Abraham Lincoln The War Years

Originally Aired: February 12, 1941 Cavalcade of America #213, "Abraham Lincoln The War Years," based on Carl Sandburg's famous biography, the newly elected President Lincoln faces mounting pressure as the nation teeters on the brink of civil war. As Lincoln departs Springfield for Washington in February 1861, crowds gather to witness the somber journey of a man assuming what he calls a task more difficult than any that faced George Washington. Along the route through Decatur and Indianapolis, reactions are mixed—some viewing him as an awkward frontiersman, others fearing his anti-slavery stance will tear the country apart. Upon reaching Philadelphia, detective Allan Pinkerton warns Lincoln of an assassination plot in Baltimore, forcing the president-elect to arrive secretly in the capital "like a thief in the night." Once in the White House with his wife Mary and sons Willie and Tad, Lincoln faces the crucial decision about Fort Sumter in Charleston. His cabinet is divided, with Secretary Seward and others urging him to avoid provoking the South, while Lincoln wrestles with how to preserve the Union without igniting the war that seems increasingly inevitable.