Need a Job? Write a Book About Lincoln

Tireless writer published average of one book every ten years

(NEWSER) - Lyndon Johnson's biographer takes his work seriously—so much so, he didn't cover LBJ's presidency for 30 years, Newsweek reports. Rising from the tabloid world in the 1960s, Robert Caro first wrote a painstaking biography of New York mogul Robert Moses. Next came a volume on LBJ's youth; Caro even slept outdoors in rural Texas to get a feel for it. History "can be literature in the deepest and highest sense of that term," Caro says. More»

He ducks rumor that Liam Neeson will portray prez

(NEWSER) - Once he wraps up Tintin, Steven Spielberg will make a long-awaited biopic about Abraham Lincoln, the Los Angeles Times reports. The director spilled the beans while promoting Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and said he wants to shoot the flick next year, Lincon's 200th anniversary—but did not confirm rumors that Liam Neeson will play the 16th US president. More»

Says his enemies are 'full of rage at our success'

(NEWSER) - Bill O’Reilly vigorously defended his book, Killing Lincoln, yesterday, after the National Park Service lambasted it for historical inaccuracies . “Our enemies are full of rage at our success,” he said on his show. He said the book contained "four minor misstatements, all of which have been corrected" along with "two typeset errors," which he deemed "a pretty good record." He said the Washington Post’s report that the book wouldn’t be sold at the Fort Theater bookstore is inaccurate. "The media lies at will these days," he said. More»

Police suspect statue's sword ended up as scrap metal

(NEWSER) - Police in Illinois are looking for a thief who emancipated a 3-foot copper sword from a statue of a Civil War artilleryman at Abraham Lincoln's final resting place. Investigators believe the sword—which replaced a bronze one stolen from the same statue at Lincoln's tomb in the 1890s—was stolen some time in the last few weeks, probably by somebody seeking to make quick cash by selling it for scrap metal. More»

Ford's Theatre superintendent writes scathing 4-page letter

(NEWSER) - Bill O'Reilly's book, Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever, has sold nearly a million copies and currently sits at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list . Only problem is, it's riddled with errors, according to a scathing review from the National Park Service bookstore at Ford’s Theatre, Salon reports. Here are a few alleged historical missteps:

• Killing Lincoln refers several times to the Oval Office. Little problem: The Oval Office wasn't built until 1909.