Thomas DiLorenzo’s Politics

During my series commenting on Thomas DiLorenzo’s 2008 interview with Brian Lamb, it was evident that aside from claims about “court historians,” a “church of Lincoln,” and a “Lincoln cult,” Dr. DiLorenzo was interested in the political leanings of certain Lincoln scholars.  But what about his own?  After all, if DiLorenzo interprets people’s historical perspectives based upon his assessment of their political perspectives, it stands to reason that he should be subjected to like treatment.

Oh, By The Way … On DiLorenzo’s Lincoln Unmasked

Yesterday readers of this blog as well as myself were entertained by a series of comments from a reader who went by the name of “Frank” and who seemed rather all too well schooled in some of the arguments offered by Thomas DiLorenzo, especially in his characterizations of the Southern Poverty Law Center.  As soon as another poster commented upon the background of several of DiLorenzo’s favorite antiLincoln scholars (my, but such terminology sounds like a cheerleading exercise, not scholarship), “Frank” started complaining about the SPLC and offered me suggestions on how to manage my comments section.  I should note that the people “Frank” attacked did not ask me to manage my comments section in response to “Frank.”

Debating DiLorenzo: An Ideal Discussion

In our final dissection of Thomas DiLorenzo’s comments in a 2008 C-SPAN interview with Brian Lamb, we learn of a conference that Dr. DiLorenzo liked and indeed helped organize:

Debating DiLorenzo: Lincoln’s Critics Among Scholars

Dr. Thomas DiLorenzo discusses other Lincoln critics in a 2008 interview with Brian Lamb:

LAMB: Are you the only one around?

DILORENZO: No, there are other critics.

Debating DiLorenzo: Squabbles with Scholars

In this portion of his interview with Brian Lamb, Dr. Thomas DiLorenzo describes another encounter with an unnamed Lincoln scholar:

DILORENZO: I was at another event in Richmond, it was panel discussion with the – well known Lincoln scholar who has identified himself as the president of a committee, the head of committee that gives the Lincoln book award out every year. And …

LAMB: Is this the – Mr. Borat [Boritt], the …

Debating DiLorenzo: Distortion and Dismissal

In what must rank as one of the more interesting parts of Dr. Thomas DiLorenzo’s interview with Brian Lamb in 2008, we learn of a supposed conspiracy of Lincoln scholars to embarrass him through the History Channel:

LAMB: Have you ever been invited to speak to the American Lincoln Association Springfield or the Lincoln Forum that’s put on by Frank Williams and Harold Holzer?

DILORENZO: No. No, I’ve never been invited to speak there.

LAMB: What would you do if you were invited?

DILORENZO: Well, it depends

Debating DiLorenzo: Doris Kearns Goodwin

In an interview with C-SPAN’s Brian Lamb, Dr. Thomas DiLorenzo offered his observations on fellow historian Doris Kearns Goodwin:

LAMB: Let me read something that you wrote just a couple of years ago “A Plagiarist’s Contribution to the Lincoln Idolatry.”

DILORENZO: Yes.

Debating DiLorenzo: Court Historians

In 2008 Dr. Thomas DiLorenzo explained to Brian Lamb what he meant by the term “court historian”:

Debating DiLorenzo: Three Lincoln Cultists

Returning once more to Dr. Thomas DiLorenzo’s 2008 interview with Brian Lamb on C-SPAN …here’s Dr. DiLorenzo on what he calls the Lincoln “cult”:

LAMB: If you could get everybody that you call the Lincoln cultists or people who are members of the church of Lincoln in front of you, and we don’t have a whole lot of time left, but if you were going to tell them what you think they ought to do, tell them what they ought to change, tell them – just tell them what you think about them, what would you say to them?

DILORENZO: I think they need to get back to pursuing the truth of history in their careers.

Debating DiLorenzo: On Cultism as a Career

In the exchange that follows, Dr. Thomas DiLorenzo explains to Brian Lamb what he believes motivates members of what he defines as a Lincoln “cult”:

LAMB: What do you think is driving most of the, and there depending on what trigger you use – Andrew Ferguson wrote about you in his book ”Land of Lincoln” where he said, ”There are some 14,000 books written about Abraham Lincoln” …

DILORENZO: Yes.

LAMB: What’s the motivation? And how much of it is making money?