As I watched a re-run of Dr. Henry Gates, 2009 PBS series, Looking for Lincoln, over this past weekend, I was startled during a commercial break. I found out Bill O’Reilly (Fox News) has published a book, “Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever.” The book is being sold as non-fiction and is merchandised in many bookstores on ‘best seller’ shelves.
My curiosity was peaked; an information search ensued. The search took me to the same ‘disappointing’ place that aligns with all things O’Reilly. It is being widely reported by many sources the book is factually incorrect and fails professionally in source attribution. The fact that the book has glaring inaccuracies and misstatements and is not classified as a novel, is troublesome from an ethical perspective. A recent segment of Countdown was about the O’Reilly Book. Keith Olbermann discussed the book with John Dean, Former White House Counsel for Richard Nixon and noted Watergate figure. Dean stated (video):
The video is accompanied by the following statement from Countdown producers.
Keith and John Dean, former Nixon White House counsel and Countdown contributor, question Bill O’Reilly’s decision to release his latest book, “Killing Lincoln,” which historians at the official Lincoln Museum at Ford’s Theatre have refused to sell because its pages are bursting with disastrous factual errors. Dean says the book is an insult to those who attempt to show scholarship in their work, pointing out that there are almost 17,000 Lincoln books already that have managed to share documented facts – unlike O’Reilly’s: “I stopped counting at 12 serious errors.”
John Dean alludes to O’Reilly’s efforts to defend the book vs. developing a disclaiming statement related to book entries. Dean says that after 12 glaring inaccurate pieces of information he quit counting, or quit reading (not clear). Of course, there are differing perspectives on accuracy of the book. Under the following headline Mediaite addressed the book’s inaccuracies and included an O’Reilly video.
Wonkette writes……
A reviewer for the official National Park Service bookstore at Ford’s Theatre has recommended that Bill O’Reilly’s bestselling new book about the Lincoln assassination not be sold at the historic site “because of the lack of documentation and the factual errors within the publication.”Rae Emerson, deputy superintendent at Ford’s Theatre, which is a national historic site under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service, has penned a scathing appraisal of O’Reilly’s “Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever.” In Emerson’s official review, which I’ve pasted below, she spends four pages correcting passages from O’Reilly’s book before recommending that it not be offered for sale at Ford’s Theatre because it is not up to quality standards.For example, “Killing Lincoln” makes multiple references to the Oval Office; in fact, Emerson points out, the office was not built until 1909.At one point O’Reilly writes of generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, “The two warriors will never meet again.” In fact, according to the review, Grant and Lee met for a second time in 1865 to discuss prisoners of war.The book says that Ford’s Theatre “burned to the ground in 1863.” In fact, the fire was in 1862, according to the review.I’ve reached out to O’Reilly’s publisher, Henry Holt, for comment, and I will update this post when I hear back.
O’Reilly’s involvement in a money-making venture that is, in part, of questionable accuracy is no surprise. Afterall, he works for Fox News and has the highest rated show on that cable network; or for that matter all cable networks. O’Reilly is noted for his self-centered, “I am all-knowing and always correct” manner of broadcasting.” A quick example was his pointing a finger in the face of a guest while declaring that Richard Nixon would never shake hands with a dictator (as had President Obama during overseas visited to dignitaries). O’Reilly also noted that past presidents had not bowed to another world leader. The next day Keith Olbermann broadcast a black and white photo of Nixon shaking hands with chairman Chairman Mao and shaking and bowing with the Japanese Prime Minister. Hence….
He also commented that no other president would shake hands with a dictator; Olbermann broadcast a photo of both George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan shaking hands with dictators.
…….
O’Reilly’s penchant for inaccurate broadcasting seems to have morphed into his book. When you have a viewership that will eagerly soak-up or buy any utterance from your lips or your personal computer keyboard, why dig really deep for facts. “The viewers are going to ‘buy it?” It seems they are buying the book. As John Dean stated there are about 17,000 books about President Abe Lincoln. Millions of viewers buying the book yields million more in dollars! It is not against the law to do what O’Reilly and his writing partner have done. There outta be a law. Yet, their work has to sit on the wrong side of any normal standard of ethics. The National Park Service (NPS) lists the Ford Theater as a national museum. NPS is one government agency or department that has never crossed my ears or eyes as being of anything other than of the utmost of credibility. The National Parks Ford Theater has decided not to sell the O’Reilly book. Yet, I have confirmed that the book is in fact being sold in the museum. An early morning email to the Ford Theater yielded the following email response.
