Latest / Brian Thomas / Empower U - Abraham Lincoln

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Empower U - Abraham Lincoln · Brian Thomas

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  Speaker 1: Talk station seven thirty two if you have KCD talk station,
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  Speaker 1: Happy Thursday slash Friday Eve Empower You Seminar tonight, which
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  Speaker 1: is typical Tuesdays and Thursdays. Although it was the g
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  Speaker 1: Van Fleef Power You Seminar last night. I hope you
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  Speaker 1: were able to attend that virtually Tonight's seminar. You can
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  Speaker 1: attend either live at three hundred Great Oaks Drive or
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  Speaker 1: online by logging in at empower Youoamerica dot org. Just
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  Speaker 1: make sure you register in either case to see on
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  Speaker 1: the one sixty second anniversary of Gettysburg Dress Abraham Lincoln
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  Speaker 1: in person live for the Empower You Seminar. Welcome to
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  Speaker 1: the program, Abraham Lincoln aka Larry Elliott. It's great to
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  Speaker 1: have you on today, Larry Abraham.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, yes, it's great to be on here today, sir.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, Howdy, Joe, how are you doing?
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  Speaker 1: I'm Brian, Joe's the producer anyway, that's all right. So
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  Speaker 1: you've been portraying Abraham Lincoln for what I understand is
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  Speaker 1: twenty two years. You actually embraced the carrier. It's like
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  Speaker 1: method acting. You are the embodiment of Abraham Lincoln when
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  Speaker 1: you're doing these presentations. I understand you do this at
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  Speaker 1: a lot of schools and other events. How did you
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  Speaker 1: get involved with this Abraham Lincoln impersonation? What drove you
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  Speaker 1: to that?
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  Speaker 2: Larry, Well, the long and short of it, as Abe
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  Speaker 2: would say, I'm actually from Hodgenville, Kentucky, where Lincoln was born.
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  Speaker 3: I've been there, Yes, the birthplace.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, we went on a motorcycle my uncle and I
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  Speaker 1: went on a motorcycle trip. That was really cool. That
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  Speaker 1: the cabin inside that monument, that that was amazing. That
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  Speaker 1: place was tiny, that cabin that he was born in.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, imagine living in that one room, dirt floor log cabin.
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  Speaker 2: Four folks, I'm all Paul's sister, and only room enough
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  Speaker 2: for one bed. That would always be given a course
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  Speaker 2: to my mama. But in answer to your question, about
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  Speaker 2: twenty two years ago, I had a full beard and
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  Speaker 2: my wife said, why don't you enter the lookalike contests,
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  Speaker 2: which is always the first Saturday in October, and dress
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  Speaker 2: up like Abraham Lincoln and you're you know, you're kind
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  Speaker 2: of homely like him, and she's she's actually true. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: if God do you have the homely look?
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  Speaker 3: I have?
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  Speaker 2: The gate is Abraham Lincoln and I entered the contest
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  Speaker 2: and I did terrible, and one of the Lincolns that
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  Speaker 2: was in the contest said.
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  Speaker 3: Would you want to join us?
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  Speaker 2: Join us what's called the Abraham Lincoln Association presenters about
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  Speaker 2: two hundred and fifty at the time.
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  Speaker 3: And I began to look, and I looked up.
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  Speaker 2: You know, well, what's it like to be an Abraham
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  Speaker 2: Lincoln impersonator? We call ourselves presenters because we leave the
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  Speaker 2: word impersonator for Elvis Presley. And so I started going
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  Speaker 2: into schools. The schools love it. When I go to
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  Speaker 2: about one hundred schools a year and I dress up,
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  Speaker 2: of course as Abraham Lincoln, the.
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  Speaker 3: Kids love it.
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  Speaker 2: And I've been to fifteen hundred schools over the last
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  Speaker 2: twenty two years and get ready to go to about
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  Speaker 2: one hundred more here in February, March, and April. And
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  Speaker 2: my link, Brian to Lincoln is this. Now Many people
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  Speaker 2: ask me, Oh, you're from Hodgenville. You must be ken
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  Speaker 2: to Abraham Lincoln. I said, no, I'm not. But my
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  Speaker 2: link to Lincoln is this my personal Larry Ellie, it's personal.
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  Speaker 2: Great great great grandmother Mary Brooks LaRue was the midwife
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  Speaker 2: who delivered Abraham Lincoln. February twelfth, eighteen oh nine.
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  Speaker 1: How about that that's amazing. Well, the birthplace, your stature,
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  Speaker 1: of course that connection. Plus your wife is named Mary
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  Speaker 1: as well, so a lot of great reasons to be
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  Speaker 1: Abraham Lincoln. To characterize Abraham Lincoln. What you're going to
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  Speaker 1: be doing tonight beginning at seven pm at the empower
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  Speaker 1: Youse some on our studious three hundred Great Oaks Tribe.
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  Speaker 1: I'm Benn Postise. I want to bring you back Ausse.
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  Speaker 1: I ask you a few questions about Abraham Lincoln's life,
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  Speaker 1: and I understand that you offer insights into a lot
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  Speaker 1: of interesting information about Abraham Lincoln that most of us
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  Speaker 1: don't know about. So let's let's bring Larry Elliot aka
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  Speaker 1: Abraham Lincoln back after these brief words beginning with Zimmer
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  Speaker 1: heating and air condition the best in the business. They've
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  Speaker 1: been keep an area home safe, efficient and comfortable. The
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  Speaker 1: talk station seventh thirty nine, iif you above Kerseity talk station,
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  Speaker 1: Brian Thomas here talking with Larry Elliot aka Abraham Lincoln.
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  Speaker 1: He's been sort of serving as the embodiment at Abraham Lincoln,
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  Speaker 1: doing presentations at groups and for obviously schools. More than
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  Speaker 1: fifteen hundred schools have enjoyed his presentation about the life
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  Speaker 1: of Abraham Lincoln. You can do a Q and A
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  Speaker 1: and ask Abraham Lincoln questions because apparently Larry knows everything.
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  Speaker 1: There is no about Abe real quick here, Larry. It's
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  Speaker 1: one thing to look like Abe Lincoln, which you do.
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  Speaker 1: Apparently it's six foot four year slim. You describe yourself
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  Speaker 1: as homely. Let people draw their own subjective conclusions about
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  Speaker 1: that born in Abraham Lincoln's hometown. It's one thing to
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  Speaker 1: look like him, maybe talk like him, but it's another
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  Speaker 1: thing to know all about him. How did you acquire
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  Speaker 1: all of this wealth of insight into the man who
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  Speaker 1: was Abraham Lincoln?
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  Speaker 2: Larry well the long and short of it, and is
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  Speaker 2: reading books. There are currently seventeen thousand books on Abraham
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  Speaker 2: Lincoln or about Abraham Lincoln, more books written on that
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  Speaker 2: man than any other person in the world other than
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  Speaker 2: Jesus Christ. So it takes a long time to perfect
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  Speaker 2: a portrayal of the Lincoln of Abraham Lincoln, and so
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  Speaker 2: real a real quick story that's funny to hear. Is
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  Speaker 2: the first time I did a portrayal in the school
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  Speaker 2: I asked my friend to evaluate me, and afterwards we
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  Speaker 2: went to lunch. He's my best friend, and I said,
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  Speaker 2: what'd you think, Mike? And he didn't say anything, and
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  Speaker 2: I said, well, Mike, what'd you think? And he said, well,
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  Speaker 2: don't quit your day job.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's what he does. That's what I said. Okay,
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  Speaker 3: I guess you love me.
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  Speaker 2: And he said it was bad, and so he's a
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  Speaker 2: very good critic. So I took some acting lessons and
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  Speaker 2: I thought, you know, I'm going to portray this man.
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  Speaker 2: I'm gonna have the same date as him, try to
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  Speaker 2: have the same voice inflection as him, even though we
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  Speaker 2: don't know totally what that was. It was kind of
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  Speaker 2: a hish, real voice, but just bringing history to the
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  Speaker 2: country because all these kids and most of these folks
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  Speaker 2: love Abraham Lincoln, but they really don't know much about him.
