Abe

You may recognize the feller I hung out with last night (THC is the guy on the right!).

James Hayney has portrayed our 16th President for the past fifteen years. He was asked by the Secret Service to play Lincoln at the 150th anniversary of the agency for an event at Ford's Theater, and portrayed the president at the National Portrait Gallery at President Obama's first inauguration.  And he lives near Gettysburg so you can imagine how often he's asked to make appearances there.

Last night at our Civil War Roundtable in Scottsdale he spoke, fully in character, about the lies, legends, and myths surrounding his life.  It was done with eloquence and much humor.  He closed with a stirring performance of the Gettysburg Address which, I must admit, dampened my eyes a bit.

It was one of the most well attended Roundtable events in our history, with almost 300 people present.

In my role as Program Chairman I had the pleasure of hosting James and his delightful wife, Beverly, at dinner the night before the event and can assure you James is very Lincolnesque in real life!