North Jersey Civil War Round Table Presents: The Evolution of a President

The days of trying to placate the South were over. At the time of President Abraham Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address of March 4, 1861, seven states had already seceded from the Union, yet Lincoln insisted that the South had no reason to secede, all laws had remained if effect – even the notorious Fugitive Slave Act!

But war did come! On April 11,1861,  Fort Sumter in South Carolina was attacked. When Lincoln tried to raise troops, four more states seceded.

For almost three months without a formal declaration of war and without Congressional approval (Congress not being on session), Lincoln ran the war and performed acts that ran contrary to the Constitution.

On July 4, 1861, with Congress now called into session, Lincoln now asked Congress to validate the acts he committed with a step-by-step analysis. It is this step-by-step analysis that constitutes this program in a dialogue between Thomas V. Hildner, Esq. and Rich Rosenthal.

Thomas V. Hildner recently retired from his position as  Senior Counsel to the law firm of Mandelbaum Salsburg in Roseland, New Jersey. He has more than 50 years of litigation experience in state and federal courts in New Jersey, New York and other states. Tom is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Virginia School of Law. He began his practice of law in New Jersey after serving as a Captain in the Military Police Corps, U.S. Army.

Rich Rosenthal is longtime President of the North Jersey Civil War Round Table and was one of the founding members of the North Jersey American Revolution Round Table with eminent author and historian John. T. Cunningham.