When leaders were eloquent: Abe Lincoln was an American original - a man of compassion, humor and political savvy

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Feb 10, 1997 | by Gene Koprowski

William Henry Seward, President Lincoln's secretary of state, confiscated all of the known photographs of the assassinated president lying in state, hoping to protect a distraught first lady Mary Todd Lincoln from slipping further into depression. He destroyed all of the images except one, found among Seward's papers at his death in 1872.

The photo, now part of a collection of the Illinois State Historical Library, rarely has been exhibited. Since last summer, however, thousands of people have viewed it, as well as other rare heirlooms from the life of the 16th President, at a remarkable exhibition, "The Last Best Hope of Earth. Abraham Lincoln and the Promise of America."

The show, which opened in California and has been at the Chicago Historical Society since last consists of artifacts from the collection of a wealthy Beverly Hills couple, Louise and Barry Taper, and from the Huntington Library in San Marino, Calif., and the Illinois State Historical Society. It closes Feb. 13, one day after Lincoln's birthday. "It is unlikely these works will ever be exhibited together again," Douglas Greenberg, president of the Chicago Historical Society, tells insight. "This was a once-in-a-lifetime event."

Visitors to the exhibit are struck by how truly American Lincoln was, how he could be by turns witty and solemn. A lesson book that he used to practice mathematics, for example -- the so-called "sum book" from 1824 -- contains a cheeky rhyme that calls the reader a "fool" for reading it. "I always laugh and tell people who pass through the exhibit that it is an honor to be called a fool by Lincoln," says Greenberg.

Born in 1809 -- yes, it was in a log cabin -- Lincoln grew up in an era when many of the Founders still lived, and their ideals profoundly influenced his thinking and writing. Greenberg observes that the phrase "four score and seven years ago" from the Gettysburg Address refers directly to the American Revolution, not the signing of the constitution, and that it is this fervor for liberty that helped Lincoln lead the nation through the civil War. "Lincoln viewed slavery in much the same way that the colonists viewed the tyranny of King George during the revolution," says Greenberg.

Contrary to myth, Lincoln was an early success. He was elected to the Illinois Legislature from downstate Sangamon County, near Springfield, when he still was in his early 20s. He then left to become a lawyer, representing railroads -- and citizens who sued railroads. (Like a modern lawyer, he worked for those with a ready checkbook.) Later, he ran for the U.S. House and won on the Whig ticket, but left after just one term -- he truly believed in term limits.

As was the custom of the era, Lincoln did not campaign openly for the presidential nomination of the Republican Party, which he helped found. Rather, he practiced the time-honored tradition of allowing that he'd serve if called. A portion of the exhibit, however, notes the technique of his supporters: After the nomination in Chicago, Lincoln advocates campaigned for him late into the night, bearing oil-lighted torches that earned them the nickname "wide-awakes." (A well-primed get-out-the-vote effort always has been essential in American politics.)

The most astounding artifacts in this exhibit date from Lincoln's presidency. The handwritten manuscript of the Gettysburg Address is awe inspiring, as is the draft of his first inaugural address and a signed copy of the Emancipation Proclamation. There are ranting letters to Gen. Lewis Wallace, importuning him to attack Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee; a pardon to a wounded Union soldier written on a piece of bandage from his wound; and a handwritten vote count of the elections of 1860 and 1864.

Political junkies would be very interested in the campaign literature used by the Democrats against Lincoln in 1864. "It was a terrible campaign, a racist campaign," says Greenberg. Documents distributed by the northern Union Democrats included a pamphlet entitled "Abraham Africanis" and another which introduced miscegenation to the language.

"Miscegenation was a word that was coined in 1864 for the election to describe race mixing," says Greenberg. "The accusation was that if you reelect Lincoln, you're going to have miscegenation. This phrase goes on to be the coin of the realm, as far as racist attacks, are concerned."

"What we were trying to show is the promise of America, a promise that Lincoln as a self-made man strongly believed in," says John Rhodehamel, a curator at the Huntington Library. "We want to show Lincoln believed slavery was a contradiction of the American promise and the breakup of the union would end that promise."