While this could be the longest legislative session in state history, it certainly comes nowhere near the time span of the bloodiest war on American soil.

The Civil War lasted for four years and put then-President Abraham Lincoln in the spotlight.

But Abraham Lincoln was as much a man of the time as he was a man of the people.

The Age of Lincoln is the title of a new book by Vernon Burton.

He’s a professor of history and sociology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Professor Burton recently sat down with Eight Forty-Eight‘s Richard Steele.

He says that Abe Lincoln’s influence stretched far beyond his death in 1865.

Music Button: Jacqueline Schwab “All Quiet On The Potomac” from the CD The Civil War Original Soundtrack (Electra records)