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Abraham Lincoln’s Bicentennial & His Legacy:
“The Moral Ground of Freedom”

by

For the past week, I have been trying to craft a post celebrating the bicentennial of the birth of the first and greatest Republican President.

Many ideas crossed my find about Abraham Lincoln.  I recalled his steadfast commitment to winning the Civil War, even as a popular opinion began to turn against him and his adversaries heaped scorn upon him.  His leadership also came to mind, the determination he showed as he faced many setbacks during that war, with a series of bungling and ineffective generals leading the Union Army.

I could write about how he taught himself law, history and philosophy, articulating (notably in the Lincoln-Douglas debates) a coherent political philosophy, long before he began his first presidential campaign.  Or, I could write about his courage in signing the Emancipation Proclamation, convinced, even as some in the North were not, that we needed abolish the heinous institution of slavery forthwith.

But, sometimes, as it is with blogging, you determine to write a post, even about a person you much admire and little comes in the form of a coherent narrative.

Fortunately, this morning, as I was preparing to set off to meet the newest PatriotNephewWest, my car laden with gifts for this young lad, I chanced upon one of the Powerline posts on “Lincoln at 200.”  In the third of those posts, Scott Johnson observes:

As a politician and as president, Lincoln was a profound student of the Constitution and constitutional history. Perhaps most important, Lincoln was America’s indispensable teacher of the moral ground of political freedom at the exact moment when the country was on the threshold of abandoning what he called its “ancient faith” that all men are created equal.

The moral ground of freedom. The moral ground of freedom, a wonderful expression to sum up the idea which drove our greatest Republican president. Throughout his life, in speeches, debates and public statements, Lincoln expanded upon that notion. And acted, to the best of his ability, in accord with that idea.

Let us not limit our celebration of this great man to the bicentennial of his birth, but remember him always, not just for his accomplishments, but also for his ideas.

Comments

  1. Good post, Dan.

    I remember Lincoln as the Founder of the GOP, a stalwart partisan loyalist who had the pragmatic touch to advance the common interests of a divided Nation and bickering Party.

    But mostly I remember Lincoln as the president of inestimable compassion for people, his heartfelt sympathy for those who had to endure the misfortunes of war and his ready willingness to break ranks with his angry brethren and forgive the Southern aggressors.

  4. Stunner! Gregg withdraws from socialist Obama cabinet!!
    A man of character. Can’t abide Obama and the Democrats highjacking of the census. Can’t abide the trashing of American business. One man stands his ground. Glory.

  6. I recall having to memorize the Gettysburg Address while in High School, and never fully understanding it at the time. Years later, I read it again (even though I still have it committed to memory) and suddenly realized the greatness of that short speech. From that the day on “these” United States became “the’ United States. That Obama has the arrogance to compare himself to this giant disgusts me. He is a midget in comparison.

  8. Re watched LINCOLN on the history channel. Look at the pictures of Lincoln from 1860-1865. The man aged 25 years in 5 years it is astounding. They say the death of his son and so many friends during the Civil War weighed on him tremendously. Some friends say he actually welcomed death the last few years. It was interesting to hear liberal historians and journalists justify Lincoln’s arrest of disidents, and banishment of critics.

  11. I’m just wondering… Lincoln freed the slaves, was responsible for a quadrupling of the National Budget and a doubling of the National Debt, expanded govt’s control into all aspects of the citizens’ lives, made massive infrastructure improvements and spent wildly in order to do so, approved wage controls in 1863 and commodity prices in 1862, established 4 national social service agencies for war veterans and their wives and children, nationalized large sections of farmland and riverways… would that make him a RINO in the eyes of our esteemed fireband friends who want to see Collins, Snowe and Specter ride out of town on a rail, tarred and feathered?

    Hmmmmm. Maybe that’s why Obama likes Lincoln so much?

  12. MM

    It doesn´t make him RINO. A RINO has no conservative principals. In the caso of Lincoln, extreme cases calls for extreme measures. He was committed to preserving the Union. He suspended his conservative principals for the greater good, which he acheived by the end of his first term. We have no clue as to how he was planning to govern in his second term. GWB won his first term planning to govern as a conservative. It could be said of him also, that he didn´t abandon his conservative principals but in the wake of 9/11 suspended them for the greater good of keeping the nation safe from another attack and taking the war on terror where they live. He left office with victory in sight in Iraq. Even though the economy collapsed on his watch, the seeds were planted on Carter´s watch, and nourished on Clinton´s watch. The Democrats on the House Banking Committee ignored John McCain´s warning in 2005 of the precarious situation in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Maxine ¨the mouth¨Waters believed it was nothing more than a witch hunt.

  15. Lincoln is one to be admired and perhaps considered as a viable role model. Part of his greatness to lead and defend came out of his ability to change the way he viewed things. One thing required for the abolishment of slavery was confronting the issue of states rights in slavery’s defense. That’s one thing I hope Obama has the courage to address in regards to the gay right’s issue before he leaves office.