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  Speaker 2: So over the years, I have just crafted a portrayal,
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  Speaker 2: a presentation, and it's a lot of it's different depending
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  Speaker 2: on the audience where I am. So tonight's audience will
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  Speaker 2: be a little bit different because.
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  Speaker 3: I'm gonna be on for an hour.
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  Speaker 2: Some places I go to, you know, they only want
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  Speaker 2: me on for twenty or thirty minutes and so, but
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  Speaker 2: I can talk for five hours. You've given that much
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  Speaker 2: time because there's so much to talk about in so
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  Speaker 2: little time. So long and short answer to your question
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  Speaker 2: is just reading book, reading reading books and reading books
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  Speaker 2: and crafting my own way of elocuting what Abraham Lincoln
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  Speaker 2: would say. Everything I will say tonight is authentically accurate.
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  Speaker 2: And I hope I'm questioned on anything because I think
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  Speaker 2: I'll have the answer, but I might not.
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  Speaker 3: So long and short of it, that's answer your question.
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  Speaker 1: Well, that's amazing and fun fact I learned today that
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  Speaker 1: many books are written about Abraham Lincoln. I guess I
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  Speaker 1: shouldn't be surprised about that. This, I would hope, and
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  Speaker 1: I'm encouraging. This kind of goes with that saying, since
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  Speaker 1: you quite often do this presentation for school children and
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  Speaker 1: younger people, that maybe get them around to tell or
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  Speaker 1: the screen tonight or over to the seminar of the classroom,
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  Speaker 1: because they're certainly going to enjoy this, but adults will
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  Speaker 1: presumably be there as well. I guess I want to
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  Speaker 1: offer a question to you because you do have insights
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  Speaker 1: that are not well known. We know about the Gettysburger address,
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  Speaker 1: We know about the Civil War, we know about his
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  Speaker 1: connection with ending slavery. A lot of the fun facts
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  Speaker 1: that we're all now. But what pull out randomly some
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  Speaker 1: interesting things that you find fascinating about Abraham Lincoln the
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  Speaker 1: most people aren't even aware of.
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  Speaker 2: Well, Abraham Lincoln was thought of as an abolitionist, and
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  Speaker 2: that's the last thing he was.
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  Speaker 3: Now.
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  Speaker 2: He was against slavery. He was taught in Kentucky. If
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  Speaker 2: slavery isn't wrong, nothing is wrong. He saw slaves going
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  Speaker 2: down to Louisville Nashville road, dirt road in eighteen or
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  Speaker 2: eighteen fifteen as a six.
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  Speaker 3: Year old boy. He knew it was wrong.
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  Speaker 2: His father was a member of the very conservative anti
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  Speaker 2: slavery church, and his father moved to Indiana partly on
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  Speaker 2: account of slavery because Indiana was opening up as a free.
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  Speaker 3: State in eighteen sixteen.
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  Speaker 2: And so Lincoln from his early years just knew slavery
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  Speaker 2: was wrong. He began to put too and two together
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  Speaker 2: that you know the Decoration of Independence that a all
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  Speaker 2: men are created equal? What's with the founding fathers allowing
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  Speaker 2: slavery in the greatest document, the Constitution the world has
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  Speaker 2: ever known. But what many folks don't know. Brian is
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  Speaker 2: the founding fathers. Fifty two of the fifty six where
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  Speaker 2: Judeo Christian Christians, and they many of them had slaves.
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  Speaker 2: They had inherited slavery, and we had just won the
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  Speaker 2: American Revolutionary War and it was time to do away
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  Speaker 2: with slavery. But they couldn't because the South would not compromise.
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  Speaker 2: For they said, if we have to have if you
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  Speaker 2: we have to do away with our slaves here now
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  Speaker 2: after the American Revolutionary War, well, we're not going to
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  Speaker 2: join these northern states that had all but eboli slavery.
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  Speaker 2: So as the war began, most folks thought that Abraham
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  Speaker 2: Lincoln would let the South go, but he said right
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  Speaker 2: after the first shot was fired, this nation is worth
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  Speaker 2: fighting for. To secure such an inestimable jewel. A portion
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  Speaker 2: of the people cannot destroy what the whole people created.
