“The Best Way to Predict the Future is to Create It.”
-PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN

The greatness of our country lies in the stories of not where someone began, but where they took their journey. President Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States, born on February 12, 1809 in a one room log cabin, is a story to celebrate in a life that truly captures the human potential that can only be realized in a country like no other, America.

As we all know, Abraham Lincoln preserved the Union during the U.S. Civil War and brought about the emancipation of slaves. He played a key role in the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, which ended slavery in America.

This is what we learn in a history lesson, but Abraham Lincoln the man and his personal story is an incredible triumph of persistence, determination and hard work in the face of adversity and extraordinary challenges.

His is a remarkable story, rising from humble beginnings to achieve the highest office in the land, and despite his tragic death his influence still stands as a giant in the shaping of the modern American nation.

FIRST PRESIDENT BORN OUTSIDE THE 13 ORIGINAL STATES

He was the first president born outside of the 13 original states in Hardin County, Kentucky and grew up on the western frontier in Kentucky and Indiana.

Education is the road to freedom and Abraham’s mother knew this. She instilled in her son a passion for learning that gave him the will to walk miles to borrow a book. It did not matter that his parents were illiterate, or that formal education was in short supply in the Indiana wilderness. He was determined to get educated and persistence would be the driving force that became his best friend.

Those early years were not easy as the family moved frequently, trying to stay one step ahead of financial trouble and illness before eventually settling down in Coles County, Illinois.

At the age of 21, Abraham left home and settled in New Salem, Illinois, where he signed on to a local riverboat firm. After a short stint on the western rivers, and an even shorter stint as manager of a general store, he was elected as a militia captain during the Black Hawk Wars, beginning in 1832. Although he saw no combat during this time this is where his political and social education began.

THE MAKING OF LINCOLN THE POLITICIAN

Although Lincoln soon developed political aspirations, he made a very inglorious start to his political life in his first run for a seat on the Illinois General Assembly, which he lost.

Never one to give up, in 1834 he won his second General Assembly election and subsequently served four terms as a member of the Whig Party. In addition to his duties in the General Assembly he developed a successful law practice in Springfield without a law degree, an accomplishment unthinkable today.

Lincoln’s path was never an easy one. He lost five separate elections! Since losing his first race for the Illinois General Assembly in 1832 he had gone on to lose a race for the U.S. Congress, two races for the U.S. Senate, and one campaign for a vice-presidential nomination.

However, by 1858 he was a national player in the new Republican Party and arguably one of its most prominent intellectual voices.

A HARD-FOUGHT PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

In 1860 Lincoln won the Republican presidential nomination and proceeded into a four-way general election against Democrat Stephen Douglas, Southern Democrat John Breckinridge, and Constitutional Unionist John Bell.

Lincoln had secured the Republican Party presidential nomination as a moderate from a swing state, but winning the general election was another matter entirely. In the end the demographic dominance of the Republican Party gave Lincoln a victory by sweeping the North, while receiving very little support in the slaveholding states of the South, which he lost by a large margin.

His victory prompted seven southern slave states to secede and form the Confederate States of America before he moved into the White House. No compromise or reconciliation had been found regarding slavery and secession.

This caused the American historian, Shelby Foote, to comment:

It was because we failed to do the thing we really have a genius for, which is compromise. Americans like to think of themselves as uncompromising (but) our true genius is for compromise. Our whole government is founded on it. And it failed.

THE CIVIL WAR & THE END OF SLAVERY

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On April 12, 1861, a Confederate attack on Fort Sumter inspired the North to enthusiastically rally behind the Union in a declaration of war.

As the war progressed, Lincoln also developed a number of initiatives to end slavery, including the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. He also used the army to protect escaped slaves and encouraged border states to outlaw slavery. Lincoln also pushed the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution through Congress which permanently outlawed slavery.

Towards the end, anticipating the war’s conclusion, Lincoln championed a moderate view of Reconstruction, attempting to reunite the nation quickly with a policy of generous reconciliation in the face of lingering and bitter resentment and hatred.

ASSASSINATION & LEGACY

Sadly, as we all know, tragedy then struck on April 14, 1865, just five days after the April 9th surrender of Confederate commanding general, Robert E. Lee.

President Abraham Lincoln was the first American President to be assassinated.

Despite Lincoln’s untimely death, his enduring legacy lives on through his role in restoring the United States as a single nation under the Constitution through the successful resolution of the Civil War, and the successful passing of the Thirteenth Amendment banning slavery throughout the United States. These two successes ensure his special place in the history of a nation whose mission is to strive for “a more perfect union.”

It is also important to remember that these definitive achievements only came after extraordinary determination and perseverance. After all, the Thirteenth Amendment was only passed after Lincoln had pulled political strings and granted favors in return for “Aye” votes. It had already failed once in the House, prior to Lincoln’s backroom negotiations.

It caused Thaddeus Stevens, a member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania and one of the leaders of the Radical Republican faction of the Republican Party, to comment:

The greatest measure of the nineteenth century was passed by corruption, aided and abetted by the purest man in America.

It’s a good reminder that America’s progress has always been rooted in the “blood, sweat and tears” of great people striving for all of us to be great with them, and President Abraham Lincoln is an enduring model of the best America and its people can aspire to be and become!”

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. -ABRAHAM LINCOLN

 

Until next time, join the conversation, and go out each and every day and Capture the Spirit of Life with Passion!

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