Surprising Links Between Lincoln and his Killer

Last year I listened through the book Killing Lincoln by Bill O'Reilly. I was hesitant to listen at first because of my love for Manhunt by James Swanson. Since O'Reilly's book came out after Swanson's book, it appeared O'Reilly was trying to ride the wave of Swanson's work, which felt a bit opportunistic to me. But since there are something like 50 biographies published on Lincoln ever year, let's chalk it up as a timing issue and move on.

O'Reilly's book covers the topic of Lincoln's death more broadly than Swanson, also addressing the events leading up to the end of the war and some of the conspiracy issues surrounding Lincoln's death. So it was enough of a different take to make it interesting and compelling.

But what was especially intriguing was the connection between Lincoln's oldest son, Robert Todd Lincoln, and John Wilkes Booth. The connection was mainly through two avenues. 

The first is that they both were sweet on the same girl, Lucy Hale. And though Booth was secretly engaged to Hale, yet Robert Lincoln still kept in touch with Hale, even spending the afternoon before his father's assassination with her. And he was not her only suitor. O'Reilly explains: 

Like Booth, she is used to having her way with the opposite sex, attracting beaus with a methodical mix of flattery and teasing.... among those enraptured with Miss Hale is a future Supreme Court justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., now a twenty-four-year-ld Union officer. Also John Hay, one of Lincoln's personal secretaries. And, finally, none other than Robert Todd Lincoln, the president’s twenty-one-year-old son, also a Union officer. Despite her engagement to Booth, Lucy still keeps in touch with both Hay and Lincoln, among many others.....

But [by March of 1865]..., their relationship has become strained. They have begun to quarrel. It doesn't help that Booth flies into a jealous rage whenever Lucy so much as looks at another man. One night, in particular, he went mad at the side of her dancing with Robert Lincoln. Whether or not this has anything to do with his pathological hatred for the president will never be determined. (p.28)

The second connection was with John Wilkes Booth's brother Edwin. Like his brother, Edwin was a well-known actor whom Lincoln had seen perform on a number of occasions. But Edwin's value to the President was so much greater than his entertainment value. Again, O'Reilly explains:

During one two-month span in the winter of 1864, [Lincoln] saw Richard III, The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, and, of course, Julius Caesar. The actor playing all the lead roles was Edwin booth, John's older brother. In addition to his acting, he did the Lincolns an inadvertent favor by saving the life of their eldest son. When twenty-year-old Union officer Robert Todd Lincoln was shoved from a crowded railway platform into the path of an oncoming train, it was Edwin Booth who snatched him by the collar and pulled him back to safety.

Robert never mentioned the incident to his father, but his commanding officer, Ulysses S. Grant, personally wrote a letter of thanks to the actor. Edwin's brother's reaction to this incident has never been determined – if he knew at all. (p.123)

One Booth saved a Lincoln and another Booth killed a Lincoln. 

Lastly, there's one other fascinating story I've heard a number of times but wanted to capture here, as it almost seems unbelievable. The story goes that when it was time for Grant to accept Lee's final surrender, they needed a place to meet near the final battlefield:

Lee sends his aid Colonel Charles Marshall up the road to find a meeting place. Marshall settles on a simple home. By a great twist of fate, the house belongs to a grocery named Wilmer McLean, who moved to Appomattox Court House to escape the war. A cannonball had landed in his fireplace during the first battle of Bull Run, at the very start of the conflict. Fleeing to a quieter corner of Virginia was his way of protecting his family from harm.

But the Civil War once again finds Wilmer McLean. He and his family are asked to leave the house. Soon, Lee marches up the front steps and takes a seat in the parlor. Again, he waits. (p.78)

McLean's timing was uncanny. And yet even more surprising, was the timing of Lincoln's son once again, who also appeared at the surrender. Nor was this the end of his coincidental appearances, being an eye witness to the assassination of another president: James Garfield, and being nearby when William McKinley was shot. 

Top Books of 2015

Some years reading is so-so, just plugging along or not going very deep. This year it seemed there was a greater than average variety of reading and some surprises along the way. Below are my top 9 books of 2015 in no particular order, except the last one was my favorite.

