Transcripts For CSPAN3 The Presidency 20160912

Historical park in kentucky. Coming up next on the presidency, a commemorative ceremony site with actors for drink three of the five president s who visited the birthplace delivering speeches. And we will hear from Abraham Lincoln. This is about 55 minutes. [applause] good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests. I am the superintendent of Abraham Lincolns birth Place National historic site. I would like to welcome you all today for this great event. Before we get started, i would like to give a round of applause to the heartland Brass Quintet to have been providing the music. [applause] you all can be seated. Sorry. [laughter] i just realized that. This is a special day for us and we truly appreciate your presence. Before we get started into the formal ceremony, i would like to recognize a few the dignitaries we have in attendance today. Congressman brett guthrie, [applause] acting deputy regional director for the Southeast Region of the National Park service. Larue county judge executive, tommy turner. Mayor of hodginville. Kenny davore. State representative terry mills. [applause] and, of course, samuel clemens, president roosevelt, president roosevelt, president eisenhower, and president lincoln. [applause] i would like to thank the community. To the Lincoln Museum and many other local organizations, we could not this without your support and your partnership. We deeply appreciate that. Thank you. [applause] we have gathered here today to mark the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Abraham Lincolns birth Place National historical park. It was president lincoln that led our nation through its most emotionless time, tumultuous time, worked tirelessly to preserve the union and abolished slavery in the United States. It is only fitting that we honor president lincoln, who without his wisdom and leadership throughout the times, the country we live in today might very well be very different. Today, we will hear from distinguished guests, president ial living historians who will speak of Abraham Lincoln, the sinking springs, the farm in which he was born and the significance of this memorial and the National Park honoring president lincoln. Each of the president ial living historians will deliver a speech given by their respective president when that president visited the site here. Our first speaker today represented the 32nd Senate District of kentucky from 20002008 before he was elected to the United States house of representatives from kentuckys second district. He still proudly serves the people of kentucky. Please warmly welcome congressman brett guthrie. Guthrie thank you. And original representative here is from the second district. Welcome back. Welcome home and for this celebration. How important is it to be here . This of the 100 anniversary of our National Park service and also the 100th anniversary of the site. It means a lot. Something not missed on me is that leaders and people who came before all of us decided they wanted to preserve the great heritage of our country for us to use and for our posterity. To use a lincoln term. Whether it is the beautiful sites, the wonderful caves, the great National Parks or the Historic Sites, this is important. I want to share two quick experiences. I was here one day. I got a phone calls and it would be a Conference Call with Speaker Boehner and mike pence was conference chairman. I was here i wasnt here. I drove up to make sure i get so coverage. We were talking about votes we were going to take. Some pretty take votes. We were lamenting about what we had to do. It was one of the debt limit kind of moments. As a were all feeling a sense of the moment, i left here. I said im glad its not 1861. Can you imagine what the congress and the president born on this site . I thought about what his life had led him and what decisions he had to make. And lots of people say, when people say this is the end of america as we know it, just remember, they said that in 1789, 1861. It is important that we remember history. One thing i want to share since im here, at the Vietnam Memorial theyre putting an education center. A memorial represents those who pass away. There were a lot of people who served in vietnam. They wanted to put something for those who served and the history of the war. In the meantime, they asked if we would bring something to signify or represent someone from our district who had died in current wars. I was standing there with a picture of matt hansen. About three or four miles he is buried there. What i said, if you think about it, if you think of the Vietnam Memorial, right next to it is the Lincoln Memorial. As i was standing there i threw my speech out ahead igo offthecuff. It really struck me that we were honoring that they met hansen, a son of our county right next to the most magnificent memorial in our country. Abraham lincoln, a son of this county. Only in america within 200 or 300 yards could you celebrate i will give someone george washington. The greatest american who ever lived and a Great American who did not have the chance to live a long life because he sacrificed his life. Who knows what he would become. He was a Great American and is a Great American. But think about our country on the same spot, the most sacred land in our nations capital, we honor two sons of this county. Matt