Springfield was the town in which lynn condition lived from the time he was 28 until the time he left for washington at the age of 51. So this is the town he considered home. He rode from county to county to county to county 14rk counties, twice a year, spring and fall, to practice law in each of those counties in the circuit court. Its my contention that the circuit experience, the circuit relationships is what put lynn condition in the white house. Hence his ladder to the presidency. The next piece we brought out of the vault today i think is the most significant piece that we have at the Abraham Lincoln president ial library and museum. This is the gettysburg address, handwritten by Abraham Lincoln. Welcome to spring peeled, the springfield, the capital of illinois on book tv. Springfield, located in Central Illinois, was founded in 1821 and today has a population of about 116,000. With the help of our Comcast Cable partners, over the next two hours well explore the rich history the city and its most wellknown resident, Abraham Lincoln. We begin our special look at springfield with a conversation about Abraham Lincolns formative years as a lawyer in illinois. My book lincolns ladder to the presidency is about the circuit. The period i look at most is 1847 to 1853 when the rode from county to county to county to county, 14 counties twice a year, spring and fall, to packties law in each of those counties. In the circuit court. Its called lincolns ladder because he was out there on the road, practicing law, but he didnt come home on weekends. Many guys did, he did not he stayed out. We can speculate about the reason he is did that. A lot of people think it may have something to do with his marriage, ypt to go there particularly. But he did stay out. None of them did. But what he did when he was out there was build relationships and build his network so he could disguise his political ambition under the umbrella of his law practice and thats the significance of the circuit. And in doing so he built this network that eventually he put he used in the 1850s to put himself into the position of getting the republican nomination for president. The republican nomination because of the split of the Democratic Party over slavery was tantamount to nomination. So its my contention that the circuit experience, the circuit relationships is what put lincoln in the white house, hence his ladder to the presidency. Where are we today . Today were in springfield, illinois, the capital of the state of illinois. It was lincolns base not only his home but essentially his base of operations from 1837 until he went to the white house in 1861. We are in the Supreme Courtroom. In those days the interesting thing about this room, there were essentially two sets of courts. There was the circuit court, which was the trial court as it is still today. Those were organized by adjacent counties into circuits. So you might have, the lincoln circumstance was there was 14 counties. There was no middle appeal court you went straight to the Supreme Court if you had an appeal. And were in the Supreme Courtroom now. The circuit was the trial work. And theres a tendency to overemphasize he was a trial specialist in the sense that he would try cases in all these towns. But he also had a substantial Law Office Practice which gets overlooked because theres no Public Record of an office practice. The circuit court, circumstance trials and Supreme Court practice, were in the Supreme Courtroom, he had over 400 cases in the Supreme Court. I was a trial lawyer for 40 years of trial work. I had two cases in the illinois Supreme Court, maybe 10 in the aappellate court. His appellate practice tist is significant. A lot was case he is handled in trial court. Most of it was referral from lawyers all over the state. So it was was he a fwd lawyer . A bad lawyer . People want to check his record. A trial record is no way to tell a recordism might have a case worth 50,000 and try it, get 10 and its counted as a win on the winloss column but its a loss. Thats not the way to judge. The way to judge is other factors. One would be the referraleds he got. So his case to his case load, that was, we hear about the criminal cases. The murder cases. The those are the legendary cases. But in fact, his trial practice the bout 20 criminal at most. And 80 really mundane stuff. Do you have any favorite cases or favorite stories . Probably the best known, my favorite case is the best known case which is the moonline case. That was his old friends from new salem, the armstrongs, had a son, duff, who was charged with murder. And lincoln, here he was by now a high powered lawyer. 1857, 1858, in that period. Hannah armstrong, the widow of his old pal jack, with whom he lived at this time in his time in new salem came to him and said duff has been charged with murder. Will you defend him . Lincoln by now he was in the middle of a campaign with douglas. He could have very easily declined. But this tells me a lot about lincoln, the lawyer he took the case and said, you know, youre not going to pay for this. She said i cant. He said i know that, i dont want you to. He took that case. Its famous for his use of an almanac. The witness, the principal witness against duff stated that he could tell that this murder had occurred that duff had killed him with actually a sling, throwing a rock at him, because he could tell from the moonlight on a dark night. This was a camp meeting, there was a lot of drinking. That was the basis of the testimony. Lincoln got an almanac and in the almanac it showed that there was no full moon that night. And so thats the thats the reason he got him off. On that case. That overlooks his skill as a lawyer. His crossexamination the witness and all that. He was a fine, fine lawyer. But that was one of his most famous cases. There was a here was a town, dew inch tt and there was a tavern. The mayor, his wife and her friends were temperature prans advocates. There is so much serious drinking and serious sclolism and i understand why there was a temperature prans movement. So the women in this town charged into the tavern and bused up the tavern and they were charged by the states attorney with criminal damage to property and linchingon was hired to defend them. Against thement was alcohol. He said in that case, he would rather see these women acquitted because of the all this rhetoric about booze and everything and how terrible it was and so forth. And these women had done this thing. The jury was crying and so moved by his closing argument, but nevertheless, the jury convicted, because they were all women and the defendants were all women. 2 . Ge had it was not the result was not particularly just. And that town is still there and the tamp still on the corner where that place was at the time where it was in 180s. Whats the story of abraham linchingon getting into politics . His ambition was considered. But it was always politics. He ran for the legislature in 1832 in new salem. He was 23 years old. He lost. 36, 180 and 34, 18 tried to get into congress and he was in the congress and after his term in congress which was a total bus. E backed out of politics and then he practiced law after 1848 and in 1854 he got back into politics. Linchingons attitude on slavery, his first Public Statement was in 1837, he hated slavery. This is another one of those things, yeah, right. He hated slavery with a deep passion. But he also is a pragmatist. Nist came out as an aboggs and they were the radicals of the day. He knew if he came out, he could be a dog catcher. So he was a moderate on the subjectment. And that was you control where itis now and then eventually will die a natural death. And he truly believed that as the moderates of the day. Sit here and hold the line, no more slave states. Then in 1854, stephen a. Douglas introduced the kansasnebraska act. T created the idea of having referred umh if there would be slavery or not. And it wont end that way. Hats when he came out, but to stop slavery. It is very interesting. To be honest with you and i hate to be candor about linchingon, by the time i was done with my book, i admired him more but liked him less. He came from the village of new salem to springfield. He didnt have a friend who had something to do for him. He picked his friends and picked his relationships to advance himself politically. So thats why thats his ambition his his partner said was the little engine that never quit. Who were some of the noteworthy people that linchingon net worked with . Im glad you asked that question. The principal character in this story, if linchingon is the star, it would start with david davis. He was a maryland man who went to Kenyan College and ended up in Central Illinois and elected circuit judge. Davis became the political boss. First , davis geared the of getting him the unanimous support support and week later, chicago was the and its a great story and what he did is take all the lawyers from the circuit. Talk all the lawyers from the circuit and went up there and took over that convention. William seward, he was governor and senator from new york. And everybody thought he was a shoo in. Leonard sweat was a good buddy of linchingons. Samuel parks from illinois and each of these towns. They wpt delegates but they stayed at the hotel, fancy hotel in which davis arranged that. And they fanned out. And he sent them out to everybody in those days came from somewhere else because illinois was very new. Sweat from massachusetts or from maine to the