Original subtitles

Old Abe Lincoln.

Came out of the wilderness.

Out of the wilderness.

Out of the wilderness.

Old Abe Lincoln.

Came out of the wilderness.

Down in Illinois.

Snow all winter, cloudbursts all spring, food just about gone.

There's nothing in the ground coming up.

If we stay here much longer, we'll starve.

You're always saying the same thing, Tom, no matter where we go.

"Pull up stakes and git" is all you ever think about.

We got nothing to worry about, Pa. Rain don't last forever.

Even if it stopped, you wouldn't notice it,

seeing as how your everlasting got your nose stuck in some book.

What you reading now?

That book Squire Noble give me back in Indiana.

It's called Shakespeare.

What in the name of tarnation mockery is that?

It's kind of poetry.

Poetry?

Hmm. My son.

Maybe, if he ever gets time to get himself an education,

maybe someday he'll write poetry.

Over my dead body, he will.

Well, it's settled. We're all ready to go.

Go where?

Didn't Abe tell you? A fella named...

Leave me tell them, John. You talk too slow.

There's a trader named Denton Offut wants me and John and Abe

to take a flatboat of hogs down to New Orleans.

He wasn't sure we was the men for it but we convinced him.

- Good money? - $20 a month, a piece.

We're starting from a town called Springfield up the Sangamon River.

- When? - Right now.

Come on, Abe. Yeah. If we don't hurry, we'll lose the job.

Who'd have thunk anyone in this family would ever make $20 a month?

So you're going, Abe?

I guess I better do it, Ma.

I know I can trust the old man to your care, Ma.

And we can trust you, Abe.

You're a good boy.

I couldn't have loved you more if you'd been my own son.

I'll always be thanking you, Ma, for your great kindness to me.

Wherever you go, whatever you do,

you remember what the Good Book says,

"The world passeth,

but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever."

I'll remember, Ma.

Goodbye.

Goodbye...

dear Abe.

The last time I was down south,

they was already talking about annexing the United States.

I tell you, these suckers up here don't know their head from an ax handle.

- I remember one time... - There's a town over there, Mr. Offut.

Yeah. That's New Salem.

Right pretty little place.

It's going to be bigger than Springfield someday.

No, you don't! No, you don't!

I got all my rag money and shin-plasters wrapped up in you little squealers,

and I don't calculate to lose it in the Sangamon.

Heel her over, Abe!

Heel her over! Milldam just ahead!

Heel her over, Abe! Heel her over.

Heel her over, boys. Heel her over.

I'm a-heeling.

Never mind me. Get them pigs!

- My name's Abe Lincoln. - And mine's Ann Rutledge.

I don't know the name of the pig.

Where are you going with all those pigs?

New Orleans, if we don't hit any more milldams on the way.

You live here, Miss Rutledge?

Yes. I suppose it doesn't look like much to a traveled man like you.

Looks like a fine place to me, fine people.

If you think I like to travel, you're wrong.

I'm only doing it 'cause I got to, same as the pigs.

Hey! Hey!

I guess I got to be going.

Goodbye, Miss Rutledge.

I'm pleased to have made your acquaintance.

Goodbye, Mr. Lincoln.

Good luck.

Fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty.

Looks like we got them all.

Nice people, them people. You know what?

Soon as I get back, I'm going to open up a store in that town.

Think you'd like to work for me? Abe?

Yes, sir.

- Did you hear me? - No, sir.

I said I'm going to open up a store in that town as soon as I get back.

- Do you want to work for me? - Yes, Sir.

I sure do.

With all I know about Denton Offut,

I can bet you a coonskin cap against your Sunday pants,

he don't show up in New Salem like he promised.

Well, if he don't, he don't then. That's simple, ain't it?

You got other interests in New Salem?

Nope. Don't know anybody.

Well, nobody excepting Ann Rutledge, maybe. You know her?

Who don't? Her pa owns the tavern.

Where did you meet her?

I was with a pig, and she spoke to me first.

We was pioneers in them days,

and we didn't have no luxuries to live on like we got today.

We didn't have no cutlets with gravy and corn dodgers.

No, sirree!

Fried salt pork was a Sunday dish in them days.

What did you eat on Saturday, Ben, beans?

- What's happening? - Election day. That's old Ben Mattling.

Makes the same speech every year.

But we didn't complain, neither!

We fought in the revolutionary war.

We weren't no milksops like you are today.

If the country is going to the dogs, why don't you do something about it?

I'm talking to you like a soldier.

I helped to found this miserable country.

Didn't you get no assistance from Washington and Jefferson?

Shut up, Jack. Let him talk.

Now what I want to know is this...

How are you going to vote today?

We'll vote as we goshdarn please, you old windbag.

Come on, boys. Let's go get some liquor.

- Who's going to pay for it, Jack? - Who said anything about paying?

In the year 1776, we stated the proposition

that all men were created equal,

and now look at us!

You keep out of here, you low scum, you!

You'll get no liquor from me today or any day

till you learn how to behave yourselves.

I believe I said we want liquor. Did you hear me say it, Mr. McNeil?

Go easy, Armstrong. We don't want any trouble here.

Oh? And what's more, we won't have any trouble.

Don't you fight with him, John.

No, John, don't you fight with me if you want to keep your health!

Let him go, I tell you!

Afraid I might do something

to that pretty face of your future husband?

Never mind, Miss Annie. I won't damage him.

If he's what you want, you can have him.

And since you ain't got the hospitality to invite us,

I guess we might as well help ourselves. Come on, boys!

Our clothes was all wore out.

Our shoes was all wore out. And most of...

The Clarey's Grove boys, they're getting drunk, all of them.

They'll break up the whole tavern. Can't anybody do anything?

Can't you speak to them, Judge Green?

I'm afraid, Miss Ann, it wouldn't do a particle of good.

You're right, Judge. Not a particle of good.

I tell you, you ought to listen to what the Judge says.

He's got a round belly but a level head.

Nobody can do nothing with me without licking me first.

- If was a mite younger... - Easy, Ben.

I'm the big buck of this lick,

and any of you want to wet your horns, all you got to do is...

give that hat a kick.

Don't you worry, Trum. Nobody will dare to damage it.

You want to fight, stranger?

Not particularly.

If you change your mind, there's the hat.

If I were a man, Jack Armstrong, I'd give you the thrashing you deserve.

You ain't a man, Miss Annie, and praise be for that.

You're a female, and a pretty goshdarn appealing one.

Can't you see I'm the only man there is in this measly town?

Leave go of me!

I changed my mind.

Excuse me, mister, but it had to be done.

Better be careful, stranger.

You're up against the greatest fighter in this town.

Thank you, gentlemen, but we've all got to learn sometime.

That's the spirit, Mr. Flop Ears.

Shake hands?

Pleasure.

That was quite a hearty handshake.

He's bad medicine.

When I was a boy,

I didn't like molasses and sulfur either but I got so I could take it.

Want another?

Shouldn't be surprised.

Watch him!

Get him!

Get him!

Watch him!

Get him!

Watch out for his dirty tricks.

Lick him, stranger, and you'll be my friend for life.

That's it! That's it! Go after him!

Are you satisfied?

I'm satisfied.

Also, I'm quite considerable surprised.

So am I.

- It was an accident. - Stranger didn't fight fair.

- Rassle him again, Jack. - No, sir.

No more rassling with this long-legged son of vengeance.

I'm here to admit to one and all that New Salem has a new champion.

Congratulations.

Fine work.

That was good work, Mr. Lincoln.

You're the man we've been waiting for in New Salem.

Thank you for remembering my name.

Oh, you've met before?

In a sort of informal way.

I hope you'll be staying here.

I hope so, Miss Rutledge.

Looks like we'll have to delay the voting.

We haven't anyone to act as clerk yet.

- Here you are, stranger. - Oh, thank you.

- What's your name? - Lincoln.

- Abraham Lincoln. - My name is Joshua Speed.

