I want to thank representative gerald connollys office for aranging the room, the 11th district of virginia for electing representative mcconnolly since hes been generous enough to be doing this and i want to thank the History Center for doing are had the work. The national History Center offers these briefings because everything has a history and when some of those everythings are within the realm of public policy, then its our obligation as historians to provide the Historical Context essential to inform, debate and decision making. That obligation forms the sole position in these briefings. Were not here to convince anybody of any particular legislation. Were here because understanding the implications of change and hence shaping its direction requires understanding it changes that have brought us to this juncture in the first place. And weve discussed in these meeting rooms the histories of immigration, Civil Military relations, executive orders, social security, commerce in outer
Life and times. This is just over an hour. Im john eleff, president of the Lincoln Group of the District Of Columbia. The Lincoln Group has existed since the 1930s to honor the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln. And this year we have a special opportunity to hear from an extraordinary speaker. And in introducing him i would like to repeat something that he said at the First National Republican Convention that he attended as a young man in 1884. He was part of a reform wing of the Republican Party, and they had an insurgent candidate to be temporary chair of the convention, taking on the candidacy of the Republican National committee. That candidate happened to be the africanamerican congressmen from mississippi, john r. Lynch, and here is somewhere of what our speaker said. It is now less than a quarter of a century this this great city organized it is a fitting thing for us to choose to preside over this convention. One of that race whose right to sit within these walls is due to the
Raffles going on. At your table youve been given a note card that we would like you to write down a question for our panel this afternoon. If you have a question for them. And what i will do, i will take out the most objectionable ones. And then well proceed from there. But so if you find that and if youve got a question, then write it down and well ask our wonderful speakers today. Weve also, at the break were going to bring in my staff and were going to have a chance to acknowledge them. And then our Panel Discussion is after lunch at 1 00. So that will be the end of our day. I really like our speakers presentation title today, mission impossible, rethinking george b. Mcclel an. After this conference i think its more impossibler to do that. But dr. George rable, professor at the university of alabama where he held the care of southern history. He is the author of of a book that won the 2003 lincoln prize and was the choice outstanding academic title. His most recent book is damn yank
Im delighted to see you all here tonight and to welcome you to this wonderful event and its my distinct plesher to introduce our evening speaker. And i tell them most of them are there because it university is ininterested in them. I tell my students that value of history lies in its ability to see us in a the past in such way that we can reimagine the present and the future. And that perspective can allow us to create a better world than the one in which we now inhabit. And this is precisely the gift that i think our speaker, Michael Kazen brings us to tonight and has shared with the readers of many of his books, such as it biography of Williams Jennings bryan, his place of the political left in American History and most relevantly, his recent study of American Peace activists in world war i. Hes a professor of history. He writes frequently for it new york times. Has lectured wisely in the United States, europe and japan and we are very lucky to have him here with us this evening. Ple
Anniversary into the United States entry into the First World War and would focus on those who embrace peace and refuse to support the war effort. They wanted to know whether or not phs could merge our 2017 bienniel conference with their. I was thrilled to have them become an official cosponsor and part of the program committee. It was also four years ago this mornings keynote speaker, professor Erika Kullman and i were in contact with the peace history journal. It was around that time she was informing me when her three year term at the journal finished she planned to step down in order to complete her manuscript on the International Migration of german war veterans. Like any good organizational president i tried to get her to change her mind, since she had been such a great editor and because i wanted to pass off the work of finding a replacement to my successor. She refused, but she did remain a valued member of the organization and is now serving on the board of the peace history s