E,t think of a better way to cap the 28th annual Lincoln Forum than by welcoming a dear friend and historys friend, the incomparable Doris Kearns Goodwin, and her very gifted producing partner, beth lnow. Beth has been the coexecutive producer with doris for the History Channel, a channel series, washington, lincoln, theodore roosevelt, and most recently fdr. Together they form pastimes productions, which will next be producing a new series on the west with kevin. I auditioned for that, but they chose kevin costner. They have already created a unique and appeang these shows. Youll see some of some sampling of it during this evening. Not only authoritative talking heads, but remarkable, authentic looking action scenes featuring performers and settings that evoke theonary periods, the civil war, the progressive era, the new deal, and world war two. Scholarship and scenery. Discussion and drama. And tonight, a special focus on their Abraham Lincoln, of course. Here and we thank our History Channel friends for coming as well, and also for historynnels truly generous sponsorship and support of the forum this year. Mary. Not only a wonderfully generous donation to help make this big forum work, but also in case you thought those dvds just appeared in your packages by magic,h thee History Channel. Now, as for beths coproducer, what more can be said when emcees declare that this person needs no introduction . That might have been written for for doris. Not that thats going to stop me, because im re. She is really nothing short of a national treasure. Not only one of our most t i would suggest our most beloved and trusted his story. And i suspect, you know the reasons. Wait till next year. No ordinary time. The fitzgerald and the kennedys. Lyndon johnson and the american dream. The team of rivals. The bully pulpit. Leadership in turbulent times. Classics by an author who has now added to her impact in nonfiction literature, including a pulitzer prize. A lincoln prize. Yes. A Richard Nelson current award. The definitive of motion picture. Because the oscar winning Steven Spielberg film of lincoln her approach to the passage of the 13th amendment in the house of representative. And now television with the performance and docu dramas. History channel, in which with characteristic generosity, she shares the spotlight with lucky fellow historians. Allen guelzo, who is here today and Catherine Clinton and Edna Greene Medford forinterviews fe. Her featuring her latest reflection on the subjects she has masteredl0d tonight, i dont have to convince you she shines the light further by utilizing very gifted actors who bring life to these heroes. So its its its not a team of rivals. Its kind of a bench of doris fans fans. If there is a medium she hasnt conquered yet, i dont know what it is. Ill just say that if i want to clone an exemplary, exemplary american historian, then they need look. No. Thats probably a dangerous thing to say legally. But we dont need a we have the original. So please join me in welcoming Doris Kearns Goodwin and beth laskall right. So. Lets go back. Oh, were up to this. Okay, that was fast. So with all that doris has accomplished now with beth, the work has inspired this wonderful series of docu dramas. But so heres the elephant in the room. Why did decide to do television . And both of you, why did you decide that this was the next realm . Well, we really owe a lot to the History Channel because they came to us. How lucky we were. I see. Mary donahue there. Shes my great and they came to us and they asked us if wed like to work with them on something. And they came up with the idea of George Washington, which was a little scary to me because i never had studied George Washington. And everywhere i went, people would say, why arent you doing George Washington . And i thought, oh my god, im years old. It will take me ten years to do George Washington like it took me everybody else. And i write these big fat books and itll be another fat book. And then i tho, wow, what if i were able to spend two years, which they projected projected this might take to do a six hour miniseries on George Washington. I could learn about him from my fellow historians on their shoulders. We could sit. And so beth and i had formed we started to form a production company. Ive known beth for 25 years. It all began. You love origin stories, right . So ours is a great story. So when wh i had notve husband,s in washington dc and he his son from his first marriage was going to the georgetown day scest friend named Andy Blankstein. And i fell in love with Andy Blankstein, the best friend. We took him everywhere every summer. We took him whenever we were on vacatis. Other son. And when we moved to california, after was getting the quiz show movie made, he came with us and he met baski and they eventually became husband and wife. So Andy Blankstein was eight when i met him. And as■qpf right. You can tell the rest of the story. Oh, well, i had a lot of pressure because before very early on in our relationshiial. So had to come meet the whole goodwin clan. And i was very, very nervous. And it turned out well. But it was it was a little scary and a little intimidating for me. A month in, two on be on my way to cape cod to to spend time so immediately said to andy, dont f this up. Shes great. Anyway so we started to work on George Washington and the thing was we had a team i mean, between history and two great guys who were workingght right. From ralphs going, yeah. Matt ginsburg and, and oh my gosh. Tim. Tim hill i just went like, yeah. Tim healy and they were terrific. And they held our hand through this because we had not done this before. And so it was really great to have them by our side and to have mary and eli and all of the people on the history side to help us. And i think what mattered so much was that it was collaborative. I mean, before my husband died, shortly before we got involved in all this, i had him as a partner every day