Dr. Carnahan Speaks to the CWRTDC on "Lincoln and the Law of War" - 11/12/2013 by CWRTDC

Burrus (Buzz) Carnahan speaks to the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia on November 12, 2013, at the Fort McNair Officers' Club in Washington D.C. on the topic: "Lincoln and the Law of War."

A copy of the handout to his presentation for reference while listening to this recording is available at https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ahzY8pGlDoQXOuarMOXYv0Fv2WR0S-cf

Summary of Presentation:
I don’t know anything about the law of nations,” Lincoln confessed to Thaddeus Stevens in 1861. International law, then called the law of nations, was one set of ideas Lincoln set out to master while President. By 1863 he had thoroughly mastered the principles of international law and, in particular, the law of war as it then existed. Dr. Carnahan's presentation will focus on Lincoln's ability to explain important legal concepts in plain language that was accessible to military officers as well as the American public, most notably in defense of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Biography:
Burrus M. ("Buzz") Carnahan is a Foreign Affairs Officer at the US Department of State and a Professorial Lecturer in Law at the George Washington University in Washington DC. His JD degree is from Northwestern University (1969) and he holds an LLM from the University of Michigan (1974). From 1969 to 1989, Dr. Carnahan served as a Judge Advocate in the US Air Force, specializing in international legal issues. From 1974 to 1978, he was an Associate Professor of Law at the US Air Force Academy.

The author of two books and numerous articles on Abraham Lincoln, international law, and the law of war, Dr. Carnahan has spoken on Lincoln and his era at the Abraham Lincoln Institute at the National Archives, the Gettysburg College Civil War Institute, Robert Lincoln’s Hildene in Vermont, the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, Kentucky, and many other venues. He serves on the Board of Advisors for the Lincoln Forum and in 2012 was appointed to the Scholarly Advisory Group for President Lincoln’s Cottage at the Soldiers’ Home for a two year term.

For additional information about his presentation, download CWRTDC's November 2013 newsletter available at http://cwrtdc-newsletters.blogspot.com/

For information about the Round Table or to apply for membership, visit http://www.cwrtdc.org