The Life and Legacy of Abraham Lincoln

The Democracy Project ^ | February 4, 2009 | Phil Orenstein

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What Does the Life and Legacy of Abraham Lincoln Mean to Me? Phil Orenstein • February 1, 2009 • Uncategorized

The following are some of my thoughts expressed in an essay for the Queens Village Eagle on the upcoming Lincoln Bicentennial Dinner on Feb. 8th and the significance of the Lincoln Essay Contest and LTC Allen West’s keynote address:

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As the year 2009 commences, America is in the throes of a massive economic crisis. With a weary public barely enduring two ongoing wars as our enemies propagate just beyond the horizon, nearly a trillion dollar taxpayer bailout of the auto and financial sectors which hasn’t paid dividends, escalating unemployment and our plummeting portfolios, and now the dubious promises of an imitation prophet to magically turn hopes and dreams into reality. The year 2009 also marks Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday celebration. Fittingly, due to the publicity generated from the Lincolnesque inauguration and its theme “A New Birth of Freedom,” Lincoln is in the news a lot lately and on the tip of every tongue in the chattering classes from Glen Beck to Chris Matthews. An upcoming Steven Spielberg film starring Liam Neeson as Abraham Lincoln is in the works. Newt Gingrich writes an inspiring feature essay for Newsmax which captures the essence of a Lincoln of Biblical proportions as he endures nearly four years of the Civil War’s staggering death toll, mounting Union losses and an ever more unpopular war supported by less than 25% of the population by early 1864. The Battle of Antietam in 1862, fought near Sharpsburg Maryland, was the bloodiest single day in American history with about 23,000 casualties in 12 hours. The soul of Lincoln can be detected in the letter of consolation he wrote to a woman who lost all five sons in the war when he profoundly and solemnly offered “the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.” We can be grateful that the U.S. Lincoln Bicentennial Commission (ALBC) has been sponsoring numerous nationwide celebrations including education programs, public forums and arts projects to commemorate the legacy of our greatest president. The Lincoln Bicentennial Dinner hosted by the Queens Village Republican Club, is the official Queens Bicentennial celebration and perhaps the only official commemoration in New York City except for the year long festivities at the New York Historical Society. The celebration entails the Lincoln Bicentennial Essay Contest on the theme “What does the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln mean to me?” The winners will be honored and receive a $500 savings bond at the dinner. This educational project is based upon Mark Twain’s legendary maxim: “Out of the public school grows the greatness of the nation.” The varieties of the submissions up to now demonstrate that the legacy of Abraham Lincoln is alive and well in the minds of our youth. The meaning of his legacy is expressed in many different ways besides the popular theme that a black man is now president as the end result of Lincoln’s emancipation of the slaves. The meaning of Lincoln’s legacy was expressed in the essays as the freedom and equality of opportunity in America, the hope, optimism, honesty, hard work and ambition portrayed by Lincoln, the self-made man, the man of the common people, who rose up from a poor family in a log cabin to the presidency. This is the meaning of Lincoln’s life and legacy to the parents and children of the vast immigrant communities in Queens, the most ethnically diverse county in the nation. They come to our shores to embrace Abraham Lincoln’s America. Lincoln is the light of freedom, democracy and real hope to the world, and children of immigrants are already familiar with Lincoln more so from their countries of origin than from our own public school’s American history curriculum. They read and study Lincoln’s words in classrooms in Poland, Great Britain, India, and many other European and Asian countries. More books have been written about Lincoln than any other figure in world history except Jesus Christ and Shakespeare. Had Abraham Lincoln not acted boldly during the bloodiest crisis in our nation’s history, as Truman once said, “we would have been divided into half a dozen countries.” From past world wars, economic depressions and civil strife, to the present troubling times, America has always triumphed. Now in this time of disorder we turn to Lincoln again, just as past presidents and historical leaders have done. Lincoln reminded us of the legacy of freedom and liberty our great nation offers to humanity; that we are the “last best hope of mankind.” He guided us to keep our eyes on the prize, as Martin Luther King Jr. reiterated 100 years later, and now Lt. Col. Allen West and our roster of speakers will no doubt remind us, at the upcoming Lincoln Bicentennial Dinner. For further information on the dinner event please go to qvgop.org or contact Phil Orenstein at maduroman@att.net