The Abraham Lincoln of Today
Hello, I hope that you are doing great. I just got back from Miami where I spoke at the Bitcoin conference and had a reception for the Forward Party. Tonight in New York I'll be receiving an award from Fairvote for championing Ranked Choice Voting - it should be a phenomenal night.
I interviewed John Avlon of CNN on the podcast this week about his new book, “Lincoln and the Fight for Peace.” There were many lessons from the book, which I found to be a fascinating read. When you think of Abraham Lincoln, you probably think of the Emancipation Proclamation or the Gettysburg Address. Maybe you consider his tragic assassination. You almost certainly think of one of the great Presidents of all time. I remember visiting the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. when I was 12 years old with my parents and being strangely moved by it.
What you don’t think of is Third Party President. Yet that is in essence what he was – Lincoln ran on the brand new Republican Party ticket in 1860 and won with 39.8% of the vote in a 4-candidate race, something that would seem unthinkable today. He also ran in 1864 as a Republican on a unity ticket, with Andrew Johnson the Democrat as his Vice President.
John writes about Lincoln at the time, “As a new president from a new party, Lincoln was often disrespected and demonized. Newspapers called him ‘weak and wishy-washy,’ an ‘imbecile in matter, disgusting in manner,’ and an ‘obscene Illinois ape.’”
Lincoln responded to this criticism, and even to the Southerners he would find himself warring against, with empathy and understanding. He said, “If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend . . . on the contrary, assume to dictate to his judgment, or to command his action, or to mark him as one to be shunned and despised, he will retreat within himself, close all avenues to his head and his heart.” All too true.
John writes, “[Lincoln] did not demonize opponents, even as they called for his death . . . he disliked interpersonal conflict and a disarming number of his colleagues commented on his ‘childlike’ heart . . . even his enemies admitted he was honest. It was a core quality that could not be credibly denied . . . his honesty was leavened with humor – a disarming combination. Lincoln’s jokes were reprinted in newspapers across the country, enhancing his popularity and reputation for backwoods common sense.”
He continues, “Lincoln was a temperamentally moderate man, a reconciler in a time of radicals and reactionaries. As a young man, he warned that ‘as a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.’ As president, Lincoln asked Americans to rise ‘far above personal and partisan politics.’ To his fellow Republicans he said, ‘even though much provoked, let us do nothing through passion and ill temper.’”
Of course, Lincoln combined this sense of empathy with a great moral resolve around the questions of his time, which were ending slavery and keeping the country together and whole. Today, we may not have something as obvious as slavery rending the country apart, yet many of us fear it is happening just the same, being driven by perverse political incentives, media tribes and the hollowing out of the American middle class.
It is no accident that John decided to write this book during a time when we are more polarized than ever. “Part of the reason I went to history isn’t only because I love history . . . but we can talk about politics through the prism of our history and it gives us perspective on our problems and our politics.” It’s his hope that people will examine our past, embrace Lincoln’s legacy and rally behind a similar figure today. It may not be one person. Perhaps it will be a collection of people or a movement. But there will certainly be individual leaders. Our task is to identify, elevate and support them.
People talk all the time about how a 3rd party challenge hasn’t been successful in quite some time. But in our most crucial time, it was. It brought us Abraham Lincoln, who is rightly venerated as one of our most important leaders who helped mend a country. Politics as usual won’t work. But I believe a new politics is around the corner. Let’s help make it so.
