The Eric Metaxas Show - The Story of Squanto

Episode Date: November 27, 2023

A Special Thanksgiving Episode including the story of Squanto 

Folks, welcome to the Eric Metaxus show, sponsored by Legacy Precious Metals. There's never been a better time to invest in precious metals. Visit legacy pm investments.com. That's legacy pm investments.com. Welcome to the Eric Metaxas show. Have you heard that some people have a nose for news? Well, Eric has a nose for everything. That's why this is called The Show About Everything. Now, welcome your host, who definitely passes the smell test. Eric Monttaxas. Hey there, folks.

Welcome to the program. As you know, tomorrow, if tomorrow is Thursday, is Thanksgiving. And we thought, wouldn't it be nice to have someone, a pastor, perhaps, from Plymouth, Massachusetts on the program. Obviously, that was impossible. So we reached out to Pastor Neil Eaton. And then it turns out he's actually from Plymouth, Massachusetts. Pastor Neil, welcome. It's so good to be with you, Eric.

I can't believe you're here in the studio in New York. Thank you for coming down. Actually, you're coming by way of Dallas. That's right. We've got to tell my audience the story that you invited me to speak at your church in Plymouth, Massachusetts. It's about, what, a year and a half ago? Something like that. I'd say a year and a half, too.

Yeah. Yeah. And I was thrilled. Anytime I'm invited to speak in New England, I'm really thrilled because New England is not exactly the buckle of the Bible belt. That's for sure. It's been spiritually dark for some time, but it's where it's where it all started. It's where the pilgrims landed. It's where there's been tons of faith.

And, you know, we think of the first great awakening and Jonathan Edwards. That's all New England. But in this day and age, it's spiritually on the darker side. So when I was invited to speak to your church, I was really excited. And here we are to talk about what's happened since then. And, I mean, where do we start? So that actually. was a gathering of multiple churches of all denominations

that have been praying for revival in in Plymouth County. What was a gathering? That the event that you came to speak at, we invited you to come. Okay. So it was a, it's a prayer initiative. And you came to pray with us, but also to be the keynote speaker.

And it's interesting because we had people coming from all over because they found out you were going to be there. And we have this couple from Rhode Island that came, he's a colonel in the Air Force, a retired colonel in the Air Force, and he and his wife came, and they never stopped coming to New Hope after that event. That's always my dream is, you know, I go someplace and I say, hey, I'm going to be at this place or this place, whatever, and people maybe who listen to this program, I've read my books, so they go, oh, we'd like to go here, Eric, and they go to the church.

It's happened with other churches around the country, and they go, hey, this is a pretty great church, maybe we should go here, even though it's a little bit of a drive. But that's actually, you know, music to my ears to hear that that gathering resulted in people finding you and the church. And they're not the only ones. We had several other people because they were looking for a pastor, and I'm not trying to promote myself at all, but they were looking for a pastor who would not be afraid to speak truth to culture. So that continues on. So here's the great thing about that. That couple that came, and they've been, they come four or five times a week from Rhode Island.

It's an hour and hour away. But they have invested their lives in something we're calling a learning pod because parents have decided to no longer send their kids to public school, and they became homeschoolers. But the learning pod at our church is a place where they can gather twice a week. and those who are experts in English or science or whatever language, the parents can teach. And the Chabernos have changed our church for the better to provide opportunities because they care so much about this country. There are great things happening.

And I say this often, I don't say that often on this program, but I go around the country and I get to see what God is doing. And I think, boy, I wish more people could see what I see because they would have hope. for this nation. We're going through a really hard time right now, but I see hope. And your church in Plymouth is one of them. So I've got to ask you, now you're the pastor of New Hope Church. The website is at newhope.com, at newhope.com.