Glad to meet you.

Let me introduce you to our leading citizens.

- Judge Bowling Green. - How do you do?

And Mr. Mentor Graham, our schoolmaster.

Glad to meet all of you.

Good afternoon. Can you write?

I guess I can make a few hen tracks.

Good. Then you can help tabulate votes. Give him the oath, Bowling.

Raise your right hand. Repeat after me.

I, Abraham Lincoln, do solemnly swear to uphold the constitution...

Wait a minute, mister.

What are you getting me into?

He wants to put you to work for the government, Mr. Lincoln.

No, you don't. I don't want to be no politician.

Hey, nonsense. All you're going to do is to see

that we get an honest vote. Come on now, take the oath.

Go ahead, Mr. Lincoln.

You're the only one those Clarey's Grove boys will respect.

All right, Mr...

Gale. Seth Gale.

- Howdy. - Same to you.

I, Abraham Lincoln, do solemnly swear

to uphold the constitution...

...of the United States of America.

...of the United States of America.

Let's see now.

I got my hickory shirt, and I got my pound of beans,

and give me a pair of buckskin gloves.

Ain't got no buckskin gloves, but these are dog skin,

they only cost 75 cent.

They look good. How do you know they're dog skin?

Tell you how I know.

Jack Clarey's dog kills Tom Watkins' sheep.

Tom Watkins' boy kills his dog.

Old John Mounst tans the dog skin and Sally Spears makes the gloves.

That's how I come to know they're dog skin.

So that's how, is it?

I'll take them,

but you'll have to trust me for the money.

Anybody ever offered us cash in this store, we'd drop dead.

I'll remember that, Abe, when I pay in here again.

Abe, I'm a restless man, got the soul of a gypsy.

Feel the urge to pull out of New Salem.

Why, I'm sorry...

But I want to show my appreciation

for the fine work you've done in my employ.

No thanks are necessary, Mr. Offut.

I'm going to give you more than mere thanks, my friend.

I'm going to make you a present of this store.

Yes, sir, Abe, it's all yours, lock, stock and barrel.

Why that's mighty generous of you, Mr. Offut...

Not a word, Abe. Not a word.

I'm making this gesture solely because that's the way I am.

- Good night, Abe. - But, Mr. Offut...

There's one thing, and I hope you'll excuse me to mention it,

but just how much money do you owe here?

I knew you was a smart man, Abe.

Yes, sir. I've always been a shrewd judge of character.

With your brain and energy, you'll make a go of this store,

and it won't take you long to pay off the sum of $1,500.

- Good night. - Good night, Mr. Offut.

Good evening, Abe.

Good evening, Mentor.

Let's see. Where were we when we left off?

You said at this lesson we'd review the moods.

Ah, yes, the moods.

Every one of us has many moods.

You yourself have more than your share, Abe.

They express the various aspects of your character.

You must try and...

consider this language as if it were a living person.

Now...

name me the five moods.

Abe?

Excuse me, Mentor.

I asked you to name me the five moods.

The indicative, imperative, potential, subjunctive and infinitive.

And what do they signify?

The indicative mood's the easy one.

That just indicates a thing, like "He loves" or "He is loved."

The imperative mood is used for commanding,

like "Get out and be danged to you."

Is that the best example you can think of?

You can put it in the Bible way like "Go thou in peace"

but it's still imperative.

And the potential?

That just signifies possibility, usually of an unpleasant nature,

like "If I ever get out of debt, I'll probably get right back in again."

Debts keep piling up on you, Abe?

I'm afraid it's my own fault. I'm my father's son.

Give me a good, steady job and I'll fail at it.

You haven't been a failure, Abe.

There's not a manjack in this community

that isn't fond of you and anxious to see you get ahead.

I know, just like you, Mentor,

sitting up late nights to give me learning,

just out of the kindness of your heart.

Now Judge Green and Josh Speed and a few others I owe money to

want to get me the job of postmaster,

thinking maybe I can handle that,

since there's only one mail comes in a week.

Well, Abe, there are always two occupations

open to those who have failed at everything else.

There's school teaching and politics.

I'll take school teaching.

You go into politics, and you may get elected.

Then you got to go to the city, and I don't want none of that.

- What did I say about two negatives? - I meant any of that.

What's your objection to cities, Abe?

You ever seen one?

Sure. I've been downriver to New Orleans.

Do you know every minute of the time I was there I was scared?

I was scared of people.

Did you imagine that they'd rob you of all your gold and your jewels?

No.

I was scared they'd kill me.

Why? Why should they want to kill you?

I don't know.

You're a hopeless mess of inconsistency, Abe Lincoln.

You understand, don't you, Ann?

How long will you be gone, John?

Oh, two or three months, that's all.

I'll miss you...

every minute of the time.

This was my mother's.

My father gave it to her when they became engaged.

All you must ever think about,

all I'll ever think about is that I love you...

and we're going to be wonderfully happy.

John...

tell me that again.

Tell me we're going to be happy.

Hey, Abe, have you seen this?

The governor's calling for a troop of volunteers right here in New Salem.

You'll be going, won't you, Abe?

I don't know.

Seems to me as if those Indians had a right to their own land.

Yes, but if we want to settle in Kansas-Nebraska territory

and live in peace out there, we've got to fight the Indians first,

just the way your own father did when he moved into Kentucky.

Hooray!

What is it, Jack?

We're all going to war, Abe, and we've elected you captain.

Looks as if they've made up my mind for me.

Squad right wheel, march!

Squad right wheel, march!

Left! Left! Left, right, left!

They're known as Captain Abraham Lincoln's company

of the First Regiment of the Brigade of Mounted Volunteers.

Yeah, mounted volunteers.

I'd hate to be a horse and have one of them galoots ride me.

Forward march!

Jack, I've forgotten the command

that will take them through the gate endwise.

Don't ask me, sir. I'm only a sergeant.

Company halt!

The company will break ranks

and form again on the other side of the gate.

Hey, Abe, look!

Anything for me, Abe?

Yes, Seth. There's one from Maryland, probably from your folks.

- Twenty eight cents due. - Thanks, Abe.

- I'll pay you later. - Anytime, Seth.

Anything for the Rutledge family this morning?

There's one for your pa, looks like a liquor advertisement.

There's one from New York state for you.

There's 34 cents due on the two of them.

I haven't got my purse with me.

That's all right, Miss Ann. The government can wait.

Thank you, Abe, very much.

Good morning, Miss Ann.

My, you're looking prettier every day.

Good news, I hope?

Very good, thank you.

Catch me waiting two years for any man.

I beg your pardon, miss.

Can you direct me to the home of Joshua Speed?

It's that house up there with the morning glories,

but I think you'll find him at the tavern.

Thank you, miss. I'm much obliged.

Abe, next to my old man,

I think you're the homeliest critter I ever saw.

There's a reason, Mrs. Cairns.

When I was two months old, I was the handsomest child in Kentucky.

My nurse swapped me off for another one that was kind of plain looking.

Hey, Abe, they want you over to the tavern.

Who does?

Josh Speed and Bowling Green

and one of them dressed-up fellers from Springfield.

- What do they want of me? - I don't know.

But I can tell you this, I don't like the looks of it!

But he's the best-liked man in this district.

The very man we want.

Maybe it will correct the public belief

that the Whig party is composed only of the more privileged classes.

Gentlemen.

Abe, I want you to meet Mr. Ninian Edwards,

a mighty important representative of our political party.

- Happy to know you, Mr. Edwards. - Lincoln, it's a pleasure.

Sit down, Abe. We want to talk to you.

Abe, how would you like to run for the state legislature?

- When? - Now, for election in the fall.

Why?

The Whig party needs a candidate from this district.

You're the postmaster here, which gives you valuable contacts.

While delivering mail, you can also deliver speeches and campaign literature

with which our headquarters will keep you supplied.

Could you supply me with a suit of store clothes?

A candidate mustn't look too plain.