Sea Wolf by Jack London - One of my all time favorite books is Call of Wild, which I probably read the illustrated classic version over 100 times as kid. But I've not read much else by London and hardly any as an adult. Recently Ryan Holiday recommended Sea Wolf, so I picked it up, and I'm glad I did. Not only is it a fun read, but it's surprisingly thoughtful. The development of the two main characters and the criss-crossing arc of their character is both mesmerizing and maddening. It felt like a bit of a mash-up of Hemingway (in its bleakness) and Steinbeck (in its action). Definitely worth reading. And I'll for sure be reading more London this year. My daughter began asking me to read it aloud to her at night by the fire. I was so shocked because the language is not kid friendly. She even became very interested in the fate of Mr. Wolf. Go figure.

The Story of Christianity (Vol. 1 & Vol. 2) - These 2 volumes of church history are the best church history books I've read. Discussed them with a group of guys at the office this year and we had a rollicking good time (yes we did). Worth reading. Note that the Kindle version does not have page numbers. (Why oh why amazon can't you figure this out?)

Preaching by Keller - The beauty of this book is that it's not about how to preach, but how to think about communicating with an audience and connecting to their deeper heart issues. Important for every Christian to read if you want to know more about how the world thinks and how to bridge that gap to the message of Christ.

Junius and Albert's Adventure in the Confederacy - Two Union reporters are captured by the Confederacy after a battle on the Mississippi river. The book is the story of their prison stay, escape, and journey back to Union safety. The byline sums it up well, calling it a "Civil War Odyssey." A fascinating story in and of itself, but I also learned much about the war, especially the complexity of the warring allegiances in the southern states, which grew especially complicated in the mountains of Tennessee, where few slaves were owned due to the lack of plantations. So pro Union factions were fighting pro Confederacy groups, both of which were at odds with the "home guard" seeking to protect Tennessee's interests, and throw in fractured groups that just wanted to protect their isolated mountain freedom. Reminded me a bit of the complex political situation that developed in Italy during WWII, which I learned more about through the amazing novel, The Red Horse. If you like Civil War history, Junius and Albert is a great read. If you like WWII history and good literature, The Red Horse is a must read.

Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus - A former Muslims describes his journey from the faith of his family to following Christ. It's a powerful illustration of the enduring influence of friendship. It also calls all persons of faith to examine carefully their long held dogma, giving credence to fact over emotion. A great read to learn more about Islam and more about Christianity and the differences between the two.

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up - I've always loved to keep things organized. This book gave more of the why behind the importance of keeping your home tidy. Primarily because of the joy it brings. She gives one very helpful pointer to determine if something is worth keeping or not: ask yourself, "Does this bring me joy?" Great read. Revolutionized my sock and T-shirt drawer. If that doesn't excite you, I don't know what will.

The Happiness of Pursuit - Loved the title. Picked it up because of how much I enjoyed the author's previous book, The Art of Non-Conformity. This book talks about having big goals in life (he traveled to every country in the world over a 10 year span) and how to get there. Also chocked full of stories of people who went after big goals. Conclusion: it's the pursuit of the goal that brings about the most joy and meaning in your life - even more than accomplishing it.

Fahrenheit 451 - One of the more haunting books I read in high school. For years I wouldn't even look at the cover in the bookstore. A book about burning books? Horror. But for some reason I overcame my fear and re-read it this year and I'm so glad I did. So much more depth here than I remembered, as we watch Montag question his occupation and moved by the sacrifices of those that would rather be burned with their books than live life without them. I used to think the book was condemning a society that would ban books. But I now see it was condemning a culture that grows so shallow in its thinking that they demand books be censured. Bradbury was more prophetic on this theme than I ever could have imagine. Here is evidence. (PS - I love the cover on this edition). I had my son read it, and I think I will re-read it every year.

JRR Tolkien bio - Of all the books read this year, this was hands down my favorite. I'll definitely be re-reading this in future years. His story was so incredibly inspiring. Made me want to quit my job and become a professor of middle-earth, I mean middle English. Fascinating person of great depth. My favorite part of the book was when he explained that he had to write LOTR/Hobbit so he could discover the back-story to the languages he had invented. Of course. Who wouldn't. I previously posted my notes from the book here. I picked up a collection of his letters by the same author and hope to read through those this year.

I'll soon publish a list of books I re-read this year. I rarely re-read books, so I was surprised when I looked back over this year's books to discover I had re-read quite a few from previous years. I also noticed that all of these books had significant importance for me. So keep an eye out for that list.

Annual Barnes & Noble Trip With Mom

At least once a year I take a trip to Barnes & Noble with mom when she comes in town. Recently we went through a stack of books see if we might read one or two together.

