Ben franklin, of course, had been had switched. He had owned slaves when he was younger, he became a leading abolitionist, ben franklin. People can change. Washington couldnt change that much. But on his deathbed hed written two wills. With we dont know what was in one. On his death bed he asked that both be brought to him. He tore up one and asked that it be burned. And the one that remains is the one that freed the slaves. Washington was a man of action, not of words. And he must have believed, because this was that this act would send a message to the future. I dont think he wanted to be on the wrong side of history. He wanted to send a message, and thats how he sent it, through his action. Do we have time for one more . Nope. Unfortunately, i dont have any time. Ill walk down and talk to you, but thank you so much for coming. Its been a delight to be here. [applause] on capitol hill tomorrow morning, the acting chief of the u. S. Border patrol briefs members of the House Oversight
Of washington which is were you or, so you may get. Congratulations. And its very exciting to have these book talks, these free book talks, and theyre sponsored by ford. The forgetting the doctor and, of course, weve never accepted any government money. They been offered in mount vernon since the 1860s, since 1861 it took over the estate of George Washington. They were the founders of National Historic preservation but they are an all Woman Run Organization and they are all built on private donations unpatriotic individuals and foundations from the people who coming the people who coming to visit it at the great honor to serve that mission to preserve the estate at the highest level and to teach people all over the world about the life, leadership and legacy of George Washington. And we couldnt do without the generation of important donors like henry ford. As many of you know an early dont think he did not its first fire engine. And ever since weve gotten the fire engines from ford mot
Wonderful letter. But its a letter which is here in the library. He wrote from never about to go and take command at cambridge. But he was worried that she would be lonely and that, and he was worried that he would be worrying about her being lonely. Well, as it turned out, he was lonely. And they never thought at the beginning of the war that she would be going to him, but he was who sent for her. And i think the war changed their relationship as wars do change relationships. But i think that was when he really realized, and that was when he said during the war, he said to Benjamin Franklins daughter, mrs. Batch, im not sure which is right, he said dancing at a ball during the war he said ive been, today it was 12 night, it was epiphany, january the 6th, and he said this is the day 20 years ago i was married to mrs. Washington. And much later he told marthas wayward granddaughter, eliza custis who i rather love, he said to her that marriage is the foundation, most Important Foundation
Marthas great granddaughters in her papers are in louisiana. And so its, hopefully, everyones going to come forward with new martha letters which would be exciting. And there might be a diary. That will be too exciting for words. [laughter] [applause] so, flora, thank you very much. You will all be delighted to know that flora fraser will be outside to sign books. I invite you all out for a cocktail reception, and i want to thank you all for being here, so thank you very much. Thank you. [applause] tomorrow House Speaker paul ryan will talk about the state of american politics. Well show it to you in its entirety at 8 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Tomorrow night on booktv in prime time, a focus on disease and medical care with books on cancer, psychiatry, awe thetism and tracking autism and tracking contagions. Join us at 8 p. M. Eastern on cspan2. On the on booktv tonight on booktv, a focus on George Washington. Next, author t. H. Breen talks about his book on the long journey George Washin
Good evening, everyone. This is where you say good evening back. That is good. I want to thank you for joining us this evening. I am the president of George Washington mount vernon. It is my pleasure to welcome you for this installment, we are honored to have flora fraser with us this evening, she will discuss her book the washingtons, george and martha joined by french yet, crowned by love. Is a fullscale portraits of the marriage of the father and mother of our country and of the struggle for independence that he lead. Already the book has been hailed as a major work on American History, an important contribution to understanding the julies, complexitie , comp, intricacies of the union, this bill is the anniversary of the lecture series. [applause] how about that . [applause] established in 2006, the eighteenth region of the mount vernon ladies association. Gay and her husband stanley are with us, many of you know gay well but i would like you to ask you to stand and be recognized. [