Living with Lincoln

I started watching "Living With Lincoln" with no knowledge of the subject matter except that it had something to do with Abraham Lincoln. In the end, I was deeply moved by this poignant documentary made by Peter Kunhardt Jr. and his family members, all accomplished historians, documentary filmmakers, authors, and collectors of rare Lincoln photographs, letters, and documents. "Living With Lincoln" shares the very personal quest by several generations of Meserves and Kunhardts to collect and preserve historic items about the late President, as well as researching and writing detailed books about his legacy and assassination by John Wilkes Booth. The real emotional punch of "Living With Lincoln" isn't about Lincoln, however: It's the story of this one family, including their financial hardships, health problems and loving devotion to each other. Watch "Living With Lincoln" if you are interested in family stories and American history, and you will not be disappointed. [Mr. Kunhardt also co-wrote the definitive biography of 19th century impresario P.T. Barnum, which I read about 20 years ago. Great book!]

I started watching this because I am a presidents nerd and I found this on HBO Go and thought "oh okay this will work"

The Lincoln content in this film is extremely interesting, but the unexpected emotional story of the filmmaker's family was both moving and well-executed. The juxtaposition of their family history and the Lincoln family history was a clever way of presenting both, and the presentation as a whole is fantastic. Highly recommend.

The largest collection of original Lincoln photos as well as an impressive amount of related memorabilia - was collected and saved by 4-5 generations of one family! Started by a Major who was wounded at Gettysburg. There may have been a meeting with Lincoln (can't recall), but he's so changed by the war he abandons his family to become an itinerary fundamentalist Christian preacher. His son, becomes obsessed with the abandonment and because of the Gettysburg-Lincoln connection, starts a more-than-life-long quest to document Lincoln. He obtains photos no-one else has, including photos of nearly all officers in both armies his fathers war diaries, etc. His daughter - as dedicated to her father as her father was to his - takes over and outdoes her father. Her son - the great grandson - makes a documentary and the family transfers the collection to a safe place (Yale) recently. Good thing they never had a house fire!! A very interesting documentary, which will expose you to some items I'm sure you've never seen before

I began watching this documentary with a reasonably strong interest in Lincoln and the remarkable times in which he lived, but I was completely unprepared for the emotional impact of this film. I don't think it's useful or necessary to go into detail about what the film contains in particular, but the story of this family, their struggles, dedication, frustrations, setbacks and triumphs moved me on the deepest level. This is a remarkable story about a handful of extraordinary people and one family, with the huge bonus of revealing a new, and for me, unsung hero. I bought one of her books online before I even finished watching. I want to know Dorothy Kunhardt better, that is certain. If you can watch this in a detached, analytical way, with a dry eye, you've got me beat.