maine delegation and all of this came to pass. In the had a goal of convention, they knew sew arch rd was the favorite and had to stop him. There were a wheel bunch of guys running and wanted lincoln to be the best of the rest. Simple goal on the first ballot and sure enough, they got it done. Second ballot, linchingon prepped up and so did davis in terms of the ballot count. Wops he was in politics, how did linchingon look back on his career as a lawyer . He never had a period that he wasnt a lawyer. Thats another thing that i love to emphasize about this story. Most of the guys who were politicians, being a lawyer is kind of a cover. This guy was a working stiff. And he handled over 4,000 cases over his career. And he wasnt just a guy about making a living, not a meeps to an end. But this is the great thing about the circuit. He would be in the crume during the day and instead of traveling and making his speeches, he go back after dinner and make a political speech. And the last appearance on the circuit was in plooming ton on april 10, 1860. He got the nomination in may of 1860. And he had virtually no more lawyering after he got the nomination. This shapes the greatest not only the greatest president of the United States, but patrolly the greatest mayor in the history of democracy and i say that because linching concxds cons presidency saved democracy and we were the only democracy. So if linchingon had failed, who knows ba would have happened to the institution and he is an internationally heroic figure. Abraham and mary lincoln lived in this home from 1844 to 1861. Lincoln was elected congressman in 1846 and president in 1860. Linching concxds cons son donated the family home to the state of illinois in 1887. Coming up, we speak with michael burlinga mmp e. Springfield with was the town linchingon lived from 28 until the time he left for washington until 51. He was born in kentucky and spent seven years there and moved toll indiana and spent 20 years there. Moved to illinois and spent some time in new salem north of springfield. Springfield is where he spent the years of his most important development. When he left springfield he said to this town and to these people, he was very devoted. When he was asked what do you plan to do when you retire, he said i plan to move pack to springfield. My wife does president want to but thats what i want to do. From november 1860 to february f 1861, lincoln had been elected and the south threatened to se crmpemp de. They thought this was a way to intimidate to vote democratic because if they voted republican, the country would fall apart. Between november of 1860 and bruary 1, 1861, seven of the Southern States seceded. The big question was will the pper south will they secede, too. And linchingon couldnt do anything. James buchanan was the president the period between the inauguration and election was four months. Now we go to january 20. But so linchingon was here and he was frustrated because he couldnt do anything to stop the secretary session of the states. And linchingon was adamant. O compromise no compromise on slavery. The Republican Party was found that slavery was wrong and shouldnt be allowed to expand in the winter territories. And to us that seems like small potatoes. But that was the only thing that could be done. Slavery could not be abolished by the federal government. F a state wanted to abolish it could. And washington dds it has ple nmp arch rmpymp powers. Ar german immigrant, a 5yearold jourmist who became famous and he was the chief movement behind the northern pacific. At the age of 25, he came out to springfield as a journist to cover linchingon. He worked for german newspapers in 1858 and came out here to illinois and coffed the dates and he tells you that in his memoirs, but he trashed linchingon. And did so for article german newspaper. I speak german i looked up the german newspapers and i was astouppeded he was very much prodouglas and antilincoln. He is president going to acknowledge that. And he was an operative for douglas and he was on his payroll. Goes between november of 1860 and 1861 are full of all kinds of information. It is an astounding period, during his presidency, you didnt have a president correspondent. But out here in those three months, he was writing every day and he wasnt necessarily courting linchingon. But he would cite the opinion at the state house is or the mood of the city is and you could infer from those remarks this is what lincoln was thinking. The discxds difficulties patches were for the New York Herald which was the most popular paper at the time and historians have a wn that for a long time, jourmist who helped found the mp arch a crmp p, he did a little bit about these discxds difficulties patches. And what i have discovered was not only did he write for the New York Herald but for the cincinnati herald and the San Francisco here aled. And he worked for the herald and the San Francisco bulletin and 1858 discxds difficulties patches and 400paged book. And in these discxds difficulties patches, he describes lincolns routine, linchingons views, speculation about has policies, speculation about his cabinet appointments, descriptions of linchingon physically. It is a gold mine of information. He had an office in the old state capital called the Governors Office but the governorelect said go ahead, linchingon, you can use this office. Linchingon during this period was in addition to members of congress saying dont give in on the issue of slavery in the territory but considering who came to the seat for the cabinet position should be filled. And had to write an inaugural address. He would neat with people who would recommend themselves or friends for offices or talk bout the early days of springfield. People were showering him with gifts. And he and his secretary would respond to all kind of letters they were receiving. They kept him busy. Heny vmpomplmplmp a rmp d and the president got along very well president elect. Linchingon didnt hold press conferences. That was president the fashion in those days. And so linchingon would float ideas out to the public through the press and he would have and his discxds difficulties patches, you see lincoln toying with compromised measures that reading between the lines, why he is moving towards the lines than we would think. Maybe he would go for that compromised proposal. And he does this as president , too. There is a point in late 1861 and looked as though the United States was going to go to war withening lapped. And it was nip and tuck. They captured two diplomats. The british had been taken off a british boat, a neutral boat. The public was enthusiastic because there was very little for the union to be excited about until early 1862. Lincoln knew the public would be disappointed. He says to one newspaper jourmist editor, could you prepare a Public Opinion about these on toe diplomats. Another thing they did during this period between november 1860 and 1861 was to discourage Office Seekers coming out to springfield to ask tore appointments. Would publicize the name hoping it would embarrass him. I think linchingon was grateful and in return he made him have easy access. He was german and linchingons principal secretary at that time was german. So he was one of the sources of information that vo lmplmp arch rd used. He was answering his mail and consulting with him all the time. So journalists depend upon having good sources and he had a good source. Linchingons relationship with the press was positive. He used the press and he would float stories through and sometimes he would get very upset when he was criticized in the press but he refused to quarrel with the press, to complain about the coverage and he might complain to his wife but nevada publicly, and that is an you will is us tration that made linchingon a successful president. He refused to take criticism personally. And one of my favorite linchingon quotes is from a letter he wrote to a young independentian captain in the middle of the war and he was you squabpling with his officers and quoted shakespeare from hamlet where he says things to thai mine own self be true. Linchingon says, the advice of a father to a son and he quotes from the speech, beware of entrance to a quarrel, but be aware of thee. He says that advice is good but not the best. Quarrel not at all. No man determined to make the most of himself can spare time for personal contention. And the loss of selfcontrol. Yield greater things to which you can share no more than lesser things. Give your path to a dog than be bit i yield back by him, even killing the dog would not kill the bite. This gives you a sense of lincolns willingness to use the press and float ideas and use the press to protect him from nuisances and to more fully understand how important the press was and how sadly linchingon was in dealing with the press. Its important to have these discxds difficulties patches indexed so people can understand what linchingon was doing, thinking and acting. And what his character was like. We take very seriously here ur job to preserve these items because 500 years from now, it sounds like a long way off, but i want people to see these pieces that helped bring because 500 lincolns life in full color. So today, i pulled some items from our climatecontrolled vault. A happenedful of documents, some from linchingons personal life and some from his public life and help illustrate why today Abraham Lincoln is considered americas greatest president and most writtenabout