any reason, one of them called the other to find out how they were doing. so their weird bond continued. >> stephen: and elvis got a special-- >> this is what he wanted. he wanted the president to make him an undercover federal agent at large. >> stephen: how-- how does the biggest rock 'n' roll star in the world be an undercover agent? >> because he felt he had done many movies and

portraitan national gallery, david ward chronicles abraham lincoln's life through photographs and portraits. takes time out from writing the and all real addressed to sit for this last photograph which he does kinds of -- kind of peevish. the eyes disappear in which his present to the public -- >> for the complete weekend schedule, go to www.c-span.org. all week long, american history tv is joining our cable partners to showcase the history of long beach, california. to learn more, visit www.c-span.org/citiestour. long beach has always been proud of its aviation history. in january of 1910 the first united states air meet was held here in the mingus field which is adjacent to long beach. people came from all over southern california. it was amazing. a lot of people were inspired to become aviators. they caught what i call aviation fever. it was the goal of the city of long beach to make long beach as important to aviation as detroit was to the auto world. long beach always had a vision for an airport. the first airfield opened in 1920 and it was one of the first municipal airports in the un

and portraits. >> abraham lincoln takes time out to sit for that last photograph in which he does look kind of peevish. the eyes disappear. >> for the complete american history tv weekend schedule, go to c-span.org. >>> next, author and professor gary gallagher discusses two questions stemming from confederate general robert e. lee's surrender to union general ulysses s. grant at appomattox in 1865. he analyzed whether appomattox was the end of the civil war. second, mr. gallagher looks at the wartime goals of the union and if these were in fact achieved. >> dr. gary w. gallagher is the john l. now the third professor in the american civil war at the history of virginia. now that means in o.w. now is the director of the john now that's in au now center for civil war studies at uva. gary is such a popular speaker that he allows organizations like ours to work him way too hard, but we do it anyway. he flew in a few hours ago. he wasn't here right when we started this morning because he was jetting up here from florida where he was speaking at another conference. we're very grateful to ga

lincoln's life through portraits. you notice the sense in which lincoln's presence to the public in his suffering. >> go to c-span.org. >> american history tv is featuring long beach, california. the staff recently visited many sites showcasing the city's history. you can learn more about long beach all weekend on american history tv. >> rancho los alamitos is one of the rare sites that has a continuous history lasting more than 1500 years. if you follow that chain of occupancy, you are looking at the development of southern california. the site is important because it is where god descended from heaven, gave the loss to the people. it is considered -- laws to the people and is considered sacred. many of the people who received land under spanish rule were former soldiers who had been in the expeditions exploring southern california. when he died, the land was split among his children and it was -- inton two ranches ranches. that is all that is left. >> we are standing in that rancho los alamitos adobe ranch house. is

>> this one definitely comes close to 1860. 1860, abraham lincoln was running against three other people. he wasn't even on the ballot in 10 southern states and he was finally elected with 39 percent of the popular vote so he has to go down in history as the single most negative elected president. jon: so negatives don't necessarily mean you're not going to win the presidency first of all and not going to do well in the second case. >> well, you actually get into a different subject here because you get into the idea of plurality presidents and the primary plurality presidents have been abraham lincoln, wardrobe wilson and bill clinton. and in each case, they had more than one candidate they were running against and in each case, in the case of bill clinton and abraham lincoln they won with 39 percent of the vote. woodrow wilson won with 41 percent of the vote and that's not what you would call a mandate. there were problems that emanated fromthat . jon: when we talk about some of the front-runners, 65 percent of the voters say they could not see themselves supporting donald trump. 61 pe

>> abraham lincoln is somewhat set apart from the rest of this. >> all right. then i'll go 20 years later. james garfield, 1880. almost 40 ballots before they got to him, and he won. >> yep. i can't speak to the past. i'm speaking to the present. they have to play by the rules. if they try to change the rules or injury -- rig the voting they've changed the rules that everybody started playing by, and that's wrong. >> but the one rule that was a constant throughout was that you needed 1,237. like you said, your coiled might get there anyway and all this is malt. but you seem to be saying if he doesn't get there and is close, give it to him name by that math we would have never had lincoln or garfield. >> that's where the true leaders step up. a good leader is going to recognize what the people want, and ensure that the candidate is who the people want. >> allall right. carl, good talking to you. thank you very much. >> thanks. >> now, the other side. ted cruz supporter, what do you make of what he just said there? i think he was saying your candidate, because he