to work with. So it wasnt lonely because im noa very social person, id rather be with people than being alone. Im not the typical kind of writer, but i had all the time. But then when he was gone, it was really lonely. And then somehow i had that whole team to work with with History Channel. So it made a huge difference. And then we produced in two years i learned all about■ and so that began all of this. And i feel like its 75. I pivoted to another whole world of dementia and im very grateful to history as a result. So i think the question, one question that might be on the minds of your readers, im sure everyone here is a good one. Reader is, with all due respect to mary and the group. So how much how much editorial control do you guys have . And how much does History Channel you what you must do or should do . Well, we knew so little at the beginning, to be honest, and we had to hold and sometimes we would say, wed like this or that. And theyd have to tell us, well, no, thats not really your role as an executive producer. Eally we really became partners. I mean, there was no question right from the beginning, right . They let us be involved in the early storytelling, the outline, everything. Yeah, that was really amazing for us because we were learning as we went along and yes, we did get our hand slapped maybe once when we went too far, but we didnt know what. We didnt know. So they, they really guided us. Its been really amazing, but weve been involved with every step of the process and its a lengthy process. And there are a lot of people involved. It really is a team, a big team of people that it takes to put these thingre going to togethek at the opening of the next project, the lincoln series. So im going to cue the clip. Ladies and gentlemen, some you may have heard of him, his story has been passed down from one geration to the next. Fourscore and seven years ago, he felt that democracy in its purest form is for allon all persons held as slaves shall be sent forward and forever free. But theres something deeper than what he was. Lincoln grew up in poverty. Havent done anything to make anyone remember the day ever live. Hes ling proof that americans can rise from obscurity to power with that wit and that charm and that intellect is better to stay sod thoughtful and to speak up and move down. He has a deep sense of empathy. He takes the declaration of independence. All men are created equal and turns it into a nation his moral compass. As the country is breaking apart, theres a turning point where hes going have to take a stand. Will be on your hand. Blood is already on my hand. You can learn how to be a commander in chief. I cant have a war to fight. He was willing to admit he was wrong. And to change. He was the right person at the right time. If we let this stand for one minute now, we might as well say goodbye to the whole thing. Democracy. Oh. You you had. You had some pretty good gets there, right . I, i recognize one of those guys. I think, you know whats a lot like president o looks a lot li, no more glasses. Its out of sight. So what what might strike people for whohi watched . Every documentary series about lincoln and there were others as we know in the last few years. But this is a■b stylist this is stylistically different theres graham to add the drama and and clearly production value. So what how did you come to this format . The History Channel had done this before us and its a great they sometimes call it they but what it allows you to do is to have the ordinary experts who come. I dont meet that the experts are ordinary. The idea of experts who can provice the story, what what you really want, whatever youre going to produce is a story. I mean, storytelling, as lincoln said, people remember stories sn that wires us to want a story that has a beginning, a middle and an end. So in looking for thetory, were able to mix together in this new the combination of talking and the problem especially because george was first they didnt ha him they t have any film. All they had was stiff paintings. Theres no way youre going to understand who he is unless you get actors who can fill in the spaceshat history cant. I remember when i was working with Steven Spielberg on on lincoln, he gave a talk, actually at gettysburg where he talked about the difference, a film and a history book. And he said the film can fill the spaces that maybe you dont know what somebody said in a conversation, you know, fr a memoir or, you know, from a diary, what they might have said. And i when i was writing these books, i say, i know what theyre thinking. Im living with them. You know, my working on franklin and eleanor. Theyd hear me in my study and id be talking to franklin, said, oh, franklin, she loves you. Just be kinder to eleanor. Forget■ that affair that he had so many years ago. Its a long time ago. Hes your partner and they come in. What is going on here . And i do think thathat they were thinking. But you cant do it in the history form. But in a drama form you can. So it allows the viewer to not the that the experts can provide, but to see the intimate details that an actor like graham and mary and the people who played stanton and seward and you feel that combination think of intimacy. 