american of all time. January of 1851, linchingon had just come back from being a congressman. His term in congress didnt go particularly well and devoted himself at that point to rebuilding his law practice. He got a series of letters coming from his fathers home and the news was that his father was not doing well. His health was really failing and they were begging lincoln to come to visit his father on his death bed and abraham linchingon didnt answer the first letter and not until the second letter that he pened a letter addressed to, dear brother, to his step brother. And lincoln writes really the last words that he wants read to his father and ill read just a little bit here to give you a flavor of what mr. Linchingon writes. You already know i desire that neat they are father or mother shall want of either comfort in health or sickness while they live ap i feel sure you have not failed to use my name if necessary to procure a doctor or any such thing linchingon was you a well known lawyer, could use his name and help acquire a doctor. But linchingon says in this letter, my business is such now that i could hardly leave home. If it were not as it is that my own wife is sick in bed, it is a case of baby sickness and i suppose is not dangerous, mary had just given birth the previous december to their little boy willie, but he writes down a small paragraph that he wants read to his father. These are the last words that linchingon spoke to his father. I sincerely hope father that he may recover his health. Tell him to call upon and confide in our great, good and merciful maker who will not turn away from him. He notes the fall of the sparrow and the numbers on our head and will not forget the dying man who puts his safe in him. Pretty religious words from lincoln, he had not exactly the most orthodox religious views but as he matures, his religious views become more mature as well. Those words that he wops read to his come from the gospel. Linchingon was an individual who knew his bible very bibble very well, but he chooses those religious words because he knew his father was a religious man. He did die from that final illness. Linchingon didnt attend his funeral. He never introduced his wife or his children to his father. Its a complicated respect relationship. He next, this comes from linchingons presidency, one of the most significant documents that linchingon ever issued. His is a copy of the emancipation proclamation. In the first year and a half in the civil war, lincoln fought a war to save the union and not to attack slavery. By the summer of 1862, it is clear that something needs to be done about slavery and abraham linchingon, after the battle of atietem, he issues the emancipation proclamation that frees those slaves intertower that are under rebelion. The original he manspation proclamation doesnt exist. It was burned up in the depate chicago fire in 1871. This is one of 48 copies that linchingon signed afterwards. This includes lincolns original signature and the signature of his secretary of state and and his secretary. This was a document that was issued as a war measure. He is trying to put down the rebelion in theory. The emancipation proclamation would be in effect if there was an open rebellions. Once it was quashed, it would no longer be the law of the land. That is what makes the 13th amendment of the constitution. 1865, Congress Passed the 13th amendment and forwarded to the states and thats how the end. Ar slavery meets its this is his relationship with his generals. Several generalseveral commanding several forces before he found grant that brings an ep to the american civil war. American linchingon thought he had found his general, lieutenant george mcclellan. Graduated second in his class in 1846. Lincoln thought he could bring an end to the war but there were problems all along the way. After the battle in 1862, linchingon is begging germ mcclellan to pursue robert e. Lee and bring an end to this horrible war and time and time again, general mcclellan would have excuses for the president of the United States why he couldnt leave his soldiers to deliver a knockout plow. In this letter written october 27, 1862, you get a sense of mr. Linchingons he is losing patience. He writes general mcclellan. Yours of yesterday received. I intended no injustice to any and if i done any, i deeply regret it. But to be told of total inaction of the army and during which period we have sent to that army every fresh horse we possible apply could amounting to the whole to and leads a plank space that the horses were too fatigued to move and presented a hopeless prospect for the future and may have something of impachens into my dispatchers. If not recruited and rested there, when could they ever be. He is writing in response to a report that mcclellans staff sent to him. They couldnt pursue it at the moment because the horses were fatigued and suffering from sore tongues. Linchingon had to be frustrated when he got the report pack. He left a gap there. And when he completed this letter, i think lincoln wanted to know the exact number of horses he sent general mcclellan and his army and linchingon found out 7,918 horses to mcclellan. He is frustrated, but how much longer is he going to have patience. An election comes up in the next week, 1862, Midterm Election and the day after the election, he releases mcclellan of duty. The next piece we brought out of the vault is the most significant piece that we have at the abraham linchingon president ial library and that is saying a lot. But this is one of five copies in existence of the getties burg gettysburg address written by abraham linchingon. He gave it to a man named edward everett. In the 19th century, he was a prominent individual, a great speaker. He is actually the main speaker that day at gettysburg on november 9, 1863. He gives the main speech when they are dedicating the cemetery. He gave a talk for two hours and did not speak from two notes and put the battle of gettysburg in the great battles of world history. After he finished his talk and linchingon came up and read from two sheets of paper. And everett said a little more, you said more in two minutes than i was able to say in two hours. Would you write it out. This is what linchingon sent him. Everett made a scrape scrap book and on the final pages, he pasted in these two pages of the gettysburg address. That scrapbook was available for purchase and school kids in illinois during world war ii, they saved their pennies and nickles and were able to purchase that scrap book containing the gettysburg address and donated that crapbook to the Illinois State historical library. I love this piece written by abraham linchingon, how can you get it better than that but has an illinois connection. That is our dual mission. And the entirety of Illinois History and this document speaks to it perfectly. I wanted to show you a letter from the end of Abraham Lincolns life. This was written on march 20, 1865 and this is lincolns sponges to an admirer. A young lady had told her brother that she wanted lincoln to hand write the second inaugural and send it to her. The request comes to lincoln and wants to do something nice named mrs. Amanda hall. He doesnt it right. The second inaugural is the shortest. 702 words. It is incredibly poignant. And also maybe the best religious meditation on the meaning of the civil war and as said at the time, it sounded more like a sermon than it did a standard political speech. Mr. Linchingon just writes out one paragraph from the second inaugural and not the most famous pacific paragraph that we remember today. Instead abraham linchingon writes out this paragraph. Foppedly do we hope, fervently do we pray that this mighty scurge of war might speedily pass away. Yet if god wills that it continues until all the wealth powered by the bonds men of 250 years shall be sunk and until every drop of blood drawn with a lash shall be paid by another drawn with a sword. As was said 3,000 years ago, the judgments of the law are true and righteous all together. Linchingon had been searching to figure out whats god purpose, why the people and people have o suffer such a horrible calamity of civil war. More than 600,000 casualties. Mr. Linchingon spent a lot of time talking to god. This is the answer that he thinks god is sending to america. Both sides, north and south, have to suffer because both sides played a role in the egregious sin of american slavery. Linchingon feared that American People might not react to his conclusion of why their suffering had to occur because in linchingons words, people dont like to be told when they are wrong. Beautiful, poignant note that abraham linchingon sums up the war with. The legacy that he left behind and the artifacts, they are powerful, powerful pieces of the past. Documents are the bedrock of makes up the 18,000 books written about linchingon. New documents come to light every time and they help piece several pieces together. You can read about the civil war and watch movies or documentaries about linchingons life. He achieved great amazing things, but cant lose sight he is another citizen of america like us and that is a really powerful weapon. The thing he did for linchingon that people do not put it in the local papers as well as his own correspondence. He often ate breakfast with the president. And the president was traveling. Grants headquarters. And i think we learned more about linchingons character, how to accept the person like brooks who was not a