hansen and Abraham Lincoln. It is a great place and a great heritage to be from. Im so proud. I stopped the other day with a group of people and the superintendent said let me know when you stop. They were trying to come incognito because i do not what to pass by here with anybody who has never been here who is traveling with me from washington and not take a moment to see someone born in that cabin or replica something similar to that kevin and rose to be the greatest american in our history. Thank you for having me here. It is great to be here. Judge, always great to be in larue county. Thank you very much. [applause] thank you, congressman. Our next speaker has over 30 years in the National Park service, during which he has served many different capacities including superintendent of the ,eath valley National Park wachita battlefield, and she has since returned home to horse cave, kentucky becoming the superintendent of mammoth cave National Park. Please welcome the acting deputy regional director of the Southeast Region for the National Park service and superintendent of mammoth cave National Park, sarah craighead. Craighead one might argue that i just cant keep a job. [laughter] it is such a great honor to be with you today representing the regional director. It is an honor for many reasons. One of those is that jake gratz has been a friend with me for many years and be able to commemorate this special time. 100 years ago, the National Park service was created. There is no more Perfect Place i think to celebrate the centennial of the National Park service than right here at Abraham Lincoln National Historical park. Which was created in a month earlier than the National Park service. But the National Park service and the birthplace were born from the idea that our nations treasures should be preserved and enjoyed for all americans, both now and in the future. Here in this place we pay homage to a man who gave this country a future. It is up to you and to me and all of us americans to make sure that it is a future that we are proud of. All of us who visit and love these parks give them significance and meaning, this centennial gives us the chance to reflect and look forward to the future. And to look for to what our children and grandchildren have to look forward to as they visit these National Park. One of the things we are doing at the National Park service is make sure that every fourthgrader has the ability to get into a park for free. Passes for all fourthgraders. We are hoping to connect our youth with 412 National Parks across the system. We are challenging everyone to find your park. I know a lot of the members that i look back to as a child, memories that i look back to as a child involving in a part. I remember coming here as a kid and seeing the spring and the cabin. All of that made a huge impression on me. I think these places define us as americans. They are our touchstones. They help us remember where we came from and give us hope for the future. I hope you will take a minute to ensure that the kids in your life have the ability to find their park and make those connections. Thank you and congratulations to Abraham Lincoln National Historical park on your 100 year anniversary. Thank you. [applause] thank you, sarah. Our next speaker demonstrated support for establishing the sacred place as a National Park in his article published on january 13, 1907, in which he stated it was no accident that planted lincoln on a Kentucky Farm. Samuel clemens was an american author and humorist who wrote such works as the adventures of tom sawyer, the adventures of Huckleberry Finn under a pen name. Please give a warm welcome to mr. Mark twain. [applause] thank you. I must admit im somewhat embarrassed. They told us we had about one hour and 15 minutes. Ive only prepared for 45. As a member of the Lincoln Farm Association which was newly formed, i was a member of that organization. As a member and as a writer i was encouraged and did an article for the new york times, january 13, 1907. The purpose of the article was to help find a group of people who would unite together to save the lincoln farm. I wrote the article and i will read it to you or tell it to you to the best of my remembrance. As a natural human instinct that is gratified by the site of anything hallowed by association of a great man or great work, so many people make pilgrimage to the town whose shakespeare, the streets were trotted by shakespeare. Hartford guarded the charter oak for centuries because it was that housede in it the article that preserved the liberties of a colony. It was no accident that lincoln in a kentucky, planted planted lincoln and a Kentucky Farm in rural america. Lincoln was halfway between the great lakes and the gulf of mexico. This association there had substance in it. If the union was to be saved, it needed to be by one of such origin. It did not need a witty yankee person from connecticut. It needed no farm at yankee. It needed no torrid cotton planter from the south who regarded the yankee has been obnoxious species. It needed a man of the border , where civil war met the grapple ofer brother and brother. It needed one who knew the good of the slavery mixed with the evil. The evil not only as it obtained to the negroes but also to the poor whites. It needed one who understood how human, both parties of the quarrel were. How much alike