This week marked the 150th anniversary of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.  I share the same birthday as the 16th president and have always felt a close connection to Lincoln.  As an elementary student, I read books on the Civil War and Lincoln. I remember staring at historic photographs of Lincoln, trying to understand the features of this great leader.  Even as a young person, one could recognize the burden and the toll of war upon Lincoln’s melancholy face.  A recent National Geographic article documents the impact of the deaths of hundreds of thousands on Lincoln’s portraits from 1861-65  http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2015/04/lincoln-funeral-train/lincoln-photography.

One can only imagine the pressure that Lincoln felt to save the Union and end a terrible war.  In fourth grade, I had to memorize the Gettysburg Address.  I tried to imagine what he sounded like.  In high school, I hiked Gettysburg with my brothers, hiding out in the Devil’s Den and running across the field where Picket led his final charge.  My junior year, I remember writing an review of Gore Vidal’s Lincoln, a superb work of historical fiction.  By college, I had become more enthralled with understanding 20th century foreign policy and didn’t return to my interest until I started teaching high school students.  

 

From Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals to Daniel Day Lewis’s film portrayal of Lincoln, there has been more attention of late to the mastermind that was Lincoln. An incredibly complex and deep thinker, we are still only beginning to understand him.  He was an unlikely heroic figure. Odd-looking and odd-sounding, he had a mixed political career before being elected president as an outsider.  Yet, he provided leadership that was transcendent. There were failures, of course. But, in the end, he saved the Union, ended slavery, and began the effort to secure rights for all Americans. There were numerous articles this week on the assassination and aftermath.  One of the best was a NY Times piece titled “What Lincoln Left Behind.”  http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/14/what-lincoln-left-behind/#more-156621

 

In encourage you to take some time to read something on Lincoln and to reflect on his leadership. We have no idea what would have happened to the United States had he lived.  The challenges of Reconstruction were nearly as intense as those faced during the Civil War.  Racial hatred did not end at Appomattox, and his successor Grant had to send Federal Troops into the post-Civil War South to provide safety for Republicans and African-Americans.  What we do know is that he was a leader with a vision, with the courage to stand up for his convictions, and with the ability to inspire his fellow Americans to rally around justice.

 

Sources on Lincoln: