Washington and Lee University’s Lucas E. Morel delivered a sweeping examination of how Lincoln understood, and drew strength from, the American Founding. Morel, whose scholarship spans Lincoln’s political philosophy and his relationship with the Declaration of Independence, made a compelling case that Lincoln’s greatness lay in his determination to hold America to its own highest ideals, even when the cost was staggering.

The symposium opened with journalist and author John Bicknell, whose presentation drew on his 2025 book The Pathfinder and the President: John C. Frémont, Abraham Lincoln, and the Battle for Emancipation. Bicknell traced the collision between Lincoln and the mercurial General John C. Frémont, whose unauthorized emancipation order in Missouri forced Lincoln into one of the Civil War’s most consequential early confrontations. It was a story of competing visions, clashing egos, and the slow, painful arc toward freedom.

At midday, guests gathered for the Thomas F. Schwartz Luncheon Buffet, named in honor of the distinguished Illinois State Historian and Lincoln scholar whose career exemplified the rigor and generosity that define this field at its best.

The luncheon featured a conversation between two giants of Lincoln scholarship: Michael Burlingame, holder of the Naomi B. Lynn Distinguished Chair in Lincoln Studies at the University of Illinois Springfield, and Allen Guelzo. Their discussion, “Encouraging Trends in Recent Lincoln Scholarship,” ranged across new discoveries, emerging interpretations, and reasons for genuine optimism about where Lincoln studies are headed. It was lively, learned, and frequently surprising — a rare glimpse into how two of the field’s most accomplished minds think about the work.

Brown University historian Michael Vorenberg offered a fresh and thought-provoking lens on Lincoln’s wartime leadership. Drawing on his acclaimed book Lincoln’s Peace: The Struggle to End the American Civil War (Knopf, 2025), Vorenberg revealed Lincoln not merely as a commander in chief but as a patient, principled architect of reconciliation; a leader who thought as hard about how the war should end as he did about how it should be won.

The symposium closed with a roundtable conversation that brought all five scholars together. Moderated by Michael Burlingame, the discussion wove together the day’s themes: emancipation, peacemaking, the Founding, and the enduring challenge of understanding Lincoln on his own terms. Questions from the audience sharpened the exchange, and the conversation ranged from the antebellum period to the present day with ease and energy.