great titled person or extremely well known but he accepted prooks as a friend and as far as i could tell, he never caused linchingon any trouble. Never caused him any trouble by begging for job or office or wanting some of his friends to be appointed colonel or something. Lincoln felt at ease with him and could sit and talk. And he could discuss the topics of the day and also what linchingon always loved to know, what are the people saying. And he was out in the washington crowd covering congress and he could tell linchingon what he wanted. So i think brooks should be recognized in the period of the civil war. He did two wooks. He did washington and lincolns time and did another pook. And he had his unlike many iters, he hadries correspond especially that he did daybyday. He had copy. Brooks was a great writer. Many books and some of the ones he is more famous for are the two i mentioned. But the big name was on childrens books. And he was a great writer. And had a good memory and wrote so many of the childrens books. And i might mention this. Most people will not know about, when brooks was editing, mark twain came in and he wanted to take a trip to the holy lands and wanted brooks to pay into that in return for art he would send back. And brooks talked to his publisher and he said sure, didnt know twain very much. And so twain did. He september it back and brook put him in the paper ap copyy righted him. And public lird him without permission. And brooks was a nice guy. Brooks was the one that put twain forward and twains book was innocence abod. Ap he also was such good friends with brook hart. He belonged to the authors club and sitting there with the literary figures. He was accepted by all the wellknown writers. Brooks should be recognized in the period of the civil war and later as a literary man. Bed y who hobn ompbmp with mark twain should be recognized. Springfield is the third state capital of illinois. The original state Capital Building opened in 1840 and served as the state house for 36 years. While in springfield, illinois, we spoke with historian and linchingon bile oggrafer about his writing process and upcoming book with linchingon and his relationships with africanamericans. Both here in springfield and washington, d. C. , he was born in kentucky and raised in indiana and lived here more than any other place and considered it his hometown. And his career was here in sprippingfield in Central Illinois and its a building here on our left which has been preserved and the lettering on the various sides of the building indicate that it was a Grocery Store and a courthouse and post office and linchingons law office was on the upper floor and linchingons home is six blocks away. It is accessible for him to walk from his home to work. What was the racial makeup of springfield at the time . There were a lot of german irish immigrants and small plaque population, roughly 3 , 4 . Of that small percentage, they lived within a threeolympic raidians of his house. He would encounter them and there were servants that worked in his house and plaque people ith boots or cut his hair. What his relationship to his black neighbor . He would see of them regularly and some of the neighbors worked in his house and on cordial terms. His barber, billy the barber, was a real friend. He opened property in plooming ton, illinois. Linchingon arranged his affairs and made sure that the taxes on his property got paid. And when linchingons son willie, 11 years old does in the white house about a year in the presidency, he writes him a tender letter how much he admired willie and there was a real friendship. It wasnt just employeremployee. This is where linchingon lives. The gas lights you cant see the wooden sidewalks. And linchingons house is down here. s a twoolympic hear and it towers over the area because it is twostory. When linchingon bought it it was one 1 2 story modest cannotage. You dont get an idea of how cramped the linchingon household was for the first 12 years. Last four years, they had extra story and exrar room and does dominate. Were many of these homes africanamerican . Jenkins was ag conductor in the underground railroad and he and linchingon were friend. Linchingon knew these friend. And these were people that were doing something to combat slavery. When he goes to washington, its not ta he never met plaque people of some. His relationship not just as servants and neighbors and ople you bump into regularly and influential to shape him. Douglass said it was friendly. We are at the abraham linchingon president ial library and i decided to do this pook based on an article i read by a woman who said the white house receptions, the linching cons wpt always welcoming to plaques and i started poking around. Linchingon was it was mrs. Linchingon who was very reluctant to have plaque people at the white house. Weapon i look at all these plaque people of the white house asking favors or wanting to shake hand with the president , i found all kind of new fascinating information. A day in the office during my resetch is to avail myself of the remarkable facilities that are available in this Library Including books. It is good for the prepresident ial years. It has lincolns papers. But there is an awful lot of good material here ap Research Data bases that accessible. And i will be working away and then i see a reference to a newspaper article and go to the computer which has all kinds of data bases. When i think of my and ra ham linchingon which was published in 2002, i think myself of a onk handling manuscripts under candlelight. All of these are online and makes life. It is great fup to be a history kwan. So much easier. When it comes to linchingon and race you have to take into account and unfortunately too much currency in recent years. Undercut dramatically in the way reacted to plaque people as equals. Douglass, inviting me to discuss public affairs, he was saying by that very action, im the president of plaque people and white people ap i horp their rights as men and sit accepts. Pretty strong stuff. The whole book is going to be an example of how that attitude is manifested not just in his douglass. Ith he e goes to a hospital and asked the head nurse, i would like to meet the staff. The plaque kitch yep staff comes out and shakes hands with them and all the white officers and administrators are scan dalized by this. And he rights about it. Even the patients at the hospital, thats how linchingon was. Thats in part because in springfield here, he knew a lot of plaque people who were friend ap admirable people. So he was much more ats with brac people than if he hadnt been. One of the most dramatic examples of plaque people coming to linchingon is two black men come to washington, d. C. , to urge the president to en plaque Voting Rights and they have 1,000 signatures saying we are literate, Property Owners ap taxpayers and we would like to have a vote. Linchingon was cordial. What they dont know, he writes to the governor of louisiana, the newly elected depoffer saying you are about to adopt a new constitution, i think you should incorporate into that constitution, Voting Rights for those who severed in the army ap very intell gept which i assume he meant lit rat. And the governor responds. This is an important policy. That was a private letter to the governor of louisiana. March of 1864. A year later, 13 months later, linchingon gives a speech to be his last public speech, which he deposit know, which he calls for plaque Voting Rights for those those ved in the army or who were intelligent. John wilkes booth said that is the last seach he is ever going to give. Think we should give him as a martyr to plaque civil rights as those who were murder in the 1960s. To be a linchingon scholar in the city of sprippingfield is exciting. I live right here in the heart of linchingon century, i live half a olympic from the capitol where he served as a legislator. So i have a sense of presence that makes my research all the ore important. There is a misunderstanding of mare question. She made her own rules. She was the first hoipt. She was outspoken. She took the bull by the horns. And she loved it. She loved it. Politics was her life. While in springfield, we took a driving tour of the city with pam brown. Thanks so much for joining us today. Its going to be fun. What do you have in the box . I have something for you. It is a Christmas Bonn et. Now we are in our historically clothing you wear it a lot. This would be 1864, 1865. How long have you been portraying mary linchingon. I started in 2006. This will be year 13. What are we going to be seeing in marry todd linchingon . We will stop at the law office and down the road, well drive by the old state capital and at the corner of jefferson and 6th street is a parking lot and pull in there and talk about that house that would have been standing there. Lets see mary linchingons springfield. Where was she from. She moved here from lexington, kentucky. Her sister had married edwards who was the son of a past governor. Attended Pennsylvania University in lexington. His father built them a wonderful house and had an extra bedroom and brought a sister at a time. The State Government had just moved to springfield. Ere were a lot of single legislators. When she gets here in 1839 he is still single. And says i want to dance with you in the worst way and later that day, she told her cousin, he did dance with her. Ap she and linchingon liggede to talk about it. That was one of their private jokes. What