In the Spotlight: Abraham Lincoln

One of the most valued and inspirational presidents to take office was and still is Abraham Lincoln.  His speeches are timeless, his work soulful.  His life was filled with adversity, diversity, windfalls and controversy.  The world could stand to learn from him even now, 200 years after his death.

Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln were partners in life, love, marriage and business and lived in a one-room cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky on their farm, “Sinking Spring Farm”.  They owned a lot of acreage in this part of the country and lived an honest life.  On February 12, 1809, the couple was blessed with the arrival of their son, Abraham.  He began attending school in a log schoolhouse in 1815, but only for a short time before the family moved to Indiana in 1816.  He didn’t enroll in school but learned a lesson that he would never forget on his own.  At age 7, Lincoln vows never to hunt game again or hurt animals after shooting a wild turkey and was consumed with guilt.  About year later, he was brutally kicked in the head by a horse, almost killing him from the trauma.  But an even bigger blow hit that October 5th with the passing of Abraham’s mother from milk sickness.  Milk sickness, also known as tremetol vomiting, during that time was a unbearable and often fatal condition for those who have consumed the milk of a cow that was fed white snakeroot.  Abraham was of course distraught from the loss.  His father married Sarah Bush Johnston a year later and added her and her three children to the Lincoln family.  Abraham and Sarah built a close relationship almost immediately.  For the next several years, Abraham sporadically went to school but stayed busy working plowing and planting.  And when he wasn’t working with his schooling or the fields, he could be found borrowing books upon books and reading them every chance he got.  Abraham was self-educated and well learned. 

In 1830, to avoid another outbreak of milk sickness, Thomas moved his family once again, this time taking them 200 miles away to Illinois, and found their home near Decatur on the Sangamon River. It was here that Lincoln makes his first speech addressing navigation down the Sangamon River and the improvements that were desperately needed. After a few eventful years later, at age 22, Lincoln’s father planned to move his family yet another time but Abraham stays behind and settles himself in New Salem, Illinois to build his own life. He found his beginnings at the village store where he was hired and allowed to sleep in the back. Abraham also became involved in quite the variety of activities from wrestling to debating. He joined a local debating society, and in hindsight I believe this is what laid the real foundation to his future legacy. In March 1832, he received a nomination for the Illinois General Assembly, but lost the election in August. But before that transpired, the Black Hawk war began and in April, Lincoln enlists and is dubbed Captain of his rifle company. Soon thereafter, the company is disbanded and after three months of service with no combat time, the war is over. Lincoln returned to find the village store has gone out of business, so he and William Berry purchase another village store. Over the next year, the store flops leaving a huge financial wound. Shortly following, he is appointed Postmaster of New Salem and in the fall, is appointed Deputy County Surveyor.

On August 4, 1834, Abe gets his “big break” at age 24 when he wins the Illinois General Assembly election as a member of the Whig party.  He began to further his law studies and received his license September 9, 1836.  During that time, his business partner died, leaving Abe holding a $1000 debt.  He had also become romantically involved with Ann Rutledge with whom he had fallen madly in love with; and tragically, on August 25, 1835, Ann passed away due more than likely to typhoid fever.  Almost a year later, Lincoln is re-elected to the Illinois General Assembly, and this time took the role of leader of the Whig party. 

Things seemed to start turning around for him, even in his romantic life. Elizabeth Abell, a close friend of Abe, introduced him to her friend, Mary Owens and arranged for them to go on a date the next time Mary was in New Salem. Of course, this initial meeting of Abe and Mary occurred several years before he had even met Ann and it had been some time since Mary had returned. In November 1836, Mary returned and she and Lincoln dated for a short time before he proposed in the summer of 1837. She turned him down and returned home. He tried writing letters, but never received a response and the relationship came to a close. By this time, Abraham Lincoln helped get the Illinois state capital moved from Vandalia to Springfield, and moved there April 15, 1837. He soon becomes a law partner of John T. Stuart and in 1838, helps to successfully defend Henry Truett in a famous murder case. On August 6, Lincoln is re-elected to the Illinois General Assembly, becoming Whig floor leader. He spends the next year traveling throughout eastern and central Illinois as a lawyer for the 8th Judicial Circuit and on December 3, 1839, was admitted to practice in the United States Circuit Courts. In that same month, Lincoln attended a dance and met Mary Todd and was smitten. Things progressed quickly and they were engaged by Christmas with a wedding date set for January 1, 1841. They split up shortly before the wedding date, but reconciled in the summer of 1842 after meeting again at a party. They were married November 4th that year at Mary’s sister’s mansion in Springfield. Nine months later, Mary gave birth to their first-born son, Robert Todd Lincoln on August 1, 1843. The following May, the Lincoln family purchased their first home for a reported $1500 and put down their roots at Eighth and Jackson in Springfield, Illinois. Amongst the hullabaloo of a new baby and a new home, Lincoln found the time to campaign for Henry Clay, who was running for President, as well as dissolve his law firm partnership with Stephen Logan and establish his own office. Two years later, Mary gave birth to their second son, Edward Baker Lincoln on March 10, 1846. The blessings didn’t stop there because in May of that year, Lincoln was nominated as the Whig candidate for the United States Congress and on August 3rd, was elected to the United States House of Representatives. This new role would involve moving his family to Washington, D.C., and they made that move in 1847. Abraham Lincoln embarked on his new legacy with the convening of the Thirteenth Congress on December 6, 1847. Lincoln made a lot of political progress over the next few years with speeches and campaigning for presidential nominees, but decided on March 31, 1849, to retreat from politics and return to Illinois to practice law once again.