The Reject Pile

After agonizing and debating heavily over this pile, we narrow it down to two (both are pictured just barely in the background): Command and Control, and The Bully Pulpit. The later has been on my list for quite some time as I've read a number of books on Theodore Roosevelt and am extremely fond of him and books about him. Command Control looked fascinating and indeed was very interesting to read. 

It weaves together two stories lines in alternating chapters. One is the recounting of a missile silo accident that occurred in central Arkansas about an hour north of Little Rock. This occurred in 1980 back in the days when nuclear missile silos were scattered all over Arkansas and Missouri. One of these silos in the small town of Damascus had a fuel leak, which lead to the missile (i.e. the fuel stored in it) exploding, though the warhead stayed in tact and did not detonate. The other part of the book recounts the wide variety of near misses in the nuclear weapon weapons program. After reading this book, it really is astonishing that we have not had a major catastrophe from an accidental nuclear detonation somewhere in the world. Yes, it was a very interesting read, one my 9-year-old son even took interest in, reading the first 70 or 80 pages, and especially interesting to myself since I reside in Little Rock. One of my coworkers actually remembers feeling the explosion from over 20 miles away.

So my mother and I have enjoyed reading and discussing and trading good books back and forth over the years. I made a list the other day of all the books she has purchased for us and that we have read together and the total was nearly 30 different books. I confess that I have not read all of them yet, nor has she, but we are both working through the list and enjoying reading them and discussing them and having the time together.

Incidentally, if you want to see what books I'm reading and have interest in sharing the books you're reading, check out my Shelfari profile on the right side of this blog. I try to keep this list up to date and in order of priority (i.e. most active reads at the front of the list). Set up your own profile and I'll follow you.

And so I end this post with a short tribute to my mother that I delivered during the front end of the sermon at our church on Mother's Day. This is obviously a short tribute because it was done on the front end of the sermon and it's not as thorough as one might give to their mother, but I'd like to include here just as an encouragement to my mom. I love you mom!

Tribute to Mom

Thank you for believing in me. For being my greatest cheerleader.

Thank you for pushing back on me. When I tried to bowl you over.

And thanks for not giving up on me when I did stupid things.

Thanks for sharing your love of literature and English. And for all the books we continue to read and discuss together.

Thanks for texting me photos of public mis-punctuation. And for helping to eradicate apostrophe abuses (and yes, I said that without using an apostrophe).

Thank you for loving Dad and singing his praises. You made me want to be more like him. And you made me long for a wife that would speak of me that way to our kids.

Thank you for loving my wife. Not just loving her, but admiring her.

Speaking highly of her.

And for loving my kids.

On a lighter note: Thanks for not getting mad when the door fell off your car. 

I'm still not sure what happened.

And (I can’t believe I’m going to say this), thank you for making me mow the yard.

But finally – and most importantly, Thank you for praying for me so faithfully and for continuing to do so. I really don’t know what my life would be like without your prayers.

I love you mom and I’m grateful for you. I’m glad you are my mom.

On Being Teachable

A few years ago a colleague asked me to look over some facts and draw a conclusion. A few days later I gave my response, which was the exact opposite of what others had concluded about the same facts (and it wasn't because I was right). Where did I go wrong? I allowed my pre-understandings of the facts to guide me to the conclusion I wanted, rather than allowing the facts to speak for themselves. Bad move. Leaves one feeling a bit like their pants have fallen down while on stage at an important event.

Recently I listened to an interview with Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer on NPR. It's the first time I've heard a Supreme Court Justice interviewed on the radio, and I found it quite interesting to hear him discuss the way the court operates and how he makes up his mind in difficult cases.

The thing that I found most revealing about this interview was the shameless agenda of the interviewer and the way Justice Breyer responded to her. The interviewer, Terri Gross, had some pretty clear pre-understandings about what she thought the current Supreme Court was about. Her questions seemed designed to assist Mr. Breyer in slam dunking her ideas on home. Refreshingly, he did not join in the game, but responded with a patient disdain for the media characterizations of the court. 

Here are a few of her questions (All quotes pulled from the transcript of the interview.)

GROSS: …I think a lot of Americans, a lot of court watchers, court reporters, see this court as a court with a bloc of activist conservative judges who are very strongly conservative and are very consciously trying to move the court and the country in a more conservative direction. And I'm wondering, from your seat on the bench, if you would agree with that perception?

___________________________________

GROSS: If we interpreted the Constitution only literally in the way that the framers had in mind, would we still have slavery? (Implying that those who hold to a conservative interpretation of the constitution are still in favor of slavery.)

