Abraham Lincoln The War Years

Originally Aired: February 13, 1940 Cavalcade of America #174, "Abraham Lincoln The War Years," starring Raymond Massey in an original radio play by Robert E. Sherwood based on Carl Sandberg's biography, President-elect Abraham Lincoln begins his perilous journey from Springfield, Illinois to Washington, D.C. in February 1861. As he travels through Decatur, Indianapolis, Buffalo, and Philadelphia, Lincoln encounters a divided nation, with crowds both skeptical and hostile toward the incoming president. In Philadelphia, detective Allan Pinkerton warns Lincoln and advisor Norman Judd of an assassination plot awaiting him in Baltimore, led by a dangerous man named Fernandina and his armed followers. Despite his wife Mary's fears about civil war and the dangerous road ahead, Lincoln maintains his characteristic calm and determination. He addresses the threat with his typical pragmatic wisdom, telling the worried advisors about his policy of never crossing Fox River until he comes to it. The episode dramatizes the mounting tensions facing Lincoln as he secretly alters his travel plans to avoid assassination, arriving in Washington under cover of night on the eve of his inauguration, even as critics denounce this security measure as undignified for a president.