[ bird caws ] im jamie colby, and today im crossing the Delaware River from pennsylvania into new jersey. Yes, im following the route that general George Washington took to his big victory during the revolutionary war the battle of trenton. Im tracking down what i believe is the most intriguing strange inheritance ive heard of so far, something the father of our country may have been carrying that fateful night his wallet. My name is Barbara Farwell, and this is my daughter, linda. I inherited something from my mother, and one day my daughter will inherit it from me. For reasons that will become clearer as we follow the twists and turns of this story, the farwells have let their heirloom go on display right here in trenton. Barbara, how are you . Im jamie. So nice to meet you. Im glad to meet you. Hi, linda. How are you . Hi. Im fine. Thank you. So, whered you bring me . This is the Old Barracks Museum. And you keep something from your family here . Yes, we do. Come in. During the revo
Yes, now 110,000. 110,000, now 120,000. [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] im jamie colby, and today im on my way to fall river, massachusetts, about an hour south of boston. Im going to meet a man whos strange inheritance begins with his familys powerful connection to a future president. Im Dennis Harkins. Our mother passed in 1990. She left us with correspondence regarding our uncle harold who was lost in the South Pacific during world war ii. Dennis. Im jamie. Pleased to meet you. What is this place . This has to do with our inheritance. These ships. Mmhmm. Yes. Lets check it out. The Battleship Cove museum here in fall river has two of the last remaining pt boats from world war ii. Dennis uncle harold, who served on a pt boat, joined the navy in november 1941. He was the impish, typical younger brother. I think it was probably exciting for him. Then, a month later, pearl harbor. [ explosions ] with the u. S. At war, harold is shipped to the South Pacif
Above the televised president ial debate tonight. So we think weve got the best thing going here and were glad you chose to be with us tonight. Id like to acknowledge some very important people who are with us this evening. Matts parents tim and debbie costello, who are here with us tonight and his wife kristin, who is here tonight. And, of course, in my book the two most important costellos are sophia and theodore and theyre at home, i guess. They can come next time. Theyre matt and kristins wonderful little kids. I would also like to welcome the members of our board of directors who are with us tonight. We have ann stock and lets give ann a hand. Yes. And bob mcgee. [ applause ] and we have two that are in route, Anita Mcbride and gail west. Both will be a little bit late but will be with us here tonight. Steve strong is the national cochair of our white house our National Council of white house history, which he and his wife andrea are here with us tonight. This is one of our most i
In of George Washington. Guest good morning, welcome to mount vernon. Behind me you see George Washington, the first president , being sworn in at federal hall in new york city in 1789 in were thet how well duties and powers of the office that he was about to step into, how well were they defined at that moment when he was sworn in . Guest they were not defined at all. The presidency was a brandnew institution. There had not been anything like it certainly in america and really in the world. It was a new experiment of an elected magistrate who at one point would be the head of state, like a king, but at the same time be the chief executioner of the laws, the chief executive, the chief policymaker. It was not clear where the powers of the legislature and where the powers of the president would be defined. Washington really created that office, and many of the precedents, many of the things we come to think of as president ial, come down from his example in the office host 59 when he89,
to the small town of wellfleet. i m here to learn about a strange inheritance that shaped a family s life for half a century. my name is elena delbanco. in 2011, my sister and i inherited an extraordinary object from our father. this was my father s home for many years. he and my mother built it in 1955. elena s father was the virtuoso cellist bernard greenhouse, who died in 2011 at the age of 95. [ classical music plays ] greenhouse spent most of his career playing with the renowned beaux arts trio, which made its debut in 1955 and catapulted to fame. he was very warm and very charming but very involved with his work. and he traveled all the time as he became more and more successful. as one of the world s premier cellists, bernard figured he should be playing one of the world s finest cellos. he began searching in europe for an instrument equal to his talent. he went to dealers and to instrument shops, and wherever he went, he said, have you heard any rumors abou