___________________________________

GROSS: So, the outsider perspective is that all arguments now in the court are pitched to Justice Kennedy because he's perceived as the swing vote.

(implying that the conservatives control the court?)

 
No hiding her agenda there.

Here is a longer exchange between them:

GROSS: How would you compare the Roberts court versus the Rehnquist court? (i.e. please confirm for us how evil things are!)

Justice BREYER: Well, from the personal point of view you said it. The Roberts court is one where so far I've found myself more in dissent. You want a characterization in terms of conservative and liberal, but that's not my job. That's your job. That's the job of the press and the public to characterize. My job is to decide the cases, write the decisions as best I can.

GROSS: I guess I was wondering if you think Chief Justice Roberts is different as a chief justice than Chief Justice Rehnquist was.

Justice BREYER: Every new appointment is different. Every new person who comes on makes it a different court. So the difference is not just the individual, it's the reactions of the others to that person. White said that some time ago and I have found truer words were never spoken.

GROSS: But do they run the court differently to the extent that the chief justice runs the court?

Justice BREYER: No. No. The chief justice [is] in charge of administration. But each of us has a vote and each of us votes on everything.

Finally, I've included his response to a question about decision making and the way our human nature plays a part. It was refreshing to see him speak candidly about a very secret process. Basically she asks how he feels later after making a decision - is he worried that he ever makes the wrong call?

Justice BREYER: I've found it interesting. I bet it's true whether you're in business, whether you're in law, whatever field of life you're in, you have a tough decision to make, really tough, and you think, my goodness, this is evenly balanced. Oh my goodness, what will I do? But I'm sorry, time is passing. You better make up your mind. And so you do and you think this side has a slight edge. Now time passes. Do you think "I might have been wrong?" No. As time passes you begin to think, I think I was probably right. More time. Yeah, I was right. More time. I sure was right. More time. How did I think the opposite? That is called the self-protective psychology of human nature. (laughter)

Her interview techniques reminded me of how important it is that I enter into a situation with a keen awareness of my pre-understandings, as well as a teachable spirit so that real dialogue and understanding can take place. This is one of the main reasons I went to seminary, because I found myself often using the biblical data and facts to build a case for my predetermined conclusion. This works great if the two align, in which case you appear rather brilliant. But when they don't, the house of cards comes tumbling down. Then if you stick to your guns, one is left with no choice but to argue for the losing position more vehemently, and before long you are snarling like a rabid dog at anyone who might think otherwise. Not a pretty site. As Breyer noted, this is the self-protective part of human nature. 
 
Reminding myself of the importance of being teachable is one of the main reasons I read the book Lying about Hitler by Richard Evans (I had recently read a couple of his books on the Third Reich from his very thorough and readable 3-volume series: see 1, 2, & 3). Lying about Hitler deals with a British liable case between two authors, one who was suing another for accusing him of twisting facts about Hitler in his historic works. The accused author made assertions such as; Hitler didn't really have a role in killing Jews, nor were as many killed as once thought. Richard Evans was called as an expert witness to provide evidence supporting the standard views on Hitler. And he sure did deliver. The amount of research and document searching noted in this book was overwhelming. I was surprised that Evans went into the case with a seemingly open mind. He was ready to tackle the facts. The book is tedious for its level of detail, and of course the conclusion is pretty obvious from the beginning, but reading it served as a great reminder to be teachable and to be fair with the facts, especially when it comes to Scripture.

As Churchill said "everyone can have their own opinions, but not their own facts."

Background Story Behind "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day."

FamilyLife publishes a weekly article called The Marriage Memo. The memo for this week was especially interesting, giving the background behind the the hymn "I Head the Bells on Christmas Day" (taken from a poem by Longfellow).

Might be fun to share this with your family tonight and to have a conversation.
You can sign up to receive the Marriage Memo via email here.

The Bells of Hope
by Dave Boehi

Christmas was not a happy time for him.

His country was embroiled in a war he hated. His own son had returned home with severe wounds.

He also grieved deeply for his beloved wife, who had died after a freak accident in their home two years before. On the first Christmas after losing her, he wrote, "How inexpressibly sad are all holidays." Six months later he wrote, "I can make no record of these days. Better leave them wrapped in silence. Perhaps someday God will give me peace."

Indeed, the very idea of "peace on earth"--proclaimed by the angels upon Christ's birth and echoed by the church bells he heard on Christmas Day--seemed like a terrible joke.