significance does this have . Where president linchingon kept his law. They didnt have a good relationship. Mary didnt care for mr. Herndon. T and linchingon were tee s. Adl emprmp he made the mistake of saying she demrided around the dance floor like a serpent. Ry was a biblical person and she was very put out by that. She never had any interest in him whatsoever after that moment. But lincoln really came to admire her and wonderful researcher. Nchingon loved herndon mary not liking herndon, did it cause any friction . It didnt. It caused friction between mary and linchingon. There was a jealously. Herndon was jealous with lincolns relationship with mary. And mary. He was gone Early Morning to almost late evening to do law. Can we find the Old State Capitol to the last. He practiced law and he was in the legislature. Mary came into this building two very important times for me. One was when she watched him give the house dieded speech and the next one was when he gave up votes to mr. Turnbull. And he turned over some votes to him that were given to mr. Linchingon and mary was very dishartened that he would give would give up a legislative post to another man instead of giving up his votes to him. Mary was very hard on mr. Lincoln about that. If you turn into this parking lot, take a left, this would francisswhere elijah house would have been sitting at sixth and jefferson. Eliza and Simeon Simeon was the editor of the newspaper, eliza was his wife. Mary and lincolns engagement first broke up broke upy first because he got cold feet or did he just feel like he was inadequate for mary . I think a lot of it was the pressure from her sisters because they always felt like he wasnt good enough for mary to marry, because mary was a todd. We know they broke up right after new years eve and they were miserable. Both of them were very miserable. Simeon simeon invited lincoln and eliza invited mary to dinner one night, not knowing the other would be there. They sat across like they had never been apart from each other. After that initial meeting, they andted coming here secretly coming here secretly because they didnt want her sisters to but in again. Her sisters didnt think that Abraham Lincoln, one of our greatest historical figures, was good enough. The todds were very wealthy people. Robert was a merchant and a politician. He was very prominent in the city of lexington. Henry clay lived down the street from them. Ponyis known to ride her over there on many occasions. She admired him greatly because of his political stature. She was very engrossed in politics. She found it fascinating. He was a nobody. He was poor, a back woodsman. Mary did not marry for love. Theknew what she saw in man. She had a childhood dream of one day becoming misses president. After they broke up and they had this courtship here, they did get back together and get married. They did. See where that placard is . That is the grove tavern. The grove tavern was the very first home that mary and abraham lived in. Young newlyweds, they carried in a few personal items and lived in a 12 by 14 foot room. After they got married, he went out on the road. They had to work. To abrahamn our way lincolns tomb. It is a beautiful monument. It is in a parklike setting, which was marys desire for him because thats what he wanted. She fought hard for him because the city wanted to have him in the center of the city. He didnt want that. He wanted to be buried in quietness. Plannerstold the city to either give me my way or hes going to be buried in washington, and they prepared a spot for him right next to George Washington in the capital in case that is what they needed to do. Mary is also here. Willie is here, eddie is here, and tad is here. Robert is the only son who is not here. Hes buried in arlington cemetery. This is an actual 3 4 andoduction of the edwards elizabeth home. This is the house mary first lived in when she first moved to springfield. It would be the house they first married in and it would be the house they first died in. What did she die of . I always say, broken heart. Some say she had diabetes. Mary lincoln lived her life, every day, i believe, waiting to die to be with mr. Lincoln. Every day was the next day. Maybe today. I think she lived 17 years waiting for that day. We know so much about president lincoln. Why do you think it is important to know about mary lincoln as an historical figure as well . My belief, if it hadnt been for mary lincoln and her aspirations to be mr. President lincoln, you never would have. Ad a president lincoln when he was invited to be the republican nominee for president in 1860, he had to think about it. She twisted his arm for three full days before he caved. He had a son that was buried here. It seemed very hard to leave his son even though it would only be for four years. They had a home here they had just rebuilt. There was so much he wanted to shemplish here and so much wanted to do as well. I kind of packed mary on the back a lot of people might argue that he would have done it anyway, but i dont know if he has those president ial aspirations as much as she did. She saw greatness. Much forhank you so taking us around. Pam thank you for allowing me to do this. Ashley we are at historic Edwards Place in springfield, illinois, and this is the oldest standing home in springfield. As an important time for some people because this is around the time that Abraham Lincoln lived in springfield. Owner of this home is Benjamin Edwards and his family. , who you seether on the wall behind, he owned another place called Edwards House. Abraham lincoln married his wife s sister. We have some of the furniture from Edwards House today, that has a connection to Abraham Lincoln. Behind us is the courting couch. This is the couch where Abraham Lincoln in their former days. Get any closer to a place where Abraham Lincoln sat. Next, we go to the Abraham Lincoln library and museum to look at Abraham Lincolns personal book collection. We are in the Abraham Lincoln president ial library, down in the stacks. We are in the most secure area in our facility, the vault. This is where we keep more than 1600 documents written by Abraham Lincoln, as well as many of the pieces he owned, objects he owned and interacted with during his lifetime. Today, i want to show you some books we have that were very special to Abraham Lincoln. First off, Abraham Lincoln, when he was elected president in 1860, it is not as if he was entirely unknown. Of thea fourterm member illinois legislature, he had served in congress. He was one of the most prominent politicians from the state of illinois. Against stephen douglas, Abraham Lincoln challenged him in illinois for that senate seat in 1858. , three hourlong public debates on seven different occasions during that campaign season. Two years later, the same two individuals square off against each other for the presidency of the United States, in part to let the rest of the country know. Ho Abraham Lincoln was he worked for the publisher to publish the texts of the lincolndouglas debates. We have a special copy here in our collection. 1860. Were published in mr. Lincoln was given a number of copies by the publisher. On occasion, he would give folks an autographed copy. This copy, he hand wrote with pencil to the honorable abraham jonas. Abraham jonas was a lawyer from quincy, a member of the jewish faith, which is very interesting for the 19th century. Wasbrother was the first said to be the first member of the jewish faith to settle west of the appalachian mountains. Of abraham supporter republican the cause. Theres another piece in our collection that, again, i cant we have in our collection. This was a campaign biography written by William Dean Howells about Abraham Lincoln for that 1860 campaign. There are a number of mr. Lincolns political speeches throughout this book and it also contains a narrative of his life. Mr. Lincoln got a copy of this biography and he went through it and noticed there were inaccuracies. Mr. Lincoln went through and annotated it himself with a pencil. You see here on page 41, he circles and puts an asterisk next to the final paragraph. It isal paragraph read, supposed that lincoln, while a clerk, first saw stephen a douglas and probably the acquaintance was renewed during lincolns proprietorship of the store which he afterwards bought in the same place. Mr. Lincoln circles it and rights and annotation. Wrong. , holy i first saw douglas at vandalia. I never saw him at new salem. He remembers even the month and the year that he saw his political opponent, way back in 1834, for the first time. Throughout this book, abraham he is the most written about american of all time. There are some 18,000 books written about Abraham Lincoln. Many of them are great. Many of them contain inaccuracies. Mr. Lincoln was successful. He was elected in 1860. He prevailed over stephen douglas. During that campaign, his wife, mary lincoln, went to new york city where she bought her husband a new suit of clothes, where she bought close for herself as well as her little boys. What she also bought was this 20 volumeund set, a set of the complete works of washington irving. Thatow this is the set mary took with her to the white house because mary is so good about writing and dating the books she owned. She bought them in new york, brought them back to springfield. I bet you anything she brought them back thinking her husband would prevail in the election of 1860 and she wanted to see this volume sitting on a shelf