And what's more, Abe, in the legislature, you'll get paid,

three whole dollars a day.

Fine money, all right. No denying that.

I can see what you're getting at, Bowling.

I owe you a considerable sum.

I'm not thinking about the debts, Abe.

I know you ain't, Bowling, but I got to.

I can see, Mr. Lincoln, that you're the type of man who can handle anyone.

Hmm. Even the Clarey's Grove boys.

I can handle them because I can out-rassle them,

but I can't go around Sangamon county throwing all the voters.

You want to get an education, don't you, Abe?

Here's your chance to do it.

In Vandalia, you'll be associating

with all the finest lawyers in this state.

Important men, like Stephen A. Douglas. You'll grow.

Thought I'd growed too much already.

Don't listen to him, Abe!

Don't let him get you into politics.

They'll corrupt you just the same

as they've corrupted the whole dang United States.

You're an honest man, Abe Lincoln.

You're a good-for-nothing, debt-ridden loafer,

but you're an honest man.

Is that all you have to say, Uncle Ben?

That's all, and I hope it's enough.

I kind of agree with him.

Well, Mr. Lincoln, we don't demand your answer immediately,

but think it over.

Now, gentlemen, if you'll excuse me,

I have to put in an appearance at the torchlight procession

in Springfield this evening, so I must be moving along.

Just consider what it means

to be starting up the ladder in a nation

which is now expanding southward through Texas

and westward to the empire of the Californias.

It's opportunity, Mr. Lincoln.

Opportunity unlimited in scope.

Goodbye, sir.

Goodbye, Mr. Edwards. Pleasant journey to you.

- Goodbye, gentlemen. - Goodbye.

Goodbye, Ninian.

Ann?

What is it?

That letter you got from New York State...

What do you know about that letter?

I'm the postmaster.

Guess I know more than I ought to about people's private affairs,

but I couldn't help seeing that was the handwriting of Mr. McNeil.

Whatever the letter said, it's no concern of yours.

I know that, but it makes me sad

to think it's something could have hurt you.

If I could help you, Ann...

You know, when you're distressed about something,

it's a comfort sometimes

even to have a pair of ears to pour your troubles into,

and my ears are big enough to hold a lot.

You're a Christian gentleman, Abe Lincoln.

No, I ain't. I'm a plain common sucker

with a shirttail so short I can't sit on it.

You can always say something to make a person laugh, can't you?

Oh, I don't need to say anything. A person just has to look at me.

You were right about the letter, Abe.

John says he doesn't know when he'll be able to get back to New Salem,

by which he probably means... never.

- I wouldn't say that, Ann. - I would.

Do you love him so much?

I thought I did,

but I guess I couldn't really love anyone

who was as faithless as that.

You see, I can't help thinking what they're saying about me,

all the old gossips all over town.

It's just weakness, I guess.

Vanity.

Something you couldn't understand, Abe.

Maybe I can understand it, Ann.

I got a kind of vanity myself.

I guess it's nothing but vanity

that's kept me from declaring my inclination towards you.

See, I don't like to be sniggered at either.

I know what I am. I know what I look like.

I know I got nothing to offer any girl I'd be in love with.

Are you saying you're in love with me, Abe?

Yes, I am saying that.

I've been loving you for a long time with all my heart.

You see, Ann, you're a particularly fine girl.

But I don't want to worry you about it.

I was only thinking if you'd do me the honor

of keeping company with me for a while, it might shut the old gossips' mouths.

They'd figure you'd chuck McNeil for someone else, even me.

Do you think I was too forward in speaking out as I did?

No, Abe.

I've always thought a lot of you, the way I thought you were,

but the idea of love between you and me...

I can't say how I feel about that.

But I can tell you this much now, and truthfully.

If I ever do love you, I'll be happy about it,

and lucky to be loving a good, decent man.

If you'll just give me a little time to think about it.

You mean if you took time, you might get in your heart

something like the feeling I have for you?

I don't know, Abe.

But I do know you're a man who could fill anyone's heart.

Yes, fill it and warm it

and make it glad to be living.

And join your hands and all go West.

Right-hand swing and promenade the ring.

First couple, bounce and swing.

And away you go to the right of the ring.

Bird's in the cage And three hands around.

Bird hops out and the crow hops in.

And all hands round and let her go again.

And do-si, ladies, do-si-do.

And one more whirl and on you go.

On to the next with the bird in the cage.

And three hands round.

Bird hops out and the crow hops in.

Three hands round and let her go again.

Bounce four in the middle of the floor.

Like a woodchuck chipping On a schoolhouse door.

And do-si, ladies, do-si, gents.

What's the matter with you, Abe? You, the guest of honor, not dancing?

I'd like to, but my feet won't work right.

Ann Rutledge sure is acting as gay as all get-out.

She's just trying to hide the misery that's in her heart.

They tell me that locket is the one that John McNeil gave her.

She ought to forget him, I say.

I reckon she wishes she could.

Meet your partner and promenade.

First the lady off to the right.

Then cheat or swing or do as you like But don't forget your own.

On to the next and cheat or swing.

Or do as you like But don't forget your own.

Faster, Uncle Ben. Faster!

On to the next and cheat or swing Or do as you like.

Help!

Get some water, Abe.

She's all right, Doc.

The excitement was just a little too much for her.

Here's the water, Doc.

Thanks, Abe.

She'll be all right, Doc?

Oh, I don't think there's need for any worry.

Better be getting her on home.

It's all right, Ann.

I don't know what happened.

I'm all right, Abe.

I feel fine now.

Did you notice whether she's been ailing any lately?

She seemed kind of droopy, but we didn't think much of it.

Why? Do you think she's took sick?

Oh, there's no cause for alarm,

but just to be on the safe side, I'll ride back with her.

I was scared.

You needn't be, Abe.

I'm sorry I made such a fool of myself.

You mustn't think of anything but winning that election.

You've got to win, Abe.

And I'll be cheering for you when you do.

Good night, Abe. Thanks.

Good night, Ann.

Good night, Abe.

Down in Kentucky where I was born,

it was pretty wild country and wild people in it.

I heard tell of a woman who came to her cabin door one day

and found her husband grappling with a ferocious bear.

It was a fight to the death, and the bear was winning.

The struggling husband cried to his wife,

"For heaven's sake, do something!"

Wife asked what could she do?

Said the husband, "You can at least say something encouraging."

But the wife, not wishing to take sides in this combat,

hollered, "Go it, husband! Go it, bear!"

Now that's the way I'll be if elected. I'll be like the man's wife.

I'll cheer for everybody so as I'm sure to be on the winning side.

Where are you going, Abe?

Come on. Let's finish with the voting. We can't be all night about this.

What does the doctor say, Jack?

It's the brain fever, Abe.

She's pretty bad.

Thank you, Jack.

Who you voting for?

I'm voting for Abe Lincoln.

That's good.

Who you voting for, Trum?

- For Abe. - Who?

I said I'm voting for Mr. Lincoln.

You'd better.

"Therefore his sisters sent unto Him,

saying, 'Lord, behold,

he whom thou lovest is sick.'

When Jesus heard that,

He said, 'This sickness is not unto death,

but for the glory of God,

that the son of God might be glorified thereby.

You have come to me,

and I wanted you so much.

Come close to me.

Tell me we will be happy.

We're going to be happy, Ann.

I know I got less than nothing to offer you,

but whatever I am, whatever I could be,

my life belongs to you, and it always will until the day I die.

I love you.

I do love you.

I knew you'd come back to me.

Don't ever go away from me again.

We will be happy.

Old Abe Lincoln.

Came out of the wilderness.

Out of the wilderness.

Out of the wilderness.

Old Abe Lincoln...

Abe carried New Salem by 205 votes to three!

My boys are out trying to find the three skunks who voted wrong.

Old Abe Lincoln.

Came out of the wilderness.

Out of the wilderness...

Get her tight, Fergus. Straighten her out so we can see her.

