Abraham Lincoln

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Sorry, Abe, You Need a Permit

... to give the Gettysburg Address

(Newser) - One man looking to celebrate Presidents Day found that the land of the free isn't always so, the Daily Caller reports. Phillip Howell is a 25-year-old, 6-foot-4-inch tall American who, with a beard and top hat, bears a striking resemblance to a certain former president. He tried giving the Gettysburg...

3 Dead Guys We Just Can't Leave Alone

Their causes of death still puzzle researchers

(Newser) - These folks have been dead for centuries—and yet we still won’t leave them alone. Discover presents a list of celebs whose mysterious deaths keep us snooping:
  • Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1961, researchers found a lot of arsenic in the emperor’s hair, prompting speculation that he was poinsoned. Two
...

Historian Faked Date on Key Lincoln Artifact

Researcher 'rewrote history,' says archivist

(Newser) - An Abraham Lincoln researcher has confessed to changing the date on a Lincoln document, effectively altering history for his own gain, AOL News reports. Thomas Lowry changed the date from April 14, 1864, to 1865—the date of Lincoln's assassination—so that it would seem he’d discovered one of...

DNA Could Reveal Whether John Wilkes Booth Escaped

Descendants say he took new name, committed suicide in 1903

(Newser) - DNA evidence could settle once and for all the truth about what transpired in the days after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. The official story is that John Wilkes Booth was killed in a barn days after shooting the president—but his descendants say the dead man was just a lookalike....

Up for Auction: Rare Copy of Emancipation Proclamation

Signed by Abraham Lincoln, formerly owned by RFK

(Newser) - A hand-signed copy of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation owned by Robert F. Kennedy is to be auctioned Dec. 10 at Sotheby's. It is believed to be one of about 24 surviving copies that were signed by President Lincoln himself. The 1863 document that declared all slaves "forever free" was bought...

Ala. Tea Partier: Health Reform Is 'Slavery'

Candidate Rick Barber ups ante with even crazier ad

(Newser) - Tea party Republican Rick Barber has outdone himself. In a kind of sequel to his last crazy ad , the Alabama congressional candidate has released a new video in which a man dressed like Abraham Lincoln declares that paying taxes amounts to slavery. “Hey Abe,” Barber asks, “If...

If History Is a Guide, McChrystal Is Gone

Generals who question presidents often get the boot

(Newser) - If you're placing bets on whether Stanley McChrystal will be out of a job tomorrow, history suggests he'll be fired. NPR rounds up examples:
  • Abraham Lincoln: He finally had to relieve George McClellan of his duties because the general refused again and again orders to attack. McClellan also called Lincoln
...

Blogger Urges 'Bullet for Obama' on Twitter

Secret Service investigating

(Newser) - Secret Service authorities are investigating tweets by a conservative blogger apparently urging "a bullet" to President Obama's "head." Solomon Forell, upset by the impending passage of the health reform bill, noted yesterday that because the nation survived the killings of Lincoln and Kennedy, "we'll surely get...

Larry Flynt Writing Book on Presidential Sex

 Larry Flynt 
 Writing Book on 
 Presidential Sex 

our founding fornicators

Larry Flynt Writing Book on Presidential Sex

Hustler publisher will delve into affairs of state

(Newser) - Porn king Larry Flynt is turning to a slightly more academic topic: presidents. Well, the sex lives of presidents, to be exact. The Hustler publisher is writing One Nation Under Sex, an “academically sourced” history of White House seductions. Gawker got a look at the proposal, and it includes...

'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter' Doesn't Actually Suck

Lincoln-vampire mashup offers lively metaphor for slavery

(Newser) - Writer Seth Grahame-Smith landed a six-figure deal for a book called Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Does it suck? Surprisingly, no, says Time 's Lev Grossman. This mashup of history and horror may lack "richness and subtlety," but does not want for color. Grahame-Smith's writing is "lively" and...

Unexpected People With Roses Named After Them

Dolly Parton, say hello to George Burns and Abe Lincoln

(Newser) - Valentine's Day makes people think of roses. And when you think of roses, you think of ... George Burns, naturally. Maybe not, but the late comedian does have a variety of rose named after him. Mental Floss tracks down nine—actually, eight—more celebrities who've lent their names to the flower:...

Lincoln Letter to Boy on Sale for $60K

1861 note was sent to schoolboy to confirm their meeting

(Newser) - When 8-year-old George Patten was mocked by classmates in 1861 who didn't believe he'd met Abraham Lincoln, his teacher wrote to the president seeking to expose the boy's tall tale. Lincoln instead sent the boy a letter confirming that they had met the previous year. That document, believed to be...

Obama's Health Reform Waffling May Be Savvy

Prez perhaps following his predecessors in 'strategic uncertainty'

(Newser) - It may not be timidity that’s keeping Barack Obama from pushing harder for a public health care option. He may instead be employing a time-tested presidential technique: “strategic uncertainty,” writes Jill Lawrence in Politics Daily. Key for Obama is getting strong Senate support for a bill, and...

Paper Runs 'Unfortunate' Obama-Assassination Ad

(Newser) - Federal authorities are on the case after a Pennsylvania paper ran a classified ad that appears to call for the assassination of President Obama, Editor & Publisher reports. “May Obama follow in the footsteps of Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley & Kennedy!” the ad read. Those presidents were assassinated in...

Lost-and-Found Letter Shows Lincoln's Terse Side

Embattled prez had more to deal with than Civil War

(Newser) - A handwritten note dated just a few days before Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address has finally made its way back to the National Archives, the Washington Post reports. The terse communication from the president to Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase addressed corruption charges against a Lincoln appointee. "Even though this...

Lincoln's Watch Yields Hidden Message

(Newser) - A legend about a DC watchmaker who etched a secret message inside Abraham Lincoln’s pocket watch is true, the Washington Post reports. Smithsonian officials opened the watch today and found it amid the tiny gears: "Jonathan Dillon April 13, 1861. Fort Sumter was attacked by the rebels on...

Photo May Be Last Taken of Lincoln

Grant descendant found pic in private album of Ulysses S.

(Newser) - A photograph from a private album of Ulysses S. Grant may show Abraham Lincoln in front of the White House and could be the last image taken of him before he was assassinated, a collector believes. If it is indeed Lincoln, it would be the only known photo of the...

Honest Abe for Commerce? Obama Pokes Fun at Trouble

Maybe Abe sat around waiting for a call to be commerce secretary

(Newser) - President Obama poked a little fun at himself and his own Cabinet-appointee travails last night during a tribute to Abe Lincoln in Illinois, notes the Chicago Tribune. Obama drew a long round of laughter when he described Lincoln's pre-presidential days as a Springfield lawyer, "his feet on a cluttered...

Lincoln Made My Story Possible: Obama

Library of Congress mark bicentennial with special exhibit

(Newser) - President Obama and Congress marked the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth today, with Obama reflecting on how Lincoln's vision led to his own success, CNN reports. "I can say that I feel a special gratitude to this singular figure who in so many ways made my own story...

Lincoln's Gettysburg 'Poetry' Resonates

(Newser) - If anyone has a right to be tired of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, it's writer and producer David Grubin. As a sixth-grader, he had to write it out 100 times or so—his teacher's favorite form of punishment. The actual words meant little to him as a 12-year-old, but their...

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