Them across the finish line. And given out 34 of these grants and with that Foundation Also for 72000 to support with science and technology. The first is working on a biography and another new feature of the center and biography and memoir and with that Historical Research as well as history and biography and memoir. And then jointly in history and is currently accepting and then to begin study in the fall of 2019 and with that prestigious and awardwinning faculty and a former director of the co biography and remarkably original confidence and crisis and compromise in 1877. And the friendship of Emily Dickinson with a finalist of the book Critics Award of biography of janet flannery. Hawthorne. That won the ambassador award. Joined by the Professor Emeritus of history at Columbia University as the author of numerous books including the reconstruction of americas own unfinished revolution which is a musthave in graduate school. And Abraham Lincoln and slavery and the latest book and make the constitution appear in september. And then in the conversation with those in features with the trial and the dream of a just nation to that political situation and then they will weigh in on that. Afterwards i will pass around the microphone to audience members also a copy of the book and we will be happy to sign them. Please welcome brenda and eric. [applause] thank you both for coming this evening to talk about your expert new book. It is an interesting phenomenon that the president elect that has me kindled that modern interest with the theory of american civil war. I cannot hear you said but im sure it wasnt funny. [laughter] of who should be a citizen, who should be having the right to vote, and to respond to a political agenda. He who must not be named that this impeachment but first id like to ask with this subject anybody knows it takes quite a few years to do so so then when president obama was is involved so what interested you about this quick. First of all thank you for this lovely introduction is the pleasure to be here and that he really wrote the book on reconstruction. And then with the groundbreaking research. And let me go back to erics question i didnt start the book yesterday but when i started the book he who should not be named and when what i was working on with the impeachment of Andrew Johnson one was that they left immediately, or they thought Andrew Jackson was engaged a new Andrew Johnson that probably it is more troubling than people run away from me was the impeachment process. And then to began the book 60 years ago i was not prescient with my publisher basically and i was interested because in the previous books that i had written of before or during or after the civil war which is in but it seems to me strange while working on this book that the first ever impeachment of an american president in 1868 would make peoples eyes would glaze over. So as we went from lincoln to grant and then not stopping for the three years so the fact that they have working but this is a crew on a crucial and important time. Unless you are ready to be alive in 1865 the war is barely over the firstever president ial assassination over 750,000 people there and putting the country back to gather so that got me started thinking about what happened, why did it happe happen, who are these people involved and why did we not know more about it . Is where my questions. You dead great job. [laughter] Different Countries have different ways to get rid of it we were just talking to theresa may who was booted out by the conservative party no voter has anything to say and here we have a different process of the original constitution did put in the process of impeachment with that ambiguous phrase of high crimes and misdemeanors. And even now the discussion about treason or high crimes and misdemeanors. So what are those quickset it really is a fuzzy terminology because theoretically misdemeanor could be stealing a chicken. Would he be impeached for that . Probably not. But the idea of impeachment in the process and the conditions and what happens afterwards then there is a trial for the senate. And as we experience more recently but to entirely understand it is a twopronged process. And the accusation is an indictment. So that outlines in the constitution that there really isnt a procedure they will be tried in the senate and the chief justice shall preside and then thats it. That doesnt tell you very much its really up for grabs like it was in 1868. Do you think those who wrote the constitution saw impeachment more as a criminal process or political process . You have to look on commit the indictable crime for the majority of the house of representatives says it is. They have a right to impeach before the senate. There are a couple of books that came out because the clinton but theyre actually had to be legal action. I dont entirely agree but there was that ambiguity built into the constitution because of the federalist papers but hamilton said that was an Impeachable Offense some in that particular sense it is not a narrow definition or legalistic definition and then to talk about the past he was impeached nobody would deny that but with that broader interpretation of impeachment and whatever he did did not interfere with those affairs that stay. So this is a biography center its not a biography force per se but it is very central to it and with those helpful summaries of who they are. So what about Andrew Johnson . But now he will be. And his reputation like other figures of history is gone up and down over the years and we thought you didnt like him very much to do with the country needed and in the 19 twenties by radical republicans and reputation defender of the constitution today its like a stock market ticker and is why the scene as the next to the worst president in American History but johnson is way down there so theres all sorts of johnsons out there in historical literature is he just the inept politician are just schemer . What is your take on Andrew Johnson before . It is interesting or is he just blinded by his racism cracks but one of the ways he got on lincolns ticket had to do with the fact those four years before admired johnson enormously as a man of courage and to be a lot we may have shared that if you two stood up after lincoln was elected and said im against this. I am for the union. We must stay within the union. And whatever credibility he had born in effigy from one end to the other is constantly being threatened so it is very heroic. And what his other views were is not paramount from 1861 because at that juncture the reigning idea the evolutionist they are where they are certainly but a lot of people didnt necessarily want that. And lincoln appointed johnson governor of tennessee. So that was another q4 johnson and then to bring him closer to the Republican Party but he is using johnson to. [applause]