The president honored his favorite predecessor last night at the reopening of Ford's Theater, the site of Abraham Lincoln's assassination in 1865. "Harrowing," Obama called the occasion, if you're looking for the word. Timed to coordinate with the great emancipator's 200th birthday today, the 18-month, $25-million renovation features a revamped stage, new seats, and a spacious, updated lobby. Who Read more

Apparently, this is the year for Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth. Much of Hollywood seems to be fascinated with the legendary president and his assassin right now, with a biopic and a HBO miniseries already in the works. Now, there's a Showtime series in development that would focus on Booth and his brothers — a dysfunctional family drama of sorts that I'm guessing ends with a president Read more

From the network that brought you John Adams — and the writers who brought you urban strife — comes this: HBO is developing a miniseries about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the hunt for his killer, to be written by David Simon of The Wire and Tom Fontana of Oz. The miniseries is based on the best-selling book Manhunt, about the Lincoln shooting and the 12-day hunt for his Read more

Newsweek's cover story pits two men against each other that I have to confess, I'd never really considered in the same breath: Lincoln and Darwin. As next year marks the 200th birthdays (both were born on February 12, 1809) of both men whose independent ideas have have formed our modern world, Newsweek asks the tricky question, who was more important: Lincoln or Darwin? Are we more influenced by Read more

In a recent article, Newsweek randomly announced that Sally Field will play Mary Todd Lincoln and Liam Neeson will play Abraham Lincoln in a biopic directed by Steven Spielberg. The casting news was included in a piece about the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum’s special exhibit, “Mary Todd Lincoln: First Lady of Controversy,” which explores the possibility that Mary Todd Read more