in the white house. I want to show you one more book. This is a book Abraham Lincoln would have been proud of. This is long before he was elected president. This is highlighting a really significant achievement in his life. Isthis day, Abraham Lincoln still the only president in American History to actually obtain a patent. He was something of an inventor. Patent, he received a for an invention that he called of lifting method of vessels over shoals. How can boats get over banks and rivers and how can we help navigation . It is printed in the 18491850 volume of patents for the United States. Lincolnsee clearly, a. Has obtained his patent. Robert lincoln tells us that when he went to washington, while his father was a congressman, he was able to visit the government building in washington and see his dads model on display. It is an honor to work at the Abraham Lincoln president ial library, to be able to handle the documents that Abraham Lincoln wrote and left behind, to be able to handle the everyday objects that he used. It never gets old to interact with these pieces. Its humbling and, in many ways, a dream come true to not only deal with researchers but also visitors from around the world who want to learn more about Abraham Lincoln in American History. Its a deep privilege. Here at darcy pines in springfield, illinois, and this is the famous horseshoe. The horseshoe in springfield has been around since 1928. It is a combination of whatever meat and or vegetables you want on top of texas toast. Cheese sauce is what makes the horseshoe the horseshoe. In 1928. Popular it has been credited to the leland hotel that used to be in downtown springfield. If you go outside of springfield, you may not know about the horseshoe but the horseshoe certainly puts springfield on the map. Coming up, another discovery credited to springfield, the art of singing poetry. This is the order of the music of the morning sunrise singing Vachel Lindsay was known as the father of singing poetry, which was poetry to be performed. They said he wrote poems for the inner ears so you didnt need to know how to read to appreciate his poems. He wrote poems for everyone in america. We are in the Vachel Lindsay home state Historic Site in springfield, illinois. Vachel lindsay was born, raised, and died in this home. At the height of his fame, vachel was almost a household name. He traveled the country extensively either handing out his poetry or performing for room and board. He walked three times across the country on foot. We tell the fortunes of the nation and revel in the deep home of the world a lot of vachels poetry is about small farming communities scattered across america. A lot of it is autobiographical. What the world should be, what the world should fight to be. Theblished a book called golden book of springfield, which takes place here in springfield, illinois. In 2018, springfield leads the world to this utopian paradise. More wellknown poems are general William Booth enters into heaven, which he wrote after learning of the death of his hero, general William Booth, founder of the salvation army. Vachel wrote a poem called the congo, which was sort of , the one everyone wanted him to perform. It mimics the sound of african drums and it was written to force his upperclass white audiences to confront their own racism, be embarrassed by it, and then work to overcome it. Vachel invented what he called poem games, which were poems to be performed to large groups of people where various members of the audiences would have certain dance moves or certain parts they were supposed to perform with vachel. He was also a philosopher. He preached his whole life what he called the gospel of beauty which, if you had to boil it down into one sentence, it would be, you should travel the world far and wide and learn everything you can, but then you find how you can make the world a better place, come back to your hearts home in apply what you have learned. , it was this house in springfield, illinois. This house was built for clark and ann smith. Clark was a wealthy merchant. Ann was mary todd lincolns sister. The lincolns were in and out of this house equally. In this room, a big party was held for the lincolns on their last night in springfield. This mirror has actually seen the faces of Abraham Lincoln, mary todd lincoln, all of their children, as well as poets carl masters. Then girly s parentsachel bedroom. It is also the room that vachel and his younger siblings were born in. s parents got married after meetingtely and had their oldest, olive. Olive was vachel. Three girls would die within weeks of each other. The doctor, being an early proponent of the germ theory, believed that whenever he kill believed that whenever killed his daughters he brought into the house. 11 years after vachel, they had their youngest, jo. Y. In 1908, there was one of the most savage race riots here in springfield. The bulk of downtown businesses were burnt to the ground by an angry mob of People Killed a couple of guys, one of whom was william donegan, who made Abraham Lincolns shoes when he lived here in springfield. He lived a few blocks down this way. People headed to his house to kill him. That experience would affect the lindsays profoundly, and drastically different ways. Growing up in this neighborhood, vachel was playing with the neighborhood children. This was a poor, black part of town. Vachel was never taught to differentiate himself from those children. He was confused and shocked by what he was seeing. He began to write essays on what small farming communities could do to identify and eradicate racism. Dr. Lindsay was probably the affected. Undly across town, trying to drive out black people, jewish people, chinese people. All he could think about was his childhood in kentucky. He was raised partially by his fathers slave. He started to realize all of the stories and songs he was teaching his children were taught to him by his fathers slaves. He realized he had to do something, anything he could. Treating the victims of the race riots for free from the side porch. He was a 24 7 doctor. The doorbell was installed in 1864. If he heard that ring, he would get up, checked the front porch. If there was someone there, he would invite them in for tea while he got the horse ready. The frontas no one at porch, he would come around to the side porch and treat, for free, people affected by the race riots. We continued to do that when he moved his practice to the brick building that is directly behind us now. Forreating these people, free no less, dr. Lindsay was risking not just his social standing in town but his career and his life. This is vachels childhood bedroom. It is in this bedroom that he wrote a lot of his work. This is his writing desk. This is the desk that he wrote a lot of his earlier poems. Fun anecdote that stood out was vachel was working on a poem called Abraham Lincoln walks at midnight in springfield, illinois. It is talking about Abraham Lincolns ghost pacing the streets of springfield unable to rest because of the approaching world war i. Vachel got down to the part that is describing Abraham Lincolns go stand realized he didnt know what the president wore, so he got up in the middle of the night and ran down the street to his friends house, whose grandfather practiced law with Abraham Lincoln, and knocked on the door and asked if he could describe for him the president. This little old man got up in the middle of the night, latched the door, wouldnt let vachel, and on the porch described lincoln wearing a top hat and a wellworn shawl. From friendsdvice on how to edit his poems frequently. He will write, ive changed these lines around. Different than the versions he would perform or because heecorded wanted to please his audiences. The poem was written when he was out on the road. When he was walking up and down country roads, trying to find a place to sleep for the night, he would have with him his travel desk. It is kind of fun to think about. Hat masterpieces it even has the ink stains on it still. This is the bedroom when they were all growing up. When vachel moved back into this house later in life, he moved back in with his wife, elizabeth. This is also the room he died in. Directly above the room he was born in. Vachel said, everything begins and ends for me in this house. Vachel took his own life. This is his youngest sister, joys, bedroom. This is the bed they were all born in. In 1954,hels death oliver moved back into the olive moved back into the house. Langston hughes was her first guest and she reassembled this bed for him to sleep in. Langston hughes said he dreaded leaving because when he was in the house, he was an equal, a friend, a family member, but on the streets he was a colored boy. Care if he ever got famous, if people remembered him 100 years after he died. Duty in life isisthat everybos to leave the world in a better state than they entered it, and everybody should do their part to make the world a better place. Illinoiss current State Capitol building is the sixth in the state. Construction was not completed until 20 years after it started free at it is the tallest raper capital in the United States. Up next, we speak with two political journalists about the history of political corruption in illinois. I want to thank you both for joining me today. We are here to talk about illinois politics. Start with you, how would you describe illinois politics . I lived my whole life and the during my lifespan, there has been a culture of