No, you don't.

I don't wear no soup kettle for nobody.

You ain't no better than Abe Lincoln, and he's wearing one.

All right, boys, here we go.

Down to Judge Green's house to pick up the new legislator!

They're coming, Abe.

"A large mass meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.

Many orators paid tribute to the heroic memory

of the late Elijah Lovejoy.

Thousands of New Englanders shouted, "He shall be avenged."

I wonder what the great Stephen A. Douglas has to say to that.

The great Stephen A. Douglas has this much to say.

Freedom of the press is all very well until liberty becomes license.

Lovejoy's life would have been spared

if he'd listened to the dictates of reason

instead of his own rip-roaring fanaticism.

But perhaps my good friend Abe Lincoln doesn't agree.

I agree that Lovejoy should have listened to reason,

but if he had to be silenced,

I'd prefer that it'd been done by the law,

instead of a crowd of bloodthirsty killers.

Still straddling the fence, eh? That won't help you to get re-elected.

Afraid nothing can help me. I'm not running.

You're quitting the legislature?

- Yep. - Why, Abe, I'm distressed.

- We'll miss you. - Sorry to cause you distress, Steve.

What will you do, Abe?

Judge Stuart's offered me a chance to work in his law office in Springfield.

Of course, I don't know much about the law,

but there's one thing I've learned here in politics,

that is ignorance is no obstacle to advancement.

In fact, in some cases, it's quite an advantage.

Good day, everybody.

- Hello, Billy Herndon. - Hello.

Hello, Billy.

Nice day, isn't it, Mr. Herndon?

Why, yes, it is.

Where you been, Billy?

I had to go downstairs about that writ in the Wilcox case.

If you only went downstairs, why did you wear your hat?

As a matter of fact,

I stopped in at the Chenery House saloon.

Careful, Billy.

You got great fires in you, but you're putting them out fast.

Yes, sir.

- I saw Ninian Edwards, sir. - Mmm-hmm.

He invited you to his party this evening.

Getting quite a habit with him. What's the occasion this time?

He wants you to meet his sister-in-law, Miss Mary Todd,

who has just arrived from Kentucky.

You don't say so. Well, I am becoming a social success.

Yes, Mr. Lincoln, you are, and I'm afraid you enjoy it.

The Todd family are mighty high-class people.

Spell their name with two "D's"

which is pretty impressive when you consider one was enough for "God."

Good evening, my dear Mrs. Edwards.

How stunning you look in that magnificent new gown.

A dress like that must have come all the way from Cincinnati.

My sister brought it from Louisville, a present from my dear papa.

- Good evening, Steve. - Ninian.

Mary, my dear, may I present

our most eloquent citizen, Mr. Stephen Douglas.

Mr. Douglas, I am honored.

Miss Todd, your brother-in-law has just now described me as eloquent,

but alas, I must now prove him wrong.

Standing as I am in the presence of such penetrating intelligence,

such devastating charm, I am rendered speechless.

I can hardly believe it.

Ninian, I thought you were going to have that thing raised up.

It wouldn't have made any difference if you had.

He'd have knocked over something else.

Mr. Lincoln is more at home in the backwoods than in a drawing room.

How do you do, Mr. Lincoln?

So far, I haven't been doing so well, thank you.

Never mind, Mr. Lincoln, I'm sure all the other gentlemen here

envy you for being tall enough to break that chandelier.

Miss Todd, I want you to know that I resent that bitterly.

- Hello, Abe. - Evening, Steve.

- Still got the same old coat on, eh? - I got kind of attached to it.

- Seems a little short. - It'll be longer before I get another.

Abe is what you might call a self-made man.

Well, I guess my parents ought to take some of the blame.

When I first knew him, he was behind a counter

selling whiskey and rum

and intoxicating the customers with his own raw humor.

You see, Miss Todd, I was always behind the bar

and Steve Douglas was always in front of it.

Something tells me I shouldn't have started this.

So I said to Daniel Webster,

"You may stand where you like in Massachusetts,

but you'll meet your downfall out here in Illinois."

I can understand why they speak of you as the little giant.

Better be careful, Stephen.

Mary's just as ambitious as you are.

My sister has made no secret of the fact

that the man she marries will be president of the United States.

I'm delighted to hear it, Miss Todd,

for I have been looking for the perfect first lady

to be my consort in the White House, and now I've found her.

Really? But you should give that out to the newspapers.

"Stephen A. Douglas consents to become president.”

I... seem to need a little more refreshment.

You're very sweet.

One night, there was a gathering of all the grandees.

You know, one of these high-tone shindigs.

All the girls in town were there and the handsome widows

and married women finicking about, try to look like girls.

They were all tied together in the middle and puffed out both ends,

like bundles of fodder waiting to be stacked

and wanting stacking pretty bad.

Now, all of them wore...

Well, it started out to be a political story.

And quite amusing too. Don't you think, gentlemen?

But I think it's my turn to monopolize you for a while.

Has Mary taken leave of her senses?

Devoting herself to that Mr. Lincoln

when we have the most eligible gentlemen here to meet her.

Perhaps Abe amuses her, my dear.

Nonsense. My sister is a well-bred young lady.

No, no, Mr. Lincoln. I'm not laughing at you.

I'm sure your mother must have been a wonderful woman.

How old were you when she died?

I was seven. The milk sick got her, poor creature.

I helped Pa make the coffin, whittled the pegs with my own jackknife.

We buried her in a timber clearing beside my grandmother.

I used to go there often to look at the place.

I used to watch the deer run over her grave with their little feet.

Funny.

I never could kill a deer after that.

Once I got a licking from Pa

because when he was taking aim at a deer I knocked his gun up.

But this is no way to behave in society,

talking about the backwoods I come from.

It's just the way to behave, Mr. Lincoln.

Please tell me some more about the lickings you got.

Oh, what has caused This great commotion.

Motion, motion.

Our country through.

It is a ball a-rolling on.

For Tippecanoe and Tyler too.

For Tippecanoe and Tyler too.

Notice the name, Billy?

It's here, right down at the bottom.

Boasting, huh?

Bowling!

How are you, Bowling?

Terribly well, Abe, and glad to see you.

Glad to see you. This is Billy Herndon. Squire Green from New Salem.

Proud to know you, sir. Mr. Lincoln speaks of you constantly.

Thank you, Mr. Herndon. Are you a lawyer too?

I hope to be, sir. I'm serving here as clerk in Judge Stuart's absence.

- So now you're teaching others, Abe. - No, just setting a bad example.

How's that blessed wife of yours?

Nancy's busy as ever,

and more than ever concerned

about your innermost hopes and yearnings.

You can tell her I'm becoming a person of importance.

Yes, sir. If old Tippecanoe wins next fall,

I'll be a member of the Electoral College.

Is that the best you can do?

You and Billy should get better acquainted.

He's pretty disgusted with me too.

Says I've no ambition,

and I associate with the wrong kind of people.

He can't stand anybody that keeps his mouth shut

and abides by the constitution.

If he had his way, the whole union would be set on fire,

and we'd all be burned to a crisp. Right, Billy?

Yes, Mr. Lincoln.

And if you'll permit me to say so,

I think you'd be of more use to your fellow man if you allowed some

of the same incendiary impulses to come out in you.

- You hear that, Bowling? - I'm surprised at you, Abe.

I thought you were opposed to slavery.

I am opposed to slavery,

but I'm even more opposed to getting myself into trouble.

Why don't you run for Congress, Abe?

If I did, I might get elected. I'd be in Washington.

Then I might have to cast my vote on the terrible issue of war or peace.

And what attitude would I take?

The liberal attitude, of course.

And what is the liberal attitude?

To go to war for a tract of land or a moral principle,

or avoid war at all cost.

No, sir, Bowling. I'm no fighting man.

I found that out when I went through the Black Hawk war,

and was terrified I might have to fire a shot at an Indian.