smithsonian national portrait gallery senior historian david ward chronicles abraham lincoln's life through photographs and portraits. >> a rather exasperated lincoln takes time out from writing the inaugural address to sit for this last photograph. the eyese again disappear. his presence which in the public is suffering. >> for a schedule, go to www.c-span.org. all weekend, american history tv is featuring long beach california located on california's southern coast about 20 miles south of los angeles. c-span cities tour staff recently visited many sites, showcasing the city's history. learn more about long beach weekend here on american history tv. >> we are at the port of long beach here in california within the city of long beach. we are sitting right in the middle of the port complex. this port complex is approximately 3200 acres in size. we are the most modern and andest seaport in the u.s. we are a department of the city of long beach. we consider ourselves part of the community here. this is the largest economic engine for the city, for the region, for the state. 180 billion dollars

, you know, abraham lincoln didn't run in the new hampshire primary. abraham lincoln didn't face 50 nominating contests. it's so different now. i keep hearing the lincoln comparison but it's not really apt, is it? >> well, i mean, you had a process in colorado that trump complained about, cruz won. there's different ways -- each state handles how to pick a delegate different ways but here is the rule. if he don't get to 1,237, the delegates vote until they get to 1,237. after the first ballot, most delegates become free agents. i like that system. that's fine with me. is it the most democratic system? no. is it good for parties? probably yes. i think a lot of people think the superdelegates are bad for the democrats. you know, it's just whatever you think is best for the party in terms of nominating somebody. if we can have a second ballot that denies donald trump the nomination, then we will have served conservatism well in my opinion. >> senator lindsey graham, thank you so much for being with us. appreciate it, senator. >> thank you, senator. >> tha

i did not really go the abraham lincoln vampire hunter boot because generally speaking i tried to have the real people in the book two things that they really did. my criterion for whether i use someone's real name were not as are they doing what i can verifyi can verify they actually did. i get away from that sometimes. what i was trying to do with all of that was used the fictional elements to highlight the connections that are found between the historical materials and bring out the themes that i thought were important. and i did think that the resources of fiction allow me to write something more aluminum to and i hope in some ways more truthful. >> i meant to ask david about reactions. you got some reaction from the ninth circuit judges to your book. >> interrupting, i must confess, the book is a bit of a remodeling play. there are characters in the book, standard disclaimer. there are some characters in the book who bear striking resemblances to real people, and that was something i was wondering about as a former clerk on the ninth circuit myself, but i was pleasantly surprised

i assume most of you saw it, i loved it, abraham lincoln, vampire slayer. there's abe with this black sidekick, friend of mine, i won't name the college, but a college down the road from me said doug, it's not very accurate. i said what part of vampire were you having a hard time understanding? but you get the same thing in spielberg's movie with lincoln pounding the table saying now, now, the time is now and the one man freeing the slaves and changing the nation. that's the story that i think i don't want to tell in this book or today. so you know, who really was gazing into the future and envisioning what kind of country this could be and for the most part, it was black americans. men and women, who had fought against slavery in the years before the war. many of them had been born in the south like frederick douglas had gotten out of slavery and come to the north, but they were the ones who really understood that the entire country required reconstruction and not simply virginia or south carolina or alabama. lincoln recalled that slavery had existed in al

and i even found that when he was practicing law, abraham lincoln wrote a fictionalized or embellished version of one of his criminal cases. so this didn't start with grisham, and it's been around for centuries. my favorite theory though about why lawyers write is, david will recall this, washingtonian magazine did a whole feature on why do so many d.c. lawyers write novels. and the writer met with a number of lawyer-authors, you know, several of us -- me, david and others -- and after spending time with us and getting to know us and hearing us out on why we write, the takeaway was that, you know, basically we all have a bunch of big egos -- [laughter] and we want to be renaissance men and women, and that's really the driving motivator. so that's one theory. [laughter] >> okay. >> i'm just wondering about the premise. i don't -- it very well could be that lots and lots of lawyers write fiction, or it could be that there are just lots and lots and lots of lawyers, and so it turns out that they produce a lot of fiction. i don't know. i'm thinking about trying to think about my friends wh

