Lincoln: Movie critic series No. 5, sorry to miss Senator Charles Sumner

Before seeing the movie I was expected to see Senator Charles Sumner and was disappointed in not seeing him.  There were enough votes in the senate to pass Amendment 13, so the battle was in the House.  This is why the powerful and radical Representative (from PA) Thaddeus Stevens played a pivotal role.

Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens

Tommy Lee Jones

Tommy Lee Jones (Harvard educated; his room mate was Al Gore) played Stevens.  The last time I saw Tommy Lee Jones was his playing the Marshal in the Fugitive, for which he earned an Oscar in supporting role.  He has aged and put on lots of weight, but is still as good an actor.  You may see him pitching for Ameriprise (a financial advice service company) on TV these days.

From the scene of Lincoln talking to Stevens one can tell Lincoln was not as radical as Stevens when it came to abolishing the slavery and that Lincoln is a more practical and shrewd a politician.

Senator Charles Sumner is one of the “Americans in Paris” in David McCullough’s The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris. Paris was the intellectual center in 19^th century.  It was also the center of medicine, and one can read Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes’ story in the book.  In fact, the title of the New York Times Sunday Book Review of this book is “How Paris created America”.