Fortunately, the Indians felt the same way,

so I never saw any of them.

Excuse me, Bowling.

That's his trouble... women.

I should say, that's the, um, liberal attitude.

I cannot and will not stand it any longer.

All this ridiculous gossip must be silenced.

After all, the gossip does none of us any harm, my dear.

I ask you to keep out of this, Ninian. This is between my sister and myself.

Nevertheless, Ninian is right.

I ask you to deny once and for all

that you've ever given one moment of thought

to the idea of marriage with Abraham Lincoln.

Oh, but I have. I've given many months' thought to it,

and I've decided that I shall be Mrs. Lincoln.

Mary!

- Does it shock you so deeply, Elizabeth? - And why not?

Marrying him would mean life in a log cabin,

with no servants, no decent clothes.

You expect me to do precisely what you've done,

marry a rich, well-bred gentleman, like Ninian,

and live in a fine house like this.

A house with a fence around it to keep out the common herd.

And also to prevent you from escaping from your own narrow life.

Well, with all due respect to my dear brother-in-law,

I don't want that, and I won't have it. Never.

In Abraham Lincoln, I see a man

who has split rails for other men's fences

but who will never build one around himself.

You are talking with a degree of irresponsibility

that's not far from sheer madness.

You've never made a move

to change your condition or to improve it.

You consider that it couldn't be improved.

To you, all this represents perfection. Well, it doesn't to me.

I want the chance to shape a new life for myself and for my husband.

Is that irresponsibility?

How far will you go with a man like that,

lazy and shiftless,

forever stopping along the way to tell jokes?

He will not stop if I am strong enough to make him go on,

and I am strong.

I'll admit, he seems to have no conception of his own power,

or if he has, he's afraid to face it.

I'm not afraid.

I'm ready to fight to make him fulfill his destiny,

even if you and all your world despise me for it.

Merely a small point, Mary,

but I suppose you've communicated your decision to Abe?

Uh, not yet, but when he comes this evening,

and he should be here at any moment, he will ask for my hand in marriage.

And after I've displayed the proper amount of surprise and confusion,

I shall murmur timidly, "Yes."

- This is positively humiliating! - Mr. Lincoln, ma'am.

- Tell Mr. Lincoln that... - I shall see him.

Show him in.

- Will you step in, Mr. Lincoln? - Thank you, ma'am.

Good evening, Mrs. Edwards. Evening, Miss Todd.

- Ninian, good evening. - Good evening.

- Good evening, Mr. Lincoln. - Glad to see you, Abe.

And now, if you'll excuse us,

Elizabeth and I must hear the children's prayers

- and see them safely abed. - Oh, I'd like to hear their prayers too.

Oh, no. You'd only keep them awake with your stories.

- Come along, Elizabeth. - Kiss them good night for me.

Mary, won't you come with us to say good night to the children?

No, my dear. Leave Mary here to keep Abe entertained.

I don't blame Ninian for keeping you away from those children.

They certainly adore you. You understand them.

That's the important thing. But do sit down, Mr. Lincoln.

Here, by me.

Thank you. I will.

Happy new year, gentlemen!

She's exactly like that, Billy. Whatever Abe lacks, she'll make up for.

She has drive and perseverance.

She'll make him fulfill his destiny.

I'm glad to hear that, Mr. Edwards.

- Here's to your health, sir. - Yours.

Hello, Steve. Happy new year!

How are you, Steve? Happy new year!

Happy new year. Give me a drink quickly, mine host.

Hot spiced rum punch or eggnog, Mr. Douglas?

I'll have a glass or so of each, then I'll make up my mind.

Ninian, where's the lucky bridegroom?

Abe? He wouldn't come here.

- Seems to be in one of his gloomy moods. - Ah. Just nervousness, I expect.

Everything's ready for the ceremony.

Elizabeth's prepared a bang-up supper,

and the whole affair should go off handsomely.

- You'll be there, of course. - Ah, yes. I'm a good sportsman.

I'll swallow my mortification. And that's not all I'll swallow.

To begin with, I ask you to join me in a toast, gentlemen.

To the fairest flower of Old Kentucky, Miss Mary Todd,

who from this day on will be Mrs. Abraham Lincoln.

To Mary Todd!

Happy new year, Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Speed.

Happy new year to you, Billy.

I've just been over at the Chenery House.

They were all drinking toasts to your happiness.

I wish to have a private toast of my own.

Mr. Lincoln, when I first heard of your approaching marriage,

I confess I was afraid you were lowering yourself,

trading your honor for exalted family connections.

I apologize for so thinking.

I now believe that Miss Todd's ambitions for you are the same as my own.

I believe that she will never stop driving you and goading you

until you have reached the heights where you belong.

And I say God bless her and give her strength,

and I drink to her and to her husband,

the future president of the United States!

Put that away.

Billy, I have a letter I wish you to deliver.

A letter? To whom?

Give it to him, Josh.

- You had no right to do that! - Maybe not, but it's done.

Don't look at me as though you were planning to break my neck.

I know you could do it, Abe, but you won't.

Mr. Lincoln asked me to deliver that letter to Miss Todd,

but I refused to do so.

He was writing her to ask for his release from a marriage

which could only lead to endless pain and misery for them both.

If that isn't the truth, what is?

If that is the truth, tell her so to her face in the manner of a man.

I'd have to tell her that I have hatred for her infernal ambition,

that I don't want to be ridden

and driven onward and upward through life

with her whip lashing me and her spurs digging into me.

If her poor little soul craves importance in life,

let her marry Stephen Douglas.

He's ambitious too.

I want only to be left alone.

It would be more gracious to admit that you're afraid of her.

Good for you, Mr. Speed.

- You'd better keep out of this. - No, I won't.

You're not abandoning Miss Mary Todd.

No, you're only using her as the living sacrifice,

offering her up in the hope that you'll gain forgiveness

for your failure to do your own great duty.

My own great duty.

Everyone feels called upon to remind me of it,

and no one can tell me what it is.

I can tell you.

I can tell you what is the duty of every man

who calls himself an American.

It is to perpetuate those truths which were once held to be self-evident,

that all men are created equal

and endowed with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

And are those rights denied to me?

Could you ever enjoy them while you realize

that two million of your fellow beings in this country are slaves?

When you look at that flag,

don't you ever realize that ten of its stars

represent states which would destroy the union

rather than give up their property rights in those slaves?

Don't dare tell me that anybody in this world

knows that better than you do, Mr. Lincoln.

You, who honor the memory of Elijah Lovejoy

and every other man who ever died fighting in the defense of freedom.

Yes, I honor them

and envy them because they could believe that their ideals are worth dying for.

All right, Josh.

I'll go up now and I'll talk to Mary.

- Then I'm going away. - Where?

I don't know.

The world passeth,

but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.

Howdy, Abe.

Hello, Abe.

Mr. Lincoln. Glad to see you back.

Thank you, Gus.

Why, Abe, when did you get back?

- How do you do? - Good afternoon.

After his shameful treatment of Miss Todd,

I wouldn't think he'd dare show his face in this town.

And going in the Edwards home, of all things.

Right in where he's least wanted.

We can't say he lacks courage.

She says come right in, Mr. Lincoln.

- I'm glad to see you again, Abe. - Thank you, Mary.

You may well wonder why I thrust myself on your mercy in this manner.

I'm sure you're always welcome in Ninian's house.

After my behavior at our last meeting here,

I have not been welcome company for myself.

Joshua Speed has kept us informed of your whereabouts.

- We've been greatly concerned. - You've been most kind.

Now you'll return to your work,

and no doubt you'll be running for the assembly again.

Or perhaps you have larger plans.

I have no plans, Mary. I only wish to gain your forgiveness.

There's no question of that.

What happened between us was my own fault.

I was blinded by my own self-confidence.

I... I loved you.

I believed that I could make you love me.

I believed the fire of my ambition would burn in you,

you would become a man, a leader of men,

but you didn't wish that.

