>> it's hard. >> luckily we found someone to help us unravel the past. historian doug weed. >> it's sort of irnteresting to look at abraham lincoln and look at the damage in the back of his head that was in transit, trying to get the statues here. >> this is all a metaphor for abraham lincoln. he was much more fragile politically than we think of today. >> why would he be comfortable amongst the weeds compared to the other presidents? >> he was very poor. when we look at lincoln in the lincoln memorial, it seems so imposing and powerful and strong. but he only lived four years of his life in the white house. he lived 14 years of his life in a one-room cabin in indiana. and when he looked in the mirror, that's who he saw. he slept in a wooden box filled with corn husbaks.