I’m happy to see an article commemorating the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln. However, another great man, Charles Darwin, celebrates his 200th today as well and Salon is eerily silent about it.

Some neo-confederates and even many militant liberals routinely quote Lincoln out of context, for both time and place, to "prove" that Lincoln was a racist, or was only interested in imposing northern dominane on the South, The truth is, Lincoln was a politician who often tailored his speeches for a particular audience but always with the intent of attempting to sway them to his point of view without utterly alienating them. Moreover, Lincoln's views changed over time, as he was exposed to other points of view, including that of Fredrick Douglas and other black leaders who helped convince him that the idea of colonization was unworkable and unjust. Finally, Lincoln believed that government should work for the benefit of all citizens, including the poorest. If he were alive today, he couldn't get elected dogcatcher as a Republican, although James Buchanan would have fit right in with the modern Grand Old Party. Yep, things have changed considerably over the last 150 years.

I never thought I'd call myself a Republican of any sort, but I think I'm a Lincoln Republican as this article describes the category. Minus the anti-black prejudice. Even the suspension of constitutional rights was at least somewhat justified during the Civil War, when our nation really was at the verge of complete destruction (unlike the ludicrous pseudo-war our previous Commander-in-Thief declared).

Happy birthday, Abe! (You too Chuck!)

If he was as honest as they say then he couldn't possibly back the liars in the Republican Party.

I find it astounding that the Republican Party has found a way to regress compared to the ideals of Abe Lincoln. It is proof that a large group of people can get it wrong most of the time.

Lincoln certainly believed in a God who intervened actively in human history. He noted in his second inaugural address that the war itself was proof of the existence of a "living God"; i.e., he believed that God authored the outcome of the war, as well as suffering on all sides, as much as the events of Old Testament times. Lincoln might rightly be called more a Hebrew than a Christian -- not unlike Friedrich Nietzsche, who deplored Christianity but greatly admired both the Old Testament and the Jews. He spoke seriously of signing the emancipation proclamation after Antietam based on a "vow to the Lord" that he would do so. He studied the Psalms of David intently during the war, and encouraged a surprised friend from his youth (who knew him as an agnostic) to study the scriptures as well. The closest thing to an early Lincoln on the right today might be George Will, also with Illinois roots. His writing sometimes alternates between coy religious allusions and outright skepticism about religion.

Lincoln was indeed an economic Republican, in every possible sense. He would certainly approve of solid infrastructure projects like the Prudhoe Bay pipeline in Alaska. One can only guess as to what he would think today about Chicago and Illinois politics, where governors are routinely indicted, fraud appears to be rampant, and senators accept house purchase help from soon-to-be convicted felons on charges of bribery and political corruption. The 19th century was no stranger to corruption, either, but Lincoln himself steered clear of any taint.

As for digging gold to repay debt, it is true that Lincoln's party presided over a speculative, inflationary bubble that ultimately collapsed in 1873. The gold Democrats were more conservative, monetarily, at the time, but by 1896 that was turned around, when the proto-Bernacke, proto-Obama silverites under William Jennings Bryan tried and failed to defeat the sound money Republicans under McKinley and Mark Hanna. Ultimately, though, inflationary, easy money policies carried the day, and indeed most of the last century.

I had to laugh when I read, pre-inauguration, that Obama called for a "new Declaration of Independence" -- a declaration from ideology, narrow thinking about politics, etc. If Obama knew much about history, he would know that in the debates with Douglas, Lincoln argued repeatedly that the original Declaration contained within it the foundation stone for equality on the basis of race. Apparently, Lincoln thought the original document was pretty good, and not in need of silly, meaningless alterations.

You're right about Lincoln and race. There is a strain of racist thought in this country that Lincoln was a closet racist himself on account of some remarks in southern Illinois in debates with Douglas. Occasionally, one will find an African American dismissing Lincoln from the opposite direction, using the same quotes.

I find the post-war "what if?" more interesting. As I have mentioned in other posts, I had a great-great grandfather who fought in the war in a western Indiana regiment and ended it in 1865 on patrol in New Orleans, where the federals were enforcing the new order. The quadroon balls of the ancien regime were replaced with much uncertainty -- especially as to how planters would induce former slaves to get back in the fields, after having fled to the cities.

It is often said that Lincoln compromised too freely with Louisiana in particular, allowing them to form a new crypto-Confederate state government -- indeed, he was overjoyed when they rejoined the union. On the other hand, U.S. Grant -- who understood reconstruction better than anyone -- wrote in his memoir that Lincoln would have been the "best friend the south ever had" (both black and white), and he and others blamed Lincoln's death and Johnson's poor leadership through 1868 for many resulting troubles. Ultimately, there was no avoiding some form of "contract labor" until industrialization in the north created other opportunities for blacks. However, it is possible that Lincoln, consistent with the grace of his second inaugural, could have created something better. It's really impossible to know.

Here are a few more odd Lincoln thoughts.

1. When Bill Clinton was president, he liked vacationing at Martha's Vineyard and hob nobbing with stars or producers of stars like Steven Spielberg. Conservatives made fun of him for it (calling him Jethro the star-struck hillbilly), but it reminded me a little bit of Lincoln. Abe had read a lot of classics in his youth, and wanted to be taken seriously in Washington when he commented on theaterical performances of Hamlet and MacBeth (two of his favorites). Alas, it was not to be. Reporters derided him as a foolish hick from the wilderness attempting to comment on something he could not really understand.

2. My, how political rhetoric has fallen. I first got to know Lincoln back in high school, when I read the Carl Sandberg biographies (my dad had some old musty copies of them from his youth) and wrote a paper on them. I always remember this line from one of his newspaper critics, which I will paraphrase: "The cheek of every American must turn red with shame at knowing we must point this man out to intelligent foreigners as our president." I once used that line myself -- actually, a variation of it -- in a high school newspaper editorial against a prominent person I didn't much like. Felt kind of fun, actually. Anyway, no one comes close to Lincoln-esque rhetoric today.

3. Everyone in America should try to make the trip to Springfield someday and see the Lincoln sites there. The new museum is first rate. The tomb is moving. There is an historic neighborhood of his final downtown home, as well as a pioneer village showcasing his early experience. The whole thing is pure Americana, and Springfield itself is a nice town as well.