How did you end up in Plymouth? Did you grow up in that neck of the woods? No, but I found out, I, you know, my ancestors came on the Mayflower, actually like three or four families. And I had been an associate pastor of another church about a half an hour away or so. And I just kept sensing a magnetic pull to plant a church there. In Plymouth, that's history, there had never been an evangelical church that grew beyond 200 people. There were so many splits and the church would end and cease. to exist. People don't understand what hard ground

New England is. Right. I mean, a church of 200 people is a big church in New England because it's just hard ground. It's spiritually very dark. So, but you felt that what year was it that you thought that you would plant the church? So we planted in 2002 with about 50 people. And now with in person and online, regular online faithful viewers, we are at 1,000. We're at 700 in person and about 400. 700 in person.

Yeah. In Plymouth, Massachusetts. Folks, that's big news. That's big, that is a big church in Plymouth, Massachusetts. In Massachusetts, that's wonderful. And that's not including all of this. We have 50 small groups. I'm telling you, we're calling it a revival because we believe it's stirring.

And there's celebrate recovery. There's all kinds of recovery ministries. And we're ministering to the under-resourced in the area. And so all through the week, there are so many ministries. So it's come alive and we started this. We wrote this mini documentary and produced it called America's Hometown Revival. Okay. That is, okay, I don't want to forget.

Folks, write this down. America's Hometown Revival.com. This is the documentary that you made. It's only 10 minutes long, America's Hometown Revival.com. And what is that 10-minute film? So what it does is it tells a little bit of the history of Plymouth and, you know, how the pilgrims left in 16-20.

They had been experiencing religious persecution in England because the state was controlling how they worshipped. And because they read their Bibles, they came from the Reformation. They read their Bibles and realized that they were way off base. They wanted to practice their faith based on what scripture said, not what the king said. what King James said. Exactly. So they had gone to Leiden, Holland, hoping to get a better life there, and they decided that they wanted to come to this new world. So in 16, 20, they left. They came that winter. Half of them died. 102 came. 51 of them passed away. And they were stalwart people

because they had a faith that made them stalwart. And they did not give up. They wanted to be people of character. So they came for the advancement of the Christian faith. And they were the faith. the glory of God and also to establish just laws so that religious freedom could continue on. Now, I'm holding in my hand here a book. You're involved. I was just a speaker at the 50th gala of Intercessors for America, and you are involved with Intercessors for America. Yes. We have many, many members that are involved and very, very supportive of that ministry. It's powerful. My friend Keith Junta was just on the program. He's involved with Intercessors for America.

And the book I have in my hand is titled Monumental Prayers. We should really talk about the monument. Shouldn't we talk about the monument? Sure. I mean, it is so huge. It's monumental. And it is the Pilgrims Monument in Plymouth, which I had the privilege of seeing. but it's so huge and so beautiful.

It's the largest solid granite monument in the country. I didn't know that. Yeah. How tall is it? I mean, it's huge. Oh, I forget. But it really is like, it's gigantic. And Kirk Cameron has drawn a lot of attention to it and has had replicas of it made.

I still don't have one of those, but I've seen them. And I've got to tell you, it is just, it's so beautiful. But when I spoke at your church, a couple years ago, I was blessed to get a tour of that monument. And when we come back, I want to talk about it. But it is, folks, these are our roots. These are the Christian roots of this nation. It's incontrovertible.

It is real. And we need to know it and teach it to our kids. And definitely go to America's HometownRevival.com. America's Hometown Revival.com. Pastor Neil Eaton. God bless you. Thanks for being out. Thank you so much for having me. There's nothing worse than hearing about people living in pain.

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Folks, it's here from Texas show. That's Larry Norman, in case you are wondering. I'm sitting here in the studio with Chris Himes. I have an amazing story that I need to get out. I tell this story every year at Thanksgiving. I wrote a book about it. In fact, the book is a children's book called Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving. I think it's like five bucks on Amazon. But I want to tell you, if you've not heard this story, and I'll bet my engineer Eric Hansen has never heard this story.