It is true, Mary, you once had faith in me

which I was far from deserving.

The time has come when I wish to strive to deserve it.

I believe now that our destinies are together,

for better or for worse.

So I again presume to ask you to be my wife.

I fully realize that taking me back involves humiliation for you.

I've had humiliation already and survived it.

But I promise you, Mary, that if you will have me,

I shall devote myself for the rest of my days

to trying to do what is right

as God gives me power to see what is right.

Then... I shall be your wife.

I shall fight by your side till death do us part.

Abe, I love you. Oh, I love you.

Whatever becomes of the two of us, I'll die loving you.

"...as slaves. Whether emancipated or not,

they yet remain subject to the authority of the dominant race

and have no rights or privileges

but such as those who hold the power of government

might choose to grant them."

Are you John Brown?

I am, sir, Osawatomie John Brown.

Don't try and fight them anymore, Pa.

I place you under arrest for treason,

for bearing arms against the government of the United States.

I'd like to ask who's making this arrest.

I am Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee of the 2nd Cavalry,

acting under orders from President Buchanan.

It's no use, Pa. You got to give in to them.

Somebody else has got to finish this job.

Very well, Colonel Lee, I submit to arrest,

knowing full well that I shall be hanged

for this attempt to end the evil of slavery.

But after I am dead, the evil will remain,

and you and all other patriots will come to learn

it can be purged from this guilty world only with blood.

Goodbye, my son.

Another fanatic has gone to meet his maker.

Why can't these antislavery fools mind their own business?

Senator Douglas!

The message you've been waiting for. Telegram from Springfield.

They've nominated Abraham Lincoln to run against the senator this fall.

My heartiest congratulations.

Lincoln? Who is he?

What are they doing, giving you the election?

So Abe Lincoln has decided at last to come out and fight.

It's the best thing that could have happened to us.

How does this Lincoln stand on slavery?

Nobody knows, least of all Lincoln himself.

He's the most undecided, hesitatingest critter you ever saw.

Good. We don't want that slave issue brought up in Illinois this year.

You can count on old Abe. He's just what we want, a peaceful man.

We'll start the campaign at once. I'm going back to Springfield.

And I want to have an unprecedented welcome when I get there,

brass band at the station, a big parade and free liquor for all.

But you don't mean to say that you're afraid of Abe Lincoln?

Why, the country doesn't know him.

Maybe the country doesn't... but I do.

All ready now. Keep very still.

One, two, three...

Tad, you're to keep absolutely still. You too, Willie.

We will, Ma.

Now, please, one and all.

One, two, three...

Tad, if I have to speak to you once more...

But Pa keeps tickling me.

I might have known it. Please, Mr. Lincoln.

Please bear in mind this picture was ordered by the Chicago Tribune

to spread far and wide during your campaign.

I'm sorry, Mary,

but I can't help thinking how foolish I look.

Now, I beg of you, no move of any kind.

This time, we'll get it.

One...

Willie! Tad! Come back here!

Look, Pa. It's a great big parade!

Stephen Douglas has arrived. Listen to them cheering for him.

They ought to cheer him. He paid them enough for it.

Old Abe won't have an answer for that one.

You're a liar.

We have now heard the leading arguments of the two candidates

for the high office of United States Senator from Illinois,

Judge Stephen A. Douglas and Mr. Abraham Lincoln.

According to the usual custom of debate,

each of the candidates will now speak in rebuttal.

Judge Douglas.

My fellow citizens,

my good friend Mr. Lincoln has addressed you

with his usual artless sincerity,

his pure, homely charm, his perennial native humor.

He has devoted a generously large portion of his address

to most amiable remarks upon my fine qualities as a man,

if not as a Statesman,

for which I express deepest gratitude.

But at the same time,

I most earnestly beg you

not to be deceived by his seeming innocence,

his carefully cultivated spirit of good will,

for in each of his little homilies lurk concealed weapons.

Like Brutus in Shakespeare's immortal tragedy,

Mr. Lincoln is an honorable man.

But also like Brutus,

he is an adept at the art of inserting daggers between an opponent's ribs

just when said opponent least expects it.

Behold me, ladies and gentlemen.

I am covered with scars.

- How dare they laugh? - It's only a speech, Mother.

Anytime you say, Abe.

Mr. Lincoln makes you laugh with his pungent anecdotes.

He draws tears from your eyes with his dramatic pictures

of the plight of the Black slave labor in the South.

Always he guides you skillfully to the threshold of truth.

But then, as you are about to cross it, he diverts your attention elsewhere.

He never by any mischance makes reference

to the condition of labor here in the North.

Perhaps he's ignorant of the fact

that tens of thousands of workers are now on strike,

hungry men marching through the streets in ragged order,

promoting riots because they're not paid enough

to keep the flesh upon the bones of their babies.

What kind of liberty is this and what kind of equality?

Right!

Mr. Lincoln harps constantly on this subject of equality.

He repeats over and over

the argument used by Lovejoy and other abolitionists to wit,

that the Declaration of Independence,

having declared all men free and equal by divine law,

thus Negro equality is an inalienable right.

Contrary to this stands the verdict of the Supreme Court

in the case of Dred Scott.

Mr. Lincoln is a lawyer,

and I presume, therefore, that he knows

that when he seeks to destroy public confidence

in the integrity, the inviolability of the Supreme Court,

he is preaching revolution.

He asks me to state my opinion of the Dred Scott decision,

and I answer him unequivocally by saying,

I take the decisions of the Supreme Court

to be the law of the land, and I intend to obey them as such.

Nor will I be swayed from that position

by all the ranting of all the fanatics who preach racial equality,

who would ask us to vote, eat, sleep and marry with Negroes.

And I say further,

let each State mind its own business and leave its neighbors alone.

If we'll stand on that principle,

then Mr. Lincoln will find that this great republic can exist

forever divided into free and slave states,

and we can go on as we have done,

increasing in wealth, in population, in power,

until we shall become the admiration and the terror of the world.

Listen to them yell, the empty-headed idiots,

yelling at empty words.

He doesn't know what he's talking about. He never did.

You're upsetting your drink.

Mr. Abraham Lincoln.

Go get him, Abe!

Judge Douglas has paid tribute to my skill with a dagger.

I thank him for that,

but I must admit that he can do more with that weapon than I can.

He can keep ten daggers flashing in the air at the same time.

Fortunately, he's so good at it

that none of the knives ever falls and hurts anyone.

Now you've heard the judge make allusion to those who advocate voting

and eating and marrying and sleeping with Negroes.

Whether he meant me specifically, I do not know.

If he did, I can only say

that just because I do not want a colored woman for a slave,

I do not necessarily want her for a wife.

I do not need to have her for either. I can just leave her alone.

In some respects, she is certainly not my equal

any more than I am the judge's equal in some respects.

But in her natural right to eat the bread she earns with her own hands

without asking leave of somebody else,

she is my equal and the equal of all others.

Now you've heard the judge speak about our own labor condition.

As an American, I cannot be proud that such conditions exist.

But as an American I can ask,

would any of the striking workers in the North

elect to change places with the slaves in the South?

Will they not rather say the remedy is in our hands?

And still as an American I can say,

thank God we live under a system by which men have the right to strike.

Right.

That's right.

I am not preaching rebellion.

I don't have to.

This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it.

Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government,

they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it

or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it.

If the founding fathers gave us anything, they gave us that.

The purpose of the Dred Scott decision is to make property,

and nothing but property, of the Negro in all States of the Union.

It is the old issue of human rights versus property rights.

It is the eternal struggle between two principles,

the one, the common right of humanity,

the other, the divine right of kings.

It is the same spirit which says,

"You toil and work and earn bread and I'll eat it."

As a nation, we began by declaring, "All men are created equal.”

There was no mention of any exception to that rule

in the Declaration of Independence,

but we now practically read it,

"All men are created equal except Negroes."

