Lincoln's Birthday 2024

 

Yesterday was Lincoln’s birthday. I suppose there were speeches and celebrations in some places, but it seems that people do not celebrate it much these days – retailers aside. They should. It is good for people to see that such greatness is possible, especially these days. It is easy to be of two minds in thinking about today’s politics in light of Lincoln. A person can feel better about the political situation by remembering that he and the country he led faced far worse and more dangerous things than we do and came through successfully. So maybe we will too if we work at it. But he can surely feel worse after studying Lincoln and reading his writings and speeches and then looking at the sort of people who have sought and won the presidency in the last few years, especially at the leading candidates from both major parties this year. It can ruin a person’s lunch, dinner, and breakfast the next morning. Even worse it is not necessary to measure Trump and Biden against Lincoln or other great presidents to see how bad the likely present choices are. Comparing those two to Adlai Stevenson, Barry Goldwater, Hubert Humphrey, or Bob Dole would make the point well enough. It is a mess, and if nothing changes, we will suffer for it.