they were at bottom. If the union was to be saved, it needed one of that nature. It needed one who understood the reflections and the dissensions and the tearing apart of the soul. When the war came, georgia sent forth an army of gray. Connecticut sent an army of blue. But kentucky sent an army of both sides. Man sprang from southern rural whites, born on a Kentucky Farm. Transported, transplanted to an illinois village. This man in whose heart knowledge and wisdom and charity left no room for malice. This man was the one destined to heal the wounds of the nation. Thank you very much. [applause] on february 12, 1909, the centennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, our next speaker came to the community of hodginville for the laying of the cornerstone of the Lincoln Memorial hall as it was first known. He had served as United States Civil Service commission or, president of the Police Commission of new york city, assistant secretary to the United States navy, colonel of the first United States volunteer cavalry, governor of new york, Vice President of the United States and president of the United States all by the age of 42. Please give a warm welcome to the 26th president of the United States, theodore roosevelt. [applause] president roosevelt has he mentioned, i was here on and i february 12 will tell you it was cooler that day. Im going to give this speech and it is powerful and as important as it was back then. I hope you pay close attention. We have met here to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of the two greatest americans. One of the two or three greatest men of the 19th century, one of the greatest men in world history. This rail splitter, the one who boy who passed his life from a poor start whose rise was by weary and painful labor lives to lead his people through the burning flames of a struggle from which the nation emerged. Peer five purified if i fire. After long years of iron effort and a failure that came more often than victory, last rose to the leadership of the republic at a moment when that leadership had become the stupendous task of the time. He grew to know greatness but never ease. Success came to him but never happiness. Save that which springs from doing well a painful and vital path. Task. Power was his. But not pleasure. Deepened furrows deepened in his brow but his eyes were undimmed by either hate or fear. His shoulders were bowed but his steel fuse never faltered. His great and tender heart shrank from giving pay. The task allotted him was to pour out water the lifeblood. The sorrow of the women. Saddened but never dismayed by disaster, the red gears of war went by and found him ever doing his duty in the future with fearless front, high apart and dauntless of soul unbroken by hatred, unshaken by scorn. He worked and suffered for the people. Triumph was his at last had barely had he tasted it before kindly,ound him in the fearless eyes were closed forever. As a people we are indeed beyond measure fortunate in the characters of the two of our greatest public men, washington and lincoln. Widely though they differed in externals, the video landed gentleman and the kentucky backwards and. Backwoodsman. They were alike and essentials. They were alike in the great qualities which make each able to service his nation and all mankind such as no other could or did render. Each had lofty ideals and each striving to gain those ideals was guided by the most common sense. Each possessing flexible courage of adversity and soul. Holy unspoiled by prosperity. Each possessed all the greater virtues, the exhibited by goodman who lacked strength of character. Each possessed also the strong qualities, and commonly exhibited by those towering masters who have shown themselves to often devoid. As so much understanding of the words by which we signify the qualities of duty, mercy, lofty disinterestedness in battling for the goods of others. There have been other men as great and good, and all the history of mankind, there are no other two great men as good as these, no other two good men as great. Widely though the problems of today differ from the problems set forth by solutions of washington when he founded this nation and lincoln when he freed the slaves, yet the quality they showed in meeting these problems of the same as those we should show in doing our work today. Lincoln saw in the future with the prophetic imagination usually found only in the poet. He had in him all the list towards greatness of the visionary without the visionary fanaticism or egotism, without any of the visionary narrow jealousy of the practical man and an ability to strive in practical fashion for the realization of an ideal. He had the practical mans hard common sense. But there was in him none of that morbid growth of mind and soul which binds so many practical men to the higher things in life. No more practical man ever lived in this homely backwoods idealist. He had nothing in common with those practical men is consciouses are worked until they feel to distinguish between good and evil. Fail to understand that strength, ability, shrewdness, whether in the world of business or that the politics only serve to make their possessor a more evil member of the community if they are not guided and controlled by a fine moral sense. We of the state must try to solve many social and industrial problems requiring to