Abraham Lincoln
Born: February 12, 1809
Died: April 15, 1865
Term: 1861-1865
So what to say about the most popular and beloved man to sit in the Oval Office that hasn't been said in any of the thousands of volumes that have been devoted to him? No shortage of movie accounts, as actors from Henry Fonda to Daniel Day Lewis have portrayed him on screen.
Every school kid knows the basics: born in a log cabin, split rails, lawyered on the plains, debated the Little Giant, wrote the Gettysburg Address on an envelope, went through many generals before finding one to lead the Union army in the Civil War (in General Grant he had a man who 'fights'), and should have skipped a night at Ford's Theater. Yada, yada, yada.
In my childhood I idolized this man, and I still count him as my favorite president, even while recognizing the shortcomings that I've come to realize through the years.
Lincoln abhorred slavery and didn't believe people should 'own' other people. But that belief didn't temper his notion that blacks and whites would not be able to live together and that it would benefit the United States if all African Americans could somehow just be sent to Africa... or even Central America... (forgetting the fact that those born here would not have any familiarity with life on foreign soil). It was only after meeting with Frederick Douglass that he agreed to the addition of black soldiers to the Union army. Douglass had been recruiting them on his own.
He is recognized as a shrewd politician, confounding and surprising those who underestimated the homespun affability that helped elect him as president.
His years on the prairie, as a lawyer and before, are largely overlooked, so tumultuous were his years leading the Union. I enjoy reading about those times of his life and count Carl Sandburg's volumes of the prairie years as favorite reading. Sandburg's 'War Years' are compelling, but I found myself weighed down by the constant challenges Lincoln faced. Much more enjoyable to read of his wrestling matches (out of 300, he lost only one), including the memorable match against bully Jack Armstrong.
We'll leave Lincoln there in the backwoods, before the bloody outrage of the early 1860s.
Peace to all, and pass the Log Cabin syrup.
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