30,000 feet in the narrator and then the storytelling that act that the people who are the historians provide. I love the combination i think its it really allows both things to be enhanced in a way that they would by themselves. You know, to me this the series is in a the the broader series the series are in a sense, based on leadership in turbulent times. And i just want to know if you were remindeds this series howh lincoln was influenced by washington, how much lincoln meant to teddy, how much teddy. Yeah. I mean, beth pointed out one time to me that they were like a big family tree, right . That you start with the last guy, johnson and his hero is fdr. In fact, he used to call him my political. Thats fdr. And theres a great of there was a one time when johnson was a young congressman and he met fdr and there was a picture of him and there was some guy in the middle and he cut the guy out of the■ middle. The picture was just him and fdr. But fdr said after meeting him, you know, i have a feeling theres something about that youngthern president or as incredibly something in him. And so then then you get fdr as hero and fdr as hero as teddy and so he liked to be the baby at the baptism, it was said and the bride at the the at the funeral while he did that there. So anyway. But the summer that he was going through a big then teddys teddy teddy himself is reading about lincoln and when he goes to a big coal strike he spends the entire Summer Reading the nine volumes of nicolay and hay. And then, of course, lincoln, we know connected to washington. So as pointed out one time, its a very short history that we have and they really did feel like big old family tree and of course teddy has they had an extra advantage of having as his sister inheriting as secretary of state Abraham Lincolnsecretk they coauthor of the book that he can solve. It is a very close connection by way, you left out the best part of the story. Thats not the best part, but another part that teddy would only agree to be best man at the wedding if it was held on columbus day. So he could also be the grand marshal of the parade. Oh, i just think that st patricks day, st patricks day parade just i killed the story. But the same idea, same idea, same idea. And just a half a block away to fifth avenue. Youre right. So lets lets turn our attention back to lincoln, because thats why were here. And lets have a look at the early years of lincoln in a new salemcene from the Abraham Lincoln docudrama. It was always interested in politics and lovedk you. In little towns like new salem, politicians running for office would come on saturdays and, give speeches. Illinois needs railroads. You a railroad. You can get your goods to market all like me to stay assembly. And i swear ill bring the ■aomlrailroad right here to new salem. No, you. I beg your pardon . Who said that . I did see the way i figure it. If they do build that railroad, itll be near paper. And how far away from springfield . By, what, 20 miles. I wont do us a lack of good. See this fella . Right about us needing to get to market. But what we need a new salem is to widen the river so the steamships can get here. Then this town will take off like a rabbit in front of a pack of wolves. Well, i could vote for both waterway and the railroad. I dont think so, mr. Hoe5w much are Railroad Going to cost . A lot, right . This fellow, you might be able to talk the hind leg off a donkey, but if they build that railroad, there wont be a dime left. The tax money for our river. And well just be like the like a runt of the litter left behind, squealing a mule when theres nothing maybe there was something about the way lincoln spoke, he was able to translate complex issues into so terms of the daily life of the people within eight months of his being in new salem, the residents wanted him to run for the state legislature. So wow, thats. Tell us a little bit about the art and set design its its simple, but its very evocative and i think its very true. Yeah. Who who are the involved in that project . Le team effort and do mood so for lincoln we work with this Wonderful Company called radical media dave saranac heads radical media and hes partner and all in in the teddy one in lincoln and in and hesble he puts together this Wonderful Team and it starts really with a mood board they do that right in the proposal stage and then work out from there and. They hire the best people to put together the best sets and that and they do a lot of studying and we weve done a lot of and mary and they they are able to really replicate, you know, for in a in a really its so a very evocative way, theyre able to replicate something that in some cases we dont have all the information. And so, again, the■w2,y ha to fl in where we dont know. And they also have to source all of these things and these these are not ten year projects. They are two year projects maximum. And order in a short amount of time. Yeah. What i really love about this scene is first of all, the thing about graham is he plays the time hes like 23 until hes dies. You so he wasnt supposed to be the young but then he was so good as the older they said, can you do this . Young it too. And he obviously did. But this this scene what i love so much about new salem is thats where lincoln starts at 23 years old, as was said, he decides to run for the state legislature and he gives this amazing talk in those days, if y state legislature, you had to put out a that said what you are running for. It was called a handbill. And his is extraordinary. It startse6 you. Every man has his peculiar ambition. Mine is to be esteemed of by my fellow man. Even at 23 he wanted something to accomplish so that people would remember who he was later. And then he said, well, ive, you know, i dont have any popular relatives to sustain me. I lot of you. Ill probably lose, but im so familiar with disappointment it will be okay. But he says, but if i lose, im going to come back five or six times until its really disgraceful. And then i promise ill never run again. And then he says, and if i make mistakes, im going to im going to correct them. I mean, it was a one derful it was just a wonderful i mean, compared to other, you know, Opening Statements of what theyre going to be doing. He kept his word, thats wh to m beginning. And you see it in that 23 year old and just just listen to the language when he talks about, you know, runts and cattle and that. Thats what made him so connected to the people because he understood their daily lives and he gets almost all the votes in his home to great thing. Even though he lost, he got 277 votes. Out of the 300 people in new salem. So the who knew him, he was a clerk in the general a