 Things were as smooth of a sail as it could be until February 1, 1850 when toddler Edward dies of what is believed to be tuberculosis. Lincoln was hit hard but stood fast in his decision to return to the Judicial Circuit.  He soon gained the nickname “Honest Abe” because of his exceptional status as a talented lawyer in his fourteen-county district in the Illinois circuit.  The silver lining in Abe’s cloud came with the birth of his third son William Wallace “Willie” Lincoln on December 21, 1850.  It was a bittersweet ending to a trying year, but really was the beginning of quite the rollercoaster of a life path that lead him through history as we know it.  Almost a month after Willie’s birth, January 17 to be exact, Lincoln’s father, Thomas passes away.  Two years later, his fourth son is born on April 4, 1853 and they name him Thomas but call him “Tad” for short.  Life rolls along for the Lincoln family and hits smoother roads as “Honest Abe” reappears on the politics scene and within a few years makes an impact by helping organize the new Republican party of Illinois in May 1856.  Amazingly, Lincoln then receives 110 votes for the Vice President seat during the first Republican Convention.  This was publicized and Lincoln quickly became a topic of discussion nationwide. 

After speaking against the Dred Scott decision in June 1857 and winning a murder trail (acquittal) in May 1858, another big break for Lincoln opened in June the same year when he received the Republican nomination for Illinois senator. It proved to be a good race between Lincoln and his opponent, Stephen A. Douglas. During the campaign, the two candidates worked hard to prove themselves by scheduling debate after debate defining themselves and their standpoints. These debates later became published and known as “The Lincoln-Douglas Debates” and were comprised of seven debates in seven towns between August 21 and October 15, 1858. Lincoln’s famous “House Divided” speech was delivered during this time at the state convention in Springfield. The race concluded in early 1859 with a 54-46 victory for Douglas, and Lincoln returned to the 8th Judicial Circuit in the fall…and I could imagine it was like coming home to Abe. He rounded out the year with the creation of a short autobiography in December (he also wrote a lengthier autobiography the following June). And as a reward for all his dedication and hard work, Abraham Lincoln received the Republican nomination for President of the United States on May 18, 1860 facing opponents Stephen A. Douglas and John C. Breckenridge. Then, on November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln is elected as 16th President, making him the first Republican president. And back to Washington the Lincoln family went, to settle in and prepare for the Inauguration ceremony to come. While on the train to Washington, Lincoln was informed of a rumored assassination attempt but they continued onward despite the warnings.

We all know how the war ended, but we tend to forget about the details but need to be reminded in order to understand what the issues were genuinely about. And anyone who knows anything about Lincoln remembers his legendary accomplishments of the Emancipation Proclamation; signing the bill that formed a national banking system, a national military recruitment system; the establishment of the Thanksgiving holiday; the Gettysburg Address; the Reconstruction period and many other achievements that were made possible by Lincoln’s hands. He was a highly popular president and clenched the 55% popular vote and the honor of being re-elected as President of the United States on November 8, 1864.

On March 4, 1861, Inauguration ceremonies commence and after taking office, President Lincoln gave his first inaugural speech.  Eight days later, the Civil War begins at Fort Sumter, in Charleston, South Carolina.  Lincoln leads a valiant effort throughout the four-year war as well as contributing motivating and inspiring speeches.  On August 6, 1861, he signed and passed a law that stated that slaves being used by Confederates in the war shall be freed.  More time and efforts were spent in politics, but Lincoln felt it necessary to establish the National Day of fasting as the last Thursday in September in order to honor God, praise Him for the safety of our country and pray for peace.  Tragically, on February 20, 1862, William “Willie” Wallace Lincoln passed from a severe fever at age 11.  This shocked the family and completely devastated Mary Todd Lincoln.  She never recovered from the losses of her sons.  Abraham pulled himself up by the bootstraps and carried on being that the Civil War was still in full swing.  On March 11, he relieved General McClellan as General-in-Chief and took the reins himself. 

The original plan that John Wilkes Booth devised was to kidnap the president in exchange for Confederate prisoners. He changed his plan from a kidnapping to an assassination in a spiteful reaction to Lincoln’s speech promoting voting rights for blacks. Booth got word of the Lincoln’s planned attendance to the play “Our American Cousin” on April 14, 1865, ironically on Good Friday. They had box seats in the balcony (Box 7) that night. The play went on and after the funniest part of the play, among all the laughter, John Wilkes Booth fired his .44 Derringer point-blank to the back of Lincoln’s head. John Wilkes Booth found himself in a struggle with Major Henry Rathbone but quickly freed himself and jumped down to the stage and yelled, “Sic semper tyrannis!” and ran out of the theater. A twelve-day manhunt lead authorities to a barn house in Virginia where Booth was shot and killed.  Abraham Lincoln laid in a coma for nine hours before passing on April 15, 1865.  Mary Todd Lincoln was in an even deeper state of depression with such losses as her husband and sons weighing on her heart that Robert Todd, in a last resort effort, had her institutionalized in 1875.

Not even a handful of presidents have made such the impact in history as Abraham Lincoln did.  How many of our politicians have a nickname that contains the word HONEST?  How many presidents did not have extramarital affairs?  What happened to the Abraham Lincolns in the world?  Will we ever see the likes of Lincoln in any of our future presidential candidates? 

Abraham Lincoln conquered many milestones during his presidency. Here are some interesting facts about good ol’ Honest Abe:

• First republican president

• The only president known to have their own patent

• First president to be assassinated

• Established the last Thursday in November to officially celebrate Thanksgiving; celebrated in this fashion to date