Today we celebrate the birthday of John Philip Sousa who I understand wrote four Broadway musicals as well as his world famous marching band pieces. Also An interesting day in history today. On this date in 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected by a land slide the 16th president.

Everybody thought the world and the country was going to come to it's end because of the election of this kind and saintly man. Experience? Two terms in the House of Representatives and a celebrated law career. He lost the election that would have made him a US Senator. Opponents of the Civil War (also known as "Copperheads") criticized Lincoln for refusing to compromise on the slavery issue. Conversely, the Radical Republicans, an abolitionist faction of the Republican Party, criticized him for moving too slowly in abolishing slavery. Even with these road blocks, Lincoln successfully rallied public opinion through his rhetoric and speeches; his Gettysburg Address is but one example of this. At the close of the war, Lincoln held a moderate view of Reconstruction, seeking to speedily reunite the nation through a policy of generous reconciliation. His assassination in 1865 was the first presidential assassination in U.S. history and made him a martyr for the ideal of national unity. Lincoln has been consistently ranked by scholars as one of the greatest U.S. Presidents. Today also marks the election of Herbert Hoover in 1928 (and we all know what happened in 1929, just seven months after Hoover took office on March 4th, 1929) Hoover defeated Al Smith, the first Roman Catholic presidential candidate. Oh my, what this poor man was accused of by Hoover and his supporters. And Hoover was absolutely helpless in these four disastrous years. Benjamin Harrison defeated Grover Cleveland (by an Electoral College win only) on this day in 1888 in what the experts say was simply a fraudulent election, principally in New York and Harrison's own state in Indiana. Harrison helped create "The Billion Dollar Congress" spending one billion dollars in four short years. History will always show you the truth. And if you want an answer, look to our country's history before making a judgement.