This is one of the most amazing stories. And what makes it more amazing is that people don't know this. And you think there's no way we could live in America and not know this story. So this is the story. If you're listening, folks, listen carefully, because this is huge. in 1608 before any ships before any people settled in you know what's now Massachusetts I never knew this because we all know that the that the Mayflower landed there in 1620 right Chris you knew that I I did at one point in my life right so 1620 is when the pilgrims land in Mayflow in a in a in a In Plymouth, sorry, right?

Plymouth Rock, yeah. Plymouth Rock. So, but I always assumed growing up that that's the first time that anybody came to, like, what's Massachusetts. But I found out, no, that's not the case. And the story of Squanto, which I'm going to tell right now, which, just wait, wait until you hear this, it starts in 1608, and it turns out that English trading ships would travel, you know, from Europe, from England to Iceland, Greenland, make their way down, Nova Scotia, all the way down, and they would trade with the natives.

Now, I never knew that. So the natives were familiar with English sailors coming and trading and giving them, you know, knives and pots and pans, and they would, you know, give them pelts and whatever, and they would trade. I never knew this. Well, in 1608, a group, a group, a ship led by a captain hunt, lands or, you know, drops anchor off of what is today, Plymouth, Massachusetts. And the Patuxet Braves come down to the shore to trade with them as they've done before. Well, just so happens that this Captain Hunt was a bad man. And instead of trading with the Braves, they whack them over the head, put them in the long boat, take them out to the ship, throw them in the hole. sail to Malaga, Spain, and sell them into slavery.

This is 1608. One of the Braves was a 12-year-old boy named Tisquantam. Now, this is true story. This is all documented. I've done the research. Others have done the research. It's true. So he is bought by some kindly friars who seem to treat him well, teach him the Christian religion.

and this is the part that we'll never know how this happened, but they arrange for him to be freed and to travel to London. Now, imagine from Molligah, Spain to London. So this is an Indian from what is today, Massachusetts, a Native American, a Patuxet, makes his way to London with the idea, and this is where it's crazy, of getting back across the Atlantic to go back home.

I know. It's like being on the moon and saying, so when's the next ship going back? There's no next ship going back. What are you talking about? But I guess the idea was not insane. He worked in London from, what is it, around 1612, 1613 for four or five years with a family called Slaney. This is all documented, this Indian named Squanto to Squantum, learns the English language.

He's there when Queen Elizabeth is on the throne. We're talking. Shakespeare is writing his play. So he's in London. this Massachusetts Indian, and this is years before the pilgrims ever get to Plymouth Rock. Crazy, right? In 1618, I believe 1619, a ship is found for him to go back to his home. And he's going to translate, obviously, because he knows these languages.

He's going to be on the ship working with these English as they're stopping, you know, and he's going to be doing the translating and so on and so forth. So somehow he gets passage on a ship. The ship ends up having to spend the winter in, I can't remember if it was Iceland or Greenland. It's in my book. What does it say? Newfoundland. No, hold on a second.

Anyway, the point is that it took them quite a while to get there, right? So they basically, no, it was Newfoundland. Sorry. They spend the winter in Newfoundland. And then the next spring, this is like 1619, they bring him to what's now the coast of Massachusetts, drop him off. Thank you very much. Goodbye. This sounds crazy, right?

This is a document. This is a true story. So a year plus before the Pilgrim's Land, this Indian has made the journey from Plymouth to Spain to London, spends five years in London, learns the English language, learns the ways the English, and then ends up. back where he started. He finds his way on foot to the village, which is right where Plymouth is today, right? The Patuxet Village, where his Indian, where his family is. So he comes home. Just imagine that you're sold into slavery and somehow 10 years later you make your way home. So now he's 21 years old, whatever, 22 years old. He's looking for his family. There's nobody there. They've all died. They've been wiped out by smallpox. One of these diseases brought by the white

man, obviously, unintentionally. So he goes to a neighboring tribe and lives with them. But the neighboring tribe, it's not like they're like, hey, hey, we're all Native Americans. We're cool. No, this is like strangers. He might as well be in England. He'd probably prefer to be in England. In fact, he ends up living alone in the woods because he's heartbroken. It's just one of these crazy stories. Meanwhile, what happens? Meanwhile, a group of English people who are escaping the persecutions of James I, the King, travel to Holland. They're there for a number of years. Their kids start to lose, you know, the English, whatever, culture and stuff.