a special degree accommodation of indomitable resolution, of coolheaded sanity. We can profit by the way in which lincoln used both of these traits as he strove for reform. We can learn much of the value from the very attacks by which that course brought upon his head. Attacked alike by the extremists of revolution and extremists of reaction. He never wavered in his principles in his love for the union. And his abhorrence of slavery. Lukewarm people were always do nothing him because he was too extreme. As a matter of fact, he never went to extremes. He worked stepbystep and because of this, extremists hated and denounced him with a fervor which now seems to us to be fanatic in its deification of the unreal and impossible. As holding him up as the apostle of social revolution, the leading abolitionist announced hem as the slave howland ound of illinois. When he was a second time candidate for president , the majority of his opponents attacked him because of what they termed as extreme radicalism. While the minority threatened to bolt his nomination because he was not radical enough. He had to continually check those who wished to go forward too fast at the very time he overrode the opposition of those who wished not to go forward at all. The goal was never dim before his vision. He picked his way cautiously without caution as he strode towards such a morass of difficulty that no man of less courage would have attempted it while it surely would have overwhelmed any man of judgment less serene. Perhaps the most wonderful thing of all from the standpoint of America Today and the future was the extraordinary way in which he could fight gallantly against what he deemed wrong and preserved and diminished his love and respect for the brother from which he differed. In the hour of tryon that wouldve turned to me a weaker to dreadful syndicate this. He said truthfully that so long as he had been in his office, he had never willingly planted a thorn in any mans bosom. Hises saw besaught supporters to study the trial through which they were passing as philosophy from which to learn wisdom, and not as rungs to be avenged. Ending with the solemn exhortation that all should reunite in a common effort to ending with the solemn exhortation that all should reunite in a common effort to save their common country. He lives in days that were great and terrible. When brother fought against brother for what each sincerely deemed to be the right, and a contest of goodness men see , through a glass darkly. Only to the rarest and loftiest spirits is granted that clear vision which gradually comes to all. As please could spec into the hearts that were hurt. Lincoln would give them the supreme vision. He did not hate the man from whom he differed. Weakness was as foreign as wickedness to his nature, but his courage was of such a high quality that it needed no all string of dark passion. He clearly saw that the same high qualities, the same courage and willingness for selfsacrifice and devotion to the right as it was given to them to see the right belonged both to the men of the north and the men of the south. As the years rolled by, and as all of us wherever we dwell grow to feel a pride in the devotion of the men who were the blue and the gray so that this whole nation will grow to feel a peculiar sense of pride and the mightiest of the mighty man who mastered the mighty days, the lover of his country and the lover of all mankind, the man whose blood was shed for his union of his people and for the freedom of a race. Abraham lincoln. [applause] thank you president roosevelt. The Abraham Lincoln birthPlace National park was established on july 17, 1916 when president Woodrow Wilson signed into law House Resolution 8351. Just six weeks later, on august 25, 1916, president wilson also established the National Park service when he signed into law the organic act of 1916. Whereas the National Park service was a new entity in late 1916, the administration of Abraham Lincoln birthPlace National park was placed under the department of war, which continued to administer the park until our next speaker through an executive order transferred 56 National Monuments and Historic Sites to the National Park service in 1933. He served in the new York State Senate as assistant secretary to the United States navy, governor of new york, and was elected president of the United States four separate times. Please give a warm welcome to the 32nd president of the United States, Franklin Delano roosevelt. [applause] congressman, mayor top , dignitaries, my fellow americans. I have visited the cabin in which Abraham Lincoln was born. I have come here individually as one of many millions of americans whose lives have been influenced for the good by Abraham Lincoln. I lived temporarily in the same house, in the same room once occupied by him. The very window from which he gazed in the dark days is the same. But this cabin is even more personal than the scenes of his official life, for here was born and lived the child. Here is the promise, later to be so splendidly fulfilled. I have taken from this cabin a renewed confidence that the spirit of america is not dead, that men and means will be found to explore and conquer the problems of a new time with no less humility and no less fortitude than his. Here, we can renew our pledge to of fidelity to the faith which lincoln held in the common man, the faith so simply expressed when he said, as i would not be a slave, so i would not be a aster. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference is no democracy. Thank you. [applause] thank you president roosevelt. Our next speaker served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the new tank corps in 1918, served as the supreme allied commander of the allied Expeditionary Forces in europe during world war ii, oversaw operations for dday in june of 1944, served as the military governor of the United States occupational zone in germany after world war ii, rose to the rank of a fivestar general, and was elected president of the United States in 1952. He was the last president to visit this park on april 23, 1954. Please give a warm welcome to the 34th president of the United States, dwight david eisenhower. [applause] honored guests, congressmen, my fellow citizens of the United States of america, long have i looked forward to the opportunity to visit this shrine. , which is so truly american. Now never in my wildest moment did i see this kind of occasion. I saw myself driving up here with my family in an old jalopy, stopping and looking and visiting this great spot. I am truly honored by the courtesy you show me in being here today, that i might greet you and bring you a word of welcome from your far of capital, washington, d. C. I think i could best express my feelings about Abraham Lincoln in this way. In my office in the white house, i have sketches of four Great Americans hanging on the wall. The first, and the oldest, benjamin franklin. George washington. Abraham lincoln. And robert e lee. Abraham lincoln has always seemed to me to represent all that is best in america in terms of opportunity and the readiness of americans always to rise up and exalt those who live by truth, whose lives are example s of integrity and dedication to our country. I would like to speak about two or three characteristics of lincoln that i think most of us should now remind ourselves possibly was a prophet. He was a great leader. I would like to remind you of the methods he used in his leadership. You can find no instance where he stood up in public and excoriated another american. You can find no instance where he is reported to have slapped or pounded a table and struck a pose of a pseudodictator or an arbitrary individual. Rather, the qualities that he showed and exhibited were forbearance and extreme patience. Once lincoln called upon general mcclellan, and the president went over to his house, a process which i assure you has been reversed long ago. General mcclellan decided he did not want to see the president and he went to bed. The next day, lincolns friends criticized him severely for allowing a mere general to do it treat him that way. All i lincoln said, want from general mcclellan is a victory, and if to hold his horse will bring it, i will gladly hold his horse. Thing, lincolns leadership was accomplished through a dedication of a single purpose, the preservation of the union. He understood deeply the great values that unite all of us, georgia with new york, massachusetts with texas, california with florida. He knew that there were divisive influences at work in our country, but he knew also that they were transitory in character. They were flaming with heat, but they were made of stuff that would soon burn itself out. The true values of america he understood are enduring as it holds us together, and so he was patient. He was forbearing. He was understanding. And he lives today in our hearts as one of the greatest that the englishspeaking race has ever produced, and a great leader. Yet never did he fall into the false habit of striking a napoleonic attitude at any time under any provocation. We remember his words because they still mean to us, they still explained to us, what this great country is, the greatest power on gods footstool that has ever been permitted to exist. A power for good among ourselves and all the world. And he, this great lincoln, was the one who did so much to give us the opportunity to live at a time when that would be so, when americas leadership in the world is necessary for the preservation of freedom and of liberty. In that world, just as in his his presence in the 1860s was necessary for the preservation of liberty and freedom and union of his nation. I want to thank you again for this great honor you do me in coming out here today. I cannot tell you how happy i am at last to have the opportunity of coming to the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, a man who, for me, like all of you, has been an idol since the days of my first memory. Thank you, and god bless the United States of america. [applause] thank you president eisenhower. On a sunday morning, february 12, 18 09, and a simple oneroom cabin was born a baby boy. No one at that time could have predicted that the newborn son of, lincoln and nancy would go on to lead the nation and change the world. Beginning in 1904, americans from across the stratum of society came together to develop the lincoln birthplace farm into a National Park. It was the Lincoln Farm Association and its members who pursued that goal which was finally achieved on july 17, 1916. It was there ideal to honor the great emancipator with a memorial at the site of his birth. Selftaught, this kentucky boy grew to the man who served in terms