And so on Christmas Day in 1863, with the American Civil War still raging, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem called "Christmas Bells."

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

Today we know these words from the song that was inspired by Longfellow's poem: "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." Two of Longfellow's verses, referring to the Civil War, do not appear in the song:

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South
And with the sound the carols drowned
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent
And made forlorn the households born
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

Longfellow's next verse, which does appear in the song, may be the saddest words I've seen in a Christmas carol. They reflect the misery of a man who felt no hope:

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!"

Fortunately the poem does not end there. For somehow the Christmas bells that morning reminded  Longfellow of a deeper truth:

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, goodwill to men!"

When life goes wrong

"I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" is one of my favorite carols because it is so honest and yet, in the end, so full of hope.

We all face times when life goes wrong and we feel despair. The despair after the death of a loved one, or the despair that accompanies a life-threatening disease. The despair of a marriage relationship that has drifted into isolation. The despair of a child who rejects everything you believe. The despair of a problem at work that you can't solve, or a career that feels like it's going nowhere. The despair of feeling powerless to break free of a secret sin.

Longfellow's dark cloud began to lift when he chose to focus on the fact that God is alive, that He is sovereign and has a greater plan than we can understand. We will never see the type of "peace on earth" that so many long for, because the heart of man remains unchanged. But we can experience peace in our hearts when we put our faith and trust in the God who created the universe. I think that's the kind of peace Longfellow finally experienced.

It's the same truth that the biblical character Job understood after losing everything he had. In the end he realized he needed to put his trust totally in God. "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted," he told God. "... Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know" (Job 42:2-3).

Choosing to trust God

Over the years I've interviewed a number of married couples who had experienced the type of hardships that doom many relationships--financial difficulties, death of a child, debilitating disease, and more. They all faced a crisis of faith, when they had to come to terms with the fact that life was not going as they had envisioned. They only experienced healing and peace when they acknowledged their trust in the God who created them and had a plan for their lives.

One husband, overwhelmed with the reality of raising a child with special needs and the pressure it was putting on his marriage, said, "I remember praying in the midst of my tears, Lord, I have nothing to believe in if I can't believe You are good and You are sovereign. I'm not sure I feel that, but if it's not true, then what's life about? I am going to choose to believe that you would not allow anything but good to come into my life."

On that December morning in 1863, Longfellow recognized these same truths, that "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep." Christmas reminds us that God demonstrated His goodness and sovereignty by sending His son to live on earth and pay the penalty for our sin so that we could experience true peace with God. As Romans 5:8 tells us, "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
God reached down to a world of despair and gave it hope.

Then ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

[A contemporary rendition of "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" was recorded by the group Casting Crowns. Click here to watch it on YouTube.]

© Copyright 2010 by FamilyLife. All rights reserved.

World War Two Books

This week I finished a book called The Third Reich at War by Richard J. Evans. It's the third in a series on the Third Reich by a history professor from Cambridge. This volume addressed the years from 1939 to the end of the war in 1945. At 900 pages, it is thoroughly researched and heavily referenced, yet also easy to read. But the title is a bit misleading. Evans certainly deals with the "war" part of the war, but if the title was meant to described the content of this book, then it would likely be named, How the Germans Killed Lots of People During WWII. The level of detail Evans provides throughout the book on both how they were put to death and the amount of people killed is overwhelming at times. I know, sounds encouraging. So why would you want to read this? After turning the last page and closing the cover I thought "more people must read this book. Especially high school students." It is too easy to forget the atrocities this world has endured, especially when we live in such a comfortable time. No culture that forgets God is very far away from repeating the acts of the Nazis. In fact, the book makes a pretty strong case for Hitler being primarily driven in his desire to eliminate the Jews by his Darwinistic convictions related to the 'survival of the fittest' and the need to protect the integrity of the master race. 

Evans concludes the book this way:

The Legacy of the Third Reich… extends far beyond Germany and Europe. The Third Reich raises in the most acute form the possibilities and consequences of the human hatred and destructiveness that exist, even if only in a small way, within all of us. It demonstrates with terrible clarity the ultimate potential consequences of racism, militarism and authoritarianism. It shows what can happen if some people are treated as less human than others. It poses in the most extreme possible form the moral dilemmas we all face at one time or another in our lives, of conformity or resistance, action or inaction in the particular situations with which we are confronted.

Or, to summarize, it shows what happens when sin reigns and controls a nation.