And they say, we've got to go to the new world. So they get on a ship called the Mayflower. We've heard the story. And they travel to what ends up as Plymouth, Massachusetts. They land the ship there, a hundred people, very devoted to God, very, very. serious about God. They're praying that God would lead them. They get there and they begin dying like flies. 50 of the hundred people die the first winter. Now, we can't even imagine this. I mean, you've got six kids. Can we even imagine what it would be like to lose, have to lose

your wife, to lose your kids too? I mean, they were all dying, burying their brothers, their sisters, their spouses, their kids, their parents. It's a nightmare. So spring comes, and they are, of course, wondering, do we go home? Because this is not working for them. And they really were wondering, what do we do? And out of the woods walks an Indian called Squanto. They happened to have settled on the very place where he grew up, Patuxet Village, the place where he grew up. He walks out of the woods speaking perfect English. Think about that for a second. An Indian walks out of words, speaking perfect English. He was in London for five years, more recently than they were. And he basically says, I have nothing to do with my life. My whole tribe, my family has been wiped

out. You have settled on my home. Here I am. How can I help you? The pilgrims recognize this as an outrageous answer to their prayers, because they have been weeping and praying to God. Why have you let us hear? What, you know, this is. Squanto just happens not only to know English perfectly. He just happens to know everything about that area because he grew up there. So he shows them how to get, where to get lobsters, where to get eels out of the mud, how to fish, how to fish. He shows them how to plant corn and how to plant squash so that the squash grow up, the vines grow up around the cornstalk.

He shows them to put how to put a dead fish. in when you plant the corn as fertilizer. He shows them everything and allows them to survive. There's no doubt. This is history. Okay. And in fact, the pilgrim fathers, William Bradford, who is the governor, wrote in his journal that Squanto was a special instrument sent of God. He had no doubt. It's just one of those things that it was to them a miracle, that he shows up out of nowhere. He has nothing to do except to say, this is my home. I'm here to help you. Not only that, but he brokers a deal with the surrounding tribes so that these people, so that these pilgrims have peace with the surrounding tribes.

So these Englishmen that have come, the pilgrims, the Puritans, had a peace that lasted 50 years, an incredible accomplishment. And Squanto basically helped them to do this. it's one of the most outrageous stories from our history that there's a miracle at the beginning of everything that happened in America is this outrageous miracle. The pilgrims didn't just happen to hang out because they wanted to. It all happened because Squanto appears out of the woods and miraculously happens to speak English, miraculously happens to know everything about England, miraculously happens to have nothing to do because his whole tribe was wiped out and they adopt him. and he just happens to know everything about that area to show them how to survive.

I wanted to tell that story because we need to be thankful for God's hand in American history. I don't know how else you see it. If you see this as a coincidence, it's the craziest coincidence I've ever heard in my life. It doesn't make any sense. So I'm thankful for Squanto. We'll be right back. It's the Eric Mattaxas show. Our website, go to Metaxus Talk.com.

you can download the recording of the Squanto story. I'm just so happy to share it every year, and we'll be right back. With the overturn of Roe v. Wade, lots of companies are coming out saying they'll pay for employee abortion travel and expenses. Most of you've heard about some of these companies. You've decided to stop shopping or doing business there, but did you know that you most likely own stock in those companies through your 401Ks, IRAs, and other investment accounts? Folks, this is a huge problem, and we need to do something. about this to send a message to Wall Street through our investments. You need to go to inspireadvisors.com and get a free Inspire Impact report. This biblical investment analysis will educate you on what's

really in your investment accounts like companies paying for abortion travel. You need to go to inspireadvisors.com slash Eric to connect with an Inspire Advisors Financial Professional who can run your report and help remove companies paying for abortion travel today. Go to inspireadvisors.com slash Eric. That's InspireAdvisor.com. That's Inspire advisors.com slash Eric. Advisory services are offered through Inspire Advisors LLC, a registered investment advisor with the SEC. Hey folks, Eric here. Mike Lindell is always looking for ways to solve everyday problems.