Mr. (deleted),Yes, go to www.fordstheatre.org and click shop. It is in our book section under bestsellers.Thank YouEvent Network @ Ford’s Theatre
517 10th NW
Washington, DC 20004
202.347.3857
FordsTheatreStore549@eventnetwork.com
OK, I was told the book is available for purchase at the Museum. As I read other articles about the issue, the words were clear, “the Ford Theater is not selling the book.” I decided to call the Ford Theater. Yes, the book is being sold in the Ford Theater. It is being sold in the upstairs book store and not the downstairs book store. I was told “….the upstairs books store is owned by a third-party and they are selling the book.” Mind you both books stores are housed in the same building, The Ford Theater. After suffering a bit from information dizziness, I called the National Park Service Regional Office in Washington D.C. The book is being sold by a third-party in another location in the same building and that third-party is the Ford Theater Society; the society handles the theater’s programming and other responsibilities. Apparently, NPS has developed a press release (not yet for public viewing) that was, in part, read to me over the phone. I was then given the name of a public relations representative and I awaited a call about the press release. Hours passed and the call has not been returned. The director of the Theater Society, Paul R. Tetreault, communicated the following to the Washington City Paper web site via email.
“We decided several weeks ago to carry Bill O’Reilly’s book ‘Killing Lincoln’ in the Ford’s Theatre Society gift shop,” said Paul R. Tetreault, the director of the Ford’s Theatre Society, in a statement. “While we understand the National Park Service’s concerns about the book, we decided to let our visitors judge the book themselves.”
It appears the email signature above denotes the Theater Society. When I read the email, however, I did not think about a ‘third party entity’ selling the book at the UPSTAIRS BOOK STORE! Apparently, the Ford Theater Society does not share the concerns of the national museum. As stated by Jonathan L. Fischer in the article , Tetreault publicists deflects attempts to speak with the director to a preference for email correspondence. Outside of O’Reilly’s poorly crafted book, the National Parks Service is physically coupled with the Ford Theater Society. One must question the wisdom of merchandising a book that is so factually inaccurate an NPS book reviewer recommended that it not be sold on the premises. Fischer mentions a quick perusal of the 2000 Washington Post Entertainment page comments about the decision to allow sale of the book might reflect on why Tetreault is not accepting phone calls. The comments are now up to 2017 comments. I can understand the freedoms associated with allowing people to make their “own decisions.” Is it in a way freedoms comparable to Star, Globe, and In Touch Magazines next to the checkout counters at just about all grocery stores? Somehow, I do not feel that it is the same. The Ford Theater is part of the Park Service and it is as storied a national treasure as the Lincoln Memorial, in my mind. Why should the Ford Theater Society’s managers (and probably their board) make what could be construed as a political decision to the detriment of the Park Service and the Museum? Is it possible for the very young to buy the book since it is not bound with a warning cover related to its veracity? Or, better yet, a disclaimer sticker that flags the book as containing ‘known’ misrepresentations that could be contrary to accurate portrayals of U.S. History and harmful to learning. If I may just a bit more pessimistic, it wouldn’t take much to convince myself the Ford Theater Museum found a way to merchandise the book without taking ‘heat’ for the decision. Factually inaccurate information (in this case a book) should not be allowed as a merchandise item at any retail operation associated with the federal government. Will we have the Murdoch like way (business model) of doing business set precedent that others will surely follow? Others who will protest, “see you allow O’Reilly and is publisher to merchandise on site, why not us?” The O’Reilly book should be removed from the National Park Service building. The “Upstairs‘ Book Store seems to be operating with less attention to Lincoln’s archive credibility and print integrity than I am accustomed to seeing from the NPS.
One last thought, as you have read this article, did you stop to think of how Abe Lincoln himself may have felt about O’Reilly and his writing partners work? Yet, that work available for purchase in a sacred place associated with the Lincoln legacy and Lincoln folklore.
merrywrath…… It is shameful….and the NPS should rescind the decision to sell the book in any “up” or “down” bookstore….
Bill probably didn’t even bother to visit the Lincoln library and museum or the Lincoln home in Springfield, IL. Come on, Bill. The museum is only $12 for admission, and the home is free. Hell, he could even visit New Salem, IL! Ask ANYBODY working at either place about ANYTHING Lincoln related. It’s their job. They’ve worked hard at preserving the history and legacy of this man. Bill, what you’ve written is an insult to not only these people, but an insult to Lincoln, our American history, and our posterity. You even owe an apology to Ken Burns and Shelby Boothe.
-Mary, from the Land of Lincoln, better known as Illinois.