Though the book is very readable, the literary quality pales in comparison to the WWII book I completed just prior to picking up the Evans volume. For my 2009 birthday, my parents bought the six-volume set Churchill wrote on the history of WWII. I finished volume one in December and picked up Evans immediately afterwards. Churchill is a master writer, one of my favorites (in fact, one friend recently accused me of having "a man crush" on Churchill) and his ability to turn a phrase is among the best in the English language. Churchill had a team of writers accompany him on this book, and these guys were no slouches. Read what they said about Churchill's influence on their writing style in this work:

From the Foreign Office, Sir Orme Sargent and Professor Savory submitted notes on Britain, Poland and the coming of war.  Sir Alexander Cadogan sent extracts from his then unpublished diary of the Churchill-Roosevelt meeting in 1941.  From Cambridge, Professor Goodwin, a former flight-Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force, submitted a 150-page account of the Blitz.  Kelly was given the task of reducing this to three typewritten sheets. 'They seemed quite good', Kelly recalled, 'till I sat beside him and he pulled out his red pen and slowly and patiently corrected what I had written.  My sloppy, verbose sentences disappeared.  Each paragraph was tightened and clarified, and their true meaning suddenly stood out. It was like watching a skillful topiarist restoring a neglected and untidy garden-figure to its true shape and proportions.  In the middle of this penitential process he gently turned to me and said: 'I hope you don't mind me doing this?'

 

Finally, I'm in the process of re-reading The Red Horse, a novel about the Italian involvement in WWII. This is likely the best work of literature I've ever read. I'd put it up against all the great classics: War and Peace, Les Miserables, the Count of Monte Cristo. This is one of the few novels I have ever read a second time. It apparently won an award as the "European novel of the decade" (though I've not been able to find the evidence of the award recognition). The first time reading this book, after putting it down, I felt like I had lost a good friend, not wanting the story to end or the people to go away. If you have wanted to tackle a larger novel but haven't found the right one, this would be a good one to try.

On a humorous note (maybe), my son occasionally asks about the books I'm reading. Since WWII themes have lately dominated this list, much of my responses are related to War History. So occasionally the Nazis will come up and we will discuss who they were and what they did, trying to keep the conversation within the realm of what a 5 year old can handle. Last week he had a new friend over to play. They began in his room and within a few minutes he came out crying frantically and wringing his hands. Julie asks "whatever is the matter?" The child said, "Are the Nazis going to kill me? Please tell me they are not real! Please?" Apparently our son was trying to teach his new friend a little war history. Julie calmed him down and the boys went back to playing together. Now, I can only imagine how the conversation went down that night in their home…

Alexis de Tocqueville's Birthday

I receive a daily email from American Minute. It is worth signing up to receive these daily nuggets of american history, which serve as a great reminder of the amazing heritage we have in this nation.

Today the post is on Alexis de Tocqueville, born this day in 1805. De Tocqueville was a French social scientist who traveled to America to observe the country and try to discover what makes it unique and prosperous. His classic work Democracy in America is the summary of his observations. In it he says the following:

"Religion in America... must be regarded as the foremost of the political institutions of that country; for if it does not impart a taste for freedom, it facilitates the use of it... This opinion is not peculiar to a class of citizens or a party, but it belongs to the whole nation."

De Tocqueville added:

"There is no country in the whole world where the Christian religion retains a greater influence than in America... and nothing better demonstrates how useful it is to man, since the country where it now has the widest sway is both the most enlightened and the freest."

Read the entire post here.

G-dub on T-day

"It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favors."

–George Washington, Thanksgiving Proclamation, 3 October 1789

Famous Kentuckian

Have you heard of John J. Crittenden? There's a road named for him in Louisville. I read about him this week in volume one of the great Civil War Trilogy by Shelby Foote. Though I've only read 90 of the 2400 pages in the combined three volumes, I'm already convinced that this must be one of the finest pieces of historical writings in existence.

Back to Crittenden: He was Governor of KY, a U.S. Senator, and even served as Attorney General. This description appears about him on a KY historical highway marker in Frankfort:

"John Jordan Crittenden, 1787-1863, lived here [Frankfort House], 1819-1863. Legislator, 15th Kentucky Governor. Attorney General under three Presidents. Five times a U.S. Senator. Noted for Crittenden Compromise, 1860, futile effort to avert Civil War and preserve the Union. His last words: 'Let all the ends thou aimest at be thy country's, thy God's and truth's.' "