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Click on the radio podcast specials to receive this amazing offer of only 2998 on the six-piece set from MyPillow towels. Just go to MyPillow.com. Click on the radio podcast specials and enter promo code Eric or call 800-978-30577. That's MyPillow.com. promo code Eric. Mypillow.com promo code Eric or call 800-978-3057. I use these towels. They work. I promise you. Hey, folks, it is my joy right now to speak with Raymond Arroyo. If you watch EWTN News, you know all about him. There are very few people I interview on this program that I'm slightly jealous of. Not only has Raymond Arroyo interviewed Mel Gibson, whom I've never interviewed. He has interviewed Mother Teresa.

What? Yes. He's interviewed Jerry Lewis. I'm just, I can't even tell you. Jerry Lewis. And of course, the greatest Pope Benedict, my goodness, Raymond, you've interviewed so many heroes, amazing, amazing people. But you do it all. You write children's books. We're going to talk about. You've written many books. Now you've written another children's book called the magnificent mischief of Tad Lincoln. First of all, congratulations on the book. Thank you, Eric. No, it's a great honor to be able to do what we do, to talk to some of the most incredible people in the world. You know, intellectual giants, spiritual giants, artistic giants. I mean, you know, when I look back, you know, I've been doing this at EWTN for 28 years. When you look back at that span of time, you know, and realize the people who I was privileged, blessed to be in the presence of, I mean, and knew well, I mean, Jerry Lewis became a friend. He would call me and critique the broadcasts, you know, pick up the pace kid, this is slow. You know, Mel Gibson's a pal.

You know, it's, it was amazing. And to know those popes, Pope Benedict, I saw him many times, we had dinner together, that proximity, you almost take it for granted when it's happening. But in retrospect, you realize what a great gift. No, it's unbelievable. And I've had the privilege of interviewing a number of people. But, I mean, look, when you talk about Jerry Lewis, oh, my gosh, the idea of talking to Jerry Lewis. Mother Teresa takes the cake. I'll tell you, I don't think I've said this to you, but when I spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast in 2012, I thought, what am I going to say?

This is a great honor, right? So I asked, can you send me, you know, they send me the CDs of previous speakers? And I think I don't know if I've said this publicly. Yeah. But one after the other was an anodyne bipartisan dud. Yeah. Not naming names, but it's like, well, we know we don't want to speak too strongly because we have people on both sides. Good and evil.

We don't want to offend the people that are in bed with evil. So we don't want to read it. And I watched them. Then I watched Mother Teresa. Yeah. I was in awe of the quiet. authority. She spoke with the authority of God. And when I watched her speech, that was what inspired me to say everything I said in my speech. I said, I have an obligation before God.

After I watched what she said to say what I said. So the fact that you were privileged to interview her. Not only that, I was at both of those prayer breakfasts, Eric. I was at yours and I was at Mother Teresa's. In fact, I ended up being one of the pool reporters. at Mother Teresa's, you know, when she spoke at that prayer breakfast. The room was at capacity. And I was one of the few people who actually got to see her deliver that speech. Because if you remember, the microphones are like in. I'll never forget it.

If people are watching this on video, folks, we're not making this up, okay? And you kind of wonder, what kind of the dunderheads that they couldn't figure out that she's 4'4 foot 11? But the microphone was like this the whole time. And she was talking like this. And but the power, the authority. And, you know, a lot of times, people in the press afterward made it sound like she was like dunking on the Clintons with the abortion stuff. She was not. I mean, she spoke with this authority and with this power.

It was respectful, but powerful. It was so powerful. But honestly, that made me realize like that's, I want to be like that. I don't want to be like any of these other folks that I've watched, who shall remain nameless. I'm so kind, charitable of you, Eric. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Well, okay, Raymond, so you've done so many things, and I could talk to you for days. But you have written many books.

The new book is a children's book. I've written many children's books, and they're kind of harder to write than adult books in many ways. So much harder. What gave you the idea to write this new book, which is called The Magnificent Mischief of Tad Lincoln? For our audience, tell us who is Ted Lincoln. For some people, don't aren't old enough to remember, Pat. Like you, I kind of stumble onto these stories. And for years, I covered the White House turkey part.

And everybody knows that. They bring a turkey out every year. The president pardons it. And the turkey goes to some farm in Virginia. And I remember asking White House staffers during the Bush years, during the Obama years, and into the Trump administration, what's the origins of this? And some said, well, it was Harry Truman. And others said it was JFK.

All of that is wrong. I tracked it down and it led me to this beautiful story of Tad Lincoln, the youngest son of Abraham Lincoln. It turns out they are the reason that we have this beautiful national tradition of a turkey pardon, and it's much more than sparing a bird. It's tied not only to this turkey pardon tradition, and one wonders, why does this keep going? This magnificent mischief of Tad Lincoln will give you an insight into what it was really about. powerful family story of hope, forgiveness, and mercy. That's at the core of this. But it's also tied to Thanksgiving as a federal holiday, which Abraham Lincoln declared

so in 1863, the same year, incidentally, that he pardons his son's turkey. And we can get into it if you're like. It's a great story. I mean, honestly, I love learning things, and I didn't know this. And then once you learn it, you're like, how did I not know this? That's the point, right? That's the point, right? So, okay, the book is titled The Magnificent Mischief of Tad Lincoln.

I'm talking to Raymond Arroyo. Oh, you got it, right. I love the rolling of the arts. Hola, Ramon, what's good. And we're going to be right back. We're talking to Raymond Arroyo, A-R-O-Y-O. The Magnificent Mischief of Tad Lincoln is the book. Don't go away.

Welcome back. We're talking to Raymond Arroyo. And if you, or Arroyo, depending on how you want to say it, But if you watch EWTN, you know who I'm talking to, and you're very impressed that I have them on the show. Raymond, you have a book out. We just talked about it, The Magnificent Mischief of Tad Lincoln.

A lot of people don't know the origins of Thanksgiving, much less the turkey pardon. So talk about that because Lincoln really was, in so many ways, an anointed figure. God put him in that role. He was a prophet, things that he said. I mean, he refers to God in his second inaugural. I heard Gary Bauer say this the other day.

In his second inaugural, he refers to God one way or the other 13 times. So anybody who tells you about, oh, we've got the separation church and state, presidents can't talk about God. That is baloney because Lincoln was all about that. And that's at the heart of Thanksgiving. But go ahead. Well, and as you know, Lincoln was not a religious man. It was not a churchgoer anyway when he came to the White House. But I think the pressure of being president, while the country was so divided, forced him.

to his knees and he discovered God. And you certainly see more God talk as his presidency continues. And it's a beautiful thing because, you know, what I didn't realize also, and I've read Lincoln biographies, but somehow it didn't register, Eric. Tad Lincoln, the youngest son of Abraham Lincoln and Willie Lincoln are the only two boys that go into the White House with him. Willie dies of what many think probably scarlet fever in the White House. Well, the loss of Willie and the crushing depressive.

of the civil war that he's losing, drives Abraham Lincoln into this deep depression. But in the middle of that, there was this odd family story that everybody has kind of overlooked that I dug into and did a lot of research on. Tad Lincoln and Abraham Lincoln became inseparable during that period. He would go and review troops with Tad Lincoln. He would go to major speeches with Tad. Staffers of Lincoln say, Abraham Lincoln indulge this hellion of a child. And he would hitch goats to dining room tables and gallop them through the east room. He'd turned chairs over. I mean, the kid wasn't a bit of a menace.

