Lessons modern Politicians Should Learn From Lincoln
If you’re like me, you recently gave a speech about Abraham Lincoln. More specifically, it was a speech about statues of Abraham Lincoln, using Taylor Park as a reference point, and how they perpetuate the image and reputation of Lincoln beyond what the actual, real person could have predicted. (And that’s from a guy who some sources claim predicted his own assassination.) While I’m not going to share my full speech here, mainly because there’s not the space, I would like to elaborate on my answer to a question someone in the audience asked afterwards. “What’s the lesson modern politicians can learn from Lincoln?”
First, let me say how obnoxiously narrow that question is. I understand why it gets asked that way; because it forces the speaker into providing a direct and concise answer for reporting. It intentionally ignores nuance to provide a more binary worldview. The thing is, anyone worth asking the question about, especially somebody like Lincoln, requires nuance. Various shades of character are what the great figures need to be properly rendered. They can’t be boiled to down to a single personality trait. That’s part of what makes them grand characters. There isn’t just one Lincoln lesson to learn. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t look, though.
The obvious answer that comes to mind is honesty. He is known as “honest Abe” after all. Political representatives the world over and across the centuries are synonymous with dishonesty. We expect our representatives to lie to us and to their credit, most of them fulfill our expectations. An honest politician is such a unique image that it has attached to Lincoln like a leech. Ignoring that many of the stories are apocryphal, honesty should be the rule, not the exception in representation. That’s not the lesson to learn from Lincoln, that’s the lesson to learn in kindergarten.
Another easy answer would be to claim Lincoln as a just, or moral person. It is his high degree of righteousness that allowed him to see a path for the nation through one of our darkest hours, both morally and socially. Clearly, we want our modern politicians to be morally upright, (contrasting again with their standard image,) but moral righteousness is something we should all be striving for. Lincoln struggled with his moral compass throughout his life just like the rest of us. Once again, Lincoln is an everyman when it comes to morality; history has simply painted over some of the more common aspects.
The response I gave was that Lincoln had a reputation for always being the smartest man in the room. I can’t think of a modern politician that has that same reputation. Even if there is one, that quality is more likely to be ridiculed than admired. When Lincoln entered a room people took note, and paid attention. We like to think it was because he was a natural leader, or profoundly charismatic, or just because everyone knew he would become the Lincoln we know today.
When Lincoln spoke, people listened because they knew it would be good. They knew Lincoln had pondered and strategized not only what he would say, but how he would say it. Folks paid attention because they respected Lincoln as an intellectual. (They also listened because Lincoln couldn’t resist throwing a dirty joke into almost everything.)
There are many lessons to be learned from the example set by Abraham Lincoln. All of us, politician or otherwise, could stand to spend a few semesters studying those lessons. You could do worse than to start with how to be the most respected mind in the room.