abraham lincoln was included in one of those men. for those of us who like to see a fair amount of adams and lincoln, both in some of the arguments used against slavery but also the activist government that adams talked about. that is the one symbolic part. >> hard to the media treat all of this? >> you mean the media of the day? that is a great question. the word media then in that case meant there were a fair number of court reporters. by the 1840s there are tens of thousands of newspaper, no newspaper, no country had ever had so many newspapers. a number, not a lot maybe a couple couple of dozen had reporters in washington. this was big news in all of the papers. for the abolitionist press, by then there some number of thousands of explicitly abolitionist newspapers. this was huge. we should remember, remember, i do not talk about the famous case for adams before the supreme court defended a group of applicants who are then taken slavery and won the case seven-one, that are ready made adams a hero. this really cemented his reputat

in 1915 he played abraham lincoln in a silent movie the battle cry of peace. john matthews. this has to be one of the all-time historic coincidences. he was learning booth's atfession on the same house the same time secretary stanton was mounting the manhunt for booth. matthews was a comic who worked at ford's theater. skin ande same light dark hair's john wilkes booth. he didn't have any of that charisma that made heads swivel when booth walked down the avenue. booth and matthews were boyhood friends from baltimore. matthews considered john wilkes booth's best friend. the afternoon of the assassination the two men ran into each other on pennsylvania avenue. booth entrusted to matthews a sealed letter to the editor. he asked matthews to deliver it if he didn't see him around town the next morning. unbeknownst to matthews it was a confession to killing lincoln. the comedian put the envelope in his coat pocket. and promptly forgot all about it. and the excitement of performing for the president. all thee assassination ford's theater actors were fleeing. for fear of being arres

that's a vrkd abraham lincoln you do. >> we saw what abraham linkon did earlier. >> stephen: you know what, nature. >> what's crazy about this meeting is they had it and in the course of this afternoon they spent together, these two men who you would not think they had anything in common, actually ended up having a great amount of empathy for each other and i think by the end of the meeting they liked each other. >> stephen: is that true? not just the photo. >> not just the photo. they spent the after together. and then later, when either of them ended up in the hospital for any reason, one of them called the other to find out how they were doing. so their weird bond continued. >> stephen: and elvis got a special-- >> this is what he wanted. he wanted the president to make him an undercover federal agent at large. >> stephen: how-- how does the biggest rock 'n' roll star in the world be an undercover agent? >> because he felt he had done many movies and he understood costumes and disguise. ( laugh

i have to gostion, back to abraham lincoln. in september, 1862 he issued the preliminary emancipation proclamation. it offered the southern states to come back to the union and keep slavery. imagine if they had accepted his offer. can we base our understanding of abraham lincoln on the fact that someone did not take the offer he offered. >> there something we say here in the united states but derives from "the lone ranger." we, white man? not referring to you but the fact that the electoral process has changed over time and has become more inclusive and not more inclusive. looking at who gets elected often correlates with how the electoral process has been opening up or shutting down. the next thing worth throwing to the group. -- it is god. >> i think that is obama. that.ry about >> that was james buchanan. [laughter] thing worthd throwing to the group to amplify that question is -- i forgot what was. question of the process opening up and closing down over time -- what i was going to say is, i was reminded by something online

i have to go back to abraham lincoln. in september, 1862, lincoln issued the preliminary emancipation proclamation. he offered the southern states to come back to the union and they could keep slavery. just for one second imagine the southern states had accepted his offer. can we really base our understanding of abraham lincoln on the fact that someone did not take an offer that he offered them? >> well, there is something we say here in the united states that derives from a television show called "the lone ranger" and it's who are we, white man? so i'm not referring to you. i'm referring to the fact that the electoral process has changed dramatically over time. and it's become more inclusive and not more inclusive. looking at who gets elected often correlates with how the electoral process has been opening up or shutting down. i think a second thing that is probably worth throwing to the roup here -- [loud background noise] >> it's god. >> i think that's obama. >> sorry about that. [laughter] >> that was james buchanan.

in 1860 there was a contested convention, abraham lincoln came in trailing and pulled it out. john kasich isn't abraham lincoln but the lesson in history is wait to see how delegates vote on the floor. john kasich will be the nominee and next president of the united states. >> is every senator who gets on the programs filibusters? >> you have your -- >> there's no pathway to get to the nomination and that is the situation which we face right now. that is the reality. john kasich will not be the republican nominee for president under any circumstances. he is flailing around looking for some type of strategy to change the dynamic here after losing in about 30 states. it is hard to say someone is more electable candidate when they have lost over and over and over again in about 30 states. it is hard to say you are the more electable candidate when you keep losing to either donald trump or ted cruz. >> it is hard to say you are more electable if you get beaten by hillary clinton in every national poll. >> that is ridiculous. >> gentlemen, i'm sorry, we are running out of time. >>