But every time these staffers write this in diaries, they always say, and there was the president, doubled over in naying laughter. And I thought, why have I never seen this image of Abraham Lincoln? And it turns out, at least in my appreciation of it, Tad Lincoln was Abraham Lincoln's touchstone to normalcy? to joy, and to the hope that lay on the other side of the hellscape that he was living through. And it's a beautiful reminder to us as parents and his mentors of children, let children be children. And that's at the core of this story, the power of a child, not only to save a father,

you know, this is, I called this series, the Turnabout Tales series. In the first one, it was about Edison, whose mother saved him. He was thrown out of school at eight, told he was an idiot. His mother homeschools America and created the greatest inventor of the first inventor of, all time. In this story, you have a son who saves his father's life, Tad Lincoln, because in many ways he rescues his father from depression and loss. And in the doing, they leave this beautiful national tradition at Thanksgiving, which is the turkey party. When Willie died, Tad befriends this turkey, teaches him tricks, teaches him to walk behind him, walks him on a leash. Well, the day comes,

Christmas Day, the chef grabs up the turkey, and Tad Lincoln goes, crazy because the chef is about to kill his pet jack now this is a true story true story i mean this is all made up so you're telling me that after the death of one of lincoln's boys that tad the surviving boy befriends a turkey get turkey becomes his pet at the white house this is you know what this reminds me of as you're talking about all of this it reminds me of the our gang comedies the little rascals where that kind of childhood that's so delightful to see the mayhem of these kids. I've loved the little rascals and our gang stuff my whole life. But it's that kind of innocence and joy that, you know, they're always at some rich person's

house doing some insane thing. But, I mean, the idea that this is happening at the White House, and you're not making this up. This is real. This happened. These are all historic facts. so you can find them in multiple biographies. And to be honest, I had to go back to source materials, Eric, to the diaries of Lincoln's secretaries,

a woman who babysat the boys early on. You find it in little nooks and crannies in the biographies, but it's very hard. So I put the entire story of Tad Lincoln together. But again, it was really that national tradition, that White House turkey pardon, that drove me to the story. And when I discovered this sweet family tale and that innocent child being a mission, the magnificent mischief of Tad Lincoln. Not only did it leave its mark on his father, it left its mark on the nation. And I think, you see, Abraham Lincoln would entertain pardons into the evening. People would line up outside the White House during the war and beg the

president to forgive their sons who would abandon the warfield and return their property. And Tad Lincoln was reclined next to the president's desk listening and watching this. He watched his father. You said earlier, he was an anointed figure. Lincoln would hear these pardons and show these people such mercy and grace and forgiveness. He forgave 82% of the people who came forward and begged pardons of him. Tad Lincoln watched all that. And at this moment, when his turkey is taken to the kitchen to be killed, he grabs the turkey, runs upstairs into the cabinet room and begs his father to pardon his turkey.

And, I mean, it brings tears in my eyes when I think about it. But it's a gorgeous story. And it's a wonderful way, I think, for families not only to deepen and enrich their Thanksgiving, it will give new meaning to this holiday tradition. But it also reminds us of Lincoln's vision of Thanksgiving as a national holiday, what he intended with it and from it. Say a bit about that, because this is really important to understand where this came from. You bet. You bet. Well, in his declaration, you know, there were people lobbying the president for many years.