If we are to accept this doctrine of race or class discrimination,

what is to stop us in future from decreeing,

all men are created equal except Negroes, foreigners,

Catholics, Jews or just poor people?

That is the conclusion towards which the advocates of slavery are driving us.

"Let each state mind its own business," says Judge Douglas.

"Why stir up trouble?"

This is the complacent policy of indifference to evil,

and that policy I cannot but hate.

I hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself.

I hate it because it deprives our republic

of its just influence in the world,

enables the enemies of free institutions everywhere to taunt us as hypocrites,

causes the real friends of freedom to doubt our sincerity,

and especially because it forces

so many good men among ourselves into an open war

with the very fundamentals of civil liberty,

denying the good faith of the Declaration of Independence

and insisting that there is no right principle of action but self-interest.

In his final words tonight,

the judge said that we can be the terror of the world.

I don't think we want to be that.

I think we would prefer to be the encouragement of the world,

the proof that at last man is worthy to be free.

But we shall provide no such encouragement

unless we can establish our ability as a nation to live and grow,

and we shall surely do neither

if these states fail to remain united.

There can be no distinction in the definition of liberty

as between one section and another,

one class and another, one race and another.

A house divided against itself cannot stand.

This government cannot endure permanently

half slave and half free.

"This government cannot endure permanently

half slave and half free."

Here's the proof of your editorial for tomorrow, Mr. Greeley.

Scrap it. I'm going to write another one,

about a man named Lincoln.

Lincoln? Never heard of him.

You will.

Gentlemen, please!

Gentlemen, I beg of you, one at a time.

If Seward's nominated, he'll want to emancipate all the slaves.

That'll be the end of the Union.

I tell you that Douglas will carry the South and the West.

We've got to be sure of New York or we lose...

Seward will never get my vote.

Gentlemen, if you can't contain your tempers, we'll never agree.

We'll never agree on any of the leading candidates. That's obvious.

What we need in this race is a dark horse.

- Yes, and what's his name? - Lincoln.

Maybe you don't know it,

but there's a big country out west of the Alleghenies,

with a lot of new states named Oregon, Minnesota, California,

that you seem never to have heard of.

Lincoln's popular out there, and if we handle him right,

we can make him popular back here in the East.

Anyway, I ask you gentlemen to look him over.

Do you know him, Crimmin?

I heard him debate with Douglas, and I can tell you one thing,

he's a vote-getter if I ever saw one.

They got safely to Oregon.

Did you ever fight the Indians, Pa?

Not exactly. I was almost in a battle, but I got lost from my men.

Were you scared?

That, my boy, brings up a point of argument.

When I got back to the camp, the Colonel asked me if I'd run away.

I said, "No, sir, but if anybody had asked me where I was going,

and I'd said I was going for the doctor,

they'd have figured someone was almighty sick."

- Robert, you've been smoking again. - Yes, Mother.

I've told you that I will not tolerate tobacco smoke

in my sitting room or indeed in any part of my house.

Come, come, Mary.

You mustn't be disrespectful to a Harvard man.

- Take it out in the woodshed. - Yes, Father.

You children, run upstairs. Get ready for your supper.

- Oh, Ma... - Do as your mother tells you, son.

- Hello, Mr. Speed! - Hello, Willie. Hello, Tad.

Say, Abe, that delegation arrived in town an hour ago.

- They ought to be here any minute. - What delegation?

Oh, some prominent politicians and ministers,

several bankers, that kind of people.

- What are they coming here for? - I don't precisely know,

but I presume it's to see if I'm fit to be a candidate

for President of the United States.

Guess they want to find out

if we live in a log cabin

and keep pigs under the bed.

- And you didn't tell me? - I'm sorry, Mary. It slipped my mind.

You're being considered for the presidency,

but it just slipped your mind.

Oh, if I'd only known,

if you'd only given me time to prepare for them.

Now they'll see us as we are, crude, sloppy Western barbarians

living In a house that reeks of foul tobacco smoke

and your filthy old carpet slippers.

I declare, Abraham Lincoln,

I believe you'd have treated me with more consideration

if I'd been your slave rather than your wife.

Go this minute and put some decent boots on.

Yes, Mary.

I know, Joshua.

You think, just as all the others do, I'm a bitter, nagging woman,

that I've tried to kill his spirit and drag him down to my level.

No, Mary, I think nothing of the kind.

Remember, I know Abe too.

He's always had some obsession of some future doom.

And for 18 years,

I've been trying and trying to stir him out of it,

but all my efforts have been like so many waves

dashing against the rock of ages.

And now the greatest opportunity is coming to him,

here, right into his own house.

He must take it.

He must see that this is what he was meant to be.

But I can't persuade him of it.

I thought that I could help to shape him as I knew he should be,

and I've succeeded in nothing but in breaking myself.

- Mr. Lincoln? - I've got my boots on, Mary.

You can receive them in here

while I try to prepare some refreshments for them.

How do you do, Mr. Crimmin? Glad to see you again.

Thank you, Mr. Lincoln.

Will you step into the parlor, gentlemen?

- Mr. Lincoln. - Come on in, Josh.

Oh, no. You've got to face this out by yourself, Abe. Good luck.

Is it true that they're aiming to make Abe President?

How many times have I told you to speak of your master as Mr. Lincoln?

He ain't my master any more than he is yours.

Besides, I've known Abe Lincoln

ever since he wore pants that weren't nothing but patches.

Kettle's boiling, Mrs. Lincoln.

President of the United States.

If they get him back there into Washington,

he won't never come out alive.

I hesitate to mention such a delicate matter, Mr. Lincoln.

Please don't hesitate, Dr. Barrett.

There has been some grave doubt about your religious beliefs.

I know. They've always called me an atheist

because I've refused to become a church member.

And why have you refused?

I have found their articles of belief too complicated for me.

But I assure you, Dr. Barrett, that I will gladly join, at any time,

any church whose sole qualification for membership

is obedience to the savior's own statement of law and gospel.

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart

and with all thy soul and with all thy mind.

And thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

Now, gentlemen, if you will excuse me,

I believe Mrs. Lincoln IS preparing a slight collation

and I must see if I can be of any help.

Gentlemen, what's the verdict?

- The man unquestionably is an infidel. - And a radical.

He's as much of a demagogue as Douglas.

He's an idealist in a curious, primitive way.

He's a rabble-rouser, pure and simple.

In my opinion, this man Lincoln is not safe.

- What do you mean, not safe? - Just that. He's a radical.

A man who devotes himself so wholeheartedly

to currying favor with the mob develops a mob mentality.

And what's more, he evaded our questions.

Now, please, gentlemen.

I may not know as much as you do about economics and theology,

but I do know politics,

and what is the essential quality that we demand in our candidate?

It is simply this, that he be able to get himself elected.

There's something in what you say.

And do you think he can do it?

I tell you, gentlemen, in that uncouth rail-splitter,

you may observe one of the slickest, smoothest politicians

that ever hoodwinked a yokel mob.

Of course he evaded your questions.

You asked him about the labor question and he said, "I believe in democracy."

You asked him about religion

and he replied, "Love thy neighbor as thyself."

Now you know you couldn't argue with that, any of you.

The voters will love him because he's just as common as they are,

a plain, homespun American.

His very name is right, honest old Abe.

He'll play the game with us now,

and he'll go right on playing it after we get him into the White House.

- He'll do just what we tell him. - Careful, Mr. Crimmin.

And now, gentlemen, if you will step into the dining room,

Mrs. Lincoln will be pleased to serve you with a cup of tea.

- Thank you. - This is most gracious.

Bring your cigar with you, Mr. Crimmin.

Thank you. Thank you.

...the choice of the nation.

Our chieftain so brave and so true.

We'll go for the great reformation.

For Lincoln and liberty too.

We'll go for the son of Kentucky.

The hero of Hoosierdom through.

The pride of the suckers so lucky.

For Lincoln and liberty too.

We'll go for the son of Kentucky.

