"A Chip Off the Old Block" - Robert Lincoln as a Public Servant and Patriot

Jason Emerson will discuss the public life of Robert Todd Lincoln, including the management of his father's historical reputation. From battling political corruption as the town supervisor of South Chicago (of which he was always most proud), to secretary of war, to minister to Great Britain, Robert Lincoln exampled and espoused his father's ideals about American democracy - so much so that Robert narrowly escaped becoming president himself multiple times. His public story, and the way in which he preserved his father's memory for posterity, is a quintessential tale of of the American spirit.