America’s 16th president was a really big deal growing up in Illinois and when we moved to Springfield (his old stomping ground) 30 years ago, I quickly experienced Lincoln Fatigue. Most Illinois kids start off gaining an appreciation for him because his birthday is a state holiday; no classes for either public or private schools. State employees received it too so Dad could be involved in our revelry.
Now that I’m older, I’ve read more about Abe beyond the official propaganda children receive. Overall, I think he still turned out to be the better person to lead the nation through such an ugly mess. Certainly an improvement over the preceding James Buchanan who was long consider the worst president until Bush (my vote before W still goes to Harding). Lincoln made mistakes: suspended the write of habeas corpus during the Civil War; couldn’t find competent generals in the beginning; and the one Obama is making, having his political rivals on the cabinet with the hopes they’ll be appeased and/or can be managed. If all the people who go on and on about Team of Rivals actually read it, they’d realize how it didn’t work out well, namely his Treasury Secretary (Chase) running against him in 1864. Then comes all the revisionists calling him a tyrant and dictator yet they never have an alternative solution to keeping the Union together (same as FDR’s critics); why should they, it’s always easier to criticize than solve a problem. Never mind what they say as they enjoy living in a politically-socially stable nation which allows them to make their weak accusations.
Nowadays, Lincoln could never be elected due to his flippant sense of humor; a lesson Adlai Stevenson learned too late. Would I vote for him despite him being a Republican? Maybe. The platforms of the parties back then were very different. Many important issues to us now may have been in the realm of science fiction to the people of the 1860s. Most of the Past’s debates are moot now too. So I would have to put it in the “insufficient data” column.