The hero of Hoosierdom through.

The pride of the suckers so lucky.

For Lincoln and liberty too.

Mr. Lincoln seem to be worrying any?

No. He's in there reading the newspaper.

Lincoln and Douglas neck and neck in Illinois.

Maryland is going all for Bell and Breckinridge.

Abe, you're nowhere in Maryland.

I see the New York Herald says

I got the soul of a Uriah Heep encased in the body of a baboon.

What does it say about New York?

Douglas 117,000. Lincoln 106.

He's winning from you in New York, Abe.

Not yet, Mary. These returns so far are coming most from the city

where Douglas is bound to run the strongest.

What does it look like in Pennsylvania, Ninian?

There's nothing to worry about there, Mary.

It's safe for Abe. In fact, there's no need to worry at all.

Yes, you've said that over and over all evening.

"There's no need to worry."

How can we help worrying

when every new bulletin shows Douglas ahead?

Every one of them shows Abe gaining.

Just give them time to count all the votes in New York,

and you'll be on your way to the White House.

Why don't they hurry? Why don't those returns come in?

They'll come in soon enough.

Telegram from New York.

Mr. August Belmont states that Douglas has piled up

a majority of 50,000 votes in New York City

and will undoubtedly carry the state.

Oh, shut up!

That mob down there is sickening.

They cheer every bulletin that's flashed on the wall

whether the news is good or bad.

They cheer every picture of every candidate,

including George Washington, with the same fine, ignorant enthusiasm.

Maybe they can't tell the difference.

The reporters are outside, Mr. Lincoln. They want to know

what will be your first official action after you're elected?

What do you want us to tell them, Abe?

Tell them I'm thinking of growing a beard.

- A what? - Whatever put that idea in your head?

I had a letter from a little girl,

said I ought to have whiskers to give me more dignity.

I'll need it if elected.

"Missouri. Douglas, 35,000, Bell, 33, Breckinridge, 16, Lincoln, 8."

Mr. Lincoln, you're beating them badly in Rhode Island.

- What are they cheering for? - They don't know.

Chicago Times says, "Lincoln breaks down.

His heart fails him. His tongue fails him. His legs fail him.

He fails all over. Douglas skins the living dog."

Stop it!

I can't stand it any longer.

Yes, my dear. I think you should go home.

- I'll join you presently. - I won't go home.

You only want to be rid of me.

That's all you've wanted ever since the day we were married

and before that.

Anything to get me out of your sight because you hate me.

And it's the same with all of you, all his friends.

You hate me. You wish I'd never come into his life.

No, Mary.

Will you all please step out for a minute?

Why do you take every opportunity you can

to make a public fool out of me and yourself?

It's bad enough when you act like that

in the privacy of our own home, but here in front of people...

You're not to do that again, do you hear?

You're never to do that again.

You never spoke to me like that before.

You lost your temper, Abe.

You've never done that before.

I'm sorry, Mary.

I still think you should go home rather than stay here

and endure the strain of this death watch.

This is the night I dreamed about when I was a child.

When I was an excited young girl

and all the gay, young gentlemen in Springfield were courting me.

And I fell in love with the least likely of them.

This is the night I'm waiting to hear

my husband has become President of the United States,

and even if he does... it's ruined for me.

It's too late.

- Is Mother all right? - Yes, son.

She's going home. You'd better go with her.

Yes, sir.

It looks like 74 electoral votes sure for you,

and 27 more, probably.

New York will give you the election.

Mark my words, Mr. Lincoln,

this election is wrapped up tightly in a neat bundle,

ready to deliver on your doorstep tonight.

We've fought the good fight and we've won.

Yes. We've fought the good fight

in the dirtiest campaign in the history of corrupt politics.

And if I win,

I must fill all the dishonest pledges made in my name.

You gentlemen have all been close friends

of our candidate for a long time,

So possibly you can answer a question that's been puzzling me considerably.

Can I possibly be correct in supposing that he doesn't want to win?

The answer is yes.

I can only say that for me,

this is all a refreshingly new experience.

Would you want to become President of the United States at this time?

Haven't you been reading the newspapers lately?

Why, yes. I try to follow the events of the day.

Don't you realize that they've raised 10,000 volunteers in South Carolina?

They're arming them.

The governor has issued a proclamation saying

that if Mr. Lincoln is elected, the state will secede tomorrow.

Every other state south of the Dixon line will go with it.

Can you see what that means? War. Civil War.

And he'll have the whole terrible responsibility for it,

the man who has never wanted anything in his life

but to be let alone in peace.

Calm down, Billy.

Go get yourself another drink.

Mr. Edwards, here it is!

"At 10:30 tonight, the New York Herald conceded

that Mr. Lincoln had carried the state

by a majority of at least 25,000 and had won the election!"

Listen to them, Abe.

Listen to that crazy, howling mob down there.

It's all for you, Mr. Lincoln.

Abe, get out there and make them a speech.

No. I don't want to go out there.

We'll go for the son of Kentucky

I think I'll go home and tell Mary.

The hero of Hoosierdom through.

The pride of the suckers so lucky.

For Lincoln and liberty too.

This is Captain Cavanaugh, Mr. President.

I've been detailed to accompany you, Mr. Lincoln,

in the event of your election.

I'm grateful to you, Captain, but I don't need you.

You've got to have us, sir. I'm sorry.

I don't want to be alarming, but I guess you know as well as I do

that threats have been made against your life.

Well...

Good night, Josh, Ninian, Mr. Crimmin, Billy.

Thank you.

One moment, sir. With your permission, I'll go first.

Old Abe Lincoln.

Came out of the wilderness.

Down in Illinois.

Steve, it's good of you to come.

Abe, you and I have been adversaries for a good many years.

We've indulged in mortal combat on every conceivable issue,

but now you're President of the United States,

and I want you to know that I'm fighting with you.

Steve, you're a good, generous man.

Speech!

- Speech! Speech! - Say something, Abe!

They want you to say something, Abe.

My dear friends, I have to say goodbye to you now.

I'm leaving for Washington with my new whiskers,

of which I hope you approve.

Stay back there!

No, no, Lieutenant. Let them come on.

They're all old friends of mine.

No one not in my situation can appreciate

my feelings of sadness at this parting.

To this place and the kindness of you people, I owe everything.

I now leave not knowing when or whether ever I may return.

It is a grave duty that I must face.

In preparing for it,

I have tried to inquire what great principle or ideal it is

which has kept this Union so long together.

And I believe that it was not the mere matter

of separation of the colonies from the motherland,

but that sentiment in the Declaration of Independence

which gave liberty to the people of this country

and hope to all the world.

We gained democracy,

and there is now doubt whether it is fit to survive.

I have heard of an Eastern monarch

who once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence

which should be true and appropriate at all times and situations.

They presented him with the words,

"And this too shall pass away."

That's a comforting thought in times of affliction.

"And this too shall pass away."

Yet, let us believe that it is not true.

Let us live to prove

that we can cultivate the natural world around us

and the intellectual and the moral world within us

so that we may secure an individual, social

and political prosperity

whose course shall be forward

and which, while this Earth endures,

shall not pass away.

I commend you to the care of the Almighty,

and I hope, in your prayers, you may remember me.

Friends, one and all,

I must now bid you an affectionate farewell.

Mine eyes have seen the glory Of the coming of the Lord.

Goodbye, Abe!

He is trampling out the vintage.

Where the grapes of wrath are stored.

He hath loosed the fateful lightning.

Of his terrible swift sword.

His truth is marching on.

Glory, glory, hallelujah.

Glory, glory, hallelujah.

Glory, glory, hallelujah.

His truth is marching on.

Glory, glory, hallelujah.

His truth is marching on.

Old Abe Lincoln.

Came out of the wilderness.

Out of the wilderness.

Out of the wilderness.

Old Abe Lincoln.

Came out of the wilderness.

His truth is marching on.

Glory, glory, hallelujah.

His truth is marching on