in fact, the same process that they use to nominate abraham lincoln way back in 1860. so parties say everybody should know the rules by this point. in fact ted cruz taking the opportunity to take a poke at donald trump on twitter. just this afternoon, fred. if we can put that tweet up, read it to you. he said, quote, donald over 1.3 million people just voted in utah, north dakota, wisconsin, colorado and wyoming. you lost all five in a row by huge margins. hashtag no whining. so ted cruz with a victory lap there. and he better enjoy it. because if you read the polls, fred, he is not doing well in new york. donald trump winning by double digits. a wall street poll showing him up by 50% of the vote. ted cruz at 16%. if donald trump can win more than 50% of the votes statewide in each of the districts, that would go a long way to getting him at 1237 he needs to wrap up the nomination. ted cruz and john kasich trying to make sure it doesn't happen. so they go to a contested convention in cleveland and we will see it is a big big day for donald trump on tuesday, fred? >> st

as well as his counterpart, abraham lincoln. he is held in such high regard but he was certainly the most divisive president in american history. it might be sophistry to throw him in, but the fact that you could not even vote for him and 12 to 13 states is a lot about -- says a lot about how hated he was at that time. >> that is an interesting comment about how hated lincoln was at the time. his election was in many ways, the trigger. of what was going to happen anyway with the civil war. it gets back to the point about what we are all making, the difference between historical judgment and how one is seen at the time by the citizenry of one's own time. a lot of presidents are hated. franklin roosevelt. all of the of people who would refer to have as "that man." they let that go. fdr is one of newt gingrich 's favorite presidents. there are probably a few confederate, lincoln-haters. ant has mostly become irrelevant point of view. fdr hating is irrelevant. jfk is claimed by the right for his tax cuts. one thing that is the marke

lincoln and then we started to lose. >> reporter: meanwhile clinton has begun to consider potential running mates among the names said to be on the short list, castro, new jersey senator cory booker, ohio senator brown. as well as at least one woman and clinton got an odd nod from ultra conservative donor charles coke whose disillusioned. >> is it possle another clinton could be better than another republican? >> it's possible. >> both clinton and trump are expected to win big on tuesday. mary bruce, abc news, washington. >>> still ahead on abc 7 news at 9:00, could the secret to treating mental illness be located in our belly and bringing new meaning to mind control? check out the next generation of drones that work through will power. we'll be right back. >>> welcome back. researchers looking for better mental health treatments are shifting from the brain to the stomach. researchers believe bacteria could be used to treat mental illnesses. specific bacteria can treat nerves that send electrics to the brain that cause depression or other mental systems and could alter the bacteria

it is what is used to nominate abraham lincoln. so certainly this is an rigged system, pam. >> and ted cruz echoed that sentiment, right? in a tweet where he basically waved his recent victories in trump's face a little bit. >> that's exactly right. taking a little bit after victory lap. he's gotten five wins in a rehere. if we can put that tweet up, i will read it to you. donald, over 1.3 million people just voted in utah, north dakota, wisconsin, idaho and wyoming you lost all five in a row by huge margins hashtag no whining. so he is taking a bit aftof a victory lap. and he should enjoy it. if polls are to be believed in new york he is lagging donald trump by double digits. as donald trump got his voters riled up, he is winning by 54%. ted cruz just 16%. that's very good news for donald trump. if he can win over 50% statewide and each congressional district. he has a shot at taking home all 95 delegates. close to that number of 1237 that he needs to clench that nomination. ted cruz and john kasich are trying to stop trump and ta

it imagines the date in 1862 when abraham lincoln ended slavery in the city. d.c. vote held a rally at the plaza before marking to the capitol. they want the residents to have the full representation and voting right in congress. this morning a mayor muriel bowser said she hopes to introduce legislation this summer to get the issue on the ballot in november. out of district now, 19 taken to the hospital after a cool bus accident this afternoon. it happened in parking lot 8 at r.f.k. stadium. a parent on the bus says the driver was turning around when the vehicle hit the pole. all the injuries were minor and everyone should be at home later tonight. new information on the crash that tied up information for hours on thursday. witnesses are giving us accounts that did not match the initial investigation. one tow truck driver says the black mercedes that hit the trooper evan ganeshananda's patrol car was speeding down the shoulder just before the crash. but the other tow truck driver says that the mercedes was actually rear-eneded by another car before losing control.