corruption in illinois politics starting in the 1940s. We had a republican governor, dwight green, and at that time, gambling was illegal in illinois. He would not allow the antigambling laws to be enforced because the gambling and gambling interests flooded him with donations and so on. And also, it was disclosed in the 1940s that the st. Louis the other newspaper shared the Pulitzer Prize for sharing that. Payrolle on the state when governor green was governor. In terms of ethics, that is a big nono. 1960s, over the next 11 governors, and that is not including our newly inaugurated governor, but 11 governors, five or indicted, four were convicted of the charges and went to prison. It is great for reporting and the media and so on, but i am not sure if it has been great in all cases for the state. William stratton was the first the 1950s. He was governor for most of the 1950s. Three years after he left the governorship in 1954, he was indicted on income tax evasion charges and it was related to political contributions that he received. There was a long, expensive trial, and in the federal court in chicago, he was acquitted. That was one of the five indicted, but he was found not guilty. Then, 1960s in illinois and we had a Popular Democratic governor. Everybody was shocked in 1971 was the democrat kerner indicted by federal authorities in chicago. This is three years after he had left the governorship and was then a sitting federal pellete judge in chicago. He was indicted on tax evasion and conspiracy related to the fact that his second term as governor, he had accepted out of that is able under the table stock in one of the racing organizations. Ands a big industry illinois, and he got the stock at bargain prices and was allowed to resell it, and it was all done covertly. It was purchased at a high price and made a lot of money. So that is where the tax evasion charges emanated from as well as conspiracy charges. In 1973 in federal court in chicago and found guilty. In 1974, he was sentenced to prison and sent to the federal prison facility in lexington, kentucky which is really a country club, to be honest. 1974rved there from july and until may 1975 when he was released, because he had serious longer cancer. Lung cancer. So he gets indicted, what is the reaction of the public . It was astounding. He was so highly respected. He served two terms and was easily reelected to his second term. He was popular throughout the state although he was from chicago, people downstate loved him. This went across party lines. Isause of all of this, that why it was a shock when he was indicted in 1971. For more than 40 years, the state journal of the newspaper i be a part of to the family group that kerner was one of. The of the reason was building which is in front of barack obama announcing his campaign for the presidency, and came back to bear to announce that joe biden was his running mate that building was the former State Capitol was then became the county courthouse. Was governor, he was convinced and went along with the idea to dismantle the entire building, take all of the beautiful bricks to the state fairgrounds, all correctly numbered, and they built a parking garage underneath, and rebuild the building. Kerner was the one that got that done. He had his mark on springfield in a physical way. Respectgendered wherever he went and it was an incredible shock when he was indicted. His children really think he was targeted. Kerner day at the Abraham Lincoln president ial Museum Library in springfield. You did, right . Of Richard Nixon talking to his attorney general saying, we have got to get this guy, he is a democrat and illinois. So it is touchy. You know much more about this, taylor, but we should let it be family washis happy that it at least came out that nixon had a friend that up. Thompson, that had a vendetta. Vendetta. A the next one that was , ironically, was not endorsed by the democratic machine in chicago but he was a rebel democrat named dan walker. 1972, but elected in walker was not sure as a campaigner. Is the straightlaced attorney from chicago, i think montgomery ward. Wenton a red bandanna, he to the tip of the state, and he walked the length of the states exact, Getting Press coverage everywhere he went. It was this amazing outpouring of Media Coverage of saying, i am going to take on springfield. He got known for that. He was running as a and all sorts of regular democrats in the counties in the committees that he would walk to would refuse to talk to him or would definitely not be standing pictured with him and so on. He spent almost the whole time talking to people who had not who hadinvolve not been involved in political process one way or another. He brought in a lot of young people who had no interest in politics before that. Pt in homes every night, and very rarely where they politically connected. The biggest story i covered in illinois was in 1972 democratic primary when walker upsets paul simon. Everybody thought that paul simon would easily defeat this guy that came out of nowhere and walked around the state. It was quite incredible. His governorship was a mixed bag. With aged in controversy lot of people. With the then powerful Richard Daley in chi cago. Walker wished she had made up with daley, because he may have gone further in life. 1973, seven years after he left the governorship, he was the fetid and he was defeated in 1976, his downfall began one he and his wife purchased a loan and quickly opened a branch and tony, suburb, and they made that the headquarters. In 1986, federal authorities took over the savings and loans saying it was not solvent. The following year, walker was indicted on perjury and other charges related to the operation of the savings and loan. Charged,termined or which was true, that he had profited personally from funds connected to the savings and loan. He pled guilty to three of the inrges and was sentenced to seven years in prison. That was by Federal District court judge williams in chicago. A only served one year and half of it because he was released for health and other reasons, but it was tough duty. He was one of the governors, i biographer and it was very difficult. He was in a real penitentiary. When was walker convicted and again, was the reaction of the public . Was not i a lot of sympathy for him, but it was interesting, like, oh here we go again. When he was governor, there was no scandal to talk about. A lot of bickering. Absolutely, bickering. Definitely. Walker lived very sparsely as governor. Fancy not use the limousine, he did not like the state cops around him, because he felt he had to protect his image. Interesting, when he was out, it was then that he decided, ive been deprived of all of the perks i could have exercised as governor so i am going to enjoy myself now. Venturesveral business that made several money before he got the savings and loan. Found the money to buy not one but two we two yachts. Up about the this political machine that walker has gone against. Can we talk about what is this political machine and where are they based out of . Mayor Richard Daley who was mayor of chicago for 26ish years maybe it was 21 but ,here is a book called boss it has been used in schools across the country to build a political machine when he controlled the people running the cook county board, he ended up controlling the legislature and some governors, and taylor knows more about that, but it was Building Block by block, having blocked block captains that way out to vote. If you were out to vote, your garbage got picked up and your snow got plowed, and if you did not, you got fired. There was a lawyer that eventually took on the daley machine and saying, people should not be hired or fired for political purposes. Of thethe early days machine starting in the late 1950s or 1960s, you performed for the party or you did not get jobs. It is funny, the newspapers in chicago have done a good job over the years. You global for the Party Organization to be slated as a judge. You go before the Party Organization to be slated as a judge. There party is for you, are so many judges on the ballot in cook county, and the way before they split it into districts, nobody knows who those people are. But if you are on the ballot, you win. How does the power of this machine in chicago make its way to springfield . And youu are in chicago are a state legislator, nobody knows you are. If you are an alderman, you have really hour. Day, it was more important to be a member of the city council than a member of congress. Just by being able to pick so many people because the population of chicago is so large compared to the rest of the state. Whatever it is, for fifth 4 5s of the population. Limited to chicago and we will talk about george ryan who was a republican governor. There was a machine of the republican brand where if you worked for the States Mental Health facility that was there, you probably should buy your cadillac from the local state senators cadillac dealership. These are stories, i do not know if they are true, but chicago was such a population center. Below 3 has dipped million, but it was above at times. They elected a lot of legislators and a lot of them would come down and they would wait for mayor daleys people to tell them how to vote. You mentioned to george ryan. What was his background and him as a republican . How did he end up beating the democrat . Even out ryan was not of office a year when in 2003, he was indicted. When was he elected . He was elected in 1998. He served to he was speaker of the house before that and he was a powerful legislator. House,the speaker of the which is a very powerful position in illinois. He had been elected official. Ack in a different county, too i know he ran the county politically. He was called a master of old line politics. He did not offer politically any different from a lot of his predecessors. Up with ryan, and within a year after he had left the governorship, he was a one term governor, he was indicted variety ofole charges related to socalled corrupt activities during his years of public service. After a lengthy trial, i think it was a sevenmonth trial, he was convicted on 18 counts of corrupt activity. He was sentenced to a prison sentence of 6. 