Lincoln at 199

To paraphrase Lincoln biographer Carl Sandburg, millions of people outside the United States also take him for their own. Lincoln belongs to them too. He was a personal treasure who had something they “would like to see spread everywhere over the world.”

Sandburg told Congress on the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth: “Democracy? We cannot find the words to say exactly what it is, but Lincoln had it. In his blood and bones he carried it. In the breath of his speeches and writings it is there. … Government where the people have the say-so, one way or another telling their elected leaders what they want. He had the idea. He embodied it. It is there in the lights and shadows of his personality.”

Lincoln remains the leader who spoke the enduring words at Gettysburg that students once memorized, the commander-in-chief who reunited the nation by winning the Civil War, and the chief executive who is continually ranked highest among all American presidents.

He has become a mythic figure in the deepest sense of the word. The circumstances of his life and his legacy, time and again, transcend his era.

Yet, although the public still discusses Lincoln’s presidency, the Civil War, and his assassination, there is an ever-growing obsession about the more personal and intimate details of his life.

In recent years, this has morphed into a kind of pseudo-scholarly debunking, in which we have been asked to revise — mostly in the negative — our understanding of not only his political skills and religious beliefs but also his marital relations, his sexual preferences, and his racial views.

There has always been a constant obsession with his health. In addition to his well-known melancholia attributed, in part, to the death of his mother, the death of his fiancée, and interpersonal problems with Mary Todd, there are also tales that Lincoln suffered from constipation, an upset stomach and even syphilis.

Some have theorized that Lincoln suffered from Marfan syndrome, a genetic disorder characterized by long limbs and fingers, a typically tall stature, and a predisposition to cardiovascular abnormalities. Worse yet, more recent reports suggest that Lincoln did not suffer from Marfan syndrome, but from multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, a rare condition in which several endocrine glands develop either benign or cancerous tumors. It is a wonder with all these health ailments that Lincoln ever got anything done.

In addition to this fixation on his personal health, there is an ever-present criticism of Lincoln’s actions as president during the Civil War. As recently as late December 2007, Libertarian presidential candidate and Congressman Ron Paul appeared on “Meet the Press” and claimed that the Civil War was unnecessary, and that Lincoln “never should have gone to war” to stop slavery.

Paul suggested a “better” approach: have the federal government purchase freedom for all the country’s slaves. This is contrary to the Libertarian view that society’s problems would be better solved by the workings of the free market, rather than by big government — and Lincoln did suggest compensated emancipation.

Lincoln’s presidency was marked by difficult and controversial choices, and still draws sharp criticism and debate today. And so it is with President George W. Bush’s policies in the “war on terror.”

Despite this wartime climate, many Americans are less than sympathetic to the government’s efforts to strengthen homeland security and apprehend and detain terrorists who jeopardize our lives. Critics argue that the government’s decision to try suspected enemy combatants by military commission deprives them of civil liberties and that the United States Constitution requires that the detainees be afforded an immediate opportunity to petition for a writ of habeas corpus – the right to be brought before a court for an evaluation of the legality of their detention.

Criticism of Bush pales in contrast to that leveled at Lincoln. Indeed, he fell subject to great criticism only months after taking his oath of office. In the earliest days of his presidency, Lincoln fearlessly exercised extraordinary powers to protect a failing nation in the midst of a Civil War; powers which many lamented were unconstitutional.

He brazenly authorized a southern blockade of Confederate ports, unilaterally expanded the army to suppress an impeding insurrection, and, under imperative necessity, suspended the right of habeas corpus.

To Lincoln, there was no tolerable path of least resistance. He was acutely aware that his actions would be sharply criticized. The alternative, however, was far worse. In Lincoln’s estimation, nothing was worse than allowing the nation to succumb to Confederate forces.

There is no doubt, therefore, that in the midst of the Civil War, Lincoln’s commitment to preserving the unity of the nation was unwavering. He acted in accordance with the teaching of the great Roman senator, Cicero, who wrote in his treatise about law: “Salus populi suprema lex” – The well-being of the people is the highest law.

As Lincoln told the Congress and the American people in his special message of July 4, 1861, “Are all the laws but one to go unexecuted and the Government itself go to pieces lest that one be violated?”

Across the country celebration plans are already well under way for the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth, as individual states are preparing special events, exhibits and performances dealing with Abraham Lincoln’s life.

Here are just a few of the numerous commemorative events planned throughout the nation. Almost every state has a Lincoln bicentennial commission to organize local events such as essay contests, numerous reenactments of events in Lincoln’s life and statue rededications.

The U.S. Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and Kentucky will host the events formally inaugurating the bicentennial year on Feb. 11 and 12 in Louisville and Hodgenville. The Library of Congress will host an Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial exhibit beginning Feb. 12, 2009, complete with state-of-the-art technology to enhance Lincoln’s handwritten speeches and letters.

The Lincoln Highway Association will conduct a conference from June 17 to June 21 in Evanston, Wyo. The theme of the conference, “Rails, Trails, and Highway Tales,” will reflect the many forms of transportation that connect our nation. Many miles of the Lincoln Highway were built near transcontinental railroad rights-of-way, reminding us of Lincoln’s efforts to unite the nation. One can check these and other planned events at the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Web site: www.abrahamlincoln200.org.

The year 2008 also represents the sesquicentennial of Lincoln’s debates with Stephen A. Douglas for one of Illinois’ two United States Senate seats. Reenactments will be held in each of the seven towns and cities where the debates took place: Ottawa, Freeport, Jonesboro, Charleston, Galesburg, Quincy, and Alton.

The commemorative events do not stop at America’s borders. Just as Lincoln understood that the American Civil War was a genuine test of the idea of self-government in the world, nations around the world are joining in commemorating his bicentennial birth.

Symposia have already taken place in Central America (Dominican Republic), Europe (Spain) and South America (Peru). More are scheduled for England, Bangladesh, Argentina and India.

The joining of the domestic and international is already on view in Creative Breakthroughs in Leadership: James Madison, Abraham Lincoln, and Mahatma Gandhi (Pencraft International, 2007), a publication endorsed by the U.S. Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, which brings together the best of American and Asian democratic leadership from the past two centuries.

It is certain that Lincoln has always provided a lens through which Americans examine themselves. One cannot study the Civil War or the idea of democracy without studying Abraham Lincoln. He was the war’s central figure who declared that “Government cannot endure permanently half slave, half free...”

It is also true that one cannot study Lincoln without studying the Civil War. He knew that he had inherited a divided nation. As we continue to discuss our 16th president, one thing remains consistent: Abraham Lincoln’s leadership represents a touchstone in the development of modern democracy.

Frank J. Williams is Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island and is one of the country’s most renowned experts on Abraham Lincoln. He is the founding chair of The Lincoln Forum — an international organization devoted to the study of Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. He is one of 15 members of the U.S. Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission created by Congress and last November was appointed Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review for trials to be held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.