They wanted to set Thanksgiving as a specific holiday at a particular date. It was celebrated hodgepodge over several weeks across the country. Lincoln, in the same year he pardons Tad's Turkey, he establishes Thanksgiving as a national holiday on the last Thursday. And in his proclamation, he writes this, and boy, do we need this today, Eric. He says, it's a season of forgiveness and unity, and that we have to, in penitence for our national perverseness and disobey. obedience, firmly implore the almighty hand of God to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union. And I thought, wow, now we need this more than ever, and I never thought that when I wrote this book. But at this moment, I think it's

providential that all of this is sort of coming down. There can be no doubt. Folks, we've got one more segment talking to Raymond Arroyo. The book is The Magnificent Mischief of Tad Lincoln. Don't go away. Welcome back. We're talking to Raymond Arroyo. The book is the magnificent mischief of Tad Lincoln. Raymond, you wrote a book, you're calling this Turnabout Tales. These are children's stories. You wrote a book about Edison. The more we learn from history, the more we want to learn. At least that's my experience. Every time I write a book or read a book or whatever, I just think, how did I not know this?

I want to know more and more and more. It's so fascinating. There are a lot of bad history books out there, but when you get a good one, you just think there is nothing better than this. So tell us a little bit about the Edison book because I'm fascinated with him. You talk about the quintessential American figure, my goodness.

Oh, incredible. And the man who made the century, and Eric, look, to even sit with you, I mean, talk about somebody who shared amazing historical stories that were lost. Wilberforce and Bonhoffer, I mean, on and all, I could go, squanto, I could go on all day. But what I loved about the, when I spoke to school groups, because I'd written a middle grade series for Random House a few years ago, and speaking to school children, I realized there was so much of these historic figures that were part of our upbringing, just in passing, that was being squeezed out of curriculum.

Yes. And I wanted to restore these figures, but also make them accessible to kids and families. Yeah. So I focus on all of these figures. They're young people or in their younger incarnations. In the case of Edison, young Edison, I call it the unexpected light of Thomas Alva Edison. Because at eight years old, Tom Edison is thrown out of school. He's told he's an idiot who can't be taught.

And his mother takes him home and she feeds his natural passions for electricity and acids and experimentation and tinkering. She lets him play and make a mess, Eric. And that is the end of his formal schooling. Edison was never trained beyond that. He learned and taught himself. He tinkered. In fact, you remember, he called his confreras in the Edison lab muckers because they mucked around. They played and twisted and tinkered with things until they discovered a breakthrough.

It took him six thousand separate filaments until he found the right one for the lightball. And that's really a key to how he learned and how he discovered. It was a hard-nosed kind of playful discovery and invention. So that was the first book, and a turnabout tale is very simple. All my turnabout tales are challenges faced, decisions made, and history turned. And that's not only in these historic lives. It's in all of our lives and our children's lives as well. And I wanted to make sure families could enter into that and experience these stories together.

That's why I turned them into picture books and not chapter books. So the book we've been talking about is the magnificent mischief of Tad Lincoln. Talk about boys will be boys. I mean, this was a boy, and his father delighted as any sane adult delights in it when they see children as children. There's something so beautiful in that, but most of us don't know the story of Tad Lincoln and the turkey. But it's just so wonderful that you've resurrected this because, You know, again, I'm always amazed when I learned something and I think, how did we not all know that? I know.

I have the same feeling, Eric. I knew. I covered that turkey part and standing there in the Rose Garden, umpteen times. Yeah. And no one could give me a clear answer. I'm delighted that I discovered what the answer is. And to restore Tad Lincoln in this beautiful story of a father and a son and the power of that relationship, not only to save a family, but to shape and hopefully uplift a nation. And he had a hand in that, little tad.

I really believe that if we're going to get through the current mess, and there's some question. We're in, as far as I'm concerned, this is the third existential crisis in America, the first of the Revolution Civil War. We're going through the third right now. If we're going to get through it, we need to teach these stories from history. We need to know our history. So Raymond Arroyo, thank you for your part in that. The book is The Magnificent Mischief of Tad Lincoln. Congratulations again, and thank you so much for your time.

Thank you, Eric. And they can learn more at Raymondarroyo.com. I've got videos and all kinds of things. Raymondarroyo.com. I forgot to say that. Raymonderroyo.com.