in the Illinois House of representatives, became a successful lawyer, served one term in the house of representatives, and was elected president of the United States in 1860. Please give a warm welcome to the 16th president of the United States, mr. Abraham lincoln. [applause] oh, what an honor. What an honor to be with you today. May i tell you a bit about my life . I am told i was born right here, february 12, 1809. I dont remember my birth, and you probably dont from your s. I was born here, did a lot of work here, moved over to illinois, did a lot of work there, move on to a place called illinois. There i met a lady mary todd. She had been invited to this cotillion. Understand a cotillion is a fancy name for a dance. I went to this cotillion, and i walked in, and there was this mary todd. Oh, i was smitten right away, to you was. I looked around at all these gentlemen were dancing. I said im going to ask her to dance but i dont know how to , dance. The only dancing i have ever done is behind a mule. So i looked at all these gentlemen, and every one of them had on white gloves. I had white gloves, so all the while im putting on my way white gloves, im seeing with these gentlemen are doing. Every last one of them had his left hand upholding the ladies right hand. I said im going to do this. And i did. I walked over to where she was and i took her by the hand and oh, ms. Todd i would like , to dance with you in the worst way. She accepted my invitation and we danced. I took her back to her seat and set her down. Later i heard her tell her cousin oh, that Abraham Lincoln. He is a man of his word. He said he wanted to ask me in the worst way, and that is exactly what he did. I have prepared fo a speech for this. It isnt the best message you isnt the best message you can have is have a very good beginning and a very good and, and keep the two as close together as you can. I read the book of ecclesiastics. It said there is a time for war, and a time for peace. Ladies and gentlemen while i , served this nation as president , it was a time of war. There was a brief time of peace. 1860, when i was elected president of the United States of america, there were 33 states in the union. 15 of those 33 states were slaveholding states. Virginia, north carolina, South Carolina georgia, florida, alabama, mississippi, louisiana, arkansas, tennessee, texas, delaware, maryland, missouri, and kentucky. I did not want war. No one wanted war. March 4, 1860, i closed my inaugural address with these words. I said in your hands my disatisfied countrymen, this country may dissent into civil war. Your government will not a you. You have no cant without yourself being the aggressor. We are not enemies but friends. , we must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it, it must not take the bonds of the nation. The mystic cord of memory as surely as it must be, by the better angels of our nature. Four years later, march 4, 1865, i knew this dreadful conflict was coming to an end. I knew i must do something to reunite this nation, to bring it together again. So i closed my second inaugural address with these words,. Fondly do we help, fervently do we pray that this work may speedily pass away. Everyd wills it drop of blood as it was said 3000 years ago, so it shall be set today the judgment of the , lord is true and righteous altogether, with malice towards none but charity for all. , god wills us to do right, so let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nations wounds to care for him , who has been in battle, and for his widow and his orphans to do all that you may, to care for him who achieve. In short a lasting peace among , ourselves and with all nations. I bid you an affectionate farewell. [applause] thank you president lincoln. That concludes our speakers for this afternoon. I would like to give a warm round of applause to all of our speakers this afternoon, and for the sentiments that they have represented on this special day. [applause] i would like to thank our distinguished guests, our president s, and all of you for being here today and making this 100th anniversary of the Abraham Lincoln birthPlace National historical park a very special day indeed. I invite all of you to visit and take pictures with the president s at the conclusion of the ceremony, and enjoy the park nationald all of your parks during the centennial year. Thank you again. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2016] Smithsonian Museum of African American history and culture opens its doors to the public for the first time. Tv will be live with sights and sounds leading up to the 10 00 a. M. Opening atemony, and we will be live the dedication, which includes remarks from president obama and lonnie bunch. This is American History tv, only on cspan3. Remember september 11, 2001 to the stories of americans at the white house, the u. S. Capitol, the pentagon, and in the sky above washington dc. Over the next hour, former white house chief usher gary walters sought to the needs of the president and his staff recalls the events after terrorists crashed planes into the World Trade Center towers in new york and into the pentagon. Gary walters, former chief usher of the white house, 837 year veteran of serving president s. What was your job . Uniformednitially a officer for the secret service for the first five years, then i was an assistant usher from