A Few Words about Abraham Lincoln

Today is Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. I always remember this because it is the day before my birthday. (I was almost a Valentine’s baby.) Lincoln is one of the most beloved and mythologized men in American History. When you visit the Lincoln Memorial, you feel like you are in some kind of a Greek temple. Except with Lincoln, you want to sit on his statue’s lap and tell him your problems. (Does anyone remember that episode of The Simpsons?)

Lincoln, however, was more human (and interesting) than his statue. A few years ago, I read a biography of Lincoln called With Malice Toward None: A Life of Abraham Lincoln. This book, among other things, brings the real Lincoln to life. Lincoln, as the legends say, did work his way up from virtually nothing to become a successful lawyer, assemblyman, one-term congressman, and eventually President. His father could hardly write, which caused Lincoln to be ashamed of him. (Lincoln himself had a little more than a year of formal schooling.) Lincoln did not even attend his father’s funeral. He loved telling jokes, some of which would be considered a bit dirty by his society’s standards. He would often suffer intense bouts of depression where he would go into self-imposed isolation for long periods of time. Some believe that he may have had bipolar disorder or suffered from manic depression. Throughout his political career, he would make public statements indicating that he did not necessarily believe in racial equality. He once famously said that his opposition to slavery did not mean that he supported the idea if interracial marriage. When he started laying out reconstruction plans toward the end of the war, these plans did not include much in the way of aid for the former slaves he is given so much credit for setting free. When he first became President, a job he would have never dreamed of getting just a few years earlier, he was somewhat indecisive and insecure at times. When his generals during the early years of the Civil War often failed to take decisive and effective action, Lincoln did not feel confident enough to take more direct charge of the war. He was not particularly popular through much of his presidency, and he was nervous about his prospects for winning reelection in 1864. It was only after his assassination that he started to become one of the most beloved men in our history.

My goal is not to trash this man with whom I almost share a birthday. For me, the flaws and weaknesses of Abraham Lincoln make his achievements more impressive. He definitely grew into the job of President, and most Historians rank him as the greatest chief executive in our nation’s history. No President of the future is likely to have a resume that includes achievements as impressive as abolishing slavery and saving the union. He was also a man who showed the capacity to evolve. (Karl Rove would have labeled him a “flip-flopper.”) He grew from a man who believed that abolishing slavery was impractical to the President who pushed through the 13th Amendment. If he had lived to see Reconstruction through, would he have eventually supported plans to help ex-slaves transition more effectively to their new lives? We will never know. Still, the Lincoln story, particularly when it includes his flaws and weaknesses, gives me the hope to believe that a person as imperfect as I can do something significant with my life.