contemplative
potus_geeks has been remembering the final days in the life of Abraham Lincoln. It was an exceptional time in the life of the 16th President of the United States, historically and personally for Lincoln. It marked the unofficial end of the American Civil War, a bloody conflict that had began four years earlier on April 12, 1861, and had resulted in the death of at least 620,000 (and possibly 850,000) soldiers on both sides. Based on 1860 census figures, 8% of all white males aged 13 to 43 died in the war, including 6% in the North and 18% in the South. About 56,000 soldiers died in prison camps during the War. An estimated 60,000 men lost limbs in the war. Like Moses in the Old Testament, Lincoln would come to see the promised land, but would not get to live there. He died 24 days before the official end of the war (May 9, 1865) and his strong guidance and leadership were sorely missed as the nation struggled to reconstruct itself following the carnage.
Today, Lincoln is best remembered perhaps for the Emancipation Proclamation, a pronouncement which, at the time did not free a single slave. It applied only in those territories which were not under Union control. Lincoln was above all a pragmatist. He did not wish to alienate those border states where slavery was still lawful, but who had not joined the Confederacy. On August 22, 1862, he famously wrote in a response to New York editor Horace Greeley, "If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that." Lincoln's priority was, first and foremost, saving the Union.
In surveys of Presidential rankings conducted by historians and members of the public alike, Lincoln consistently ranks as one of the top three Presidents, usually first or second. His memory is preserved in a number of historic sites including the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library in Springfield, Illinois, Lincoln's Tomb (also in Springfield at Oak Ridge Cemetery), the Lincoln Monument in Washington, D.C., Ford's Theatre, the sight of Lincoln's assassination, (also in Washington), and his face is even carved into the side of a mountain (Mount Rushmore) near Rapid City, South Dakota. His face is on the five dollar bill and (for the time being) on the penny. His name is that of many cities, towns and counties, including the capital city of Nebraska. In 2003, when President George W. Bush gave his public relations disastrous "Mission Accomplished" speech, it was from the deck of an aircraft carrier named the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln. A recent movie about Lincoln won numerous awards, including Oscars for Best Picture and Best Actor. In 1963, when Dr. Martin Luther King gave his famous (and more successful) "I have a dream" speech, he did so from the steps of the Lincoln Monument. Without being certain of this statement's accuracy, I would safely venture a guess that more books have been written about Abraham Lincoln than about any other US President.
American Presidents have died in office in 1841, 1865, 1881, 1901, 1923, 1944 and 1963. Four of these have been assassinated and two died in wartime. Lincoln remains the most beloved. Why is that, and why is Lincoln as relevant today as he was in his time? Today Lincoln's legacy is claimed by conservatives and liberals alike. The former stake a claim in Lincoln's strong principled determination to preserve the Union in the face of a timidity that brought the nation as close as it has ever come to dissolution. The latter embrace Lincoln's championing of minority rights, and his charity shown towards those he defeated. It is Lincoln's embodiment of all of those principles that makes his memory endure and makes his example so important and so relevant today.
Lincoln was no saint. He was not a mindless idealist; on the contrary, a study of the man and his actions make it clear that he was first and foremost a pragmatist. He was a man of principle, to be sure, but he was practical and politically shrewd when it came to achieving those principles. For example, be believed in the rights enshrined in the Constitution, but he was not above restricting those rights when he felt doing so was necessary to achieve the greater good. He disallowed a free press when he believed that doing so would impede those seeking to break up the union. He removed the right of habeas corpus (judicial review for some of those arrested and detained) when he felt it necessary. When it looked as if he might lose a close election in 1864, he allowed leave to union soldiers in swing states so they could come home and vote for him. For Abraham Lincoln, lesser principles gave way in favor of the greater.
Political leaders have always felt the need to be practical and to make sacrifices of principle when they believe doing so to be justified. Lincoln was no different in this regard. At his core however, Lincoln held fast to certain principles. He had a hierarchy of fundamental beliefs. First among these was his belief that the Union had to be preserved. In his farewell address in the previous century, President George Washington expressed his concern that abandonment of a strong central government in favor of diverse regional interests would turn the nation into a collection of warring fiefdoms like the nations of Europe. Lincoln also held this belief. Unlike his predecessor James Buchanan, Lincoln did not believe that nothing could or should be done about secession. It was his strong belief in the core value of preserving the union, his decisiveness to take action, whether popular or not, and it is having the courage of his conviction that makes Lincoln as relevant today as he was in his time.
Throughout the destruction and carnage, Lincoln maintained his compassion, his humanity and his love of the common man. He was not vindictive and approved generous terms of peace when the defeat of the Army of Northern Virginia was imminent. It is Lincoln's magnanimity, his compassion and his empathy that are very relevant today and sorely needed. These qualities also make Lincoln relevant today.
Finally, throughout what was likely the worst period in his nation's history, Lincoln maintained his humor and his his kindness. He took his job very seriously, but he did not take himself seriously. These are qualities that are crucial to strong leadership because they put the people ahead of ego and personal prosperity. They are needed now perhaps more than ever. It is Lincoln's humility and his his humanity that make him very relevant today.
In closing this series, I wish to acknowledge a number of sources that I have drawn upon to compose the entries in this series. They have offered wonderful guidance in tracing the final steps in the life of Abraham Lincoln:
1. The Lincoln Log: a historian's treasure of a website that provides a daily chronology of Lincoln's life and links to source documents, including many of Lincoln's own letters and telegrams. It is compiled by the Lincoln Sesquicentennial Commission and it is amazing.
2. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin: this is probably the best and most complete account of Lincoln's life, and it was obviously a labor of love by an excellent historian.
3. Lincoln by David Herbert Donald: this is another excellent biography of Abraham Lincoln that provides wonderful insight into the man and his times.
4. A. Lincoln: A Biography by Ronald C. White: this is yet another excellent biography of Lincoln, and the third book about Lincoln by this author.
5. The Life of Abraham Lincoln by Ida Tarbell: Ida Tarbell was a leading journalist at the turn of the 19th/20th century and one of the "muckrakers" discussed in Doris Kearns Goodwin's more recent book The Bully Puplit. Tarbell wrote a series of articles about the life of Lincoln for McClure's magazine in the early part of the 20th century, and the articles were later turned into this biography of Lincoln. Imagine my happiness when I found a vintage copy in a used bookstore operated by a niece of mine. This book offers wonderful perspective on Lincoln closer in time to when he lived and offered some interesting Lincoln anecdotes.
Thank you for following this series. Although I wrote it for my own edification and education, I hope you enjoyed it as well.