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  Speaker 2: I must save this government. So what the bigger picture
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  Speaker 2: that folks need to know is that Abraham Lincoln had
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  Speaker 2: let them go, let the eleven states go that seceded,
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  Speaker 2: we would probably be an entirely different looking country today. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: and so that'll be a good part of my program tonight,
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  Speaker 2: to let the people know just you know, Abraham Lincoln
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  Speaker 2: Brian single handedly saved our nation. And if you come tonight,
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  Speaker 2: I'm going to give you a DVD of the Daniel
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  Speaker 2: da Lewis video twelve years ago portraying Lincoln getting the
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  Speaker 2: Emancipation Proclamation passed as the thirteenth Ammendment January thirty first,
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  Speaker 2: eighteen sixty five.
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  Speaker 1: Well, that's wonderful. It's an extra centive for people to
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  Speaker 1: show up at three hundred Great Oaks Drive tonight at
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  Speaker 1: seven pm to hear you speak.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, three do you ever give a d.
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  Speaker 1: It's not a question I would think a young person
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  Speaker 1: would ask, but I imagine adult might ask because I've heard
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  Speaker 1: this many times over the years. Yes, I agree with
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  Speaker 1: everything you said. That our country would not be the
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  Speaker 1: way it is now but for Abraham Lincoln. And is
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  Speaker 1: you know, demanding that the Union remain intact. But what
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  Speaker 1: of the question of the foundation of our country and
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  Speaker 1: the declaration of independence? We have a right to self
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  Speaker 1: determination if the government is not honoring our wishes and
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  Speaker 1: serving our interest, that we have a right to break free.
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  Speaker 1: Isn't that the argument that many advance on behalf of
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  Speaker 1: the South? Listen, you had no right to force them
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  Speaker 1: to stay or go to war with them overstaying they
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  Speaker 1: wanted to leave.
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  Speaker 3: Well, indeed, you know, the South said it had nothing to.
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  Speaker 2: Do with slavery, which is absolutely wrong, right, It had
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  Speaker 2: everything to do with what the Founding Father's vision was.
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  Speaker 2: Lincoln was ahead of his time in a sense, you know,
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  Speaker 2: the Founding fathers. You know, Lincoln said this that no
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  Speaker 2: state can leave the Union without the consensus of the others.
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  Speaker 2: We must stay together to preserve this wonderful constitution, a
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  Speaker 2: declaration of the people, by the people and for the people.
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  Speaker 2: What we must realize is in eighteen sixty the world
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  Speaker 2: was still about kings and tyrants and dictators, and the
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  Speaker 2: world wanted us to fail.
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  Speaker 3: They wanted this new government to fail.
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  Speaker 2: And Lincoln said, no, this Union is the world's best
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  Speaker 2: hope for democracy. I must save this government. So he
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  Speaker 2: single handedly he could have let them go, and you know,
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  Speaker 2: there would have been peace. And in the middle of
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  Speaker 2: the war, many folks said, how many more soldiers Americans
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  Speaker 2: killing Americans? Mister President, you call yourself and commander in chief.
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  Speaker 2: No soldiers have to die in order before you will
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  Speaker 2: let them go. And he said, as many as it
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  Speaker 2: takes to preserve the Union.
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  Speaker 1: Wow. Well, this is going to be absolutely fascinating, the
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  Speaker 1: portrayal of Abraham Lincoln on My guest today, Larry Elliott,
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  Speaker 1: Tonight seven pm. Empower Youeamerica dot Org. I recommend you
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  Speaker 1: show up. It's going to be wonderful to see and
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  Speaker 1: live at three hundred Great Oaks Drive, but online if
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  Speaker 1: you can't make it in person. But if you do
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  Speaker 1: show up, you got that DVD waiting for you. Thank you,
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  Speaker 1: Larry for doing that. I appreciate what you're doing all
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  Speaker 1: the time with this presentation, giving people an eye full
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  Speaker 1: of history and putting some context in this very complicated
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  Speaker 1: man who was Abraham Lincoln President during extremely complicated times.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks again, Larry. I wish you all the luck in
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  Speaker 1: the world. I don't think you need it, but enjoy
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  Speaker 1: the presentation tonight. I hope it's well attended.