Obama follows Lincoln’s path to presidency

This week America will celebrate the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. Nearly a century and one-half after Lincoln, another son of Illinois has assumed the office of president. President Barack Obama took a similar path to the oval office. The 47-year-old Obama is just five years younger than Lincoln when he took office. Both Obama and Lincoln practiced law. Obama was educated at Harvard. Lincoln learned the law as an apprentice.

They both understood, and mastered the rough and tumble world of Illinois politics. Lincoln and Obama both had limited experience in public office before becoming president. Lincoln spent four terms in the Illinois legislature and a single term in the United States Congress. Obama spent eight years in the Illinois legislature and less than a single term in the United States Senate. In 1858, Lincoln’s oratory brought him national acclaim following his renowned debates with Stephen Douglas. Obama rose to national prominence as a result of his powerful oratory displayed at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

Lincoln took office at one of the darkest moments in American history. In 1861, America faced the succession of a number of southern states and the very real prospect of a civil war. The country was in the throes of economic turmoil brought about by the panic of 1857. Obama ascended to the presidency during an unpopular war and in turbulent economic times.

Train ride

It was no coincidence that Obama chose to follow Lincoln’s route to the inauguration, a train ride from Philadelphia to the nation’s capital or that Lincoln’s portrait still adorns the walls of the oval office. Obama, much like Lincoln, chose a political rival, Hillary Clinton, the sitting senator from New York, to be his Secretary of State. Lincoln’s Secretary of State William H. Seward, also a New York senator, was Lincoln’s opponent during the 1860 Republican National Convention. Seward, like Clinton, began his campaign as the perceived front runner for the presidency.

Obama’s inaugural address has been characterized as somber and devoid of any memorable or enduring phrases. Those characterizations are superficial and premature. Obama’s address consisted of 2,396 words, approximately 1,675 of those, or 70-percent, were a single syllable. Lincoln’s second inaugural address, in 1865, considered by many to be his greatest speech (The Gettysburg Address is certainly his best known) consisted of 703 words. Approximately 505, or 71-percent, were a single syllable. Obama, like Lincoln, used small words and short sentences to make his point.

Obama borrowed from Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson very early in his address, “The God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.”

During Lincoln’s 266-word Gettysburg Address, he said, “... dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Lincoln went on to say, “... that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion.” Obama’s reference to happiness was in deference to Jefferson’s line in the Declaration of Independence, “... that among those (unalienable rights) are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Obama’s address quoted George Washington and, through allusion, John F. Kennedy, Theodore Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.

Edward Everett gave the keynote address before Lincoln at Gettysburg on Nov. 19, 1863. Everett spoke for two hours. At the conclusion of Lincoln’s two-minute speech, Everett grabbed Lincoln’s hand and said, “I shall be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of this occasion in two-hours as you did in two-minutes.”

Deep kinship

The same may be said of Obama’s inaugural address after the sure scrutiny and sober reflection accorded such historic events. At a minimum, Obama’s address further reflected his deep kinship with, and emulation of, Lincoln.

Lincoln set out to save the country from disunion and succeeded. Obama has set out to save the country from its own excesses. As Lincoln challenged America, so has Obama. The final line of Obama’s inaugural address encapsulates his challenge for all Americans, “Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carry forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.”

X Matthew T. Mangino is the former district attorney of Lawrence County and a featured columnist for the Pennsylvania Law Weekly. Visit his Law Blog at www.mattmangino.com.