5 years. His defenders always said that when he was indicted, he was doing nothing that a lot of his predecessors both republicans and democrats had done in office , andust the governorship there was a little truth to that. Apparently, the powers that be decided to finally make a stand on this stuff. He was indicted. Involvedthe charges went back into doing his years in the secretary of state;s office. Secretary of states office. 1999. Served 1991 to he had a very aggressive fundraising operation and it was not necessarily run directly by him. I remember going to the state fairgrounds, and there were giant lines of people who would shake his fans, full building couple of people. The problem was there was a guy who went to prison also for up thing they were pressure on their people and drivers license facilities around the state to raise money. You could move up in the eyes of the boss of you raise the money. It ended up that there are worse things going on where particularly Trucking Companies were paying bribes to get drivers Truck Driving licenses. Head and started to develop because there was this horrible accident near milwaukee in 1994. He was a janet willis, preacher. They had six children, six of their nine children were in a van. There was a truck driver who had turned out he could hardly speak english, had gotten his license through bribery that somebody paid for him, a piece of metal fell off his truck, the van started on fire, and a six children died. And it was people and some of the offices where these bribes for licenses transactions take place is that some people cap kept notes. Ultimately, this led to george ryan and his people. There was no murder trial but this horrible, horrible situation that led to the investigation and there were many people who were indicted and convicted. That was the corruption par and yet, people in the legislature, he was looked at as someone who could work with, who could get things done. When Chicago Bears almost moved plangeorge ryan pushed a for a modern space a saucer inside of the old plans. Because he wase a dealmaker and people trusted his word in the legislature because he was a good speaker of the house. We cannot leave without talking about the last governor. Yeah. He is a boyish looking and in my encounters with them, i thought he was 25 years old. In 2008, he was arrested by the fbi and charged with basically trying to implement pay to play systems. To get an appointment, you have to play, and so on. Was impeached. He he was convicted in a General Assembly process, and he was removed from office, and he was out. Later that year, he was indicted s again mainly on charges of trying to pursue but pay to play scheme, specifically, the big item that caught everybodys attention was that he sought to profit from senator obamas senate seat. He got elected to the presidency and that left that vacancy. Personernor appoints the to fill that seat, and he was soliciting money and how much it they could get it, and how much it was worth individuals to pay to get that seat. I do not know if it was his directive, give me a million dollars, but maybe you can get my wife a job or a job running your association. It was clear. That is what got him in hot water. 010. Ent to trial in 2 there was a mistrial and then there was a retrial and he was found guilty. Basically on selling Barack Obamas senate seat. And then in 2011, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison. In 2012, he started serving that 14 year sentence out at a penal facility on the edge of denver. He was a lawyer in chicago, an assistant states attorney, and he met the daughter of a powerful chicago alderman. He married her. Moved up the of political chain. Was interested in running for things. Ended up going to congress. He was in the house, and he was the kind of guy that would play around i remember throwing spitballs at another guy one night. Venturer,d of a back ,ut then he got the congress and i remember being at the Democratic National convention covering the allegation in 2011 and should into thousand 11 in california. He shows up and says, i am going to be governor. He was a great campaigner. Talkatherinlaw came to to the county chairman in springfield when the governor was in congress and running for nomination for governor. Said, this guy is the best campaigner you ever see. He is also, he said, a jacksonian democrat. Not jesse jackson, but andrew jackson. And we will get you some jobs, basically. That kind of thing. The downstaters went to strongly for him. He won the primary. I remember seeing him campaigning at the state fair one day. It was on a weekend. When he finished talking about his father who came from europe and worked in the steel company, and the mother who took nickels and dimes at the cta station just so they could get their kids through college, when he finished this talk, there was a line of mostly women waiting to meet him and sign their sweatshirts. He had charisma. Then, he got to be governor. Then it turned out, he did not want to do much. He stated chicago. Stayed in chicago most of the time. He was in his bathroom at 10 00 in the morning because he was not going into his office. For a while, the state still had airplanes. I remember there was a three day veto session take them tod fly, springfield, and at four, he tuck leave to go home to his kids in. He just did not want to do the work. There are people who ask for clemency petitions. He let thousands pileup because he was not acting on them. By the time he got in this other trouble which partly became he ended up having a fight with his fatherinlaw. He blew the whistle on someone who ran some kind of want for mercuriels, and he jumped shut down this done. Fatherinlaw told tv stations, what is rod doing, if they pay him 25,000 to his campaign, he will appoint them to something . That is how the process started. Started to break about the tapes and the tapes are what killed him because he sounded so selfindulgent. He did not want the job. He wanted to earn money later. He called Barack Obamas senate seat the opportunity to up still to appoint t hem. His own lawyers would argue, he never got a dime from any of this. To hisprobably donated campaign, but not personal money. He still got the 14 years because the judge with a former department of revenue years ago, heaps the hammer on him. In addition after he was indicted, he went on a national tour. E was on david letterman. He says, i am a innocent man, and all i was doing was politics , and people always log roll and trade. He ended up being a contestant apprentice. This is one we found out he could not type because he had to use a computer, and he really could not type. He was shameless going around the country saying, i did nothing wrong. The judge did not like that. He is still in prison. His wife has gone on fox news a couple of times to talk about how terrible it is that these prosecutors railroaded my husband for just doing political work and trying to be good. I think we are hoping that donald trump my commute his sentence or pardon him. It has not happened yet. The more weall, and talk about the culture of corruption in illinois, there is certainly a lot of decent and honest people in illinois. That should be pointed out. A lot of them are wellintentioned in both parties. They do not get the attention that these individuals get that have been indicted and so on. The future is in the hands of , who has never had the helm of illinois. I am optimistic that he is going to do a good job. I hope he does and i am optimistic that he will. He does not have to owe anybody. He is is all in man. And this is a big deal and politics at any level. I do not think he fits any particular mold and that is good. I think we are going to see some new innovations and may even surprise bernie and i. That thingsimistic cannot get much worse, ok. I am optimistic that things cant get much worse, tiffany come ok. Much forthank you so joining us. Thank you. Thank you, tiffany. Our visit to springfield, illinois is a book tv exclusive. We shared it today to introduce you to cspan cities tour. For eight years now, we have traveled to u. S. Cities. You can watch more of our visits cspan. Org cities tour. Next, President Trump touring areas in alabama hit by tornadoes this week. Then, House Minority leader Kevin Mccarthy of california talking about the antihate resolution passed by congress on thursday. After that, Speaker Pelosi on her agenda for congress and the 2020 elections. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] President Trump spoke to reporters as he was leaving the white house to tour alabama. Who responded to questions on the economy, the sentencing of former campaign manager, paul manafort, and also on north Koreas Nuclear derailment program